Welcome to Evangelism Today, our new blog

I love Jesus. I want everyone to meet Jesus.

I love to read books and learn how to tell people about Jesus. I read a lot of them. They are chock full of deep insights, new methods and the latest trends. The problem is putting all this head knowledge into action. I have always struggled doing it.

And I’m a pastor.

As a pastor, the pulpit actually provided me a false sense of protection. Each week I labored to present the Gospel. I knew many in the church might not have a saving relationship with Jesus. Therefore, I worked hard on my preaching on Sunday and our weekly Bible Studies. I took comfort that I was doing evangelism.

I would tell myself I was:

  • Not that “guy on the corner yelling at people with a bullhorn”.
  • Not that “guy in the elevator who turns, faces you, and asks, “If the elevator cable snapped and we plummeted to our death in the next 15 seconds, do you know where you are going?”
  • Not that “guy committing all the sins of insensitivity the church is forever guilty of.”

I was thoughtful, well-read, ready to answer objections, and even a bit winsome on good days.

To be clear, I was in doing evangelism. But the problem was I rarely looked a single person in the eye while I did it.

Then, the Lord brought me to a new season, a season out of the pulpit. To be sure, I miss the pulpit. I miss the Bible studies. I miss the people. I miss them terribly.

But God had a huge gift for me—and it is this gift I want to share with you.

I am not going to wrap this gift in the latest research. I am not going to give you the prevailing (and intimidating) attitudes of the world. I am not going to dazzle and depress you with statistics. I am not going to remind you of all the things the church, and maybe you, have done wrong.

Nope, I am not going to do those things.

Why? Because I realized, at least for me, that while all those things are true, they parallelized me. I essentially would convince myself I was not gifted in the area of sharing my faith. Not one-to-one, at least.

What God has now shown me is a way to let Him lead, to have me actually look at people, and to realize He has provided something far more powerful than my words. What’s even more cool is that I actually now see people, as people in the end!

I would love to share this gift with you!

This blog, Evangelism Today — Personal work in a post-modern world, will be a place where we take a break from the busyness of everyday life, the bombardment of emails promoting this or that — to focus on what is important, the sharing of our faith in Jesus with others.

Over the next year, we will be exploring personal evangelism around the world and in our own lives. Each month we will be posting an excerpt from my upcoming book, Let God Speak, followed by a second post written to address current events and relevant topics related to evangelism.

This is not a place where we will be promoting The Pocket Testament League. This is a space for thoughtful contemplation on topics pertaining to Christ-followers sharing Jesus in today’s world.

If you are ready, let’s get started with the first chapter.