Evangelism

Jesus Came to Meet Your NEED and Not Your Needs

Posted on by markwchristy
By Mark W. Christy, PhD Modern psychology holds that people essentially exist to have their needs and wants met so as to attain unto a state of satisfaction. This has only led to a rise in self-fulfillment being the chief aim for many if not most. Unfortunately, the Church often allows itself to be polluted with this worldly philosophy by focusing its message on felt needs whereby the individual self becomes central in worship. Typically, this is all done in name of evangelism under the bann...
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Moving on from Mere Emotional Experience to a More Biblically Informed Witness

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By Mark W. Christy, PhD In this increasingly self-centered world, many people seek experiences that satiate their every desire. This desire for experience is often found even within the church where many gather on Sundays not so much to worship God for what He has done in their lives through Christ but simply to get their emotional ‘batteries recharged’ to face another week. Beyond this, it also tends to impact their personal testimonies as well. This trend seems to only be getting worse as ...
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Personal Testimony Should Include the Word of God

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By Mark W. Christy, PhD The revivals of the eighteenth century caused a major shift in the theological commitments within many churches in America. At the onset of the First Great Awakening in America(1730s), Calvinism was deeply entrenched in theological commitments of both the churches and many of the revival leaders including George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Jonathan Dickinson, Gilbert Tennent, and Samuel Davies. After this movement, most churches held firmly to their historic Calvini...
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Billy Graham, God’s Ambassador or Not: Have the Ears of Southern Baptists Been Tickled?

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By Mark Christy, PhD Recently, I ran across a book entitled Billy Graham, God’s Ambassador by Russ Busby as it was being donated to a ministry (owned by an SBC church) for the purpose of reselling. Given that Graham was ordained by an SBC church, this donation at first glance seemed entirely in order. As I reflected on its title, I checked Lifeway.com (owned by SBC) and noted that many books by and about Billy Graham are available. Then, I suddenly remembered that the Southern Baptist Theolo...
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The Great Commission Does Not End with Evangelism

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Matthew 28:19-20 NASB – “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” As careful reading of v.20 will show, the Great Commission does not end with evangelism. Unfortunately, many seem to focus exclusively on this part of it. Sure, it is awesome to see people coming to Christ and seeing the Church of G...
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The Foundation of Evangelism (Taken from J. Macarthur’s Commentary on Galatians)

Posted on by markwchristy
"The most important pursuit for all Christians, individually and corporately, is holiness. The first mission of the church is to honor and glorify God, and He can be honored and glorified by His children only as they grow to be like Him in character. Although evangelism is the cutting edge of the church’s ministry, holiness is the only foundation on which effective evangelism or any other ministry can be built. The supreme priority of the church is holiness, purity of inward life. God can accom...
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The Slippery Slope of Using Numerical Growth as an Evaluation Tool

Posted on by markwchristy
No doubt, there are many false teachers who could give accounts of how their ministries swelled and filled auditoriums with leaders who would like to replicate such ‘success’. As a young minister, I struggled greatly with this. I have come to realize several things. First, too many churches worship success (that they can count) and end up perverting God’s church in the process. Second, church size may rise and fall, but a true church remains faithful in all circumstances. Third, too many church...
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Personal Evangelism

Posted on by markwchristy
While it would be nice if every unbeliever were to ask questions related to salvation, the reality is most do not. Given this, I find myself always seeking ways to steer my conversations toward eternal matters, especially those related to salvation. Christ Himself initiated the gospel presentation in His conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). Afterward, He identified her spiritual need, confronted her sin, and offered her mercy and salvation. Broadly speaking, every call to...
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Holiness Evangelism (with multiple quotes takes from MacArthur’s commentary on Ephesians)

Posted on by markwchristy
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom [a]every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses k...
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