Congrats to those who stuck it out for the 10 week course, “Sharing Your Faith…Made Easy!” Now get on out there and do something! Do Something! Do something!
Someone asked: Will the heathen who have never heard the Gospel be saved? It is more a question with me whether we — who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not — can be saved. – Charles Spurgeon
Over thirty people have dipped their toes into the dangerous waters of evangelism by signing up—and showing up—for “Sharing Your Faith…Made Easy!” This is my ten week evangelism training that will make any student the bane of any atheist, agnostic, intellectual or run-of-the-mill relativist—if they do all the work and apply all the principles of Biblical evangelism as taught by Ray Comfort in his seminal teaching “Hell’s Best Kept Secret.” (Listen to it or watch it here.)
I always guarantee them that if they stick with the class and apply what they learn, their lives will change. That’s what happened to me on July 31, 2005 when I first heard Hell’s Best Kept Secret (Read about it here.) I’ve never looked back.
Here’s where you can post your E-vangie Tale, a three sentence paragraph that tells what you experienced while sharing your faith. Example: “I saw an atheist and gave him a tract. He growled at me. I growled back.” You get one point for every E-vangie Tale you write, unlimited. Persevere to the end!
The holidays forced me to wait until now to show the last evangelism class grads of last year, and what a class it was! I think out of the 13 who made it to the end (remember that darned 50% rule!), five or six will be faithful evangelists, that is, they will be incorporating witnessing as a regular part of their day.
Here is one of the students (not pictured) handing out his first tracts at a parade. How hard is that?
And click here to see my ten-year-old and another student mastering this technique with joy!
With four more classes left to go, who will finish well?
About 25 hearty and fearless men and women showed up for the 10 week evangelism training course that I teach called “Sharing Your Faith…Made Easy!” For accountability purposes, I took this video. As you can see, all raised their hands when asked if they will finish the class. Sadly, evangelism classes have a 50% drop out rate. (Find out why by clicking here.) It’s my hope and prayer that this will not be the case with this august class.
Here’s where you post your E-vangie Tale, a three sentence paragraph that tells what you experienced while sharing your faith.
Example: “I gave a Gospel tract to a scary atheist. He growled at me and told me there was no God. I shook my head, rolled my eyes, thanked God for showing me the truth, then walked away.”
You get one point for every E-vangie Tale you write, unlimited. Persevere to the end!
Here’s a reminder of how the point system works: (more…)
Out of the 32 people who started “Sharing Your Faith…Made Easy!” only thirteen made it to the end. Was I disappointed? Of course.
Would I have liked to have all 32 make it through? Of course. Am I saddened that most may not use the God-given tool that is almost guaranteed to unlock the heart of even the most hardened sinner? Of course.
But I believe in the principle of margin: a few here, a few there. (more…)
UPDATE: Sadly, the 50% Rule is in full effect. That’s right. We’re down to about 15 people with only three more classes yet to go. Who will finish out their commitment?
A new crop of about thirty-one people showed to the first class of our summer session which will last ten weeks. I always guarantee them that if they stick with the class and apply what they learn, their lives will change. That’s what happened to me on July 31, 2005 when I first heard Hell’s Best Kept Secret (Read about it here.) I’ve never looked back. Please keep reading for an another amazing story below!
Here’s where you can post your E-vangie Tale, a three sentence paragraph that tells what you experienced while sharing your faith. Example: “I saw an atheist and gave him a tract. He bared his fangs. I ran away.” You get one point for every E-vangie Tale you write, unlimited. Persevere to the end! Now read the amazing “life-change” story. (more…)
An amazing thing happened last Thursday night. I believe a new record was set. I’m still in shock and awe…. Ten weeks ago thirty three people started my class, “Sharing Your Faith Without Fear.” On graduation night, twenty seven made it through, defying the the average 50% drop out rate. (See larger image here.)
I believe I know why only six people left the class instead of the normal sixteen. Here’s the reason: (more…)
Here’s the first class of 2011. Thirty three people with the potential to bring about a second Great Awakening with their soon-to-be-found evangelistic zeal will be taught and trained The Way of the Master. Here is where they will post their own evangelism adventures to earn “Bonus Points” in the class.
I have had the privilege of teaching “Sharing Your Faith Without Fear” for five years now to about 1,000 people. This is roughly my 31st class. (more…)
This is the last graduating evangelism class of 2010!
My hope is that they will not lose the zeal they have acquired over the last six weeks, nor be discouraged by naysayers, or be distraught by fellow believers who think that it’s someone else’s job to share good news with the lost.
May I encourage you, graduates and dear readers of this blog, with the words of George Whitefield, that great preacher of the 18th century who helped bring about The Great Awakening in America:
“Go, dear sir, go and follow your glorious Master without the camp,
bearing His reproach. Never fear the scourge of the tongue, at the threatenings that are daily breathed out against the Lord, and against His Christ. Suffer we must. Ere long perhaps, we may sing in prison, and have our feet in stocks; but faith in Jesus turns a prison into a palace, and makes a bed of flames become a bed of down. Let us be faithful today, and our Lord will support us tomorrow.”
Charles Finney (1792-1875) wrote: “Make it an object of constant study, and of daily reflection and prayer, to learn how to deal with sinners so as to promote their conversion. It is the great business on earth of every Christian, to save souls.
“People often complain that they do not know how to take hold of this matter. Why, the reason is plain enough; they have never studied it. They have never taken the proper pains to qualify themselves for the work. If people made it no more a matter of attention and thought to qualify themselves for their worldly business, than they do to save souls, how do you think they would succeed? Now, if you are thus neglecting the main business of life, what are you living for? If you do not make it a matter of study, how you may most successfully act in building up the Kingdom of Christ, you are acting a very wicked and absurd part as a Christian.”
—From his sermon “To Win Souls Requires Wisdom”
Here are the last two evangelism classes of the year, one adult, one children. Again I ask the question: Who will persevere to the end given the norm of a 50% drop-out rate?
Write your evangelistic stories and put them in the “comments.”
Every third week I’ll bring this post back to the top of the blog. Remember students, you get one bonus point for every three sentence adventure that you write about. (more…)
I learned something new about handing out tracts from Badonna, a student of this latest graduating class (second from right in front row): When handing a Gospel tract to a person say, “Please do not read the back!” Guess what they then do?
I’ve added something else: “Please do not read the back; it will make you soooo mad! And please don’t litter.” It’s amazing how fast they turn the tract over to read it.
August/September 2010 Grads
Here are the remaining faithful from the August/September six week evangelism class that just finished last Wednesday night. Out of 24 original students, 17 made it to the end! Congratulations all!
Hope Del Rey One Day Class Grads
And here are the graduates who endured nearly seven hours of evangelism training at my one day class at their church, Hope Chapel Del Rey, pastored by Mark Koukl (yes, Greg’s brother). Another hearty congrats to you all.
Do something! Do something! Do something!
Two classes yet to go! As of last week, we had twelve still hanging in there….
Our second class of the summer got off with a bang as we enrolled 24 new students ready and willing to enter a new phase of their Christian life: that of an obedient Christian, seeking and saving the lost. Again I will ask: Who will persevere to the end?
Every third I’ll bring this post back to the top of the blog. Remember students, you get one bonus point for every three sentence adventure that you write about.
Even if you are not a student in my class I welcome you to share your own evangelistic adventure in the comments section.
My teaching notes are now available online by clicking here. I can even mail you a hard copy for free! Send me an email at PastorSteveAtHope@yahoo.com if you’d like them.
Around 50 people made it through the rigors of our latest evangelism class out of an original 80+. Congratulations all! Let the next Great Awakening begin!
To be a soul winner is the happiest thing in the world. And with every soul you bring to Jesus Christ, you seem to get a new heaven here upon earth. —Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
UPDATE 7/24/10: About 60+ students are still hanging in there after the halfway point!
WOW! Over 80 students signed up for our summer class (not all are pictured)! Revival? Possibly. A move of the Holy Spirit? Most definitely. Ahh, but how many will survive the entire 6 week course?
Every other week I’ll bring this post back to the top of the blog. Remember students, you get one bonus point for every three sentence adventure that you write about.
Even if you are not a student in my class I welcome you to share your own evangelistic adventure in the comments section.
My teaching notes are now available online by clicking here. I can even mail you a hard copy for free! Send me an email at PastorSteveAtHope@yahoo.com if you’d like them.
This is a first: By the end of my 6 week evangelism training class, “Sharing Your Faith Without Fear,” I usually have a 50% drop out rate. Not this time! My class actually doubled in size from the original! We started out with three and ended up with six!
Our top-of-the-class winner is Jeff Pringle, a man who has just returned to the faith after a three year period of wandering. And I just got a phone call today from “Righteous Richard” Chavarria, our Department of Motor Vehicles preacher; he told me that Jeff is learning the ropes, readying himself to preach at another local DMV.
Our next class will be starting on July 7 at Hope Chapel, Hermosa Beach.
Our leadership team prayed that God would raise up three Charles Spurgeons from our new six week evangelism class. Well, we started with six and three are still around after the second week, fulfilling the tradition that 50% of “Sharing Your Faith without Fear” attendees drop out before the end of the class. So, let’s see who will continue to the end. Hey, no pressure, folks!
Or maybe those three Spurgeons might come out of our One-Day Evangelism training that graduated eleven students this past Saturday. Miracles do happen, y’know….
Here’s a great quote from the Prince of Preachers himself:
“I know of nothing which I would choose to have as the subject of my ambition for life than to be kept faithful to my God till death, still to be a soul winner, still to be a true herald of the cross, and testify the name of Jesus to the last hour.”
If you really like Spurgeon then go to The Spurgeon Archive.
Our last six week evangelism training called “Sharing Your Faith Without Fear” ended
recently, and the Top-of-the-Class graduate, Nydia Cordero, is the mom of our previous class winner, Pierre. I wonder if the evangelism gene is passed upwards as the Christian species adapts to the the very great need of preaching to a lost world? Or is that just plain monkey business?
Our next class starts this Thursday at 7PM@ Hope Chapel, Hermosa Beach. A special 1-Day class will be held on Saturday, May 22, from 9AM-4PM. Details? Call 310-374-4673 or leave a comment.
I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. (Philemon 6)
Our newest class of 15 (two aren’t pictured) are taking “Sharing Your Faith Without Fear.” Again I will ask this question: Who will persevere to the end?
Every other week I’ll bring this post back to the top of the blog. Remember students, you get one bonus point for every three sentence adventure that you write about.
Even if you are not a student in my class I welcome you to share your own evangelistic adventure in the comments section.
My teaching notes are now available online by clicking here. I can still mail you a hard copy for free. Send me an email at PastorSteveAtHope@yahoo.com if you’d like them.
I’ve been teaching our evangelism training, “Sharing Your Faith Without Fear,” for nearly five years now and have never seen a level of commitment like I have with this latest class, the first of 2010.
The first big deal: Only two students dropped out. The 50% rule was overruled!
The second big deal: There were three first place winners! Pierre Cordero was #1, Eva Ho #2, and 12-year-old Cherish DelRosario was #3.
How can there be three first place winners? (more…)
Hey kids! Here is where you post your evangelism tales as you hand out your daily Gospel tracts! Remember, the top of the class will win some strange and goofy prize I’ll think up later. No KIDding!
