The Trinity and Evangelism

  
See Glen Scrivener's post on the importance of explaining the Trinity in evangelism here.
 

More on Preaching in Acts

  

See Kevin DeYoung's summary of Alan Thompson's five characteristics of apostolic evangelistic preaching in Acts. You might want to also see my recently posted comments on preaching in Acts. 

  

Unchurched or Unsaved

  
Trevin Wax has some interesting thoughts on what the use of unchurched or unsaved might say about us here.
   

Haddon Robinson on a Tragic Divorce

  

"The separation of theology and evangelism proved a tragic divorce. The evangelist and the theologian are both needed today. Evangelism without sound doctrine decays into ignorant fanaticism. Theology without the goal of making converts degenerates into cold intellectualism. The result of this separation is a faith that is neither intellectually nor biblically sound nor spiritually satisfying. The people of God need to appreciate both the theologian and the evangelist."

Haddon W. Robinson, Making a Difference, ed. Scott W. Gibson (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999), 22.  
  

Outreach Resources of the Year

  

Some might be interested in this list of the best outreach resources of 2010.

  

The Gospel in Every Sermon

The Decline of Vocational Evangelism

Trevin Wax has an interesting post on the decline of vocational evangelism.Read it here.

Interview With David Allen on the Forthcoming Book Whosoever Will

One book that I am looking forward to reading is Whosoever Will: A Biblical-Theological Critique of Calvinism edited by professors David Allen and Steve Lemke. The publisher is Broadman & Holman. Whosoever Will contains revised versions of papers originally presented at the John 3:16 conference, which was held November 2008 at First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia.

In anticipation of the forthcoming release, David Allen one of the editors of, and contributors to, Whosoever Will graciously agreed to be interviewed for this blog.

1. How did Whosoever Will come about?

This book is the result of a conference held at the First Baptist Church of Woodstock, GA, in November, 2008, entitled “The John 3:16 Conference.” The purpose of this conference was to provide a biblical and theological evaluation and critique of Calvinism by non-Calvinists. Not a single speaker at this conference is an Arminian. Many today wrongly assume that there are only two theological positions on these issues: Calvinism and Arminianism. In fact, there are varieties within both camps. Most Southern Baptists are neither Calvinists nor Arminians, but would better be called “Calminians,” in that they affirm some aspects of each theological tradition. The book critiques Calvinism beginning with a critique of each of the so called “five points” in the TULIP acronym, followed by chapters addressing key issues such as whether Calvin himself affirmed limited atonement, the validity of the public altar call, the role of “determinism” in Calvinism, and how Calvinism handles the question of evil in the world.

2. Why did you write Whosoever Will?

We wrote the book to address the growing resurgence of Calvinism in the Southern Baptist Convention, especially among students on college and seminary campuses. As a result, this issue has been on the front burner for the past few years among Baptists. Often there is confusion and caricature on both sides of this issue. We felt the time had come for a scholarly presentation, irenic in spirit, that would critique the key elements of Calvinism. We have been asked by numerous students and pastors over the years to write such a book.

3. What is the main thesis of the book?

The main thesis of this book is to provide a scholarly critique of the five points of Calvinistic soteriology and then to address key issues in the debate between Calvinists and non-Calvinists.

4. Who should read this book?

Anyone interested in this issue should read this book, especially pastors, church staff members, lay leaders and teachers in local churches, along with current college and seminary students. Regardless of which side of the issue one may fall, this book should be helpful.

5. What do you hope to accomplish through this book?

My goal would be four-fold: 1) to assist all with a greater understanding of the differences between Calvinism and non-Calvinism; 2) to provide non-Calvinists with an understanding of the problems with Calvinism from a non-Calvinist perspective; and 3) to promote the overall edification of the church; and 4) to bring glory to God by attempting to fulfill that part of the Great Commandment which says “to love God with all of your mind.”

For further information see this interview from Broadman & Holman which includes both Allen and Lemke.

Evangelism and the Early Church

"Despite uncertainty about numerous aspects of primitive Christianity, the sources are unanimous in reporting certain basic traits. Among these is an enthusiastic dedication to missionary activity. There was, to be sure, a protracted and often bitter debate about whether the mission should focus exclusively on Jews (“Go nowhere among the Gentiles,and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” – Matt 10:5f; cf. also the story of the Syrophoenician woman in Matt 15:21–28) or should include Gentiles as well (“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations . . .” – Matt 28:19!). Even among those who advocated a universal calling, there was disagreement about the conditions under which Gentiles could embrace the faith. Should they assume the full burden of the Mosaic Law (“But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up, and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses.”’ – Acts 15:5) or just a partial burden (Acts 15:19f)? Still others, like Paul, maintained that allegiance to the Christ meant freedom from the Law altogether (Galatians, passim). But transcending these disagreements was a consensus that a primary obligation of the community as a whole was to proclaim the gospel of Christ in the world. More than any other cult in the Roman Empire, Christianity was a missionary faith and, of course, owed its ultimate status in the empire to the success of its mission."

Although I am uncomfortable with the thesis of this article as a whole, which sees the evangelistic efforts of the early church as an example of cognitive dissonance related to the perceived failure of the kingdom to appear, the quote above is a helpful reminder of the evangelistic priority in the early church.

John G. Gager, “Christian Mission and the Theory of Cognitive Dissonance,” in Social-Scientific Approaches to New Testament Interpretation, ed. David G. Horrell (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1999), 179.

Four Reasons Not to Give a Altar Call

Larry Moyer has written a thought-provoking piece on altar calls, whether one believes in using them or not. Check it out here.

The Gospel Cannot Be a Product That The Church Sells

Justin Buzzard has highlighted the following quote taken from David Wells' The Courage to Be Protestant.

"...how likely is it, outside of the intervention of God through the Holy Spirit, that we will identify our needs as those arising from our rebellion against God? No, the product we will seek naturally will not be the gospel. It will be therapy of some kind, a technique for life, perhaps a way of connecting more deeply with our own spiritual selves on our own terms, terms that require no repentance and no redemption. It will not be the gospel. The gospel cannot be a product that the church sells because there are no consumers for it. When we find consumers, we will find that what they are interested in in buying, on their own terms, is not the gospel."

Don't Waste Your Summer

Jeff Medders at EatBible has an interesting post titled "Don't Waste Your Summer (9 resolutions)." His list includes:

1. Study Jesus & the Gospel. Read and study one of Gospels this summer. Read your Bible!!!!

2. Have breakfast everyday.

3. Read a good book this summer.

4. Get discipled or get a disciple.

5. Share the Gospel with someone.

6. War with your sin.

7. Serve in your church or go to church!!!

8. Tithe . . . if you have a job already, or if you are getting a summer job.

9. Pray for other people.

I suggest a tenth: take a summer mission trip.

A Good Reminder

"Only God omniscient can accurately appraise the results of evangelism. Only He can count converts. When through mass evangelism many thousands come to profess faith in Christ, only He who searches the reins and hearts of men (Rev. 2:23) can judge how many of them possess true and abiding faith. And when Robert Morrison, the father of Protestant missions in China, after twenty-eight years of zealous missionary endeavour numbered but ten souls as his hire, only God knew in how many additional hearts his Spirit was about to begin, or even had begun, a good work."

R. B. Kuiper, God-Centered Evangelism (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1966),221

Prayer and Evangelism

“To pray, however fervently, for the conversion of the unsaved, whether they be in China or in the house next door, and to take no action whatever toward acquainting them with the gospel of Jesus Christ, is an abomination.

“To be never so diligent in bringing the evangel to the lost, and not to pray that God may bless the evangel to their hearts unto salvation, is the height of folly, for only God the Holy Spirit can effectually by the Word call sinners to repentance.”

R. B. Kuiper, God-Centered Evangelism (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1966),151.