Articles
by Evangelist Frank Tyler
Introduction
Sharing our faith with others remains the single most intimidating thing we do as Christians. Fear of loss, fear of failure and fear of the unknown are but some of the fears brothers and sisters experience when doing the work of evangelism. Most Christians attempt to resolve these tensions by more intently studying the good news and cross in order to be better prepared for an opportunity to share. While the study of God’s Word is always an important part of our worship of Him, evangelism requires a somewhat counter-intuitive approach. We must learn to pray, trust the Holy Spirit and keep our message straight-forward and simple.[133]
by Evangelist Frank Tyler
Preface
This article began as a letter to my daughter Jen and son-in-law Dale to answer questions they had regarding Calvinism. When I discovered my grandson Caleb would attend Multnomah Bible College soon, I revised this letter and added footnotes to help him understand these issues in greater depth. From the perspective of equipping others to do evangelism, the ongoing conflict between Calvinism and Arminianism undermines assurance of eternal life; simply put, an individual cannot share what he does not know he has: namely, everlasting life. If the issues surrounding Arminianism and Calvinism are beginning to percolate into the spiritual life of my family, perhaps other brothers and sisters share similar concerns for their families.
by Evangelist Frank Tyler
Introduction
In last year’s 2018 TTVF Journal, we learned that Jesus’ testimony to Nicodemus reveals God’s chesed or loyal covenantal love in giving His Son for the salvation of the world, both Jew and Gentile. [82] As a teacher of Israel and a Pharisee, Nicodemus might well have been taken aback with Jesus’ promise: For in this manner, God loved ( chesed) the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16; underlining added for emphasis). [83] Despite his high standing within Israel, we learned that as an individual, Nicodemus was a mere whoever in need of eternal life.
by
Dr. Robert N. Wilkin
Executive Director for The Grace Evangelical Society
Reprinted from The Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, Spring 2019. *
I. Introduction
Over the past few years I have read articles and books by leading Evangelicals arguing that the concept of repentance is found in the Gospel of John. They have suggested it is a major error to conclude, as I and others have, that because the words repent and repentance (metanoeō and metanoia) do not appear in John’s Gospel, then repent-ance must not be a condition of everlasting life. [35]
By Apologist Don Crouse
Introduction
Are you smarter than dirt? My guess is that most of us think we are. Well hold on to your mortarboards, boys and girls, because dirt is a lot smarter than you think. There is one area where dirt has challenged and confounded the collective intellect of mankind for millennia. And I've been trying to figure out a way to talk about this topic for years. Well, I'm not getting any younger and dirt isn't getting any smarter, so I thought it's time to give dirt the opportunity to show us how stupid we really are compared to its basic elemental abilities. You see, dirt has done something that no human has ever done. Dirt has created life from, well, dirt! People can't do that. Sure it had a little help from water, but I can't believe we're still not as smart as mud. However, based on all the science I've looked at, that seems to be the case. So let's take a quick look at life and see if you're smarter than dirt.
by Pastor Grant E. Christensen
Introduction
Several years ago, I presented to the congregation I serve a series of sermons on prayer and evangelism. Given below are the scripture texts for those sermons followed by a more or less short reflection on how one might use them in prayer for a more effective life of sharing the gospel. Also, I have included a few more passages that I hadn’t included in that series. These are not meant to be steps to evangelism, nor is the list of texts meant to be exhaustive. Rather, I see them as prayer strategies that become part of a way of life--a life devoted to seeing the lost found.
Matthew 10:29
The tour van stops in front of the gate
to let out the guide and his charges.
My sister-in-law and I cross the street
hoping to catch some history
but most only stay five minutes
or so, in and out
as fast as confession might take.
But we linger after the tourists leave
the sanctuary where sparrows
fly freely in through windows left open
for a breeze, in, then back out and back in
again, true worshippers.
Donna Smith 4-23-2015
Parroquia de San Lucas Evangelista, the Parish of Saint Luke the Evangelist
Cabo San Lucas Photo by Donna Smith
by Grant Christiansen
In John 3:16 Jesus proclaims the most remarkable promise ever given to humankind: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (RSV) His promise is given irrespective of one's ability, ethnicity, gender, merit, performance, status or work; his promise is give to the most desperate and evil of men and women as well as to the best amongst us! The result of believing his promise is the deepest longing of the human heart: eternal life.
The promise begins with a simple word: for. "For God so loved the world...." The word for serves as marking the reason for what has just preceded. In John 3:14-15 Jesus had said, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." (RSV) Jesus has likened his being lifted up on the cross to an ancient account of the Hebrew people's disobedience in grumbling against God after having been delivered from slavery in Egypt.