Today we are gong to hear part two of Joshua Anderson’s Announcing the Kingdom evangelism class. His topic is “What Evangelism Is Not.” Evangelism is not forcing a decision, converting people, condemning people’s sins, or arguing endlessly. This material is critical for us to grasp so we don’t get frustrated or stuck in ineffective methods. We do well to keep in mind that whatever your evangelism system is right now, it’s perfectly designed to keep getting the same results. Do you want to see different results? Then you have to change something!
—— Links ——
- See all the sessions in this class, Announcing the Kingdom
- Download the notes for this seminar
- Watch the unedited videos of this seminar.
- See more podcasts, posts, and book recommendations about evangelism
- The Unitarian Christian Alliance Conference (October 16-18) in Nashville, TN area.
- Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library
I would like to start with what we term the “great commission”.
Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “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 observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. ” NASB
This part of the “great commission” bears repeating and emphasis:
“… teaching them to observe all that I commanded you…”
When Jesus was asked what is the foremost commandment of the law, he quoted Deuteronomy 6:4-5, which should be translated:
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
4 ‘”Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one! 5 “And you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”’
Jesus also taught:
Luke 6:20-26
20 And turning His gaze on His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 22 “Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and cast insults at you, and spurn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. 23 “Be glad in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. 24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. 25 “Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26 “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets. NASB
Jesus also clearly taught that divorce and remarriage is adultery (Matt 5:31-32, Matt 19, Mark 10:11, Luke 16:18).
I am perplexed that you are giving appealing to Trinitarians to teach how to interpret Scripture when Jesus taught:
Luke 24:44-49
44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 “You are witnesses of these things. 49 “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
NASB
And Peter clearly taught:
2 Peter 1:20-21
20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. NASB
While Beckett Cook’s story is interesting, his “change of affection” is not unique. I prefer Dennis Jernigan’s account as a better fit for the postmodern concept of “sexual orientation” and that Jesus can change a person’s sexual orientation, after all he is married with 9 children. https://www.dennisjernigan.com/how-to-minister-to-someone-who-struggles-with-same-sex-attraction Or Joe Dallas who has written some excellent books on the subject, such as “Desires in Conflict” and “A Strong Delusion”. Joe is also married with children.
If reaching millennials with the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is one of your goals, then you will have to distance yourself from the Christian right and the message of hate that pervaded the formation of the Christian right as a political force. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/religious-right-real-origins-107133?o=0
I will end with this, since what Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23, can be said of the institutional church since the 4th century.
Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel about on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell (Gehenna) as yourselves. NASB