Evangelism or entertainment?

January 16, 2025

Some years ago I started feeling there was something missing from my Christian life. As I thought more about it, I realized what the problem was: I was no longer doing any personal evangelism.


When I first met the Lord, I was on fire for Him and shared Christ with anyone who would listen. I was not embarrassed to do this, though I was puzzled by some of the negative responses I received. After all, why would anybody *not* want to meet God and have eternal life? 


Over time my fire of enthusiasm diminished however. Part of the reason for this was the church circle I moved in. I started out as an Evangelical where becoming educated seemed to be the goal, so I studied hard and read many books. But my hunger for God wasn't satisfied by this, so I moved over to the Charismatics where the goal seemed to be having cool experiences. But this didn't satisfy me either. What I really wanted was greater intimacy with God, a closer relationship with Him. And when I encountered the Vineyard movement and its emphasis on worship as our highest priority, I found what I was looking for. 


But even so, the way is hard that leads to life. And as my walk with God progressed, thorns grew up and began to choke my Christian life. It didn't help too that there was an Enemy that was trying to knock me off the Way. But I had reached a point where I had stopped bearing fruit. What should I do? 


I decided to try and rekindle my desire for doing personal evangelism by reading some books on the subject. So I went to our local Christian bookstore to see what I could find. And after perusing the shelves of top-selling titles, this is what I found:


  • About 30 books on the subject of "the prophetic"
  • More than 300 "Christian novels"
  • Three books on personal evangelism, all of them first published in the 1960s.


I was shocked. Is being excited and entertained what Christians here in North America crave most nowadays? By this point of my life I had already spent several years working in West Africa, and the Christians I met there viewed personal evangelism as a lifestyle, not some unpleasant activity they were occasionally required to engage in. 


Will the Son of Man find faith when he returns? I wonder. Because faith doesn't just mean believing, it also means doing. And sharing the Good News with people is part of what being a follower of Jesus is all about. 


But how can one get going again if one's efforts have dried up in this area? I'll share some thoughts on this in a future post. 


Cheers,

—Mitch

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More tips on doing personal evangelism

May 28, 2026
In a previous post I outlined some tips on how to become more effective in personal evangelism. I learned these years ago from listening to John Wimber teaching on the subject. I've been finding these tips helpful lately as Ingrid and I try to tell the people we meet in the marketplace about Jesus. In this present post I'll list some more tips gleaned from John's teaching, and I've incorporated these additional tips into the PDF titled John Wimber on Personal Evangelism which can be found in the Resources section of our website . You're the bait! The way you live and act will open the door "You're different. Why?" (from Ingrid) Use the J-word in your response! Meet them where they are at spiritually Not everyone is hungry for God People are at many different levels in the process of coming to God Fill up their cup, but don't overfill Give them a Bible verse that relate to their present need This means you need to know the Scriptures! Remember that God is seeking them even if they aren't looking for Him Be sincere when answering their questions Admit that you don't know the answer "But this I do know..." Still more to come... —Mitch

Church is a lifestyle!

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Shake off the dust

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