Tue, 2 May 2006 Hello again! Welcome back to the church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. I'm really excited today because the new Adobe Audition software came for producing our podcast. Our goal is to only be the best. Be sure to keep listening in! We continue with these thoughts on evangelism. Jesus did all that he could and this served to impress upon his disciples the need for immediate personal care for new converts, but he had to devote himself to the task of developing leaders who could give this kind of specialized care to others. The whole problem of giving personal care to every believer is only resolved in a thorough understanding of the nature and mission of the church. It was the church that was responsible for following up with all the followers of Christ.
Preaching to the masses will never suffice in the work of preparing leaders for evangelism. Building men and women for leadership requires constant personal attention. It can be done only by persons staying close to those whom they seek to lead. The church has obviously failed miserably in this case. There is a lot of talk in the church about evangelism, but little concern for personal association. When confirmands are confirmed, they are left entirely on their own to find the solutions to innumerable practical problems, any one of which can spell disaster for their new faith.
Half of those who make a profession of faith and join the church eventually fall out of membership and most of those who remain are insufficiently trained to be of any real service to the Kingdom. If Jesus found it necessary to stay almost constantly in contact with his disciples for three years, how does the church hope to accomplish the task in only a few days a year?
Every convert needs a Christian friend to follow until such time as he or she can lead another. The mentor should stay with the new believer as much as possible, studying the Bible and praying with him or her, all the while answering questions, clarifying the truth, and together seeking to help others. If the church doesn’t have such trained mentors, willing to do this, then it needs to be training some! Be sure to visit our website at: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Send your feedback to me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Remember that we need your feedback to keep improving! A real rough outline of tomorrow's podcast: Welcome Introduction Overview of evangelism An all new special addition to the program! Wrap up Thanks again for checking in. It means a lot to us. Talk to you tomorrow! Pastor Bob Emery Category: Religion -- posted at: 10:37 PM Comments[0] |
