By Tyler Allred
Here’s my premise: If the Bible is actually God speaking to us, if Jesus is God become human, if his death and resurrection are real, and if that “gospel” is the powerful good news Christians claim it to be, then having a neutral response is not an option.
By Tyler Allred
Beau wrote a great post helping us understand how to identify an evangelist in our midst.
Now, I want to talk about how we can effectively empower and release those with the gift of evangelism in our ministries.
Many Christians I know assume that “everyone is supposed to do evangelism” (even though most still don’t!). Those with the “gift” of evangelism (like the rest of the gifts) are there “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). They are given to lead everyone else into the regular practice of sharing the good news of our King Jesus and compelling others to follow Him as Lord.
Here are five reflections on how to empower and release those you’ve identified with the evangelistic gift.
By Tyler Allred
“You can’t reduce the gospel to a tweet!”
I heard that this weekend. Is that correct? Is the gospel “un-tweetable?” Or maybe I could put it this way: If you only had one sentence, would it really be impossible to express the good news of Jesus? In reaction to a truncated, individualistic gospel, have we stuffed that word with so much, well, ‘stuff’ that it has lost some of its linguistic worth?
Specifically when it comes to this word, “gospel,” the great, good, glorious news of the Christian faith, I believe we absolutely need more clarity, not less.
By Tyler Allred
Have this mind among yourselves,
which is yours in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Therefore God has highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father
(Philippians 2:5-11 ESV)
Today I was listening to a sermon from Tim Keller he gave on February 1st, 2013 titled Imitating the Incarnation. He gave a rather provocative statement that I think can help shape how we approach evangelism:
“We must realize that the only possible way to respond to Jesus is “extremely”
