iMonk Radio Podcast #94

This episode begins with a reflection on the invitation as part of evangelism. Discussion is on the ways Michael has changed over the course of his Christian journey.

Book Review: The Great Digital Commission

At the end of Jesus’s earthly ministry, he issued what we most often call the Great Commission for his followers to go into all the world and share the Gospel. Acts 1:8 is often cited as the biblical basis for sending missionaries but it echoes the Great Commission command to go to the whole earth and bear witness. It is a basic tenant of the Christian faith that believers are to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

In The Great Digital Commission: Embracing Social Media for Church Growth and Transformation, Caleb J. Lines begins by addressing the continued need for evangelism in the world today. Many congregations are in decline, particularly in mainline Protestant denominations, because too many churches have become social clubs or platforms for political agendas. Our main concern as Christian communities needs to be what it always has been, sharing the good news that Jesus welcomes all and is the only path to salvation. Evangelism needs to make a comeback in both personal, face to face contact in the real world and online using every social media platform. Lines points out that 84% of American churches have a website and/or a Facebook page so most recognize the need to reach a digital audience. Some of those websites are dated and many Facebook pages are used sporadically or often not at all. Fewer congregations can be found using Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

iMonk Radio Podcast #146

Michael plugs Cornerstone 09. I believe we have some audio from that conference that we can share later.

Southern Baptist Convention met in Louisville, KY and Michael feels the denomination is ready to “get over itself.” He explains what that means.

The Anglican Church of North America is a new thing.

The big discussion is on evangelism and questions that many of us have.

Your Jesus is Too Safe by Jared Wilson is still available at Amazon.

iMonk Radio Podcast #141

The file says #141 despite Michael calling it 142. We will hear 142 next week.

Small talk about Reds baseball, Advance 09 conference and the book deal.

Short discussion of technology and how it relates to ministry. Longer discussion of The Next Evangelicalism by Soong-Chan Rah. Here is Michael’s review.

The Phenomenon of Billy Graham

I don’t know how many tributes have been written, published, posted or tweeted this week about Billy Graham. I am not writing because I think there needs to be another one; sometimes the writing process is how we work through things. But in the process of thinking about it, maybe I can share with you some things to think about as well.

Are All Christians to Share the Gospel?

In the circles of Christianity that I run in, we believe that some are called to preach, some are gifted to teach, but all are called to be evangelists. Any born again Christian should be able to communicate to another person what Christ has done, even if the exchange is one on one. You do not have to be a preacher, Sunday School teacher or any sort of public speaker to share the Gospel. Apologetics is about presenting a defense of our faith and any Christian if asked ought to at least be able to explain why he or she is a believer. There are some, however, that still preach from the pulpit that only the ordained minister can evangelize from the pulpit. Consider this summary of one reformed pastor when responding to this issue on the Puritan Board website:

Have You Heard the Good News?

John the Baptist sent his own disciples to Jesus, asking if he was the one promised or should they wait for another. Jesus responded “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers  are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.” (Luke 7:22) Have you heard the Good News? And if so, who told you?

Leon Brown Responds to Common Objections to the Gospel

I don’t have a “Watch and Share File” but take a look at this.  Leon Brown wrote an article listing three common objections people have to receiving the Gospel.  In a sit down interview he discusses those objections and lists practical responses.

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I’m listening to Leon Brown and thinking about the ministry of Jesus.  Jesus was not thinking about the number of baptisms he could list or the number of contacts he could report making.  His ministry wasn’t about sheer numbers as much as it was about changing people’s lives; real people that he cared about.  Jesus sometimes argued with religious leaders, but he didn’t really waste a lot of time on them.  He was more likely talking to tax collectors and prostitutes, touching lepers, preaching the Gospel to the poor, or explaining the kingdom to the working class.

There’s a lot of wisdom in the things Leon Brown says, but notice also how he carries himself and the mind set with which he approaches sharing the Gospel.  He is sowing seeds rather than trying to win a debate about how everyone else is wrong.  This is some of the most practical apologetics I’ve heard in a long time.  Let me blunt:

We should all listen to this guy and share the Gospel the way he does.

*I’m not the first blogger to link this.  Props to Paul Wilkinson and the Wednesday Link List.

The Read and Share File

Tim Challies shares truths supported by scripture on the topic of evangelism.

The title of the post – Is There a Holy Spirit? – may give the wrong impression.  Bobby Jamieson at 9Marks Blog is describing two ways to fill a church, and how you answer that question has a lot to do with how you proceed.

What is the best thing you can do for your pastor?  According to The Blazing Center it’s pray for him.

I actually took this picture myself, then added Luke 1:78.  That’s a genuine eastern Kentucky sunrise.

Boston.com, the online presence of the Boston Globe, shares 22 pictures of the Jewish festival of Purim.

On a whim, I searched for “sunrise service” on Google.  Enjoyed this short entry on Wikipedia.    Here’s an excerpt:

The first Easter Sunrise Service recorded took place in 1732 in the Moravian congregation at Herrnhut in the Upper Lusatian hills of Saxony. After an all-night prayer vigil, the Single Brethren, the unmarried men, of the community, went to the town graveyard, God’s Acre, on the Hill above the town, to sing hymns of praise to the Risen Saviour. The following year, the whole Congregation joined in the service. Thereafter the “Easter Morning” or “Sunrise Service” spread around the world with the Moravian missionaries. The procession to the graveyard is accompanied by the antiphonal playing of chorales by brass choirs.

And then I stumbled onto this:

Read more here: http://www.capitalchurch.net/ministries/easter-service/  There were 120 at the first service in 1979; on April 8 they expect 6,000!

Where is God?

Where is God? Lots of people have a take on where God might be. Atheists believe that there is no god of any kind, anywhere. Agnostics believe there may be a god or some type of higher power, but we either don’t know what that is or perhaps we cannot know. Deists believe the universe was set into motion like the gears of a clock, but that we are tiny and insignificant to such an omnipotent God. Then there’s New Agers, Scientologists, Oprah and so forth. Some spend their entire lives looking for God, but he isn’t hard to find. The truth is it should be hard to miss God.