For my Spanish Speaking Friends

If you speak Spanish, we invite you to come participate in Festival Victoria in Mexico, December 21-23, 2009. Click on the picture for more info...

Innovative Idea for Outreach

Scott Howe, a friend of mine, just sent me an e-mail about an innovative outreach he did this week in Orlando, FL using art to reach people for Jesus. 

Check out what happened at: http://www.evokeministries.org/reality-thru-artistry-park-outreach/

What are some creative ways you reach out to people? Have you ever used art as an evangelistic tool? Tell me your story... 

How Would You Minister to a Pagan?

            Every day we encounter people who have different belief systems. I believe there is a key to reaching each person. I always ask the Holy Spirit to show me how to minister to the people I run into. Sometimes I am able to lead someone to the Lord; often I fail. Today, I crashed and burned…

            I met a man in the Atlanta airport today who is a self-proclaimed pagan. He was born a Baptist, but raised hell as a young man, now he is a girl’s volleyball coach. He is well read and has thought through his belief system. He does not believe there is a God who cares about him individually as a person, but he does believe in pagan fertility rites and Zen Buddhism.

            His life philosophy comes from his volleyball coaching experience. He said, “Whoever gets the most playing time in life wins.” He said the point of life was to have fun, to play, to spend time in the game.

            I shared my testimony with him and gave him a brief overview of the Gospel. He accused me of believing in a “closed-loop system.” He said that once I accepted “by faith” the existence of God and chose to believe the Bible, that I was closed to any other way of thinking. He said that my religion was no different than any other intolerant religion. After a few minutes of talking, he walked away to catch his flight.

            My question is: How would you have ministered to him? What would you have said to bring him to Jesus?

Dream BIG

I think all of us should dream about doing the impossible from time to time...

Do you want to become a missionary?

Recently, a young woman heard me talking about what God is doing around the world and she asked me, "How can I become a missionary?"

She began to explain that she felt called by God to go full-time to the mission field but she did not know how to get started.

"If you want to become a full-time missionary, and live for a year or more on the mission field, I encourage you to get some training," I replied.

Several years ago, I was asked by Pastor Billy Joe Daugherty, pastor of Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, OK to be on the board of Victory World Missions Training Center. If you want to become a missionary, you should go through their one-year training program. You will learn how to minister cross culturally, how to learn a foreign language, techniques for effective outreach in foreign lands, plus you will learn how to share your vision and raise money.

As I thought about this woman's desire to become a missionary, I realized that other people who receive my e-mails may want to become missionaries too.

MISSIONARIES: Victory World Missions Training School is a great place to receive training if you want to become a missionary.

OTHER NATIONS: If you already live in a foreign country and want to learn how to be more effective in your ministry, you may want to consider VWMTC as a place for further training.

PASTORS: If there is someone in your church who wants to be a missionary, please consider sending them to this dynamic school before sending them out to the mission field.

For more information, check out their website at: http://www.victorymissions.com. For more information about attending the school, call: Reba Altizer at: 918-491-7630.

Witnessing in the Workplace

I just received an e-mail from someone who lost her job after giving her boss a slip of paper with a Bible verse on it. I am wondering how often this happens. Here are some questions: 

1. Have you ever experienced negative consequences for sharing your Christian faith while at work? 

2. Does your workplace have a policy directly against witnessing? 

3. In Titus 2:9, Paul encourages servants to obey their masters which in modern times means employees should obey their employers. Jesus told us in Mark 16:15 to preach the Gospel to every person. Which instruction do you think is more important to follow? 

4. Do you think there is a way to witness without disobeying your employer's rules? 

5. Do you think it might be dishonest to use the time your employer pays you for to do something of a personal nature like witnessing? 

6. Is it worth the chance of losing your job if you can rescue someone from hell? 

7. Do you think Christians should share their faith in the workplace? How? When? 

Book Report on "Inside the Revolution" by Joel C. Rosenberg

Today I am reading a great book by Joel C. Rosenberg. If you are interested in what is happening in the Muslim world I highly recommend it. In the book, he examines three different groups of people in the Muslim world. 

The RADICALS are followers of Jihad. They believe that Islam is the answer and Jihad is the way. They follow the teachings of Osama bin Laden and Ayatollah Khomeini. Their teachings encourage suicide bombers to blow themselves up. They believe that ultimately the entire world will be conquered by the Muslim faith. 

The REFORMERS are Muslims who believe that Islam is the answer but Jihad is not the way. They are followers of the political philosophy of Thomas Jefferson. They feel that more Muslim nations need to follow democratic principles of government where there is personal freedom, representative government, and freedom from oppression. 

The REVIVALISTS are those who believe that Islam is not the answer, and Jihad is not the way. They are Muslim Background Believers who follow the teaching of Jesus Christ. Throughout the Muslim world many people are coming to believe in Jesus as Savior, not just as a prophet. 

The third section of the book is the most exciting because the author shares many stories of how Muslims are meeting Jesus in dreams and visions and choosing to follow Jesus. In many Muslim nations, there are reports of many people becoming followers of Jesus in spite of the great personal cost and potential danger they face. 

Many of the Muslim Background Believers came to Jesus because someone witnessed to them or encouraged them to read the Bible. Once they start to be learn about Jesus, many of them report that Jesus actually appeared to them. So, I think our strategy to reach Muslims should be two pronged: first, we must do everything we can to reach out to Muslims; second, we must trust Jesus to work with us to change lives.