Witnessing

Apostle Paul's Areopagus address

Apostle Paul's arguments presented at Athens--also known as his Areopagus address--did not find common ground with the pagans. He was disputing with the Jews and with devout persons (worshipers before idols) in the market-place. There was no intellectual bridge being built--Apostle Paul insulted their belief system in Acts 17:22-23. Paul tells them they are "in everything too superstitious". This Greek use of word "deisidaimonesterous" in this passage was used by the Greeks to show contempt. Apostle Paul was not an "Evanjellyfish". (See article by Dr. Wright titled Paul's Purpose at Athens & the Problem of "Common Ground".)

Who should Evangelize?

Evangelism is commanded for all believers (Matt.28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 8:1-4; 1 Thess. 1:7-10), which includes witnessing everywhere (marketplace, work, school, etc.--see the Book of Acts). Yes, the church members should be leading sinners to Christ and then disciple them in the things of God (Matt. 28-19-20).

History of Evangelism

The Apostles, Reformers, Christ and 17th, 18th, 19th century famous evangelists/preachers such as Cotton Mather (02/12/1663 - 02/13/1728), Jonathan Edwards (10/05/1703 - 03/22/1758), Charles H. Spurgeon (06/19/1834 - 01/31/1892), always preached to the intellect. They never appealed to emotions, used marketing techniques, psychology, telling stories with tears flowing from their eyes, antidotes, using music, hymns or told them to say the "sinners prayer", which was an invention of Finney. They preached sin and repentance with the power of the Holy Spirit. (The American Evangelists and preachers followed the English Puritans who followed the Reformers in how they preached the Gospel.) What happened to change the way evangelism is done? Charles G. Finney (08/29/1792 - 08/16/1875) changed the method of Evangelism. Finney decided to preach to people's feelings/emotions and revolted against the Puritans and Reformers way of evangelism (the Bible), which was to persuade people on why they ought to believe. The alter call was another invention of Finney as well. He also believed in "sinless perfection" and denied the vicarious atonement of Christ. Charles Finney denied original sin and was a Pelagian. (Pelagius--ca.354 - ca. 420/440--was an ascetic monk who denied the doctrine of original sin from Adam.) Yes, Finney was a heretic and was condemned by the Christian theologians of his day such as B.B. Warfield (11/05/1851 - 02/17/1921) . Most of Charles Finney's converts became either "Universalists" or "Unitarians" . Unfortunately, modern evangelists such as Billy Graham adopted a lot of Finney's methods. [Billy Graham in his early years preached the Gospel with great clarity. Billy Graham appeared on May 31, 1997 on the Robert Schuller’s “Hour of Power” and stated that it is not necessary to hear of or believe in Jesus to go to heaven—see YouTube link located Here .] (John MacArthur publicly rebuked Billy Graham on February 15, 2001 for saying this on the Robert Schuller’s show—see John MacArthur’s written response on PDF; I will let God be the judge of Billy Graham’s heart, but what he stated is heretical.) Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (the premiere evangelical preacher and theologian in London, Westminster Chapel) would not attend any of Billy Graham’s crusades. At the request of Billy Graham, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones had a two hour meeting with him. Billy Graham asked him why he would not attend his crusades. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones response to Billy Graham was that the Bible gave him no authority to manipulate people, psychologically massage the audience and to emotionally overcome them to make all these false converts. Needless to say Billy Graham was upset and a close member of the Billy Graham family called Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones two days later and almost cursed him out. They told Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones that it took them several days to get Billy straightened out. This is why less than 1% of all the people who walked down the aisle after the alter call at his Crusades ever made it into a church--this has been admitted by the Billy Graham Association. The other people were signed, sealed and delivered into perdition over a false assurance. It should be noted that so-called carnal Christians per Bible are not saved. Finney invented this third category of human beings called “carnal Christians.” The two Greek words, sarkikos and sarkos are different Greek words. According to Apostle Paul (Romans 8), if you are carnal, you are dead. There is either the “natural” or the “spirtual”—you are either “saved” or “lost”. The word “carnal” means dead, not saved!

What about appealing to the Conscience in
Evangelism—is this Biblical?

To quote from Chapter 11, pages 50-52 from the book entitled The Bible, Natural Law, and Natural Theology: Conflict or Compromise? (words highlighted blue & red for emphasis sake) By Dr. Robert A. Morey:

The Biblical Concept of the Conscience

The word English word “conscience” carries a great deal of cultural and philosophical baggage that has been collected down through the centuries. Natural Law theorists naively assume that the word refers to the Stoic idea of an infallible divine faculty resident in “human nature.” They do not define or defend their assumption. They simply assume that is what the word means.

The biblical concept of the “conscience” has nothing to do with Stoicism. The Hebrew Old Testament never refers to the “conscience.” There isn’t even a Hebrew word for it. No one in the O.T. ever appealed to it as an inner judge of right and wrong. Since the Jews had the Torah, they did not need a conscience.

In the New Testament, the word never appears in the Gospels and is never referred to by Jesus or the Twelve. In the Epistles, the Greek word simply means “joint” (sun) “knowledge” ( ) and has no ontological reality. It simply meant to be sincere in what you say and do. This is why it is used as the opposite to lying in Rom. 9:1.

I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my
conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,

Barclay and Nida point out that the word,

Conscience may be variously translated, depending
upon the particular set of associations connected with
certain terms or phrases—for example, “my heart,”
“my innermost,” “that which speaks within me,” or
“the voice in my heart.”

In Acts 23:1 Paul said,

And Paul, looking intently at the Council, said,
"Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good
conscience before God up to this day."

Newman and Nida analyze the word (“conscience”) in this text to mean “in my heart I have no serious questions about my whole life before God.” Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament defined in the following way.

In scripture we are to view conscience, as Bishop Ellicott remarks, not in its abstract nature, but in its practical manifestations. Hence it may be weak (1 Cor. 8:7, 12), unauthoritative, and awakening only the feeblest emotion. It may be evil or defiled (Heb. 10:22; Tit. 1:15), through consciousness of evil practice. It may be seared (1 Tim. 4:2), branded by its own testimony to evil practice, hardened and insensible to the appeal of good. On the other hand, it may be pure (2 Tim. 1:3), unveiled, and giving honest and clear moral testimony. It may be void of offence (Acts 24:16), unconscious of evil intent or act: good, as here, or honorable (Heb. 13:18). The expression and the idea, in the full Christian sense, are foreign to the Old Testament, where the testimony to the character of moral action and character is borne by external revelation rather than by the inward moral consciousness.

As Walvoord and Zuck point out, the post-lapsarian conscience of man,

is not an absolutely trustworthy indicator of what is right. One’s conscience can be “good” (Acts 23:1; 1 Tim. 1:5, 19) and “clear” (Acts 24:16; 1 Tim. 3:9; 2 Tim. 1:3; Heb. 13:18), but it can also be “guilty” (Heb. 10:22), “corrupted” (Titus 1:15), “weak” (1 Cor. 8:7, 10, 12), and “seared” (1 Tim. 4:2). All people need to trust the Lord Jesus Christ so that “the blood of Christ” might “cleanse [their] consciences” (Heb. 9:14).

When Natural theologians interpret the word as a reference to the pagan Greek concept of a divine faculty resident in “human nature,” they are guilty of reading pagan ideas back into Scripture. Scripture should be interpreted while standing on Mt. Zion, not Mt. Olympus.

1 The KJV translates the Hebrew word (heart) is mistranslated “conscience” in a few places. When one Natural theologian demanded that be interpreted to mean the “conscience,” I pointed him to Pro. 28:26, which says that whoever trusts in his is a fool. If he wants to refer to the conscience, then Scripture forbids us to trust the conscience!

In other words, the conscience is unreliable to determine what right or wrong is—this is why the law (special revelation) is preached to show people they are guilty before God and need to repent of their sins. The conscience cannot be used to establish universal laws. Otherwise Apostle Paul would not have stated that he would not have known what sin is if the law was not revealed to him.

What should we say, then? Is the law sinful? Of course not! In fact, I wouldn’t have known sin if it had not been for the law. For I wouldn’t have known what it means to covet if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” (Romans 7:7, ISV)

It should also be noted that the “law is not written in the hearts” of the unconverted. Romans 2:15 (NKJV) states, “who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them.” It is the work of law, not the law written in their hearts! Only when a person becomes converted/regenerated that the law is written in their hearts (see Hebrews 8:7-13).

Man’s condemnation comes from the inherited depravity from Adam (Rom. 5:12-21). Thus the presence or absence of Torah does not determine the condemnation of sinners. We are “born in sin and conceived iniquity” (Psa. 51:5); we are “already perishing” () from the moment we are conceived (1Cor. 1:18); we are “dead in trespasses in sins” (Eph. 2-1-2). Yes, we are guilty from birth because of Adam and Eve’s imputation of sin. Apostle Paul never tells us that Creation can lead us to salvation. Creation is sufficient to condemn us, but not sufficient to save us. The Gentiles have the light of Creation but suppress () the witness of Creation and worship the Creation instead of the Creator (Romans 1:25) because they cannot do otherwise unless God reveals Himself through Special Revelation and grants them repentance and faith. General Revelation is not Natural Law, but God’s activity of revealing Himself (Romans 1:19). However, man’s depravity does not allow God’s revelation to get through. Apostle Paul states that we all,

suppress the truth in unrighteousness

(Rom. 1:18)

How do we Evangelize?

First, "Instead, exalt Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you to explain the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak evil of your good conduct in Christ will be ashamed of slandering you" (I Peter 3:15-16 ISV). You better be a bona fide Christian and have no conflict with God--in other words, are you confessing and repenting of your sins and living a holy life (Prov. 28:13; I John 1:9)? This is does not imply "sinless perfection", which is impossible until we are resurrected (we will always sin until Christ returns). Do you have a clear conscious before God?

Apologetics is part of evangelism and not a separate entity. You witness to people from where they are. There is no magical formula--the Holy Spirit has to do the convicting. There are two methods used in apologetics: Presuppositional (you deal with "first principles" or underlying ideas) and Evidential (logic, scientific facts, livability, etc). The two methods are not opposed to each other--I do not accept the false Greek dichotomy that it is either/or They should be both used to bring people to Christ--see 1 Cor. 3:4-5, 21-23. (Beware of humanistic apologetics--there are "Evidentialists" who are rationalists, mystics and empiricists and there are "Presuppositionalists" who are mystics and fideists.) Many of your current Christians apologists are humanists and have adopted "natural theology"--these humanist apologists would not have been allowed on the college circuit if Dr. Cornelius Van Til , Dr. Gordon H. Clark, Dr. Francis Schaeffer, etc. were still living. They all rejected "natural theology" .

I have witnessed/evangelized to many people over the years, especially in the Princeton area, and they will not even listen to you if you do not answer their questions, which makes apologetics a must. Our country is a post-Christian society with maybe 5% or less born-again Christians in America (there was a recent Barna poll that had similar numbers). Most of the people I witnessed to do not even understand what sin is--you have to explain what it is and go back to Genesis . If they are Atheists , Wiccans , Hindus , Buddhists , Muslims , etc., you better be able to refute their religion/worldview or they will not listen to you. Then you can present the Gospel. Also, many Hindus, Jewish or Muslims will not take a regular Gospel tract such as a Ray Comfort tract--you should have a Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist tract, etc. to give to them.

Note: Do not allow the world to mold you (Rom. 12:1), this has caused many Christians to adopt the heresy of "political correctness". There are times when God will lead Christians through the Holy Spirit to use humor, ridicule, and mock false religions. This was practiced by Christ (Matt. 23), the Prophets (I Kings 18:26), Apostles (2 Peter 3, Gal. 5:12), Reformers [Martin Luther (11/10/1483 - 02/18/1546) called the false divinity teachers "senseless asses"], etc. Here a few Bible quotes on divine humor & ridicule:

"The wicked plots against the righteous, and grinds his teeth at him. But the Lord laughs at him because he sees that his day is coming!" (Psalm 12-13 ISV).
"Everyone is stupid and senseless. They follow worthless instruction from a piece of wood!" (Jeremiah 10:8 ISV).
"John would say to the crowds that were coming out to be baptized by him, 'You children of serpents! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?'" (Luke 3:7 ISV).
"The righteous will fear when they see this, but then they will laugh at him, saying 'Look, here is a young man who refused to make God his strength; instead, he trusted in his great wealth and made his wickedness his strength.'" (Psalm 52:6-7 ISV).
"But Elymas the occult practioner (that is the meaning of his name) continued to oppose them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked him straight in the eye and said, `You are full of every form of deception and trickery, you son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right! You will never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord, will you?’" (Acts 13:8-10, ISV).
“Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and their faith is a counterfeit. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those two men, their stupidity will be plain to everyone." (II Timothy 3:8-9, ISV).
“And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, `Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.’” (I Kings 18:27, NKJV).
“Listen to this message, you fat cows from Bashan, who live on the Samaritan mountains, who oppress the poor, who rob the needy, and who constantly as your husbands for none more drink!” (Amos 4:1, ISV).

Of course, this is not a license to go around insulting people and acting obnoxious--there is a time and place for everything and one must be led by the Holy Spirit.

Warning: Christian College clubs should not be sponsoring Jesuit-trained apologists (who call themselves Evangelicals) or evangelists and students should not be using their material for defending the faith. This has occurred at the College of New Jersey (TCNJ) on March 31, 2009 with the debate between Frank Turek [a nice guy, but brain washed by the Thomists (who adhere to the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas--the official philosopher of the Roman Catholic Church--who got his philosophy from Aristotle) and Christopher Hitchens. [Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) was a heretic—he denied justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from works; justification is that act of God in which the imputed righteousness of Christ is credited to your account--he believed in infused righteousness, which is a works based salvation in addition to other heresies (see what Aquinas wrote in his Summa Theologica, ii, 1, question 100, article 12)]. You basically had two humanists arguing with each other, but Christopher Hitchens was smart enough to know that Paley and Rationalism (David Hume refuted Rationalism and the mechanistic worldview) had been discredited a long time ago. Dr. Francis Schaeffer stated, “A Christian humanist is a humanist.” Why are Jesuit trained apologists on the college circuit? Dr. Norman Geisler was the first to openly break with the historic evangelical position on Aquinas. In his small book defending Thomas Aquinas, he stated that since the previous generation of Protestant apologists, such as Carl Henry, Francis Schaeffer, Van Ti, etc. were now dead, the time was now ripe for him and other secret Thomists to come “out of the closet.” These Jesuit-trained Thomists would have had their sorry asses kicked out of the evangelical circuit by the great Evangelical scholars, if they were alive, such as Dr. Van Til, Dr. Gordon Clark, Dr.Carl F. Henry, Dr. Francis Schaeffer, etc. They all rejected Aquinas’ Natural Theology and Natural Law. They understood that the doctrine of sola scriptura was the basis of the Reformation—that is, sola scriptura.

What is a true Missionary?—Are short-term “missions” simply all expense paid vacations to exotic locations so people can feel good about themselves?

A quote from Dr. Brian Abshire from his article entitled MISSIONARY MADNESS

Turning Sacred Cows into Holy Hamburgers

However, please don’t call yourself a “missionary” if you don’t do “missionary” work. Missionaries preach the Gospel, start churches, disciple leaders and open new territories for Christ. Thus if you are an accountant, school teacher or cook working for a mission’s organization, you are NOT a missionary. You are an accountant, teacher or cook working maybe in a foreign land. And while accountants, book-keepers, cooks and janitors all have important work to do, they are NOT “missionaries.” Misusing this term commits the fallacy of “equivocation” wherein you subtly shift between the meanings of words using the connotations of one meaning to justify the connotations of another.

Missionary Madness (full article)--PDF
Amaturisation of Missions—PDF
The Missionary and the Poor—PDF

Clarification: Cultural things are lawful and the issue is not whether you have long hair or short hair; this is not an issue of truth or morals. For example, if you are witnessing in a particular culture where long hair for men is an offense or women not wearing a dress is an offense, then Christians are free to conform to that culture to win them for Christ (I Cor. 10:29). The length of hair is a relative and a cultural issue. This is not an issue of “absolute morality”, which would be sin in any culture such as homosexuality, fornication, adultery, etc.

(Click the PDF File on "Evangelism in Princeton, NJ" --name of group and Evangelists' names removed for security reasons.)

Recommended Religious Tracts

Living Waters
Ray Comfort Tracts
These are great all around tracts to hand out and are inexpensive. Recommend Comfort tracts: America, America (236), Million Dollar Bill (298) (295 Spanish), Big Money (234), Euro Million Bill (249), Darwin $10,000 Bill (217), The Atheist Test (231), Evolution (245), etc.
Chick Publications
Chick Tracts
These are excellent tracts for high schools & colleges (beautiful graphics and inexpensive). Recommended tracts: This was Your Life, Allah Had No Son (available in Arabic, Spanish, French, etc.), Love the Jewish People, Doom Town (a great tract for witnessing against the homosexual lifestyle), Man in Black, God with Us, In the Beginning, It's Coming and Who Loves You? (for Black Audiences). Many tracts offered in Spanish.
Faith Defenders
Tracts for reaching Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Jewish People, etc.
These are some of the best scholarly written tracts produced refuting other religions and presenting the Gospel. Recommended tracts: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Who Owns the Land of Israel?, Is the Qur'an the 100% Word of God?, Jehovah's Witnesses/Resurrection, Open Letter to Witches, etc. Faith Defenders is the only organization producing scholarly tracts for reaching the above groups. (The tracts are very effective for witnessing to the above groups.)
The Trinity Foundation
Christian Philosophy Tracts
Some excellent Christian philosophy & Gospel tracts. Recommended tracts: What Is Christian Philosophy?, Civilization & the Protestant Reformation, Are You Catholic?, God's Plan to Save His People, etc.
Proclaiming the Gospel
Catholic Tracts
They produce some excellent Catholic tracts. I gave many Catholics the tract titled "Scripture vs. Tradition" and most liked the tract. It compares the 1994 Catechism and the Bible. Also, available in Spanish.
The Friends of Israel
Jewish Tracts
They produce some excellent Jewish tracts. Recommended tracts: Will the Real Messiah Please Stand Up!, How Would you Recognize the Messiah?, The God of Israel: One God or Three?, etc.
Creation Ministries International
Creation Tracts
They produce some excellent creation tracts. Recommended tracts: Two recently Exposed Frauds used to support Evolution, Can you tell the difference between Evolution and Natural Selection? The tracts are very effective for high school and college students.
Answers to Genesis
Creation Tracts
They produce some excellent booklets. Recommended booklets: Evolution to Creation, Evidence for a Young World, Six days or millions of years? Grand Canyon, Is Man descended from Adam?, etc. The booklets are very effective for high school and college students.
God’s Great Outdoor
Hunting and Fishing tracts
They produce some excellent outdoor recreation tracts and books on Hunting And The Bible.
Brut Printing Company
Custom Gospel Tracts
If you want custom tracts made, this company is recommended. They produce Ray Comfort’s Gospel Tracts.
Lightning Source
Print-on-demand for books
Xulon Press
Print-on-demand for books