Great Article on the "Must-have's" for evangelism

While reading some blogs yesterday, I engaged in a discussion about evangelism. In that discussion, which came from the social gospel POV, I defended my belief that unless such ministry was empowered by a passion for souls won for Christ, it exchanged temporary benefit for everlasting life.

Today I read Timothy Brister's article linked below where he quotes Kuiper's work. Go read the whole list. The excerpt below is the last, and touched my heart.

Evangelism’s Must-Have’s « Provocations & Pantings

6. He must have an overwhelming love for the Saviour, who first loved him, and therefore exclaim:

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Himself being a sinner saved by grace, he ought to proclaim the love of God more eloquently than can the angels. Such communication of the evangel God is wont to bless and to use.

- R.B. Kuiper, God-Centered Evangelism (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1966, reprint 2002), 217-18.

Amen and Amen

Today, we are assuming too much. We assume the gospel. We assume our churches are healthy. We assume we are preaching biblical, Christ-centered sermons. When we have recovered the inerrancy of Scripture, there are major pulpits today which are preaching Christless sermons. We must come back to understanding that all of Scripture is about Jesus Christ. We must get back to doctrinal preaching and gospel-driven churches. We need evangelism that does not leave out the evangel.

The kind of Southern Baptists we need today are those who understand that we do not need the SBC. There are some wonderful things about it, but the kingdom of God is not hinged on the SBC. With that attitude, the denominational leaders and power brokers do not have one thing we want, and we do not have one thing that they can take. We must continue to work for reformation within and without the SBC. Go and read Revelation 2-3. Recommit yourselves to the local church. We do not need to count ourselves as better evaluators of churches than Jesus Christ. We must labor for the recovery of the gospel and the reformation of the local church.

Dr Tom Ascol via Timmy Brister