Until Full Light

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You are here: Home / Archives for Evangelism

A Christmas letter you can use to share Jesus with friends and family

December 16, 2015 by untilfulllight

Christians know that Jesus is the reason for the season of Christmas, but sometimes we are at a loss in how to share it with friends and family. One easy way you can do this is to use the Christmas letter, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing…but why?”

This letter takes the popular carols and uses it to challenge people to consider Jesus as Savior. On the back of the letter are website resources for people to explore the Christian faith. Below are images of the front and the back side of the letter. CLICK HERE or on either image to download a PDF that you can print.

You could of course, put anything you want on the back side of the letter–personal notes from you, special invitations to events or teaching at your church.

Whatever you do, please take time to share this–someone’s eternity could be changed because of it.

Christmas Letter for SS Class 2012_Page_1Christmas Letter for SS Class 2012_Page_2

Discernment in Theological systems: what about predestination?

July 28, 2012 by untilfulllight

John Calvin, one of the great theological minds in the history of the church, would not have wanted anyone to take his words and follow human opinions rather than the Bible.

In our study of discernment, of how to make the right decisions in the midst of the spiritual warfare that rages around us, this week we looked at discerning theological systems. Here is the questions we looked at:

Question: [following a lesson taught] “God knows who is going to be saved and who isn’t. So were some people selected for salvation or predestined for salvation and others weren’t?  And as one person commented ‘then why are we going out and evangelizing?’  And another said “she has a problem with predestination’ ”.

Based on this question, we broke it down into these questions:

•Does God’s foreknowledge equal determinism?

•What does predestination teach?

•What is salvation?

•How should we respond in terms of evangelism?

Check out the notes below to see how the Bible responds to the above concerns. As always, God’s view of predestination, salvation, and our responsibilities in evangelism is far more challenging than we first assume. In addition we were reminded that though theological systems can be helpful in organizing Biblical truth, all systems are man-made constructs. If we find ourselves looking for Bible verses to support a system, or deciding whether we want to follow a Biblical command because of a system—that is an incorrect approach.

God’s Word, the Bible,  is our infallible guide for salvation and how to live day-by-day. Following it is a challenge worthy of our time and best efforts.

Click on either image below to view or download the PDF.

Discernment of a theological system notesDiscernment in theology, notes

The Mormon Celebration of Easter, very different than the one Biblical Christians celebrate

April 18, 2012 by untilfulllight

Resurrection of Jesus, full pageThe Mormon Church celebrates the resurrection and therefore Easter, but their celebration of it has a totally different meaning to them than it does to Biblical Christians. They can say they believe in Jesus and the resurrection and that he died for people and rose, but they put totally different meanings into all these terms.

In reality, the Mormon Church believes that the resurrection of Jesus assures everyone will have eternal life. They believe Christ’s atonement erased the consequences of original sin for everyone. However, it is only through the Mormon Church that people can travel the path of exaltation and where men can someday become gods of their own world.

The lessons that follow show the Mormon views of the Atonement and of the Resurrection of Jesus. Thought the same words are used and though both affirm these events happened, the meaning put into the words and events is very different as the lessons that follow explain.

Importance of the distinctions

These distinctions are not minor disagreements about theological issues, but they define the meaning of the death of Jesus and the reality of eternal life for those who trust the real Jesus or eternal disappointment for those who trust a false Jesus and a false interpretation of his death.

Continue Reading

Website Links for sharing your faith and growing in the Christian life

January 21, 2012 by untilfulllight

Be ready to share your faith

Intro note: I put this together about 3 years ago and though most of the links are good, as I’m doing a quick clean up of this site before changing the template I didn’t have time to check them all out so please forgive me, also PLEASE add additional resources in the comments section–I know there are lots of new, good ones and I hope to get back to cleaning this up in the not too far future.

You never know when you might have the opportunity to share your faith with people in your life, either in how to become a Christian, how we are supposed to live once we become a Christian, or how you can grow to maturity in your Christian faith.

The better equipped you are, the more naturally you can share your faith. If you are fearful that someone will ask something you don’t know it can be scary to even think about sharing. But if you have had your questions answered and you are solid and sure in your faith, you’ll more naturally want to share with others.

Click on the link in the list that you’ll find after this (it is quite long–lots of resources) and the link will take you directly to the sites.

Resources for How to Share your faith

Billy Graham Evangelism Resources

http://www.billygraham.org/specialsections/touchonelife/touch-one-life.asp

http://www.billygraham.org/spiritualgrowth_topics.asp?tid=33

The above links are part of his new “Touch One Life” campaign—a great challenge for all Christians and it will give you training and ideas for reaching people in your life for Jesus.

The Evangelism Coach
http://www.evangelismcoach.org

The site description is: “Practical how-to advice for pastors, church planters, and ministry leaders on personal evangelism and church hospitality.”

I know the gentleman who does this site and he really walks his talk—he is a missionary, pastor, evangelist. He has lots of good training, links on his site. He also has online training courses in how to share your faith. Think about taking his online course. Below are two of his link lists to help you be a better evangelist—he has lots of really good information—come back to this site often and check it out.

http://www.evangelismcoach.org/personal-evangelism-collection/ Great list of articles.

http://www.evangelismcoach.org/books/  great list of books on evangelism

The Navigators: training in evangelism and discipleship

http://www.navigators.org

Navigator ministry site—the Navigator ministry has taught people how to become effective disciples of Jesus Christ and to share their faith effectively for a long time. This is the ministry that I was involved in during college. They are one of the BEST resources anywhere to help you with the fundamentals of the Christian faith: how to mature as a Christian, how to share your faith and how to be a disciple.

This page has the Bridge Illustration, which is an easy and clear way to present the gospel.
http://www.navigators.org/us/resources/illustrations/items/bridge 

Many key illustrations to help people become mature disciples are on this page. The illustrations are simple and easy to share, but can help you significantly in discipleship growth. The Wheel Illustration, which is a way in class that I’ve shared on how to live a balanced Christian life is one of them.

http://www.navigators.org/us/resources/illustrations

This is an incredible library of MP3 audio files from the last 50 years of Navigator speakers. You can hear many of the people who trained me (though with the Lord, now, it is great to hear them again) and blessed my life for many years. I thought about giving you recommendations, but all ones I have listened to have been helpful

http://www.discipleshiplibrary.com/

Internet Evangelism Day—and for all year

http://www.internetevangelismday.com/

This is a fascinating site put together by a man in England who has ties to internet evangelism articles, videos and every imaginable kind of resource. I’ve known the head of this site for over 20 years and he is one of the most faithful and passionate people I’ve ever known for sharing the Christian faith online. The site has so many parts. If you want to learn how to share online, how to make an effective website or many ways to share your faith with contemporary audiences, this site has the resources. His newsletter is also worth signing up for–he has resources from all over the world that he recommends to, links to and shares. Below is one example of a practical evangelism strategy link. This article is about how to find “life-links” with people as ways to share your faith.

http://www.internetevangelismday.com/bridge-strategy.php

Hollywood Jesus—great conversation starters for those outside the church

http://hollywoodjesus.com/

This is a fun site that will give you a Christian viewpoint of current movies media, video games, sports, books, culture in general lead by a really cool guy, David Bruce. Here is how they describe themselves: “Hollywood Jesus doesn’t cater to the Christian worldview.  It introduces non-Christians to it, and in a way that’s also appealing to many Christians.” This is not a super-conservative site for parents, but a site about multi-media that will give you insight, ideas and conversation starters for interactions with people exploring the Christian faith.

Websites for those exploring the Christian faith—these are ones you can share with people

Videos and books that explore the Christian faith from Lee Strobel
http://www.leestrobel.com/
Lee Strobel, a former atheist and news reporter, has one of the clearest minds and writing styles around today in his presentation of the reasons why the Christian faith is credible. This site has a great collection of videos that answer many questions about the Christian faith, many presented as interviews.

Christian Research Institute
http://www.equip.org/
This is the website of the Christian Research Institute and Hank Hanegraff, the Bible Answer Man. It has many resources that answer questions about the Christian faith and other religions in-depth. Excellent books and resources are also available on the site. You can also listen to the Bible Answerman radio program from the site. I highly recommend this program for anyone exploring the Christian and for the Christian who wants to grow in their ability to answer questions about the faith.  I strongly recommend that you spend time on this site looking up your questions, making notes and being prepared for when you are asked questions. Even if you aren’t asked, you’ll be stronger and more confident in your faith.

Ten Reasons to Believe
http://www.rbc.org/rtb/
An excellent site to explore the Christian faith in detail. Contains a number of lists including: Ten reasons to believe in life after death, Ten reasons to believe in Christ and not religion, Ten reasons to believe in the Bible

Who is Jesus?
http://www.whoisjesus-really.com/english/menu.htm
Lots of questions answered here about Jesus. Really well done—one of the best to give to a non-Christian friend. This would be a good site to give to a friend who is curious about the Christian faith and then to discuss it later. Or you could look at it together–that would be even better.

Campus Crusade for Christ
http://www.ccci.org/how-to-know-god/jesus/who-is-jesus-god-or-just-a-good-man.aspx
Lots of information for those exploring the Christian life and for those who want to live it.

Questioning Faith list of links
http://www.ivpress.com/questioningfaith/resources
Grea
t list of topics/questions of all sorts about the Christian faith with links to answers.

Got Questions
http://www.gotquestions.org
As it name says this site provides answers to many questions, both basic and more advanced about the Christian faith. For really in-depth answers, www.equip.org is better, but for quick overviews this site is useful. To be honest I am not totally in agreement with some of the theological viewpoints on the site, if you have questions, contact me. However, most of the information is quite useful, so press ahead!

Websites for those wanting to grow in the Christian faith

For Bible reading, study
http://www.ewordtoday.com/
I can’t recommend this site enough—you can get read-through the Bible programs on it and so much more, it links to commentaries, devotions, hymns, challenging quotes

Ten Action Steps for a New Christian
http://www.rbc.org/rtb/
A simple, yet vitally important list of the actions important for a new Christian, with clear explanations. PLEASE, PLEASE before you lead someone to the Lord KNOW that you are responsible for what you have done. You have to raise that new baby in the Lord. New Christians need to learn assurance of their salvation, how to have a daily time in the Word, how to ask for forgiveness, how to have victory over sin, how to pray–and these are just the basics. The church body can help, but as a spiritual parent, you are primarily responsible.

Christian Research Institute
http://www.equip.org/
I’m listing this website again because it is also one of the best resources for Christian growth. This is the website of the Christian Research Institute and Hank Hanegraff, the Bible Answer Man. It has many resources that answer questions about the Christian faith and other religions in-depth. Excellent books and resources are also available on the site. You can also listen to the Bible Answerman radio program from the site. I highly recommend this program for anyone exploring the Christian and for the Christian who wants to grow in their ability to answer questions
about the faith.

The Blue Letter Bible
http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.html

A classic site of free Bible study tools: commentaries, maps, all sorts of study guides. This is wonderful resource for personal Bible study. From individual verses you can click on concordance and commentaries related to the verse.

Our Daily Bread
http://www.rbc.org/odb/odb.shtml
A wonderful daily devotional for both new and more mature Christians. This is also a good one to give people who are considering the Christian faith–it isn’t terribly heavy in theology.

Radio Bible Class Ministries
http://www.rbc.org/
There are a wealth of resources on this site for growing in your Christian life. There are Bible reading plans, articles on finding a church, answers to many questions people have about the Christian faith.

Into Thy Word
http://sites.silaspartners.com/partner/0,,34418,00.html
A wonderful site that will teach you how to study the Bible, lots of great Bible study articles, fantastic links on their Bible Study Tools page, lots of great information. Highly recommended.

OnePlace.com
http://www.oneplace.com/
A very fun site and educational site. This site has the links to many Christian radio stations. You can listen to your favorite radio preachers live here and can download messages.

Christian Classics Ethereal Library
http://www.ccel.org/
This site has the digital copies of many of the great classics of the Christian faith. It also has online book study groups and lots of other resources for in-depth, Christian study.

The Bible Gateway
http://www.biblegateway.com
Look up any version of the Bible, in many languages and copy and paste it into your studies or to read later. Also has a link to audio Bibles.

This is just the start

There are so many resources online to help you both share your faith and to help you grow as a disciple of Jesus. It is an incredible time to Jesus follower and I pray you will all  explore the ways to grow and share your faith.

I want to add more resources from time to time, please email me if you have some you especially enjoy. Email me at yvonprehn@gmail.com.

Not everyone gets to heaven, a gentle explanation of why

August 8, 2011 by untilfulllight

We are told and often falsely believe that it isn’t kind or loving to think that God will send some people to hell. In the brief video below Rick McKinley, lead pastor of Imago Dei Community in Portland, Oregon, offers a biblical perspective on the flaws of universalism.

Universalism from :redux on Vimeo.

“The disciples saw a Jesus that was radically untamed, very offensive and they gave their lives for him. And today we’re afraid of that Jesus. We’re trying to polish off the sharp edges and make him cuddly and cute and the big teddy bear for the world. I think at that point you’ve lost the gospel.” Rick McKinley

 

From the path

"The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day." Prov.4:11

We won't see things clearly until we see our Lord, but on the path to that full light, we have the Bible as our light and guide. For much of my life I've tried to study, share, and teach the Bible. This blog pulls together many of those attempts, not as a final answer to any of the topics, but perhaps as a first gleam of dawn to help others on their journey.

Yvon Prehn

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