Gospel to the Dying

Yes, I stole the title from my friends Steve and Gerdine Stanley who are working as missionaries in Papua New Guinea. I highly recommend their blog which documents daily life in the jungle with three small children. 

However, today’s post was a heart breaking reminder for me and, I assume other readers, of the urgency of the Gospel. The team are not yet at the point where they are ready to communicate the Good News to the Kovol tribe, but they are progressing. Now, limited medical capabilities exhausted, they have a woman literally wasting away in front of them and obviously at death’s door. What should they do? I’ll let you read their post for the tragic outcome.

As many of you know, I’ve been in hibernation for a month or so recovering from a major operation. I re-entered society at the Open-Air Mission’s supporters conference about 10 days ago. A good number gathered to hear about the evangelism taking place across our country on a daily basis. I love this conference as it’s so encouraging to hear about the work and to catch up with people with a  real heart for evangelism. 

OAM is growing and has been able to employ several new evangelists in recent years. However, there are still large areas of the UK without a preacher which according to Romans 10 means that they cannot hear and be saved. I encourage you to consider joining a team event to learn more about the work.

I spoke to an older man recently who said that he had previously been involved in street evangelism and didn’t really know why he had stopped. Another man asked if I was “hanging around" in Reading to be involved in Franklin Graham’s crusade assuming that an organised mass-attended Christian event would be an attraction that I wouldn’t want to miss. 

I’m sure the crusade was well attended and, having just read Franklin’s autobiography, I know his priority is the sharing of the Gospel, but the point is that we have moved away from going out to where the people are and are instead expecting them to come to us. The transition is odd in that culturally society has gone the other way; people are less and less likely to want to attend an event in a church.

I meet a lot of Christians who have never heard of the Open-Air Mission or United Beach Missions (the main two organisations I’m involved with who do this type of ministry). Some churches won’t consider getting involved as they feel it is ineffective, old-fashioned or disrespectful to "shout at people in the street". Another friend told me recently about prison ministry where they aren’t allowed to proselytise!

There is a general feeling that we’ve moved on to more modern methods involving friendship evangelism. Again, there’s a place for this, but only if we are really willing to have that uncomfortable conversation with someone we’ve already befriended…and it doesn't negate the need for a more overt witness.

DL Moody once told a critic: “It is clear you don’t like my way of doing evangelism. You raise some good points. Frankly, I sometimes do not like my way of doing evangelism. But I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it.”

The covid pandemic woke a lot of people up to their own mortality as they saw loved ones die and were unable even to say their proper goodbyes. The public enquiry  is seeking to learn lessons for the future but all it will do is create a situation where we continue to put plasters on a major wound when the person is dying of sepsis. Now, we are seeing people dying in desperate situations in the wars in Ukraine and Israel/Gaza. Matthew Perry, a major sitcom star in the US died this week at the age of 54.

In all of these situations and others, people’s comments reflect the terrible and widespread deception of the devil; “At least they’re at peace now”, “He’s free from his suffering”, “They’re no longer in pain”, and “She’s in a better place”.

Perhaps, the lie that everyone will get to Heaven has even permeated Christian thinking to the extent that we don’t sense the urgency any more. Collectively, we aren't rushing to share the Gospel with these people as they take their last breath, whereas just a hundred years ago we have a story from the Titanic of a dying man frantically swimming in icy waters seeking to offer eternal hope to the lost.  

Sadly, in most of these cases, there is no evidence of saving faith. Matthew Perry had some sort of spiritual experience a few years ago where he asked a Higher Power for help to stop his addictions. Yet, just a few weeks ago he said he wasn’t religious and his focus was on helping other people that were going through what he had been through. Accepting that only God truly knows the heart, maybe the Christians who claim he was a believer are grasping at straws, seeking to reassure themselves as the alternative is too horrifying to contemplate.

If we are losing our grip on reality and what the Bible really teaches about death, it might be a good idea to remind ourselves. A person is only saved through faith in Jesus and his death for them on the cross. Believing that he died for them leads to repentance from sin, forgiveness of sin and a changed life, with God’s help. Only those who have trusted in Jesus go to Heaven forever, not because they have done anything good, but because Jesus lived a perfect life on their behalf. Everybody else will go to Hell to be punished for their sin. Salvation is a free gift available to anyone who will repent and trust in Jesus.

Christians, let’s refocus our lives and ensure our main mission is to reach others with the Good News of salvation before it’s too late for them. When we hear of someone dying, let’s take courage and pray for a way to reach them, then go and deliver the Message. We don’t have the excuse that there is a language barrier and even if there is, we have tools that can overcome this in the Western world.

On a side note, if you don’t know where to start and your church leaders can’t help, my new book Evangelism is Exciting! has some ideas. All royalties are reinvested in the work of sharing the Gospel and I’m always happy to receive comments and feedback.

10 Reasons All Churches Should be Involved in Street Evangelism

For those unfamiliar with the practice, street evangelism includes; open air preaching, book tables in public places, giving out tracts, leaflets or books, and one to one conversations. The goal is to share the Christian message with those who either haven’t heard it, or who don’t yet believe that it’s true.

You might think that any real Christian would think this was a great idea and would jump at the chance to be involved. Sadly, this is often not the case as people, usually due to fear, make excuses of one sort or another, or even suggest that Christians shouldn’t be doing this type of evangelism in the twenty-first century.

There is a general move away from the more direct approach towards what some would term “friendship evangelism.” This is something that Christians should also be doing as they engage with colleagues, neighbours and friends that they meet at school, work and home. However, if churches want to reach their whole communities with the Gospel, they need to be encouraging their members to get involved in both relationship building and street evangelism.

Rather than focusing on the negative. I thought it would be good to look at the reasons to support, pray for and get involved in this vital work:

1. Jesus and His disciples did it- This is the most obvious reason as I’ve yet to meet a Christian who believes they shouldn’t try to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. They regularly went into the open air preaching and engaging one to one with non-believers.

2. Obedience to the Bible- There are clear commands in the Bible to go out into the world and preach the Gospel to every person. The vast majority of Christians acknowledge that these commands apply to all believers and not just to the disciples whom Jesus was addressing.

3. Decline in church attendance- There are many people that will never set foot in a church and who would decline all invitations to a Christian event. If we stay in our churches we are failing to reach a huge swathe of the population with the saving message that they need to hear. We can invite people to our churches personally after meeting them in the street and seek to reassure them that they won’t be forced to sing a solo, or hug everybody, or whatever else it is that people fear when coming to church. We can arrange to accompany them or collect them to make it all seem less frightening. It’s a massive deal to go into a church for the first time and we need to be easing the way.

4. Compassion for lost souls- If we really believe people are heading for an eternity in either Heaven or Hell we would do whatever we could to reach them. There is a sense in which the urgency of the message is communicated by the fact that we are out on the street in all weathers, unpaid and not selling anything. People often ask, why do you do this? Even if they are not initially interested in the message, our presence will at least make them think about it.

5. Increasing visibility of our churches in the community- Street evangelism should always be linked to a local partner church so that people who are interested can be properly followed up. A visible presence provides details of a local church for people seeking and a friendly face that they’ve already met if they decide to come to church.

6. Brings conviction of conscience- There is a sense in which being repeatedly reminded of the Christian message week in and week out works on the conscience over a period of time. It restrains sin in the same way that people may seek to avoid swearing in the presence of a believer. People are reminded that there are still many out there who believe the Christian message. Someone else’s sincere belief cannot fail to have an impact. Not everyone has been swept away in a wave of atheism. These people are not all oddballs, in fact they look pretty normal!

7. If we don’t use it, we’ll lose it- The right to preach on the streets and share the Gospel with the public shouldn’t be taken for granted. The right to free speech is gradually being eroded and if we don’t take advantage of the opportunity, we can be sure laws will be created to remove the right completely. We have been temporarily shut down in several places already this year.

8. Our streets are increasingly ethnically diverse- There are multiple nationalities and followers of other religions in our country. Many wouldn’t think of entering a church and might be in danger if they were to do so. We can speak to them in the street and pass on literature in their own language. We have easy access to people from countries where following Christianity is illegal. In the past, reaching these people would have involved sending missionaries at great expense and danger.

9. Encourages other Christians/churches- Christians often tell us they are encouraged by our witness in the street. Some don’t realise that it is still legal! Engaging in this type of evangelism as a church family can bring church members closer together with a shared purpose. It also allows as many members as possible to be involved in the Great Commission knowing that they are not alone.

10. It works!- There are Christians in our churches who have a testimony that they were saved on hearing the Gospel message through a street preacher, conversation in the street, or a tract or book that they read. We must remember that we are totally reliant on God to work in the hearts of those we are seeking to reach, but we can be sure that He will as He promises that His Word doesn't return to Him empty and He has chosen the method for us to use. We can be confident when sharing the Gospel on the streets that God is with us and will use us for His glory.

I’m sure there are plenty of other reasons, but these came to mind.

Could you get involved or ask your church leader to organise something? In the UK, organisations like The Open Air Mission, United Beach Missions and Outreach UK offer opportunities and training for individuals and churches.

Let’s get out on the streets this Christmas and remind people what they are celebrating!

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

John 3 vs 16

Are we Maintaining an Eternal Perspective?

“Our biggest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding in things that in the light of eternity don’t really matter.” (D. L. Moody)

The sharp eyed amongst you will notice that I’ve started and finished with the same quote and poem as last time. Sorry if that bores anyone, although it really shouldn’t in light of the content. I’ve been challenged recently by both. Interestingly, the poem was quoted at both the OAM Supporter’s Conference and the UBM Christian Answer weekend in London by different speakers.

It’s so easy to get distracted in a world full of enticements. There are the obvious vices that most Christians actively seek to avoid as excesses would be classed as sin. However, generally, it is not these that are taking up our time, consuming our thoughts, exhausting our emotional and physical strength and just distracting us from the work of evangelism.

We were reminded at a UBM mission in Llandudno about the need to avoid allowing things to become idols. An idol can be anything that becomes too much of a priority in our lives taking the place of God. Those listed included; money or the things money can buy, ambition, career, success, power, relationships, fame, sport, hobbies, (even knitting for the benefit of the many ladies enthusiastically making jumpers.) If we keep an eternal perspective, things will not become idols because they are passing away and only our souls will live on. We will remember that this life is short and eternity in either Heaven or Hell beckons, not just for us, but for those all around us.

Last weekend, I was on another UBM mission in London. During one session, a panel of men with decades of experience in both living the Christian life and, more specifically, in evangelism, were asked questions submitted by team members. Several questions related to the issue of burnout: how to balance service with rest, church commitments with leisure time etc. Like most, I was expecting a cautious, measured response…

One speaker said that the issue of burnout had more to do with the fact that people have effectively become lazy and expect to have more rest/leisure time. They are training their minds and bodies to become accustomed to playing computer games, watching movies and wasting time in ways that prevent them being ready for work. When the time comes, they feel exhausted quickly as they have not prepared adequately for the mission.

Another reminded us of the terrible fate that awaits those who may not even have heard the Gospel. He spoke about the spiritual battle and the need to remind ourselves constantly that we are in it! Materialism and consumerism were also touched on. The oldest panel member then quoted the poem mentioned already.

There was a deathly silence as the, mostly young, people listening absorbed what had been said. The challenge had been issued but what would be the response?

The interviewer then asked a follow up question about those who are so conscientious that they will make themselves ill by trying to do too much. They will then experience mental or physical burnout which prevents them from doing anything. The answer offered was that this might be God’s way of slowing them down for a period until they are ready for service again. Obviously, if they become ill then they cannot work so are forced to take a rest.

It was mentioned that we have been created for six days of labour and one of rest. A lot of people who burnout are not ensuring they have one day of rest set aside to worship God.

I was surprised to hear these answers but it was definitely an encouragement to press on. God has ways of slowing us down when necessary, and excessive concern about resting and/or experiencing burnout may hinder us in our service.

I have personally had times where I have been forced to rest due to ill health, and also times where I have decided to continue the work despite my health problems and just to do what I can. My health in recent months has recovered dramatically and I’m able to do a lot more. Should I be limiting myself in case I burnout or get ill again?

There are two important considerations. The first is that God knows our minds and bodies better than we do. He has work for us to do and He knows our limitations. Providing our motivation is to serve and glorify Him primarily rather than something else, we should give everything we have to this cause. Worrying about burnout doesn’t help avoid it and may even be a sin as it is failing to trust God with our lives. God has ways of stopping us if we aren’t being wise. We aren’t going to be rebuked for trying to do too much for Him, providing we are only labouring six days a week…

The second consideration refers back to the title of this post. Maintaining an eternal perspective is no easy task. We have to remind ourselves of this daily, or even hourly, as we are prone to forget and other things crowd in. It is the key to fighting idols and distractions of all kinds. We need to be asking ourselves whether the things we are involved in, and giving our time and energies to, are really important in the light of eternity.

Let’s remember that we are in a spiritual battle for souls and that the task of evangelism is a direct command from Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. Let’s give everything we have to the task and if we burnout so be it!

 

“When I am dying how glad I shall be
That the lamp of my life has been blazed out for Thee.
I shall be glad in whatever I gave,
Labour, or money, one sinner to save;

I shall not mind that the path has been rough,
That Thy dear feet led the way is enough.
When I am dying how glad I shall be,
That the lamp of my life has been blazed out for Thee!”

Author unknown

From Chester to Llandudno

The only positive aspect of having to be at home between 0800-1300 whilst awaiting a Sky engineer (or more likely a BT engineer on behalf of Sky,) is that I finally have some time to write something. It’s been a busy few weeks as I took part in a week long mission to Chester, moved house immediately on my return and then headed off again for another mission in Llandudno, North Wales. Both open-air missions were with United Beach Missions (UBM) under the sub-category Christian Answer.

Having been involved in a mission to London with the Open Air Mission recently, I thought I knew what to expect. However, I’m quickly learning that these teams are far from predictable due to the range of characters that turn up and form them.

In Chester we had a children’s entertainer who managed to keep us amused during our down-time and a potter who used his skill to share his testimony whilst making pots on the wheel. The Christian town crier was a definite bonus although it is sad that people are more interested in history and culture than in God. Also in our team was a young female convert from Islam which proved especially useful when a man attempted to dismiss Christianity on the basis that we had all been brainwashed by the religion we had been brought up to believe.

It did seem that God was leading the right members of our team to the specific people they could relate to. One man’s comment that he believed in science rather than religion was swiftly rebutted by our cook for the week. It turned out that her day-job was in the exact same, extremely narrow, scientific field as our friend with the strong opinions.

My most profitable conversation appeared to be with a girl in her twenties who had stopped to listen to one of the messages for a few seconds. She became quite emotional when I approached her and then confided that she had just bought a Bible having been wandering from God for a number of years. She had arrived in Chester pretty randomly having never been to the city before and was only alone because a friend had decided not to accompany her. Recognising that God was at work we spent several hours chatting over coffee discovering that our life stories were very similar. Later, having made a decision to recommit her life to God, she was put in touch with Christians in her area.

The men’s Gospel presentations were pretty varied ranging from the simple Bible verse, to philosophical arguments, to interactive discussions about where famous people should be placed on a “Goodness Scale.” My favourite for the week was entitled “What’s your end of life strategy?” The preacher highlights the fact that people buy car or house insurance without even knowing that they will crash or that their house will be burgled. Yet many make little or no preparation for death despite knowing with 100% certainty that they will die.

In Chester, we faced the usual range of reactions; people too busy shopping or heading to the races to pay much attention, people annoyed by our presence and people wanting to argue or debate. There were also some odd cults around, some had a leaflet with a list of items that they think should be included in “Satan’s Tool Box.” After reading the list which included Disney films, Christmas and the NIV Bible, I could totally understand why people think that anyone standing in the streets in the name of religion must be at least slightly mad.

Moving on to Llandudno, the team was smaller and the environment different due to it technically being the start of the beach missions for the summer, although the children had yet to break up from school. We started each day with a Bible study in James which had been faithfully prepared, and was well delivered, by our team leader who doubles as a Pastor.

Then, we were instructed to head down to the promenade in twos and engage people in Gospel conversations without props. This aspect of evangelism, that most people find extremely awkward, became even more difficult when local rules meant that we could no longer use leaflets as a conversation opener. We had to hook the fish without the bait.

Imagine the scene: an elderly couple on holiday, sitting on a bench, admiring the sea-view, are suddenly aware that they are sitting in the shadow of two comparatively young people. These people are introducing themselves, something about a mission of some sort, then asking them what they think about God! Not really something to be discussed with random strangers whilst relaxing on holiday…..especially not young ones with no life experience.

Thankfully, not all our conversations headed in this direction and we did have some profitable ones. I think we were all grateful, though, to see the presentation board up so that the focal point could be moved away from us in our clumsiness and inadequacy. I had to keep reminding myself that God uses us in our weakness so that He can get the glory.

The evenings were devoted to community hymn singing interspersed with preaching and testimonies. I was amazed by the number of non-believers willing to sing about what Jesus has done without acknowledging that He has done it for them. We met a fair number of church-goers who on closer acquaintance, sadly, were not yet saved. Most of these were willing to take leaflets and one lady said that she had a lot of thinking to do as a result of our discussion.

Only God ultimately knows the hearts that will be moved, but we had a long chat with an elderly couple one evening. The youngest member of our team, at sixteen, and I, had initially met them during our “cold calling” session earlier in the day. We were thrilled when they turned up for the singing that evening. The husband had devoted his whole life to religious activity and the wife was suffering as a result of his absence. Yet, the dear man admitted that he wasn’t fully able to trust the promises of Jesus for himself although he desperately wanted to. He pointed to a line in the famous hymn “To God be the Glory,” recognising that he was a vile sinner in God’s eyes but being unable to get beyond that. We spent a lot of time with this couple and I pray that their eyes may have been fully opened and their hearts awakened to God’s mercy and forgiveness.

I also spoke to a number of Roman Catholics including a couple from Malta. Then, I was forced to exercise my rusty Tagalog in a lengthy chat with a lonely Filipino lady having been summonsed by a fellow team member. I don’t know how much she actually understood as Filipinos tend to be extremely polite to foreigners!

Being involved in open-air work, apathy and indifference are definitely my biggest frustration. People seem to be gambling on the assumption that if they don’t think about something it won’t happen to them. Many have not even considered where they will go when they die, and others refuse to believe in an afterlife when God has made it plain to them both in their hearts and through creation that He exists.

Others are relying on safety in numbers. This means that a cultural trend away from God sweeps people along the broad path to Hell with little or no thought that the people surrounding them might also be in peril. The sheep following each other off a cliff analogy is relevant here or even the old computer game of Lemmings. I don’t intend to make light of this, it is tragic.

You might be wondering why we even bother with open-air evangelism in these days of such apathy and indifference. Isn’t forcing our beliefs on other people arrogant and intolerant? There is a simple reason, God gives us a clear command to tell people the truth before it is too late. Even if there had been no clear direction, could any of us that really believe the Bible’s teachings on the afterlife stand idly by and watch others heading to a place of eternal torment and unimaginable suffering?

Besides, for every ten or so people that reject the message, ignore us or get angry, there is one that shows a flicker of interest or accepts a Gospel leaflet. Then, there is the one in fifty or a hundred who is willing to stop and have a conversation, however brief it might be.

Some of the conversations lasted hours as people wrestled with God having been confronted with some uncomfortable truths. The results of these weeks may not be known until eternity, but we were encouraged when we heard that at least one person had returned a Chester leaflet having ticked all of the boxes on the back,( I have become a Christian, please send me more information etc….)

I enjoyed both missions and am looking forward to further opportunities in London with UBM in August, then Oxford, Manchester and Lincoln later in the year with OAM. Please remember to pray for the work or consider joining a team! If you are a Christian and are interested in getting involved for a week here and there or even just a few days then I’m happy to give you further details or you can visit the website for United Beach Missions.

 “The Gospel is only good news if it gets there in time”   Carl Henry