| Greetings!
We each have an opportunity to be something special to the people we know; a one of a kind, human conduit of God's love, meeting needs as they become known.
Sometimes that need is for the restoration of a person's soul, and that's where The Eleven Twelve Project comes in.
We encourage you to read this newsletter with the realization that God might use something here to help you meet the deepest spiritual need of someone you care for.
Sincerely,
Scott McIntyre
Share the Savior:
Someone You Love Needs Him! |
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Confidence Builders |
'IF' - A BIG Word in Evangelism (Part 2)
We don't have to argue with our friends over spiritual issues. At least, that was the point of the first two principals of what we called, the IF Strategy. Read Part 1
The IF Strategy suggests not trying to force someone, who doesn't have faith in Christ, to accept a passage of Scripture as truth. Instead, by securing their agreement that a logical conclusion can be made about something the Bible says, IF it's true, we help them come much closer to the truth than most arguments ever could.
For instance, the Bible says all have sinned. IF that's true, anyone can rightly conclude, even if the idea is repugnant to them, that they are part of the 'all' in that biblical statement. When that happens, it's time to make sure we're majoring on Principal #3: Let Gentleness Rule!
When someone recognizes at a deep level, the potential truth of something diametrically opposed to all they believe, it is not uncommon to feel threatened, and people backed against a theological wall, can be prone to lash out at anyone nearby. Knowing this, we need to maintain the calming effects of gentleness and respect.
That is how we are to love our neighbor. That was how Christ could sorrowfully say from the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing."
We've decided to save the best for our next issue! When you use the IF Strategy, who continues the conversation with your friend long after you've stopped? We'll give you the surprising and powerful answer in our next issue! |
| Training Tools |
How to Witness to a Pagan: Part 3
In the first article of this series, I introduced you to Gwydion Oak, a professing Pagan, Wiccan in particular, who, surprisingly to me, had written an article helping Christians learn how to share their faith with Pagans.
Part 1 dealt with Gwydion's opinion that Christians should treat Pagans as people first. Accepting that we can't win everyone to faith, and how to treat people who don't accept our beliefs, was the focus of Part 2. In our final installment, we'll look at the point he made first and foremost... Never Attack!
Gwydion tells of reading Christian tracts on Paganism, and finding that many attack Pagans as evil and devil worshipping people, doomed to hell.
In response, he says, "the overwhelming majority of Pagans are fundamentally good and decent people..." and that to most of them, the devil "has no more meaning than the Christian god does."
If I understand the Bible correctly, all people without faith in Christ, are slaves to sin. So much so, that true worship of the God of creation is impossible. Is that evil? I would say tragic is a better word!
As Paul tells us in Ephesians 2, we were also slaves to sin, and followed the ruler of the kingdom of the air. We did not worship Satan though. We acted according to the ways of this world in subjection to his will, and for the gratification of our sinful nature.
We too may have been good, decent people, but according to the passage in Ephesians, we were above all else, objects of God's wrath. That is a tragedy, and Christians don't attack those living in a tragic situation. I agree with Gwydion...never attack!
Instead let us ask the Father to help us love Pagans, and everyone without Christ, showing them the mercy He demonstrated to us through Christ on the cross.
Paraphrasing Ephesians 2:6 & 7, I hope we can pray for all who are still spiritually dead, that God would raise them up with Jesus, and seat them with him in the heavenly realms in Christ, in order to show in the coming ages, the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to them in Christ Jesus.
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| Equipping Events |
September 19 & 20, 2008 - Fremont, CA
Top defenders of the faith, such as Dr. Norman Geisler, Josh McDowell, and Gary Habermas, will come together to prepare you to give a "reason for the hope you have in Christ."
For information about other cmingupo conferences, visit the Events page of Share the Savior. |
| Ministry Partner |
Church Sports International
CSI is a sports ministry, and you might be surprised how much that has to do with evangelism. For starters, sports and recreation can fuel a church's evangelistic outreach by...
- Helping to form friendships and build relationships
- Facilitating life-style and proclamational evangelism
- Creating a bridge to the lost in the community
- Building "stepping stones" from the field/gym to the worship center
And that's not all Church Sports International can do. Check this out!
Since sports is significantly relevant in today's culture (can you guess which Celebrity/Public Figure has the most fans on _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _?), it is a strategic way to introduce people to the church and to the person of Jesus Christ.
We're thrilled to have Church Sports International as a partner, and hope God may use them in your life or the life of your church. Why not visit CSI now? |
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As we conclude this issue, I have one final question for you. Did you try our new Take a Chance feature in the Quick Links section?
Take a Chance will direct you to an evangelism resource we've found on the Web, and there's always a chance God might use what you learn there, to impact a friend you care about. Go ahead... take a chance!
Sincerely,
Scott McIntyre
Share the Savior:
Someone You Love Needs Him! | |
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 Quick Links at
The Eleven
Twelve Project |
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Win a Resource |
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Here are the two ways you can win a free evangelism resource this month! |
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1. Fill in the Blanks
Find the article with an eight letter word missing. The first person to email us the correct word WINS!
2. Unscramble Me
Locate the word we deliberately scrambled. Be the first to email us the correct spelling, and you'll be a winner!
Note: Subscribers are eligible for one prize only, per issue. |
| Pause and Consider |
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One Way to Stop
an Argument
To avoid arguments, there's an old saying that says, 'Don't discuss politics and religion.'
But arguing all too often happens when neither person cares enough for what the other has to say to let them say it.
When discussing spiritual truths with friends who need Jesus, we can care enough to listen...and help keep an argument from starting! |
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Visit this Month's Ministry Partner |
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| Help Sustain
Share the Savior |
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Our goal is to adequately equip and actively engage Christians in evangelism.
The problem, if the surveys are right, is that 80% of the people who claim to be Christian will never share their faith.
To make matters more challenging, probably an equal number of non-believers don't want to hear what we're supposed to say.
But with God, all things are possible, and that's why we regularly ask for prayer support. It's so important, we publish a special Prayer Partner newsletter. You can read about it here if you want.
And here's a short prayer you can always say for us.
"Father, please help the people at Share the Savior remember that 'improbable' is not in your vocabulary." |
| To find out more about supporting the work of Share the Savior, click here and visit our Support page. |
To visit the Archives, where you can browse all previous issues of the Eleven Twelve Project, click here.
New issues are published approximately every six weeks, and will be added to the archives shortly afterwards. | |
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