I've spent a lot of time with churches during the planning stages of evangelistic meetings, and invariably, the subject of advertising themes will come up.  "I hope we're not going to put out one of those handbills covered with beasts," someone will say, "because it's so offensive."  

 

Offensive to whom?  

 

It's been a long time since I've actually put any beasts on the front of a handbill.  In fact, I'm not sure I've ever done it.  But there is no question that prophetic themes feature prominently in every piece of advertising I've put out.  Why?  Because it works.  I'm not fishing for Seventh-day Adventists who have become tired of hearing the message; I'm fishing for people like me - people who did not grow up with the incredible spiritual wealth and doctrinal clarity available to Adventists through their prophetic message.  People who are sure there's got to be more to spirituality than they're finding in the religious mainstream, but they're not sure where to find it. People who are sure that it's no longer business as usual on planet earth, but they're at a loss to explain what's happening.  

 

The last twenty years has proven to me, over and over, that there are a lot of those people. God didn't get his final message to the planet wrong: the themes found in the Revelation 14 will reach an incredibly large and diverse group of people who have been primed by the Spirit to listen.  

 

Take a look at some of the current offerings on mainstream television.  Notice how many distinctly prophetic-sounding topics and themes are being pushed to the forefront: 2012, Nostradamus, how to survive a catastrophe (including reality shows based on it), secrets of the Bible ... the list is nearly endless.  Even stations thinly disguised as "educational" are cashing in on the public's hunger for prophecy.  Marketing experts are banking on the notion that apocalyptic themes tap into deep-set emotions in the general public.  

 

And it works.  They wouldn't keep doing it if it didn't.  Frankly, it's astonishing how much the entertainment industry is building on Christian themes (and Great-Controversy-type themes in particular.)  It's as if the devil knows the drawing power of Revelation 14 and he's trying to keep our potential audience occupied.  Star Wars, Superman, The Matrix ... the last few decades have been crammed with entertainment that almost seems to be lifted right out of the Adventist playbook.  

Hollywood is doing a great job of selling it, too. They understand that even a good topic becomes laughable when presently poorly. A cheesy marketing campaign is the death-knell of all but a few films that become B-list cult classics.

Am I recommending that we imitate the world?  No way.  Some themes are simply inappropriate for us.  But I am encouraging you to pay attention to how the world is shadowing our themes with shallow substitutes.  They've discovered the power of plain old crickets to attract an audience.  

 

By all means, make sure your advertising isn't cheesy looking. In fact, please make sure of it. But don't ever forget what makes fish bite: our message.  It is, after all, the only thing we've got to offer people that nobody else on the planet is offering, and at the end of the day, it's still the reason people choose to cast their lot with the Seventh-day Adventist church.  

Everybody Wants to Hear from You!!!

Pastors in the North American Division are evangelistically busy - very busy, in fact.   And that means that many of you have learned things on the front line that could make all of us better.  Maybe you've discovered something that made it easier for a congregation to respond to an altar call.  Maybe you've streamlined evangelistic visitation in ways that really let you get more done in less time.   Or maybe you've been blessed by God to be able to address tough subjects in a winsome way.  

 

We'd love to know, so that we can serve at a higher capacity, too. 

 

Please consider writing a short article for Best Practices for Adventist Evangelism ... someone out there really is waiting to hear from you.   

 

Find out how to contribute to the discussion here.

 

 

• To date, there are well over 400 churches planning on public evangelistic meetings in 2013.
• Five conferences are participating: Allegheny East, Greater New York, New Jersey, Northeastern, and Southern New England
• Evangelists from all of the church's world divisions will be participating in a global field school of evangelism in NYC during Elder Ted Wilson's evangelistic meetings in June 2013.  There will be two versions of the school - a full three week version, and a shorter 8-day intensive.  
• If you are keen to help out, visit the website: www.ny13.org, and let participating churches know about your willingness by clicking on the "Forms" tab.

PELC is in its fourth decade of focusing on the professional growth needs of Pastors, and has become the largest, continuous gathering of Seventh-day Adventist Pastors in the world. At its inception, PELC primarily served the professional growth needs of pastors in the African American community. Thirty-two years later, pastors from multiple, cultural communities are represented at this gathering of men and women who have answered the call to pastoral ministry.

 

This year's team of Worship, plenary and seminar speakers have passionate hearts for pastors. Indeed, most of our presenters are themselves "frontline" pastors. As such, what will be shared will only be things that actually work. But most importantly, every sermon, plenary, and seminar has been prepared, planned and prayed over to have maximum, positive impact on the life and leadership of every attendee. 

 

This year's conference takes place December 2-4 on the campus of Oakwood University.  You'll find more details at the event website: www.pelc.cc.