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Practicing What I Preach

When I saw our church's lack of adult conversions, I made a personal commitment to evangelism.

When pastors think about evangelism, we tend to assume our primary role is to equip others to evangelize, or to evangelize from the pulpit. While those roles are important, I knew I needed to do more.

Paul told Timothy, "Do the work of an evangelist" (2 Tim. 4:5). Paul is saying that we leaders need to engage unbelievers, and I am challenged by that mandate. Sure, I do that from the pulpit, but all church members have incredible opportunities to share the gospel in their community and workplace. I have those opportunities, too—but I had to do something to find them and to connect with folks far from God.

Taking to the streets

So what do I do? I hit the streets. I usually go over to a local community college or to a nearby train station. I just stand in an open area and hand out a little tract I wrote called "My Story." And that's exactly what it is: the account of God's good work in my life (see sidebar). It's printed on a small card that resembles a birthday invitation. It's non-threatening, ...

March
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