To anyone interested, if you watched the video you who’ve probably had some issues. Some questions that immediately come to mind are:
Where was the common respect that could’ve been shown?
What is appropiate for the men claiming Christ to appear as ARROGANT as they did?
Why was there never (IMHO) appearance of what could be labeled as INQUIRY of where the Mormons were coming from, humility in hearing out their sides, sharing the truth humbly, and encouraging FURTHER DIALOUGE? Moreover, how much of the focus is on the PERSON OF CHRIST, as opposed to having the last word?
These are definately some of the questions that I had…….
For some good examples of what it means to do witnessing in a godly way (AS well as resources on how to deal with various classes of people), I encourage people to consider checking out these:
http://emissary7.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/witnessing-the-real-deal/
http://emissary7.wordpress.com/2007/11/09/relationshiplove-the-missing-threadfactor-woven-throughout-all-matters-of-faithdoctrine-part-1/
http://emissary7.wordpress.com/2007/11/11/relationshipslove-part-3/
http://emissary7.wordpress.com/2007/12/19/the-new-phariseeical-movement-in-the-club-or-not/
http://emissary7.wordpress.com/2007/12/22/jude-123-26-how-to-respond-to-a-myriad-of-people-in-a-world-of-apostasy/
http://www.watchman.org/reltop/christiandialogue.htm
http://www.biblebb.com/files/livingthelife.htm
Phillipians 4
Exhortations 2I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. 3Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow,[a] help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. 4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Titus 3
Doing What is Good
1Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.
21 The wise in heart will be called prudent,
And sweetness of the lips increases learning.2 Timothy 2:23-26
23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant [1] must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him
A much-needed look at sharing Christ with unbelievers, based not on the techniques of guerrilla hard-sell tactics, but on engaging questions and caring interaction. Filled with humor and stories, this book provides a challenging yet encouraging look at evangelism in our world today. This volume argues that asking questions and starting meaningful conversations is a far better method for sharing faith than prepared lectures or statements. It gives advice on what people need to hear in response to the world around them. Author was raised Jewish and has a unique, rabbinical outlook on evangelism
To anyone interested, I wanted to place this up here because I was recently discussing with one of my friends on the issue of witnessing and something came up where he was wondering how to go about doing things. I decided to place this book out here since it has been very influential in the ways that I tend to operate…..and moreover, it has saved me MUCH DIFFICULTLY in being effective when it comes to sharing my faith “with gentleness and respect” (I Peter 3:15).
http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product/?item_no=43324X&p=1006330#curr
http://www.9marks.com/partner/Articl…386912,00.html
http://www.worldwidechallenge.org/2004/sepoct044.html
To give an excerpt from the book,
Concerning this, a principle that comes to my mind is what Solomon said in Proverbs 26:4-5:
Proverbs 26:4-5
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you will be like him yourself.5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes
As Apologetist/Chaplain Randy Newman tellingly explained about these verses in his book Questioning Evangelism(powerful/resourceful book, by the way, and solid/extremely based in Scripture in case anyone wants to check it out.), “In some cases, answering people’s questions with content that they want only solidifies their unbelief.
“Consider the pair of seemingly contradictory exhortations in Proverbs 24:4-5…No wonder people have considered these two statements as evidence of a contradiction in the Bible, but the fact that they occur one after the other, however, could argue just the opposite conclusion, for in rabbinic style they show two sides of the same coin. We should not answer a fool according to his folly (i.e. using his style of expression) in a derogatory, argumentive tone, for example. The result would be a shouting match between two people who disrespect each other (in some situ ations, you ought not even answer a fool…such a fool will abuse you and you will be tempted to abuse him or her in return).
“Such a display of godlesssness is fitting for a fool but not for a follower of a gracious God. Other types of foolish responses include reacting to sarcasm with more of the same, replying to ad hominem attacks with even worse slander, or employing any kind of flawed logic in our arguments simply because our opponent does so. Increasing the percentage of ‘fooldom’ does little to advance the kingdom.”
