Wednesday, September 27, 2017

How to be a fearless gospel sharing dynamo! 5 simple steps


Welcome back to my blog. Thank you for visiting today. We are exploring research findings from Teleios! A list of our compelling findings is on our website (www.teleiosresearch.com).

Last week we spoke about people's fear in sharing the Gospel so this week let's discuss some basic principles about how to communicate the Gospel in an easy, acceptable manner that you can adapt to your lifestyle.

Fortunately, scripture does not tell us that we need to beat people with the Gospel in a socially awkward and isolating way. So how do we relate the Good News to others in today's world? Well there are many ways to share the plan of salvation, but here is a process that my wife, Jeanette and I often use:

·       Prayerfully consider others - Most of us are so busy that unless we stop and specifically consider those around us we may easily miss wonderful opportunities to spread the Gospel. Therefore, try thinking through the people you know and who might respond to the Gospel.

Many Christians say ‘well nobody!’ So then, consider how you can meet more people and know your acquaintances better (please see next point). Start by praying for them!

·       Create a solid base for a relationship - This is vital as people need to know that you genuinely like and respect them. There are many books on the subject and perhaps the best starter is the classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. You can buy a cheap used copy (or download a copy) at Amazon. It is frightfully easy to read and apply. Do it!

In short, good relationships are built on, at least in part: listening, asking inquisitive questions about people's passions, work, interests and family. This should be done in a genuine, affable manner with a smile, gratitude, appropriate specific compliments, and saying ‘I’m sorry’ as needed. A solid relationship may take some time to build, months to years. Be patient.

·       Build a spiritual rapport - This can be done by simply asking them about benign religious topics, progressing through such questions as:

o   Were you raised in the church and what denomination? Did you like the church? Was it a good social environment?

o   What do you think about religious-based political issues such as Christian persecution? Does religion or the church help our culture, etc.?

o   Work towards issues pertaining to Christ, who is the major goal of the conversation, such as: what did their Church teach about Christ? What do they themselves believe about Christ? What is Christ’s role in salvation?

Important note: You don't have to respond to the above questions, it is better that you mostly just listen initially and gather information, again showing you respect for their opinions.

·       Identify a need – As you listen you should be able to perceive spiritual needs such as: are they are saved? Are they concerned about not going to heaven? Do they express reasons for guilt or unhappiness? Based on these issues you can develop a plan to assist them.

·       Make an offer - Based on your assessment of their spiritual needs, plan how to explain the gospel as a specific solution to their need. Make sure the offer is clear and unambiguous, that they must say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and they know what they are accepting.

Although you may be able to discuss the Gospel directly, I generally find it is helpful to offer a Bible study for 4 weeks to study the claims of Christ in Ephesians1:1-14. During this study they can discover the truth themselves, ask questions and you can share the Gospel as issues of salvation are raised in the text (please review plan of salvation at the bottom of the page so you know what to say). Salvation is neatly packaged also in Romans 3:10-26 or Ephesians 2:1-10

Even if this individual says ‘no’ to your efforts, the strong relationship you've built in the initial steps outlined above should overcome any social awkwardness. Through prayer and patience perhaps the opportunity to share again will occur.

If they say yes and believe, then praise be to God. What a privilege to see God save and change a life!

Thank you for reading my blog. Join me again next week as we continue to discuss Teleios’ findings and the wisdom of God's word.

WC Stewart





Response policy - The purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate language. I reserve the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.

Copyright © 2016 Teleios, Inc. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

The Gospel - ’Sorry, I cannot quite interpret your life!’

Welcome back to my blog. Thank you for visiting today. We are in the midst of an exciting series on exploring relevant research findings from Teleios! A list of our compelling findings is on our website (www.teleiosresearch.com).

Teleios recently completed a survey of visitors to the Instagram site, GodsHolyScriptures. We had 224 participants, 93% were adolescents (<18) and millennials (18-34), 60% evangelicals and 60% female. We asked them what someone must believe to be a Christian, and how they explained this to others. Wow, we received some amazing answers!

Last week we discussed what extra beliefs many people add to salvation. This week let us explore how people share the gospel. The survey respondents’ favorite means to spread the gospel is in Table 1. Fortunately, directly sharing the plan of salvation was the most popular (39%). Also frequently mentioned was living a good life (35%).

Table 1 - What is sharing the Gospel?

Response
%
Verbally telling a nonbeliever the specific message of salvation
39%
Living as a good example
35%
Encouraging others
9%
Inviting others to church
7%
Praying for others
8%

We are fortunate that our gracious God has entrusted to us to be involved in other people's lives by telling them they can spend eternity with God. What a wonderful truth to impart to others!

However, we have to tell them! If you discover a good recipe or sport site on the internet or social media, and are excited about it, do you verbally tell someone else or text them to let them know? My guess is you do not depend on a wordless lifestyle that would somehow magically transmit to your friends information about your new favorite site. You must verbally relay this message specifically, of course.

Unfortunately, people cannot interpret our lifestyle, as important as this is for a framework in sharing the Gospel (1 Thessalonians 2). Romans 10:15-17 is very clear, that for person to come to faith, they must hear the explicit plan of salvation and believe. Here is a simple direct ‘ready to use’ Gospel message.

Salvation is a free gift of God! You can have confidence you are saved:

·        Each person has done misdeeds (sin) that deserve judgment and punishment from a perfect and just God.

·        However, God being loving, sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins on the cross to take the punishment that we deserved.

·        Consequently, God will see us without sin by accepting through faith the forgiveness that Christ provided by his death on the cross. This gracious forgiveness heals our relationship with God allowing us to obtain eternal life!

Teleios examined why people are resistant to sharing the explicit plan of salvation at a Midwest bible-believing Church. We found the most common reason was not only social rejection but also not knowing how to say the Gospel itself.

In the hundreds of Bible studies we've been blessed to teach no student could tell us clearly the gospel, even non-succinctly. This not only prevented them from sharing with others but also at times caused doubt in their own minds because they could not coherently tell themselves that they were forgiven and really saved.

Unfortunately, the hesitancy sharing the Gospel is one of the greatest hurdles of believers advancing in their knowledge of God (Colossians 1:9-10). Further, this hesitancy is associated often with fear on one side while creating internal guilt on the other side. This self-defeating battle is unfortunate as sharing the Gospel does not need to be this way. It is actually quite easy and next week we'll discuss exactly how to do it!

Thank you for joining us today. I counted a privilege that you would read my blog.

WC Stewart


Response policy - The purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate language. I reserve the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.

Copyright © 2016 Teleios, Inc. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Beliefs for salvation, ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’

Welcome back to my blog. Thank you for visiting today. We are in an exciting series on exploring relevant research findings from Teleios! A list of our compelling findings is on our website (www.teleiosresearch.com).

Teleios recently completed a survey of visitors to the Instagram site, GodsHolyScriptures. We had 224 participants: 93% were adolescents (< 18) and millennials (18-34), 60% evangelicals and 60% female. We asked them what they must believe to be a Christian. Wow, we received some amazing answers!

The good – Fortunately, almost all participants agreed that salvation was by faith through grace based on Christ's substitutionary sacrifice for our sins on the cross (87%). Furthermore, most (60%) believed their salvation was secure after their belief through faith; all very scriptural, YAY! (Romans 10:9-11; Ephesians 2:4-10; Romans 3:23-26; 1 Peter 1:4-5; John 10:28-30).

The bad – However, high percentages of our participants also added in some extra biblical requirements for being saved, which are not mentioned in biblical salvation texts (see Table).

Table: Non-biblical additions to salvation
(percent agreeing with statement)

87%
Believe heaven and hell are real places
78%
Believe the devil is real
65%
Believe in creation
64%
Believe every word of the Bible
58%

Although our participants are admirable in their zeal, when sharing the gospel, we should be careful not to add burdens that God does not Himself mention. For salvation a person simply needs to believe in the sacrifice of Christ for their sins and His resurrection by faith.

Then upon belief, a person is regenerated by the Spirit to become a new person in Christ. They will then grow in orthodoxy, accepting the issues listed in the Table, by the help of the Spirit as they study and grow in biblical knowledge.

The ugly - Further, the participants also frequently added in some extra-biblical requirements for salvation, including being anti-abortion and water baptized (40% each). Again, these are important topics but have nothing to do with our salvation. Christ alone and His glorious sacrifice is sufficient to save us.

We have a wonderful Savior who has provided the amazing gift of salvation. For those who already have believed to salvation, He then graciously causes us to grow. Don't make it hard for others! It is God who causes young believers to stand, not us (Romans 14:4).

Join us again next week as we continue to explore what one must do be saved and assured of salvation. We will continue the amazing findings of Teleios research and the advantages of the scripture.

WC Stewart


Response policy - The purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate language. I reserve the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.

Copyright © 2016 Teleios, Inc. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Top 5 influences of our wellbeing

Welcome back to my blog. Thank you for visiting today. We are in the midst of an exciting series exploring relevant research findings from Teleios! A list of our compelling findings is on our website (www.teleiosresearch.com).

Teleios recently completed a survey of visitors to the Instagram site, Instapray. We had 884 participants, mostly all comprised of youth (<18) as well as millennials (18-34), 77% evangelicals and 43% ex-US. We asked them regarding what in their daily life influenced their wellbeing.

Participants had generally good wellbeing with a score of 4.8 (scale 0-6 with 6 being best).

What influences wellbeing the most in these young Christians?

1.    Personal walk with God (score 5.2) - What a great top choice! The Christian walk is a biblical term which indicates the manner, especially our moral, way of life in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 25).

1 Thessalonians 1:5-7 nicely describes the progression of the Christian walk for those who:

·       Are saved – We first believe we are saved by grace through Christ’s death on the cross. This is the basis of our walk, enabled by the Spirit, received at salvation (Ephesians 1:13-14).

·       Security – We are confident in our salvation. This gives the confidence in our walk.

·       Confidence in belief - We accept the wisdom and authority the word of God in our lives.

·       Emulates the apostles - This is best described in the first church, which was in Jerusalem (Acts 2:42 and 47), and engaged in: prayer, praise, fellowship, outreach and studying the Bible. Teleios research has shown that these activities, and the more in which they are done, increase personal wellbeing (1,2).

2.    Worship service (score 5.0) – I would not have thought this would have been number two, but the information is most important. This finding should encourage pastors about the importance of their worship service for young believers.

The reason the worship service is so important we do not know precisely from research, but we could surmise the following:

·       Corrects our thinking - Church sets our thoughts straight by the combination of prayer, teaching and praise directing us to the appropriate relationship with God.

·       Challenges us to growth - Learning new information through the worship service helps us increase in faith and knowledge.

·       Encouraging atmosphere - Being in a positive environment with the music, teaching, prayer and liturgy; all support our faith and the knowledge that we are correct in our standing with God and are correct in our stance versus secular society.

·       Fellowship - At church we have the opportunity to speak with our dear Christian friends and find encouragement by their faith and actions.

3.    Family and friends (score 4.9 and 4.6 respectively) - This finding was encouraging because it shows the generally positive influence of close associates on adolescents and millennials. Healthy family and friend relationships provide not only advice and teaching for life but also security in a place of warm and loving acceptance.

4.    Church members (score 4.3) – Although not quite as important as friends and family, church members can provide an outside source of encouragement and example as well as source of Christian friendship.

5.    Church activities (score 4.3) - Again this finding should encourage pastors of the importance of church and its impact in young people's lives. Church activities provide a source of friends and acceptance for young people, and depending on the activity, teaching, mentorship and encouragement.

We are ecstatic in this survey to see that four of the top five sources of wellbeing for adolescents and millennials were spiritually based. This finding is consistent with Teleios research of the enhanced wellbeing provided by scripture through the knowledge of our salvation, eternal security and adherence to the Christian walk. These devoted participants appear generally to recognize scriptural benefits and pursue it, to the fruit in their lives. Their desires can be an example to us all.

Join us again next week as we discuss further Teleios research in the amazing impact of God's word in our lives.

WC Stewart


Response policy - The purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate language. I reserve the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.
Copyright © 2016 Teleios, Inc. All rights reserved.