So here it is, the final post before my project is due. This has been a very interesting process, and I've learned a lot! If there seems to be interest, I can continue and do a few more posts, just let me know, and let me know what you want to discuss, and I'll get the ball rolling.

For our final post, I thought we might discuss Music Festivals. When I was in High School, my church Youth Director took a group of youth up to Wilmar, MN for SonShine Christian Music Festival. I went for 3 years, and it was a great experience for me. They had Christian bands that I listened to a lot, good speakers, vendors, food, and lots more. It was like a big Christian Woodstock to me. Everyone camped out in the field and grilled food, or made cold sandwiches. I had a great experience. I haven't gone since High School, but I still remember it with fond memories.

There are a number of other Christian Music Festivals around the country. There is Alive in Ohio, Cornerstone in Illinois, Freedom Fest in Iowa, and many many more.

These festivals are events that are mostly aimed towards Youth and Youth Groups. There are people of all ages, and many families that also attend. They draw massive amounts of people and offer a fun filled weekend of Christian music and message. As a youth, I found them incredibly fulfilling and exciting. I looked forward to going to SonShine every year.

Though I no longer listen much to Christian music, I still appretiate the music festivals, and always encourage people to go to them.

Have any of you attended, or thought of attending a Christian Music Event?
What were your experiences?
Do you feel that they were an effective form of Evangelism?
Any concerns?

The only problem that I could think of with these various music events is the issue of follow up. That's always something I am concered about with large Christian events. People sweep through and get people on "Fire for God" and then they leave, with no basis of Christianity, and no where to turn to in times of struggle and confusion, which quickly follow any experience of faith. However, these events are set up to inspire people and as a way for youth groups and families to come together. There are few personal connections made, and perhaps it is hoped and expected that those who go to these events will be the base of foundation for people who are experiencing these "conversion" experiences. I know that my youth director was always there for us with any questions, or just someone to talk to.

I hope this project has been good for you all. Enjoy reading!  ¶ 4:54 PM

  How do we Evangelize in a Pluralistic world?

This seems to be an important question in the church, and in the world today. With growing technology and communication systems, the world gets smaller every day. We are constantly exposed to and put into close proximity with people of other cultures, belief systems and values. Unfortunatly in our country and in the world, clashes between people of different cultures and beliefs are all too common. The question of 'evangelism' in Christianity is a complex one. How can we approach evangelism in a way that is sensitive to the changing world? Can the old models of evangelism work? Should evangelism be the focus, or should we instead look to understaning and healing the worlds wounds together, with differing beliefs and traditions? These are questions that I'm not sure have answers right now, but they are important to consider. Established colonializm has died, and with it, the forcing of religion upon the colonized. However, there are still many places in the world that do not experience freedom of religion or thought.

One of the readings that I did in my evangelism course was "Foundations of a Luther Lutheran Theology of Evangelism" by Russell John Briese. Briese made the obvious statement that:

"West Christianity does not enjoy a monopoly on religion as it once appeared to. Secularism, humanism, and non-Christian religions compete with Christianity for adherence, all posing as revelation of ultimate truth and meaning for mankind." (Page 233)

Knowing this, it’s important, I feel, to recognize that we as Christians can no longer come at Evangelism with an “I’m right, you’re wrong” attitude. In our day and age, it is important to have a good amount of sensitivity and respect for other people’s beliefs, even when they are completely different from our own. I see dialogue with other faith traditions as one of the most important things that people of the world can do today. By coming together to discuss our similarities and differences, a greater appreciation of those similarities and differences can occur.

Briese references a man named Carl Braaten in his book. Braaten says that we need to “approach other religions in dialogue and mission at the same time. Not one or the other, but both are to be used.” (Page 237) I disagree with Braaten. By coming into dialogue with the mindset to evangelize, open discussion cannot occur. If I were to open dialogue with a Buddhist or Muslim, with the intention of “making them a Christian” that person would feel attacked, and that there ideas were not being respected. Dialogue is not evangelism. I cannot stress that enough. Dialogue is just that: dialogue! It is a space and time for discussion and respect. I would similarly feel attacked if I were to enter into dialogue with a Buddhist or Muslim and they came in with the intention of converting me to their religion. I would not feel as if I were being listened to and respected as someone with differing views. We simply cannot use dialogue as a tool for evangelism.

What do you all think of this? Do you agree with Braaten? With Briese? With me? What are your thoughts on our changing world and how to deal with it? Lets get some good discussion going again!  ¶ 9:01 PM

  Hey folks, here we are back at it again. Thank you for your comments on the evangelism of Rev. Fred Phelps and Westboro Church. Today's discussion: Jack Van Impe. You may have caught Jack Van Impe and his wife Roxella on TV, perhaps not. Well, if you live here in the Twin Cities, you can catch Mr. Van Impe on KMSP/9 Sunday at 11:35 PM. I recomend watching it. It's informative, no matter how you view his message. If you don't live in the Twin Cities, there is a full schedule on the website, just click TV Program on the side bar and then TV Schedule.

Jack Van Impe believe that the end times are very, very near, and so uses his TV show and other forms of media to get that message out in full force. He says, "Current international events reflect exactly the conditions and happenings predicted throughout the Bible for the last days of this age." If you go to the side bar and click About it will link you to a letter from Van Impe, and also links to the Mission Statment and Statement of Faith for the Jack Van Impe ministry.

The Statement of Faith appears to me to hold many of the traditional Christian claims. Here is what it says:

We believe in the verbal inspiration of the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments; the Trinity of the Godhead; the creation of man by the direct act of God; the fall of man and his need for redemption; the Deity, Incarnation and Virgin Birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; His vicarious atonement for the sins of mankind by the shedding of His blood on the cross; the resurrection of His body from the tomb; His ascension into heaven; His personal, imminent return; the Deity of the Holy Spirit; justification of the believer by grace through faith; a literal devil who is our adversary; a literal heaven for the redeemed and a literal hell for the lost; the infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture to be Scripture itself; and the requirement of implicit obedience to the expressed commands of Christ as the standard by which He will judge our love to Him.

I believe that this statement can be understood and accepted by most Christians in the world today, if not in its entirety, at least at a basic level, Christians would see this as the basic Christian faith. The same can be said of the Mission Statement:

To spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 15:3,4), the message of His soon return (Titus 2:13), and the truth of the Bible (II Timothy 3:16) to all peoples in all nations (Acts 1:8) using all available resources to bring Him honor and glory (Colossians 1:18).
Proverbs 3:6: In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths(KJV).

Jack Van Impe has a very interesting gift, he has memorized over 14,000 Bible verses and quotes them profusly throughout his TV show. The basic premise of the show is this: Roxella Van Impe starts off by going through the worlds headlines, the wars, and murders and controversies facing the world today. Jack Van Impe then goes through the headlines one by one and links them to the end times, pulling random scriptures from all over the Bible to explain how a murder in Wisconsin is a sign of the second coming. So, here comes our first 2 question:

1. What do you think of this? How is it positive or negative to have that many scriptures memorized?
2. Are there dangers in pulling random scripture out of context and applying it to world news today?

There are also Prayer and Tell a Friend options on the website, where you can send in a prayer request, or direct a friend to the ministry site. There are Illistrations of Revelations. I encourage you to simply go through the side bar links and look around. There is a lot to see, and much that can't be explained here. Ponder the questions, think of some new ones, and hopefully some good discussion will come out of this!

3. What are your general impressions of the website and the Van Impe ministry?
4. If you've seen the tv show, what were your impressions of that? (If not, there are places on the website where you can view clips of the show.)
  ¶ 11:01 PM

  Thank you to everyone who has been participating in this project! I really appretiate all the imput, and hope that you all are getting something out of this! The discussions have been wonderful. Thank you again. Oh, and if y'all have any ideas about things you'd like to discuss or look at in terms of Evangelism, email me and let me know! I'm planning on looking into Jerry Falwell, Jack Van Impe, and Tim LaHaye, but I need more ideas, so let me know!

Okay, so here we are on day three, time for the next topic. You may have noticed the new link on the side bar to Westboro Baptist Church. For those of you who don't know, this is the website for the church of Rev. Fred Phelps. The website url pretty much says it all. This is a website, and ministry, that is primarly aimed at hate against homosexuals. Let's look at some of the things included on the site.

If you go to the site and enter, then click on Purpose it will take you to a page discussing the primary aims of Westboro Baptist. I'm going to ask that you go to the site yourself and look because I don't want to copy much of what the site says, I simply don't want much of that type of language on my site. However, if you read it, you will find that the message is one of hate. They even go so far as to have a "hate speech" for the week from the Bible, here's what it is for this week:

This week's "hate" speech: "But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains." Mark 13:14.

So, I think that can bring us to our 1st question:

1. What are your reactions to having a Biblical verse called a "hate speech"?

Okay, now lets look at the Manifesto of Westboro Baptist Church On the first page, simply click on the words "Manifesto..." This is what you will see there:

Manifesto of Westboro Baptist Church
We are a TULIP Baptist Church!
We believe -- and vigorously preach -- the 5 Points of Calvinism!
Anyone preaching otherwise is a Hell-bound false prophet, a messenger of Satan, to whom we say, Anathema Maranatha! and, Let him be accursed of God!

T - Total Depravity
U - Unconditional Election
L - Limited Atonement
I - Irresistible Grace
P - Perserverance of the Saints

To every lover of Arminian lies -- believing and preaching that God loves every individual of mankind -- we say, You are going to Hell! Period! End of discussion! God's decree sending you to Hell is irreversible! Hypocrites! How can ye escape the damnation of Hell?!

So this TULIP thing is something that was created by the Synod of Dort in 1618, in Holland - it is a Calvanistic statement (Luckily I just learned this in my Christian History course). What we discussed is what each of these phrases mean:

T - Humans are totally sinful, no spark of the divine
U - God chooses who is saved an who is not
L - Not everyone will make it to heaven, it's not Universalism
I - NOthing you can do if God has 'chosen' you for grace, or if he has not
P - You're going to make it if you're been chosen, no matter what trials you go through.

So, here are some more questions:

2. Does Rev. Phelps' interpretation of Tulip seem to be what the original intention was for?
3. What are your reactions to the statement "believing and preaching that God loves every individual of mankind -- we say, You are going to Hell! Period!...How can ye escape the damnation of Hell?!" ?


Now, once you've entered the site, on the home page, scroll down to the

Memorialssection. This is where Westboro posts their own "memorials" to people who have died and are homosexual, or have been killed by people who are homosexual. Some of the more disturbing "memorials" are to Matthew Shephard and Diane Whipple. To these two individuals, Westboro has a whole page dedicated, with a count of how long they have been "burning in hell." I can't even imagine the pain that the families of these two individuals have gone through because of these pages. As I was browsing the site preparing for tonights post, I clicked on the "memorial" for Diane Whipple. I was looking at the page when all of a sudden, a terrible screaming came through my speakers, I immediatly pushed the back button on my browser and just began to cry. I don't understand this hate, this pure evil, and I do mean that. I know in my heart that God loves Rev. Fred Phelps and his congregation, but I have a hard time with that. I truley believe that no matter what your position on homosexuality is, that anyone would be offended by this site. It is so hard and cruel, claiming that God hates, and hates with a furry. I don't understand it. So hear are my questions for this section:

4. What does Rev. Fred Phelps "Evangelism" do to Christianity and Evangelism as we see it?
5. How can we, as Christian people, love someone who is full of so much hate?

If you can get audio on your computer, I urge you to click the link on the home page under Special that is entitled Fred Phelps On NPR Regarding Matthew Shepard Monument . It's an NPR look at the current issue over Rev. Phelps trying to put up his "Matthew Shepard Monument" in a local park near where Shephard was from. You can see a visual of the "monument" under the Memorials section of the page.

I could go on and on about this site and point out many things that have made me very angry and upset. Instead, I suggest you browse the site yourself. It's very difficult to read and look at sometimes, but I think it's important to understand what Phelps is saying, especially if you want to find a way to counter it and stop him.

  ¶ 7:07 PM

  Big thank you's to Justin Thornburgh and Ioan Ittu for their comments! I hope that we'll be getting more people to imput soon! So, as promised, here are my answers to the 2 questions I posted:

1. When you hear the word "Evangelism" what do you think, feel, react to?

When I hear the word 'evangelism' I get a very awful feeling in side of me. A kind of skin crawling revulsion to the term. This comes from years of experience with people who use evangelism in an inappropriate way. I've come into contact all to often with people who believe the only way to truley evangelize is to go around and judge people, tell them that they are going to hell, and that they had better come around to Jesus or else! These kind of scare tactics to Christian Evangelism are unfourtunate, and sadly, all too common from my experience. I've met more than my fair share of people who have been turned away from any sort of spiritual life because of judgemental Christians who have made them feel that their beliefs and ideas are unworthy of God. Personally, I believe that the only being capable and qualified to "condem" or "save" people is God himself.

2. In your perfect world, what would "Evangelism" look like?

In my perfect world, evangelism would be lived, not told. I have always felt that the most effective way of 'evangelizing' someone to a life with God is to live it, not preach it at them. People who see another person acting out love, caring, faithfullness and joy in their lives are more likely to either 1) ask that person where their love comes from or 2) begin to live a life of love and acceptance themselves. There are all too many people, I have observed, who simply preach about love and God and then turn around and act completly different. The "do as I say not as I do" mentality is very present in Christianity today. Live life your life as an example, this is the most effective form of "evangelism" that I've found.


Okay, now, on to a new topic. Billy Graham. I reported on the Billy Graham website for another project for this class, so now I will pose some questions to you all for consideration. If you click the link above, you can go to the website yourself and see what it has to offer.

On the website, you can find the Statement of Faith of the Billy Graham ministries. If you click the link above, you can see it, otherwise, go to www.billygraham.org and then click on About Us and Statement of Faith to view. Here is what the statement says:

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association believes:

*The Bible to be the infallible Word of God, that it is His holy and inspired Word, and that it is of supreme and final authority.

*In one God, eternally existing in three persons -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

*Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He led a sinless life, took on Himself all our sins, died and rose again, and is seated at the right hand of the Father as our mediator and advocate.

*That all men everywhere are lost and face the judgment of God, and need to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through His shed blood on the cross.

*That Christ rose from the dead and is coming soon.

*In holy Christian living, and that we must have concern for the hurts and social needs of our fellowmen.

*We must dedicate ourselves anew to the service of our Lord and to His authority over our lives.

*In using every modern means of communication available to us to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.


The website goes about in many ways of discussing these points. Feel free to browse around if you have questions on the theology of Billy Graham. Here is one question for discussion here:

1. What do you take out of this faith statement? Is it one you could follow? Do you find any issue with it?

Also on the website is a step by step guide to becoming a Christian. You can find it by clicking the above link, or by going to the website, clicking on Beleive then on Steps to Peace with God and reading the article. Here are the steps that the website suggests to become a Christian:

Where are you?
Will you receive Jesus Christ right now?
Here is how you can receive Christ:

1. Admit your need (I am a sinner).
2. Be willing to turn from your sins (repent).
3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross and rose from the grave.
4. Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit. (Receive Him as Lord and Savior.)

So, here are the next questions for this post:

2. Are these steps helpful? Do you feel they would help someone to find there way to God?

3. Are steps necessary, or how else might God consider us to be one of his children?

The final thing we will be discussing is the 'Commitment Form' that can be found on the website by going again to the Believe section and then clicking on Please let us Know section. Here you can fill out a form to let the Billy Graham ministries know that you are "committing your life to Christ." You fill out the form and send electronically send it in. After that you will recieve Bible study materials and a free six-month subscription to "Decision" magazine as well as a free CD. Here is our final question for this post:

4. How do you recieve this "Commitment Form?" Give us your thoughts on it.

Okay, I think that is enough for now, have fun discussing and learing more about Billy Graham. If you have any questions about the website, please feel free to email me at evangelism_project@yahoo.com

Happy Blogging!  ¶ 7:29 PM

  WHAT IS EVANGELISM?

Welcome to the Evangelism blog! I have just finished a 6 week course on Evangelism in the life of the church, and this blog is to complete my final project requirement. On this blog, we will be discussing different forms of Evangelism by looking at different Evangelists, Books, and at our own views of Evangelism. This will be a multi-denominational discussion. I also encourage any people of differing religions who find this site to discuss forms of "Christian" Evangelism they have encountered, or how you go about expressing your faith to others. This first thing we will be discussing here is two questions:

1. When you hear the word "Evangelism" what do you think, feel, react to?

2. In your perfect world, what would "Evangelism" look like?

Please comment below in the comment section, or feel free to E-mail me at evangelism_project@yahoo.com

Tommarows post will be my answers to these questions, and a look at the Evanglism of Billy Graham based on his website.  ¶ 2:31 PM