Frightening Friday 4/23/10

I'm not on the streets engaged in evangelism this evening. I'm at a church ladies' event.

Tonight I thought I'd leave you with a few tips I've learned since making it my aim to get out once a week and share the gospel with strangers I meet. Basically, this is the "routine" I follow each week.

During The Week:

• I preach the gospel to myself. If I am not convinced of my own need for the gospel, I will not be able to persuade others of theirs.
• I read my Bible. I have no source of truth within myself. Without reading God's Word during the week, I am likely to rely on my own knowledge and start believing I have the answers.
• I pray. I pray for God to call people unto Him. I pray for the Holy Spirit to work on the hearts of those I will be talking with on Friday night. I pray that I will present the gospel without error, that my words will not cause confusion. I pray for boldness and courage.
• I listen to podcasts of sound sermons (Bible Baptist Church podcast, Solid Food Media podcast) and podcasts of evangelistic programs where they go out on the streets and witness to people about Jesus Christ (Wretched Radio).

On Friday Night:

• On the way to my destination, I don't call anyone on the phone. I want to keep my thoughts heavenly minded, so I don't risk a conversation that could tangle my thoughts in earthly cares.
• I pray for the conversations ahead of me that evening. I pray I won't chicken out.
• I try to go straight to my destination from work. I've found if I go home first, I will try to stay home.
• I eat supper first. I've found that if I don't do that, I start thinking about what I will eat later that evening, and my mind wanders.
• If I'm alone for the evening, I don't plan anything afterwards. I've found when I'm alone and I plan something afterwards (like shopping), I will start treating evangelism like a pill I have to swallow (instead of a privilege) before getting onto the thing I really want to do.

That's what I've learned since making it a practice of engaging in intentional evangelism once a week. Most of my tips (the day of at least) are practical in nature. I hope they are helpful and cause you to think about how you could do the same thing (in some form) where you are.