If, before we get our hands on people, we recognize God’s hand is already on them, we tend to be less patriarchal and preachy. Our evangelistic efforts then look more Socratic than posturing. C.S. Lewis described himself as “a fellow patient in the same hospital who, having been admitted a little earlier, could give some …
An Onramp to the Free-way
Some call it “prevenient grace,” others use the phrase “common grace” to describe what the Spirit does to prepare people to hear about his “saving grace.” Whatever you want to call it, the Spirit uses anything he chooses to sing his “Come to Jesus!” song, and then invites us to harmonize with him! We might …
Collaborative Seed Sowing
The Spirit is anything but stingy with solicitations. His mailbag overflows as he distributes clues of the Father’s love, whose default is to include rather than exclude people from his family. Jesus overpaid for as many orphans as would come home with him. And he doesn’t care which orphanage in which he finds them! Conveying a …
Way to Go(d)
Even in largely false religious systems, there exists some redemptive quality. Notice I didn’t say, “redeeming,” which would imply that people can be redeemed through a defective dogma, apart from Jesus. Is Jesus the only way to God? A definite yes! But there’s a difference between different ways to God and different ways God …
Love’s Lure
Sharing the hope of a better future may be a more effective way to nudge people toward Jesus than threatening them with the prospect of judgment. Fear of hell may work for some, but the message of hope of heaven, to say nothing of a better future here on earth, is more likely to connect …
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