In DISCIPLESHIP this Basic Textbook teaches the student:

1. What Discipleship is and how to Disciple a New Christian.

2. How we relate to Jesus for the answer to our needs.

3. The Importance of Daily Time in the Word of God.

4. The Importance of Weekly Fellowship in a Church.

5. How to successfully manage their time during the week so they can also include at least two hours a week to go out and share their faith with others.

6. What the Bible teaches about the Constitution and Personality development of man.

7. How to Discern What is Truly Jesus’ Voice.

8. How to Know and Succeed in Jesus’ Plan for Your Life.

9. How to Experience Jesus’ Forgiveness Daily and how to teach this to others.

10. The Different Kinds of Faith that there are and the Faith that pleases God.

11. What it means to Love Jesus with all your Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength.

12. The Cost of Discipleship and what walking with Jesus truly means.

Principles of Discipleship are very important in an Evangelism Training Program because most Christian’s problems that are binding them up can be traced to a lack of knowledge or practice of one or more basic Biblical discipleship concepts. The training in this Basic Textbook of Evangelism will give the trainee the ability to communicate these principles simply and clearly to the person being counseled on the field.

In APOLOGETICS this Basic Textbook covers

1. The Claims of Jesus Christ which addresses and corrects most of the Christological heresies taught by many of the leading Christian cults in America today.

2. The Bible’s Teaching on the Constitution of Man verses Secular Psychology.

3. Witnessing ethics: what and what not to do in Evangelism.

4. The Issue of Predestination verses the Importance of Evangelism.

5. The different ways in which we determine what is true and how the Bible meets these criteria.

6. The reliability of Old and New Testament manuscripts.

7. Evidence for Moses’ authorship of the Pentateuch.

8. Why Genesis and Evolution are not compatible.

9. Evidence for the Literal-Historical Reliability of the Bible God’s Word in the areas of historical, cosmological, scientific, theological and redemptive fact.

10. Major Old Testament Prophetic predictions concerning Jesus and His fulfillment of them, amazing fulfilled prophecies in the past fifty years and Hebrew Codes.

11. Testimonies of Evangelism on the field that deal with tough questions one encounters on the field.

12. The literal absolute reality and existence of Heaven and Hell.

13. Quick Reference sheets for the Internet and any other kind of Evangelism on the field.

When sharing the Gospel with a non Christian, just sharing the simple Gospel may not be enough to release the individual’s faith to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord because of false assumptions about the validity of the teaching of Scripture or the Christian faith. Jesus said that knowing the truth will set a person free (John 8:32). In order for a person’s faith to be released these strongholds of the mind, as Paul calls them (2 Cor 10:3-5), must be removed. This is the discipline of Apologetics. In this Basic Textbook the student is taught what most of the major arguments are against Christianity and the Bible God’s Word and how to respond to these negative assertions in a way that will release the faith of the person being witnessed to so that they see that Jesus really is the only answer to their life and needs and that the Bible really is the absolute Word of God and absolutely reliable to base life and society on. Again, the teachings of Apologetics in this textbook were developed as a result of 32 years of ongoing weekly Evangelism on the field and the questions encountered on the field as current as the copyright of this book. As a result, Chapters in this Basic Textbook on Apologetics cover and answer most of the questions one will encounter on the field. All of this Apologetic material is also the result of 32 years of reading and research by the author to find these answers and so is fully documented in each case covered.

To lead a person to Jesus Christ requires:

1. First, Explaining to a person what it means to be a Christian and how to become one which is EVANGELISM and SALVATION.
2. Second, teaching a New Christian how to discern what is truly Jesus’ voice to him in the different areas of his life and then encouraging him or her to obey what Jesus tells them to do which is DISCIPLESHIP.
3. And third, giving honest answers to honest questions about the validity of the Christian faith which is APOLOGETICS.

This Basic textbook on Evangelism, Salvation, Discipleship and Apologetics gives the Christian more than an adequate foundation in these three areas for successful Evangelism and any Ministry work.

The second stage to becoming an effective Christian witness is learning how to communicate the Gospel to each other in class in a non-hostile environment until one can do it comfortably and unself-consciously. Some people feel this is putting the Holy Spirit into a box, but 32 years of Evangelism and discipleship training have taught me that a person cannot even begin to understand what it means to be led of the Holy Spirit in Evangelism or Ministry until he first overcomes his self consciousness and self-focus. The student cannot overcome his self-consciousness and self-focus until he becomes so familiar with the message that he no longer needs to think about what he is going to say and how he is coming across. This is accomplished in this Basic Training Program through seven weeks of in class practice of sharing the Gospel with other Christians before ever going out on the field and sharing the Gospel with a total stranger. During this time the student does go on the field, but only as an observer to learn from an experienced Christian witness, not actually engaging himself in witnessing.

Evangelism is a skill learned like any skill and is perfected through repeated practice. Proverbs 14:23 states, "In all labor there is profit." When a student is well prepared for Evangelism he finds it enjoyable. When he is not prepared and does not know what to say, he becomes embarrassed on the field and develops a hatred for Evangelism, leaves it, and then becomes next to impossible to recruit for further Evangelism in the future. He argues as follows: I do not have the gift of Evangelism! I believe in Friendship Evangelism. I only believe in Holy Spirit led Evangelism (while the Holy Spirit never does seem to lead them). It is the goal of this Basic Training Program of Evangelism to make Evangelism an enjoyable experience for the student so that when he finishes the training, he will continue regular ongoing Evangelism and Ministry Outreach as a lifestyle.

*Part of the in-class training also includes mock demonstrations of sharing the Gospel and Discipleship concepts under similar circumstances you would encounter on the field or in someone’s home. These mock demonstrations are given in the Evangelism: The Time Is Now! Teacher’s Manual.¹⁷³ This is part of the Apologetic training and teaches the student how to respond and answer the questions he will encounter on the field.

At the end of seven weeks of training the next stage required for an effective Evangelism Training Program is to overcome the fear of talking to a total stranger on the field. Half the Battle of overcoming the fear of witnessing on the field is knowing what to say and how to say it. This is why the first and second stages are absolutely essential before going on to this third stage. But no amount of knowledge and in class training eliminates all the fears of witnessing. On the field training has its own set of fears to overcome.

The first fear to overcome is going out on the field itself. I had a student once who after going through the first two stages called me up in tears, petrified with fear about going out and talking to a total stranger, and told me she just could not do it. I never force a student to witness to a total stranger until they are ready because if they are not ready, forcing them to do it could destroy their potential of ever being a witness at all. Instead I told her that she did not have to go out and witness but that she did have to go out and observe. A lot of people’s fears about witnessing are in their heads and not in reality. She went out with me the next day and watched me witness to several people. The end result was that she saw her fears had no basis in reality.

The next week she went out witnessing with another student and the two of them led two people to Christ. She will be witnessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the rest of her life because it is a joy to her not a fearful experience. This Basic Program of Evangelism is designed to consider the individual. It does not make Christian student witnesses a herd of cattle.

After the student gets over the trauma of just walking up to a total stranger or stepping into a stranger’s home on the field he then needs to overcome the problem of self-consciousness and self-focus as he witnesses to the stranger. This takes about six weeks or more depending on the individual. There are few positive results in this stage because the student’s self consciousness and self-focus hinder him from showing genuine love and concern for the person being witnessed too. The lack of self-confidence communicated to the stranger hinders him from accepting the genuineness of the message. Ecclesiastes 10:4 states, "If the ruler’s temper rises against you, do not abandon your position, because composure allays great offenses." In other words, unflinching confidence convinces a person of the validity of what you have to say.

Finally, as the self-consciousness and self-focus began to dissipate, genuine love and concern for the individual come through and positive responses begin to result. This is because the fruit of the Spirit is love and so when a person is ministering in love he is beginning to learn what it means to be led of the Holy Spirit in witnessing and in ministering, but there are no short cuts to getting to this place of maturity in witnessing. It can only come about by going through the discipline of these three stages. Any honest Minister will have to admit this was true in the development of his own ministry work. It was true in mine.

In the first three stages, which is covered in this Basic Textbook, the student learns how to effectively and lovingly communicate his faith, how to disciple a new Christian or older Christian, and how to deal with some of the tough questions one encounters concerning the integrity of the Gospel. These are the goals of a Basic Evangelism Program: to bring a person to Christ and give him or her some basic tools to guarantee their on going maturity. But this is not the only purpose of an Evangelism Training Program.

The more advanced purpose of an Evangelism Training Program is to teach the Christian how to strengthen the weak, heal the slick, bind up the broken hearted, and to bring back those who are scattered and lost. This is the purpose of the Advanced Training put together in the Advanced Textbook on Evangelism, Discipleship, Apologetics, and Counseling titled, Relationship With Jesus Is The Key To Effective Ministry. The primary purpose of this training program is to teach the Layman compassion in ministering through right discernment.

It does this first by teaching the student what the Bible states about the relationship of the Trinity and Jesus’ desired relationship with the church. Second, how this relates to the complexity of man’s constitution and what the Bible teaches about man’s constitution. Third, how we approach Jesus for the answer to our needs and in counseling. Fourth, why we do not always succeed in our attempts to minister Jesus to others. Fifth, what our primary motive is in discerning Jesus’ will and plan for our lives individually. Sixth, what the believers relationship to the Law is. Seventh, how to discern the hidden causes for our conscious actions we cannot seem to control and then how to discern Jesus’ solution to overcome these subconscious urges. Eighth, why we as Christians suffer. Ninth, foundations necessary for discernment, required conditions for discernment, required motivation for discernment, primary principles for discernment and miscellaneous principles for discernment. Tenth, the importance of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and especially how this relates to the manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit and how these help us get to the root of a problem and to the root solution. Eleventh, how we approach Jesus with our needs and discern which manifestations of the Holy Spirit to minister. Twelfth, how we are to properly relate to one another in the body of Christ and why this is the key and solution to successful world Evangelism. Thirteenth, how to teach these advanced principles of Evangelism, discipleship and Counseling to others. Fourteenth, the importance of knowledge and how to discern what areas of knowledge Jesus wants us to pursue individually. Fifteenth, how to discern Jesus’ place of ministry for each of us individually. Finally, how to succeed in what Jesus has called us to do individually.

In Apologetics the Advanced material focuses on the teachings of Francis A. Schaeffer. Dr. Schaeffer’s books teach how to discern one’s culture and in relationship to that how to make the simple Gospel simple to the person we are witnessing too. The Apologetics also focuses on the literal historical reliability of Genesis, evidence of the world wide flood, the significance of the genealogy of Genesis and how this relates to Jesus being truly our Savior and Messiah, evidence of Moses’ authorship of the Pentateuch, the significance of the different names of God in the Pentateuch and why Genesis and Evolution are not compatible.

These advanced concepts will give the Layman the ability to minister to any normal need physically, spiritually, and mentally; but also the discernment to know when to refer an individual to someone more qualified than himself to meet the need.

By the time the Layman has gone through both the Basic and Advanced Training Program he will be adequately trained to then take on greater responsibilities in other areas of ministry in or outside the Church or continue in the Church’s Evangelism Training Program so he can help train others.

Why All Christians Need Training in Evangelism is a book written for Christian Laymen to explain to them the importance of Evangelism and training in Evangelism and the value of this training material to that end. You use this book to introduce this training material on Evangelism and for advertising upcoming classes to this end which you advertise on the back of the book. The book contains Chapters 1-4 and 8 of this Section of the Textbook.

When I do Evangelism during the week, I never assume anyone is a Christian whether they say they attend Church or not, so I always start off with the Salvation tract. When I do, many times Christians tell me they accepted Christ months or years before but that He is no longer Lord of their lives. Often times this is not because they do not want to walk with Jesus, but because of some problem in their lives they were unable to overcome. As a result they became frustrated and under condemnation and eventually gave up trying to live the Christian life and for Jesus. Their problem is that they are trying to live the Christian life in their own strength instead of drawing upon Jesus’ strength. They know that Jesus is the answer to their needs but do not know how to apply this truth to their problems. This is what my Forgiveness Tract titled, Jesus Is The Answer To Your Needs (same title as discipleship book), is all about: first, to bring the Christian back to the place of surrendering their lives to Jesus as Savior and Lord and to then show them how to practically draw upon Jesus’ strength and power to live the Christian life and apply this to their problems and needs. Also available is a companion pamphlet titled, How To Share The Forgiveness Tract: JESUS Is The Answer To Your Needs, which explains how to effectively minister the content of this Forgiveness Tract with a Christian.

*(Evangelism Tract) After many years of preaching the Gospel and seeing how effective using a Salvation Tract in presenting the Gospel is, I came to realize that an Evangelism Tract would be just as effective in motivating Christians to give of their free time to share the Gospel. After much seeking of the Lord and prayer, the Evangelism Tract titled, The Most Loving Thing You Can Do, was the end result. The results have been very encouraging. When the student meets someone who is a Christian on the field and he becomes convinced they are a born again Christian, he will then ask them if he can instead get their reaction to their presentation of this Evangelism Tract. Like the Salvation Tract, it explains the importance of their making a commitment of their free time to share the Gospel and concludes with challenging them to make a prayer of commitment to that end.

Chapter 9 of Section 5 of this textbook titled, "How to Disciple a New Christian," gives guidelines of how to do follow-up and discipleship work the first five weeks after salvation. It teaches the student how to take a new Christian through the four basic discipleship books listed above whose titles and contents are the same as the Section titles they match in the Basic Textbook.