TEXTBOOK
 | Basic Contents |
| Basic Teach Manual |
| Student Testimony |
| ICR Testimony |
| Biblical Definitions |
| Field Survey |
| Certificate of Completion |
| Advanced Contents |
| Adv Teach Manual |
| Student Testimony |
| Salvation Tract |
| Value of Using Salv |
| Forgiveness Tract |
| Value of Using FgTr |
| Evangelism Tract |
| Understanding Salv |
| Jesus the Answer |
| Jesus Forgiveness |
| Importance Evangel |
| Bible God's Word |
| Genesis Literally True |
| Scientifically Accur |
| Spontaneous Gener |
| What Is Truth? |
| God-Universe-Man |
| Heaven & Hell |
| Pro-Life |
| Faith Alone |
| Importance of Training |
| Layman Evangelism |
| America Back To God |
| Sharing on the Job |
| Field Survey |
| Basic Evangelism |
| Advanced Evangelism |
|
Institute Creation Res |
1 Corinthians 9:11
"If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it
too much if we should reap material things from you?"
Bible Internet Quick Reference
__________________________
IN CLASS TRAINING
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 31 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.
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 Evangelism: The Time Is
Now! Teacher's Manual. This is part of the
Apologetic training and teaches the student how to respond to and
answer the questions he will encounter on the field.
ON THE FIELD TRAINING
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.
Next:
Student Evaluation
of the Basic Training Program
Student Evaluation of the
Advanced Training Program