Those two paragraphs about overwhelming people with apologetics could have been written by me. I used to do quite a bit of lay preaching. My typical style was to take a topic and "prove" my conclusion with a half dozen cross references, backing the listeners into a corner, where they had to believe and obey. I probably helped a few people into Bible truth, but I can't claim it's good fruit that remains.
I don't get many opportunities to preach anymore. But I've tried to offer truth with less pressure. I was mostly a lecture and logic preacher, but I've noticed most good preachers are storytellers. Telling your own testimony is often a good start. People won't usually fall on their knees and repent, but you plant seeds that cannot be gainsaid. My own testimony is nothing exciting or radical, but it's still a foot in the door. (But it's still hard to not bring up the Ontological proof of God.😁)
You must be my brutha from anutha mutha, Mark. I spent the late 90s bashing people over the head with quality, well-articulated apologetic arguments. The web was pretty small back then, and I gained reputation as someone you didn't mess with. What I learned later was that a better reputation would be as someone who cared deeply for the people I interacted with, regardless of which kind of argument I chose to use.
I love apologetics, but I realized that apologists should be less concerned about "winning the argument" than about winning the person.
You have spoken the power of our testimony to those who are blind. What YAH does with it is His domain. Yet we huddle in our assemblies, those audacious buildings without indwelling life, a place of judgement to the unsaved. Something wrong here.
I don't know what you're talking about, Geoffrey. Are we not called to testify? We are... and if your audacious building is lifeless, let me recommend that you find another assembly. There are plenty out there full of faithful men and women who have crossed over from death to life.
Just saying our testimony is most useful outside the building where we meet. It is our most powerful evangelical tool. Sorry mate, did not express it very well.
Yes, our testimonies are most useful when we testify to the lost. At the same time, don't you think they're useful for our brothers and sisters in the faith as well? Scripture is full of calls to remember what God has done, and testimonies seem to fill that role as well.
This is great. It brings me back to when I learned I was actually going blind. I mean, I already knew, since it was so bad it had become dangerous to drive at the best of times, but I had the eye doc tell me I had the worst case of keratoconus he'd ever seen. He told me the good news was they could get me hard contacts that would help me to really see for the first time in years, but the bad news was I would eventually go blind without cornea transplant surgery. Even then, it was a temporary fix.
I thanked him and was glad to have the contacts, but I knew I could never afford that surgery. I went to the VA in the hopes that they might help and was astounded to find that they would, in fact, cover the surgery. I was so elated and went to my car in tears, turned it on, and KSBJ was singing, "You open the eyes of the blind, Lord!"
I started laughing so hard. Here at this emotional moment, Jesus just showed up and said "I've got you," in about the corniest way possible. I loved it. Reminds me that God gave us a sense of humor.
Wow, we do think a lot alike.
Those two paragraphs about overwhelming people with apologetics could have been written by me. I used to do quite a bit of lay preaching. My typical style was to take a topic and "prove" my conclusion with a half dozen cross references, backing the listeners into a corner, where they had to believe and obey. I probably helped a few people into Bible truth, but I can't claim it's good fruit that remains.
I don't get many opportunities to preach anymore. But I've tried to offer truth with less pressure. I was mostly a lecture and logic preacher, but I've noticed most good preachers are storytellers. Telling your own testimony is often a good start. People won't usually fall on their knees and repent, but you plant seeds that cannot be gainsaid. My own testimony is nothing exciting or radical, but it's still a foot in the door. (But it's still hard to not bring up the Ontological proof of God.😁)
You must be my brutha from anutha mutha, Mark. I spent the late 90s bashing people over the head with quality, well-articulated apologetic arguments. The web was pretty small back then, and I gained reputation as someone you didn't mess with. What I learned later was that a better reputation would be as someone who cared deeply for the people I interacted with, regardless of which kind of argument I chose to use.
I love apologetics, but I realized that apologists should be less concerned about "winning the argument" than about winning the person.
You have spoken the power of our testimony to those who are blind. What YAH does with it is His domain. Yet we huddle in our assemblies, those audacious buildings without indwelling life, a place of judgement to the unsaved. Something wrong here.
I don't know what you're talking about, Geoffrey. Are we not called to testify? We are... and if your audacious building is lifeless, let me recommend that you find another assembly. There are plenty out there full of faithful men and women who have crossed over from death to life.
What do you think, exactly, is wrong?
Just saying our testimony is most useful outside the building where we meet. It is our most powerful evangelical tool. Sorry mate, did not express it very well.
Ah. Got it.
Yes, our testimonies are most useful when we testify to the lost. At the same time, don't you think they're useful for our brothers and sisters in the faith as well? Scripture is full of calls to remember what God has done, and testimonies seem to fill that role as well.
This is great. It brings me back to when I learned I was actually going blind. I mean, I already knew, since it was so bad it had become dangerous to drive at the best of times, but I had the eye doc tell me I had the worst case of keratoconus he'd ever seen. He told me the good news was they could get me hard contacts that would help me to really see for the first time in years, but the bad news was I would eventually go blind without cornea transplant surgery. Even then, it was a temporary fix.
I thanked him and was glad to have the contacts, but I knew I could never afford that surgery. I went to the VA in the hopes that they might help and was astounded to find that they would, in fact, cover the surgery. I was so elated and went to my car in tears, turned it on, and KSBJ was singing, "You open the eyes of the blind, Lord!"
I started laughing so hard. Here at this emotional moment, Jesus just showed up and said "I've got you," in about the corniest way possible. I loved it. Reminds me that God gave us a sense of humor.
What a great story, Mercy!