Evangelism
Jay Smith is an American Christian in London. He believes Muslims need
to leave their faith because their holy book, the Koran, is flawed. He
also believes that God has called him to confront Muslims in
Britainwith the Gospel, which he has done since 1993.
CBN.com -Jay Smith is an American Christian in London. He believes
Muslims need to leave their faith because their holy book, the Koran,
is flawed. Smith, who holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies, believes that
God has called him to confront Muslims in Britainwith the Gospel,
which he has done since 1993.
Recently, I went to London and saw him as he called a Muslim crowd to
him. He said, "Does anybody believe that Islam is a religion of peace
and tolerance? Come on, you who are Muslims, come up here to the
front, I want to talk to you. I want to look at your scriptures.
To the crowd that gathered, Smith said, "We're going to look at these
two scriptures, we're going to look at the Koran, and we're going to
look at the Bible."
In his audience that Sunday afternoon were some of Britain's most
radical Muslims. Even so, Smith and a team of fellow Christians
conduct weekly debates at Britain's famous outdoor debating location
called Speaker's Corner.
For more than a century, Speaker's Corner in Central Londonhas been
what the guidebooks call a 'symbol of free speech'. On any given
Sunday, anyone who has an opinion to air and anyone who will listen
can gather beside the lush green grass of Hyde Park.
But in recent years, Speaker's Corner has become a battlefield between
Islamic extremists and Christian evangelists.
On the day I was there, a Christian was telling the crowd, "There is
one God, that God is not Allah, Allah is not God." And from the crowd,
a Muslim commented, "Whatever he brings out, we've got the answer for
it. And he still comes here every single time and tries to pull people
around."
Jay Smith told me, "They know they can't go to the Koran to find an
In the essay, “The Second Great Awakening” by Sean Wilentz explains the simultaneous events at the Cane Ridge and Yale which their inequality was one-sided origins, worship, and social surroundings exceeded more through their connections that was called The Second Great Awakening also these revivals were omen that lasted in the 1840s a movement that influences the impulsive and doctrines to hold any management. Wilentz wraps up of the politics and the evangelizing that come from proceeding from the start, but had astounding momentum during 1825.The advantage of the Americans was churched as the evangelizing Methodists or Baptists from the South called the New School revivalist and the Presbyterians or Congregationalists from the North that had a nation of theoretical Christians in a mutual culture created more of the Enlightenment rationalism than the Protestant nation on the world. The northerners focused more on the Second Great Awakening than the South on the main plan of the organization.
In a survey conducted in 2012, LifeWay.com inquired about the importance of evangelism among members of the Christian faith. The results of the survey showed that 80 percent of people who claimed to follow Jesus Christ and had openly devoted themselves to the teaching of Christianity, felt that they had a “personal responsibility to share their religious views and beliefs about Jesus Christ with non-christians” (Wilke, LifeWay.com). Surveys such as this reflect the Christian doctrine of evangelism and the weight it holds within the Christian faith. As can be seen back in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ commanded His followers “to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19).” However, Jesus never told His followers how doing this.
What do you think of when you hear the name Ireland? Ireland is a relatively small island off the coast of Great Britain with a land area of 32,424 square miles (Delaney 2). There are several things that you may associate with this country such as St. Patrick’s Day, shamrocks, beer, and strife. The source of the bitterness behind this conflict began centuries ago, when Britain came over and forced Protestantism on the Irish Catholic inhabitants. For this reason there has always been an animosity between the Protestants and the Irish Catholics. The island is broken up into two distinct regions. The Republic of Ireland consists of twenty-six counties, which make up the southern region. This area is predominantly Roman Catholic. Northern Ireland is made up of the six northern counties, which are under British rule and predominately Protestant. Both sides use propaganda to spread their ideas and gain support. They each have organizations, such as the I.R.A., in the south, and the U.V.F., in the north, which use peaceful methods such as newspapers and murals along with violence to fight for their cause. In Northern Ireland the Protestants used their position in the government to spread anti-Catholic propaganda and persecute the Catholic citizens.
In 610 CE, Muhammad, a merchant trader from Mecca (Mecca is also a site of a yearly pilgrimage where Muslims come to perform a rituals at the sacred Ka’ba a.k.a. the holy shrine of Mecca), made one of his frequent visits to a cave by Mount Hira. On his way to the cave, he decided to pray because of all the different causes that made him feel like he was losing his way. During this visit to Mount Hira, the Archangel Gabriel squeezed Muhammad hard forcing the words “Allah is one God” continuously coming out of his mouth. After having these words come out of his mouth for about two years, Muhammad decided that it was the time to encourage others to quote
In today’s society, Christianity is plagued with many disagreements about how to deal with current issues in society. These problems arise from the fact that Christians have the same fundamental beliefs, but they often disagree on the details. This is the reason why there is a panoply of denominations in the Christian faith. The way that many of the factions in Christianity interpret the word of God can be categorized into different styles of gospel, such as evangelicalism and fundamentalism. One such category that is beginning to gain popularity in today’s society, often taught in megachurches, is Prosperity Gospel. Prosperity Gospel, also called the “Health and Wealth Gospel” by Scot McKnight’s internet article “The Problem for the Prosperity Gospel,” is the belief that if humans adhere to God’s will, then He will in turn bless them with prosperous lives (McKnight). This prosperity often comes in the form of health and wealth according to many megachurches that preach this gospel. In times of economic strife, the prosperity gospel offers comfort in the hopes of having a prosperous future. It is also suspected that Prosperity Gospel has also become an outlet for the people who have a considerable amount of money as a means to justify their wealth. Whatever the reason for believing this gospel, it is important to remember that Prosperity Gospel is just one of the many ways that we can interpret the teachings of the Bible.
Jesus Christ came into the world more than 2,000 years ago that a dying world might be saved. God, the Creator of heaven, earth, and sea, loves those who believe on Him so deeply that He offered His only Son as a sacrifice to atone the sins of mankind. To atone for man’s sins, Christ came to the earth in human flesh and was crucified in death. Not only was He crucified, but God also raised Him from the dead to be the bread of life and sit on the right hand of God interceding on behalf of the saints. Evangelism is sharing this story of the life and power of Jesus Christ. Moreover, evangelism is providing the necessary information about the cause and reasoning for Jesus Christ walking the earth so that sinners may repent of their sins and begin to trust God with their very existence and everything that concerns them. “Evangelism is the
There are religions everywhere regardless of where a person goes in this world. A person could experience many different religions if they were to travel the world; however, many religions can be practiced within one country, especially within the United States. The diversity of religion is very common in many countries and usually all religions are pretty accepting of others. Christianity is one of the most widespread religions that are practiced throughout the world, especially in the United States; although, Christianity was started in another country. This particular religion may be widely practiced but some may still not quite understand what Christianity actually is. By going through the central themes, this religion can be understood a little bit better by many.
Christianity is defined as, “A major religion, stemming from the life, teachings, and death of Jesus of Nazareth (the Christ, or the Anointed One of God) in the 1st century AD.” (Shelton) It has become the largest of the world’s religions. Yet in Ancient Rome in the first century A.D. they were not welcome. Christians were burned and tortured, and persecuted for just over three hundred years because of their beliefs. Why? We may never fully know, but I believe it was mostly out of fear. Fear of the new, and fear of change.
Simply stated, “the word "gospel" means simply good news.” With that definition, then the good news would summarize all of the information found in the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul recaps the most basic components in the gospel message. These are found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, specifically listed in 15:3-4 (NRSV) “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,”. “These verses, which were an early Christian confession, give us the heart of the gospel” and show the importance of three incidents; that Christ died
The broadest definition of Christianity is also perhaps the simplest. Across the history and branches of the religion, “it is faith in Christ, not the scrupulous and religious keeping of the law...which is the basis of salvation” (McGrath 15). The religion that is now a major global force has grown out of a small group tucked away in one corner of the world, breaking and changing over time, yet united by a faith in this revolutionary man who claimed to be the son of God, Jesus Christ.
...d Judaism rely heavily upon law for fasting. They have major fasts based on the Holy Qu’ran and the Torah. Christian fasts are not restricted to commands from the Bible. As a matter of fact, fasting is not required at all. They are encouraged to fast for spiritual growth. If Christians decide to fast, they have individual freedom to choose when and how they fast. Unlike Christians, Muslims and Jews have to fast completely from food. Christians have a choice to fast from whatever keeps them from focusing on God.
The desire to be accepted is prevalent among youth today. In a world that is currently suffering from a famine of love that is intended to be given to today’s youth, more and more we see students that desire to be accepted, yet feel accepted by no one. Because of this we see them decide to reach out, and as they do they become accepted into a group that is not a good influence on them, or simply is wasting their time. Here we will look at what exactly the bible tells us in the issue of acceptance, and how it would look in the average youth ministry today. We will then look into how we will follow up with students past their fist visit and finally what utilizing the idea of acceptance to its full potential will do for a ministry.
Religion is the basic belief in a set of rules on how to live, generally accompanied by a belief and worship of a superhuman being with supernatural powers. There are many religions that have been picked up throughout the world. Most of these religions rise from some basic religions that have relationships with the belief. Some of the most known religions are Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism among many others. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion and is India's main religion. Unlike many religions Confucianism does not have a higher power they worship, instead, it is an ethical system of philosophical teachings founded by Confucius, a Chinese philosopher and then developed by Mencius (Doniger, 2009).
Christianity began circa 30 CE in Palestine, known today as Israel. God sent an angel to a woman named Mary that told her that she would be having a baby. While in a stable in Bethlehem, she gave birth to Jesus, who would eventually become the founder of Christianity. At the age of 30, Jesus was baptized, or welcomed by the Christian faith, by his cousin John. Jesus' followers believed that he was their "messiah," or savior, and God in human form. However, as Jesus began to spread Christianity, his popularity threatened Jewish authorities, resulting in the arrests of many Christians. Despite this, Christianity still spread throughout the world.
It may seem a little bit strange, but my favorite place in town in none other than this beautiful Evangelic Church. However, it wasn’t always so.