Liberty University
Evangelism Vision Paper submitted to Dr. Robert Cowman In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for EVAN 565
By
Justin Lowry
August 19, 2011
INTRODUCTION
God… Is he who we tell everyone he is? Do we really believe in him? Do we think that He can do ALL things through His son that was sent to save us? This question was brought to my attention in a video from Charles Stanley. Do people look at God the way I do and do they see Jesus through my actions. The answer to God is yes, but we all fail and we all go through this life with “stuff”. No matter what your position is. We believe that is hell is real and eternity is something to be attained, then why are there kids, students, parents, and church people dying and going to Hell. Our focus must be on the cross and what we can do to bring people to that point.
Pivotal Circumstances
When we go through a course like this, there were opportunities that I had, that I didn’t take and it was very convicting for me to see the lack in action I was taking in Evangelism. I started praying to God that He would humble me and my actions towards him and see that I am not worthy of his love and that it is a daily process to have blessing through and from Him. Jesus spoke of the lambs and the servant to go and find the lost lamb… I need to take this more serious in my own accord. In the morality or viewpoint of what I think God has left me here to do, I am to call to those who are lost and share the Gospel with any and all that don’t know the love I share with Lord. In Acts, we learn that we are to go to all nations and make disciples. Many churches have named this their mission statement. Some just throw a program around and some actually get it. This isn’t about numbers… this is about relationships. We were made to be in relationship with him and share this with others. I love mission work and I wish I could do more with my time in missions, but even in my own life, I am guilty of not making time to serve. Many Americans don’t have a clue, just how GOOD we have it here in this land. I met a Chinese student and she asked me, “Why don’t more Americans go to church?” She is coming from a government that doesn’t allow freedom and one that denies God in front of the entire world. Church is not just a building, but a “place” that even after Jesus was gone from this world his disciples continued to go to temples to pray and worship. It was a proven system. The Jews started this system and it worked. Jesus gave no one instructions to go there; this was a proven system that everyone in the community of other believers could relate too. Fay stated in his book, “Share Jesus without Fear” that a person needs to be touched 7.6 times with the Gospel before they will have the opportunity to believe in God. Sure, the number seven is significant, but it is ridiculous to put God in a box. We can’t control the Holy Spirit. We try, but we can’t. If you do the math, does that make any since? Fay is not my argument, but Faith and spreading the Gospel is. I think explaining 50 billion times, that Jesus is real would do the job, but its unrealistic. We need to count on prayer and the ONE that dies for us to make this happen.
I was challenged with three assignments that would stretch me over the course of this semester and it bothers me how much I don’t do, service being one of them. When I had to serve for an assignment, there was a humbling I didn’t expect. God said to my spirit, “Justin, this is what I have called you to be”. Who is my God really and who do I serve most in this world? Sadly, just like you, the answer is I. Service opens the door to what lies beneath the surface of broken people. Service is the key.
Sometimes we forget the trinity. We pray to God and we pray to Jesus, but what about the Holy Spirit that lives in us. This should be the one that we count on… We have this with us at all times and it can move us to do some extraordinary things or bring God to the forefront of what we are living in. Prayer in my life is essential. I have learned to put everything on the alter for God to figure out. Through the anger, hurt and tears in our lives, we all want to control people, places and events. Look at our daily lives… we keep schedules, stay on task, not trying to be distracted from what the “world” wants us to do. What does God want us to do? What is your mission statement? I gave my mother the book, Family to Family. The reason I gave it to her is to let her and my future stepdad see the way God intends family to be. What is the mission statement of your family? Our mission statement is to serve others, (believers or not), Love God and Love People. I hope that when I have a family God’s role for my family is to have the opportunity to give and to serve Him with the gifts that he gives us freely.
My mom is an inspiration in my life. She works so hard… She has had it rough, but still stays true to her faith. She intentionally gives free massages to people that can’t afford them. She takes her gift and spreads it to people that are going through tough times at home or in the work force. She tells me all the time about this service and I love it. She doesn’t go around telling everyone, but she shares it with me to be an encouragement for me to serve others, even when they may not deserve it. It opens the door for her to have conversations with customers about the Lord and all that He is to her.
VISION
I realized in this class that I take relationships and transition them in to spiritual matters pretty well. God gives us the gift of transparency and has taken the pride out of my life. I am still prideful at times, but when it comes down to it, I am an open book for anyone to learn from. Isn’t it funny, when you meet a person and you “click” just because…? Then later in the conversation you find out that they are Christians. There is a reason for that. We all share the same thing… That is the spirit living and expressing inside our hearts. My neighbor was cutting the grass the other day and like all men, we want it to be perfect. It’s a man thing. Anyways, he was having trouble with his weed eater and all the sudden; I saw my other neighbor (believer) go to my Muslim neighbor having trouble and gave him his that worked. This is an act of service. No words were needed. He just handed it to him, turned it on, and went back in his home. It was awesome. If I knew what or how a weed eater worked, I would have given him mine. It just wasn’t my time to serve my neighbor and friend that day, it was his. This was a great example of what Wheeler was talking about to be aware of your ability to serve and to aware of the opportunities we are given to show kindness, not asked for and nothing in return, but a sign of love for your neighbor.
FAMILY to FAMILY
Pipes and Lee’s book Family to Family there is a calling to have a focus to be what we are called to be… lovers of Him and truth. One of my passions is high school students and young adults. I love to meet a high school kid that doesn’t have a leader or family to show him or her the way. These days, churches will agree that dad’s just don’t know how to be dad’s. I don’t think it’s their fault at all, but we that pick up some of the pieces, know that God is sufficient to fill the voids in our own lives as well as others. Our communities are filled with single parents, bad kids, and people that don’t know the difference. It our gift that is given to us to change this pattern. In my own story, I was a 16-year-old freshman that all of my teachers wrote off. My 10th grade Spanish teacher brought me a waffle house application one day and told me that I was going to be working there the rest of my life. He was right if I didn’t have the gift of men wrapping their arms around me and showing me the way. I pledge my life to help in the same way. I want to open a ministry for dads… I want to empower them to know what to be like biblically to their sons and daughters. I want to share with them the love that their father in heaven has for them. No matter what the situation is, it can always be fixed. Not to say there aren’t consequences to the things we fix in our lives, but to say that through Him all things are possible and He works for us that love him, Romans 8:28.
EVANGELISM and CHANGE
God has put on my heart the service of church. I want to start out planting a young adults ministry, then maybe a church. I don’t know what God has in store, but its going to be interesting in finding out the plan, Jeremiah 29:11. There are many people out there trying to make a change. Change is great, but what are we changing if we water it down? We can’t water down truth and God. We have to keep the integrity of what we are learning in seminary, churches, and small groups. I believe in small groups. Men and women doing life with each other is the way we make an impact in our communities.
I had the privilege off going to a church that believed in the model. North-Point church in Atlanta gets this right. We are called to be transparent and let love travel through brokenness. We are all bad at one point or another, but with accountability and obedience, we can be delivered. Deliverance from the evil one is what I pray for daily. I hope that I can bring that kind of change with others around me that believe in the same things.
I am currently not with a church. I haven’t planted myself anywhere here, because I am letting God figure this one out for me. I want to be on staff at a church to serve others, but God hasn’t pointed me in that direction. I know that he has given me the opportunity to meet with the young adult leaders of 20 or so churches for a reason, though I haven’t been painted a clear picture. I don’t just want to be on staff on somewhere, anyone can do that if they wait long enough. I think He is challenging me to do my own thing. Gather others around me to be a light for His kingdom. I don’t want to be some hero either. I am humbled by the fact that he wants to give me tools and has given me tools my whole life that lead me to the season. I hope that in the days, months and years no one sees me as a hero, but doing what I was called to do with a big personality, drive, courage and discipleship that He gave me and continues to grow in me daily.
SUMMING IT UP…
Through out this semester and the material I studied, I found to be relaxed with my life. What I mean is that I don’t have the urgency right now that it takes. I am not ashamed or discouraged by this, but encouraged from the text and teachers to always keep trying to do what is right.
My uncle, whom I respect dearly, told me this, “Justin, Do the next thing RIGHT!” Whatever it is, try to do what is right the next time you fail. I realized that I am not always thinking about my brothers and sisters that need to hear the truth. It isn’t that I am scared or ashamed of my faith in anyway, it’s the fear of rejection and pride I need to get over. I will strive to keep this on the forefront of my heart, spirit, and soul. I was given a tool during this class to better lead my family to be like when calls me to become a leader in that role.
I also plan to serve a lot more than I am, because of this class and the conviction my heart feels. I want to do everything He asks me to be.
I want to be in the chair of judgment with His hand on my shoulder saying to me, “Well done… My Good and faithful Servant… Well Done Son.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wheeler, Richard Leach & David A. Minister to Others. Nashville, TN.: Lifeway, 2009.
Shepherd, William Fay with Linda Evans. Share Jesus Without Fear. Nashville, Tenn.:
B&H Books, 1999.
Pipes, Jerry, and Victor Lee. Family to Family: Leaving a Lasting Legacy.
Lawrenceville, GA: North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1999.
