ISEMA Newsletters
Genuine Conversion
Dear Christian friends,
One of the greatest frustrations following an evangelistic campaign is trying to follow-up on new converts. Hundreds of people may have “prayed to receive Christ” during an outreach, yet often less than 10% will begin to attend church and fewer still will become true disciples of our Lord. In our personal witnessing, we often experience the same problem when we try to follow-up on those we have prayed with for salvation.
I recently received a book that attempts to deal with this issue: Poured Out for a Thirsty World by Ray Comfort. In this book, Ray argues that the primary reason for the lack of genuine conversion in our evangelism is that we fail to lay the proper foundation in our gospel presentation. Before a person can fully appreciate the good news, he must first learn the bad news. He must see himself as a lost sinner deserving God’s judgment, like the publican who smote upon his breast, saying “God be merciful to me a sinner.”
According to Ray, the way an unsaved person will come to see his sinfulness is through proper use of the law. Here are some scriptures he uses: “I had not known sin but by the law; for I had not known coveting except the law had said, Thou shall not covet” Romans 7:7. “Sin worked death in me by that which is good (the law) that sin by the commandment might become exceedingly sinful” Romans 7:13. “Whatever things the law says, it says…so that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God…By the law is the knowledge of sin” Romans 3:19-20. “Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” Galatians 3:24.
While this approach to evangelism is rarely used today, it was commonly used by great evangelists in the past. John Wesley said, “Before I can preach love, mercy and grace, I must preach sin, Law, and judgment.” He wrote to a young friend, “Preach 90 percent Law and 10 percent grace.” Charles Spurgeon said, “They must be slain by the Law, before they can be made alive by the Gospel!” He wrote in one of his sermons: “All the Ten Commandments, like ten great cannons, are pointed at thee today, for you have broken all God’s statutes, and lived in daily neglect of all His commands….What will ye do when…the great books shall be opened, and all your sin and shame shall be punished?” Charles Finney, who had an 80% success rate for lasting conversions, wrote, “It is of great importance that the sinner should be made to feel his guilt, and not left to the impression that he is unfortunate. Do not be afraid, but show him the breadth of the Divine Law, and the exceeding strictness of its precepts. Make him see how it condemns his thoughts and life. By a convicted sinner, I mean one who feels himself condemned by the Law of God, as a guilty sinner.”
“Owing to the fact that the Law is rarely used in modern-day evangelism,” Ray writes, “many are frustrated to a point of making the Gospel `man-centered’ in an effort to attract converts….Instead of driving the fish to the nets using the Law, they are trying to attract them by holding us only the `good things’ of the Gospel. Let me give an example of an average altar call:
“`Come to Jesus; won’t you give your heart to Him? He loves you and died on the cross for you. He wants to give you love, joy and peace…He will make your life happy and give you what you’ve been looking for.’
“Instead of desperate sinners knocking on the door of Heaven, we paint a picture of Jesus pleading at the heart of the sinner, almost giving the impression that the sinner will be doing God a favor if he responds.” Those who respond to such a gospel presentation, Ray argues, will often be like the seed that falls on rocky ground in the Parable of the Sower. They are expecting Jesus to do all these good things for them, and when they face tribulation and persecution, they will often fall away disappointed, and be much harder to reach in the future. “I came to Jesus expecting him to improve my life, but things only got worse.”
In contrast, those who through use of the law (and conviction of the Holy Spirit) are made to see the full extent of their sinfulness and need for a savior will really appreciate what Jesus did for them. Jesus said, “to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little (Luke 7:47).” Those who come to Christ in true sorrow over their sinfulness will want to turn from those ways and obey the Lord. They are likely to continue to follow the Lord even in times of adversity.
Ray Comfort has recently moved to Southern California from New Zealand. He preaches weekly at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, a hangout for drug addicts and the homeless, giving out food and medical supplies to the people as well as proclaiming the gospel. When we proclaim a strong message about sin and judgment, it is important that we do so in a manner that is loving, gentle, and shows our brokenness over our own sins.
Ray has written 18 books on evangelism. Special tracts that use the law in evangelism are available for about 1 cent each. He also has several video and cassette teaching tapes, and he is available to teach evangelism seminars. For more information, write or call Ray Comfort, Box 1172, Bellflower, CA 90706, (213) 920-8431.
Coming Events
JUNE 14-AUGUST 16 OUTREACH TO UTAH AND MORMON MIRACLE PAGEANT $460 incl. food, travel, housing. Contact Mission: Utah, Box 511124, Salt Lake City, UT 84151.
JUNE 29-JULY 5 SOS-HOLLYWOOD Contact Holy Ghost Repair Service, Box 1590, Hollywood, CA 90078, (213) 469-3027.
JUNE 30-JULY 1 ST. LOUIS V.P. FAIR Contact No Greater Love , Box 263, DuQuoin, IL 62932, (618) 542-4503.
JULY 1-3 LAKE COUNTY FOR JESUS, LAKEPORT AND CLEARLAKE, CA Contact Bay Area Outreach Ministries, Box 27358, Oakland, CA 94602, (415) 531-5325.
JULY 1-5 CHICAGO OUTREACH ’89 Contact Rev. Fred Franks, Ill. Youth and College Ministries, Box 225, Carlinville, IL 62626, (217) 854-3261.
JULY 6-8 EAST ST. LOUIS OUTREACH Contact Rev. Fred Franks (address above.)
JULY 8-16 JESUS LOVES YOU-NEW YORK $300 incl. food, housing. Contact Abounding Grace Ministries, 1912 Richmond Terr., Staten Island, NY 10302, (718) 816-6626.
JULY 13-22 TWIN CITIES FOR JESUS, MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL Contact Forerunner Ministries, Box 1537, Redlands, CA 92374, (714) 886-1171.
JULY 19-22 JESUS IS LORD OVER SAN ANTONIO Contact Rev. David O’Dell, 3400 W Park Blvd #2117, Plano, TX 75075, (214) 519- 0195.
JULY 19-23 ROCHESTER, NY OUTREACH Contact Robert Crosby, 321 East Ave., Rochester, NY 14604.
JULY 21-27 TIMES SQUARE CHURCH SUMMER EVANGELISM WORKSHOP Evangelism training and witnessing, New York City. Contact Don Wilkerson/Summer Outreach, 1995 Broadway #203, New York, NY 10023, (214) 963-8626.
JULY 23-AUGUST 6 MINERS DAYS, BIG BEAR LAKE,CA Contact Forerunner Ministries (address above.)
JULY 30-AUGUST 3 TOLEDO, OH OUTREACH Contact Rev. Jim Palmer, 3021 E Dublin Granville Rd., Columbus OH 43229, (614) 890-2290.
JULY 31-AUGUST 2 DUNAMIS ’89 CONFERENCE DALLAS, TX Mario Murillo, Chuck Girard, Winkie Pratney, Carlton Pearson. Maturing in evangelism ministry. $50. Contact Mario Murillo Ministries, (818) 341-9754.
AUGUST 2-6 MILWAUKEE OUTREACH Contact Hosanna for the Nations, 3525 Sunnycrest Dr. Brookfield, WI 53005, (414) 781- 1192.
AUGUST 7-19 SOS-SAN FRANCISCO Guests include Chuck Girard. Contact SOS Ministries, Box 27054, San Francisco, CA 94127, (415) 552-2300.
AUGUST 18-20 BURLINGTON, IOWA OUTREACH Contact Greg Colegrove, (319) 754-4500.
AUGUST 21-25 WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA OUTREACH Contact Gregg Hackett, (317) 474-1432.
AUGUST 30- SEPTEMBER 3 MINNEAPOLIS OUTREACH Contact Mile Shields, 1315 Portland Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55404, (602) 332-2409.
SEPTEMBER 28-30 NATIONAL STREET MINISTRIES CONFERENCE DALLAS, TX Winkie Pratney, Sonny Arguinzoni, many others. Contact NSMC, Box 380306, Duncanville, TX 75138, (214) 331-6902.
FORWARD EDGE OUTREACHES (partial listing, contact them for complete list) Box 4976, Eureka, CA 95502, (707) 443-6315. LEON, MEXICO CITY July 20-31 $895 ROSEBUD, SD SIOUX RESERVATION August 19-27 $395.
Ministry Needs
One of the purposes of this newsletter is to provide a forum for various ideas regarding evangelism. Those of us who are doing evangelism can learn from one another and improve our effectiveness. If you want to comment on the article in this or any of our newsletters, or if you want to contribute a teaching on evangelism, please write us. Also, please send us evangelism reports from your community. I am amazed at the number of city- wide outreaches that are listed above for the months of July and August: twenty! Also, consider attending the Dunamis ’89 conference and the National Street Ministries Conference, both in Dallas.
Again, we want to encourage you to become a member of ISEMA–to join together with others who are committed to evangelizing our world. Since the year is half over, we are offering 1989 memberships at half price–$10 for individuals and $17.50 for churches and ministries. We still have ISEMA Street Directories available. Our Tape of the Month is “Starting a Street Ministry” by Jonathan Gainsbrugh. Jonathan has certainly been used as much as anyone in helping new street ministries get started. We have also put together a listing of some of our best evangelism teaching tapes. Write and request a copy. Until next month–
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
