Jesus Christ can change your life, and
this book will show you how!
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
1A. Open Letter
5% of Christians EVER tell the Gospel to one person in their
lifetime, and this 30-year consistent statistic must change!
Billions of lost people are going to Hell, and we must tell
them over and over (or for the first time) till they respond
or will listen no more. Quit listening to the world and false
Ministers who tell you the fields are not ripe for harvest and
that people don’t want to hear, and start obeying God in this
most important ministry! Only sin, manifested as fear, apathy,
comfort zone, selfishness and passing the buck onto
professionals will keep you from doing so.
Set a date on the calendar, 3 months hence, after which time
you can prove to yourself that the devil has deceived and
defeated you and you are deluded in believing that your
intentions are noble, your behavior so exceptional that the
message of a cross and sacrifice can be deduced from your
deeds, or that being friendly and building relationships with
strangers can ever substitute for biblical, loving
evangelism--TELLING the Gospel to lost people.
1B. American Church Problems
The two greatest needs in the world are for Christians to live
holy and lost people to get saved. The 3 most neglected
top-priority ministries of the modern Church are evangelism,
relational discipleship and “body life.”
Since the mid 1980’s, thorough evangelism has been on the
wane, with the advent of the ‘church is a business’ philosophy
(which Jesus would turn the tables on), the church growth
movement (emphasizing quantity and profits over quality and
evangelism), seeker sensitive ministry (even though the Bible
says no one seeks God) and relationship evangelism being
introduced and whole-heartedly accepted as the norm (so people
could feel like they were engaged in evangelism when they used
their hobbies and interests and became friendly with people).
Throw in the public political involvement of formerly
primarily evangelistic Christian leaders, the abandonment of
ministries like Evangelism Explosion, CWT, Master Life and
other more biblical ministries, and the standard for American
church and evangelism has become one of “attraction”—not
sending believers into the world and taking the initiative to
reach every soul!
If we hire an interesting speaker to speak to crowds 2 hours a
weekend, have deeper teaching for those who will attend Sunday
School, put off evangelism and intense discipleship classes as
offerings for the few and for those who will attend church at
an off-prime hour and day—a further sacrifice—this is
“success.” Church is no longer a place for believers to be
mutually edified, to be more than bench-warming spectators,
and our messages are more and more feel good psychology and
motivational seminars (along with upbeat, emotionally-moving
music) so we have an experience and feel something—rather than
training men and women to serve God for life.
As long as our big, beautiful, modern structures and salaries
are paid for, we consider the church building to be our
primary evangelism method, as if God requires lost people to
come to our buildings as a requirement for receiving eternal
life.
2A. The Gospel
Biblically, the Gospel is the “good news” that Christ died,
was buried, and was raised from the dead on our behalf (I Cor.
15:1-8). Add to that the most famous evangelism verse—John
3:16, and we learn that God loves all men as the motivation
for His sending His Son, as well as learning that faith is our
requirement for salvation. Rom. 3:23 and 6:23 add the reasons
for our need of salvation—men are sinners, and sin leads to
death—physical and spiritually eternal. Herein in the crux of
our Gospel message.
2B. Follow-Up Materials
Once a person is saved, they need to be water baptized, and
their life-long spiritual growth in discipleship can be
enhanced through membership in a biblical local church, daily
quiet time, learning to evangelize, testifying of their
conversion, and corporate worship and fellowship.
3. Completing the Great Commission
Anyone interested in the global picture of what needs to be
done to complete the Great Commission in our generation needs
to get their hands on: Be A Part of It, and monitor web sites
detailing the numbers of lost people who need Jesus. See this
section for access to such data.
4. Why Evangelize?
In all honesty, only before you and God, do you suffer from
not sincerely desiring to evangelize? You are not alone. Most
believers don’t want to, and preachers have derived many
methods to make you feel like you’re contributing to the Great
Commission, when you truly aren’t doing much, if any at all.
All you need is to have a dynamic, deep, real relationship
with Christ, as a believer, and if you have that and you
meditate on the Bible content in this section, you will not be
able to contain your need to share the Gospel with lost
people! God and His word are the answer to your problem—avail
yourself of His solutions to your problem.
4B. Evangelizing Logic
All people who die without Christ go to Hell.
Christ is the only way to escape this future.
The Gospel is the only message which tells Christ’s provision
to go to heaven.
The Church is the only group of people commissioned to take
that message to the world.
If you are a Christian, you are in that organization.
Therefore, there is no biblical excuse for you not doing your
part for evangelism! People go to Hell if they don’t hear and
respond to the Gospel, and their blood will be on your hands
if you remain comfortably mum!
5. Evangelismlessness Excuses
Whatever “reason” you use to salve your conscience, justify
your evangelistic inaction and to proffer theological
validation for God supposedly not calling you to evangelize,
be sure in no uncertain terms that those thoughts originate
with satan, in Hell! The excuses are many and varied, yet all
have the same negative spiritual source. See our web site to
find those thoughts you are living by, and read convincing
argumentation why your theologically-sounding reasons are just
excuses you hide behind which merit God’s judgment and which
cause you to remain obstinately disobedient to God and
disrespectful to all Christ did for you and all others.
6. Evoking Lay Evangelism
(by Pastors)
See our web site for a list of 12 initial actions committed
church staff members can implement to evoke laymen
participation in evangelism. Until you’ve done all you can,
within biblical guidelines, to evoke such behavior, you cannot
excuse evangelismlessness on laymen, as you are the leader
responsible for their spiritual health.
7A. 3 Mile Plan for a Local Church’s Evangelism
See our web site to learn a short, simple, yet effective way
to quickly ascertain the spiritual condition of those your
church is most responsible for reaching with the Gospel—every
lost soul within 3 miles of your church building.
8B-D. Foreign Missions Strategies
Both new and established strategies are listed to aid more
effective evangelism by those engaged in evangelism outside
the United States. With so few workers, so little money
contributed to evangelism, and so little interest in the
subject, those of us who do evangelize must be smart and
efficient in maximizing the tools God has availed to us, to
strive to complete the Great Commission ASAP, whether others
join this noble cause or not.
8E. Evangelism Strategies
Anyone interested in strategic ideas for maximizing our
efforts in evangelism, utilizing business principles from Big
Four, MBA and Fortune 500 Consulting methodologies, biblically
applied, would benefit from considering this section.
9. Contact Us
James Meroney
c/o EDB Ministries (Evangelism/Discipleship/Body Life)
4404 Caledonia Creek Lane
Plano, TX 75024
10. About Us
I was saved at age 8 and totally surrendered to Christ at age
18. After being consistently loved and challenged by a Baptist
Student Union leader to have a Quiet Time in College, after 30
days I finally consented just to get him off my back. After
about a month of habit development, my Quiet Times often
lasted between 3 and 5 hours a day. The Bible is that
beautiful
After being challenged to prove-up my beliefs by a girlfriend
and her father, when we broke up the Lord called me into
professional ministry. In 1891 I started researching a book on
the New Testament (now complete—rough draft—and 5,000 pages
long), and earned an M.Div. in evangelism from southwestern
seminary in 1985. For further bio, please see this section
11. Evangelism Methods
I am often accused of promoting only a couple of methods for
evangelism. See our web site for a list of many more than 2
methods, but also realize, if your “method” does not quickly
get you into a spiritual discussion/conversation with a lost
person—even strangers—to effectively and powerfully (in the
Holy Spirit) communicate the Gospel message, or if you don’t
do much evangelism, your so-called “method” is flawed or
non-existent, so your criticism of the methods I use
rightfully falls on deaf ears.
12. Apologetics
Many more intellectually stimulated believers really enjoy
delving into the intriguing and often challenging arena of
answering apologetic questions, without an equal or greater
involvement in actually evangelizing—where these issues rarely
arise, or where such study can actually be used. Although our
web site is intended as a “one-stop shop” for forwarding lost
people to find researched answers to 223 of their most often
asked questions (so the evanglizor can continue the Gospel
presentation), please know that one really only needs to
memorize or otherwise verbalize a very short amount of
information to ethically and effectively answer any of these
questions. This section gives three quick and accurate
responses you can always use, so you need not be an
intellectual or scholar to confidently evangelize!
14A. Theology of Evangelism
If anyone wants to know the doctrinal basis for or undertake
an investigation of what the Bible teaches on the subject of
evangelism, feel free to peruse this section, though it is
non-exhaustive.
14B. Evangelism Ethics
This study is longer than it needs to be, because if you are
walking in the Spirit, committed to Jesus Christ, you are
evangelizing properly—morally speaking. In fact, Phil. 2 even
gives preference to carnally-motived believers who evangelize,
to those conducting no evangelism (i.e., 95% of today’s
Christians). In a word, be ethical when you
evangelize—“duh”—as that corroborates the message we claim and
espouse.
14C. Evangelism, Prayer and the Sovereignty of God
No matter your opinion on Calvinism and Arminianism, the Bible
does not teach that evangelism is only an act of obedience or
that it has no effect on the eternity of lost people. No
matter who and how many God foreknows will be in His family,
you cannot distinguish between persons, save by their being
either saved or lost (II Cor. 5:9-17) and if they are in the
latter category, you need to prayerfully do all within your
power to share the Gospel with them in the power of the Holy
Spirit. They will not come to Christ without His conviction,
neither will they often come to Him without your witness!
15. Disclaimers and Objections
Perhaps you are inclined to think that many Christians can be
recruited to evangelize regularly with only a positive
approach to motivation. Funny thing—the American church has
tried that PMA (“positive mental attitude”) approach at least
20 years, and the 5% who evangelize has never increased.
American Christians—church-going, giving, otherwise
“good people”—are HARDENED beyond belief against EVER evangelizing.
Want proof? Ask someone—anyone—to go evangelize with you. They
are stubborn and stiff-necked in this crucial ministry, and
lost people suffer most for our sinful abstinence.
If John the Baptist were here I am certain this subject (along
with the majority living carnally and rarely reading the
Bible) would be where he camped out most in reproving of
the religious establishment, so rather than accusing me of
being too negative—when the eternity of billions of lost
people hangs in the balance—the oweness is on you to explain
your plan for getting through to these hardened, claiming
believers, to evoke evangelism, for the sake of all Christ
came to earth to accomplish, and to show true concern and love
for lost people, best expressed in telling them about Jesus.
16A. Why Read the Bible?
If you struggle with little to no desire to read God’s word,
you’re like 87% of believers—spiritually deprived of the
greatest information ever available to man! I myself lived
like this for 10 years, and I assure you you are both missing
out and losing eternal rewards and temporal blessings. Read
this section to see what God would tell you if here in person,
as He is, spiritually, in the form of His written word by the
Holy Spirit of God.
16B. Principles of Biblical Interpretation
Many argue that the Bible can be used to prove or say anything
you want. Using standard, common, basic principles of its
interpretation, an honest Bible student will soon discover how
false that claim is. The Bible itself considers a small
portion of its contents to be difficult to understand—but the
largest part does not fall into that category (and books have
been written explaining these areas). It is not that the Bible
is hard to understand but that we spend so little time and
effort reading its clear content.
We’ll buy Christian novels, self-help books, go to Christian
concerts, and do almost anything but go straight to the
“horses mouth” in the most direct way of meeting with and
getting to know God—His word. Is it not thick enough, that you
go to so many other books, when in a lifetime you could never
master what’s already been established for hundreds of
years—His word? Why insult God by continuing to be ignorant of
the love letter He wrote, thinking that by asking yourself
“What Would Jesus Do?” you can in yourself deduce what can
only be clearly derived from taking the time to study what God
said? You’re truly missing out, and your poverty and shame in
heaven, at least for awhile, will show others the avoidance of
its study you hide from others in secret sin.
17. Principles of Prayer
Is prayer boring to you, repetitive, rote, and all but
miraculously effective in changing the course of your life?
Then may I propose that you don’t know how to pray biblically.
Read this short section—apply the truths therein
contained—then document for yourself (and others) how God will
change your life through this holy practice. Effective praying
effects results. Ineffective praying yields little motivation
to continue the practice.
18. Why be Totally Committed to Christ?
The majority of American Christians are carnal—uncommitted to
Jesus Christ, either inadvertently or willfully. As stated
before, I lived that way for 10 years myself. If you can read
this section, meditate on its Bible verses, and still continue
to be apathetic about your spiritual life, there’s a chance
you were never saved! The abundant Christian life is the only
Christian life, and if you are not on fire for God, you don’t
know Him or His word well at all. Start today, by reading this
important section!
20A-C. How to Have a Quiet Time
If you are not in the habit of daily meeting with God in
prayer and Bible study, you don’t yet “get” Christianity! We
are not spiritual camels who can live off 2 hours at church a
week to sustain us all week long (i.e., “churchianity”). Man
can only live by daily ingesting the word of God, and
ultimately your relationship with God is one on one. On
judgment day He will not ask about anyone else’s deeds but
your own, and what you personally did with His Son, Jesus
Christ.
20D. Bible Reading Plan
Though all Scripture is equally God-inspired, this section
suggests the first books and chapters for believers to read,
to jump-start their spiritual growth ASAP.
21. Scripture Memory Plan
Though all Scripture is equally God-inspired and valuable,
this list details the best Bible verses for believers to
memorize, to jump-start their spiritual growth ASAP.
22. Body Life (Defined)
You may have never heard this term, and it is not so named
explicitly in the Bible, but if you are an astute student of
God’s word you can quickly agree that lay participation in the
main worship service/gathering is biblical “church.” We are
not spectators seeking entertainment by professionals,
bench-warmers, or zombies with no spiritual gifts or skills to
benefit our brothers in that primary worship service. Though
Charismatic extremes often scare us off from this biblical
practice, “don’t throw the baby out with the bath water” and
don’t try to change what church is and is supposed to be to
conform it to (Western) man’s image!
23. Relational Discipleship
(Defined)
Jesus preached to thousands if not millions, but He invested
Himself—His time and intimate thoughts and experiences—with
only 11 men, who turned the world upside down. If our Ultimate
Role Model used this method, how can we continue to poo poo
and spurn this most effective and efficient way of growing up
believers in the Lord? Preaching sermons at people, and never
knowing them personally or having a mechanism by which we can
be sure people APPLY our sermons or have a daily Quiet time is
NOT doing all we can, as Ministers, to fulfill all 3 aspects
of the Great Commission—Evangelism, Baptism and Discipling.
24 (Part 1). The 18 Most Important Discipleship Topics
This Author has spent upwards of 30 years researching the
Bible and identifying which subjects are the most impactful
for growing up Christians in the Lord. Whether by their explicitly
saying so, their implicit impactful evidence, their quantity
of verses devoted to these subjects, their appearing in most
discipleship materials, or other criteria, I challenge you to
identify any more important subjects to intensely teach
believers to get them able to stand on their own 2 spiritual
feet as quickly as possible.
24 (Part 2). Other Proffered Keys to Spiritual Growth
Christians differ on the subjects they consider most important
to teach new and young believers (and older, stagnant or
carnal ones), and this list includes subjects often proffered
by others as “key” to spiritual growth and victory.
26A. Problems with Lordship Salvation
Lordship Salvation and Saviorhood Salvation cannot both be
true. One is, by default, a false Gospel. Most laymen have
never heard these terms and don’t understand their concepts,
even though the differences between these two different Gospel
messages could sentence a lost person to Hell by either
believing or doing the wrong thing in order to be saved. Many
Pastors blur or don’t understand the distinctions either, and
try to merge these incompatible viewpoints in the name of
“peace-making.” Discover this ultimately important doctrine
you’ve heard little to nothing about, to learn just what God
requires lost people to do to be eternally saved—nothing more,
nothing less.
26B. Problems with Relationship Evangelism
Are you one of the unwitting millions who have been duped and
lulled into accepting this philosophy, believing it to be
God’s biblical model for evangelism? If, so, with a
prayerfully open mind, please consider the thoughts expressed
in this section, and re-think if your actions toward lost
people are biblically required prerequisites to your being
able to share the Gospel with them immediately and
effectively..
26C. Problems with Calvinism
Extreme, “hyper” Calvinism teaches that whoever God wants to
be saved will be saved, and no others. To see aspects of
Calvinism and Arminianism beliefs which negatively impact
evangelism and evangelism motivation, see “Evangelism, Prayer
and the Sovereignty of God,” as well as this section.
28. Giving to This Ministry
If you are led of the Lord to financially (and prayerfully)
support an experienced Evangelist spearheading getting Pastors
committed to evangelizing all within 3 miles of their church,
and leading by example evangelizing and training laymen to do
so, we would appreciate whatever amount the Lord lays on your
heart to contribute.
If your concern is also for reaching those least evangelized
in the “10/40 window,” please do your part to get your church
to supply $375 annually, to be placed in an account to support
recruiting (and initially paying for) indigenous Evangelists
in that part of the world.
If anyone in Plano, Texas, is willing to donate a P.O. Box, or
any Attorney anywhere would donate their services to
incorporate as a 501(c)-3 tax-deductible ministry, I’d be
eternally grateful for your contribution to this ministry in
this way.
