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Post by tomah on Mar 20, 2006 7:23:15 GMT -5
Hey guys!
I'm interested in how you all lead people to Christ. The reason I am asking is because I was watching the Ravenhill interview and he said he doesn't know if it's possible for someone to "pass from death onto life in four minutes". I'm not quite sure if I know what he means. When leading someone to Christ, I just try and make sure they understand exactly what they are doing and try to put them off by saying that it's not an easy life, etc. If they still want to get saved I just tell them to take Christ at his word, that if you repent of sin and accept Jesus as your only Saviour and only way of acceptance with God, then you'll be saved. I then pray for them, that God would help them to come genuinely in faith and once i'm finished, they then pray to God in whatever way they know how because I don't really like the 'pray this prayer' or 'repeat after me' technique to be honest.
What do you all think?
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Post by Kerrigan on Mar 20, 2006 10:42:21 GMT -5
That sounds about right Armen. I usually try to talk the person out of it as well, as I don't want to deliver a stillborn. I don't push hard for someone to make a decision on the spot though, because it is my job to preach the Gospel in its fullness and to do so faithfully, not to save souls. Saving souls is God's job. If a person is unusually broken and truly ready, they will usually ask you how to be saved...kind of like on the Day of Pentecost. I don't use the sinners prayer either, but just tell the person to confess and forsake all know sin right now, out loud, on the spot and then ask Jesus to be the Lord of their life as they trust Christ as their Savior. When it comes down to it though, I usually just preach the Gospel or share the Gospel and allow the Holy Spirit to work on the hearts of the hearers. Whether they get saved in my presence or not means nothing to me...
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Post by ejuliot on Mar 20, 2006 15:50:15 GMT -5
It is funny that you mention the Ravenhill interview, I was just listening to the same one yesterday and thinking the same thing. I think that Ravenhill has a problem with the modern gospel technique of come to the front, say a pray, and let them leave. I think his comment was aimed more towards an alter call type situation because he went on to say that when had alter calls they would speak to every single person and ask them about their situation and specifically minister to their needs. In the case of a one2one you would not need to do that because the whole conversation is personal. I could see how it would be necessary in an open air enviornment. I really liked his analogy about how it takes hours to birth a giraffe. I think it starts with travail (labor) in prayer, and then preaching the gospel, and then teaching what salvation is and what God requires of us as Christians. He explained how the mother giraffe would help the baby giraffe get up onto it's feet. I think this is neccessary to do after a conversion or else the newborn will never learn to walk. Ravenhill was an open air preacher for some time so I think what he is saying is wisdom. I would not want to travail and then produce a stillborn because I did not spend the amount of time that I needed to with a person. Now I think this is not to say that someone cannot be birthed in a matter of minutes although I think this is a very rare situation. I am not sure how this is all scripturally supported but I think I will check it out when I get some time.
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Post by Miles Lewis on Mar 21, 2006 4:24:01 GMT -5
Thats wierd, we were just watching the Ravenhill interview as a team just tonight as well.
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