A SAMPLE OF ENDORESMENTS The following are some of the endorsements for Julian’s 900+ page book called Evangelism: Strategies from Heaven In the War for Souls. Some people are daunted by such a big book so Julian made a small book out of each chapter of the 900+ page book. What you are about to read is just one of the chapters of the larger work.
David Cole, YWAM Campaigns Asia/Pacific Board of Regents Chairman University of the Nations.
“This book is one of the most in depth looks at what Evangelism really is (and what it isn’t) that I believe has been written in the last century. I have been so inspired in my own calling through its content and often use it as a text book for teaching and imparting to young leaders in YWAM training courses as well as throughout other parts of the Body of Christ. Thank you Julian not only for such a valuable resource as well as for modeling the outworking of its content in your own life over the past few decades.”
Pastor Mike Smith, Melbourne, Australia
“An incredible book that all pastors should read. I have been a Christian for 28 years and a pastor for many years, and when I picked up this book, I thought, I doubt this will teach me anything new about evangelism. I was so wrong. It has revolutionised my thinking. This is an incredible book that all pastors should read.”
Grant Buchanan LLB, B.Com, Auckland
“The best book I have ever read. I am a solicitor (54) and a partner in a law practice. I unhesitatingly give my endorsement for Julian s book. Indeed, I would rate it as the best book that I have ever read!” Grant Buchanan LLB, B.Com, Auckland
Michael Angulo, Pastor and Church Leader
“Truly a work of Ministerial art. I really like this book and every true evangelist will love it also. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO PUT IT DOWN, BUT WILL BE THINKING WHEN YOU ARE GOING TO READ IT AGAIN! A truly very well written book with good retrospective learning ideas. No true evangelist should be without this book. It is worth what it is worth and it will catapult you into great, deliberate PROVEN, ministry approach. Great book and I highly recommend it. Get this one, you won’t be disappointed!”
Julian Batchelor, M.ed (Hons), B.Th, Dip.T’Ching
Climb on board! 4 Reasons why Doing Evangelism Will Help Create A Better World!
Copyright Julian Batchelor Evangelism Strategies International Press Auckland New Zealand
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Acknowledgements I owe a lot of thanks to a lot of people for the production of this Mini Series: Sheryl Kampenhout, who transferred a mountain of material from Power Point shows into Word documents and who served and encouraged me in such a loving and kind way; to Matthew Old, a faithful friend and fellow evangelist, who has been a Barnabas. He reached out his hands when the hills seemed steepest, loved me in spite of my failures, stimulated me with his sharp mind, and made me laugh when I wanted to cry; to Janice Teo, and her intercessory prayer team who are as vital to the ministry I direct as the heart is to the body; to the team of editors, including Ken Francis and Julie Belding; to all the financial supporters who have given so generously to me over the years. I especially want to thank Paul and Tina Richards, of Club Physical, owners of a gymnasium chain in Auckland, New Zealand, and Derek van Beynen, who have faithfully sponsored my ministry for over a decade. Few people have the privilege of being able to leave secular work to write and produce resources to further the cause of the evangelisation of the world, and to motivate and equip the Church to do the same. You, and all my other financial supporters, have made this possible; to those I live with who have not seen me for years because I have been locked away in my office writing, I give my sincere thanks. Special thanks to Neil Pollock. To Jenny Windeyer, the graphic artist, who designed the cover of the original 800 page book (which we’ve turned into this Mini Series), and to Jenny’s husband Drew for going beyond the call of duty so that Jenny could focus on this project; to faithful Bernie Anderson who has sacrificed and given way beyond what a leader would expect of a dedicated co-worker; to Eleanor Goodall and Sue and George Jeffrey who epitomise love and true friendship; to the team at ESI for keeping all the various aspects of the evangelism ministry moving forwards whilst I directed most of my time to write this Mini Book Series; for Dr Martyn Bowis who did all the programming for the electronic version of the gospel called “Proclaim it!”; for Henoch Kloosterboeror for producing all the brilliant
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drawings; Dr David Stewart, retired Principal of the Bible College of New Zealand for nearly two decades of encouragement and mentoring; Denise James and Anne Bartley, staff at the Bible College of New Zealand for helping with research; all those who have helped proof read the manuscript and given comment, particularly Dr Marie Sewell, Gill Donald, Gill Lukey, Donna Hansen, Ainslie Vines, Ann Hunter, and Miriam and Ted Martin; to the academic staff of the Bible College of New Zealand for giving me a grounding in theology; for all those who have given financially and sacrificially to pay for specific aspects of the publishing of this Mini Book Series; for my friend Ray Comfort, for his inspiration and encouragement. There are few evangelists today who have journeyed on the road of trial and tribulation to achieve breakthrough as Ray Comfort. For John Stott, the academic evangelist for his coaching and input via his many books. For all the people who we have trained in evangelism around the world who are out there doing it – you are the heroes in the battle for souls; for the many hundreds of pastors, leaders, and lay Christians around the globe who have contributed to my life as a Christian, and to this Mini Book Series; and finally, I thank Jesus Christ, whose amazing grace and love has inspired and kept me. All the revelations in this Mini Book Library about evangelism and the gospel were given by Him – to Him be all the glory.
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How To Read The Mini Books In This Library This Mini Book is one of a Library of 27 Mini Books. The Library is a detailed critique of the battle between light and darkness which is relentlessly raging all over the earth for the souls of men and women. The insights and revelations in each Mini Book are hierarchical i.e. Mini Book Two builds upon Mini Book One, Mini Book Three upon Mini Books One and Two, and so on. Hence, the ideal is to try and read all the Mini Books in the library in sequence. If you skip Mini Books, or even parts of Mini Books, you might miss something vital, and open yourself to misunderstanding or even defeat. Having said this, after you have read Mini Books One to Seven, which are the foundational books in the Library, each Mini Book is designed to stand alone. So, read Books One to Seven first. This is essential. With respect to evangelism, if you follow the advice I am giving here in the pages of each Mini Book, you’ll position yourself perfectly to be used by the Holy Spirit to glorify Jesus in ways you’d not imagined possible. How so? Read the 27 Mini Books in the library and find out. Along with Mini Books 1-7, I suggest you also purchase Mini Book 27, which is the “Evangelism Fitness Test.” This is a diagnostic survey which will tell you the extent to which you have been unwittingly influenced by the devil with respect to evangelism. Sit this test before you read anything. Then do the same test again after you have read all the Mini Books to check to see if all his devices have been thoroughly purged from your mind!
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Climb on board! 4 Reasons why Doing Evangelism Will Help Create A Better World!
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e’ve discovered in this Mini Book Series that evangelism has all but collasped in the West. Now we will look at the fall-out. Disobedience, you see, always has fall-out. Between 1000 and 700BC, for example, Israel and Judah neglected virtually all of the commands of God, and the negative consequences of their disobedience eventually crashed in on them like a tidal wave. Both nations ended up being exiled and taken into captivity. The consequences of not proclaiming the gospel are now showing in the non-Christian world. We looked at some of the consequences in Mini Book One. In this Mini Book we shall look at others.
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ne competition you do not want to win…
Let’s take my home country, New Zealand, for starters. If we were to hold an Olympic games right now for negative social indicators, New Zealand would win the gold medal in almost every event. We have record-high rates in teen suicide, abortion, teenage alcohol problems, violence in the home and truancy. We are filling new prisons as fast as we build them. Same sex marriage is now accepted as normal.
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vangelism is a major instrument of social change…
Is there a link between the social decline we are seeing and 7
the Church’s failure to evangelise? Dr John Stott is a man well qualified to answer such a question. He says “yes.” The gospel changes people, he says, and people change society: “We have seen that society needs salt [preservation] and light [reformation], but only the gospel can create them. This is one way which we may declare without embarrassment that evangelism takes primacy over social action. Logically speaking, Christian social responsibility presupposes socially-responsible Christians, and it is the gospel which produces them.” REASON 1: EVANGEISM PRODUCES AN ANTISEPTIC EFFECT IN SOCIETY. He goes on to say that when the gospel is faithfully and widely preached, it brings not only renewal to individuals, but produces in society what has been termed an ‘antiseptic atmosphere’ – “in which blasphemy, selfishness, greed, dishonesty, immorality, cruelty, and injustice find it harder to flourish. A country which has been permeated by the gospel is not the soil in which these poisonous weeds can take root, let alone luxuriate.”1 But this is not all. John 16:8 says “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” Even when the person hearing the gospel is not saved, John 16:8 would teach that they will be convicted of sin, of the need for God’s righteousness, and of the coming day of Judgement. Surely, under this conviction, the temptation to sin would be restrained? So evangelism has the effect of restraining sin in a socieity. And a society which experiences less sin is better, happier, healthier in every way. But unless sin, righteousness, and judgement is preached via the gospel, society will not experience this cleansing effect.
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ow oysters can speak…
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In probing the causes of a disintegrating society, Charles
Dr John Stott, Issues facing Christians Today. Marshall Pickering, 1984, pp.69-70
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Colson, former White House aide and Founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries, gives the analogy of an oyster. “Oysters make their own shells, so if the shell is badly formed, the problem is not with the shell but with the oyster. Likewise, when a culture deforms and decays, don’t ask what went wrong with the culture; ask what went wrong with the cult – the religious core.”2 What’s wrong with our “religious core” is that we have stopped proclaiming the gospel, with the result that fewer people are being genuinely saved. According to church consultant Lyle Schaller, as much as 85 percent of ‘church growth’ is actually transfer growth.3 If there are fewer saved people, the salt in a society reduces to ineffectual levels and the Christian light becomes dim. Once the salt is gone the rot sets in, and when the light goes out, darkness abounds. If we want to change a nation we must change the men and women in that nation, and to do that we must change their hearts. But changed hearts come only as a result of hearing, understanding and responding to the gospel. This is one reason why churches who are determined to win the world through social action alone will, ultimately and biblically, fail miserably. In the grand scheme of God’s design, social action and the other ‘ploughing’ behaviours I mentioned in Mini Book Eleven are meant to soften the soil of the human heart getting it ready for the seed of the gospel. ‘Ploughing’ behaviours were never meant to (and should never) replace evangelism. REASON 2: EVANGELISM DEEPENS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND CHRIST 2
Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey, How Now Shall We Live? Tyndale Publishers, 1999, p.37
3 Smith, F., Sr. (1998). The Pastor’s Soul Volume 5: Leading With Integrity (96). Pub Place: Bethany House Books.
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Furthermore, evangelism doesn’t just create salt and light in society. It also increases both in the lives of existing Christians. How does this work? Doing evangelism has at least six positive spin offs for the Christians who participate. • Bible study: Christians who evangelise have to dig into their bibles for answers to all the questions non-Christians are asking. This forces bible study and apologetics research. • Prayer: Christians who evangelise receive an infusion of divine compassion for the lost person when they give the gospel. This stimulates prayer for those they are reaching. • Experiencing God personally: Christians who evangelise experience the power and presence of God tangibly as they step out in faith, taking risks to open their mouths and share the gospel. The connection between evangelism and finding life in Christ is clear (John 14:21; Mark 8:35). • Walk the talk: Christians who evangelise have to “up their game” when it comes to their lifestyle and conduct. Now that they have put themselves “out there” with their faith through proclamation, they have to be very careful to make sure their walk matches their talk. • Unity and blessing: Christians who evangelise have a strong sense of being united for a cause, similar to the unifying effect of being in an army or a sports team. Psychologists affirm that it’s only when an army is actually in the battle, the sports team is actually playing the game, that true camaraderie is forged. When we do evangelism, the blessed sense of unity between those who are doing it comes (Psalm 133). • Deepened relationship with other Christians: Christians who evangelise will deepen relational ties with each other because when they evangelise, the Holy Spirit is released in them. When this happens, they are more likely to be real, honest, and transparent with each other - all essential components for inner 10
healing, growing, and the development of healthy churches. Please think this through. If doing evangelism creates more fruitful Christians, then these people in turn will more likely positively impact society for its good. For this reason alone, evangelism has always meant to take centre stage in the life of every believer. And here’s the thing - 98% of believers in the West have never done evangelism so they have no first hand experience of how engaging in this behaviour can create salt and light in their lives. They don’t know what they don’t know. REASON 3: IT LEADS TO A DEEP EXPERIENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. On the issue of evangelism blessing Christians who do it, and those who hear the gospel, world-renowned missiologist Dr George W.Peters writes: “A church that does not recognize the primacy of its mission [i.e. the evangelisation of the world] deprives herself of the most intimate relationship with her Lord, fails to identify herself with the primary purpose of God, robs her membership of the deepest experiences of the Holy Spirit, and denies the world the greatest blessings the Lord in Grace has provided. She ceases to be a truly Christian Church.”4 Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) the great missionary to China, would agree with Peters. Taylor was emphatic - the Church would be truly blessed without measure if it began to evangelise. And such a Church would in turn be a wonderful blessing to society. “If as an act of obedience we were to determine that every district, every town, every village, every hamlet in this land should hear the gospel, and that speedily, and were to set about doing it, I believe the Spirit would come down in such mighty power that we would find supplies springing up we know not how. We should find 4
George W. Peters. A Biblical Theology of Missions. Moody Press, 1984, p.350
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the fire spreading from missionary to flock, and our native fellow workers and the whole Church of God would be blessed. God gives his Holy Spirit to them that obey.”5
Once again, please think this through. A Church moving powerfully in the power of the Holy Spirit will certainly bless society to a much greater degree than one which is not! For as long as I have been a Christian (36 years), the Church through prayer, holiness, miracles, fasting, worship, and social action has been crying out for revival and an outpouring of the Spirit. Yet, God has not honoured our efforts with revival. Why? He is waiting for our obedience in the Great Commission i.e. evangelism.
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o evangelism and help create loving people…
REASON 4: EVANGELISM PROVIDES PEOPLE WITH THE POWER TO LOVE EACH OTHER. Are Stott and Colson a minority when they talk about how goodness in society is preserved and salt and light created through evangelism? Far from it. Billy Graham believes wholeheartedly that evangelism is a major instrument of social change. He said, “I am convinced that if the Church went back to its main task of preaching the gospel and getting people converted to Christ, it would have a far greater impact on the social, moral and psychological needs of people than any other thing could possibly do. Some of the greatest social movements of history have come about as the result of people being converted to Christ. For example, the conversion of Wilberforce led to the freeing of the slaves, the conversion of William Booth led to the founding of the Salvation Army, and the conversion of Keir Hardie led to the founding of the British Labour Party. Scores 5
Cited in: Rose Dowsett. The Great Commission. Monarch books, 2001, p.120
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of current and up-to-date illustrations could be used. We have made the mistake of putting the cart before the horse. We are exhorting men to love each other before they have the capacity to love each other. This capacity can only come through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.”6 Then there is Dr Donald McGavran, founding Dean of Missions at Fuller Theological Seminary: “When the population of the world has become more Christian, it will hear Almighty God’s command to treat other men fairly and to obey that command more faithfully. It is useless to expect that non-Christians will be as interested as Christians in treating all men as God’s children. If we want mercy, justice, and righteousness to spread throughout the earth, we can take no more effective action than to multiply congregations of the redeemed in every segment of society. No one will act more justly towards his or her fellows than those who live in Christ, and whose lives are guided by the Holy Spirit.”7 It is clear: moral and spiritual decline follows when the Church stops evangelising. To see a nation deteriorate, just arrange for the Church to be silent about the gospel. Build a stay-at-home-introspective-onlylook-after-Christians-social-action-only-orientated Church. Be committed to praying for the un-churched, singing about them, doing studies about them, having conferences about them and analysing them, feeding them and clothing them, but never ever actually engaging them with the words of the gospel. As Dr Stott comments: “It remains questionable whether a stay-at-home church – disobedient to the Great Commission, and indifferent to the needs 6 Dr Billy Graham. One Race, One Gospel, One Task. World Congress on Evangelism. World Wide Publications, 1967, p.28 7 Dr Donald A McGavran. Effective Evangelism: A Theological Mandate. Presbyterian Reform Publishing, 1988, p.103
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of the nations – is in any position to claim or inherit the fulness of Christ’s promised blessings.”8 At this point, please take a break from reading this Mini Book, and read Appendix One in Mini Book Twenty Five. It’s a remarkable account from Dr K.P. Yohannan, a missionary among the poorest of the poor in Asia. From many years of first hand experience, he explains how proclaiming the gospel blesses the poor.
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o evangelism and uncover a potential William Booth…
I was on a plane going from one city to another, sitting next to a 59-year-old businessman. I took him through the full gospel, and at the end of the presentation asked the critical question: “If you died tonight, where would you go?” He thought about it for a few seconds and then replied: “Heaven.” When asked “Why?” he said, “Because when I was a boy, I can remember being taught by my Bible teacher that Jesus wants all people in heaven. And being God, I am sure He will get what He wants.” He told me that in the years between boyhood and the present he had never gone to church on Sundays, never read a Bible, never given Jesus so much as a thought. Yet because of what the Bible teacher had told him as a child, he was convinced he was a Christian. His Bible teacher had not explained the whole gospel. What’s the point of this story? Having heard and understood the gospel, the Holy Spirit will go to work to bring him to faith.9 And when he is saved, he will become part of an army of salt and light in society, an instrument in the hands of God to fight its decay and degradation. 8 John Stott, One Race. One Gospel. One Task. World Congress on Evangelism, World Wide Publications, 1967, p.44 9
See Mini Book Thirteen for details of how God does this.
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And God used the gospel to do it. On another flight, about ten days later, I was again sitting next to a businessman. He was older, but as sharp as a tack. I got to the end of the presentation of the gospel and asked him, “If you died tonight, where would you go?” “Heaven,” he replied. When asked “Why?” he said, “Because I was taught as a youngster that God died for the sins of the whole world. We are all Christians, aren’t we?” These two stories illustrate how dangerous it is to proclaim only bits of the gospel in our churches and never give regular, powerful, complete, ‘all-at-one-time’ presentations of it.10 All these two men had to go on was a fragment of the truth about Jesus – heard in childhood. A little knowledge can be dangerous and deceiving. How tragic it would have been if they had gone to their death not hearing the truth. And what if they were another William Booth or Wilberforce in waiting and they miss their opportunity to be a great force for good in this life because we didn’t go to them with the gospel? Think about this. Every great Christian in history who has made a huge contribution to the betterment of society in their lifetime came to Christ through someone, somewhere giving them the gospel.
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Tsunami of salt and light going to waste…
The two accounts of the men on planes are not isolated cases. Millions of people are living like them in spiritual-delusion. Together these millions represent a potential Tsunami of salt and light which could flood the world with God’s preservation and reformation power, but only if they are redeemed and thus changed on the inside.
10 Please visit www.esisite.com.
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o evangelism and create an army of salt and light…
The enemy seems to have prevented Christians from examining important statistics about spiritual deception. If they don’t see these statistics, they will not perceive the extent of the fall-out from neglecting the proclamation of the gospel. What are these statistics? Well, in the 1996 New Zealand census, 59 percent of the population of four million (i.e. 2.3 million people) said they were Christians or affiliated with a Christian church. Yet in the same census, only one Kiwi in ten (i.e. 390,000 people) indicated they attended church at least once a month. Let’s assume all these churchgoers are genuine believers.11 The question we have to ask, then is, “Where are the other 49 percent (i.e. nearly 2 million people) on Sunday?”12 There are a number of possible explanations: 1 Some could be sick or elderly or live in remote geographical locations. 2 Others could have had a bad church experience and are having a temporary break from attending services on Sunday. 3 Others could be genuinely Christian but their community of faith meets regularly in a home rather than a church building. 4 Some could have ticked “Christian” on the census form but have since left New Zealand. Another possibility – and the more likely scenario – is that most of the people who say they are Christians but do not attend any form of church regularly are not Christians at all. If this is the case, we now have a large percentage of the population who are totally deceived. These people are a potential army of salt and light going to waste.
11 We know that not everyone who goes to church is saved. At least, in America they’re not. According to research, half of all people who attend protestant churches in America are not Christians. See George Barna. Evangelism That Works. Regal, 1995, p.38 12 We are presuming here, of course, that attending a local church regularly is a strong indicator of saving faith.
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C
lassrooms full of salt and light...
I was speaking recently to a group of British high school students – young people from about thirteen to seventeen. When the students entered the classroom for the lesson we had prepared, the first thing they saw was this sentence on the screen “Some Good People Don’t Go To Heaven.” Many looked confused, and some of them began to discuss it spontaneously. We then introduced ourselves and the lesson began. We asked the students, “What do you think?” “Some Good People Don’t Go To Heaven.” “Is there anything you don’t agree with about that?” I asked them. “I don’t agree with it,” someone said quickly. “I think if you are good you should go to heaven.” This was the start we wanted – and which we anticipated. I show this presentation in high schools a lot – and the same thing happens almost invariably. “Okay, so you think that if you are a good person, you should go to heaven?”13 I asked them. Smiling, the class agreed unanimously. “So no axe murderers?” I asked. “Serial killers, Hitler and people like that?” “No, definitely not!” someone said affirmingly, and everyone quickly agreed. “So there are some people who are not good?” I continued. “Is that what you are saying?” “Yes!” shouted the class. “Well, how good do you have to be to get into heaven?” I asked. “And how bad do you have to be to be shut out?” 13 What I found interesting was that young people almost without exception accepted without question that heaven and hell existed.
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I invited them to play God for the next 20 minutes, and to decide the criteria for entry to heaven and the criteria for exclusion. I went to the white board and divided it into two. On one side I wrote, “Things that qualify us for heaven.” On the other side I wrote, “Things that disqualify us from heaven.” “Okay, let’s start with the things that qualify someone for heaven,” I said. “Who’d like to start? What do you have to do to get into heaven?” “You have to be good!” shouted one person. “Okay,” I replied. “How good?” Many hands shot up enthusiastically. “You have to do good things for other people!” said one. “What do you mean by ‘good things’?” I probed. Several answers came at me all at once. “Going to church, helping your parents, saving an animal, saying prayers…” “Hmmm,” I said. “And how often do you have to do these good things…once a day? once a week? once a month?” “Once a day!” someone shouted. “No!” someone else disagreed. “We must do good things in every situation!” Spontaneous discussion followed. “But are some things better than others?” I asked them. “Surely something like saving someone’s life is worth more than passing your little brother the butter at breakfast…?” More animated discussion. “Let’s say we live for 75 years and there are 365 days in the year.” I said. “That’s 27,375 days, right?” The class agreed. “Okay,” I went on. “Let’s agree that we have to do one good thing 18
a day to get into heaven. Can we all agree on this? Let’s forget about weighing the good things for a minute because that is going to get too complicated…” The class looked very relieved that they didn’t have to weigh all the good things people did and decide which ones were worth more than others. “Yes!” they chorused. “Being God isn’t so easy, is it?” I commented. “Okay, here’s another question. Do we start counting the good things a person does from the moment he or she is born?” The class looked confused. “No, not until someone is five” suggested someone. “All right,” I said. “Let’s say we start counting from age five. Now we are looking at a new sum – 70 times 365 = 25,550 days. What happens if you miss a day? What then?” The class looked even more confused. “Ah… forgive them,” said one person. “How many times would you have to forgive before you reach the cut-off point?” I asked. There were baffled looks and a long silence as they thought furiously. “I can see we’re not doing too well as God here,” I said. “Let’s move on. So far on the ‘Things that qualify us for heaven’ side of the board we only have ‘Do good things for other people.’ What else could we put up on this side of the board?” “Prayers,” suggested someone. “How many? How often? Do they need to be sincere? What is a sincere prayer?” “It needs to come from the heart?” said one girl. “But what happens if it doesn’t come from the heart? Does it still count? What happens if it’s a selfish prayer? Is that a bad thing, and if so should we put it on the other side of 19
the board with the things that disqualify us from heaven?” The class looked perplexed, and a heated debate followed. “Let’s move on,” I said again. “What other things qualify us to get into heaven?” “Going to church!” was suggested next. “How often?” I asked. “What happens if you miss a Sunday? Would you need a note? A doctor’s certificate? Could you make it up by going twice on another Sunday?” More debate followed as we proceeded to list five or six key behaviours on one side of the board. The class was not finding it easy to play God at all! “Let’s go quickly to the other side of the white board,” I said. “Is there anything a person could do that would definitely disqualify them from heaven? I mean, something that if they did it they would absolutely never make it!” “Murder!” (This was always the first suggestion in every class) “Rape!” shouted another person. “Serial killing!” shouted another. I wrote all these responses on the board. Then I went through three of the ten commandments with them and to their horror, they discovered they were all theiving, lying, murderers. “Do you want to know how to be forgiven? “Yes!” they said enthusiastically. We proceeded to watch the gospel on video which you can see at www.biblein11.com. At the end, virtually the whole class wanted to come to Christ. We couldn’t formalise this because of school protocol but were able to give everyone the booklet “How To Be Sure Of Going To Heaven When We Die” which showed them they could do this in their own time outside of school. Repeat this discussion in virtually any classroom with a similar 20
age group, and you’d see the same result. What really excites me is the thought of these students converting to Christ, entering university, and then going on to take up signficant positions in society, being salt and light in their jobs and homes and neighbourhoods, and creating the same wherever they go through doing evangelism.
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o evangelism and prevent a spiritual holocaust….
In World War II the Nazis rounded up many Jews and herded them into cattle wagons and trains. They were headed for camps where they were told they would be stripped, showered and given camp clothes. This they did, but when the showers were turned on it was not water that came out of the nozzle but poisonous gas. The people had been deceived. Commentators use an ancient Hebrew word to describe the enormity of the devastation that occurred in those camps: Holocaust. The Oxford English dictionary defines holocaust as “the destruction of a large number of persons; a great slaughter or massacre.”14 The Nazi holocaust has always disturbed me greatly. I would wince every time I heard about it. Then one day it dawned on me that a spiritual holocaust was happening right before my eyes. It was designed by the enemy and happening today, across the Western world. Millions of non-Christians sincerely believe that when they die they are going to heaven, simply because they consider themselves to be good people.
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e Christians and our churches, music, billboards, literature, TV, and radio are everywhere, but nonChristians are just not getting it… 14 The Oxford English Dictionary. Vol. X, H-K, p.344 Definition C.
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In the time it has taken you to read this Mini Book, many people in your country will have died. Some in car accidents, some from disease, some through crime, others from old age. Many of them – like the 49 percent of New Zealanders in the census – thought they were going to heaven. Right now they are suffering in hell. First, they died never having heard about the amazing grace of Jesus through the gospel. Not even once. How do we know this? We know it from the research quoted at the beginning of this book. Second, they also missed the chance to be God’s salt and light as they passed through this world. Many of them could have made a huge contribution to a better society by advancing God’s cause. They could then have been numbered among the people in history through whom God has worked to bless society. Below are just twenty. I have categorised their contribution: HOSE WHO BLESSED SOCIETY BY CHAMPIONING THE IDEA THAT HUMAN BEINGS WERE OF SUPREME VALUE. 1. Justinian (483-565) Byzantine emperor who had his jurists prepare the Justinian Code, which clearly condemned abortion and infanticide as illegal. 2. George Mueller (1805-98) Born in Prussia. Mueller was an evangelist who established orphanages in Bristol, England after a cholera epidemic. For the next 60 years, he cared for more than 10,000 orphaned and abandoned children. 3. Eric Liddell (1902-1945) Scottish athlete and Christian popularized by the movie “Chariots of Fire”. Born in China to missionary parents, Liddell returned to China after winning an Olympic gold medal in 1924. He taught in an Anglo-Chinese school and died in a Japanese internment camp during World War II.
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4. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) Baptist minister who spoke in support of fair and equal treatment for African Americans in the United States during the 1960’s. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. HOSE WHO BLESSED SOCIETY BY CONTRIBUTING TO FREEDOM, SOCIAL REFORM AND EDUCATION. 1. William Wilberforce (1759-1833) Christian abolitionist who also served as a member of England’s House of Commons. Wilberforce campaigned tirelessly for the abolition of slavery beginning in 1789. Forty-four years later, just before his death, he learned that Parliament passed the Abolition Act, by which 700,000 slaves were set free. Wilberforce’s efforts were chronicled in the film, “Amazing Grace.” 2. William Penn (1644-1718) a Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania, “treated the Indians with Christian charity and justice”. Penn called Pennsylvania “the Holy Experiment” living at peace with the Native Americans in the area. 3. Boethius (480-525) As a Roman nobleman, Boethius was one of the best educated men of his time. His mathematics were used in early universities and his life goal was to translate all of the Greek philosophy and classic literature into Latin. He wrote thousands of documents, including his Consolations of Philosophy, which would become the most read book of the Middle Ages. 4. Robert Raikes (1736-1811) Remembered as the founder of the Sunday School movement, Raikes, of Gloucester, England, sought to provide Christian education for poor children and children who would not otherwise receive a biblical education. HOSE WHO BLESSED SOCIETY BY CONTRIBUTING TO SCIENCE AND MEDICINE. 1. Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer who proposed the heliocentric model (planets revolving around the sun).
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