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Originally Posted by Grimmson  Quote:
Originally Posted by Der Pilger Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimmson worst- the track method, it may be granted that it could use people starting out as a tool to prolaiming the Gospel, but they should not be doing in front of bars, leaving it in bathrooms, or knocking on doors and just giving to people. | It's spelled "tract," by the way. :-)
Why? In principle, this is precisely what Jesus and the apostles did--communicate the truth, i.e., "just giving to people." Quote: |
best way- get into conversations with people about what they believe and why and move that into the Gospel. You can use general revelation to reveal God and his character. This method can take years, but it produces stronger and more firm christians then the track format.
| Any approach that has as its goal the complete, accurate communication of the gospel message is sound. It is the approaches that fall short of that which need to be cautioned against. | First of all thank you for correcting my spelling error; I make many in here and grammar mistakes, which I have confessed in the past.
“Jesus and the apostles did” NOT “communicate the truth” by sending out tracts and in five minutes or less. |
I never said they did. I said that
in principle they accomplished the same thing a tract does--give the gospel to people directly without beating around the bush.
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I just went forth from my own experience and my experience has shown that tracts typical create shallower Christians.
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But any ministry should be evaluated based on what it teaches, not on its results.
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The American culture wants everything quick and fast instead of having the time to seriously process the information and make a decision; they should not be manipulated by using a sensational or psychological means of individuals of Finney’s tradition that act on carnal man so that they do not look and count the cost.
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I pass out tracts from time to time, and I never use anything sensationalistic, manipulative, or otherwise Finney-like.
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Even the Apostle Paul had an approach towards evangelism and we see that clearly in Acts. He would reason with the Jews in the Synagogues first off and then he would he would go to the marketplace, where he may then be invited to speak else where as we see Athens. We also see him working individually and with a family with the Philippian jailer.
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Precisely. And tracts are a way to reason with people in that they present a reasoned explanation of the gospel (assuming it is done well, of course).
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The reason why I thought the conversational approach is the best approach is because I have seen more positive results and received more feedback then just going out and proclaiming a message to mass of people.
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The trouble with evaluating a certain approach or method by its results is that you can never be quite sure that the results you see are trustworthy. You could be perceiving them incorrectly based on biases of your own, or you could simply be misled by appearances that cover up reality.