Evangelisation, local preaching opposite overseas evangelism

Dave Burke asks:

Evangelism (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Why is our local preaching so unsuccessful while our overseas evangelism rises from strength to strength? It’s not that we don’t know how to evangelise, or that preaching the Gospel isn’t important to us. Instead I believe it’s because overseas mission work is largely unfettered by the restrictions of the pervading culture in our home ecclesias.

Western Christadelphia has developed habits which are now traditions, and because they’re traditions we’ve convinced ourselves that we’re not allowed to change them, and because we refuse to change we don’t improve, but because improvement involves change and change is forbidden, we end up congratulating ourselves for our stagnation.

In this regard we have become an institutionalised church, which is ironic because we spend a great deal of time criticising mainstream institutionalised churches for their slavish adherence to man-made traditions.

Rachael Wadsworth does find:

Overseas preaching I would imagine is largely funded by ecclesias in the UK, Australia etc. Yet in the North West of the UK there are many small, elderly ecclesias. When they are gone, so the funding for overseas preaching declines, and the same for other areas / countries.

We do have to be conscious about the many temptations the people in the economical well thriving countries get. Western Europe had many countries in the past which had successful missionary posts in the south part of the world. Most successful you could say was the Roman Catholic Church, which had placed their missionaries in nearly every part of the world.

In Belgium, the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom, which were once missionary-sending nations we can see a turning point having people from the missionaries coming over to our regions to preach. After years of secularisation, a new poll has found that Christians in the UK are increasingly looking to the overseas church to help in the work of spreading the Gospel, and this we saw already happening a few years in Belgium were nobody really is interested in God.

In a 2012 survey of more than 1,100 UK Christians, 74% agreed that the UK needed missionaries from other countries to come and bring the Gospel to the people.
This figure was supported by 68% who stated that out of all the world’s regions, the UK should receive the highest priority for church mission, prayer and support.

The feeling among UK Christians is reflected in their giving, with a quarter of those surveyed saying they had started to give more generously to UK causes than to overseas ones. Though there are less people coming to church, having to go much further than in previous centuries because lots of the churchbuildings have closed down, are sold to the property market, to be converted in living quarters, cultural centres or shops.

In the UK more than 50 per cent of evangelical Christians felt that immigration had benefited the church over the last 50 years, while nearly all (95%) said they felt they could learn from and be inspired by the church overseas.
Three-quarters of those surveyed said their own church gave significant support to an overseas church, while 76 per cent said that the Olympics were an excellent way to communicate the Gospel.

The strong awareness of mission reflects the results of a poll in 2011 in which 90% of Christians said believers should be actively involved in evangelism. However, the poll found that only 60% of those surveyed were actually doing it.

“As a nation we are quite comfortable showing both reservation and determination in equal measure,”

said Steve Clifford, general director of the Evangelical Alliance.

“But when you are blessed with this tension in your identity it’s no surprise that, though we are eager to be evangelists, we do struggle with it. It explains why Christians might look to the overseas Church when they hear it confidently spreading the Gospel despite often being victims of intense levels of religious persecution.

“But we must accept overseas missionaries as a gift and let them inspire us. We need to increase our confidence in speaking about our faith and also asking ourselves ‘what can I do today in my own church that weaves the values of Christianity into our local communities?'”

Lots of people have grown away form the real lifestyle Jesus had in mind. Christendom has taken an other track than the first Christians of Christianity.In  355 CE Julian the Apostate (a pagan Roman emperor) who was given an education that combined Christian and Neoplatonic ideas, attempted to restore paganism as the state religion. He openly acknowledged that Christianity was the most popular religion of the time. Paganism was dying, mainly because it had become insular and complacent.This is how Julian described the problem:

‘Why then do we think that [basic religious devotion] is sufficient and do not observe how the kindness of Christians to strangers, their care for the burial of their dead, and the sobriety of their lifestyle has done the most to advance their cause? Each of these things, I think, ought really to be practised by us.

It is not sufficient for you alone to practice them, but so must all the priests in Galatia without exception. For it is disgraceful when no Jew is a beggar and the impious Galileans [Julian’s name for the Christians] support our poor in addition to their own; everyone is able to see that our fellow believers need our help.’

Saint Peter preaching the Gospel in the Catacombs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the early times of Christianity the followers and lovers of Christ came together in each-others houses, in open public spaces or in caves and catacombs. they did not need a proper church-building like some people today think is the only way Christians can meet. Often you can find on the net people saying Christadelphians are no Christians because they do not meet and worship in ‘church’ but speak of a hall. They do often forget that when we do have a Christadelphian Hall, or a Kingdom Hall or a House of Hope and Glory, or speak about coming together in the Conference Room, or the Hotel, or ‘So-and-so’s house’ or any other private or public place, we are making church, having our ecclesia or Εκκλησία (ekklesia = in English “church” or meeting house) whilst ναός would mean temple in English, and therefore this also could sometimes be used as the name for our meeting place.

CBM meeting in one of the meeting rooms of the Leuven ecclesia. Not like in many other churches, parishioners sitting passive on church chairs or benches, in a Christadelphian ecclesia (ekklesia = church) all members of the community, present at the church-service, participate actively.

It is not because our “Christadelphian Hall” does not look like a Roman Catholic Church or in many countries does not look at all like a classic ‘Christian Church’ that our ecclesiae would not be ‘holding church’ and therefore not be Christian.

Lots of people do think because we deny the deity of Christ and deny the immortality of the soul there is no point the point of this “god” we serve. {Honor «god» and Queen of Heaven} Those people are also annoyed that the pontiff kissed the Koran/Quran and considers it to be a holy book and being part of the monotheist religions which honour the Only One God. For them it can not be that Allah (God) would be the God for all mankind and the God of the Jews, Christians and Muslims. Lots of times it are people who do not have the word Allah or allah in their language dictionary as a title given to an important person, like the angels, Moses, Pharaoh, Apollo, Zeus and many others in the Holy Scriptures are called in several languages allah or god, who do not understand the difference between a tittle and a name and ‘a god’ and ‘the God’.

We understand that because the limitation in their own language and they not knowing the Arabic or other languages word for god, they have difficulties with that. But for having church they should read their Book of books in whichever language they use and would be able to find what the first Christians did and how and where they came together to study the Word of God, to meditate on it, to pray and to worship the Most High God of gods, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah.

Confusing ideas for many searching people

Very confusing for many searchers of truth is the saying of certain bloggers that Jesus is 100% human but at the same time time he would be 100% God

In lots of western churches we can see that lots of pagan acts have been introduced and are common practice. They often expect other churches to do likewise, otherwise they can not be part of their system: “the church”. They overlook what God says about Himself and how He wants to be worshipped. God also speaks about His onlybegottenson, who also tells about his position opposite his heavenly Father. But they do not want to believe what those two Biblical characters say about themselves and the other and thrive on their Trinitariandogma‘s, convinced that all those who do not keep to their dogma‘s and rules do not belong to the church and even worse may not call themselves Christian. They better would look up in the Bible the Characteristics of a Christian.

which Jesus do bloggers want to present?

They forget what it really means to be a Christian. Normally a Christian should be a follower of Christ, not a follower of human dogmas. A Christian should be a person who follows the sayings and teaching of Christ and follows up the tasks Jesus has given.

Who are masquerading Christians when several so called Christians do say “He that denies God the Son, has strayed far away from the truth. Islam denies that God has a Son. “

The answers many Christadelphians and people who are not yet Christian get from so called Christians do let them take distance of that belief of those bloggers, also often because the writers of such blogs start often throwing with mud, threatening with damnation and the like, so that the readers not at all can feel the love Jesus preached and they would expect followers of such a pacifist teacher to have.

Two very important tasks given by that teacher is doing the Will of Jesus his heavenly Father, like Jesus did not do his own will, but only the Will of his Father, to whom Jesus prayed himself and learned others to pray to, and the other one is going out in the world in a peaceful manner to proclaim the Word of God and bringing the Gospel of the Good News of the coming Kingdom of God.

By most Christian blogs we can see that the focus is not at all at those points but more to bring people to their own ‘only right’ denomination.

The last few years we have seen that lots of preachers on the internet chose to do their own will and to press others in following their human teachings. When people visited their websites and wanted to go into discussion, they mostly wanted the other to take on their ideas. At first they may have greetings like shalom, but soon forgot what that really means and brought the visitors under pressure by threatening with damnation and eternal torture. Regularly those people in charge of those trinitarianformula blogs also not allow any normal open discussion about what is really written in the Bible, when it is not following their doctrine of three gods in one. On the other hand Christadelphians trying to discuss the Word of God in all serenity, often are being silenced by the Trinitarians. Those Christadelphians who have or had their own side or blog often are attacked by those who call themselves Christians. (You should see what for sorts words or awful language we get in our mailbox from so called Christians or with how many viruses they want to infect us.)

Many Christians seeing lots of denominations and being confronted by teachers who preach that all are saved by Christ and do not have to do any works for entering heaven, are then bombarded by priests, pastors, preachers, who say they may not do this or that and have to do so and so.

Strange enough even a denomination which in the previous centuries always demanded works of its believers, like first to regret what people had done, then to ask forgiveness of sins, coming to God by whitewashing of sins through baptism when they are old enough to consent, following this up by learning to master all passions, having to work to fulfil the wishes of God, following the commandments of God, has now preachers and pastors who call themselves the same as those in previous centuries: Baptist, but  do preach no works are necessary any more. some Baptists seem to allow child baptism as well, contrary of the fundamental teachings of the original Baptists. (Uprooted Baptists their new idea of baptism) This when other Baptist preachers are real doom preachers.

Salvation to the Christadelphians is a process, is not given at the point of faith in Christ, is dependent upon “belief in the covenants,” good works and baptism.

Many denominational bloggers say that we are saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, but forget to see that Grace is given to all people of the world. Jesus died, in the knowledge  that God can not die, for all people, not only for Christians, to pardon their sins. Though people have to come to accept Jesus as their saviour and have to live accordingly the Will of God and not according to the will of the world.

“For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

tells us that we might, but does not say “we are” the righteous of God in Christ. The Christadelphians do  not say grace is not given for free, but they say we have to be careful not to lose that what is given to all people and therefore also to us, shall not be lost again because we would not live according the expectations for such gift. We must merit our salvation through our own efforts and can not blame others for our own faults.

“20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that [life] which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, [the faith] which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. 21 I do not make void the grace of God: for if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nought.” (Galatians 2:20-21 ASV)

That passage tells us that the apostle Paul considered that Christ’s life showed him how, and enabled him to do it. He identified himself and advices us also to identify ourself completely with Jesus. Indeed, Paul considers himself to  have been crucified with Christ. Because of that action of Jeshua, Christ the Messiah, Paul‘s ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that he appears righteous before the other disciples and followers of Christ or has their good opinion. He tells them he is no longer driven to impress God, because Christ lives in him. In such way he does not bring any works in front of God to impress others or God.The life the followers of Christ saw him living was not “his” but was lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved him and gave himself (Jeshua) for the apostle. The apostle did not want to explain that once again, because he had done that already several times in the past. So he would not going to go back on that. Also today for many is it not clear to them that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in the relationship with God. The apostle Paul refused to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. He says that “If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.” But he did not say we do not have to do anything to keep the salvation worthy and that we should not do anything to make sure we could be able to enter in the Kingdom of God. He knew enough parables or illustrations by Christ which tell us otherwise. He and the other first and chosen disciples by Christ in their letters wrote enough remarks about what we have to do to be able to protect ourself so that we shall be found righteous to enter the small gate to the Kingdom of God.At one place those writers say no works are needed and a little-bit later they start asking requirements of their followers, even demanding money at collections.

False saying “True Christianity teaches salvation without works

The true Messiah wants to use what He has gifted you to His glory. He wants you to live a decent life, a life of balance, behaving holy and to be in peace.

Saying no works are needed to enter God’s Kingdom but at the same time saying:

The true Messiah wants to use what He has gifted you to His glory. He wants you to live a decent life, a life of balance, behaving holy and to be in peace.

which is demanding a change in our attitude or actions to be taken by us, works, this makes those words of “no work” hollow. Certainly when they see clergy who live a life not according to the Holy Scriptures, misusing their position and abusing youngsters, and seeing that they get away with it, protected by their hierarchy institutions and because of their political power, while ordinary people for the same actions would get in prison. Those preachers saying that no works have to be done, because we are saved, at the same time demand so  many things from their flock and frighten them with hell, where people would have to undergo eternal torture. Others are excommunicated for things they have done wrong according to their church, though that church preaches no works have to be done, so how come someone dares to give a ruling above the rulings of Christ and God? Seeing those institution then putting themselves higher than the judge Jesus and higher than God, because they themselves say Jesus does not demand any works any more from us, but they themselves who say such a thing, exclude certain people when they did not do a certain work, made that many people lost trust in those churches and in general, in all religion.It are such situations of aggressive preaching and misleading lots of people which makes it so much more the difficult to preach these days. People are torn between the heavy active Trinitarians which have so many divisions all countering each other. This not only confuses a lot of people, but those churches their attitude to non-believers and other believers makes them run away from such faith-groups.Being so indoctrinated by the human dogmatic teachings, for non-trinitarians it has become very difficult to let people believe that their faithgroup is different and follows the teachings of the Bible. Lots of people have so much received a reluctance of anything to do with religion and are made so frightened by those trinitarians which always preach

If you are in a Church which make you worship a false Messiah, You are lost, and will end up in the eternal punishment of Hell. You have been deceived by your priests and teachers, and you are in need of deliverance. {Honor «god» and Queen of Heaven}

Some of the visitors and blogwriters may question

Institutionalized religion…when did it become relevant and when did it stop? The central truth to Christianity is Christ and God’s inspired word. Once anyone steps away from that have stopped being relevant and started being religious. Jesus was not about religion but about a personal relationship.

The central truth to Christianity is Christ and God’s inspired word

But most people are not any more interested in that inspired and infallible Word of God. Not many want to take the Bible with them and compare what people are saying what it would say and what is really printed in the Bible.Several non-trinitarian believers tried to have a look at the Scriptures with the other believers but in the end gave it up.In Christadelphianism a lot of people are ‘believing it’ and resting on their laurels, believing or trusting that God will call those whom He wishes and will bring them to the community of faith, so they do not have to do anything. We are afraid that, like we can see in the trinitarian communities, not many are interested in preaching any more, the virus of easiness and luxury comfort has found its way also in the Christadelphian congregation. Not many are willing to Learn how to go out into the world and proclaim the Good News of the coming Kingdom. To spend time to try to convince others of our own belief seems for many a waste of time because people want to enjoy their own traditions and main doctrines which do not make themselves responsible for the choices they make.In our community people do have to make their own choice and to take their own responsibility.This does not make our faith very attractive for others, because they can not hide behind a devil or other extraterrestrial or spirit creature.

When you read the New Testament you will see that we do have to have faith but also have to love accordingly and have to Act as if everything you think, say and do determines your entire life.We should use the Bible every day and remember that we cannot change anything in your life with intention alone.

We all may need a Relapse plan and notice how we are coming closer to the end-times and how the need of preaching becomes more important, fulfilling what is said in the New Testament about what shall happen in the Last Days. We do know than there would be more agitation against people who love God. Jesus also warned his followers they shall have to face lots of opposition and that there would be many who shall not be able to endure and run the race to the end (again an action to be taken or a work to be done, for those who still keep believing no works have to be done).

People are turning their back on Christianity in the times that many love to Kill the messenger. Too many are clinging their hopes and lives to the material gadgets and entertainment this world offers. Though there may be several people who do not mind sharing their material wealth, most people are afraid to let others look deep into their heart and to know what they believe about spiritual matters. Not many do want to let others know what they believe in in Whom they trust. Religion and Faith in a God is not spoken about any more in our communities. Christadelphia also suffers under the contentment of life by many. Lots of Christadelphians are pleased with their own situation, thinking it will be all right if they live well according to the bible’s teaching. Afraid of receiving negative reactions and seeing how the world loves to keep to its doctrinal teachings they have lost hope for change.

You can not find many who want to carry the “the victory banner” of their Kristos, their saviour who gave his life for our wrongdoings (sins).

The ones who really love Jesus Christ are those who not only look up at Jesus but are willing to follow Jesus, in what he believed and in what he preached and to follow up his requests, like going out into the world to preach the Good News.

In this world we not only need people to preach to non-believers, but also men and womenwhoareprepared to reach others a hand who are looking for values and the truth in this misleading world. to do such work in their own environment frighten lots of people because they than could be recognised by others doing such a work. Going overseas to many is more attractive because then they can enjoy adventure show off to others that they have been to such and such far away or exotic place, not telling straight away what they really went to do there.Preaching around the own house does not look so attractive than to go far away from home and to face new environments and get to learn new cultures, often in a more receptive environment than the one at home. It is that unreceptive environment which frightens most of us. It is much more difficult when you can face people who know you and your family, to tell about what you really belief and for which values you want to go in your life.Today it is like Dave Burke believes because overseas mission work is largely unfettered by the restrictions of the pervading culture in our home ecclesiae, that our local preaching is so unsuccessful not to say for certain places non-existent.

Much more work should be done to revitalise the feeling of need to go out of the Christadelphian Hall or parish building, to bring that important message the Nazarene Jew, from the tribe of King David came to tell the world. In each little circle, wherever there is one, two or hopefully more, those should not restrict their feelings and belief to their own house nor to their own small community of Christadelphian believers. They also should now that there is no need to have a specific church-building, like so many other preachers want people to believe, to make church. At the beginning of Christianity, the followers of Christ first came together in synagogues, temples, market squares and in their own private houses. today it should not be different. We still can come together, meeting in our own houses, with others, like minded and curious ones, to study the Bible, reading in it and discussing about what is read. We also do not need church-chairs or church benches in a typical church-building with tower, to pray and sing songs of praise, worshipping the Only One God.Peoplemay be accustomed by that idea of ‘church’ that they even say, like some preachers say, that we can not be a church because we do not have churches like they knowthemto be.It ishigh time that we show others what it really means to love Jesus and to respect what Jesus really did for humankind, so that sayings that Jesus hasto be God or otherwise we could not be saved shall be uprooted and provento be wrong.

Christadelphian ‘Church service in Heverlee- Leuven” – A nice place where we can be followers of Christ and enjoy God’s Word in peace, making church, though the meeting place not having such name “Church”, but in Heverlee-Leuven being called the “Quiz’inn”, in Nivelles called the “Service Station”, in Zaventem “By Frank”, in Tervuren “CC” (or cultural Center) or “Paepenblok” in Kraainem “Kingdom Hall”, and in Mons “At Steve’s” or “By Steve” plus in the “Kingdom Hall”.

Better to be part of a small faith-group which follows the teachings of the Nazarene Jew, about Whom God Himself said it is (Jehovah God) His son, than to go and sit in dark churches, where so many people can hide themselves and not have to participate in the service. Though are meeting places may not always look like what people are used to think off, by hearing the word ‘church’, we prefer such lighter places where those who gather come together in unity and peace, sitting easy and comfortable, to share their love for Christ Jesus and to study the Holy Scriptures and to enjoy together a time of worship and praise for the Only One God, Who is One, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah.

Jesus did not stop to give his life for many and though he even asked one moment why god had forsaken him, he always wanted and did the will of god. By such action of this man God accepted his ransom offering, for all mankind.

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For those who want to see how Christadelphians are often silenced when they want to defend their believes
and do not get any opportunity to prove that they are no sect or cult and to proof what is really written in the Bible
please do find some excerpts of what went on at “Honor «god» and Queen of Heaven” (To give just one example)

Example of how people with other ideas are often silenced and not given a change to defend themselves against the accusations of them belong to a sect or cult, or not following the Bible.

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Additional reading:

1. How do you define religion?
2. Being Religious and Spiritual 8 Spiritual, Mystic and not or well religious
3. How long to wait before bringing religiousness and spirituality in practice
4. People Seeking for God 2 Human interpretations
5. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #15 Exposition before the Creator
6. Days of Nisan, Pesach, Pasach, Pascha and Easter
7. Some one or something to fear #5 Not afraid
8. God’s forgotten Word 5 Lost Lawbook 4 The ‘Catholic’ church
9. People are turning their back on Christianity
10. Judeo-Christian values and liberty
11. Many forgot how Christ should be our anchor and our focus
12. Bible in the first place #3/3
13. Missional hermeneutics 5/5
14. Atonement And Fellowship 1/8
15. Atonement And Fellowship 2/8
16. Atonement And Fellowship 3/8
17. Atonement And Fellowship 5/8
18. Manifests for believers #5 Christian Union
19. A Living Faith #3 Faith put into action
20. We should use the Bible every day
21. A participation in the body of Christ
22. Disciple of Christ counting lives and friends dear to them
23. Blogging in the world for Jesus and his Father
24. Blogging in the world for Jesus and his Father
25. Worship and worshippingTrusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 Voice of God #5 To meditate and Transform
26. No person has greater love than this one who surrendered his soul in behalf of his friends
27. Savouring pictorial entertainementCatholicism, Anabaptism and Crisis of Christianity
28. Which Christians Actually Evangelize
29. Good or bad preacher
30. Learn how to go out into the world and proclaim the Good News of the coming Kingdom
31. Obstacles to effective evangelism
32. Our stance against certain religions and immigrating people
33. Immigration consternation
34. More Muslim children than Christian children growing up in our cities
35. Migrants to the West #2Migrants to the West #5Religion, fundamentalism and murder
36. Funeral service only belongs in church building according to Catholic Church
37. Pastorpreneur Warren
38. Relapse plan
39. See God in everyone you meet
40. Words to push and pull
41. Not words of any organisation should bind you, but the Word of God
42. United people under Christ
43. Commitment to Christian unity
44. Small churches of the few Christadelphians
45. Missionary action paradigm for all endeavours of the church
46. Meeting – Vergadering
47. Congregate, to gather, to meet
48. Congregation – Congregatie
49. Integrity of the fellowship
50. Keeping an ecclesia in modern times
51. Compassion and Discipline
52. Be an Encourager
53. Sow and harvests in the garden of your heart
54. Control your destiny or somebody else will
55. Kill the messenger
56. Eternity depends upon this short time on earth
57. Act as if everything you think, say and do determines your entire life
58. You cannot change anything in your life with intention alone
59. Parish, local church community – Parochie, plaatselijke kerkgemeenschap
60. Writers needed to preach to non-believers

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Please do find also to read:

EU declaration on One World Religion of good works
Noting that approximately 55 per cent of the world’s population is either Christian or Muslim; and that perhaps 80 per cent of the world’s population is either Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist or Confucian.
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Acknowledging that despite the many irresolvable and unbridgeable theological and religious differences and disagreements between Judaism, Christianity and Islam, there is nevertheless a central and essential common ground of faith, hope and love between these three monotheistic and Abrahamic religions.
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Believing, moreover, that all the peoples of the world are bound together not only by their common humanity and their common planet Earth, but also by either Love of God and Love of the Neighbour or Love of the Good and Love of the Neighbour.

Supporting United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/65/PV.34 of October 20th 2010 establishing a voluntary World Interfaith Harmony Week as proposed by His Majesty King Abdullah II Ben Al Hussein of Jordan on September 23rd 2010 at the United Nations General Assembly, and calling for:

“The world’s people, in their own places of worship, could express the teachings of their own faiths about tolerance, respect for the other, and peace.”
–  16 December 2010; European People’s Party Summit; Castle of Bouchout, Meise, Belgium, Euorpean Union; On behalf of the European People’s Party Presidency, EPP President Wilfried Martens

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