At the heart of it, pre-evangelization means keeping the other person close enough to be able to establish credibility with them. It is maintaining your connection with them, because without that connection there is no chance of issuing an invitation to faith. If we maintain that connection, then there are many ways of nurturing interest, and these will tend to be different for different people.

3 Roles of the Evangelist

We are called as Christians to "proclaim the Gospel," but I think quite often we think of this as a call to disseminate information. If the Gospel is merely information, our role becomes one of teaching, convincing, persuading - this will be the primary tool set that we employ. If, on the other hand, we remain conscious of the encounter with Jesus Christ as the goal of evangelization, a different tool set will become necessary.

EvangelizationJim SchusterFebruary 8, 2014conversion, encounter, evangelization, gospel, page 1 Comment

6 Everyday Acts of Bravery

Doing the work of evangelization requires real courage, but not just the kind of courage that is standing up to the culture tide, or proclaiming unpopular truths, or even stepping out of your comfort zone to have the "Jesus Conversation." Yes, these occasional acts of courage are necessary from time to time, but there are also certain everyday acts of bravery that are just as crucial.

The Ministry of Availability

Anyone who is a ministry professional will naturally desire to be a good steward of their time. After all, we're being paid for 40 hours a week, and so we need to make sure that we are actually doing 40 hours of work, right? We feel a need to fill up those hours to justify our salary. But the work of evangelization isn't always something that can be scheduled.

Once Saved, Always Saved?

In this series on inviting the act of faith and what Catholics can learn from Evangelicals on the subject, I want to take a look at a common Evangelical doctrine that is often referenced in conjunction with the invitation to faith. This is the "once saved, always saved" doctrine. In short, this doctrine says that once one has made the act of faith, once one has given their life to Christ and accepted him as savior, one's status as "saved" can never be lost. (Post 3/8 on "Inviting the Act of Faith")