B-A-C
Loyal
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2008
- Messages
- 11,079
I grew up in the Pentecostal church, and virtually all Pentecostal denominations are Evangelical denominations. So what does evangelical mean?
Well it means different things to be honest. On wikipedia it is tied to Christianity, but this isn't always the case. There are Linux evangelists, organic food evangelists, apple iPhone evangelists, etc...
All an evangelist is... is someone "who spreads the word" about something.
So yes there are Christian evangelists. Virtually all Christian missionaries would be evangelists.
People who rent large auditoriums and speak about the gospel to crowds of people would also be considered evangelists. Billy Graham would be a good example.
There are some denominations that call themselves evangelical, but really have no outreach ministry to the community at all. In a way, you could say all pastors are evangelicals; but what separates them from true evangelicals is that evangelicals, "go" (unto all the world) to preach the gospel. This is the great commission at the end of Mark 16. Pastors generally only speak to the congregation in their own churches.
Much of the core of evangelism comes from Ezek 3:
Ezek 3:17; “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me.
Ezek 3:18; When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.
Ezek 3:19; Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself.
Ezek 3:20; Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand.
Ezek 3:21; However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.”
The thought here being, if we don't warn people of the judgment, they have no need for salvation.
"be saved? Saved from what?" If there is no hell to be saved from... there is no need to be saved.
If we don't warn them, we will be held responsible.
Some Christians take the attitude, "I'm not going to tell anyone that their going to hell". God decides that.
God has already decided that anyone who's name is not written in the book of Life, is going into the Lake of Fire. To burn for eternity. Eternity is a long time.
This is in conflict with some Calvinist predestination teachings. They believe God has already decided who is going to heaven, and who is going to hell and there's nothing anything can do about it. This inevitably leads to freewill discussions.
It may be be that the fire and brimstone message doesn't lead everyone to Jesus. Some pastors focus on love and grace. I'm not saying there is a right or wrong way, but I personally believe both ways are equally valid. Fire and brimstone misses the "love of Christ". Love and grace only misses the "judgment of God".
I've known literally dozens of people who have gotten saved for both reasons.
Some people say... shouldn't we just love them, and not judge them.
If an infant say.. two years old was running out into a busy street... and the parent ran after them and pulled
them back to safety, and then told them (scolded them) to never do that again, would the parent be judging the child? Or would they be loving the child?
Sometimes... love is judgment.
If your spouse had an affair on you, would you just love them like nothing ever happened?
What if they had a dozen affairs?
Sometimes love is judgment.
If we let people burn for eternity without warning them... are we really loving them?
Mark 16:15; And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Mark 16:16; He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
Well it means different things to be honest. On wikipedia it is tied to Christianity, but this isn't always the case. There are Linux evangelists, organic food evangelists, apple iPhone evangelists, etc...
All an evangelist is... is someone "who spreads the word" about something.
So yes there are Christian evangelists. Virtually all Christian missionaries would be evangelists.
People who rent large auditoriums and speak about the gospel to crowds of people would also be considered evangelists. Billy Graham would be a good example.
There are some denominations that call themselves evangelical, but really have no outreach ministry to the community at all. In a way, you could say all pastors are evangelicals; but what separates them from true evangelicals is that evangelicals, "go" (unto all the world) to preach the gospel. This is the great commission at the end of Mark 16. Pastors generally only speak to the congregation in their own churches.
Much of the core of evangelism comes from Ezek 3:
Ezek 3:17; “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me.
Ezek 3:18; When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.
Ezek 3:19; Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself.
Ezek 3:20; Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand.
Ezek 3:21; However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.”
The thought here being, if we don't warn people of the judgment, they have no need for salvation.
"be saved? Saved from what?" If there is no hell to be saved from... there is no need to be saved.
If we don't warn them, we will be held responsible.
Some Christians take the attitude, "I'm not going to tell anyone that their going to hell". God decides that.
God has already decided that anyone who's name is not written in the book of Life, is going into the Lake of Fire. To burn for eternity. Eternity is a long time.
This is in conflict with some Calvinist predestination teachings. They believe God has already decided who is going to heaven, and who is going to hell and there's nothing anything can do about it. This inevitably leads to freewill discussions.
It may be be that the fire and brimstone message doesn't lead everyone to Jesus. Some pastors focus on love and grace. I'm not saying there is a right or wrong way, but I personally believe both ways are equally valid. Fire and brimstone misses the "love of Christ". Love and grace only misses the "judgment of God".
I've known literally dozens of people who have gotten saved for both reasons.
Some people say... shouldn't we just love them, and not judge them.
If an infant say.. two years old was running out into a busy street... and the parent ran after them and pulled
them back to safety, and then told them (scolded them) to never do that again, would the parent be judging the child? Or would they be loving the child?
Sometimes... love is judgment.
If your spouse had an affair on you, would you just love them like nothing ever happened?
What if they had a dozen affairs?
Sometimes love is judgment.
If we let people burn for eternity without warning them... are we really loving them?
Mark 16:15; And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Mark 16:16; He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
I love him dearly, but for some reason he wasn't really understanding what I was asking. Sometimes the obvious and the simplicity of it escapes us! Especially for those who are scholars!!! We seek the deepest truths/meanings when the simplest one is normally the one that is understood by all and the one we should use. Maybe, it won't be believed, but not due to lack of understanding what is being said. 
