Comments on: Online Evangelism…Is It Possible?

By: slumdogbrother

slumdogbrother — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:15:14 +0000

where communication is possible, evangelism is possible. does it have to be more complicated than that?

By: Oksana

Oksana — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:29:22 +0000

Yup, it’s possible. In fact, it was probably the biggest factor, beyond the Bible, in my own salvation 5 years ago.

I visit the Yahoo Answers Religion page from time to time — lots of ‘trolls’ there, but also quite a few real seekers who are interested in hearing God’s word. You could spend hours on it witnessing. I’ve also found that posting a testimony on Facebook can really begin conversations.

By: kevin miller

kevin miller — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:43:57 +0000

Carlos, you taught a great class at NOC. I laughed, I cried, I learned. (I really wanted to find some pillow of death jumpin’ stairs for my grandson)

By: Christopher Culver

Christopher Culver — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:44:42 +0000

Maybe we should be asking if real relationships can be had online? If there’s no relationship we’re not really spreading the gospel.

I think most of us here would say that while challenging and limited, real friendship can be had on the net, so I think evangelism on the internet is possible.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:28:16 +0000

Yes, it is. People are out there, online, searching. We need to post good stuff, truthful stuff, so that they don’t read about the hypocritical stuff first. I think it would be a great ministry tool.

By: Suzette

Suzette — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:09:49 +0000

I think so! Regardless of how gets heard, faith comes by hearing the word of God and the revelation of the truth is done by the Spirit of God, not by man. “Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord.”

By: Rick

Rick — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:42:11 +0000

I’m paraphrasing here.

Acts 1:8 says (roughly) “…you will be my witnesses in Twitter, and in all Facebook and MySpace, and to the ends of the interwebs.”

Or something like that.

By: Claire Colvin

Claire Colvin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:34:21 +0000

Of course it’s possible!! Evangelism is a conversation, taking place within a relationship, that intentionally and specifically explains the need for salvation and the means to attain it. Whether it happens online or at Starbucks it’s entirely the same – conversation, relationship, truth, action.

I think where we get into trouble is when people expect the technology to somehow do the work of evangelism for them. There is no testimony-bot, at least not one that works. Technology does not evangelize on autopilot. What technology does is provide a situation, a context, for the conversation to occur in. Once the conversation has started I have the opportunity to develop a relationship and within that, having gained the right to speak into your life I can start to talk about the Truth.

Does it happen? All the time. TruthMedia has built PowertoChange.com as our main evangelistic and discipleship site. You might think that the articles on the site are the point, but they’re not. The articles are a doorway. People come to the site because they’re interested in a topic. Once on the site we do everything we can to get them to talk to a mentor, join a chat, request prayer or leave a comment. The whole site aims to start a conversation because that conversation in the first step in a relationship that can be truly life changing.

I saw it happen just the other day. Someone came to our site to read an article on trust. She left a comment about the situation she was in with her boyfriend. She started a conversation. I commented back to her, sharing some of my own story, and asking if she would like to talk to a mentor. Now there’s a relationship. She responded within the hour saying that she would love to talk to a mentor, could I set that up for her. I did, gladly. By now she will have heard from the mentor and I can guarantee you that the mentor shared the Gospel with her (we train mentors very carefully and coach continually to ensure this is happening). Whether she comes to Christ or not is her action. Evangelism is happening.

No one has ever walked up to me in the grocery store and said “hey, I think my daughter might be in trouble, can you help?” but I have had people comment on my testimony and ask exactly that. Conversation, relationship, truth, action – starting the conversation online makes the whole world available to you.

By: Tony Steward

Tony Steward — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:22:28 +0000

http://godrev.jesus.net/joy-in-heaven/ has seen over 1,000,000 make decisions to follow Christ.

At church online, like Amanda has mentioned above, we’ve been blessed to see over 5,000 people respond to the call of Christ on their lives this year.

By: Renee Little

Renee Little — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:15:11 +0000

I love this question!

Yes!

Evangelism online just has to be real…genuine…and most importantly honest. I do not know you or your family…but your lives shined the glorious light of Christ through my computer screen a year now. If evangelism keeps looking like this we might have a square chance of endlessly reaching the lost. How amazing would that be!

Just keep evangelism real. It is honest day to day life that people connect the most with.

How do you get on peoples computer screens should be the next question.