Kingdom Ready Blog

It has been said (probably right here on this blog) that the Bible is the story of TWO MEN.  Another way of saying this is that Scripture tells the story of TWO ADAMS.  Which reminds me, I have a 30-40 year old booklet from a former old-school Advent Christian preacher on this subject that I one day need to transcribe into the digital realm.  Maybe I’ll get to that in the future and post it here.  But for now, there is a very nice “web” paper on this same subject from the folks over at biblicalunitarian.com entitled “Christianity 101: Two Adams“.

Restoration Fellowship has done it again with, The Forgotten Gospel, a 53 minute documentary. The gospel is the proclamation that Jesus and his followers made from town to town. If one repents and believes in the gospel his or her sins are wiped away and they begin to follow the narrow path whose end is the kingdom of God. Needless to say, getting the gospel right is the first priority of Bible study, because our very salvation depends on it. Yet, the gospel has been mutilated and the part that has been cut out is what Jesus preached–the kingdom of God. So far as I understand it, the gospel has three major elements:

There has been such intensity over that past months and especially the last few days leading up to yesterday’s election. People from both sides of the political divide have rallied behind their preferred candidate to demonstrate why he is better than the other. People have been out campaigning on behalf of these men, going door to door, calling up strangers in the phone book, attending rallies, sending emails, and much more on both sides of this race. In fact, many people stayed up late last night and attended public gatherings to be part of the events as they unfolded. I am amazed that so many people have self-sacrificially given of their time and money and even boldly approached perfect strangers to tell them about the one they want for President. Of course, none of these people believe their candidate is perfect, yet they would be quick to point all the reasons why he is superior to the other choice.

My wife forwarded this YouTube video (“99 Ballons“) to me this past week about a touching story that she saw on television.  And touching it is certainly is.  Anyone with even half a heart will be moved to tears after watching this video story.  I know I was.  I guess it also resonates a little more with me due to my recent personal history.  After battling years of infertility issues, my wife and I became first time parents almost a year and a half ago. And having our first child is a joy above most everything I’ve ever experienced.  With that in mind I cannot begin to fathom the pain and heartache that the couple in the video experience with having a child born with a terminal medical condition. My heart feels for them and I pray that come resurrection morning, they will be reunited with a perfectly healthy little Elliot in the Kingdom of God.

Evangelism is such an important part of Christianity, yet it is probably the most neglected and avoided aspect of following Christ. Here are some amazing quotes on the subject:

“Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that.” – Charles Spurgeon

“If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.” – Charles Spurgeon

Last weekend we held an evangelism conference at Living Hope Community Church in upstate NY. During the conference we focused on what the biblical gospel is and how to speak the gospel of the kingdom and the cross to a world in desperate need. The weekend included teachings, an interactive video workshop, role playing, and an evening out at the park. We wanted to provide an opportunity for those who wanted to try out what they had learned while at the same time not forcing anyone who wasn’t ready to do evangelism. Fortunately a good number of people did speak to people at the park and we had a wonderful time discussing these encounters as well as some related questions regarding evangelism in general Saturday night. The teachings from the conference are now available for free download.

In a few weeks, June 6-8, we will be having an evangelism conference at Living Hope in Latham, NY. All are welcome to attend and can register online (click here). It should be a great time to dig in to the Scriptures to understand the biblical gospel and how it was preached. Then we will be working on the question of how to preach the same message in the context of 21st century western civilization. So far our schedule is as follows:

Peter Woodcock works with the Co-Mission Initiative, a church planting group in London, and is Co-Pastor of Fairfield Church, Kingston. Previously he worked as a church evangelist in London and has been involved in missions in the UK and abroad.