Saturday 23 June 2012

Why we need Partnership in Evangelism. Luke Chapter 5 verse 6-7

Verses 6 – 7 “When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.”

On a recent fishing trip to Lough Derg I would have loved to have experienced our boats almost sinking with fish. Over three days of appalling wind and rain our four little boats didn’t land very many fish. My 5lb pike was the only fish I caught and some 17lbs behind the winner, but together we celebrated the winning catch. The trip was deemed a success because as a team we caught ‘a beauty’.

Verses 6 and 7 emphasise the enormous benefit of partnership in evangelism. Becoming a fisher of men was never intended to be a solo activity for a number of reasons:

 Encouragement: Not every fishing trip has a happy ending. The same can be said of evangelism; the team can help each other, spur one another on and encourage us to keep going (Hebrews 10:24). I became a Christian after attending a week long outreach in Albertbridge Congregational Church. Roger Carswell was the preacher that Wednesday evening. Ten years later, when I contacted Roger to tell him the news (I know it was a bit late), he told me that they were unaware that anyone had come to faith the whole week. He was so encouraged at the report and thanked me for ‘making his day’.

 A companion in evangelism is necessary because of our tendency towards self deception, sometimes only another can see that we are heading south when we sincerely believe that the road we are on leads north!

 A Kingdom approach to outreach. There is something very encouraging when Churches work together on the lake. While we may well have enjoyed singing ‘You in Your Small Corner and I in Mine’ as a child there is no Christian mandate for this practice. We need a model which provides shared resources, shared energy and more boats on the lake; not competing but supporting. It is thoroughly right and Biblical to work together in outreach.

Imagine: Churches working together with nets breaking and boats almost sinking due to the number of fish. That’s a dream I have for Ireland… maybe you can help me make that a reality?

Crown Jesus Ministries image / logo

Crown Jesus Ministries Logo/ Image 

The Crown Jesus Ministries logo reflects our vision and values. The image of the crown is made up of three people linking arms and lifting their hands up in partnership and worship.

   Our vision is to see the people of Ireland Crown Jesus Lord of their lives. 


Our mission: To communicate the good news of Jesus 

We do this through partnership and support with the local church/ Christian community

Our aim to see people become disciples who follow and worship Jesus wholeheartedly

We are committed to Evangelism in Ireland.


 For more information on our work please visit www.crownjesus.org





Tuesday 12 June 2012

Still need to buy dad a gift for Fathers Day?


It's never easy buying dad a present...

can I suggest you consider buying this little book?


It's available online and from most good Christian bookshops...and if you buy it from the Crown Jesus office we will give you a copy of Anthony Delaney's brilliant book Diamond Geezers for free! That's £7.99 and two books for dad.




Snatched from the fire
Life with a purpose
Keith Mitchell (Mitch)
ISBN: 9781844745029
144 pages, Paperback
Published: 18/02/2011

£7.99

Text from IVP:

As a firefighter, Mitch is trained to snatch people from flames. As a Christian, he sees sin as a fire to be fought in our lives. This results in real living, life with freedom and a purpose, with a happy eternity thrown in.

Don't read this book if you want religion, answers to life's great mysteries or the secret of winning the lottery.

Do read it if you are willing to put your prejudices behind you and be open-minded and willing to change as a result of meeting someone far more important than all of the above - Jesus.


Commendations

'While believing the message of this book will snatch you from destructive fire, it will also powerfully start another cleansing fire.' Derick Bingham
'A great read, but more importantly it bites where many of us need to be bitten.' Ken Clarke

'Entertaining and educational, compelling and challenging, interesting and instructive.' J. John

'Funny, well-written and aimed to change lives.' R. T. Kendall

'Mitch has beautifully articulated that the answers to the needs of this broken world can be found only in Jesus Christ.' Gavin Peacock

'You'll grasp Mitch's heart for God as you read.' John White

Monday 11 June 2012

Sorted Magazine Olympics Games Edition



As the Northern Ireland Rep for More Than Gold and a Sports Chaplain I am constantly on the look out for new resources that can help the local church engage with the Olympic Games.

These next few months are a fantastic once in a lifetime opportunity to use the Olympic games in the U.K. as a tool for evangelism.

As the Torch Relay and Prayer Baton passed through Northern Ireland it was a blessing to be a part of the celebrations in Newry and Belfast, but there was one thing missing... I wanted a really good resource to give away to people.



Yesterday the latest edition of Sorted Magazine has arrived at the Crown Jesus office.
This edition is packed with Olympic information, cool facts and life stories... A little late for the Torch Relay in Northern Ireland but not the 60+ venues the Torch and Prayer Baton are still to visit in the U.K.

And of course there is the Olympic Games themselves: whether it be a men's breakfast, table quiz, CVM meeting, festival, live site or Olympic sports service this is the magazine to give away.

The magazine is loaded with great reads including a brilliant  articles by canon J.John, Sir Steve Redgrave and for all the cycling nuts an exclusive interview with Victoria Pendleton.

Over the Olympics this is the best Christian resource I have seen for men.


We have got a box of 50 to give away over the Games how many will you order??

P.S Sorted don't pay me commission :-) I just want to share a good resource when I see one.

Onwards!

Mitch



Visit www.sorted-magazine.com for more.