You might also want to see the following post titled Reaching A Post-Modern World Without Post-Modern Methods.

And pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. (Eph 6:19, NASB)

…The world speaks more about Hell than the Church. They casually use phrases like all Hell broke loose, like a bat out of Hell, there will be Hell to pay, just for the Hell of it, and someone being as mad as a Hell. When something is hopeless, they say, he doesn’t have a hope in Hell. Then there’s the road to Hell, which is paved with good intentions, come Hell or high water, until Hell freezes over. They casually speak of how sure Hell is, with as sure as Hell, and of course, when they are angry, they tell each other to go to Hell.

In contrast, most of the contemporary Church (which is commanded to “warn” every man) is afraid to even mention the word, for fear of offending the world.” —Ray Comfort

And, do not believe, dear friends, that when you go into revival meetings, or special evangelistic services, you are to leave out the doctrines of the gospel; for you ought then to proclaim the doctrines of grace rather more than less. Teach gospel doctrines clearly, affectionately, simply, and plainly, and especially those truths which have a present and practical bearing upon man’s condition and God’s grace. Some enthusiasts would seem to have imbibed the notion that, as soon as a minister addresses the unconverted, he should deliberately contradict his usual doctrinal discourses, because it is supposed that there will be no conversions if he preaches the whole counsel of God. It just comes to this, brethren, it is supposed that we are to conceal truth, and utter a half-falsehood, in order to save souls. We are to speak the truth to God’s people because they will not hear anything else; but we are to wheedle sinners into faith by exaggerating one part of truth, and hiding the rest until a more convenient season. This is a strange theory, and yet many endorse it. According to them, we may preach the redemption of a chosen number to God’s people, but universal redemption must be our doctrine when we speak with the outside world; we are to tell believers that salvation is all of grace, but sinners are to be spoken with as if they were to save themselves; we are to inform Christians that God the Holy Spirit alone can convert, but when we talk with the unsaved, the Holy Ghost is scarcely to be named. We have not so learned Christ. Thus others have done; let them be our beacons, and not our examples. He who sent us to win souls neither permits us to invent false-hoods, nor to suppress truth. His work can be done without such suspicious methods.

Perhaps some of you will reply, “But, still, God has blessed half-statements and wild assertions.” Be not quite so sure. I venture to assert that God does not bless falsehood; He may bless the truth which is mixed up with error; but much more of blessing would have come if the preaching had been more in accordance with His own Word. I cannot admit that the Lord blesses evangelistic Jesuitism, and the suppression of truth is not too harshly named when I so describe it. The withholding of the doctrine of the total depravity of man has wrought serious mischief to many who have listened to a certain kind of preaching. These people do not get a true healing because they do not know the disease under which they are suffering; they are never truly clothed because nothing is done towards stripping them. In many ministries, there is not enough of probing the heart and arousing the conscience by the revelation of man’s alienation from God, and by the declaration of the selfishness and the wickedness of such a state. Men need to be told that, except divine grace shall bring them out of their enmity to God, they must eternally perish; and they must be reminded of the sovereignty of God, that He is not obliged to bring them out of this state, that He would be right and just if He left them in such a condition, that they have no merit to plead before Him, and no claims upon Him, but that if they are to be saved, it must be by grace, and by grace alone. The preacher’s work is to throw sinners down in utter helplessness, that they may be compelled to look up to Him who alone can help them.

To try to win a soul for Christ by keeping that soul in ignorance of any truth, is contrary to the mind of the Spirit; and to endeavour to save men by mere claptrap, or excitement, or oratorical display, is as foolish as to hope to hold an angel with bird-lime, or lure a star with music. The best attraction is the gospel in its purity. The weapon with which the Lord conquers men is the truth as it is in Jesus. The gospel will be found equal to every emergency; an arrow which can pierce the hardest heart, a balm which will heal the deadliest wound. Preach it, and preach nothing else. Rely implicitly upon the old, old gospel. You need no other nets when you fish for men; those your Master has given you are strong enough for the great fishes, and have meshes fine enough to hold the little ones. Spread these nets and no others, and you need not fear the fulfilment of His Word, “I will make you fishers of men.”

Three Things To Avoid When Witnessing:

1. Avoid using your own words. They are powerless to save anyone. Point people to the Scriptures where the power of God’s word can be utilized (Heb. 4:12; Rom. 1:16).
2. Avoid persuading people to believe what you believe. Persuade them to believe what God has revealed in His word (Rom. 10:17). The reason many people are deceived is because they have believed what man has said instead of what God said.
3. Avoid asking someone to repeat a prayer for salvation. This practice is not biblical and often produces tragic results. It provides a false hope to those who have either not understood the Gospel or who have not been convicted by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 13:19; John 16:8). If they have a desire to be saved, encourage them to call upon the name of the Lord in their own words (Rom. 10:13). When you proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, remember the message is not a compromise to continue in sin but an ultimatum to be reconciled to a holy God.

I think they both did a commendable job responding to some very difficult and challenging questions. ABC aired some of the WOTM interviews where people stormed off, and aired short clips which, out of context, would be the most provoking against Kirk and Ray. Well, it seems like the Nightline doesn’t like the message. Certainly not unexpected.

1Pe 2:6-8 NET. For it says in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and priceless cornerstone, and whoever believes in him will never be put to shame.” (7) So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, (8) and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

1Co 1:20-25 NET. Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish? (21) For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching. (22) For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom, (23) but we preach about a crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. (24) But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. (25) For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

I understand this, first, in this sense: be separate unto Christ. These men were to leave their pursuits; they were to leave their companions; they were, in fact, to quit the world, that their one business might be, in their Master’s name, to be fishers of men. We are not all called to leave our daily business, or to quit our families. That might be rather running away from the fishery than working at it in God’s name.

But we are called most distinctly to come out from among the ungodly, and to be separate, and not to touch the unclean thing. We cannot be fishers of men if we remain among men in the same element with them. Fish will not be fishers. The sinner will not convert the sinner. The ungodly man will not convert the ungodly man; and, what is more to the point, the worldly Christian will not convert the world. If you are of the world, no doubt the world will love its own; but you cannot save the world. If you are dark, and belong to the kingdom of darkness, you cannot remove the darkness. If you march with the armies of the wicked one, you cannot defeat them.

I believe that one reason why the church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church. Nowadays we hear Nonconformists pleading that they may do this and they may do that—things which their Puritan forefathers would rather have died at the stake than have tolerated. They plead that they may live like worldlings, and my sad answer to them, when they crave for this liberty, is, “Do it if you dare. It may not do you much hurt, for you are so bad already. Your cravings show how rotten your hearts are.

If you have a hungering after such dog’s meat, go, dogs, and eat the garbage. Worldly amusements are fit food for mere pretenders and hypocrites. If you were God’s children you would loathe the very thought of the world’s evil joys, and your question would not be, ‘How far may we be like the world?’ but your one cry would be, ‘How far can we get away from the world? How much can we come out from it?‘”

Why could not even a Mother Teresa get to heaven by good works? Because we’re all sinners; and because once we have broken one of God’s commandments, we “(are) guilty of all” (James 2:10); and “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight” (Romans 3:20). Keeping the law perfectly from now on could never make up for having already broken it. For God to grant salvation by any other means than faith in Christ alone would be an insult to the One whom the Father insisted had to endure his wrath as the sacrifice for sin. Furthermore, God would be breaking His own code of justice and going back on His Word. No, even God Himself could not save earth’s most notable “saint”. Christ’s blood avails only for repentant sinners.

Oswald Chambers warned lest, in our zeal to get to people to accept the gospel, we manufacture a gospel acceptable to people and produce “converts” who are not saved. Today’s most popular perversion is the “positive” gospel which is designed to offend no one with truth.

One of the most popular televangelists in the USA, for example, has said that it is demeaning to call anyone a sinner and that Christ died to restore human dignity and self-esteem. He claims to win many to Christ with that seductive message – but such a gospel does not save sinners.

Evangelistic appeals are often made to “come to Christ” for the wrong reasons: in order to be healthy, happy, successful, to restore a marriage, or to handle stress. Others preach a gospel that is so diluted or perverted that it deceives many into thinking they are saved. No fraud could be worse, for the consequences are eternal!

Examine everything carefully;
hold fast to that which is good;
abstain from every form of evil.
1 Thess 5:21-22

Over the years that I have shared my concerns about contemporary evangelism, I have been careful never to name names. However, many have guessed that on occasion I have been referring to the incredibly popular tract The Four Spiritual Laws, penned by the late Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ. More than a billion copies have been distributed in all the major languages of the world, and his approach has become the model for the modern gospel presentation.

In July 2002, Kirk and I were invited to Orlando, Florida, to join Dr. Bright at his home for breakfast. After breakfast, we sat down in his living room and heard this warm, humble, sincere man of God (then eighty-one) confess that he had been in error. Let me use his own words from his book Heaven or Hell - Your Ultimate Choice (published the same year) to tell you what he said to us:

“In his approximately 42 months of public ministry, there are 33 recorded instances of Jesus speaking about hell. No doubt He warned of hell thousands of times. The Bible refers to hell a total of 167 times. I wonder with what frequency this eternal subject is found in today’s pulpits. I confess I have failed in my ministry to declare the reality of hell as often as I have the love of God and the benefits of a personal relationship with Christ. But Jesus spent more of His time warning His listeners of the impending judgement of hell than of speaking of the joys of heaven….I have never felt the need to focus on telling people about hell. However, as a result of a steady decline in morals and spiritual vitality in today’s culture and a growing indifference to the afterlife, I have come to realize the need for greater discussion of hell….I have thus come to see that silence, or even benign neglect on these subjects, is disobedience on my part. To be silent on the eternal destinations of souls is to be like a sentry failing to warn his fellow soldiers of impending attack.” [Bill Bright, Heaven or Hell - Your Ultimate Choice (Orlando, Fla.: New Life Publications, 2002), 32, 48]

Dr. Bright even took the time to use the Law lawfully, by quoting every one of the Ten Commandments, then expounding the Law by saying, “Breaking these commandments will take us to hell without the intervening grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.” [Ibid., 37] By admitting that “benign neglect on these subjects is disobedience on my part,” Dr. Bright revealed his honest humility and his genuine love of the truth.

Please, follow Dr. Bright’s example and examine your evangelism methods in light of God’s Word. At stake is the eternal salvation of millions of people. You don’t have to throw away The Four Spiritual Laws. Simply make four important changes. First, don’t tell sinners that Jesus will improve their lives with a wonderful plan. Second, don’t make the unbiblical mistake of giving the cure before you’ve convinced them of the disease. Third, take the time to follow in the way of the Master by “opening up” (or explaining) the Ten Commandments. And fourth, faithfully remember to include the terrible realities of Judgement Day and hell.

I think the following video does a good job of clarifying this issue…

The gospel message is not ours to modify and soften; it is God’s message and we must be faithful witnesses. A half truth is not the truth — it is perjury in man’s court and it is no different in God’s. Worse than complete untruths, those who hear a half truth conveyed as though it was the whole truth become convinced that God loves them and will accept them no matter what they do. It’s as if they were heading towards the cliff of God’s justice, about to fall off to their peril, and instead of warning them to change their ways, we plug earphones into their ears and lull them into complacency and eternal damnation with the pacifier of beautiful praise music!

YES — God’s grace and mercy are not something that can be purchased by ANY work or deed of man, but if there is no repentance and a giving up this life for the blessing of eternal life, then there can be no heaven and what’s left is eternal torment in Hell (we get what we deserve).  Grace is not made effective to the willfully disobedient.  Communicating anything otherwise is misleading and dishonors God.

Watch your life and doctrine closely.
Persevere in them, because if you do,
you will save both yourself and your hearers.
1 Timothy 4:16, NIV

The truth is that those who claim to love God and be a friend of God but do not obey His commandments are liars and the truth is not in them (see 1 John 2:4).  If we say that we abide in God and He in us, then we ought to walk in the same manner as Jesus did (see 1 John 2:6).  This is not something that one can replicate by striving in the flesh; it must be through a synergistic work of God with the fully submitted will of man.

The following is very thought provoking excerpt from a book entitled “What Would Jesus Do?” by Ray Comfort.  It is an email message to Ray from a minister in the First Church of God in Waco, TX.  Please listen carefully to his message.

Dear Brother Ray,

I have been a pastor for 25 years. I always thought I was doing a reasonably good job. Kind of like the folks that tell you they consider themselves “good people.” I had tried to preach, what I thought, was the whole counsel of God. I prayed, over the years, with many people to accept Jesus and make Him Lord of their lives.

My wife Judy and I moved to Ruidoso, New Mexico about six years ago to plant a church. Shortly after arriving I was convicted that something was horribly wrong with my ministry. I read the scriptures and prayed earnestly that God would show me what was wrong. The feeling continued to grow and I became depressed and moody. I asked Judy to pray for me and explained my problem. I didn’t know if this was the Holy Spirit convicting or Satan attacking. She prayed that God would reveal the cause of my depression and make Himself clear as He revealed any problem with my ministry for Him.

That night I had the most terrifying, realistic, blood chilling nightmare any man has ever had. I am a Vietnam veteran and I know a little about nightmares. Nothing in my experience has ever come close, nor do I ever want it to, to the horror of that night!

I dreamed that it was judgment day and I was standing right next to the throne of God. I noticed that to my left and my right were pastors as far as I could see. I thought this was odd that the Lord would reserve this front row space for pastors only.

I looked out across a space of only a few yards and there were millions, maybe billions, of people, yet I could see each one of their eyes staring at me. As I studied this group I noticed that I knew many of them from times at the alter or ones who had sat under my teaching. I was pleased to see that they had made it to heaven, but confused because they didn’t look happy. They looked very angry and hateful.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord say, “Away, I never knew you.” I was suddenly frightened that what I was seeing was those who “thought” that they were saved. Then I saw all of them pointing a finger at each of us pastors and together, in one voice that shook my soul, “WE SAT IN YOUR CHURCH AND THOUGHT WE WERE SAVED. WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US WE WERE LOST?”

Tears were pouring down my face and the faces of all of those pastors. I watched as one by one those people were cast into hell. One and then another, and another, and another……., until they were all gone. I died inside as each one screamed in agony and gnashed their teeth, cursing us as they went into the lake of fire.

Then I was looking into the face of Jesus and He said to me, “Is this the part where I’m suppose to say, ‘ Well done my good and faithful servant?” I woke up with a scream and my heart pounding and I was begging Jesus to forgive me.

I died a million deaths that night. Since that night I have done two things on a daily bases. I do everything I can to preach the law before grace in the hope that conviction of sin will bring a sinner to true salvation. The other thing that I do is pray for every person I have ever preached to asking God to repair any damage I have done. I also never believe anyone when they tell me they are saved. It is my duty to challenge them and search out the solidness of their salvation.

Your ministry and material has been a great blessing to me. I am learning to be more effective and confident as I teach others how to share their faith by using the Law. I have seen several people saved, who thought they were saved, as I have used The Way of The Master material to teach them evangelism.

I do want to hear those words, “Well done my good and faithful servant”, and thanks to you and your team I have a better chance of hearing them. Thank you! I just wanted to let you know, some pastors are waking up to the truth. The desire of my heart is to please God. I pray that my days of being a man pleaser are over along with the nightmares. I also pray that God will use me to bring other pastors into the truth of the Gospel message so that they will not have to face the nightmare that I did.

Blessings,
Steve Kreins
First Church of God
Waco, Texas

God gave the law for one specific purpose. He gave the law to be a mirror. And when I look in the Ten Commandments and read them, and understand them, it shows me how far short I’ve come. But the law cannot forgive, the law cannot save, the law cannot cleanse me from my sins. I believe before this week is over I shall prove to you night after night that every one of us in this audience has broken every commandment.

You say, “But, Billy, I’ve never killed anybody. Doesn’t the Lord say, ‘Thou shalt not murder’?” Yes, Jesus, interpreting that passage, said, “If you’ve ever hated anybody, you have broken my commandments” [see 1 John 3:15]. Under that comes prejudice, and bigotry, and malice, and contempt.

A Christian leader wrote another Christian leader the other day, and I’ve got a copy of the letter. He said, “I hold you in utter contempt.” You look up the word “contempt” in the dictionary; and it means “I have hatred, I have malice for you.”

Jesus said, “Any man who hates his brother is going to hell” [see Matthew 5:22]. I didn’t say it; Jesus said it. So we’ve broken that commandment.

You say, “But, Billy, I’ve never stolen anything.” Haven’t you? Did you ever cheat on your income tax, even a little bit? Did you ever cheat in school? You’ve broken every commandment.

You say, “But I’ve never committed adultery.” Haven’t you? Jesus said, “If you’ve ever had lust in your heart, you’ve committed adultery” [see Matthew 5:28].

We’ve all sinned and come short of the glory of God [see Romans 3:23]. You’re a sinner, and I’m a sinner. We’ve all broken God’s law, and the law was to show us that we’re sinners. I see that I’m wrong, that I’m a sinner. But the law cannot correct; it cannot save. Because salvation came through Christ.

And then the law was given for something else. It becomes a schoolmaster [see Galatians 3:24]. It becomes an usher to drive me to the cross of Christ.

I read those commandments and say, “My God, I haven’t kept them. My God, I’m a sinner.” And then I hear the thunder from Sinai, and I see the lightning. I hear the judgment of God’s thunder and wrath. I hear that the wages of the broken law is sin, and that sin bringeth forth death [see James 1:15]. And I know that every man who breaks that law is lost. And immediately I say, “How can I be saved?”

I find the answer in the grace, and mercy, and the love of God at the cross of Calvary where Christ died and shed His blood for my sins. No one will ever be saved apart from the cross.