The Hidden Secrets of Kabbalah - A Messianic approach - Michael L. Brown

 

The Hidden Secrets of Kabbalah - A Messianic approach - Michael L. Brown
https://youtu.be/aJCgqOKfnqk

Is Evangelizing the Unevangelized Pointless?

 

I encountered this meme in a Facebook group. Below was my quick response to the meme. On Facebook you have to be succinct. So, the response isn't as nuanced as it could be, but it suffices as an answer that rebuts the claim that evangelism is pointless.

My response:

These are ignorant objections.

//1. if god figured everything out already, evangelism is pointless since you can't change his mind.//

I'm a Calvinist so I do believe in high predestination. The problem with this statement is that under a strong/high view of predestination God ordains both the ends AND THE MEANS. Meaning, not only what will happen, but HOW they will happen. In which case, God ordains the salvation of the elect THROUGH the means of evangelism. Because God ordains the WHOLE causal nexus.

Regarding #2, not all Christians believe that God has made clear His existence to everyone. But even if He did, that doesn't mean that God has also given the knowledge of salvation through the same means. For example, most Christian theologians distinguish between General Revelation and Special Revelation. General Revelation is what we find in the external world we live in [i.e. the universe, earth, stars etc.] plus an internal sensus divinitatis and/or implanted innate knowledge. However, many of the same Christian theologians also believe that the knowledge of Salvation is only found in Special Revelation, not in General Revelation. Special Revelation is only found in places like the Bible [or when the Old Testament Prophets and New Testament Apostles were alive and preached]. Therefore, the Special Revelation still needs to get to the unevangelized by evangelizing them with the Gospel message.

Regarding #3, most Christians deny that those who never heard of God or of the message of salvation "get a free pass". And even those who think some do, don't think it's automatic. There may be other mitigating circumstances or simply the mere Sovereignty of God [etc.] that accounts for why some of those who never heard the message of salvation can sometimes be saved. In which case, all things being equal, it's better to evangelize the unevangelized than not to. Since, the probability goes up that the unevangelized will be saved. Given, for example, that God ordains both ends AND MEANS. Or because God's normative means of saving the lost is by having them heard and respond to the Gospel.

St. Spurgeon's Day

 

June 19th [or if you like Jan. 31st] is now St. Spurgeon's Day. Celebrating the day *can* include one or more of the following:

- reading or listening to a Spurgeon Sermon or book

 

[e.g. his book "The Soul Winner": https://archive.spurgeon.org/misc/soulwinr.php; or his book "All of Grace": https://archive.spurgeon.org/all_of_g.php ]; 

- wearing orange like some Protestants do on St. Patrick's Day instead of green to emphasize the Protestant Gospel rather than the Catholic one [given William of Orange a noted Protestant]; 

- smoking a cigar and/or moderately drinking alcohol because Spurgeon did both for most of his life;

- eating fish [preferably sturgeon because it rhymes with Spurgeon]; 

- dressing up like one of the characters in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress [because Spurgeon loved it and read the book over 100 times];

- getting baptized by immersion the credobaptist way;

- conceiving twin sons (or daughters) in the hopes that at least one of them will become a preacher or preacher's wife [as Spurgeon had when his twin sons Charles and Thomas were born on 20 September 1857. Thomas became the preacher];

- wearing a crown because he's nicknamed the "Prince of Preachers" [a Burger King crown will do];

- quoting Spurgeon and posting memes of Spurgeon on social media

- evangelizing the lost by sharing with them the basic Evangelical Gospel generally agreed upon by Evangelical denominations like Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans etc. Maybe using the "Wordless Book" method possibly invented by Spurgeon where he used three different colors to evangelize. Other persons and groups added more colors. Gray [instead of black to avoid the charge of racism] representing the state of sin; Red representing the blood and atonement of Jesus; Silver [instead of white] representing the perfect righteousness of Christ imputed to the believers; Blue for the need for baptism; Green representing growth and sanctification in the Christian life; and Gold representing heaven after death.

UPDATE: High church denominations who have a liturgical calendar often celebrate the death date of noted Christians rather than their birth date. I had originally picked Spurgeon's birthday to celebrate him and promote Protestantism because his death is during the the cold of winter and celebration would be difficult. But if people wanted to celebrate "St. Spurgeon's Day" on the date of his death in Jan. 31st, that's fine too. Interestingly Guy Fawkes was executed on that date and the "Gunpowder Plot" may have been a Jesuit conspiracy. Though, most modern scholars now doubt that theory.

See also: Charles Spurgeon's Eschatological Views