Introduction
I received the call to preach at sixteen and that was the beginning of my intense desire to witness for Jesus Christ. I was still in high school and I told everyone of my calling and desire to be a minister. I took my first church when I was twenty and still in college.
It was at my first church; Mortonsville United Methodist Church in Versailles, Kentucky, when I started developing methods of evangelism. I put a lot of emphasis on preaching and visitation. It was in my visitation, especially to non-members that I was strong on witness. I look back today and realize I was too forceful and judgmental in my witness. While I had some success in leading people to Christ, I also turned many people off and I did not get them.
After a brief stay as Youth Director at Maple Avenue United Methodist Church in Marietta, Georgia, I spent five years at Sardis United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. This was a time of experimenting in witness. I started using Gospel Tracks as my main way. I never mastered this and had very little success. The most successful method at this church was Thursday night visitation in which I went out with a layman every Thursday night to visit. Sometimes we visited the people in the community; sometimes people who had visited our church; and sometimes inactive members. I am not sure how successful we were in our visits, but the relationships that were developed with the men who visited with me were wonderful. I learned that while I was not always successful in my goal of reaching a particular person, something wonderful happened when I was just myself with others.
My next ministry was to organize and build the Due West United Methodist Church in Marietta, Georgia. We had no members or building; only a dream of establishing a church. I used every method imaginable in reaching people. Most people in this church were won by just being myself and getting to know them. I tried to exemplify the love and spirit of Christ wherever I went. I discovered people are looking for Christians who are real. We can witness to anyone, anytime, anywhere.
In this book I will share with you the meaning of a commitment to Christ, and some of the things we can do to create a hunger in another person. I will share with you scriptures you can use and then end with the outline of a course on Evangelism to be taught in a church.
It is my hope and prayer that the reader of this book will be called to Witness by living an appealing Christian life.
