Here are few things for your edification to read over, watch, pray, and think about this weekend: ‘New’ Evangelism, Old Prayers, Finding the Time, and Christian & Politics.
‘New’ Evangelism
So hospitality is not new, and hospitality is not the new evangelism, but it is a way that Western churches need to think about evangelism in this new day. The Post-Christian West needs to rely less on programs and more on Spirit-filled opening their homes and telling the truth in the context of genuine relationships. On this note, David Mathis provides a helpful call for evangelism in the context of hospitality: Hospitality, the key to twenty-first century evangelism.
Here are a few more thoughts I wrote up this week:
Hospitality Evangelism
11 Questions for Hospitality Evangelism
Hospitality, Fellowship, and Evangelism
Old Prayers
Tony Reinke cites an old prayer by John Newton. This confession from the man who wrote ‘Amazing Grace,’ is a comforting reminder that the power of prayer comes from our prayer-hearing God, not our well-worded or even well-attended prayers. May his weakness in prayer spur us on to confess our weakness with him at the throne of grace, that we might receive help and strength in our hour of need (Heb 4:14-16).
Justin Taylor gives another look at prayer. In his post on Arthur Bennett’s book The Valley of Vision, he answers a few questions about this precious, Puritan prayer book (pun noted). I have used this book often and commend it to anyone who feels sluggish in their prayer life.
Finding the Time
When did Moses lead the exodus? When did David ascend to the throne? Who were the eighth-century prophets? Pastor Garrett Kell has provided a simple diagram to answer all those dated questions in his post: A Biblical Timeline for the Old and New Testaments
Christians and Politics
Here is a short video with Eric Metaxas, author of Seven Men and Bonhoeffer, that addresses ways in which we as Christians must engage in politics.
On C-Span online, there is a longer video with Russell Moore, where he answers questions about the role of social conservatives in politics. Displaying a compassionate conviction, he answers questions about same sex marriage, abortion, immigration, etc. If you are looking for a model of how to engage your secular neighbors, along with what you might say, see Russell Moore’s Q & A.
For Your Edification, dss
Via Emmaus 
Thanks for your various posts/links on hospitality. I’ve just been looking them over. Hospitality has become a lost art it seems, and Christians need to be reminded of the important role of being hospitable. My spouse and I, since 1997, have had about 20 international students live with us. Some were teenage foreign exchange students who were with us for a half or full school year and attended the local high school. Others were young adult ESL students (in their 20’s) who lived with us for a few months while attending a local english language school. And others were university students (also in their 20’s) who came for the summer.
When someone lives with you for a length of time, spiritual topics usually come up in a natural way. Generally, you don’t have to force it or look for spiritual conversation openers. It just happens in the course of day to day life. This is great for someone like me who is usually terrible at getting a spiritual conversation going!!
I also find it much easier to share Christian faith with internationals than Americans! Americans can be so leery or sensitive (don’t shove it down my throat, etc). But I find the internationals are usually very open – they are eager to understand your way of life. They will ask you questions about your beliefs, and you can share your faith simply by answering their questions. Etc.
I recently took a position helping a local english language school find host families. This can be a real struggle, as many people just don’t want to open their homes. One would hope that Christians would be more open to this, yet that doesn’t seem the case. Thanks for highlighting hospitality!
Laura,
Great insights. I am challenged by your willingness to open your home to so many internationals. What an incredible ministry.
May the Lord continue to use you to plant seeds in the minds of others, that they would do the same. I hope that many Christians would consider making the small sacrifice–that is no real sacrifice–to open their homes to these exchange students.
Out of curiosity, when these exchange students came, did you have your own children living at home? If so, how old were your children?
Thanks so much!
dss
Thanks for your encouragement! I really feel like this type of hospitality is an undervalued and under-promoted ministry opportunity. Actually, me and my spouse don’t have children. When we were 24 and 25 we saw a pamphlet about hosting an international high school student, and thought “that looks cool! Let’s try it!”. We were just old enough, as for that particular organization one of the spouses had to be at least 25. We loved it, and it turned into a life long ministry for us!
All types of people host. I help a local English school find host families, and the current families we have are quite variable and diverse. Two families have children under the age of 5, another family has teens, a young widower with no kids, a 70 yr old divorced lady, and a younger married couple with no kids yet.