Eric Dressel's Evangelism Training Recap

On Monday April 27th we had a special guest speaker, Eric Dressel, to chat with us about his experiences doing evangelism and offer some advice. Eric is a local missionary who travels all over to share the gospel. in fact, on Monday before coming to chat with us, he was in Baltimore at the Inner Harbor sharing the gospel before police recommended that he leave for his own safety due to the rioting!

Eric started his talk by summarizing evangelism as the overflow of our affection towards God. When a person is so excited and in love with another they can't help but to blab about that person--that's evangelism. Eric then explained the gospel--the good news-- as the beautiful exchange of Christ taking our place that we might become the righteousness in him (2 Cor 5:21).  Next, Eric offered a few tips of engaging in spiritual conversations in order to share the gospel. First, he recommended being upfront and honest in starting the conversation. Just say you're a Christian out talking to folks about Christian-y things and ask if they'd mind chatting for a minute. This is in contrast to a bait and switch sort of tactic. The honesty is often refreshing to others. The introduction question Eric likes to pose is very non-threatening but enters into a spiritual discussion. He asks, "do you have any spiritual beliefs?". This is an easy way to just find out what the other person believes. The next question focuses the conversation. It is, "what do you think about Jesus?" Almost all world religions and philosophies have something to say about Jesus so this is a good way to find out what the individual thinks. Thirdly Eric eases into an admittedly more scary question that is: "if you were to [God forbid] die tonight and stand face-to-face with God would he let you into heaven and why or why not?". This gets at the heart of the importance of Christ's sacrifice for each one of us. Finally, after the other person has chatted and offered his or her thoughts on these questions you ask if you can share what you believe. This is when you can share the good news of God's love. To adequately share it you need to explain the bad news first but always with the infinitely good news that Christ brings! Eric explained the Fall as us turning our back on God and flipping Him the bird. This is a helpful illustration to then explain repentance as simply turning away from our self-centered life and turning back to God who has made a way for us to be in deep relationship with Him.

Eric will be traveling to Ocean City from June 1-13 to share the gospel with high school and college graduates who will be there for senior week. If you're interested in joining him for even one day you can contact Eric at erik180@comcast.net. Lodging is at a friend's house and cost for food is $10/day. In addition to sharing the gospel Eric is looking for adults to help patrol the area late into the night to protect women from predators out to take advantage. Again, if you'd like to help please contact Eric. Erik operates the ministry TheGodWhoIs and Love180. The first involves sharing the gospel and the second is aimed at training teenagers for healthy relationships.