Check out :: Postmodern Salvationist

The whole point of the Technorati tags below each of my posts is to let folk follow the theme (say Apple) and see who is blogging on this topic. Found this blog while playing in Technorati :: postmodern salvationist :: this is the blog of Bill Finley, a Salvation Army Officer (minister) on LA's Skid Row aka The Nickel. His experience is really refreshing and challenging for me - here is someone being what our founder wanted us to be :: with the poor and unfortunate. Thought his post on Sat, 18th March was switched on ::

Most of my experience with evangelism has been programmatic war-like evangelical crap. You know ask the person "if you died tomorrow where would you go?" Lead them down the Roman road. Ask them to say a prayer and go on your way. Crap like I said. Or worse it was "friendship evangelism." Make a friend so you can bring them to church. If you did not you were guilt tripped. But what if you friend refused? Move on to another friend. This was the height of Crap. So I stopped. I was in positions where people would ask me about God and such but for the most part I stopped all forms of evangelism. I would only talk about God if they brought it up. I am still there. I teach but I never, never, steer a conversation to talk about God. Does that make me a bad chaplain? Maybe. But many who have seen Crap Evangelism are attracted to God because of it.

/...I think the most refreshing is that evangelism starts with, and ends with, being real. If the real you is a jerk then I guess continue to use crap evangelism. But if we are called to love then the fist thing is to really love others. And so what, (see I'm doing good at not swearing) if their relationship with God or their doctrine does not match yours.

Worthy read. Check it out.

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