In this blog, I provide teaching and training on how to be fruitful and multiply.
As the Scripture says, "God blessed them; and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea
and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on
the earth.'" (Gen 1:28)
Some of the topics covered include multiplication, fullness, being a witness for Jesus, being a fisher of men, making disciples, the popularity of the gospel, and the importance of receiving the Holy Spirit to be a powerful witness for Christ.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you
repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible
says?
“Jesus
came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in
the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and
believe.
Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.
He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as
well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who
multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of
planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United
States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
Doulos Missions International now offers discipleship training online through the Doulos Training School (DTS). Please visit the DTS online at Doulos Training School to find out more about how you or someone you know can participate.
Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.
He was
based
in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as
helping leaders to be more effective at
making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the
ultimate goal of
planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United
States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org. Partner with us online by giving to DMI.
Our gift of these articles by Len Lacroix is made possible in part by your gracious support of the ministry.
There are two ways to donate to Doulos Missions International. You may either send a check or money order by mail or you may donate securely online.
Doulos Missions International, Inc. is incorporated in the State of New Hampshire as a publicly-supported non-profit charity. We are recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax exempt organization under IRC 501(c)(3). Contributions made to this organization are tax deductible.
Online Donations
You may use an electronic check or a major credit card to make a gift today. Click here to donate.
You may send your check or money order made payable to Doulos Missions International to the following address:
Doulos Missions International
PO Box 5526
Manchester, NH 03108-5526
By Paypal You may also securely send money directly to Len Lacroix via Paypal, which is an alternative to donating to DMI, if you prefer this method. Please note that this alternative method of giving through Paypal is not tax-deductible, as it would otherwise certainly be if you use the online button above or mail a check, and will not be given to DMI, but to me personally. If you prefer this method of giving, just message me through the comments section of this post to get my email address for Paypal.
"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38
One of the challenges with a Life Transformation Group (LTG) is faithfully maintaining weekly meetings. As the Scripture says, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Heb 10:24-25)
It is up to the members of the LTG to decide together on which day of each week they will meet, based on their usual availability. All members of an LTG should do their very best to maintain weekly meetings, except when absolutely impossible, such as when there are only two people in the group and one partner is out of town traveling for the entire week. But if there are three people in the group, then the group can still meet on the usual day even if the one who is traveling cannot participate in the meeting that week.
Otherwise, if a schedule conflict arises one week, which makes it impossible for the group to meet, then the LTG partners must plan ahead and decide together to meet on a different day the same week, so they don't fail to have their meeting that week.
For example, at the end of each LTG meeting, the partners should discuss a) which passage of Scripture to read for the upcoming week, and b) whether to meet on the same day as usual during the following week.
Let's say you are meeting weekly on Tuesdays for example, and at the end of the meeting one week, one of you says that you have a special program (funeral, work or other event) the following Tuesday, and won't be available on that day for the LTG meeting. You should then discuss an alternate day to meet, preferably the day before you usually meet (i.e., Monday) or the day after you usually meet (Wednesday). This way the span of time between the current meeting and the next meeting will still be around 7 days, rather than 5 days or 10 days. This helps with the Bible reading to give you around the same amount of time as usual to finish the agreed upon passage.
This kind of rescheduling will allow the group to still meet once per week without having to completely miss a week of LTG. Using this approach, there should be very few times when the group needs to miss the LTG meeting during a given week.
The LTG needs to be prioritized in the lives of all participants, too. This is very important. So the partners in the group need to do their best to schedule other events around the weekly LTG, rather than scheduling the LTG around other events, although in some rare instances it will be necessary to reschedule the LTG meeting for one or two days earlier or later than usual.
If there is an ongoing issue with one or more members of the LTG not being available to meet on the previously agreed upon day of the week, then the group needs to discuss that and decide together whether this is a matter of prioritization, or whether to decide on a new day to meet each week when they will all be available.
Lastly, the LTG members all need to practice good time management of their weekly schedules to ensure they fulfill their commitment to meet together once each week.
Closing Words In summary, it is very important to maintain weekly LTG meetings each week. If the group often fails to have their weekly meeting, then the effectiveness of the LTG is significantly diminished. By implementing the methods described in this article, the group should be able to continue faithfully meeting each week without interruption for an indefinite period of time as long as they wish.
Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org. Partner with us online by giving to DMI.
While there have been a lot of books written with many different viewpoints about Muslim evangelism, my goal here is not to share all of that with you, but to give you some concise and practical training that can help you to reach a Muslim with the gospel.
I want to share with you a video that covers six ways to reach a Muslim for Christ, and then I will add four more at the end.
In the video below, Nathan Jones covers the following ways to win a Muslim for Christ:
1. The Bible is OK to Read.
The Quran says it is permitted for Muslims to read the Bible. Therefore this is a great way for them to come to know the Lord by reading Scripture and praying for God to show them the truth. There are testimonies of Muslims coming to Christ this way. If they do not have a Bible, which they probably don't, please consider giving them one, and recommending they begin by reading the gospel of John. But be sure to ask them to pray before each time they read, and ask God to show them the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
2. The Life of Christ
When they contrast the life of Christ with that of Mohammed they will see a huge difference, and they will discover that the real Jesus portrayed in Scripture is very different from the one (called "Isa") described in the Quran.
3. The Love of God
Islam is a religion of hate, Allah is generally an angry God, and frankly the Quran doesn't speak enough about the love of God. Therefore, Muslims need to know about the love of God, which is spoken about so much in Scripture. They need to know that God demonstrated His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8).
4. The Assurance of Salvation
The man in the video, Nathan Jones, who is unknown to me, mentions the fact that Muslims don't have the assurance of their salvation that the Lord gives us when we give our lives to Christ, since the assurance of salvation is unknown in Islamic literature. I would agree with that completely, but not with his use of the term eternal security, which is a false teaching. There is a difference between having the assurance of your salvation as taught in Scripture, and the unbiblical teaching of eternal security, which I have proven false in my article The False Gospel of Eternal Security. I would advise you to steer clear of that heresy, but the rest of what the man in this video teaches is helpful, in my opinion.
A couple examples of verses that teach about our assurance of salvation are:
"He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life." (1 Jn 5:12-13)
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." (John 5:24)
Muslims believe that they must work to please God and to gain His favor. Living in the religion of Islam is like living in chains. The grace of God as taught in the Bible will set Muslims free from that prison. As the Scripture says, "He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time..." (2 Tim 1:9).
6. A Relationship with God
We as Christians enjoy a relationship with God in Christ, which is something unknown to Muslims. We personally experience the love that our heavenly Father has for each one of us, which is something that they long to experience, too.
In addition to the six ways to reach a Muslim for Christ that are covered in the video, I would also like to encourage you with six more:
7. Dreams and Visions from God
Many Muslims have come to know Christ through supernatural encounters they've had with the real Lord Jesus Christ in their dreams or in visions. Scripture teaches us that this is one of the supernatural things God promised to do in these last days.
"'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams." (Act 2:17)
In addition to praying for your Muslim friend to have such dreams and visions of Christ, you can challenge or encourage them to pray that if Jesus Christ is real that He would come and reveal Himself to them. You can also share with them some of those dreams that other Muslims around the world have had as well.
One website that contains several of these video documentaries is called More Than Dreams, and you can suggest they check it out, as well provide them with the link. If you do so, let them know that you can watch the videos in different languages. (If you click on one of the videos, to the left, it will say "More Languages". If you click on that, it has a whole list you can choose from.).
The kingdom of God is not merely a matter of talk but of power (1 Cor 4:20). When a Christian has been baptized with the Holy Spirit according to Acts 1:8 and 2:4, they will be endued with power to be a witness for Christ. This includes power to heal the sick and cast out demons (Mk 16:17-18). Look for opportunities to lay hands on your Muslim friend with their permission to release healing and miracles from God in the name of Jesus and by faith in His name. As they get healed and set free, they will come to experience firsthand that Jesus Christ is real, and know that He loves them. There are certainly testimonies of Muslims coming to Christ this way, as a result of healing.
Some Muslims see the hypocrisy of other Muslims and the violence within their religion. But when they see the life of a genuine disciple of Christ whom they know, and observe that person's godly character distinguished by the fruit of the Spirit, they are drawn to the Lord through that person's witness for Christ.
10. Confrontational Approach
Some people choose to use the confrontational evangelistic approach in their outreach to Muslims, whereby they proclaim the gospel to the person and/or seek to disprove Islam through a frontal attack on it (see The Truth About Islam). That can work to some extent on a limited basis. But keep in mind that a Muslim would typically think of himself as being born Muslim, and would assume that he can no more change his being Muslim than he can change his race. That's probably one reason why people typically experience limited success using a confrontational approach with Muslims.
Another reason you may encounter resistance using this approach is that when you confront people's deeply held religious beliefs, they are likely to become defensive, which means they typically put up a wall to protect themselves and close their minds to what you are saying.
One could argue that since we are at the end of the age, the merit of that approach is that it seeks to quickly deliver the gospel to anyone who will listen. After all, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Rom 1:16). I would agree that we no longer have the time to spend years seeking to influence them for Christ through long-range approaches. But let me encourage you to also consider trying other approaches that have been proven more effective.
11. Sharing Jesus without Fear
As I have written about in my article called Share Jesus without Fear, I have learned from an evangelist named Bill Fay a powerful and effective, non-confrontational way to share the Lord with anyone in any place that is not offensive and allows the Scripture to speak to them. Let me encourage you to study and learn that approach, so that you can use it to reach Muslims, as well as anyone else you meet, as the Lord gives opportunity to do so.
12. The Jesus Film
A wonderful way to share Jesus with Muslims is to show them the Jesus Film, which is offered in more than 1,120 languages. There are a number of ways to do this, including showing it to groups of people or sending someone the link to watch it online at home, if they have internet access. This allows them to see the life of Christ in living color, dramatized by actors according to the gospel of Luke.
The Lord has used this project in a powerful way. There have been over 6 billion recorded viewings of the film, and over 200 million recorded decisions for Christ connected with it. It's also a great way to help reach restricted areas with the gospel, such as the Mideast. Please see my article about The Jesus Film Project for more on how to use this approach.
Closing Words
I hope this has been helpful to you in your efforts to reach Muslims for Christ. May the Lord grant you great success in doing so for a greater harvest.
Attribution notice: Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Original video upon which the above video was based on is at this link.
Do You Want to Know Him? If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
I have studied many different approaches to evangelism, but in August 2000 the Lord led me to discover a simple, easy way to Share Jesus Without Fear as taught by an evangelist named Bill Fay. I’ve been practicing this for about 19 years now, and it has been used by the Lord to help me share comfortably with people without fear.
People have many offensive ways of sharing their faith. The gospel is going to offend people, but we don’t have to be offensive in the way we share it. This is a non-threatening way of asking people simple diagnostic questions, in order to find out where God is at work around you, so you can join Him. It’s not a technique, but a way to partner with the Lord in ministering to the lost. It’s something I cannot fail at, if I am simply obedient. It’s a way to share that emphasizes prayer, preparation, power, presence, and partnership. I'm talking about the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, and our partnership with Him. I have actually felt the power and presence of the Holy Spirit while sharing my faith this way. It doesn’t require you to commit to giving additional time each week to going out and doing evangelism. It’s a lifestyle of sharing with people, especially those closest to you, such as friends and family.
In addition to using this approach myself, I have also taught it to others including pastors, elders, and disciples of Christ in the US and abroad. When I taught this in our home church in New Hampshire here in the US, I spent four weeks with each of the three home groups that met together once each week. So it took me a total of twelve weeks to teach this to all three groups. During the four weeks I spent with each group, one person came to Christ through one of the people in that group, so that at the end of twelve weeks, three people had accepted Christ. They did so not as a direct result of my sharing with them, but through the people in the home groups that learned this approach and began to put it into practice. Praise the Lord!
I hope you will take the time to study this way of sharing the Lord by going through the presentation that I have created (with permission) based on the book called Share Jesus Without Fear by William Fay and Ralph Hodge. You won't regret it. Now here is the link to the presentation, which is not for duplication.
DTS Requirement: If you are a DTS student, please be sure to watch both videos featured above and view the presentation at this link.
Resources: You can find more resources related to Share Jesus Without Fear online, such as the book, the workbook (which I highly recommend), the Share Jesus Without Fear New Testament (also available here), and the DVD Leader Kit. When I originally taught this it was on VHS video tape, and our church bought the leader materials for me to use in order to teach it, so I would recommend getting the DVD Kit if you can afford it.
Attribution notice: All material in the linked presentation is from Share Jesus Without Fear by William Fay and Ralph Hodge, copyright 1997 Lifeway Press, Nashville, TN. Duplicated and used by permission.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you
repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible
says?
“Jesus
came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in
the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and
believe.
Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.
He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as
well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who
multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of
planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United
States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
If you have read my article called Share Jesus Without Fear and viewed my presentation by the same title based on the book by that name, then hopefully you are ready to take the next steps to putting it into practice. Here I would like to explain how to mark up your Bible in order to share Jesus without fear.
Preferably begin with a Bible that you have not highlighted, so the pages are clean and presentable. So you wouldn't want to use your regular study Bible that you've marked up already with highlighting and your handwritten notes inside. I suggest a pocket edition of the New Testament that you can easily carry with you in your pocket, purse, laptop bag, backpack, or glove compartment of your car. I have a black, leather copy of the official Share Jesus Without Fear New Testament, which is translated in the Holy Bible New International Version, but you can use any good, reliable translation of the Bible that common people can understand. I also recommend using a non-ink, yellow, wax highlighter, designed especially for highlighting Bibles, rather than the ink ones that can tend to bleed through the pages.
Here are the recommended steps:
1. Bookmark Romans 3:23 in your Bible, since this will be the first of seven Scripture verses you use. I suggest using the Bible's built-in ribbon marker to do this.
2. Highlight Romans 3:23.
3. On the page containing Romans 3:23, turn the Bible with the text upside down with the print facing up as if you were handing it to someone to read the verse. In the upper margin of the page, the margin closest to you, write "Rom 6:23" (without the quotation marks), which is the next verse that you will turn to after the person has read Romans 3:23. I suggest writing it in pencil not too big yet big enough to you can read it as you take the Bible back from the person after they've read Romans 3:23.
4. Highlight Romans 6:23.
5. On the page containing Romans 6:23, turn the Bible with the text upside down with the print facing up. In the upper margin of the page, write "Jn 3:3," which is the next verse that you will turn to after the person has read Romans 6:23.
6. Highlight John 3:3.
7. On the page containing John 3:3, turn the Bible with the text upside down with the print facing up. In the upper margin of the page, write "Jn 14:6," which is the next verse that you will turn to after the person has read John 3:3. Also draw the cross next to that verse to remind yourself to ask the person "Why did Jesus die on the cross?"
8. Highlight John 14:6.
9. On the page containing John 14:6, turn the Bible with the text upside down with the print facing up. In the upper margin of the page, write "Rom 10:9-11," which is the next verse that you will turn to after the person has read John 14:6.
10. Highlight Romans 10:9-11.
11. On the page containing Romans 10:9-11, turn the Bible with the text upside down with the print facing up. In the upper margin of the page, write "2 Co 5:15," which is the next verse that you will turn to after the person has read Romans 10:9-11.
12. Highlight 2 Corinthians 5:15.
13. On the page containing 2 Corinthians 5:15, turn the Bible with the text upside down with the print facing up. In the upper margin of the page, write "Rev 3:20," which is the next verse that you will turn to after the person has read 2 Corinthians 5:15.
14. Highlight Revelation 3:20.
Now you are reading to begin using your New Testament to Share Jesus Without Fear!
Resources: You can find more resources related to Share Jesus Without Fear online, such as the book, the workbook (which I highly recommend), the Share Jesus Without Fear New Testament (also available here), and the DVD Leader Kit.
When I originally taught this it was on VHS video tape, and our church
bought the leader materials for me to use in order to teach it, so I
would recommend getting the DVD Kit if you can afford it.
Attribution notice: All material in the linked presentation
is from Share Jesus Without Fear by William Fay and Ralph Hodge,
copyright 1997 Lifeway Press, Nashville, TN. Duplicated and used by
permission.The method of Bible marking is taken from the same book.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you
repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible
says?
“Jesus
came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in
the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and
believe.
Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.
He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as
well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who
multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of
planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United
States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
