Often we think that evangelism is all about converting the unconverted. My experience has been that it’s all about reaching out to people who are looking for something that they can’t find. St. Lydia’s has been designed around filling that need. We’re building our congregation around the idea that there are people out there who are desperately seeking God, and haven’t found a Church to do that with. . . . It’s about bearing witness to what God has done with the whole of our existence, within the context of our cultures and the patterns of our lives. I bear witness to my Good News every time I sit on a bar stool on the Lower East Side and meet some new people, because that’s what I like to do. Through that act, which is fully and wholly natural to me, I’m telling a story of how God doesn’t need me to hide from the world within the confines of the Church, but to be a part of the whole of the world around me. I bear witness to my Good News every time I’m sarcastic, edgy, questioning, breaking the stereotype of a “good Christian girl.” I’m telling a story of a God who gave us brains and guts and bodies so that we could use them to love the world. I bear witness to my Good News every time I refrain from invitation, and try, instead, to listen.
Emily M.D. Scott Click here for full article.
I remember hiding with my mom in the back of the house whenever the Jehovah's Witness ladies came by ringing the doorbell as a child. I always thought it was rude how we had to hide in our own home to avoid being subjected to their sales pitch. That's what it felt like--a sales pitch.
One of the things I like about blogging is that no one is forced to read my blog. People land here who want to read it. If my messages resonate, people come back--and if they don't, they don't. I have long felt that I am meant to help people reconcile with God--not the judgmental bearded ultra-Santa in the sky who puts you in hell if you're naughty and heaven if you're nice--but the God who loves us, who is conciliatory, the God who is immanent within all things, as well as the great and sacred Mystery. I want people to forget the God I rejected after childhood and feel good about the God I embraced as an adult. I reconciled with Jesus after meeting him on shamanic journeying meditations--but it took a while to open back up to Him after the hellfire-and-damnation Baptist dogma I was exposed to in childhood.
So I blog. I believe the angels have a lot of value to say about God, and about life. I believe that God should be a positive subject, with a positive association and I am grateful to have an opportunity to share about God and angels and my own journey of faith in a way that doesn't intrude upon others' space. Whatever your faith or lack thereof, God will meet you there.
I have asked the angels about evangelism and this is what they said:
You've been on diets. You've been off diets. You've instantly craved that which is forbidden and gotten tired quickly of the "healthy" things you forced down your throat. Your weight has come into balance as you sought your own path, your own tastes, and accommodated eating what you like to eat. So is it with religion and spirituality. Each has his own tastes. Each has his own likes and dislikes.
You don't want to be a Jehovah's Witness, or a fundamentalist Christian, or a Hindu, or a Muslim. These don't appeal to you. There are young people who love rock and roll church services who would despise the liturgical nature of your church as "boring." There are different ways of interpreting God, experiencing God, communing with God. None of these are right or wrong.
From a human perspective, you really are limited by your finite perspective. You can't really comprehend the infinite. So you approximate. Each path, each religion, contains aspects of truth. Each path involves setting aside ego and putting the Spirit first.
There is no need to try to "convert" others to what appeals to you. Everyone will find what appeals to them. But you can share what you get from God. You can share how important your faith is to you. You can share your joy and your love. The idea is to get people to sit at the bar of Life and ask the divine bartender "I'll have what she's having." Don't share the particulars unless asked. You have fun conversations with your friends who share faith because you all know none of you are trying to convert one another--you are sharing your faith and enhancing your own experiences by talking about what you're passionate about.
Spread kindness. Spread love. Pray for the earth and her inhabitants. Do good in the world. This is what will turn hearts toward God. Let the spirit of love and compassion that inhabits Jesus, that inhabits Buddha, that inhabits Mary, that inhabits the Holy Ones of all times and all cultures--let it flow through you. This is the essence of evangelism, the heart of understanding, love, compassionate listening.
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To contact Sue to get angelic guidance, to contact your animal companions both here or beyond the veil, to schedule a shamanic healing session, or simply to say "hi" and give me some feedback on my blog,please click here to email Sue. Please go to http://budurl.com/grcn to follow my Twitter feed. My rates are in the "About Me, My Rates and What I Offer" section in the Links Section to the right of my page. Many blessings and thanks to you!
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