Evangelism requires 'soul work,' Denison says
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___SAN ANTONIO--Baptists may need to do "soul work" before they can become effective soul-winners, Jim Denison told participants at the Baptist General Convention of Texas Evangelism Conference.
___The trap into which too many Christians fall is to have their "theology all worked out,
but souls far from God," said Denison, pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas. He was a keynote speaker at the statewide conference, held Jan. 29-30 at the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium.
___For Christians who want to get back in touch with their souls, a starting place is remembering what it means to be lost and alone, Denison said. He told about a recent experience that gave him a fresh reminder of that feeling.
___He had read in a church history that a former Park Cities pastor used an isolated space in the church's bell tower as his private prayer room. So one Saturday afternoon, Denison decided to see if that space would meet his own needs.
___He climbed five flights of stairs into the lofty bell tower beneath the church's massive steeple. As he entered the small room, he heard the door close behind him and lock shut.
___"I was stuck in the bell tower of my own church," Denison recalled.
___He had no cell phone, and no one was around to hear any cries for help. He tried without success to pry open the lock with a pocketknife and to slip the bolts out of the hinges.
___Finally, he broke out a small window mounted in the door, reached through the opening and carefully unlocked the door from the outside.
___The role of Christian witnesses is to open a door that has no window for spiritually isolated and lost people, Denison said. But first, he said, believers must examine their own relationships with God.
___He recalled a life-changing retreat he attended while pastor of Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta. At a silent retreat for the church staff just a few days before Easter, Denison realized he had "lost touch with my soul," he said. "I could not remember the last time I told God I loved him."
___God desires the heartfelt love of his children even more than their service to him, Denison said. "Before God wants anything else, he wants us to love him."
___A passionate love for God will lead naturally to a lifestyle of evangelism, he explained.
___Christians should be prompted to share their faith by "gratitude, not guilt," Denison said. "Evangelism should not be just a program of our churches but a passion of our lives."
The Baptist Standard
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