Students urged to be intentional
___By Becky Holt
___BGCT Student Ministries
___SAN ANTONIO--Being intentional in witnessing comes from being prepared, Dan Crawford, professor of evangelism and spiritual formation at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, told Texas Baptist students.
___During the Baptist General Convention of Texas Evangelism Conference in San Antonio, Crawford led a seminar for university students called "Developing an Intentional Witness."
___"Many of my witnessing encounters start out unintentional and end up intentional," he
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A SOLOIST from First Baptist Church of Odessa joins the West Texas church's choir in a presentation during the Evangelism Conference.
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said.
___Crawford reminded the students it is their job as believers to share about Christ, and it is God's job to convict and convert. He told them that if they will mention God during conversations, those whom God is drawing unto himself will be interested and want to talk about him.
___He offered the acronym OPENS as a reminder to be intentional when talking with people. Crawford said he uses this to help him initiate opportunities to share the gospel.
___ Oikos (Greek word for household or family). Ask about their family. What kind of family do they have? Children or grandchildren? Where do they call home?
___ Place. Ask about the things around you. Pictures on the wall or ornaments on their desk.
___ Employment or education. Ask them about what they do.
___ Near by. Ask about the weather or something that they are wearing like a cross necklace.
___ Spare time. Ask about hobbies they enjoy and how they spend their extra time.
___Crawford encouraged the students to be prepared for any and every opportunity to share about Christ. He pointed to Jesus as a role model and explained that Jesus was always ready, began to witness where the person was, directed them to where they needed to be and never used the same approach twice.
___"He was never unprepared or ill-prepared," Crawford said. "So, if I want to be intentional in my witness, I need to be ready."
___Students also heard from Randall O'Brien, acting dean of Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary.
___"When we're talking about evangelism, we're talking about the heart of God," O'Brien said.
___God was the first evangelist, he said, recounting the way God has sought relationship with his creation from the beginning.
___This pattern of evangelism was embodied by Jesus, O'Brien added.
___Jesus' imperative in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) is to make disciples, he said, explaining that Jesus taught that "making disciples" should be the Christian's purpose in going.
___Jesus also taught believers to be fishers of people, O'Brien said. And just as a regular fisherman must have a pole, hook and bait and must go where the fish are, so Christians must be prepared, he said.
The Baptist Standard
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