First Entry, yesterday's Bible study.

I am using this blog as a way to share ideas and thoughts specific to religion.

FYI, I am a Christian of the penetecostal/charismatic flavor who is active in a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregation in Pendleton, OR.

Since this is my first post, I copy in the notes from the Bible study I taught yesterday.

Personal Testimony Class
Allen Hanson
October 31, 2009

1 Peter 3:15
15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
For the next few weeks, we will be working on our personal testimonies. I believe that we need to be ready to share our relationship with Christ with others. As the verse above states, we need to be prepared to give an answer. Let’s go over this verse a little bit.
“Always be prepared”. That means we have to set aside some time and effort occasionally to work on our testimony. You may ask, “Won’t the Holy Spirit give me the words to discuss my faith in Christ, like Jesus said He would?” Let’s look at the verse that promises this.
Mark 13:11
11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
This is true. However, the idea that we shouldn’t prepare our testimony beforehand is a misunderstanding of how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. Jesus described the Holy Spirit in this way:
John 14:26
26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
The King James says that the Holy Spirit “will bring all things to your remembrance.” In order for the Holy Spirit to “remind” us of something, we have to know it in the first place, right? That’s why study and preparation are so important to the Christian; they give the Holy Spirit something to work with when push comes to shove.
Today, we will begin preparation of our testimony. Here are some basic principles:
· Start with a basic testimony. You don’t need a spectacular, “I was a pirate and a cannibal, and then I got saved” type of testimony to be effective. If you were raised in church and were always a Christian, you can create a testimony about the heartache you avoided by walking with Christ.
· Add to your testimony as you go. The more material you have, the more the Holy Spirit can customize your testimony to the needs of the person to whom you are testifying. Think of it in terms of golf. It is possible to play golf with one club. However, you can’t play golf well with just one club, no matter how talented you are. Adding to your testimony puts more clubs in your bag.
· Prepare and practice giving your testimony. Lawyers (those who counsel at law) prepare their clients to give testimony by preparation and practice. So does the Counselor, the Holy Spirit. Again, nobody gets onto a football field without having practiced first. A lot of what we will be doing in this class is practice. Extending the golf analogy, you have to practice with your clubs to become a good golfer.
· Ask God to give you opportunity to give your testimony. Does that mean we should pray to be arrested? I don’t know about that, but perhaps we can pray to have people ask us about the hope we have, ala 1 Peter 3:15. So, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to set up opportunities to minister.
· Use gentleness and respect. Remember, you are glorifying God and the work he is doing within you, not yourself. Also, remember that at some point, you were probably in the same boat as the person you are ministering to, so don’t try to come off like you’re superior. “There but for the grace of God go I.” Also, as part of your testimony preparation, learn about how to present the Gospel to people from various cultures in such a way as to avoid offense. For example, it’s probably a bad idea to offer Jewish people pork products, or to tell Mormons that they are going to Hell because Joseph Smith was a fraud. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of Wisdom as well as the Spirit of Power (Isaiah 11:2).
· Get to know other people’s testimonies. When you give your testimony, it is helpful to know someone to whom you can refer the person you are ministering to. You may know someone who is better able to minister to this particular person. Also, it is important to be able to “hand off” your person, in order to get them born again or get them into church. Why? Because you may not be able to “close the deal” with some people. Handing off enables the person you are ministering to get what they need, even if you don’t have what they need. This can include reference material, as well as people. For instance, if you are ministering to an “intellectual”, it may be useful to refer him/her to the writings of C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, or J.R.R. Tolkien.
What other things can you think of that are important toward giving your testimony?