Book Review: Honest Evangelism by Rico Tice

“Do you find evangelism hard? Why is that the case when we have the best news to share?

Here lies a common tension—we know people need to hear about Jesus, yet all too often we hesitate to tell them about him. Maybe it’s a fear of the consequences, that relationships might be broken, especially in a world that increasingly sees followers of Christ as the bearers of bad news rather than good. Or maybe this wasn’t always the case, but weariness has set in from repeated rejection when we have shared.

Guilt then sets in as evangelism begins to feel like we’re not doing enough. …”

– At The Australian Church Record, Sarah Chew reviews Rico Tice’s Honest Evangelism.

How should we respond to the world as we now find it?

The Anglican Diocese of the Living Word’s Missions Conference and Synod was held in Pennsylvania over the last few days.

Dr. Carl Trueman was the invited speaker.

In his first talk, he focussed on the underlying things that shape the way we think today. Starting at 5:35.

In his second talk, Dr. Trueman speaks of the three things the church has to do in our present context. That address starts at 34:12.

(Prior to his address, Gafcon General Secretary Bishop Paul Donison is interviewed from 18:18.)

The previous night, the Rev. Yoel Ben David gave his testimony of conversion from Judaism.

At the start of the Conference, Bishop Julian Dobbs gave this address. This, alone, is well worth hearing.

The videos are available with thanks to Anglican TV.

Local evangelism and global mission: Maintaining focus on the ends of the earth

“I remember the moment clearly. For several years my wife and I had been weighing up the prospect of vocational ministry. I loved opening the Bible with people and helping them to know Jesus better, but I felt inadequate for the task of pastoral ministry.

Our perspective changed when we received a prayer letter from friends who’d just arrived in a new country for their first term of missionary service with CMS. …”

– Scott Millar writes at The Australian Church Record.

Related:

Dinner helps us pray for global mission – Tara Sing writes at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Hope25 Launch Video Pentecost 2024

Here’s a video to introduce Hope25.

You can learn more at the Hope25 website:

“Hope 25 is an opportunity for us to share the hope that we have in Jesus.

It is an intentional season of sharing hope in Jesus for every parish and community in the Australian Anglican Church.

We are asking each parish to commit to doing (at least) one thing to help share the hope that we have in Jesus during this season.

We aren’t going to tell you what to do, but we will provide resources and support so that each parish can act locally and contextually, sharing the hope we have in Jesus in a way that best fits your context. It may be that you have multiple different groups within your parish and a number of different events are needed to engage with those group. Or, you may choose to band together on one event, it is entirely up to each parish or community to choose.

Dates: Easter Day (April 20, 2025) to Pentecost Sunday (June 8, 2025)”

Meet Jesus: The Missiology is Right

“In 1959 the Billy Graham Association conducted Australia’s most successful evangelistic mission. Large venues, huge crowds, and compelling preaching. It was extraordinary. Six decades on, however, some features of that mission look quaint, even odd. …

It was a different world. Evangelising Australia now is a different sort of challenge. Consider the 2024 Meet Jesus campaign—the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students’ (AFES) effort to invite Australians to meet Jesus in the pages of Gospels. I think the missiology is right.”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Rory Shiner commends Meet Jesus.

Evangelism in Bathurst Diocese – Sharing Jesus for life

A very encouraging editorial from The Australian Church Record:

“Through the goodness of God, combined with the kindness and service of his people, the Anglican Diocese of Bathurst has experienced renewal in recent years. Fresh vision, boldness, and a firm grip upon biblical preaching and teaching has spread through its churches. Evangelism has been at the forefront of the minds of its leaders and very much within the hearts of its people.

Ultimately, there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to evangelism. It is simply sharing Jesus for life. Therefore, Bathurst Diocese has no new fancy technique to report. This diocese has modelled its evangelism from Scripture and has ‘just got on with it’.

The determination and drive of Bishop Mark Calder at the helm, consecrated and installed in late 2019, has given a very clear path forward which is bearing fruit in lives won for the kingdom, and the church of God is flourishing. Bishop Calder came to bring gospel change, has maintained this objective, and by the grace of God, many have joined with him in sharing Jesus for life. As I pause with others to reflect upon our evangelism, some key principles have emerged as being very significant for us. …”

– Read it all here. Food for Prayer.

Working Together so More People Meet Jesus

“We believe that knowing Jesus changes everything. He alone can deal with our sins and failures. He is our saviour who rescued us and our friend who loves us. He is our Lord who graciously and powerfully rules all things. He is the source of our hope in life and in death. He is living and active and he is coming again as judge of all. Why wouldn’t we want other people to meet Jesus?

Across Australia a campaign is unfolding this year so that many more people might have the opportunity to meet Jesus. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Murray Capill reports on a recent gathering in Melbourne.

Related:

Australia: Meet Jesus! — Richard Chin and Rory Shiner.

How to get your church fired up for evangelism

“Evangelism is tough. Of course, you know that already. Telling people about Jesus presents a series of challenges and difficulties for Christian people.

Yet when it comes to evangelism, that’s not the most difficult thing. No, that title well and truly falls to ‘being responsible for trying to get other Christians to actually do it’. Studies from the United States indicate that although nearly 90% of professing evangelical Christians believe evangelism is something they should do, roughly the same proportion of them don’t do it. …”

– Dave Jensen writes with encouragement at The Australian Church Record.

A whirlwind interview with Rico Tice: on Chappo, the church and the gospel we preach

At The Australian Church Record, Micky Mantle (Rector of North Sydney) interviews evangelist Rico Tice.

Among other things, Micky asks Rico about the influence John Chapman had on him:

“Yeah, Chappo’s humanity. He was such a laugh. Chappo was so wonderfully himself.

Also, when he spoke to people, the tone was always one of such love. I suddenly saw someone I could – you know, he just was always for you, Chappo. And he believed in the Holy Spirit, and he taught the truth. And you just felt that tremendous sense of his personal warmth, and the humour.

And the ability to rebuke. So of course, one day driving back from Newcastle [UK] – I’d gone up to a church with him to hear him preach – and he said to me…”

– Read the full interview to see what Chappo said, and what influence that had.

Image: Rico Tice preaching at an Insurance Service at DSt. Helen’s Bishopsgate in 2022.

How not to get flustered in evangelistic conversations

“My first job in Christian ministry was in the chaplaincy department of a private school in suburban Sydney. After the best part of a decade as an infantry officer in the Army my hope was that, in comparison, talking to teenagers about Jesus would be pretty easy.

It took me about 15 minutes to work out that, rather than this being a walk in the park, it was closer to a limp through the valley of the shadow of death. …”

— Encouragement from Dave Jensen – at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Nationwide evangelistic collaboration: Meet Jesus and the power of prayer

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“The old saying is ‘A rising tide lifts all boats.’  But could the spark of story telling, and celebrating faith increase evangelism in churches and on university campuses everywhere?

National Director of the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students Richard Chin is emphasising the importance of prayer, through what he calls a ‘two-for-two’ model, and asks churches to join him in consistent branding in a nationwide push to introduce people to Jesus.

We discuss practical steps to integrate evangelism into the church’s DNA, champion the role of head, heart, and hand in fostering a consistent culture of outreach.

Rory Shiner is senior pastor of Providence Church, Perth and Chair of the Gospel Coalition Australia.

Baden Stace leads the ministry team at St Stephens Normanhurst in Sydney’s north.

Elliot Temple is missions pastor at Christ Church St Ives also in Sydney’s north.”

– Watch or listen here.

Evangelism for the terrified

“I don’t know about you, but I find evangelism utterly terrifying.

It didn’t start that way. After becoming a Christian in my late 20s, one of the things God did in my heart immediately was help me see that following Jesus and sharing the news of Jesus were two sides of the same coin.

“How hard could it be?” I thought. Very hard, as it turned out. …”

– Dave Jensen begins a regular column in Southern Cross magazine.

The place to start with Catholics

“What can you say when a Catholic in your life talks about same-sex blessings?

‘It’s all OK now dear’. Those were the words of my fiercely Catholic mother when the Pope proclaimed that it was now acceptable for Catholic priests to bless same-sex intimate relationships. …”

– This new article at The Australian Church Record encourages us to love our Roman Catholic friends and family – and has a link to a new resource.

Reaching female university students for Christ

“Instant gratification is attractive. Especially to our Gen Z friends, with their supposed attention span of a mere 8 seconds.

Add to that the widely prevalent social anxiety – experienced by 90% of Gen Z according to one workplace study – and many of the ways that we come to Christ or grow in him are looking quite difficult. Anything that takes a long time, or involves other people. Concentrating for a 30min Bible talk. …

Each one, and the many not listed, presents some difficulty, and therefore invites both the evangelist and the evangelised to save their effort and just give up.

What are the implications of this for our evangelism, particularly to young people, and especially given the urgency of the task? Perhaps there are two broad approaches. …”

– At the Moore College website, Marlee Knight shares words of encouragement.

What to do about threats and weaknesses – with David Rietveld

From the Pastor’s Heart at the start of their fourth year –

“The massive drop in church attendance is a crisis facing churches across the Western World and there are external pressures and internal weaknesses that need to be addressed at every level of the church. …

Even allowing for a covid factor, even assuming some sort of bounce back, these are figures that we should talk about.”

– An important topic. Watch or listen here.

See also:

After COVID: The Deepening Decline of the Church of England – The Living Church.

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