Evangelism: Eternal Life, Forgiveness, and Operating Systems

A little known story: When I was writing Selling the Dream—How to Promote Your Product, Company, or Idea—and Make a Difference Using Everyday Evangelism, I attended the Billy Graham School of Evangelism to learn from the best. It was a very interesting experience. Some of the finest speakers that I’ve seen (and tried to copy) were on a pulpit—not an operating system or music-player pulpit—but a church pulpit.

Fast forward a few years: I am on the board of directors of a para-church organization called Hawaiian Islands Ministries. Its mantra (if I can help it, no organization that I’m affiliated with has a mission statement) is to “train the trainers”— that is, pastors, ministers, deacons, elders, etc. Twice a year it runs a conference featuring some of the best Christian speakers. If you like to watch and hear the sessions from this Fall’s conference, click here. For example, streaming video is available of these sessions:

• Bill Hybels: “Give God Glory in Our Leadership.” Founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek, Bill is well known for his relevant and insightful Bible-based teaching. He is the author of seventeen books, including Rediscovering Church and Fit to Be Tied (co-authored with his wife Lynne), Too Busy Not to Pray, Becoming a Contagious Christian (with Mark Mittelberg), and The God You’re Looking For. He is chairman of the Willow Creek Association’s board of directors. Bill holds a bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies and an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Trinity College.

• Juan Carlos Ortiz: “Supernatural Experiences Are For Today.” Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Juan Carlos was ordained in the Christian Assemblies of Argentina and is presently a minister in the Reformed Church in America. His vast experience in discipleship and small groups has taken him to conventions, congresses, universities, seminaries and churches on five continents. He has founded six churches, was professor at Instituto Biblico Rio de la Plata in Argentina, and at present is professor at the Robert Schuller School of Preaching in Los Angeles, CA. Pastor Emeritus of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, Juan Carlos’s world renown books include Discipleship, Call to Discipleship, and God Is Closer Than You Think.

• Francis Chan: “Give God Glory in Our Calling.” Francis is pastor of Cornerstone Church and president of Eternity Bible College in Simi Valley. He is a highly sought after and gifted speaker, engaging adults and youth throughout the U.S. and challenging them to deeper commitment. He can be heard on his radio program “Truth Be Known”. Francis has a great sense of humor, a genuine love for Christ and a commitment to teach straight from the Word of God. Francis and his wife Lisa have been married for twelve years and have four children. He is a graduate of The Master’s College and Seminary.

• Brenda Salter McNeil: “Give God Glory in Our Relationships.” Brenda is a gifted communicator who has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the area of racial and ethnic reconciliation. She is founder of Overflow Ministries, a nonprofit, faith based organization devoted to the ministry of racial reconciliation. She continues this work through Salter McNeil & Associates, LLC, a racial and ethnic reconciliation training, consulting and leadership development company based in Chicago. She earned an M. Div. at Fuller Theological Seminary and a D. Min. from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

• Dan Chun. Dan is president of Hawaiian Islands Ministries (HIM), which he founded with his wife Pam in 1983. He has been senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu since 1994. Prior to that he was associate pastor with singles at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church from 1985 to 1992. Born and raised in Hawaii, Dan left an early career in television broadcast journalism with the Honolulu, Hawaii CBS affiliate KGMB-TV to commit to full-time Christian ministry. Dan has been a speaker at national Promise Keepers stadium events and is passionate about bringing revival to the Bay Area and Hawaii by uniting the Church of Jesus Christ through equipping church leaders.

Even if you’re not a Christian, you should watch these sessions out as examples of great speaking and evangelism although this isn’t a fair comparison because eternal life and forgiveness are far better products than most operating systems. :-)

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Comments

[mattsingley]

Like Mr. Holloway above, I've been a lurker too. I definately enjoy your posts, I learn a lot from them.

It's fascinating that you attended the Billy Graham school, I think that's a brilliant move. Thanks for the links on this post, I wasn't familiar with "HIM" until you wrote about this. I'll go watch the videos now...

[briang]

I think it is an abuse of power to evangelize delusions. How do we reign in the power of great speakers? How do we know they speak the truth? Does religion need to be sold like an Apple computer? If God exists, He would be easy to believe in. I turn my head when I am being preached at. I have to avert my eyes to be able to think clearly and seek the truth. Marketing has become a war to out gun Marketing. The noise floor is rising higher and higher obscuring the signal. More and more dollars are invested in getting the attention of consumers instead of providing quality products. I talk to people who are "brand aware", "Born again" and I wonder why they gave up thinking. Perhaps they got too tired looking for truth in the landfill of advertisements.

[Doug Karr]

On the reverse side, we surely see the consequences of not accurately training the trainers when it comes to religion!

[Steven G. Harms]

Everyone deserves to see Cisco CEO John Chambers speak in person once in their life.

This is a man who has truly mastered the evangelical pitch.

As much as Jobs is able to make you want to wear mock-turtle neck and pay attention to details, Chambers uniquely captures your imagination and makes you think that a stream of bits running through boxes he'll sell you can truly change the world.

I once talked to an exec at Cisco who had worked at Apple 83-88 and she said: "I've been lucky, I've gotten to work at two companies that changed the world."

Yay Kawasaki-blog readers!

[Mark Dalrymple]

although eternal life and forgiveness are better than most operating systems.

Uh oh. I think I know what Microsoft will be promising for Vista TNG.

[Tom Mayo]

Shefaly:

I think we could all guess what Dawkins would say, he's kind of a 'one-note samba' in the greater God debate. Not to detract from the brilliance of Dawkins' writings, but he couldn't countenance agreement with Stephen Jay Gould, and they had WAY more in common than Guy and Richard do...

But I think your point is: It is interesting to see a person as visible as Guy have the courage to voice (and support) his beliefs publicly. Too many people are not that strong when it comes to religion, whatever that may be, in this Valley.

Kudos Guy! As a fan for many years, I find new reasons to reaffirm my opinions in this blog daily.

-tom

[Richard]

Guy,

Thanks for these. Any chance they can be made available for offline use on an MP3 player? I'm much more likely to watch/listen to them that way than at my computer.

Thanks!

************

Richard,

Try this site:

http://www.dovetapes.com/him/index.html

Thanks,

Guy

[Kimber]

I think that most religions do a bang up job of both sales and marketing. Look at how the Hare Krishnas effectively use the reciprocity norm. Mind blowing. Businesses can learn a thing or two from them.

[Shefaly Yogendra]

I wonder what Richard Dawkins and Dick Taverne make of this post...

[sonshi]

These guys may be able to talk but what about the actions that back it?

[Peter Holloway]

Hi Guy,

I've been 'lurking' for some time, but just had to say thanks for this item. I've long been of the opinion that Christian preachers are some of the best communicators (I know some real bores too, though). Although I can't ignore the power of the content of what preachers say, there is also the passion caused by their belief.

Original evangelism is literally 'out of this world', but it's great to see someone acknowledging the gifts and talent out there in the Christian community:)