A number of years ago I met Steve Elliott. He has since gone on to take a Doctorate in Ministry and is teaching in a Bible College. I ran across this article by him recently titled "By the power of signs and miracles". The article is actually a summary of his doctoral project — but highly readable!!
I love quotes out of context! Hopefully this is not too far off — taken from Steve’s article:
- For most of my adult life I had been taught that lifestyle evangelism was THE biblical and most effective means of sharing the faith, yet biblically it was obvious that lifestyle evangelism accounts for only the tiniest percentage of the conversion stories in the Bible.
And how about this?
- While all forms of evangelism are to be applauded and utilized, not all forms of evangelism are equally effective. The church’s present methodologies are reaping meager results. Lifestyle evangelism, while a good form of evangelism, is simply not the most effective means of evangelism.
And finally —
- I theorize the persuasive influence of miracles is needed to effectively reach large numbers of Canadians for Christ.