GYC 2008: For This Purpose

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Louis Torres ~ Gripping the Soul: Reaching the Heart Through Personal Evangelism

Louis Torres

Getting Rid of the Fear

I guess you already assumed that or guessed that.

I'm presently what is called the Vice President of Mission College.

How many of you have heard of Mission College?

Those of you who have not heard of Mission College, Mission College is the founder of the 3 and a half month training program that AAFCO and ARISE are actually students that graduated from Mission College that went and started ARISE, David Asherick, and AFCO was started by Annie Kerr, who was also a graduate of Mission College.

So these other schools are, I guess you can say, daughters of Mission College.

And since that time, by the way, there are other programs that have started.

Well, I see that we're all Americans here.

Josiah is a school in Germany, started again by 1 of the graduates of Mission College, Pastor Michael Dumbrak.

And then another school started in Switzerland.

So in Switzerland, near Bern, Switzerland, there's another branch.

So any of you want to learn evangelism, and you want to learn it in a European setting, you can go to Josiah or go to the Mission College Swiss branch.

And so presently there was a work to try to start 1 in Australia.

So the purpose for Mission College was to get people trained in a speedy preparation.

I read a statement, my wife and I, when we began to think about Mission College, what we did was in 1978, probably before some of you were born, we sat down and decided that a school was needed in these last days because It says that in the last days the Spirit of God will be poured upon His people.

Many will leave the plow and they will need a few months of training.

And so we thought 2 is a couple, 3 is a few.

But to make sure we put a half, 3 and a half months.

And so that's the idea of the 3 and a half month program.

And we got the idea from when I was in the military.

In the military they train you in 6 weeks.

And then 10 weeks is called AIT, Advanced Individual Training.

And so in 16 weeks you can get a ghetto kid, you can get a hillbilly, you can get anybody in military and train them for whatever occupation, an MOS, military occupation status.

And train them as a medic or train them as a truck driver, or as a guiding missiles, etc.

And so, we thought, if the military can train hillbillies and ghetto kids in 16 weeks to become whatever, why can't with the help of the Holy Spirit we train workers for God in 3 and a half months?

And so that's what's happened and praise God.

Many of you have heard of Jeffrey Rosario, Jamil Rosario, Luke Whiting, all those kids went through Mission College.

So they're all graduates of Mission College.

Okay, now, at this present time, let's go into the subject, but before we do that, can we pray together?

Our Father, thank you so much for the opportunity to be here together.

Bless our time together and grant us to draw nearer to You, we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Alright, we begin with the topic at hand, and that's getting rid of the fear.

First of all, Jesus said back in the book of Mark chapter 16 and verse 15, go ye into what?

And preach the gospel to every creature, correct?

So it says, go ye into all the world and do what?

Okay, now, the word preach, it's an interesting word.

And this morning, 1 of the things that I will have to do in order to help you with that idea of either you getting rid of your fears or you learning to motivate others to get rid of their fear is 1 of the first things that needs to happen is to get rid of what is called misconceptions.

The reason for that is because when you have misconceptions, they become formidable barriers to keep you back from what God can do through you and for you.

So, many times we have misconceptions that are honest, sincere misconceptions, but it doesn't matter how sincere or honest they are.

If they are in your mind, they will hinder you from what God can do for you and through you.

So, 1 of the misconceptions is this word preach.

Most of the time when you think of the word preach, most people think that the word preach has to do with a formal presentation by some professional up front or somebody who's quote gifted to preach.

If we look at the word preach, let me show you how it shows up.

When you read your Bible, that's what you will read.

I'm going to show you the different words in the actual language.

Notice that in Isaiah, the word preach means to bear news and is basar.

Yet Jonah, he cried, which means he was preaching, right?

But notice it says that the word is kara.

Then when you go to the Greek in the New Testament, you find the word preach and is diagelo.

And the English word that we get from diagelo is what?

Then to preach, it means to speak, l'alleo in Acts 16.6.

Also, it can mean to publish abroad, be a herald, which is caruso.

And I think you've heard of the great caruso, the great tenor singer.

Maybe that's beyond you, before your time.

But anyway, another 1 is to promulgate, to make known, katagelo.

And the last 1 is announce good news, which is where we get the word evangelism.

But if you notice that all these words in the Greek are different, laleo, karuso, katagalo, geliso, all of these words are different, but in English they're all translated preach.

Now if we get what this is saying then, preaching can be done by just talking, by dialoguing, by simply carrying, crying, bearing good news.

In other words, you can do preaching in any form, in any setting.

And basically, preaching has to do with bearing the good news.

How to Make Public Appeals Appealing

Father, thank you so much for the opportunity to study together.

When we deal with these type of subjects, we need your spirit to quicken our minds.

Thank you for hearing us, in Jesus' name, amen.

Just for the sake of those of you who were not in the last class, I'm announcing this not for the purpose of getting you to buy the book, but just to let you know that the book is available.

It's called Gaining Decisions for Christ.

I wrote this book because a lot of people don't understand the dynamics of decisions, and so even though you hear it in the seminar, there are things that you catch and things that you don't catch.

And the more you read, the more you see other things that you did not see before.

It has a hundred texts, difficult texts that are difficult to understand.

And the reason why they're small, with small print.

But anyway, it's, I wrote them with small print so that, It's small enough you can put it in your pocket.

So you can carry it in your purse, in your pocket.

So when you're a witness or give Bible studies and somebody throws you a text that's difficult to explain, you can just find the text here because it goes from Genesis to Revelation.

Many texts that people have questions on, that you yourself may have questions on.

And as I said, I put it this way and a lot of Bible workers now that are using it have told me that it's been very useful to them because it actually deals with the kind of text that people are using in the streets.

This is something that I put together because in our school, the Mission College, We're constantly dealing with difficult text because we're teaching the students how to witness and 1 of the things is that they're afraid As well, why does somebody throws me a question?

I can't explain okay a new book that just came out of stories for illustration for public appeals And those stories I've collected through the years from my own experience and others because a lot of Bible workers or gospel workers or ministers or evangelists have asked me, Can you help me with an illustration, a story for an appeal?

And many have said, where do you get stories for appeals?

And so what I've done is put those stories together that I use in my evangelistic meetings with the appeals, with the actual verbiage of the appeal.

So that if you don't know what to say, at least you can read it, see what it says, and then if you can't form it in your own words, you can at least memorize what the appeal is and make the appeal, Okay?

So that book would be at the, it's supposed to be here today.

Yeah, it didn't, it was supposed to show up yesterday, but you know how it goes.

Sometimes I do that in class and the students don't remember that I prayed.

Let's consider making those public calls.

First of all, When you deal with making public calls, you have to understand that they are as essential, that is public calls are as essential as pulling in the line once a fish is hooked or gathering the fruit once it is ripe.

Alright, when you go fishing, what happens when the fish gets hooked?

If you don't reel it in, what happens with the fish?

If you don't reel it in, it can turn around and have more strength to break your line, right?

Or it can dive into some rocks or something and then you've lost your line, et cetera.

So it's important then that once the fish is hooked, you have to pull it in the line.

Once the fruit is ripe, you have to gather it.

There are misconceptions concerning making public appeals.

But first I want to read to you the truth and then I'll give you the misconceptions, okay?

Our success and power as a people Advocating what?

Will be found in making direct and personal appeals to those who are interested in having unwavering reliance upon the most high.

Okay, there are 3 things here that I need to highlight.

Number 1, the first point is that in every discipline there is a secret.

I know who you're looking for, she's right here.

That's why I called her young lady, because I know who she was.

For example, If you're a guitar player, there are techniques that you learn to help the individual know how to play guitar better.

I remember 1 time at Mission College, Jeffrey, the Rosario kids were studying there at Mission College.

And they came and said to me, Pastor, teach us how to play Villa de la Rosa.

I said, do you know how to tune a guitar?

I said, well first let me teach you how to tune a guitar.

And then we'll teach you how to play a Viaduct Rosa later.

So people don't understand that there are certain things that you have to learn in order to become efficient or proficient in a certain area.

So in every discipline there are secrets or people call them tricks to the trade.

And it makes a difference between a successful person or a person that doesn't succeed.

For example, my wife was a concert violinist.

And she's taught several people to play violin.

Recognizing Conviction

The young people are demonstrating that they have a real desire to get involved with mission, working for the Lord, being trained.

So there are all sorts of youth endeavors taking place around the globe, because I think all of us sense that we are heading down the path that we have read about and studied about and believe in.

Let me share something with you that I was in the other day in Japan, the airport, And when I was there, all of a sudden I was struck with something I hadn't thought about before and that was that President Obama And all that's going on with politics and finances almost appears to me like the same kind of thing that happened with Joseph in the Bible.

What came to me was that when Joseph was in prison, he was brought out of prison because there was a dream that took place by 2 fellows.

And the 1 who bared a cup had forgotten that Joseph said, when you get into position, remember me.

So finally, the king had, or the pharaoh had a dream, and no 1 could interpret it, and they brought Joseph out.

And Joseph then went and interpreted the dream.

Now what's interesting is that What I was impressed with was this.

There were 7 years of prosperity and 7 years of famine.

And during the 7 years of famine, something interesting took place.

People who didn't have anything to eat with began to sell their possessions over to the government.

And as they sold their possessions to the government, it finally placed the government in a position where they had control over everything, and then that's what brought about the slavery of the Israelites.

Which is interesting because what's happening presently is that because of the financial meltdown, a lot of the private industries are asking the government to bail them out.

So what's taking place is that the government is actually getting possession of the private sector.

Which means then that the government is being placed in the position that can fulfill Revelation chapter 13.

Which means then that you and I don't have a lot of time to work.

So whatever we do now, we must do, it says what we don't do in times of prosperity, we will have to do in times of what?

So, maybe what I was talking about this morning about being put in a position where you're persecuted may just happen.

In other words, I'm going to just do something here for a moment.

We're very close, and I think that so many things are in place right now that could lead us into the final moments of earth's history that we've been told about, that would transpire just before the coming of Christ.

So I'm not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, but anyway, that's what I was impressed with when I was sitting there in the airport in Tokyo, Japan.

Do you have any questions so far concerning what, how many of you were here earlier today?

Do you have any questions about what we presented So far.

In trying to convey this message to others, let's go with fear, getting rid of fear.

Are there exercises or things that you can do to help shy people?

Are there exercises that can be done to help shy people.

1 of the things that you first have to do is you have to bring about conviction.

In other words, if you're going to go back to your churches and you've got church people who are afraid, don't think they can do it and all that.

1 of the things that has to happen is that conviction must surface, okay?

Because if a person doesn't feel conviction, he's not going to attempt anything.

If there's conviction, they're willing to attempt something even though they're afraid.

For example, many of you who are here have attempted things, not because you wanted to, but because you got convicted.

Once you follow the conviction, then God gave you a way of escape.

And so what I do when I'm training people is I give information like the 1 I gave this morning, the first presentation on how to get rid of fear by number 1, raising the reality that there are misconceptions, number 1.

And number 3, what does God want you to do with this now?

Does God want you to continue to be afraid?

Well, you have to put yourself in God's hands then, right?

Alright, so once you're in that position, then the next thing to do is to start training that person in something that succeeds.

In other words, you don't want to put people in a position where they have to do something large that they're going to fail in.

I had a young man who came to my training program when I was working as vice president with amazing facts.

His arms were kind of, and his hands were kind of disfigured like this.

And so he kind of just walked like this, okay?

And the church sent him to our training program.

And the first impression I had was, why did they send him to do evangelism, since he stutters, etc.

Finally, he calls me up, and in his old stuttering way, he said, Pastor, can I get my diploma?

Well, in those days it was a one-week training program and we would not give a certificate until they actually went and did the evangelistic meeting.

So I said, hey Steve, send me some pictures.

Not 1 of the persons was handicapped, was baptized.

How To Get That Decision, Part I

Loving God, again as we continue to study the subject, we pray for your leading and thank you for hearing us in Jesus' name.

Alright, we're talking about conviction and we're talking about the reality that the Spirit of God convicts people's hearts, but the only way that you can tell that that is happening is not because you're able to see the Spirit, but you're able to see the results of the Spirit of God working, or as we said, the wind blowing.

And so it's important then for us to get to the place where we develop the ability, through the gift of the Spirit, to detect and see whether or not there's any motion.

As I stated, in the secular world, there are devices and even you've heard of lie detecting tests and things like that.

There are devices that seek to ascertain what's happening inside by what's happening outside.

And so, if you begin to sweat as they're asking you questions, if you get to get nervous, your heart begins to race fast.

All those things are indicators that something is happening up here.

And so while we cannot be the readers of the heart, we cannot read the mind, and no man can read the mind, we can read the responses As to what's happening.

And in order for you to recognize conviction in others, you have to yourself experience conviction.

It means that you're personally acquainted with it.

Number 3, what are the indications that it's present.

And number 4, once recognized, what must be done to facilitate its maturation to a decision?

So, in other words, a person, in order to recognize conviction in others, must be able to experience themselves conviction.

If I were to ask you, how many of you have felt convicted, what would be your response?

But I have to say this, that even though you felt conviction, all of us did not feel conviction for the same thing or at the same magnitude or level.

Then the indications, and then what we need to do to help them.

So, notice it says, every fresh display of what?

The conviction of the grace of God upon the souls of unbelievers is what?

So, if it's a fresh display, alright, then it's something that I can see.

And what's encouraging about this is this.

Since it is a fresh display, it indicates that divinity is working.

Like I said about the girl named Ramona in the Philippines in the last class, that when I saw the tears coming up, and I saw her fighting against it, then I rejoiced.

So when I said to her, oh no, it's just wonderful to see how the Spirit of God works in people's hearts.

Then she cried the more because then she recognized, that I recognized, that something was happening inside.

Notice it says, He is the source of every right impulse.

He is the only 1 that can implant in the heart enmity against sin.

Every desire for truth and purity, every conviction of our own sinfulness is what?

An evidence that the Spirit is moving upon our hearts.

I had a person come to me and say, I'm afraid I've committed the unpardonable sin.

I asked him, I said, are you really concerned about it?

Every conviction of our own sinfulness is a what?

It's an evidence that the Spirit is moving upon me.

So sometimes what happens is when you feel convicted about sin, the devil then makes you feel that God won't accept you.

When in reality, you're in the best position to be accepted.

And it's exciting also that as you work with people and you see these evidences, you realize that you're right in the presence of divinity.

So, when I work with people and I'm talking to them and I'm watching them and I see the evidences that the Spirit of God is present it excites me.

Series

Louis Torres ~ Gripping the Soul: Reaching the Heart Through Personal Evangelism

How To Get That Decision, Part I

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Bob Folkenberg, Jr. - Evangeliving: The Great Commission in Action

Preparing for the Harvest Now

1h

Ignite Your Local Church for Mission

Q and A and Final Charge

1h

Louis Torres ~ Gripping the Soul: Reaching the Heart Through Personal Evangelism

How to Make Public Appeals Appealing

58m

GYC 2012 Seminar: Conversion - My Own, Around Me and On the Go

Sensitive Seekers

58m

GYC 2013 Seminar: Making Friends for Eternity

01-Making Friends for Eternity, Part 1

1h

GYC 2013 Seminar: The Neophyte and the Great Controversy

01-The Mystery

40m

Every Wind of Doctrine

4. Confusion on Ecclesiology and Church Authority

1h 14m

Devoted Devotions: A Vibrant Devotional Life for the Last Days

Bound by Devotion

59m

GYC 2013 Seminar: Daniel: Defining Adventism's Role in the Great Controversy

03-Daniel 8 & 9: The Shadow and the Cross

1h

GYC 2013 Seminar: Witnessing to the Wealthy, Worldly, and Well-Educated

03-The Experience

1h

Colossians: A Church at the Cross

6. The People of the Church

46m

The Doctrine of Personal Ministries

Part 3 - The Church of Acts

1h 18m

Sound Doctrine