If you’ve ever wanted to get started with sharing the gospel through social media, this episode of the GYC Beyond Podcast is for you. Join Esther Louw and Justin Khoe as they discuss the practical details of building a following, creating content, and, ultimately, making a difference to those you engage with.

<p>If you’ve ever wanted to get started with sharing the gospel through social media, this episode of the GYC Beyond Podcast is for you. Join Esther Louw and Justin Khoe as they discuss the practical details of building a following, creating content, and, ultimately, making a difference to those you engage with.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

GYC Beyond

Shauna Chung

Lisa Topete

01- Incorporating Evangelism into Your Life

1 of the most quoted Bible verses in Christianity is Matthew 28 19 through 20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit The Great Commission you've probably heard it a million times But what does this actually look like in practice?

Is it all about glow tracks and Bible studies and proselytizing on city streets?

Do you have to be a certain type of person to evangelize?

In this episode, we explore these ideas with Lisa Tepete.

She grew up in a Pentecostal home and at the age of 19 heard about the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

This marked a profound shift in her life and also catalyzed her love for sharing Jesus with others.

Since then, she's been involved with everything from literature evangelism to church planting and as a result has gained such a unique and nuanced perspective, 1 that you might not readily expect.

So let's listen in on a conversation I had with her in a very echoey room, I might add, at the GYC conference in 2017.

Thank you so much Lisa for being here today and for talking about this topic.

So what is your relationship to evangelism?

I would say instead of it being like a relationship, it's more just who I am.

I think it's often segregated so strongly that we miss the heart of what evangelism's about because we put it into categories.

Rather, Lisa is that, and evangelism is Lisa.

To define it, you know, I know there's the typical definitions as I was thinking about this.

The philosophy, I would say, of my life is to bring myself, by the grace of God, into the most intimate relationship that I can with him.

The depth of it being a really personal relationship and the output after there's that input is natural.

It's to share, it's to want to express the things that I've been learning, And so evangelism is just the natural output of what's been inputted from a constant connection or relationship with Christ.

And what has that looked like in your life personally?

As far as the relationship with Christ, daily it can vary.

But mostly choosing each day to say, this is, you're the God I want to get to know more.

God is past fully knowing, all in 1 lifetime even.

But the little I have come to know about God through studying the Bible, through getting insight from other people on their views of the world, whether it be a Christian worldview or not, has so deepened my walk with Christ that I can't believe that it can just go to different levels as the years have gone by.

So to make it more practical, daily, of course, spending time in the Word of God, in the Bible, is something that has become more just a part of my life, as well as communion and fellowship with other Christians.

I think community, I undermined that for a long time, but community really plays into that part of a daily relationship with him.

I love what you're saying because I think a lot of times people think evangelism is we always have to give, give, give to something or we have to conquer, conquer, conquer, you know that type of a thing, But it seems like your approach to this is work on yourself first.

Yeah, you know, and it is, I think that it can fall into the danger of I'm going to work so much on myself that I forget that it's almost as soon as I receive I give.

But you're right, there can be the aggressive types of evangelism.

And I would say I would probably, people who don't know me and who meet me would classify me in that category of aggressive and evangelism.

But more than that, recognizing that there have been times where I have felt largely inadequate to share about Christ.

I would say all the time, I mostly think I'm not capable or not ready.

And so it's kind of been a part of the faith journey to say, you know what, the little that I do know, I want someone else to know.

But to come to that level of being comfortable to share, you know, with the information that you've gained, how did you overcome, I guess, the fear of just starting?

I think I'll be honest, you know, to say that each time I share, whether in a public forum or a private 1, I mean, I'll be really candid, I feel so nauseous every single time.

And There's a lot of surface understanding of who I am.

Maybe she speaks, it must be a natural thing for her.

I would say the natural disposition of most of humanity is not to give.

Whether you're Christian or not, it's to preserve yourself, preserve your life.

I would say I haven't overcome the fear of necessarily sharing, but the sweetness in sharing is greater than that fear.

The experiences I've had in sharing and sure the first 1, whoa, then I got another experience and the more I shared, the more that experience of sharing and the satisfaction that does come with sharing overwhelm the fear.

So let's talk about these experiences that you reference.

So I think a lot of times people think that an experience with evangelism looks something like putting a soapbox down on a ground and you know just kind of professing on a college campus or It's going door-to-door and that's the extent of evangelism or it's glowing or something like that Yeah, so what what do these experiences look like to you?

And how do you think I guess people can plug into various types of evangelism?

Evangelism, like I said, is more of a lifestyle, a relationship, and the natural output of that relationship with Christ is that you share in any platform.

If God inspires someone to set up a soapbox and start preaching the word, please do that.

I personally have not been inspired that way in the middle of a subway.

But you know, who am I to say that that person wasn't led by the spirit of God?

So I don't want to swing to 1 side and say that those forms of evangelism are cliche or maybe not as valuable.

Yet there's the other extreme where you don't look at the fact that I consistently smile at the cashier in the grocery store and don't see that as evangelism.

I've had phenomenal experiences where I'm just consistent in my friendship towards somebody and then they ask me about my beliefs or my faith.

The hard part with that form of evangelism, I would say, friendship evangelism, however people want to classify it, is really knowing who you are in Christ.

Because if you don't, it's easy to be swayed by whomever you're surrounded with.

So I think that's often why people have looked down on those forms of evangelism or had this stereotype of being maybe soft or shallow, if you will.

But it really does come down to, again, your relationship with Christ and the natural output of that could be soapbox preaching or it could be opening the door for somebody when you're on your way into a grocery store.

To, I guess, classify them as the best or the worst, it's doing a disservice to everybody's, I guess, personal walk with God.

The next question that I want to ask you, it's something that I'm personally interested as well, just because I'm going to a secular university, and I think a lot of times people who are religiously affiliated, they see everybody that doesn't necessarily adhere to their belief system as an other.

And that's so unfortunate, because we all exist in the same world.

We all feel the same kind of pain and pleasure and things like that.

So how do you go into these environments, I guess?

Yeah, how do you go into these environments?

So basically an environment that may not be as safe around many people whom you associate yourself to be like.

Because I think the common narrative is we need to fear, we need to guard, we need to protect.

And while I think that those are valid reactions, and I can understand why those would be, I guess, words of advice, a lot of times it seems like it just ends up in othering people and seeing them as more objects to conquer as humans.

Right, there's the verse to be in the world but not of the world.

And I think you're right, the fear of associating with maybe other non-Adventists or non-Christians is that you're going to become like them.

And if that is a fear, whoever may have that fear, my first question to them is really, you aren't certain in your relationship with Christ.

Do I encourage you to go to the clubs and bars and convert the masses?

But I would say, For example, I was raised in a non-adventist environment, and becoming Adventist, I was certain that God was not calling me to forget those people.

And with that certainty in mind, I also had to learn the balance of, do I really, am I really convinced on what I believe?

Like, who I am in Christ, am I truly certain in my mind that this is the way?

And if not, it's easy to be moved, very easy to be moved.

So bring me around to your question again.

So secular environments or non-adventist campuses, what do you do?

As simple as this may sound, I would be nice.

You know, there's no stronger argument than a loving and lovable Christian.

Mark Finley

02- How to Live a Consecrated Life

God is our refuge and strength, the very present help in trouble, therefore will it not be feared, though the earth be removed...

This familiar voice doing a soundcheck for us belongs to Pastor Mark Finley.

He's the former speaker-director of It Is Written, the author of over 70 books, an international evangelist, the assistant to the president of the General Conference, and currently serves at the Living Hope Seventh-day Adventist Church.

But looking beyond this, what's palpable in even simple conversation with the down-to-earth Elder Finley is that he has a relationship with God, and this partnership guides every aspect of his life.

We asked him to share his thoughts on consecration.

In this episode, my co-host Esther Lo and I explore various angles of this concept with Elder Finley.

How do I know if I'm quote-unquote consecrated?

This was a blessing to record and I hope you're as blessed listening.

Thank you so much Elder Finley for being here and being willing to answer these questions about consecration.

1 of our first questions is what does consecration look like for you in your own life?

You know for me there is 1 issue in the Christian life that if you settle, you can settle most other questions.

And I think you find that in the life of Christ.

When you go to Gethsemane, Jesus prays 3 times, not my will, but thy will be done.

If you solve the question of whose will you will follow, you solve many other problems in the Christian life.

You know, Jesus says in John 8 verse 29, I do all those things that please him.

So Christ made a bedrock fundamental decision that he was going to do the Father's will.

If you do that, you don't have to argue with God over everything that comes up.

God reveals to you something, say, in dress or diet or something you're watching on TV or some attitude you have, if you're not fully consecrated to God but you're playing fake Christianity, then you're going to argue with God at everything he brings up.

But if you're truly consecrated to God, Consecration to me means that I've come to the place in my life where I know that God's way is best.

I know his will is best and all I want to do is please him.

I like how you brought up the idea of fake Christianity.

That reminds me like of a question I've always had that you know a lot of the times you can meet people who are not Christian, who are kind and unselfish people, but then you meet Christians who are unkind and selfish.

How do we deal with that cognitive dissonance and recognize true consecration from that fake Christianity?

Yeah, you know that's a really a good question and it's kind of like I was telling somebody earlier today we were raising that question you know why is God so good in the church so bad at times that people ask you that question.

And I said, you know, if I run through a patch of roses, I'm gonna get ripped, my legs may be cut, there are some thorns on those roses, but I can stand back on a gentle summer night with the sun setting and the gentle breeze blowing and smell the beautiful aroma of the roses.

Roses have thorns, and so when you look at the church, there are some thorny people in it.

They're gonna cut you up a little bit at times.

But yet, there's the beauty that is there in the church as well.

And when you think about that, how do you deal with that?

He said the wheat and the tares are going to grow together in the harvest.

So often it depends too on what you're looking for.

If God gives me a consecrated heart, I want to see the best in every other human being.

So the person that treats me quite abruptly, the person that is quite caustic and critical of me, I want to say, God, where are they hurting?

The person that is selfish and in a local church really is jockeying for position and wants church office.

I might ask myself the question, Lord, what insecurity is there in their life that makes them want to dominate?

The person who comes in and doesn't say hi to anybody, how have they been repressed in childhood so those feelings are bottled up inside?

So rather than looking at the church as a group of perfect saints, you can look at it from the opportunity of 2 aspects.

1, to minister to others and try to figure out.

I think 1 of the great joys of life is trying to figure out why other people respond the way they do when they respond even negatively.

Now you see, that's kind of a dissonance, you know, joy and negativity.

But I think for a Christian, you're always thinking, God, Help me to be able to minister to that person, even if they are not responsive, even if they're not the greatest joys to minister to, even if it's tough.

The other aspect of the question is, to me, I don't ask what's bad about the church, I ask what's good about it.

And I see people working from 8 to 5 in what some would call secular employments and then participating with us in a soup kitchen at night.

I see people working 40, 50 hours a week and yet participating with us in health programs, going out and give Bible studies, ministering to the needy and the poor and the disadvantaged and taking people into their homes.

I see people with medical degrees that are giving up a week of their time where they could be making money going on mission trips.

So, you know, and so when I look at the church, it is a mixed bag.

You do have this cognitive dissonance, But you look at it from, and the question is where do you focus?

You know, what are you really focusing on?

Maybe we should take a couple steps back, just really quickly, and maybe, Is it even possible to define consecration?

I think a lot of people see consecration and surrender as these very abstract, nebulous concepts.

How might we bring them down to earth just a little bit?

Okay, I see consecration, And we'll go back to something we said earlier, then I'll kind of flesh that out.

Can I say I'm consecrated if I'm obsessed with the sports is fashion my major commitment So who has my thoughts?

Genuine authentic Christianity Christ is at the center.

And my wife and I have been married for 50 years.

Nobody has to ask if I love her or she loves me.

When you love somebody, you want to talk about them, joyfully, it's natural.

When you love somebody, you want to spend time with them.

Spending time with them is not a burden, it's a delight.

We walk together, we fellowship together.

I want to share with her the joys of my heart.

It's the desire to spend time in His Word.

It is loving to share the depths of my heart with the Christ who means so much to me.

Now how can I know that I'm really consecrated?

Do I see witnessing as something that I do only if I have time after my regular work?

Or as witness somebody I am all through my day, witnessing of His love, His grace, verbally and non-verbally.

I think also the other aspect of, the other 2 aspects of this consecration is, who do I love to talk about, who do I love to spend time with?

Secondly, what are, where are my thoughts?

In my private, inmost thoughts, what dominates my thinking?

I like very much Philippians 2 verse 5 that says, let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.

Does Christ dominate my thinking process?

And thirdly, in the area of consecration, what do I do with my spare time?

When I have down time, where does my heart naturally go?

If I'm a genuine Christian, I love to spend time with Jesus.

Sebastien Braxton

03- How to Navigate Past Brick Walls

Whether you're trying to get a ministry idea off the ground, or you're simply trying to move forward in your experience of God, you're guaranteed to come across obstacles that threaten to bring an end to your plans.

In the book Christ's Object Lessons, the author states that whatever is to be done at God's command may be accomplished in His strength.

And yet, despite knowing this, it's easy to become discouraged when we can't see God working through us.

In this episode, Shana Chung and I talk with Sebastian Braxton about how to navigate past brick walls.

Sebastian speaks to us with personal experience.

As a child growing up in the projects, he learned to move forward even when everything seemed to be going against him.

Later, when he joined the Marines, Sebastian came to recognize failure as a challenge rather than a discouragement.

Obstacles were the things that pushed him.

Today, Sebastian is an entrepreneur and a radical preacher, as well as a former program director of campus and the founder of STRIDE, public campus ministry training programs in Michigan and Boston.

Join with us in our conversation at the GYC conference in Phoenix in 2017.

Thank you so much Sebastian for being here.

And for talking about how to navigate past brick walls.

What is I guess your personal experience with obstacles?

Well when I think about my personal experience with obstacles, I imagine that my life kind of started off with every possible obstacle.

You know, my parents divorced at a young age.

I was born out of wedlock, grew up in the inner city, single mom, government funding, didn't have money, didn't have Christmas presents, didn't have food sometimes.

Then you have gang violence, then you have school violence, then you have younger siblings you have to protect, but your mom's working 16 hours.

So I didn't get to get piano lessons and different things.

So much of my life was about fulfilling a promise I made to my mom as a kid that, you know, where there was a night when my mom had gotten her check and our government food stamp funding.

And so she was like, Oh, I'm going to like stock the fridge.

And my mom was all about creating these experiences.

And so we had the food stocked and we're all like Oh, we got this for the very first time and like these like Flintstone pops, whatever And so we went to bed and in the middle of the night We just heard a crash right and in this crash was like what in the world's going on?

And So I get out of bed because I'm a little more, you know, rushed towards danger, not stay in the bed.

And then eventually my mom comes and basically, you know, long story short, gang broke into our house, took all the food out the fridge.

I mean, all of it, freezer, fridge, fruit, vegetables, everything.

And I just saw my mom just slowly, you know, sit into the couch and just cry, like just so frustrated.

And so I remember as a kid, I was like, you know, mom, you know, 1 day we're not gonna be poor.

And I was like, you know, this like 7 year old kid, like, you know, mom would be rich and I'm going to take care of you.

And we're going to do all of this kind of stuff.

And so then for me, it just became this thing that obstacles were kind of my encouragement.

They were the things that pushed me because it was like, well, I've been through worse.

And 1 of the most profound things my dad said to me was that, you know, there is a good thing about being poor.

And he says, the good thing about being poor is you know what you can live without.

You can still move forward without all of these things.

You don't have Nintendo, you don't have games, you don't have all this money, you don't have new Nikes, but you can move forward.

And I think for me, obstacles became more opportunities, right?

Like when we were poor as kids, we couldn't afford checkers and these kind of things are monopoly.

So we would take like, you know, milk caps from different colors.

And then we would save up enough caps and draw our own board.

And then you can play checkers and couldn't afford monopoly.

But our apartment building had like a sidewalk that went all the way around.

Series

GYC Beyond

21 - How to Create a Social Media Ministry

Transcript

Description

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Parts

01- Incorporating Evangelism into Your Life

20m

02- How to Live a Consecrated Life

26m

03- How to Navigate Past Brick Walls

33m

04- Leadership and Time Management

24m

05 - How to Have a Powerful Life of Prayer

30m

06 - How to Have a Vibrant Devotional Life

30m

07- How to Teach an Interesting Sabbath School Lesson

20m

08 - Discovering Our Christian Heritage

21m

09 - Why Christianity?

21m

10- Why You Should Be Involved in Your Local Church

24m

11- How to Experience Revival and Reformation

30m

12- How to Reach Out to Refugees and Immigrants

29m

13- How to Use Media and Art for God

20m

14 - The Power of Sharing Your Faith

22m

15 - How to Get Involved in Medical Missionary Work

17m

16 - Why You Should Volunteer for GYC

16m

17 - How to Overcome Temptation

23m

18 - The Heart of Ministry

25m

19 - How to Overcome an Ice Cream Addiction

17m

20 - How to be a Part of Total Member Involvement

21m

21 - How to Create a Social Media Ministry

22m

22 - Coming Out Ministries: Sexual Identity & Adventism

33m

23 - How to Live Dangerously for God

32m

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