Kimberly Reisman ~ Evangelism In Between
Dr. Kimberly Reisman explores the call to pursue evangelism “in between.”
May 9, 2015
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Dr. Kimberly Reisman explores the call to pursue evangelism “in between.”
What should evangelism look like in the 21s century? In this Seven Minute Seminary video, Dr. Kimberly Reisman explains that though evangelism is always contextual, it can and should be defined by our posture before others. She proposes the posture of embrace and explains how this relates to God’s work in evangelism.
The painting Reflections, celebrates the awesome process of changing into who we are and whose we are, God’s children, made in his image. God finds such delight in this process, especially when we reflect and acknowledge his grace within the journey.
Since 2005, I’ve been working to empower people to take the next step on their journey of faith – for some people that’s been a first step, for others it’s been the next of many. Now, it seems, I will be taking my own next step, and as a result, so will Wesleyan Accent.
It’s not easy to hold yourself in readiness. You have to be alert, your entire body engaged and prepared to move. You have to be focused, intent on watching for the necessary sign. You have to be willing to act, following the signal the moment it arrives.
These kinds of moments have come and gone in my ministry, and more are sure to unfold; as they do I need to ask myself, how am I treading? Lightly? With grace? Out in the open? Is it about me? Or am I the errand runner for the Spirit I need to be? Sadly for me, as my ministry moves forward, people are destined to discover my clay feet – if they haven’t already. I can only pray that others won’t miss the brightness because they are looking only at me.
I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity, the Three in One and One in Three – the space-maker who is the source of my freedom, the one who empowers me to defy the forces that seek to restrict me to unbending characterizations or rigid roles.
Here’s the deal with the whole alarm clock thing – the wake part is God’s work, and God did a pretty good job of it in releasing all that God energy into the world 2000 years ago. But now it’s the get up part. The question is, are we going to sleep right through?
When I recall Abdul Rahman, I recall the magnificent love offered in Jesus Christ – a love that comes to us freely and waits for our response without pressure or manipulation; a love that respects our sacred right of refusal; a love that Abdul Rahman was willing to die for. And that’s a love worth sharing.
Why did they leave him at the gate? Why not take him all the way in? Did they not understand that he had spiritual needs as well?
I often talk about “speaking faith,” which for me means (among other things) giving life to our ideas and beliefs by speaking them aloud. Moving them from the realm of our personal, interior selves to an external realm where they can become infectious and dynamic. That’s the kind of thing I want to happen to my prayers, to my fasting, to whatever self-denial I decide to undertake.
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