SFOI sponsors the George Whitefield Program for men who want to be full-time evangelists. For information for the upcoming truing watch this video:
Get in the Game: Preaching is “truth through personality”
Preaching is “truth through personality” which means each preacher delivers the same message except through his person that is created by the Lord. This is why there are many styles of preaching and why each preacher is able to preach in a way that is natural to himself vs. seeking to emulate another preacher.
Once you are free to preach in your God given style then you are free to refine your delivery to become more fruitful in your delivery. You will attract some people with your style and repel others but in this way all people in the world are reached. This is why one preacher can’t reach everybody. The Lord’s plan is for the world to be reached by many preachers or righteousness.
We want to be a blessing to our communities
The Apostle Paul tells Timothy in in the his first letter to Timothy in Chapter 2:1-2, “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”
It would appear there is a promise from obeying this instruction: that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
What a tremendous promise. In the midst of a dark world and the chaos it brings here is a promise to live life at peace in a godly and dignified manner. Could there be a better offering as a result of prayer? Especially if you have a family and wish them to grow up in a peaceful environment.
Have you wondered what happens to ‘all men, the kings and all who are in authority’ as a result of our prayers? Do they notice and know the Christians are praying for them? Or are our prayers intended to bless these people so that they will live more righteously and less inclined to sin?
The Apostle Paul does not say directly but since the Lord Jesus exhorts us in the Sermon on the Mount to pray for our enemies and to bless those who persecute us then it would appear the Lord Himself intends to bring forth a fruitful response as a result of our prayers. In other words our prayers, in response to the command, move the Lord to subdue the unrighteous acts of ‘all men, the kings and all who are in authority’.
The promise is not they these people become Christians but that the Lord subdues their actions, especially those that would be directed specifically at Christians, that would lead to wholesale lawlessness.
The Bible says the people rejoice when the righteous reign. People can’t live and flourish when sin and chaos abound. Therefore even non Christians would benefit from calm communities where they can live peacefully day to day, raise their children, work at their business, etc.
Thus Christian communities should be a blessing to the communities in which they live through their prayers for ‘all men, the kings and all who are in authority’.
Will you begin today to pray for these people? Will you respond to the Apostle Paul’s command and pray for them? If so, find their names on the internet, print off the list and pray for them daily.
Who would be on this list? Elected officials: the President, the Vice President, the President’s cabinet, the Governor of your state, the Lt. Governor and all the statewide elected officials, your US and state Senator and Representative, your Mayor and respective city council, your Pastor and the Pastors in your area, and anyone else who has authority in your life. Seek to have an extensive list.
As you pray for them daily the Lord will bring to mind others for you to pray for. This is life long commitment and one which will help you grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.
Don’t wait. Take action today and being to pray for ‘all men, the kings and all who are in authority’.
Commit to study
The Apostle Peter says in Acts 6:4 the Apostles were to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word of God.
This is a lifelong commitment to prayer, daily prayer (see Apostle Paul regarding praying without ceasing, pray for those in authority and giving thanks in all circumstance) and to study of the Word that you might be a fruitful minister.
Of course this is not about studying alone because your study of the Word is to be applied in your ministry to lost souls.
However, it is a commitment to study that you can know the depths of the Word, the implications of its message and the theology behind it.
To that end SFOI is committed to encouraging you to pursue a lifetime of study. To accomplish that goal SFOI does two things:
1] Has relationships with a variety of Seminaries and ministries who teach provide various levels of study to refer you to.
2] To affiliate with other entities to directly offer you Biblical teaching and training.
You can see all of the above on these two pages:
https://sfoi.org/samuel-davies-school-of-evangelism-biblical-studies/
https://sfoi.org/theological-studies-learning-community/
You are highly encouraged to pursue deeper study as you purse a deep prayer life. Most well-known evangelists, Pastors and teachers were learned men. Learned meaning by their study of the Word and theology the Lord gave them His wisdom which directly led to their fruitful ministries.
Get in the Game: You go to want it….
In ministry life there is the discussion of calling and equipping. Rightfully so: there are men who are called to particular work in the body. [See Ephesians 4:11]. These divine callings do lead to men entering the work of the ministry.
However, at some point a man has to want to do the work. He has to burn from within to persevere through the trials and temptations to do the work. Ministry life is demanding. There are the lost that need to hear the Gospel, Saints who need to be discipled, administrative needs and financial requirements. Plus the resistance from the enemy, sin within and without the camp and personal family demands. It’s enough to make you quit.
However Paul this, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary [Galatians 6:9]”; “But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good [II Thess 3:13]”; “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart [Hebrews 12:3]”; and John in Revelation writes, “you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary [Rev. 2:2-4]”.
The Scriptures acknowledge the temptation to quit and exhort you to persevere. So while you may have a calling to a particular work you still must find the desire within to persevere in the work of the calling to the end. Paul said, “the love of Christ constrained him” apparently to persevere. Either way “You got to want it” or you will grow weary and quit.
Get in the Game: The Work of the Evangelist
There is one office that is uniquely and singularly designed to take the Gospel to the lost and that is the office of evangelist. The office of pastor and teacher are not designed to take the Gospel to the lost.
The church has one office that moves the Kingdom of God forward and that is the evangelist
A church without the Spirit of evangelism is not a Great Commission church and the Great Commission is the driving force of the church.
NBA All-Star ’17
The NBA All-Star Weekend will be held in New Orleans, LA February 17 – 19, 2017.
Information about the Weekend
1) Daily ministry will occur in downtown New Orleans.
2) In the evenings ministry will be at Smoothie King Center. As soon as the NBA announces the times these events begin they will be posted.
Daily Ministry Schedule:
Friday: Noon – 8:00 PM
Saturday: Noon – 8:00 PM
Sunday: Noon – 8:00 PM
Accommodations: House in downtown New Orleans. Location will be given upon registration. Men only.
Speakers: Saturday morning 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Dr. Preston Nix
Professor of Evangelism and Evangelistic Preaching, occupying the Roland Q. Leavell Chair of Evangelism; Director of the Leavell Center for Evangelism and Church Health; Chairman of the Pastoral Ministries Division.
Cost: $100 per person for three day and three nights. Includes accommodations & two meals per day. Payments are made here: SFOI Payments. Look for the NBA ’17 selection.
Registration information: Registration is 9:00 AM – Noon on Friday.
Arrival and departure instructions: Plan to arrive at the House Friday by Noon. Departure is late Sunday evening or Monday morning.
Ministry Team
Bill Adams – Atlanta, GA
Bill Adams was raised in the church, Baptist and Methodist, and has never in his life not known of or considered God in his life. In 1988 upon graduation from Belmont University’s Masters in Business program the Lord personally entered Bill’s life and called Bill to follow Him. That began a 29 year journey of following Jesus Christ and growing in the grace and knowledge of Him.
In 1995 the Lord called Bill to begin to go into the highways and hedges to preach the Word and in 2000 Bill became a full-time evangelist.
In the early years Bill preached at seemingly every concert, sporting event, parade and festival in Atlanta and simultaneously the Lord led him to travel to major sporting events like the Super Bowl, Final Four and Olympics to preach.
In 2007 Sports Fan Outreach [SFOI] was born as an effort to bring more Saints with him to preach at these sporting events and now through the SFOI George Whitefield program Bill is seeking men who believed they are called into full-time evangelism to join him to saturate the Western World with the Gospel.
Over the years millions of souls throughout the Western World have heard the Word through Bill’s preaching and the great delight of his life is knowing and preaching Jesus Christ crucified.
Bill is married and has four children. He is a commissioned evangelist of the Diocese of the Central States of the Reformed Episcopal Church, is a member of Church of the Apostles in Atlanta, GA and is presently enrolled in the Masters of Theology program at Union School of Theology [UST]. You can read Bill’s frequent theological thoughts at his blog: Bill Adams’ Theological Writings – View from an Evangelist.
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Dan Davis – Seymour, WI
Saved by the hand of God shortly after my wife was saved some 21 yrs ago now. We have been married for 24 years and have had one daughter who’s recently married to a godly young man. I’ve worked for Wisconsin in the highway department for about 20 years and now serve in the area of roadway maintenance. I currently serve in our new local home fellowship “Word from the Barn” as the Life Events Deacon for the last 3yrs. I’ve been sharing my faith through testimony and tracts for about 20 years but only 3 years of experience in open air preaching. I’m looking forward to laboring alongside my fellow brothers and sisters in the faith in a much larger venue SBO 16 and declaring the Glorious Gospel of our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Richard Kellar – Bogalusa, LA
I am part of an evangelistic team that regularly witnesses on a local college campus. We also open-air/tract in the French Quarter, New Orleans, local parades and festivals. I first served with SFOI during Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans and Final Four 2014 in Dallas. It is a blessing to meet so many individuals from all walks of life who all share the common goal of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. I look forward to serving with everyone at Super Bowl LI in Houston.
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Lucas Mann – Clinton, SC
Greetings! I am Rev. Lucas Jackson Mann and I am an evangelist, preacher, teacher, and servant of Jesus Christ. I grew up in a Christian family and, at age 7, made a profession of faith in Christ. However, I was not truly saved. Instead, I was falsely converted and continued to live in blatant sin, all while thinking I was a Christian. At the age of about 15, God powerfully came into my life and saved me! My life was amazingly changed, I grew so much and changed so much. I had indeed truly believed in Jesus for my salvation. Ever since then, I have been serving the Lord through evangelism, preaching, and teaching, all for the glory of God! I have been ordained into the ministry by my home church, First Baptist Church Cross Hill and I am in the process of getting my ministry, Gospel Of Grace Ministries, started, all by God’s amazing and unfailing grace. Currently, I am serving the Lord in while staying in the Orlando area and enjoy evangelizing in the streets, the local abortion mill, sports areas, and even a campground in the area, anywhere that I can preach Christ and Him crucified and raised from the grave. Praise God for His wonderful grace!
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Joseph R. Toy, Jr. – Folcroft, PA
Joe grew up in Shillington, PA and attended First EC Church of Reading. He is a 1978 graduate of Governor Mifflin High School. In 1982, he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from Millersville University. In the spring of 1982 as a senior in college, Joe committed his life to Jesus Christ. Upon graduation, Joe began his career as an accountant in Trenton, NJ. During this time, he attended Newtown Community Church in Newtown, PA. While attending this church, Joe felt the call to full time ministry. He left his job to attend Moody Bible Institute for a 3-week seminar on Urban Evangelism with plans to attend Evangelical Seminary in the fall of 1984. When Joe returned from Moody, he began a street ministry in the city of Reading called Inner City Campaigners. From this street ministry, an outreach to children and teens began at First EC of Reading called The Source. This ministry continued from 1984 to 1988 when Joe moved to Philadelphia, PA. Joe began his theological studies at Evangelical in 1984 and ended in 1987. During this time, Joe became a commissioned missionary and a licensed preacher in the Evangelical Congregational Church in May of 1985.
In 1985, Joe and Wendy met at Evangelical Seminary while working on his Masters of Divinity studies. They were married at the chapel at Evangelical on March 22, 1986. Joe and Wendy have five sons. Jared(1987), Seth(1989), Ethan(1989), Aaron(1991) and Adam(1984). The boys were primarily home schooled from 1991 to 2013. Both Jared and Seth serve in The U.S. Coast Guard. Ethan is a career firefighter/paramedic in Currituck County, North Carolina. Aaron is employed at Wellesley Assisted care Facility as a food services manager. Adam serves in the U.S. Air Force. Joe and Wendy have been blessed with six grandchildren named: Forest, Joseph Conner, Morgan, Savannah and Jackson.
In 1988, Joe and Wendy moved to Philadelphia to begin an association With Open Air Campaigners. During this time, they worked in an internship status with this mission board. The ministry of Open Air Campaigners is to do the work of Evangelism and to train others in Evangelism in an urban setting. This association lasted until 1992 when Joe resigned because of doctrinal issues that conflicted with the EC Church. Upon resolution of the proposed doctrinal changes within OAC, Joe served as an associate evangelist with them until 2000. Joe now serves on the board of directors of OAC, Inc. At this point Joe became one of the few Evangelical Congregational Church Denominational missionaries, which is a status that continued until 2008. In 1993, Joe established a ministry called Open Air Ministries-Philadelphia. Now Joe has formed his own 501c non-profit corporation called Open Air Ministries, Inc from 2009 until the present day.
Joe’s ministry is primarily evangelistic by nature. Outreach is conducted at bus stops, subways, college campuses, center city, parades, events, neighborhoods, parks and other areas in and around the Metro Philadelphia Area. Joe does weekly outreach in Camden, NJ and in the summer conducts outreach at the New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware beach resorts. Through the years, Joe has been involved in the Philadelphia Port Ministry from 1988 to 2001. Also, much outreach has been done in inner city neighborhoods with children. Joe was a co-pastor for Metro Kids an outdoor kid’s church in various locations in Philadelphia from 2007 to 2011. Many times a year Joe travels to national events such as Mardi Gras, Indy 500, Spring Break Florida, Senior Week in Ocean City, MD and others to share the gospel. Another large part of Joe’s work is training others in evangelism. Joe spends a number of weeks each year training youth groups, college students, missionary candidates and others in evangelism. Some of these groups spend time with in Philly for a day or a week. The summer is especially busy with hosting these teams, including a number of EC Church youth groups. Joe and Wendy and Aaron live in Folcroft, which is in Delaware County, PA. Folcroft is located very close to the Philadelphia Airport. They attend Crossroads Community Church, which is in Upper Darby.
Joseph Toy, Jr.
438 Folcroft Ave. Folcroft, PA 19032
610-583-2266/610-324-1671(cell)
oamphilly@aol.com/www.oamphilly.org
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Zoe White – Tickfaw, LA
Hi, my name is Zoe (pronounced “Zo”) and I’m 31. I reside in Tickfaw, Louisiana with my wife and 3 kids. (Lord-willing, we’ll bring home our next baby in April 2017!) I was raised Catholic in south Louisiana near New Orleans. By God’s grace, He saved me at the age of 14 at a youth retreat in Florida. Sadly, I wasn’t really taught the Gospel and the beautiful doctrines of grace until I went to college. Through collegiate conferences, I was introduced to the reality of unengaged, unreached people groups with little hope to hear the Gospel in their lifetime. Missions has gripped my heart ever since. A couple years ago my wife and I were offered internship positions with a missions agency reaching South Asians in London, but that fell through. I’m thankful now that God changed our plans, because this year, God has introduced us to the ministry of Ray Comfort at Living Waters. God used their teachings on biblical evangelism to convict me of how little I shared the gospel and how unbiblical my methods were. I hand out tracts regularly now, have many fruitful evangelistic conversations with folks (including the scary talks with family members!), and I’m preparing to open-air preach for the first time. I am now working to complete my college degree so that seminary is an option in the near future. All glory to God for His grace! It is such a joy to proclaim to others the Good News that God is reconciling sinners to Himself through Christ!
Mark Yoho – Sugar Valley, GA
Mark was raised in a non-Christian home in Canton Ohio with a little exposure to Roman Catholicism. Upon Graduation from High school in 1983 he served 3 years active duty military in the US Army. Shortly after discharge, the Nation being in an economic recession, Mark moved to the Atlanta Georgia area seeking employment.
There he met the love of his life and they lived together for 10 years. Through alcohol, drugs, and the pursuit of personal wealth Mark suffered the loss of family and all of his possessions. It was during this time that Mark walked into Newtown Baptist Church in Calhoun GA and heard Pastor David Ray preach a sermon titled, “You must be born again.” As soon as the invitation was given Mark met Pastor Ray in the altar where he repented of sin and trusted CHRIST as his personal Savior. On March 29, 1998 Mark Yoho was born again and life began to radically change. Mark began to share his newfound faith in CHRIST immediately and continued to make it a lifestyle.
Seven months later GOD restored his relationship with the love of his life, he and Gynnette were finally and forever married. Four years later, February 17, 2002, GOD called Mark to preach as an evangelist. As an evangelist Mark has traveled all across the US conducting evangelistic outreaches, teaching evangelism, and preaching revivals. Much of the evangelistic outreaches have been in the inner city and at major events. Since December 1, 2007 Mark has served GOD as a full time vocational evangelist in his own ministry, the Fourth Watch Evangelistic Ministry www.fourthwatchministry.com.
Mark and Gynnette live in the little community of Sugar Valley, nestled in the mountains of North Georgia. They have two married children and their home church is Grove Level Baptist Church in Dalton GA www.grovelevel.org
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Get in the Game: Evangelists are in the sin and grace business
Evangelists are single-mindedly in the sin and grace business. Why? Because man is born a sinner and sinners can’t fellowship with a holy God. To be with God and in His presence you must be like Him and that means become righteous as He is righteous.
So evangelists go into the streets and lanes and highways and hedges of life, in other words outside the church building, to preach to men that they are sinners and need to grace of God in Jesus Christ to become righteous.
Christian evangelists don’t preach that man can amend himself with good deeds and become righteous but preach that righteousness comes by faith in Jesus Christ whose righteousness is imputed to those souls who believe in Him.
Evangelists are looking for unbelievers to tell of this good news that unrighteous man can be come righteous by faith in Jesus Christ and to that end we are in the business of pointing out sin so that the grace of Christ can be applied to those who believe.
The elders and deacons of the church, however, are engaged in the discipleship of believers which has for more application involved while again, evangelists are confronting unbelievers of their sin and therefore lack of faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
What skills does an evangelist need to possess? Discernment and communication. He needs to be able to communicate the Gospel in a way that unbelievers hear of their present plight and the consequences of their unbelief and to be to discern what the sinner is actually saying when they reply to the preaching.
In all circumstances the evangelist must be cognizant of sin, its effects and how it manifests itself in the lives of unbelievers and how to apply the grace of Christ to remove the effects of sin and therefore bring reconciliation with the true and living God.
Get in the Game: Perseverance
An evangelist must determine to persevere in the work because of the hope that perseverance is designed to bring to us. Romans 5:3-5 demonstrate this hope:
“3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Verse 4 tells us the fruit of perseverance is hope: hope in the promises of God. Obviously if the Scriptures exhort us to persevere then there are temptations, pressures, etc. for us to not persevere. If we don’t persevere then our hope is limited and our faith reduced. In other words there are consequences to not persevering.
Life is created by our great God to challenge us so we will grow. If you don’t respond to the challenges you will not grow. You see this in professional sports. There are many talented athletes but they all must respond to the challenge of the game or they will not play for long. Some respond with greater effort than others and they rise to the level of ‘stars’. The point is even at the highest level of athletic life people are still challenged. There is no end to it.
So an evangelist must resolve two things: 1) He will be challenged. 2) He must respond and take on the challenge. If an evangelist will agree to these then he can persevere and develop habits and tactics to overcome the challenges and develop into a fruitful, hopeful evangelist.
There are two categories of our life as an evangelist that demand our efforts:
- The work of an evangelist which is to be a man of the Word and Prayer. In other words you must study and know the Scriptures and pray (see Acts 6:4).
- The evangelist must provide for his family. This is one reason evangelists raise money to support their work because it simultaneously provides for their family.
If an evangelist will do these two things then he can have a fruitful, long-term ministry of hope that leads to thousands upon thousands of souls hearing the Gospel.
Again, the key is to resolve to persevere. The challenges will never cease. But one day you will come to the end of your life and you will have the opportunity then to reflect whether you responded to the challenges of evangelism and persevered in hope to the end that souls were saved or you did not respond to the challenges and you quit. Can you imagine coming to the judgment seat having quit. There will be no sufficient excuse then for why you did not continue in the work of an evangelist. There will be only regret. Don’t quit. Persevere. Live and labor in hope.
Romans 2:5-6: 6 who [God] will render to each person according to his deeds: 7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;
Get in the Game: Underestimating the power of sin
One of the paradoxes of sin is that we underestimate its power. All we’ve ever known is to be sinners and live in a world of sinners and therefore perceive life as it is as normal.
As evidence of the power of sin man in this natural state does not perceive his need for a savior. Man knows he’s not perfect but that does not translate into the quest for the salvation of his soul. This scenario is due to sin and its power. It is not due to man’s human circumstances but to sin.
The power of sin demands a great Savior who can free a soul that is dead from the power of sin. That’s why the Father sent His Son into the world to save sinners for Jesus Christ alone is that great Savior who can free souls from the power of sin.
This is why evangelists preach that Jesus Christ was crucified for sinners because He alone is able to free souls from the power of sin.
Yet even in the midst of this universal and ongoing scenario, that man is subject to the power of sin, Christians and the church are most often silent on man’s need to be released from the power of sin or as it is often referred to raised from the dead. The reason is sin and its lingering effects cloud our understanding of just how dead in sin we were prior to salvation.
The Apostle Paul represents the most mature Christian theology. As you read his writings you see a man who understood how dead in sin the world is and what the power of sin did to our understanding of God.
The point today is that you might reconsider your perspective on the power of sin and if you do not see Jesus Christ as a great and the only Savior to ask why.
What can you do to gain a right perspective on the power of sin and the Good News that Jesus Christ saves souls from this power?
- Read your Bible and pray daily. At least read and pray for 30 minutes each. Remember you are fighting against sin which is the second greatest power in the world.
- Reject all unnecessary worldly voices and activities. Paul writes that to be a friend with the world is to be at enmity with God. Do what you have to do to provide for your family but you are not obligated to participate in works of darkness, idolatry or other worldly affairs activities. Paul even says in Romans if you participate in unrighteous acts you will become a slave of them again. Learn what activities you do that awaken the sin in your old man.
- Engage in the Great Commission. Remember Christians are raised into a new life and therefore should realize that the world does lie in wickedness and there are other lost souls like they were who need to hear the Gospel. Find a church or ministry that is engaged in preaching Gospel so souls dead in sin can be raised into newness of life.
- These are marks of the new life. You must understand that your perspective on life is corrupted because of sin. Don’t underestimate sin and live your Christian life in a lukewarm state. Live it as one released from the power of sin to know the true and living God.
SFOI ARCHIVE 