 | |
| Abbreviation | EE |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1972 |
| Founder | D. James Kennedy |
| Type | Religious organizations |
| Purpose | Discipleship |
| Headquarters | Arden, North Carolina |
President | John B. Sorensen |
| Website | evangelismexplosion |
Evangelism Explosion (EE) is a Christian evangelistic discipleship ministry and training program. [1] [2]
Evangelism Explosion was started in 1962 by D. James Kennedy, senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. [3] Evangelism Explosion became an incorporated organization in 1972. [3]
In 1996, Tyndale House, published the 4th edition of Evangelism Explosion authored by D. James Kennedy on witnessing as a way of life, which was first published in January, 1970. [4]
In 1997, Evangelism Explosion published the results of a study which shows that the method was viewed as "confrontational evangelism". As a result of this, Evangelism Explosion announced that it was "changing its approach to emphasize relationship-building and discipling new believers." [5]
Evangelism Explosion has been published in a number of different forms, including Kids' EE, Hope For Kids in partnership with OneHope [6] , Seniors' EE, Deaf EE, Classic EE, Faith Talks, EE ChangeMakers [7] , Equip America [8] , Prison EE, Weavers, Glasses For Missions, EE for Generation, and XEE. [9] The latter is designed especially for members of Generations X and Y.
Evangelism Explosion is best known for its two "diagnostic questions" that users can ask non-Christians as a means of determining a "person's spiritual health", [10] and of stimulating an evangelistic conversation:
After the diagnostic questions, the evangelist is encouraged to explain the gospel in terms of grace, man, God, Christ, and faith. [11]
Evangelism Explosion's materials have been translated into over seventy languages. [3] Jeff Noblit suggests that it is "probably the most used and copied soul-winning training course ever embraced by Southern Baptists," [12] while Stan Guthrie suggests that it is "the best known and most widely used evangelistic training curriculum in church history." [13] It is used by over 20,000 churches worldwide. [14]
Evangelism Explosion officials claim that millions of people have come to Christ using the program. [13] In 2011, 324,000 people worldwide were trained in the program, while over 7.25 million people reportedly made a profession of faith as a result of its use. [15] Five years later, the organization claimed 10.7 million people professed faith in Christ in 2016. [16]
The spread of Evangelism Explosion materials have been remarkable as it has covered almost every continent and every island across the globe from the founding church in Florida to as far as the Fiji Islands Archived 2013-04-22 at the Wayback Machine .
David L. Larsen suggests that Evangelism Explosion has "brought a quickening of the evangelistic pulse", and has "provided a most helpful and practical vehicle for witness." Larsen notes, however, that "not everyone is comfortable" with "its more vigorous 'button-holing'." [17]
In a study done among non-Christian Thai people, all of them spoke negatively about the witnessing approach of EE. One respondent said,
I would be upset. It is ridiculous and strange. I do not know who will die first, the interrogator or me. I would simply walk away. I do not want anyone to talk about death. It is a depressive issue. [18]
To be born again, or to experience the new birth, is in the Holy Bible, and does not have a religion. Being born again refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and separately caused by the operation of the Holy Spirit, and it occurs when one is baptized in water. It is a core doctrine of the denominations of the Anabaptist, Moravian, Methodist, Baptist, Plymouth Brethren and Pentecostal Churches along with all other evangelical Christian denominations. All of these Churches strongly believe Jesus's words in the Gospels: "You must be born again before you can see, or enter, the Kingdom of Heaven". Their doctrines also mandate that to be both "born again" and "saved", one must have a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation, a schism in the Western Church. Today, it is largely represented by the Continental, Presbyterian, and Congregational traditions, as well as parts of the Anglican and Baptist traditions.
In Christianity, evangelism or witnessing is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is sometimes associated with Christian missions.
The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is an international Holiness–Pentecostal Christian denomination, and the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi-ethnic religious organization, it has a predominantly African American membership based within the United States. The international headquarters is in Memphis, Tennessee. The current Presiding Bishop is Bishop John Drew Sheard Sr., who is the Senior Pastor of the Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ of Detroit, Michigan. He was elected as the denomination's leader on March 27, 2021.
Edward Michael Bankes Green was a British theologian, Anglican priest, Christian apologist and author of more than 50 books.
Signs and wonders refers to experiences that are perceived to be miraculous as being normative in the modern Christian experience, and is a phrase associated with groups that are a part of modern charismatic movements and Pentecostalism. This phrase is seen multiple times throughout the Bible to describe the activities of the early church, and is historically recorded as continuing, at least in practice, since the time of Christ. The phrase is primarily derived from Old and New Testament references and is now used in the Christian and mainstream press and in scholarly religious discourse to communicate a strong emphasis on recognizing perceived manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the contemporary lives of Christian believers. It also communicates a focus on the expectation that divine action would be experienced in the individual and corporate life of the modern Christian church, and a further insistence that followers actively seek the "gifts of the Spirit".
Hyper-Calvinism is a branch of Protestant theology that places strong emphasis on supralapsarianism, or salvation from eternity, where the atonement of Christ was and is difficult for the non-elect to understand, where man has little to do with his salvation, there being nothing man can do to resist being saved, wherein evangelism was given lower emphasis as compared to traditional Calvinism, and where assurance of salvation was felt within a person, identified by introspection.
Dennis James Kennedy was an American Presbyterian pastor, evangelist, Christian broadcaster, and author. He was the senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from 1960 until his death in 2007. Kennedy also founded Evangelism Explosion International, Coral Ridge Ministries, the Westminster Academy in Fort Lauderdale, the Knox Theological Seminary, radio station WAFG-FM, and the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, a socially conservative political group.
Robert L. Sumner was an American Christian author, Baptist pastor, evangelist and editor of the fundamentalist newspaper called The Biblical Evangelist.
The Sinner's prayer is an evangelical Baptist term referring to any prayer of repentance, prayed by individuals who feel sin in their lives and have the desire to form or renew a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is a popular prayer in evangelical circles. It is not intended as liturgical like a creed or a confiteor said or chanted within the Catholic Mass, but rather, is intended to be an act of initial conversion to Christianity; at the same time, it is roughly analogous to the Catholic Act of Contrition, though the theology behind each is markedly different, due to the intrinsically different views of salvation between Catholicism and Protestantism. While some Christians see reciting the Sinner's prayer as the moment defining one's salvation, others see it as a beginning step of one's lifelong faith journey.
Christians have used many different approaches to spread Christianity via the practice of evangelism. Christianity began with only a few different evangelistic approaches, but over the years, many different forms of evangelism have been employed by various groups to spread their faith. Many of these forms of evangelism are often employed in only certain parts of the world by Christians in different geographical areas. In particular, most new approaches to evangelism today have arisen out of Europe or the United States, especially when new technologies are used for the effort of evangelism.
Earl Eugene "Gene" Edwards was an American house church planter, a Christian author, and a former Southern Baptist pastor and evangelist. A graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he was an outspoken proponent of the house church concept in the United States.
Thom S. Rainer is an American writer, researcher, speaker, and former president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. He is the author of several best selling books, including I Am a Church Member, named a CBA #1 Best Seller (2013–2014) and Monthly Best Seller (2013–2015). It was also recognized as a Monthly Best Seller (2013–2015), a Gold Medallion Award winner (2015), and a Platinum Book Award winner (2016) by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, and recognized by Leadership Journal as Best of the Best in the Leaders Outer Life category (2013); Autopsy of a Deceased Church, Christian Retailing's Best Book of the Year: Church and Culture (2015); and Simple Church, the 2007 Christianity Today Book Award winner in the Church/Pastoral Leadership category. After resigning as CEO, Rainer remained as the Chief Advisory Officer On September 29, 2020, it was announced that Lifeway filed a lawsuit against Rainer after he allegedly violated a non-compete agreement by publishing a book with Tyndale Press, but on September 30 it was announced they decided to seek a non-litigation resolution and October 5 it was announced that Rainer agreed to end his relationship with Tyndale and avoid litigation
Elmer Leon Towns is an American Christian academic, pastor and writer who co-founded Liberty University alongside Jerry Falwell in 1971. He is a speaker on the principles of church growth, church leadership, Christian education, Sunday school, prayer and fasting.
Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church is a Christian megachurch within the Presbyterian Church in America located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was founded in 1960 by D. James Kennedy (1930–2007), who served as the church's senior pastor until shortly before his death.
The Centre for Missional Leadership(CML) was a theological centre specialising in applied theology. It was based in Watford, 20 miles northwest of central London, England.
The Angami Baptist Church Council (ABCC) is one of the 20 associations in the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC). Through the NBCC, the ABCC is part of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). Its headquarters, Kohima, is the second station of the American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society in Nagaland, India.
The child evangelism movement is an American Christian evangelism movement founded in 1937 by Jesse Irvin Overholtzer, who founded the Christian organization Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF). It focuses on the 4/14 window, which centers on evangelizing children between the ages of 4 and 14 years. The movement focuses on targeting children, as they are considered both the most receptive to evangelization and the most effective at evangelizing their peer group, with groups supportive of the initiative arguing for the need to refocus evangelization efforts on the 4-14 age group worldwide.
The D. James Kennedy Center for Christian Statesmanship (CCS) is a Washington, DC-based discipleship and evangelism outreach to train and equip members of Congress, staffers and interns to be "Christian statesmen." Founded by author, pastor and television evangelist D. James Kennedy in 1995, the Center offers Bible studies, luncheons, lecture series, as well as evangelism and leadership training on Capitol Hill.