Jesus the Hound of Heaven
Evangelism is one of the important spiritual gifts listed in the New Testament. Speaking of the true church as the “Body of Christ” (an organism not an organization), Ray Stedman likened evangelism to the digestive system of the body which makes food (not part of the body) into parts of the body. There are 19 or so gifts given to the followers of Jesus when they first enter God’s family. But evangelists are very special, (think of Billy Graham, his son Franklin, Greg Laurie, Ron Ritchie, Ray Comfort in our day). The great Apostles of Jesus in the early church were marvelous evangelists, not only Matthew, Mark, Luke and John but Peter, Paul, Stephen (the first martyr,) and many others. Evangelists are not only in the public eye---actually most Christians come into the Body of Christ one-on-one because some Christian has loved them and shared the content of the gospel message with them. The Apostle Paul urged Timothy to “do the work of an evangel...