Door to door evangelization

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Most definately. For anyone who has skipped to the last page your comment sums up the thread.They were JW’s, it was the first time I’ve encountered them personally. I didn’t know they were so common. They still haven’t been back yet it seems.
 
Now for some humor
A pastor went out one Saturday to visit his church members. At one house it was obvious that someone was home, but nobody came to the door even though the pastor had knocked several times. Finally, the pastor took out his card and wrote “Revelations 3:20” on the back of it, and stuck it in the door.

{Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and him with me.}

The next day, the card turned up in the collection plate. Below the pastor’s message was the notation “Genesis 3:10”.

{I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.}
👍:clapping::rotfl:
 
I’m glad to see Catholics taking a greater interest in door to door evangelism
Denver Archdiocese
“’Understanding the Catholic Gospel’ is preliminary training for door-to-door work,” said Cooper who has a master’s in theology. “But people can use it as a stand-alone class. … It’s for Catholics ourselves; we need to be evangelized first.”
And that Catholics also use teens to help evanglize
Door-to-door effort brings home ‘lost sheep’
Following a training session Oct. 21, a group of Life Teen volunteers, armed with parish bulletins, prayer cards and maps, set out to greet residents in the historic district surrounding Queen of Peace Parish.
First of all, evangelism does not entail bearing false witness and presenting perverted history in order to gain some members. That is not evangelism,but the work of liars.
 
By all means Catholics should not exclude Utah! Though, I expect the non-aligned are a bit hardened against door to door evangelism 😊
 
Now for some humor
A pastor went out one Saturday to visit his church members. At one house it was obvious that someone was home, but nobody came to the door even though the pastor had knocked several times. Finally, the pastor took out his card and wrote “Revelations 3:20” on the back of it, and stuck it in the door.

{Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and him with me.}

The next day, the card turned up in the collection plate. Below the pastor’s message was the notation “Genesis 3:10”.

{I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.}
I remember hearing this joke a few years ago and I actually liked the LDS version better. 😃 A young LDS couple was recently sealed in the Temple and moved to an apartment complex where they were going to be attending college. The bishop received their names that they were going to be joining his ward and he wanted to drop in and introduce himself. When he got to the door and knocked, he thought he heard someone but no one came. He took out his card and wrote “Revelations 3:20” on the back of it, and stuck it in the door.

{Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and him with me.}

The following Sunday Sacrament Meeting, the couple handed the bishop their tithing envelope and took their seat with the congregation. As the bishop took his seat, he noticed the envelope had the verse Genesis 3:10 written on the back. He opened up his bible to look up the scripture and then busted up laughing in front of the ward…👍

While the joke can work for any church, it works best in the LDS environment…😃
 
By all means Catholics should not exclude Utah! Though, I expect the non-aligned are a bit hardened against door to door evangelism 😊
I’ve heard of the Legion of Mary making massive door-to-door efforts in SLC in the past and having success with that but that’s coming from my priest who has had moved to Utah during his younger days.

I’ve done door-to-door evangelization in my community. Most are surprised to see that their are Catholics that do that. 👍
 
Kathleen, I’d love to see your source for such claim. My understanding is Christ was explicit in asking the opposite. If the early Christians did not visit homes or speak in public spaces, how did they do it?
She didn’t say that they never visited private homes, or never preached in public places. She said they never went “door to door” invading people’s privacy, uninvited. Nor did they stand in the middle of a marketplace or on a street corner, bellowing their message at everyone that walked by, like the obnoxious people that wave placards and scream that everyone’s going to hell unless they ‘repent’ and listen to them.

When the Apostles and Disciples went into private homes, it seems that it was usually done where a group of individuals were gathered together as a result of their preaching to someone (possibly in a public area), who would then invite them and others in the area to join them at their home to listen.
Matt 24:14 And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.
How does this quote support your argument for door to door preaching, in any way? It merely states that the Gospel will be preached all over the world. It doesn’t say anything about how that will be accomplished.
Acts 20:20-21 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
As I said, they did go into many houses to preach, but that doesn’t mean they knocked on every door in a neighborhood and gave a quick lesson at each one. They had a lot more to say than a 5 minute prepared ‘speech’ would accomplish before they moved on to the next ‘victim’.
No bible scholar I’ve seen teaches Luke 10 is against evangelizing ‘door to door’
I’m not so sure I would agree with them, and not everyone that claims to be a “Bible scholar” really is one. Most likely the ones that also preach door to door, would certainly agree with you, but what else did He mean by it?[7] And in the same house, remain, eating and drinking such things as they have: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Remove not from house to house. [8] And into what city soever you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. [9] And heal the sick that are therein, and say to them: The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
Do all door to door ‘missionaries’ heal the sick, as a sign that they’re preaching the truth? Just wondering. 🤷
 
Telstar,
I asked Kathlen to support what she said, why are you so defensive?

Also, how do you know some jews and greeks were not the same as you, and became angry at those pesky evangelists? Scripture was clear they would enter towns where their message was not welcome and they should wipe the dust from their sandles and tell them they “will go down to Hades” Ergo they were speaking their message to people that did not want to hear it.

When they first went into a town, there were no homes of believers in which to gather. Even if there were, somebody was going around and ‘inviting’ their unbelieving neighbors over for lessons, weren’t they?

Or are you suggesting they used traditional advertising and rented a theatre or some such space?

I urge you to expand your reading on this subject. The disciples did do the equivalent of evangelizing door to door, finding Greeks and Jews willing to hear their message

ps. How do you explain those modern Catholics being trained for “door to door” evangelism? I provided you with links.
 
Funny, I never had a problem getting rid of the JW people who came to my door…I just smiled, told them “We are Catholic,” they would get a funny look on their faces and turn around and walk away!

😃

Sometimes I see the Watchtower brochure laying around at a business and I always pick it up and dispose of it.

But my home handyman is a JW and we’ve had some good discussions, he thinks he’s getting to me, and I just let him talk, because he does good work otherwise, and he’s a really nice guy, although deluded by that cult.
 
Telstar,
I asked Kathlen to support what she said, why are you so defensive?
I was merely expressing an opinion about what you said to Kathleen because I thought you were misrepresenting what she actually said, and because I personally disagreed with what you said. Are you imposing your personal thread posting rules on someone else’s thread, again? Why are you always so disrespectful of others, by twisting their words to try to make them look foolish?
Also, how do you know some jews and greeks were not the same as you, and became angry at those pesky evangelists? Scripture was clear they would enter towns where their message was not welcome and they should wipe the dust from their sandles and tell them they “will go down to Hades” Ergo they were speaking their message to people that did not want to hear it.
Where did I ever say that I was angry at “pesky evangelists”? Is this another example of your twisting people’s words to make them seem foolish or inferior? I just happen to disagree with their methods because I don’t believe it’s something that anyone should take upon themselves to do. It’s presumptuous and arrogant to knock on people’s doors to try to tell them that what they already believe is wrong and what you believe is right.

In the days of the Apostles, there was no concept of invading people’s privacy by knocking on their door to preach any kind of religious beliefs in order to convert them. There were appropriate places set aside for public discussion of those types of things. Haven’t you ever heard of public forums where people went to discuss politics, philosophy and other subjects?

The Disciples were told to brush the dust from their feet, but they were never told to tell anyone that they were going to hell for not listening to them. Please, show us a specific passage where that was done, because I can’t find any. The only one that ever told anyone else that they would be going to hell, was Jesus, but that’s something that He alone will be responsible to judge. No one else has that power, or the ability to pronounce that judgement on anyone.
When they first went into a town, there were no homes of believers in which to gather. Even if there were, somebody was going around and ‘inviting’ their unbelieving neighbors over for lessons, weren’t they?

Or are you suggesting they used traditional advertising and rented a theatre or some such space?
Reading Comprehension 101 might be a good start for you, Tony. I said they probably preached to someone in a public forum and were then invited back to that person’s home. Then, the person that invited them would also invite some of their own friends and neighbors to listen to the Apostles preach. In that way, there could be a longer discussion with time for many questions and answers, as well as time for them to heal the sick (which I notice you never responded to my question about that).
I urge you to expand your reading on this subject. The disciples did do the equivalent of evangelizing door to door, finding Greeks and Jews willing to hear their message
I might urge you to do the same, because it does not say that, IMHO. Also, they certainly didn’t just limit their evangelizing to Jews and Greeks. Perhaps you should read the real Gospels a little more, to see just how far their travels actually took them.
ps. How do you explain those modern Catholics being trained for “door to door” evangelism? I provided you with links.
Both of those articles seem to refer to Catholics evangelizing fallen-away Catholics to bring them back to the Church. That’s a lot different, IMHO. Perhaps, someday, someone will come knocking on your door, too. 😃
 
Mormons dont evangelize, they proselytize.

Rumors around these parts are that the Mormon church is phasing out door to door proselytizing because it is ineffective. People just plain and simply don’t answer their doors. The majority of the time nothing comes from all the time and effort that is spent knocking on doors.
 
The Lord instructed His apostles and disciples to go light, and not to go to every door, but to say peace to the household, and if peace was return to them, they entered.

To return peace is to imply that they are of the same spirit.

It is a matter of the Lord’s own recognizing each other.

And why are the Mormons only going into very affluent neighborhoods, or placing as in my state, the state temple at the entrance into the most exclusive town in the state?

The Lord reached out to the disenfranchised, the poor.

The Catholic Church has special option for the poor, and those living a sanctified life are more drawn to areas of poverty.
 
There are several missionary instructions Jesus Himself gave with the most relevant summarized as “don’t insist with those who are not interested”. It seems he said to try a couple of times but leave if people did not listen. Considering it was repeated in three Gospels, **dealing with rejection was a big issue **😉

**Matthew 10:14 **And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.

**Mark 6:11 **And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

**Luke 9:5 **And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.

How could the church have spread without strong evangelism? I think it’s naive to image they walked into a new town and just winked over new believers, without any debate of doctrine (the big miracles were exceptions). They were on a mission from Christ.

Matt 24:14 And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.

Acts 20:20-21 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
 
Where did I ever say that I was angry at “pesky evangelists”? Is this another example of your twisting people’s words to make them seem foolish or inferior? I just happen to disagree with their methods because I don’t believe it’s something that anyone should take upon themselves to do. It’s presumptuous and arrogant to knock on people’s doors to try to tell them that what they already believe is wrong and what you believe is right.😃
My problem w/ some of them is not only this but after telling my JW family members what I believe, they will tell me “no, you don’t believe that, you actually believe…bla, bla, bla…which is wrong”

Of corse they use to be Catholic so they know better than me of what I believe. I can only assume they actually did worship Mary back then.

God bless them…
 
Another insight into ‘door to door’ from my fundamentalist days:
When I lived in Pittsburgh there was an evangelist with a “burden” for Jews. He enlisted a few of us to go door to door in a predominately Jewish neighborhood. But his method was not to confront them with the Gospel overtly.
He used a “survey” method.
The idea was to ask them general questions that would steer them in the direction of thier eternal state. But we were not to tell them we were from such and such Baptist church there to proselytize. We were to use the ‘cover’ of survey workers. When I asked about the deception of such a practice, he just said it was quite common.
I have seen JWs use the same methold. They will claim to be there to talk about any subject other than what they are actually there for.
 
My problem w/ some of them is not only this but after telling my JW family members what I believe, they will tell me “no, you don’t believe that, you actually believe…bla, bla, bla…which is wrong”

Of corse they use to be Catholic so they know better than me of what I believe. I can only assume they actually did worship Mary back then.

God bless them…
I’ve had the same kind of responses from JWs that came to my door, that were former Catholics. I was floored that they could actually tell all of those lies to my face, when they knew they were lies, and I let them know that I wasn’t happy about their deceptive methods. It really annoyed me that they were most likely doing the same things to other Catholics that weren’t as well informed about their own faith, and that it might just give them doubts about what they should really believe about the Church. :mad:

BTW: In the future, when you quote people, please, make sure that you don’t leave the emoticons in places that they were never placed in the original post. That quote from me never had that smiling face placed where it shows it in your quote. It makes it seem that I was being snarky or flippant in what I said about the “door knockers”. But, I was being very serious about that part. 😉
 
I’ve had the same kind of responses from JWs that came to my door, that were former Catholics. I was floored that they could actually tell all of those lies to my face, when they knew they were lies, and I let them know that I wasn’t happy about their deceptive methods. It really annoyed me that they were most likely doing the same things to other Catholics that weren’t as well informed about their own faith, and that it might just give them doubts about what they should really believe about the Church.
Point taken on the quotes. I’m still learning.

I would like to point out that the JW’s don’t necessarly beleive they are telling lies. They are trained and, I hate to say it, brainwashed into beliving these things. They truly believe they have the truth.
 
Another insight into ‘door to door’ from my fundamentalist days:
When I lived in Pittsburgh there was an evangelist with a “burden” for Jews. He enlisted a few of us to go door to door in a predominately Jewish neighborhood. But his method was not to confront them with the Gospel overtly.
He used a “survey” method.
The idea was to ask them general questions that would steer them in the direction of thier eternal state. But we were not to tell them we were from such and such Baptist church there to proselytize. We were to use the ‘cover’ of survey workers. When I asked about the deception of such a practice, he just said it was quite common.
I have seen JWs use the same methold. They will claim to be there to talk about any subject other than what they are actually there for.
Wow, I’m a bit shocked at the survey deception. How can one ever dig themselves out of that hole later - “the end justifies the means” fails on so many levels with Christ.
 
Wow, I’m a bit shocked at the survey deception. How can one ever dig themselves out of that hole later.
Many fundamentalist preachers have no problem lying.
I remember hearing one preacher years ago who used the old “screams from Hell” story during the invitation (Google if you are unfamiliar with it) After the service I told the preacher “you know that story is fiction…right?”
As God is my witness he said “oh yeah I know…but hey, if it wins a soul for Jesus whos gonna care?”
 
When Christ sent His apostles out, His initial instructions were for them to trust in God alone for their provisions.

Going to a house was not meant to go door to door. You have to look at the methods Christ Himself employed and He did not work openly in the streets for His voice to be heard.

The apostles were sent out to give Christ’s teachings and to cast out demons.

They were to trust in the Lord alone. If they went to a house, it was for shelter. They would break the customary bread, just as Christ did and dialogue. If the house did not accept them in peace, they were to go out and shake the dust off their feet.

Their mission was to give people God and new life, and after Pentecost their methods of preaching the Good News expanded through inspiration of the Holy Spirit…Who continues at work today.
 
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