E-Tools Newsletter | December 2011

By God’s grace and for His glory, 2011 has been largely a year of “more for the Lord” in The Cross Current! More saints equipped for the work of evangelism, more believers faithfully witnessing with family and friends, more Gospel messages preached, more salvation stories shared – the Lord is doing more for His glory with TCC!

Though our team could write an entire book of testimonies of God’s faithfulness demonstrated in and through TCC this year, this opening segment will share just a few of our ministry highlights from 2011. Please note that our prayer requests related to 2012 are listed at the end of the newsletter.

Our value refined

This year brought a couple new board members to add to the existing experience and skillset necessary to take TCC to the next level of ministry. We also enjoyed our very first board retreat together!

The highlight of the retreat was the finalization of a very clear statement of the specific value that The Cross Current has been called to bring to the Body of Christ: We equip by example by providing onsite and offsite training that will help your leaders train and sustain your entire church to normalize sharing the Gospel in all your personal and community relationships.

As a next step towards fulfilling this vision, in 2012 TCC will provide very specialized “Church Champion Training” to a small group of evangelists from several local churches in Canada. More detailed information on this groundbreaking event is available in our 2012 prayer requests below.

Persecuted for preaching Christ

By God’s grace, He has allowed several members of our team to preach Christ in many major cities across North America. However, this year for the very first time, the Lord saw fit to lift our ministry leader to a new level of persecution when he was sucker punched for preaching the Gospel open air – right in our hometown of London, Ontario!

After the shock of the experience wore off (and his face felt better), TCC president and program host Cory McKenna says: “God gently reminded me again that the battle for souls is very real and very dangerous. Further, we know that the persecution of the faithful only escalates from here. So let’s pray for the boldness necessary to preach the word in season and out of season, and for the willingness to pay the ultimate price for preaching the Gospel, because to live is Christ but to die is gain!”

Click here for the full story from our June 2011 Newsletter

Creation Super Conference

This past August, Cory McKenna had the privilege of speaking at the very first Creation Super Conference in partnership with Creation Ministries International (CMI). Not only were there hundreds of Christ-followers in attendance onsite at Muskoka Bible Conference grounds, but over 20,000 more believers were watching the conference live online as well!

Here are just a couple comments from the CMI leadership about Cory’s session called: “Bringing Truth to Life and Witness”:

“Cory’s presentation on evangelism toward the end of our Super Conference was one of the most appreciated sessions in the entire Conference. Many people connected with Cory’s Bible-based, practical teaching on how to effectively evangelize, highlighted by his abundant experience “in the fields” talking with people about their need for Christ.”~ Richard Fangrad, CEO of CMI Canada

“One session I heard cited by numerous attendees was Cory McKenna’s session on evangelism.  A recurring theme mentioned was how much they valued being shown how to use the information they were being taught throughout the week in witnessing and that they appreciated CMI including sessions the emphasizing sharing our faith.”~ Calvin Smith, CMI Speaker & Co-host of Creation Magazine LIVE!

Cory is also scheduled to speak again at another groundbreaking CMI conference in Red Deer, Alberta in October 2012.

Click here for the full story from our August 2011 Newsletter

180 movie outreach

By now you’ve likely seen the controversial “180” movie from Ray Comfort and Living Waters (LW). “180” is a documentary comparing the holocaust of World War II with a much larger modern-day holocaust, namely, abortion.

In conjunction with the official public release of the video, the LW leadership team requested the deployment of local evangelism teams to invade campuses in as many major cities as possible all on the same day – Tuesday, October 25th, 2011.

In gracious support of this effort, LW donated 3000 videos to our ministry for the sole purpose of having our team distribute them and share the Gospel at the University of Western Ontario (UWO). However, due to the fact that the continent-wide project had to be a “sneak attack” to avoid enemy opposition or shut-down, the outreach date was not allowed to be shared with anyone outside of the immediate evangelism teams involved.

By His grace and for His glory, the mission was accomplished – and not just here in London but around the world as well!

Click here for the full story from our October 2011 Newsletter

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WE WISH YOU A MERRY…WHAT?

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Ever experienced the Christ of Christmas causing offense in our “happy holiday” culture? If you intentionally interrupt the holiday hustle and bustle with a touch of very targeted open air preaching you sure will!

Throughout the entire month of December, our extreme street team made the most of every opportunity God gave us to glorify His Son as the real reason for the Christmas season.

Click on the Vimeo pic above to watch the funny way that this holiday heckler wishes us a “Merry Christmas”. On a side note, if this is what he has to say “in love” (his words, not ours), I’d really like to hear what he has to say “in hate”!

Click here to watch another heckler who almost packed a mean “holiday punch”!

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MAKING A PLEDGE FOR PERSONAL WITNESSING

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Ask any evangelist and they’ll tell you that they’d rather witness to any stranger on the street than a lost loved one. Why? Because not only do we stand to lose something huge, but the fact that they’ve seen all the dramatic changes in our lives makes them the scariest people of all to share Christ with! Yet, the fact remains that there are no other people in the world with whom we want to experience Eternal Life with more.

The Witnessing Workshop Local Church Training System is a DVD-based curriculum that has been customized to help you leverage the local missions experience of The Cross Current to “normalize” sharing your faith in all of your personal relationships and beyond.

The fifth video session of the Witnessing Workshop suggests seven simple keys for being a bold and faithful witness with those who matter most in your world – your loved ones. This training will help you become more comfortable sharing Christ with your family and friends through the use of your Gospel Testimonial – your story of how the Lord has led you towards the Cross and beyond. Click on the Vimeo pic to the left to watch “Session 5: Witnessing Field” for yourself!

Click here to order your own Witnessing Workshop Training System

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MAKING EVERY DAY COUNT IN 2012!

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The passing of time can be very positive for believers, as each closing year draws us one step closer to eternal glory with Christ! And while there are many aspects of the Christian life that will continue on into the next life in heaven (worship, discipleship, fellowship – just to name a few), the fact remains that the day our lives end on earth will be the day that our opportunities to share the Gospel also end – forever.

One principle we have personally learned at TCC for bringing more biblical balance to life and ministry is the concept of what has been called “living in day-tight compartments”. In Matthew 6:34, Jesus warns: “…do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

It’s been appropriately said that “yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift – that’s why it’s called the present.” If you are in the habit of making New Years resolutions, there are 3 simple ways that we challenge you to make every day count in your life and witness for 2012:

1) Live every day in light of eternity

In Colossians 3:1-2, Paul writes: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

Contrary to cultural cliches, to be “heavenly minded” IS of “earthly good”! Not only does living every day in light of eternity give us the unshakable hope of glory, but it will also move us out of small, selfish thinking into the biggest picture possible when we have fears of sharing our faith!

So, as strangers of this world striving toward our heavenly home, let’s purpose in our hearts and minds to set our affections not on this life but on the life to come…every day!

2) Pray and read the Word every day

As He commissioned Joshua as successor of Moses, the Lord commanded: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:8-9)

Though the cultural-historical context of this passage is Israel finally entering their new Land of Promise, at least one biblical principle here is clear for all believers: consistently get the Word of God “in you” and obey it to overcome all fear!

God has commanded us to boldly, truthfully, and graciously preach His Gospel to every creature. So let’s commit to praying and reading His Word every day as we “go” every day!

Click here for a list of more structured Bible-reading programs for the New Year

3) Be an everyday evangelist

Have you read about D.L. Moody’s inspiring commitment to live a life of everyday evangelism? Here is a quote from Moody’s best friend, R.A. Torrey, about the of commitment of the famous preacher:

“…God used D.L. Moody…because of his consuming passion for the salvation of the lost. Mr. Moody made the resolution, shortly after he himself was saved, that he would never let twenty-four hours pass over his head without speaking to at least one person about his soul. His was a very busy life, and sometimes he would forget his resolution until the last hour, and sometims he woud get out of bed, dress, and go out and talk to someone about his sul in order that he might not let one day pass without having definitely told at least one of his fellow-mortals about his need and the Savior who could meet it.”

While very few Christ-followers will ever reach the preaching prominence of D.L. Moody, every follower of Christ can make a commitment to evangelize for the Lord every day.

Some will verbally share Christ every day. Some will pass a tract every day. Some will send an evangelistic email every day. Regardless, we challenge you to commit to living a life of everyday evangelism as the Lord leads within your own personal life and witness!

Click here to read a TCC testimony about the power of everyday evangelism!