Making Evangelism & Discipleship a Priority in Your Life
Many of us make lists of to-be-done tasks that are important to us, so that we will not forget to do them. No tasks are eternally more important than sharing the gospel with our unsaved friends, family members, and other acquaintances or assisting Christian friends who need to be encouraged and mentored in maturing as followers of Jesus Christ. Our Good Soil Personal E-List and D-List Card was created to help us keep our focus on these two Great Commission tasks.
A Good Soil E-List and D-List Card is a 7” x 5” card with places for you to write the names of people for whom you are praying to be saved on one side and, on the reverse side, places to write the names of believers that you would like to see grow in their relationship with Christ and become more involved in church or ministry.
The use of the E-List and D-List is based on what you have learned about the bottom half and the top half of the Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship Scale.
How to Use the E-List Side of the Card
The E-List is related to the bottom half of the Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship Scale.
First, think of a person that you have some kind of a relationship with whom you think is probably not saved, not a true Christian—a friend, relative, work colleague, frequent casual contact such as sales person, barber or hair stylist, restaurant waiter or waitress, etc.
Second, based on what you know about that person, try to determine (as best you can) where you think he or she is on the “Vertical Dimension of the Scale”—the level of his or her understanding of the Biblical gospel.
Third, do the same thing for your perception of his or her receptivity to the gospel. That’s the “Horizontal Dimension of the Scale.”
Fourth, locate the cell in this grid where those two come together—level of understanding and degree of receptivity. Write the person’s initials in that cell.
Fifth, add names of other unsaved contacts (up to five) and follow the same procedure for each of them.
Sixth, use this card as a reminder to pray for these friends and for opportunities to share Christ with them.
If you have not yet learned about the Good Soil E&D Scale or have forgotten what you learned sometime earlier, you can learn about or review the Good Soil E&D Scale by reading two of the earlier articles in this series.
Overview of the Good Soil E&D Scale
Click to read an:
Overview of the Good Soil Scale
Understanding of and Receptivity to the Gospel
Click to read:
Understanding and Receptivity
How to Use the D-List Side of the Card
The D-List is related to the top half of the Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship Scale.
Follow a similar procedure for your D-List (other side of the card)—names of people you know who are, to your knowledge, true Christians but need to be discipled. The “Vertical” dimension here is spiritual maturity. And the “Horizontal” dimension is involvement in church and ministry.
You can purchase these Personal E&D Cards from this site. We hope they will help you to make evangelism and discipleship a higher priority in your life.
Previous articles in this series:
- Three Greek Verbs Define Good Soil
- Assessing Unbeliever’s Gospel Understanding
- Assessing Gospel Receptivity
- Initial Contact or Relational Evangelism—or Both?
- The Problem of Gospel Static
- One Gospel - Three Worldviews
- Worldview “Noisy” Neighborhoods
- How To Understand Worldviews: I’m an Onion – You’re an Onion
- How To Witness to A Non Believer: 3 Step Guide To Using Verbal & Non Verbal Communication
- Gospel Knowledge Deficiencies
- The Romans Road in “Post-Christian” North America?
- Gospel Tracts in “Post-Christian” North America?
- Evangelism that BEGINS with Jesus – Good or Not So Good?
- Explaining the Gospel – Where Did Jesus Begin?
- Change the Way We Do Evangelism in North America?
- Evangelism – For the Biblically Uninformed
- A Distinctive Evangelistic Bible Study Workbook
- How Many Stories in the Bible?
- Eight Words Summarize the Bible’s BIG Story
- Gotta Pray the Sinner’s Prayer?
- Repent and/or Believe? Two Steps or Two Sides?
- Helping Believers “Hold Fast” to the Gospel
- Sharing the Gospel Through Your Faith Story
- Sharing the Gospel Through Your Faith Story, Pt. 2
Good Soil E & D Cards (pack of 25)
5" x 7" (double-sided) card - used in the seminar for participants to create lists of unbelievers they want to evangelize and believers they would like to disciple. Includes an image of the "Understanding" (vertical) scale on the evangelism side of the card and an image of the "Receptivity" (horizontal) scale on the discipleship side of the card, so that participants can also begin to assess the levels of gospel understanding and receptivity of these people that they want to minister to. Pack of 25 cards - $5.00.
Have a friend that you would like to share the gospel with or disciple?
The Personal E&D Ministry page of the Good Soil website will help you know how Good Soil can help with that. And be sure to read the testimonials and stories near the bottom of that web page. They will encourage you to get started with confidence. Click to Learn More.
Gaining Ground with Good Soil
Visually Enhanced Edition - An evangelism and discipleship training narrative that is a scaled-down version of the Good Soil E&D seminar in a narrative format. It follows hard-working, dedicated missionaries who are contemplating leaving the field because of a lack of solid fruit. A last-gasp Bible study reveals a theology of evangelism and discipleship that inspires and equips them to continue to pursue their calling. The principles gained from this theology are applicable to anyone wishing to serve God through biblical evangelism and discipleship. Free resources for individual and group study are also available for download. See the "Related Resources" below. 2016 edition. Click to Learn More.