15 Mar

Is ‘change’ a bad word in your church?

Posted by Ken in church outreach, evangelism, Evangelism Coaching, evangelistic, EvangeNews, EvangeVideo, Family, God answers prayer, missional living, outreach, Prayer, soul winning, witnessing.

Leith Anderson, senior pastor of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, in his book Dying For Change writes, “Change is an unavoidable part of life.  Each church member is changing while the church is changing while the society is changing.  Change is not the choice.  How we handle it is.”

For better or for worse, American people and society are changing.  Our community is changing.  Yes, we can value the past, and we must cherish our heritage; but we cannot hope that tomorrow will be yesterday.

As our society and people’s view of life changes, we as the church must adapt and change our methods also.  Our God does not change.  His truth does not change.  Humankind’s need for the Gospel of Jesus Christ does not change; but our methods for getting that Gospel to them may need to change.

Change for the sake of change is not good, but change for the sake of accomplishing our purpose is essential.  What is our purpose?  What is our mission?  If the purpose or mission of Jesus Christ while on earth was “to seek and to save those who are lost,” then how can the purpose of the church be any different?  The primary purpose of the church must be to constantly point all people of all ages to Jesus through the ministry of the Word and obedient service.

How is the church going to better fulfill that purpose 2012?  That’s up to YOU, the people that make up the body of believers who gather as committed families in various churches everywhere.  I feel that the first step must be change in our own hearts.  As we grow to understand who God is and His love for us more, we will love Him more.  As we obey His commands and allow the Holy Spirit to transform our lives, we will be more like Jesus in our character and actions.  As we allow ourselves to be broken before God, and grace-giving followers of Jesus, we will see others as Christ sees them.  We will then reach out in ministry to others and be the witness He has called us to be to everyone within our circle of influence as well as anywhere He leads us.

Let’s not shun or fear change.  We MUST continue to change in order to fulfill the mission Jesus has given.  May we embrace the attitude of “whatever it takes” to reach everyone within our changing culture with the only hope – the unchanging gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ!

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15 Jan

A call to become a “Missionalist!”

Posted by Ken in church outreach, evangelism, Evangelism Coaching, evangelistic, EvangeNews, EvangeVideo, Family, God answers prayer, missional living, outreach, Prayer, soul winning, Uncategorized, witnessing.

A call for Christians (committed followers of Jesus Christ) to become . . . “MISSIONALISTS” . . .
The Wikipedia world wide web Dictionary defines “Missional living”:  a Christian term that describes a missionary lifestyle; adopting the posture, thinking, behaviors, and practices of a missionary in order to engage others with the gospel message. The use of the term missional has gained popularity at the end of the 20th Century due to Tim Keller,[1] Ed Stetzer, Alan Hirsch, the Gospel and Our Culture Network, Allelon, as well as others to contrast the concept of a select group of “professional” missionaries with the understanding that all Christians should be involved in the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.

Maybe we should simply call it “Christian living” or “Biblical Living”, because that’s what it is!  The cause of Christ in our land is diminishing because “Christians” have lost focus on what’s most important:

John 3:16 (Amplified Bible)   For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

John 3:16 (The Message)  This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

Christianity needs missionalists – and lots of them!!!

We need an army of believers who view their mission in life through the lens of Christ’s redemptive mission.

To have a missionalist school of thinking within Christianity, we need more students, professors, bloggers, strategists, professionals, workers, leaders, and moms, dads, cousins, sisters and brothers to be trained as missionalists.

We need a new generation of Christians who will think and act as missionalists rather than Christian consumers!

The Church of Jesus Christ needs Christians who will adopt missionary thinking and behaviors to strategically engage those in their sphere of influence (workplace, neighborhood, community, school, hobby/friendship group, extended family, etc) with the gospel!

I’m calling Christians around the globe to become missionalists
(Missional Living, Biblical Living people, Biblical World View)  —
to seize the redemptive mission of Jesus as their own
and to adopt missional thinking and behaviors!

A missionalist is sent by Jesus to “be Jesus” to everyone everywhere.

10 Nov

“What is your evangelistic style?”

Posted by Ken in Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , .

I recently met with a pastor who listened with sincere interest to my evangelism  coaching ideas for his church.  Near the end of our hour-long conversation, he shared concern about my personal and ministry/training style of evangelizing/witnessing. He shared his concerns and asked the question, “what is YOUR evangelistic style?”  He indicated that without fully understanding my style of evangelizing and evangelism training, it might be that my method or approach to evangelizing would be different than that of their church. I appreciate this experienced pastor’s question and concern and it has challenged me to write this article.

There are many different styles, or techniques of witnessing and evangelism. Here is a list found in the evangelism training power point by the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College called, “Bringing My World To Christ.”

  • Intentional – Acts 8:26 ff  to present Christ in an assertive manner to strangers or circles of nearness;
  • Proclamational – Acts 2:14-20  to present Christ through the avenue of public speaking or other performing art forms;
  • Testimonial – John 9:17-27  to experience the miraculous and be able to tell about it;
  • Relational – Mark 5:18-20  to share what the Lord has done for you in circles of nearness;
  • Invitational – John 4:28-30 & John 1:46  to bring others to places where verbal evangelism is offered;
  • Incarnational – Acts 9:36-42  to love pre-Christians beyond the expected and thus bring glory to Christ in you;
  • Intellectual – Acts 17:16 ff  to persuade pre-Christians employing rational and empirically verifiable data;
  • Inspirational – Acts 9:10ff  to receive clear divine direction to present Christ to a person;
  • Martyrdom – Acts 7:54-60  the losing of one’s life for the sake of the gospel;
  • Social Justice and compassion – James 1:27  ministry to a persons or communities needs in the name of Christ;
  • Signs & Wonders – Acts 8  miraculous display of God’s presence that draws people to Him.

I believe it is important to have a clear understand of what evangelizing is.  The team at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College has developed an excellent definition: “To evangelize/witness is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and others to bring one or more persons one step closer to Christ.” It truly has been my desire and joy to live out this definition during my 54 years of walking with Jesus.  Every believer at salvation is supernaturally given ‘spiritual gifts’ in order to be effective according to God’s will in our service for Christ.  As one with the spiritual gift of ‘Evangelist’ (defined as a unique blend of qualities, passions and ability given by the Holy Spirit that allows one to effectively and regularly see people who are far from God come to know Him personally. Passion, effective in evangelism and vision to reach more by any & all means are vital elements in the gift of the evangelist), I have used many different methods in sharing the gospel with teenagers and adults. And the Lord has certainly blessed any method that His Spirit has led.

Therefore my heartfelt answer to the question is that the exact method is not as important as the obedience to the call to witness.  I believe that the challenge to the church is the NEED to be obedient to the great commission and that each child of God is commanded to witness.  It is not just the ‘job’ of the church staff to present the gospel but it is the ‘job’ of all believers to evangelize to the lost world of his/her faith in Jesus Christ. (Matt 28:19) First of all, we must understand and believe that salvation is of God, not of us!  We are called to be ‘fishers of men’ not necessarily ‘catchers’ of men’.  As the definition of evangelism states, our role is to be led by the Holy Spirit, and we could be one of many that God uses in the path of a person coming to salvation.  Secondly, love has to be the foundation and motivation for all witnessing.  If “God loved the world so much . . .”, then we must love everyone around us enough to care about their lost condition.  People respond to genuine love more than any other emotion or action and love, which includes grace and humility without any judgment, has to be what is most important. And finally, I believe that one’s personal testimony is what God uses to reach through the hard shell of resistance that most unbelievers have.  When we can truthfully open ourselves up and admit our own humanity, the Holy Spirit can work in a powerful way.

It is the church’s job and ministry to train and encourage each member to be the effective witness God wants them to be: teach the Biblical plan of salvation; teach what an effective witness looks like; teach about the work of the Holy Spirit in witnessing; teach what kind of a person God uses; teach the ‘conversion journey’ in the life of a person; teach a person how to use his/her personal testimony; teach that ‘missional living’ means; teach how to overcome fear, doubt and tough questions and train each follower of Jesus Christ to always be prepared for that ‘divine appointment’ to talk to anyone, anywhere about the love of Jesus.

In my personal experience as a lifetime minister in and through the local church, it is clear that MOST believers do not witness because they are not taught/trained as they out to be.  When people are taught it brings a sense of confidence and God is able to use anyone who steps out in obedience as a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. The church must be prepared to do the encouragement and training.  This is part of the ministry God has called me to do within the church.

1 Apr

“If The Church Lights Are On – The Lost Will Come! (Today – I Think Not!)”

Posted by Ken in church outreach, evangelism, Evangelism Coaching, evangelistic, EvangeNews, EvangeVideo, missional living, outreach, soul winning, Uncategorized.

Copied from the article by Maynard H. Belt from barnabasfile.com

Some of the older saints of our congregations will recognize these words, “If the church lights are on – the lost will come!” Actually, there was an era in which this was true. At the turn of the last century, there were many who made their way to the House of the Lord because there were not all of the other attractions of the world, and they often sought refuge in a place that could give them solace and peace. Have we not heard of the wanderer passing the church at night, seeing the lights, hearing the singing, and going inside to see what was happening?

One of the churches that I pastored was founded during the great depression. It began with a series of evangelistic meetings, from which came the first members. Their very first pastor was the evangelist who conducted those meetings thus the church continued to grow as people came to hear the gospel preached. By the end of its fourth year as a local church, membership had burgeoned to over 500 and was steadily increasing. During that year the Tabernacle that they had built, collapsed due to heavy snow on the roof, and two days later what remained of the broken structure burned. $2700 in debt in the midst of the depression, the flock decided to trust God and build again, and build they did, putting up a new Tabernacle that had a seating capacity of 3000! God honored their faith – they continued to grow and I have pictures of some 2000 people, on Sunday evenings, which were the evangelistic hour in that day, gathering to hear the gospel proclaimed. I know for sure in those days that they had a bus ministry, radio ministry and other outreaches but it was also a day when people came on their own, many by foot, just to see what was going on and went home “saved!”

Well, today unbelievers are not flocking to church just because the lights are on. For some churches, it is difficult enough just to get the believers there! As a result, we are living in a culture where the modern church is “marketing” itself in order to lure the lost. Are we attempting to “draw” them in by means of enticing techniques, or are we going to where they are through aggressive measures of loving kindness? The church must get out of the fortress, in obedience to Christ’s command in the great commission, but carefully analyzing our motives and methods as we do. If we market ourselves only to charm a lost society to “come and see” and amuse them in a way in which they are already accustomed, then we are not following the biblical pattern. John MacArthur in his book, Reckless Faith, states, “Many Christians have the misconception that to win the world to Christ we must first win the world’s favor. If we can get the world to like us, they will embrace our Savior.” An important question we must ask is, “Are our methods that we are using today pragmatic or biblical?” The church’s basic objective is evangelism, edification, worship and instruction. Evangelism is the weak link. Though I am greatly encouraged by the increased efforts regarding various aspects of evangelization that I am seeing, we still can improve in reaching out to our communities with the glorious claims of Christ and how He can fulfil their every need, beginning with that of the forgiveness of sins.

We also need to be reminded that we cannot confuse church growth with effective church evangelism. Many churches grow today by “collection” rather than “conversion.” Local church evangelism is a work of God in which he uses the members to take His word to people in whom the Holy Spirit works to bring them to the place of trusting in Christ as their Lord and Savior. It is also providing the means, whether it be financial assistance as with the supporting of missionaries, or providing instruction of members in order to be a witness for the cause of Christ. It is very clear that the early church was a training center whereby some were sent out into the culture of their day with a clear cut message of redemption (Acts 13:3; 15:30ff; 18:23). God always uses people in evangelism, and there are so many ways in which we can make ourselves more available, but we must “go,” for they will not come just because the church lights are on. As we spread the gospel, the Holy Spirit will spread salvation. As a dear pastor friend of mine once said, “They will not seek, they must be sought, they will not come they must be brought, the will not learn, they must be taught!”

The dynamic of evangelism has been placed in the confidence of the church, not to be kept to itself, but delivered by sundry sources to a lost and dying world. Each local church must select the evangelistic strategies that are most suitable and effective in the context of their community. The heart of evangelism is the gospel and the gospel is a dynamic for, as Paul said in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God….” A bookbinder once put T.N.T. on the spine of His New Testament, for that is really what the gospel is – the dynamite of God. We but must proclaim it and share it. The Great Commission is a gigantic mission. The “GO” is the imperative of the mission; the “YE” is the instrument through which the mission is accomplished; the “ALL NATIONS” is the inclusiveness of the mission; and the “LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS” is the inspiration for making the mission a reality (Matt. 28:19-20).

When John Wesley wrote, “A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify; a never dying soul to save, and fit it for the sky,” his burden was for the church to evangelize. Evangelism will test the purpose, the programs, the power and the performance of the church. It is very important to keep the church lights on, but it is also vital to carry the Light to the lost.

Give us a watchword for the hour, a thrilling word, a word of power,

A battle cry, a flaming breath, a call to conquest or to death,

A word to rouse the church from rest, to heed the Master’s high behest!

The Word is given, you host arise! The watchword is….evangelize!

13 Mar

What is an Evangelizing Church?

Posted by Ken in church outreach, evangelism, Evangelism Coaching, evangelistic, EvangeNews, missional living, outreach, soul winning, witnessing.

Statistics show that evangelism in the American church has been dying a slow death.

Church growth, so many times, has been attributed to believers leaving one church in his/her area to join another new or ‘exciting’ church instead of the church growing by what’s most important … conversions.

We have been called to turn this tide.

The mission and vision of God on my life and the passion of my heart is to help pastors and churches succeed and excel in the ministry of evangelism – not just as a program, but as a whole-church lifestyle.

While there is a lot of discussion about how to define an Evangelizing Church, we at the Billy Graham Center are purposely setting our standards high according to the present benchmarks. We do so not because our approach is any better, but in looking at the present reality, the Church needs to make some drastic course corrections if we are going to see this generation brought to Christ.

With that in mind, the Evangelizing Church Project (ECP) will move your church towards certain benchmarks that are viable and practical.  Look at the ‘to the pastor’ page to see these benchmarks.

Ken Ramey – EvangeCoach
evangecoach@gmail.com

27 Oct

What Ever Happened to Evangelism?

Posted by Ken in church outreach, evangelism, evangelistic, missional living, outreach, soul winning.

It was a joy to preach a series on “Fishing for Souls” for the last 3 Sunday mornings at New Life Community Church in Lake Tapps: Fishing 101 – Love is the Bait; Fishing 201 – Prayer is the Priority; Fishing 301 – Telling People (about God’s saving grace) is the Command.The Word of God clearly gives many reasons why the followers of Jesus Christ are to “evangelize” (fulfilling the commission of Jesus Christ [Matthew 28:19] in the power of the Holy Spirit [Acts 1:8] ) . . .

Ø It is His desire – Isaiah 45: 22, 1 Timothy 2: 4
Ø It was the disciples first job description – Matthew 4:19
Ø It is our responsibility – 1 Corinthians 9: 16
Ø It is an act of obedience – Matthew. 28: 19
Ø It is an act of Love – John 21: 15
Ø It is an act of compassion – Mark 6: 34
Ø It is the believers call – Acts 1:8
Ø Because we cherish Christ Love (God’s love) – 2 Corinthians 5: 14
Ø Because it is the reason God sent His only Son, Jesus, to die – John 3:16
Ø Because Jesus is the Only Way, the Only Answer and the Only Truth – John 14:6
Ø Because men and women, boys and girls will die and go to hell unless they are born again – Luke 13:3
Ø Because those who believe will never die – John 4:1-15

I firmly and passionately believe that evangelism IS the church’s number one priority!

Here is what Evangelist Luis Palau said in an interview in 1996 –

“If there is no evangelism, there is no church to deal with the other priorities. Discipleship is obviously a strong, ongoing church priority; but there’s no one to disciple if you haven’t evangelized in the first place. When Jesus went to heaven, the uppermost command on his mind was “Go into all the world and make disciples.” Yes, the church exists for the glory of God. But in practice, evangelism should never leave a Christian’s mind. The church is always one generation away from extinction. Why are you able to worship? Because God rescued you through the work of someone who evangelized you!”

In general, the passion for evangelism has been lost in America (as well as most western nations) but evangelism is ‘fired up’ in many nations including Africa where our granddaughter and her Kenyan Evangelist husband are seeing literally multitudes of conversions every time they preach/teach the simple gospel of Jesus Christ!!!

Though there certainly are some pastors and churches that are committed to reaching their community and world with the message of the gospel, for the most part our churches have become ‘Bible knowledge centers’ and weak in Biblical evangelism.If a co-worker or neighbor came to you tomorrow and said, “I want to become a Christian. Will you please show me from the Bible right now exactly what God says about what a Christian is and what I need to do to have eternal life?” Would you be ready that moment to take your Bible and walk that seeker through the verses that will answer his/her questions? Yes, that is the ‘best-case-scenario’ and is probably least likely to happen … but, are you ready? “… faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17

Oh Pastor!!! Oh Church!!! Oh Christian!!! What has happened???

When was the last time you actually sat with someone and opened your Bible and walked him or her through God’s simple plan of salvation? I, sadly, feel that many pastors and most ‘lay people’ have not done it for a long time … or maybe ever! I also believe that most Christians don’t even know what verses to walk the seeker through if he/she asked, “Please show me from the Bible how to become a Christian.”

O God, bring a revival of evangelism back to your pastors and back to your church!

The mission and vision of God on my life and the passion of my heart is to call pastors and churches back to the ministry of evangelism.

Please pray with us for open doors and open hearts. Pray that local church pastors will not be afraid to allow me to help them and join them in ministry with the gifts God has given me. It seems that local church pastors are fearful of many things (it is their responsibility to protect their sheep) but please ask the Lord to open their hearts to the need and the ministry potential (as well as growth) that evangelistic ministry can bring to their church.
Member of NGA (Next Generation Alliance) 
www.palau.org/nga
Luis Palau Evangelistic AssociationThanks for writing to us:

Evangelist Ken and Diane Ramey
14400 SE 270th Pl
Kent, WA 98042
email:  kenramey1@gmail.comThanks for supporting us:
RCCF (River City Christian Fellowship)
2740 Bedford Ave.
Placerville, CA 95667

30 Dec

Evangelism in the Normal Church

Posted by Ken in Uncategorized.

A few Sunday’s ago I attended a large church and listened to an excellent and challenging message calling the people to be ready to ‘seize the moment’ and be prepared to share the gospel when the Lord brings the opportunity.  I loved the sermon!  But the conclusion actually frustrated me.  The pastor said, “are you prepared to move a person from Twilight the movie to Jesus the Savior?”  He also said, “Are you prepared to take a person from where they are into an understanding that Jesus loves them and wants to be their Savior?”  The problem (what literally upset me) was that the pastor had the people saying “no” in their hearts – they aren’t prepared but want to be . . . and he did not give an opportunity during his conclusion for people to say, ‘help me pastor!’  ‘Train me, pastor!’  ‘Coach me, pastor!’ 

 This was a fabulous opportunity for this church to collect literally hundreds of names and email address’s/phone #’s of people who would like to be coached so they COULD BE PREPARED!!!  In fact, my friend Jim Quayle, and I overheard the man sitting directly behind us ask the person next to him how he could prepare himself!  I went away from this service more passionate than ever about the calling God has given me!

The responsibility of the pastor and church leadership is to encourage, equip, train, motivate, bless and even anoint every believer in the church to go to their own ‘congregations’ (workplace, neighborhood, school, family, friendship group) with the message of the gospel.  The church must build up the people’s confidence in their specific ‘missional-living’ ministry by teaching and coaching them: to know the Bible verses to use while sharing God’s plan of salvation; to know how to share their own salvation testimony with passion; to learn the major part the Holy Spirit plays in giving courage and success in witnessing; to learn special witnessing tools that will enable them to be focused and confident; to understand the power of praying for the lost and covering each day with prayer.

Just because your people don’t like to ‘evangelize’ doesn’t mean they can’t share their faith. Do you have any thoughts about what I have written?  Let’s have a discussion.

6 Dec

Welcome to our new ‘home’!

Posted by Ken in Uncategorized.

It’s exciting to FINALLY have an official web site!  Thanks to our son, Paul, we now have the ‘home base of this ministry. Thank you for your patience as we build this site into an effective tool to communicate what the Lord is doing:  coaching pastors and churches; training followers of Jesus Christ in “Missional Living”; connecting with local church pastors, leadership teams and ‘lay-ministers’; fulfilling our calling and giftedness of ‘evangelist’.

Check out the December Newsletter for more detailed information.

Ken & Diane Ramey

EvangeCoach  “Coaching Churches to Excel in Evangelism”
14400 SE 270th Pl     
Kent, WA 98042
phone  (425) 495-3723

19 Sep

God DOES hear and answer prayer!!!

Posted by Ken in God answers prayer, outreach, Prayer, soul winning, witnessing.

Do you believe . . . I mean REALLY BELIEVE . . . in the truth that God actually hears the prayers and the cries of His children? And if you believe that God HEARS, do you REALLY BELIEVE that He is moved by your prayers and actually responds?

WE BELIEVE IT!!! And yet, we are just beginning to understand and experience the miraculous power of prayer!

Not only because God’s Word says it (though that is enough!), we are living witnesses of the fact that prayer is powerful AND effective!

Allow these verses from God’s Word to sink in. Ask the Holy Spirit to enable you to believe enough to begin a disciplined and obedient prayer life: (New Living Bible)“I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.” Matthew 18:19“You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.” Matthew 21:22“I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.” Mark 11:24“You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.” John 14:13“But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!” John 15:7“You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.” John 15:16“At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name.” John 16:23
“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” James 1:5

I don’t believe that any ‘earthly man’ has written it better than the great man of prayer, E.M. Bounds:
“How vast are the possibilities of prayer! How wide is its reach! What great things are accomplished by this divinely appointed means of grace! It lays its hand on Almighty God and moves him to do what he would not otherwise do if prayer was not offered. It brings things to pass which would never otherwise occur. The story of prayer is the story of great achievements. Prayer is a wonderful power placed by Almighty God in the hands of his saints, which may be used to accomplish great purposes and to achieve unusual results. Prayer reaches to everything, takes in all things great and small which are promised by God to the children of men. The only limit to prayer are the promises of God and his ability to fulfill those promises. ‘Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it’.”
“Prayer is a direct address to God. ‘In everything let your requests be made known unto God.’ Prayer secures blessings, and makes men better because it reaches the ear of God. Prayer is only for the betterment of men when it has affected God and moved him to do something for men. Prayer affects men by affecting God. Prayer moves men because it moves God to move men. Prayer influences men by influencing God to influence them. Prayer moves the hand that moves the world.”

I trust that by now, you understand the passion of our hearts and the call of the Gospel:
“Jesus is the Answer!” and the only way for EVERY need for EVERY person;
Every human being MUST receive Jesus Christ by faith as his/her Savior in order to receive the free gift of eternal salvation and enter into personal relationship with God while alive on this earth;
The ‘call’ of Jesus upon every believer is to be ‘fishers of men’ and be effective and powerful witnesses who reach people with the salvation message.
My heart and desire is to help you, motivate you and implore you, as well as the church, to return to the basics of the Gospel and make your daily obsession to bring men and women, teens and boys and girls to the cross of Christ!

The first step is prayer! I challenge you right now to ask God to give you at least 1 person you are close to who does not know the Lord Jesus as his or her Savior to come to Him very soon! Right now, will you bow your head and pray for that person?! Will you commit to pray every day until he or she receives the Lord?! Will you send us the name of that person so we can join you in prayer for their salvation?! This will be exciting and you will see just what God can do! Don’t worry about the ‘how’, just concern yourself with prayer. The ‘how’ will come on the journey. Will you, right now, bow and ask the Lord to enable you to bear the ‘fruit’ of 1 lost soul for His glory?! It will change your life!!!

E.M. Bounds: “Prayer possibilities open doors for the entrance of the gospel: “Withal praying also for us that God would open to us a door of utterance.” Prayer opened for the apostles doors of utterance, created opportunities and made openings to preach the gospel. The appeal by prayer was to God, because God was moved by prayer. God was thereby moved to do his own work in an enlarged way and by new ways. Prayer possibility gives not only great power, and opens doors to the gospel, but it gives facility as well to the gospel. Prayer makes the gospel to go fast and to move with glorious swiftness. A gospel projected by the mighty energies of prayer is neither slow, lazy nor dull. It moves with God’s power, with God’s radiance and with angelic swiftness.”

This is just the beginning. As the Lord allows, I want to help you step by step, learn to be used of the Lord to reach lost people you know, who will absolutely go to hell if they die without Jesus!

Prayer is the beginning. Prayer for yourself and your relationship with the Lord and then prayer for the lost – specifically naming those who you want to see come to Him before it is to late. Will you pray? Will you allow us to pray with you? It will be exciting to see what God will do!!!

We need to share with you the answer to your prayers on our behalf. Once again, the Lord miraculously, and in the last hour, provided for rent. The Lord moved upon many people’s hearts and they obediently responded and sacrificially gave in order that this need would be met. O how we praise the Lord! Some gifts were large and some were small, but all were significant and such a blessing!!! The Lord is truly giving us our ‘daily bread.’ Friends in our church have provided food, our neighbor has shared from her garden, another neighbor has given food and money and checks have come in the mail – even one came by FedEx from back east! This is all in answer to fervent prayer! Thank you!!!
The Apostle Paul cried out in Ephesians 6:18-20, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

Please keep praying for us! Pray that we would be effective witnesses each day as well as a loud voice to the church as we make every effort to call them back to the priority of the gospel!

O Lord, Glorify Yourself at our Expense,

Evangelist Ken & Diane Ramey

Home address:
14400 SE 270th Pl
Kent, WA 98042 Phone: 425-495-3723

26 Aug

Update #15 August 25, 2009

Posted by Ken in Uncategorized.

This might be the most important Update I have sent out. Please read it all and allow God’s Spirit to bless and minister to you.

I want to begin by expressing our deep appreciation for so many emails of love and encouragement! Your expressions of support and prayer touched our hearts! Thank you!

Thank you for praying for Diane. We are on a journey regarding her health. The tests indicated that she has a definite slowing in the abdominal tract and will need continued care and treatment. She is, as always, living each day to the fullest and being the best wife, grandmother, friend and helper possible – and doing a great job! Please continue to pray for her as the Lord brings her to your heart and mind.

Now – the Lord has laid a “Message” on my heart. I pay attention to what is happening in our country and in the church. Obviously, there is much to be concerned about. There are lots of words here, and it is worth the time for you to read and consider . . .

What is the answer? What is God’s answer?

We are watching our country in decline . . .

We have forsaken God. This nation had a special covenant with God from its founding. Our national motto is “In God We Trust.” We used to sing “God Bless America”, and He did. We used to pray in schools. We used to advocate, “Attend the Church of your choice.” We used to close our businesses on Sunday. We still pledge allegiance to one nation, under God. But for most Americans we honor God with our lips, but not with our hearts. Our pulpits were once aflame with righteousness, according to Alexis De Toqueville. America was once great because she was good, but she has ceased to be good, and we are no longer great. Our President has declared we are no longer a Christian nation. He does not attend the National Prayer Breakfast. After two hundred years to the contrary, our Supreme Court has told us God is no longer officially welcome in America, that we cannot not acknowledge Him officially, even though each is free to worship Him as they please. Our Supreme Court removed the Bible, the Ten Commandments (the moral code and basis of Western civilization and Judeo-Christian law), and prayer from public schools, contrary to the will of the majority of Americans. But we have done nothing to restore it. We have acquiesced. We are guilty. What happens to a nation that abandons God? The Bible is very clear on this point. “If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you.” Joshua 24:20 The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who forsake Him.” Ezra 8:22 (This is taken from an article written by Allan Parker. If you would like to see the entire “Warning, Disaster is Coming” I would be happy to forward it to you.)

What is the answer? What is God’s answer?

We are watching our churches in decline . . .

Recent trends over the past 40 years indicate that Americans are becoming less interested in what the Christian church has to offer. From 1986-1996 the US population increased 11.4% (24,153,000) yet the combined membership of Protestant denominations decreased by 9.5% (4,498,242).• Not a single county in America has a greater percentage of “churched persons” than 10 years ago!• In 1900 – 27 churches for every 10,000 Americans.• In 1950 – 17 churches for every 10,000 Americans.• In 1996 – Less than 11 churches for every 10,000 Americans. • Approximately 4,000 churches close their doors every year while only 1,500 new churches are opened!• Percentage of people attending church in the US decreased 12% in the years from 1991 to 1996 – (49% to 37%)
Bible believing churches must do something and quick! If these trends continue, who is to say that in 100 years the churches of America won’t become like the churches of modern Western Europe – museums. (This information is copied from an article written by Backpack Truth Ministries. If you want to see the entire article that has many more documented facts, I’ll be happy to send it to you.)


What is the answer? What is God’s answer?

Is God’s #1 answer for Christ-followers to become passionate about standing up for our conservative Christian values as a nation and fight against the political left that is taking our country away from the constitution and the Judeo-Christian roots of America?

Though the above is good – it is not God’s #1 answer!

Is God’s #1 answer for church growth instead of church decline to become more and more like the modern culture in it’s attempt to gain attendees? Is the answer for the church to spend thousands of dollars each week on the ‘production’ so the attendees will ‘love’ the service and come back? Is the answer for the church to have newer, more high-tech auditoriums that feed the needs of the younger attendees and keep them coming?

Though the above might be ok – it is certainly not God’s #1 answer! What God wants . . . is for His Gospel to be preached, both in the church buildings and outside the church building. JESUS is the answer!!! People being rescued from their lost condition and discipled according to the terms of Matthew 28:19, 20 is the mission of the church. The greatest need that all people have, because they are under God’s wrath against sin, is for the blood atonement that only Jesus Christ provides. This comes from the preaching of the Gospel. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? Romans 10:14 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:17-20

A personal word . . . my passion

I see in the gospel of Jesus Christ the good news of the Son of God, the truth of God. Only Christ can meet the perfect law. Only Christ can satisfy the justice of God. Only Christ can open the way for us into the holiest of all, into the presence of the Father. Only Christ can supply the need of the bankrupt sinner, and only Christ can keep me from falling. “Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, and who is able to present you faultless before the throne and the presence of his glory with exceeding joy; to him be glory both now and forever.” That’s why it’s necessary for me to preach (to speak or share) the gospel: the beauty of it, the glory of it, the truth of it. I could tell you that salvation is in the church, but it wouldn’t be true. I could tell you to come forward after I preach and shake my hand and God would take you to heaven, but it would be a lie. I could tell you, ‘let me baptize you,’ and by obeying the baptismal commandment you will go to heaven, but it wouldn’t be so. I could tell you that if you live a good life and pray and go to church on Sunday and give a little offering, God will take you to heaven when you die, but it wouldn’t be so. I could tell you to quit drinking, quit lying and cheating and live a good, moral life and you will go to heaven when you die, but that would be a lie — it wouldn’t be so. But when I tell you that Christ died for our sins; that Christ is a sufficient Savior; that Christ is an effectual substitute who came down here and gave us a righteousness which we didn’t have and couldn’t produce, went to the cross, bore our sins, paid our debt, satisfied the justice of God; that he is our living advocate at the right hand of the Father; and that if you come to a living, vital union with him, you’ll be saved — that’s the truth, and the only truth that will make you free. It’s only Jesus that can save our country! Jesus and His gospel is the only message our church should be preaching! It’s the only way to have real church growth! Jesus is the answer! We are all ‘preachers’ & ‘evangelists’ and ‘tellers’ of the gospel! We all must “get all excited & go tell everybody that Jesus Christ is King!”

Romans 10:9-13 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News (The Gospel) I preached to you . . . Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said . . . if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Do you sense the Holy Spirit giving agreement to all the above? Does your spirit bear witness that what I have written and what we are doing is right?

Will you help us call the church back to the ministry of evangelism? Will you join us in lifting up the gospel of Jesus Christ (ministry of evangelism) in the church and outside the church (missional living) to it’s proper value?

This is good!!! Let the Lord bless and challenge you with this youtube.com video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZiMlwXU6fQ&feature=player_embedded

May God bless you as you seek to be more like Him every day!

O Lord, Glorify Yourself at Our Expense!

Evangelist Ken & Diane Ramey

Home address:
14400 SE 270th Pl
Kent, WA 98042 Phone: 425-495-3723

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