Evangelism in the 21st Century

Years ago now I (Isaac) got into a van with 12 college students and drove around the country. We were doing a service tour of different churches – providing a time of worshipping through music and preaching the Word. In Burlington, Ontario we stopped at a small church, and that’s where I met John Nathan. At the time, he was a pastor. Now, he’s the Ontario regional facilitator for The Gideons. I recently met up with him and we decided to have a conversation on evangelism in the 21st Century – and that’s what this is all about. In this conversation, John reminds us of the Holy Spirit’s role in salvation, how we need to be daily enjoying the gospel, and what we can do to grow in our zeal for sharing the good news.

 

Who’s Our Guest?

John Nathan is the Ontario Regional Facilitator for The Gideons International in Canada. Years ago in his late teens he was given a Gideons Bible. In a short period of time afterwards he responded to God’s call on his life. Whether pastoring or serving on Gideons, John has been in full-time ministry since 2007. He and his wife Donna, along with their two children, live in Ontario, Canada.

Episode Links

Make sure to check out the The Gideons Canada site (where John serves full-time).

Here’s the app that John was chatting about (New Life App).

Read It

*Below is an edited transcription of the audio conversation.

Introduction

With me today is John Nathan who is the regional facilitator of Gideons in Ontario. Thanks for coming on the show today John.

Hey, my pleasure Isaac.

So, I know you in person. I think it was 2011 when I was part of this group of 10 students from my Bible College. We had this awesome privilege at the end of the year to travel along the Northern States up to the Maritimes, and then come along through the provinces. And we stopped at your place because at that time you were pastoring a little Foursquare Church in Burlington. And we got to stay the night at your house.

I don’t know why, but you let about 10 college students crash your tiny apartment. Do you remember that?

Yes, I do, I do.

It was a lot of fun. Anyways, we got to meet John there and his wife. And I think at that time she was pregnant.

Yes, she was.

Why don’t you just tell us a little bit about who you are personally, and then what you do as the regional facilitator of Gideons in Ontario.

Yeah, I’d love to. So you mentioned that I’m married, I’ve been married for twelve years to my lovely sweetheart, Donna. She has been a blessing and a support and a ministry partner. When you came, my wife was pregnant and now my son is 5-years-old. And I do have a girl as well, she’s only 9 months. Their names are Jaren and Jada. It’s been a blessing to serve God and serve my family and serve in the ministry.

A little bit about me – I have 7 years in the secular, financial district. That was with the Royal Bank, prior to working in full-time ministry in 2007. Since then I’ve been doing different things in ministry, but serving.

Yeah, that’s good! So being the regional facilitator of Gideons in Ontario, what exactly does that look like? In fact, just tell us about Gideons first, because I think a lot of us know Gideons and literally we all just think back to the little red books. We also think of hotels with the Gideons Bible, but tell us about who they are, what they do,