Today I interview Pastor Eddie Hallock. As the CEO of the Stoller Foundation, Pastor Hallock has a deep passion for evangelism, and he’s here to share his advice on how anyone can get started sharing the gospel. Let’s dive in and learn from his wealth of experience.
Learn more about the Stoller Foundation: https://stollerfoundation.org/
Summary:
- Pastor Eddie Hallock suggests that the best way to start a conversation about evangelism is to ask the other person “what do you believe is the number one reason why God put you here on this earth?” This allows a natural segue into discussing the importance of relationships and how Jesus came to restore our relationship with God.
- To make evangelism more effective, Hallock recommends emphasizing the many benefits and blessings that come from being a believer, such as eternal life, peace, and God’s protection. He also stresses the importance of developing a deep passion for sharing the gospel, similar to how one would passionately discuss a favorite sports team.
- For young evangelists, Hallock advises staying close to Christ, constantly growing in love for Him, and being careful to avoid temptation. He assures them that if they remain devoted to Christ, He will make their evangelistic efforts successful.
Transcript:
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King. I’m excited about telling people about Jesus today. I have a very special guest with me, pastor Eddie Hallick. Thank you so much for being on the Evangelism Podcast.
Pastor Eddie Hallock (00:11):
Alright, that sounds good.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:12):
Now, you are the CEO of wonderful organization, the Stoller Foundation, but you have a great passion for evangelism. Absolutely. How can someone get started getting involved in evangelism?
Pastor Eddie Hallock (00:29):
Sometime ago, a couple of young ladies asked me, and actually they said to me, how do we get started? And I said, well, what do you think is the hardest thing in sharing the gospel? And they said, well, it’s that first word. How do you actually start a conversation? So I said, listen, something that I discovered a long time ago that really helped me was this, when I’m talking to people, and that’s one thing you’ve got to do, right? You’ve got to just talk. And then once you’re talking to, you’re dialoguing, usually they’ll open just a little opportunity. But even if they don’t, I will say to them, Hey, may I ask you a question? And they say yes. And so I say, in your opinion, in your opinion, what do you believe is the number one reason why God put you here on this earth?
(01:19):
Well, they don’t know the answer. So you say, did you know the first thing God ever said to man after he created him was to talk to him? That’s the first thing God did. And so God wanted a relationship with us. You see, it is obvious because life is all about relationships, right? You’re born into a family. That’s relationships. You go to school, that’s relationships. You go to work, that’s relationships. And you go to church, that’s relationships. It’s everywhere, right? In the mall and wherever you go, the Bible’s a book of relationships. So you had Adam, but then you had Noah and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Esther and the ladies. And it is all over. It’s all about relationships. And so what happened was Adam and Eve were having a wonderful time with God, but what happened? They sinned. And that broke that relationship that was so precious. So what had to happen? Jesus Christ had to come and die on the cross, so that if we would believe in him, repent of our sins, he would come in and give us eternal life. And so it’s very, very simple, but just that question, why did God put you here? Allows us to start a conversation about relationships.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:35):
That’s wonderful. What are some ways that people can make their evangelism more effective?
Pastor Eddie Hallock (02:42):
Okay, I think we need to understand there are several truths about God that are very important. Number one, God has given to his children many benefits. We get so concerned and we fight that prosperity gospel, that we forget that there are many, many, many benefits of being a believer. Eternal life is one of them. God gives you peace. And my could I talk about that? That’ll change your life. God will, God listens to prayer. There is dialogue. Many times actually, did you know we really should have died physically? Most people, but because something happened in their life and yet we’re alive, how could that be? When I was two years old, I was in the backseat of my dad’s car with my sister, who was five. My dad was driving down the highway at 55 miles an hour. My sister jumped into the front seat, which in those days you did. And I opened the door and was thrown out of the car. Well, I fell in this deep ditch. Obviously I’m here so I didn’t die, and why didn’t I die? And so you see
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:55):
God has a purpose and a plan for
Pastor Eddie Hallock (03:57):
Your life. Absolutely. And he gives us all kinds of benefits. I just made a list of 30 of them very easily. So that’s one thing we need to do. Another thing, pastors, I’m sure most pastors will teach people a method. There are so many good methods of sharing the gospel. Well, that’s very important that you memorize one. But then we need to understand that Jesus Christ is the best. There’s no one like him, right? There’s no God that loves us, that is graceful and so forth. And so that’s very important. And then I think we need passion. When I was a kid, I lived in Brazil and I had a soccer team that I loved so much Flamingo and I studied them. I went to the games, I talked to people about him. I did everything. Why can’t we do that about Jesus? Just think about him, read the Bible, loved Jesus, tell people about him, and all of a sudden passion comes into you. And it doesn’t matter who you’re talking to, Hey, what can you lose? All they can say is no, but you can tell ’em about Christ.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:00):
What advice would you give to young evangelists who want to be used by God to bring people to Jesus?
Pastor Eddie Hallock (05:09):
Well, obviously, God has gifted young men and women with the gospel and this power, and he’s given them that gift. And I think they just need to rejoice that God has given them that potential of sharing the gospel in a very powerful way and just do exactly that with the background of knowing that what they have is the absolute best. And so I think that evangelists need to be very careful that they are constantly in love with Christ. Do everything you can. Spend time with him, realize that what you preach is really true. You know what I mean? And so I just would encourage them to stay close to Christ. Be very careful because you guys travel a lot. Satan will want to tempt you, and you’ve got to stay so close to Jesus, have people around you that will keep you accountable and be very, very careful with that. But if you’ll love Christ, he’ll make it happen, and you’ll be successful from God’s point of view. Amen.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:25):
Well, I want to finish by just taking a moment to say thank you. You have been put in a place by God where you’re able to help many evangelists, many people who have a heart for the great commission. And so you helped our ministry this year. And I just want to say thank you so much. You’re a great blessing to the body of Christ. And thank you for your passion for evangelism.
Pastor Eddie Hallock (06:47):
Lemme tell you, God is good. We love Yeah, we love Jesus, and we’re going to keep talking about him. Amen. Amen. Well, thank you. God bless you. Bless you, Daniel. Very good. Okay. That’s good.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:58):
Nice and short.
