Partnership wants to routinely

publish the Gospel in local

newspapers

    GRESHAM — An historic partnership between Christian business people and local evangelical churches is now forming to routinely publish the Gospel in local Portland-area newspapers.
    This would be accomplished through full-page advertisements in secular papers. An example is printed on Page 5 of the July issue of Christian News Northwest.
   “What would a great evangelist like George Whitefield do if he were alive today? How would he approach the proclamation of the Gospel to a city like Portland?” These questions have inspired Gregg Harris and the staff of Gresham-based Noble Institute to launch a new evangelistic effort called Full Page Gospel.
    Harris, who is best known for his promotion of Christian home schooling in the 1980s, now serves as a teaching elder at Gresham Household of Faith Community Church (www.hofcc.org).
   “Great evangelists of the past were powerful preachers of God’s Word.” says Harris. “But history reveals that they were also men who knew how to use the power of the printed Word. George Whitefield was especially adept at ‘newspaper evangelism,’ writing letters to editors and authoring excellent feature articles that put the Gospel of Jesus Christ out in front of the public. One reason Whitefield attracted such large crowds was because of his use of the media.”
    With Whitefield’s example in mind, Harris has recruited widely respected evangelistic authors, such as Randy Alcorn, best selling author of Dominion; John Piper, bestselling author of Desiring God; and Wayne Grudem, author of Systematic Theology, to write similar works.
   “Our goal is to routinely publish the Gospel as full-page, high literary quality, feature articles, first in the Portland Tribune, and then in all six regional sections of The Oregonian newspaper,” Harris explained. “We intend to present the Good News as the good news that it really is.”
Noble Institute, which is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization, has put up the seed money needed to start the project. Christian business people are covering the development costs for the articles while local churches are putting up the money needed to purchase ad space in the major Portland newspapers.
    Eight sponsoring churches are listed at the end of each article along with their contact information. (Note: Send e-mails to gregg@hofcc.org to apply to become a church or business sponsor). A response coupon, good for a free copy of an evangelistic book, is also included in each article as an incentive for readers to visit the church sponsor in their area.
    Readers can also grab a sack lunch and head down to area parks for what Harris is calling “Sack-Lunch Seminars” and question-and-answer sessions concerning the most recent Full Page Gospel articles. Evangelistic counselors will stand ready to speak with anyone who has questions about Christianity and to pray with those who want to be born again.
   As with Whitefield’s ministry during the Great Awakening of the 1840s, Full Page Gospel is a uniting effort among evangelical churches to put practical support behind some of the church’s widely respected Christian authors. The works of well-known authors such Ravi Zacharias, Jack Hayford, Albert Mohler and Harris’ own son, Joshua Harris, best selling author of I Kissed Dating Good Bye, are being offered the same opportunity and local support teams of business people and local churches are being assembled.
    “I simply ask, ‘If you had the chance to publish a full-page feature article presenting a doctrinally thorough presentation of the Gospel to over 100,000 readers in a major city paper, would you do it?’ So far, no one has turned us down.” Harris says. “Everyone just seems to catch the vision and ask ‘How can I help?’ ”
    In addition to these well-known authors, Full Page Gospel is commissioning lesser-known evangelists from the ranks of local seminary and Bible college faculty.
   “We have godly evangelical scholars here in town who have their fingers on the pulse of modern culture while still being solid in their understanding of the Gospel.” Harris explains. “Who knows, we may have men like C.S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer right here in the church today. Full Page Gospel intends to find those gifted evangelistic authors and give them a public platform.”
    Harris looks off into the distance as though he sees something far away. “Who knows, maybe a new Mere Christianity or The God Who Is There will be written in the next few years. ”
    For more information about Full Page Gospel and to donate toward the development and publication of additional articles, go to www.fullpagegospel.com or e-mail Harris at gregg@fullpagegospel.org.