The Way of the Master

The Way of the Master is a Christian evangelism training ministry, with several other groups related underneath it. It is headed by Kirk Cameron, of Growing Pains and Left Behind, and evangelist Ray Comfort, though there are several other key figures within their ministry. It also involves a TV show, radio broadcast, book, online school, Sunday school program, and Web site of the same name. It is a ministry of Living Waters Publications.

Their ministry is headquartered in Bellflower, California.

The Principle
The basic principle of evangelism that they teach is using the Ten Commandments to show someone their sin and, by implication, their need for God's forgiveness. The main Scriptures they use to prove the validity of this are Mark 10:17-22; Romans 3:19-20 and 7:7-13; and Galatians 3:24. The acronym they present the 10 commandments with in a conversation is represented by the letters in the ministry's logo, WDJD, which stands for the four questions:
 * "Would you consider yourself to be a good person?"
 * "Do you think you have kept the 10 Commandments?" followed by asking specifically if the person has broken the commandments, with questions like "Have you ever told a lie?"
 * Judgment: "If God judges you by the 10 Commandments on the Day of Judgement, will you be innocent or guilty?"
 * Destiny: "Would you go to heaven or hell?"

However, these questions are usually an outline, with more in-depth questions and commentary given by the "witnesser" during the conversation. After the 10 commandments are used to "bring the knowledge of sin", (based on Romans 3:19-20) the gospel is usually presented to the "witnessee", describing the Christian belief in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins, and encouraging the person to give a response of repentance and faith in Christ. If the "witnessee" is especially stubborn or antagonistic, the witnesser might return to the 10 commandments or engage in other rhetoric.

The Television Series
According to their ministry as of January 2005, it airs in 70 countries, including six Christian networks in the U.S., the most prominent of which is Trinity Broadcasting Network. The aim of the show is to teach Christians how to reach non-Christians with the gospel, via teaching and example, in one-on-one interviews.

The television series has three main segments, sprinkled about throughout the program:
 * The main teaching, in which Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort are in various locales teaching about sharing the gospel. Such backgrounds include:
 * Alcatraz Island
 * The New York skyline
 * The Golden Gate Bridge
 * Clips of Ray, Kirk, and others interviewing and sharing the gospel with non-Christians, using the method described above.
 * Various "filler" segments, such as:
 * "Questions & Objections," with Kirk and Ray answering some common questions and objections to Christianity.
 * "Reality Break," with Kirk and Ray providing commentary in a car, followed by showing them witnessing.
 * "Wake Up Call," to motivate Christians to evangelize.

The National Religious Broadcasters association awarded The Way of the Masterthe "People's Choice Award" for 2004 and 2005, and their "Best Program Award" in 2005 and 2006 in the television category. 

Season 1 Episodes

 * 1) The Firefighter
 * 2) The Mirror of the Ten Commandments
 * 3) The Motive of the Sinner
 * 4) The Summary of Salvation
 * 5) Practice What You Preach
 * 6) Idolatry -- The Darling Sin of Humanity
 * 7) The Beauty of a Broken Spirit -- Atheism
 * 8) WDJD?
 * 9) Blasphemy, Sabbath, Parents
 * 10) Murder
 * 11) Adultery
 * 12) Theft
 * 13) Lie and Covet

Season 2 Episodes

 * 1) God's Wonderful Plan
 * 2) Conscience
 * 3) Alcatraz, Al Capone, Alcohol
 * 4) True and False Conversion
 * 5) When Things Go Wrong
 * 6) The Satanic Influence
 * 7) How to Witness to Someone Who's Gay
 * 8) Evolution
 * 9) How to Witness to a Loved One
 * 10) The Fear of God
 * 11) Ice Breakers -- Gospel Tracts
 * 12) The Greatest Gamble
 * 13) How to Get on Fire for God

Season 3 Episodes
Though only the first two seasons have been aired and released on DVD, 13 more episodes for a third season are being planned. They will have a focus on comparing other religions to Christianity and the Bible, and showing how to reach people of these religions with evangelism. 
 * 1) Islam
 * 2) Mormonism
 * 3) Witchcraft
 * 4) Buddhism
 * 5) Roman Catholicism
 * 6) What Hollywood Believes
 * 7) New Age
 * 8) Humanism
 * 9) What America Believes
 * 10) Jehovah's Witness
 * 11) Judaism
 * 12) Spiritual Battle
 * 13) Hinduism

The Radio Show
Cameron and Comfort have teamed up with Minnesota Christian talk show host Todd Friel to begin a daily live radio show of the same name, which began airing on January 2, 2006.

According to Cameron and Comfort, every two-hour daily program "focus[es] on three things: reaching the lost, equipping you to reach them, and teaching you how to read the Bible properly so that you can determine what's true from what's false. ... There'll be live open-air preaching, and we'll even open up the phone book and randomly call people and share the gospel with them, live." 

According to their station listing, the daily show is available on about a dozen terrestrial radio stations as of March 2006, as well as on Sirius Satellite Radio and via Internet streaming and podcasting. Another 30 stations air a one-hour "best of" weekend show, and over 600 stations air Way of the Master Radio Minutes, short features designed to encourage Christians to share their faith with others.

Basic Training Course
In March 2006, after roughly a year of planning and production, the ministry released a "Basic Training Course," a set of materials designed to work as a Sunday school or other small group curriculum. The package includes:
 * Eight videos on four DVDs, each ranging from 30 to 50 minutes. Five of the videos include large portions of teaching from the television show.
 * The audio portions of these videos on four CDs.
 * A 120-page study guide.
 * A "Quick Reference Card" containing two acronyms which can be used with these techniques.
 * 300 of their gospel tracts.
 * Special promotional materials on DVD and CD-ROM.

List of BTC Videos

 * 1) Cultivating Your Compassion for the Lost -- contains portions of the TV episode "The Firefighter"
 * 2) Discovering Hell's Best Kept Secret
 * 3) Learning to Ovecome Fear -- contains portions of the TV episode "Conscience"
 * 4) Practicing What You Preach -- contains portions of the TV episode "Practice What You Preach"
 * 5) Crafting the Message -- contains portions of the TV episode "WDJD?"
 * 6) Answering The Top Ten Objections -- filmed at a 2005 evangelism boot camp in Los Angeles
 * 7) The Myth of the Modern Message -- contains portions of the TV episodes "God's Wonderful Plan" and "The Fear of God"
 * 8) Spreading Your Wings

Intermediate Training Course
On the "Spreading Your Wings" video of the Basic Training Course, Comfort and Cameron mention an "Intermediate Training Course," which will cover topics presented in some of the TV episodes like "When Things Go Wrong," "How to Witness to a Family Member," "How to Witness to Someone Who's Gay," and "Evolution." No other information, such as contents or scheduled release date, are known at this time.

Advanced Training Course
At the GNN Reunion Evangelism Boot Camp at the ministry's Bellflower headquarters in January 2006, Cameron and Comfort also mentioned an "Advanced Training Course." No other information, such as contents or scheduled release date, are known at this time.

School of Biblical Evangelism
Another branch of their ministry is an unaccredited school of 101 lessons on their teachings, called The School of Biblical Evangelism (also called SOBE or SBE). This school is available both online, and in textbook form, though only the online form of lessons leads to graduation. As of early February 2006, roughly 6,500 people have taken or are taking the school. The history of SBE is chronicled in the preface of their textbook:


 * In 2001, we decided to create an online Bible school called "The School of Biblical Evangelism," in which we would systematically equip Christians to share their faith. It would have a total of 120 lessons. We couldn't wait to get it underway, so we placed the first ten lessons online, thinking we could write the others before students caught up with us. We were wrong. Almost immediately students were banging on our door asking, "Where is the next lesson?"
 * The experience of trying to outrun hungry students was a taste of what was to come. Within a short time we were delighted to find thatover 2,000 students from 18 countries had enrolled in the school.

Key Figures
Though not considered a cult, sect, or denomination, there are several "headliners" in the ministry who are often cited by those who follow the Way of the Master:
 * Kirk Cameron, co-founder, TV and radio show co-host
 * Ray Comfort, co-founder, TV and radio show co-host
 * Todd Friel, daily host of the radio show
 * Darrel Rundus, founder and leader of The Great News Network
 * Mark Spence, the dean of SOBE
 * Emeal "EZ" Zwayne, Comfort's son-in-law and general manager of the ministry headquarters.

Criticisms
Cameron and Comfort use what some describe as flawed arguments to prove the existence of God. For example, in the pilot episode, "The Firefighter," Comfort stops a group of people on the street and claims to be able to prove the existence of god.


 * "When you look at a painting, how do you know there was a painter? The painting exists. When you look at a building, how do you know there was a builder? The building is proof there is a builder. And creation proves there is a creator. And your conscience tells you when you do right from wrong."

Many people claim the argument ignores the theory of evolution, instead assuming we were created and therefore there must be a creator (God). The last sentence also seems to be a transition into their line of questioning which uses of the Ten Commandments.

Other examples, when asked about Creationism versus the Big Bang Theory, Cameron said that he knew Adam and Eve were real because "Jesus was descended from Adam, and Jesus was real, so Adam has to be real."

The website states "Evolution is not a good theory—it is just a pagan religion masquerading as science.". The page also contains a list of 15 questions designed to disprove evolution from the Creationist Kent Hovind, though many evolutionists claim some of the questions have nothing to do with the theory of evolution.

On March 17, 2006, Comfort and Cameron were featured on a segment of Nightline, being interviewed by Martin Bashir about their ministry. Bashir asked each of them questions relating to evolution, their credibility as ministers, and their motive in speaking of things such as Judgment Day and hell, where as many other Christian figures in the public eye do not speak of such things.