Eric Swanson and Rick Rusaw, The Externally Focused Quest: Becoming the Best Church for the Community. Jossey-Bass, 2010. Referenced in: Externally Focused Church Series Social Ministry Strategies LifeandLeadership.com Summary This text addresses two situations. One is when church leaders become energized by Externally Focused Church and need to facilitate change in congregational belief systems and
Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson, The Externally Focused Church. Group Publishing, 2004. Referenced in: Externally Focused Church Series Social Ministry Strategies LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is the first volume in the series, and lays out the externally focused philosophy. It is designed for two different types of churches. One is the externally committed congregation that is
Nelson Searcy and Jennifer Dykes Henson, Ignite: How to Spark Immediate Growth in Your Church. Baker Books, 2009. Referenced in: Evangelism Approaches – Event Evangelism LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is one of several resources authored by Nelson Searcy, the founding minister of the Journey Church in New York City, and based on their success in reaching
Martha Grace Reese, Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism. 2nd Edition. Chalice Press, 2008. Referenced in: Evangelism Approaches – Missional LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is a well-researched and very popular approach to evangelism that has been used by over 12,000 churches, predominately mainline denominations. It is designed for small group Bible study, and comes with a
Avery T. Willis and Mark Snowden, Truth That Sticks: How to Communicate the Velcro Truth in a Teflon World. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2010. Referenced in: Approaches to Evangelism – Conversational/Relational From the Publisher Today in America, half of the people prefer not to learn by literate approaches. They simply won’t or don’t read much.
Michael L. Simpson, Permission Evangelism: When to Talk, When to Walk. David C. Cook Publishing, 2003. Referenced in: Approaches to Evangelism – Conversational/Relational LifeandLeadership.com Summary The premise of this book is that evangelistic conversations are often best conducted when they come a as a result of permission from the listener. This is in the spirit
Rebecca Manley Pippert, Out of the Saltshaker and Into the World, Revised and Expanded. InterVarsity Press, 1999. Referenced in: Approaches to Evangelism – Modern Classics LifeandLeadership.com Summary For over two decades, this has been one of the most popular texts on evangelism among evangelicals, having sold over 500,000 copies. The 2000 edition is fully revised
Richard Peace, Conversion in the New Testament: Paul and the Twelve. Eerdmans, 1999. Referenced in: Theology and Practice of Evangelism – Missionally Responsive/Evangelical LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is an excellent discussion of the process of conversion, and is a useful text for evangelism. Understanding conversion helps the evangelist participate in God’s movement in another’s life. The
Richard Peace, Holy Conversation: Talking About God in Everyday Life, Twelve Sessions for Small Groups. IVP Connect, 2006. Referenced in: Approaches to Evangelism – Conversational/Relational LifeandLeadership.com Summary Richard Peace is a recognized author on many subjects, especially spiritual formation and small groups. This is a twelve-session primer on evangelism designed for weekly small groups of
J. Mack Stiles, Marks of the Messenger: Knowing, Living, and Speaking the Gospel. IVP Books, 2010. Prequel: Stiles, Speaking of Jesus Referenced in: Approaches to Evangelism – Modern Classics LifeandLeadership.com Summary This is a follow-up to Stiles’ Speaking of Jesus, which continues to enjoy a wide readership among evangelicals. This first one, Speaking of Jesus,
