Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Evangelism in a Postmodern Age

I have been asked to do a two-part seminar at the MidSouth Christmas Conference for Campus Crusde for Christ on "Evangelism in a Postmodern World." My description of the session is:
“The times they are a changing” and so must we. Yet to be effective and authentic witnesses, it is essential we understand what must and must not change. This biblical framework will enable us to explore our cultural landscape and adapt to our audience. Practical help will be given in engaging others conversationally, communicating the gospel and dealing with the beliefs that stand as barriers to faith in Christ.
It is important to note, this is a seminar whose main subject is evangelism, not postmodernism. Postmodernism is the context, not the main subject. With this focus on conversational evangelism, my list of recommended readings include:
  • Davy, CoJourners: Joining Others in Spiritual Journey (A Transferable Concept). CruPress, 2007.
  • Geisler & Geisler. Conversational Evangelism: How to Listen and Speak so You Can Be Heard. Harvest House Publishers, 2009.
  • Moreland & Muehlhoff. The God Conversation: Using Stories and Illustrations to Explain Your Faith. IVP, 2007.
  • Newman. Questioning Evangelism: Engaging People’s Hearts the Way Jesus Did. Kregel Publications, 2004.
  • Pollard. Evangelism Made Slightly Less Difficult: How to Interest People Who Aren’t Interested. IVP, 1997.
  • Pollock, Doug. God Space: Where Spiritual Conversations Happen Naturally. Group, 2009.
  • Richardson. ReImagining Evangelism: Inviting Friends on a Spiritual Journey. IVP, 2006.
  • Sire. Why Good Arguments Often Fail. IVP, 2006.
Would you add any?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you've got to have something to do with crossing cultures, communicating to Latinos, African-Americans, or people from other ethnic backgrounds. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there are too many books on Cross Cultural Evangelism, so maybe you recommend something like "Cultural Intelligence" by David Livermore. http://www.amazon.com/Cultural-Intelligence-Improving-Multicultural-Culture/dp/0801035899/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256776987&sr=8-2

Increasingly people are going to be doing evangelism across racial and ethnic barriers and we need to be preparing them for this reality.

--Eric

Keith Davy said...

Thanks, Eric. I have ordered it. Look forward to perusing it in the days ahead.
--Keith

Anonymous said...

Here's a link to Changethis.com where I heard about his book. I think the "manifesto" from ChangeThis would be a great thing to pass out to the attendees of your seminar. They could get the main points without having to buy the book (although this download is geared toward a secular audience)

http://changethis.com/62.02.CulturalIntelligence

--Eric