Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary by Lee Strobel, Bill Hybels ISBN: 0-310-37561-4 Publisher: Zondervan Pub. Date: 22 July, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.57 (7 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: From the Other Side
Comment: This was a very good book on evangelization from a unique viewpoint. It is with the view more on the unchurched than the form of evangelization. The author shares his experience in accepting Jesus and from that viewpoint he writes as what one who is not saved and what he feels, sees, thinks, says and expects from Christians and the Church.
The value is that if we can understand the unchurched a bit better maybe we will be more at ease with the Word presentation.
This is a practical book with many lists and their explanation. This is NOT a Thelogical work. Your Theology is left to you. He is simply giving some new and some old ways of doing evangelization but seeing the attempt through the unsaved eyes.
Chapter 10 has a list of 7 things a church should do; Chapter 9 has a list to help the spouse that is saved and married to an unsaved person; Chapter 7 shows there 3 areas or steps that a person takes on his journey to salvation. These lists alone helps you relax in knowing that even if they do not accept the Lord when you speak to them, you may see the progress they have made by moving closer to acceptance. Chapter 5 has 15 observations on the unsaved.
This book is not a detailed step by step way to lead someone to the Lord. It is more a book to help us understand our target so we can be better prepared and less apprehensive in our task.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good Illustration of Incarnational Ministry
Comment: The title of this book lets you know that it is a study of the mindsets of those who don't claim to follow Christ. It does an excellent job of fulfilling that objective. The author is a former skeptic who, through the influence of his wife came to faith in Christ. So, the book is a mixture of teaching and testimony. He teaches us what the unbeliever is thinking and illustrates it with his own life story. He doesn't limit himself to his own story but illustrates his points with stories from many others he has known.
Christians often speak of the ministry of Jesus as "incarnational" - where He became one of us. He became like us to save us. Strobel's book gives some good advice for how Christians can do the same. We often seek to evangelize without understanding our audience.
I would caution that this book does make sweeping generalizations. Rather than pigeon-holing every unchurched person you meet and thinking you understand them because you have read this book, you can simply take the time to listen and get to know the person as an individual, and see where God leads you. This would be "Meeting Harry Where He Lives," and is a great application of the book.
One chapter stands out as particularly helpful - the chapter on living with an unchurched spouse. Strobel understands this well because his wife came to Christ many years before he did. His insights are valuable as he shares the sense of loss and disorientation that an unchurched spouse goes through when their mate becomes a Christian. Christians may think that the unchurched spouse is merely hostile or hard-hearted, but in fact, the unchurched spouse may be feeling a great sense of loss as his or her mate's affections for him are transferred to Christ and the church.
This book is sociological, not theological. That is it's major weakness. It gives an excellent sociological analysis of the unchurched person and then it seeks to derive a ministry strategy from that sociological analysis. The problem here is that Strobel is advocating a church that is organized around the needs of the unchurched, rather than the directives of the Bible. While the pastor or religious leader needs to be sensitive to the sociological needs of the unchurched, he still must be directed by the Bible, and in this case the book falls short.
I want to be quick to point out that at no point does Strobel advocate compromising the gospel. He is merely suggesting that we change our methods or delivery systems. However, the Bible not only tells us what the message is, it gives us directions for our methods also.
Overall, a very helpful book. Just make sure you filter the sociological through the theological and let the theological take pre-eminence.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good marketers know their audience. How about you?
Comment: This is one of the best at getting into the mind of the radically unchurched.
On the downside, this book (like most on the subject) takes a narrative approach to each chapter. Some chapters have useful take-away summaries. What I would have liked but did not find in the chapters were:
1. Discussion or review questions at the end of each chapter
2. Application exercise(s) at the end of each chapter
So, in my view, this book fell short on providing clear, easy to adopt "how to" ways to build effective relationship evangelism habits.
A promising new book that I may use is Evangelism Outside The Box (Rick Richardson, 2000).
Older books that have worked well for me in teaching others are: (roughly in order of preference): Power Evangelism (John Wimber, 1992), Witnessing Without Fear (Bill Bright, 1987), Out of the Salt Shaker (Rebecca Pippert).
 |
Title: Becoming a Contagious Christian by Bill Hybels, Mark Mittelberg ISBN: 0310210089 Publisher: Zondervan Pub. Date: 02 May, 1996 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
 |
Title: God's Outrageous Claims by Lee Strobel ISBN: 0310225612 Publisher: Zondervan Pub. Date: 01 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
 |
Title: Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to Reach Them by Thom S. Rainer ISBN: 0310236487 Publisher: Zondervan Pub. Date: 01 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
 |
Title: Building a Contagious Church by Mark Mittelberg, Bill Hybels ISBN: 0310250005 Publisher: Zondervan Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
 |
Title: What Jesus Would Say by Lee Strobel ISBN: 0310485118 Publisher: Zondervan Pub. Date: 09 October, 1994 List Price(USD): $10.99 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
