The Gospel and Personal Evangelism - Preface
I've just started reading The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever (Crossway, 2007), and I'll be "blogging" it. I'll give some thoughts on each chapter and make some comments. I haven't done this before, so it should be interesting.
Dever is pastor of Capitol Hills Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. and founder of 9Marks Ministries. My wife and I have read two of his other books - The Nine Marks of a Healthy Church and The Deliberate Church - and have been both impresses and blessed by them.
The Gospel and Personal Evangelism is a short book (about 120 pages), which makes it easily accesible to a lot of people. (I'm beginning to agree with the idea that a book should be less than 200 pages if anyone is going to read it in this day and age.) Let's face it, 800-page books that weigh six pounds are difficult for anyone to digest.
The preface for Dever's book was written by fellow-Together for the Gospel member C.J. Mahaney (of Sovereign Grace Ministries). What stood out to me the most in this two-page piece was the fact that Dever eats lunch at the same place - a particular Subway (I don't know if it's every day) - and frequents the same businesses around Capitol Hill Baptist. He probably does it where he lives, too. Dever does this in order to build relationships and look for evangelistic opportunities. He knows the people he sees - and they know him, too. Dever has a plan - he's intentional. That's the point - he's doing it on purpose.
Mahaney's preface is good because of that interesting piece of information, along with the fact the Dever walks as he talks, which is fast. Tidbits like that make reading more enjoyable. You feel like you know the author.
So far, so good (with the book and the "blogging" of it!). As I read more, I'll write more.
If anyone has read the book, please give your own review.
Dever is pastor of Capitol Hills Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. and founder of 9Marks Ministries. My wife and I have read two of his other books - The Nine Marks of a Healthy Church and The Deliberate Church - and have been both impresses and blessed by them.
The Gospel and Personal Evangelism is a short book (about 120 pages), which makes it easily accesible to a lot of people. (I'm beginning to agree with the idea that a book should be less than 200 pages if anyone is going to read it in this day and age.) Let's face it, 800-page books that weigh six pounds are difficult for anyone to digest.
The preface for Dever's book was written by fellow-Together for the Gospel member C.J. Mahaney (of Sovereign Grace Ministries). What stood out to me the most in this two-page piece was the fact that Dever eats lunch at the same place - a particular Subway (I don't know if it's every day) - and frequents the same businesses around Capitol Hill Baptist. He probably does it where he lives, too. Dever does this in order to build relationships and look for evangelistic opportunities. He knows the people he sees - and they know him, too. Dever has a plan - he's intentional. That's the point - he's doing it on purpose.
Mahaney's preface is good because of that interesting piece of information, along with the fact the Dever walks as he talks, which is fast. Tidbits like that make reading more enjoyable. You feel like you know the author.
So far, so good (with the book and the "blogging" of it!). As I read more, I'll write more.
If anyone has read the book, please give your own review.
Labels: "The Gospel and Personal Evangelism", evangelism, Mark Dever
posted by Pastor Larry at 6:03:00 AM
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