"Tell Someone" (Greg Laurie)

TITLE: Tell Someone: You Can Share the Good News
AUTHOR: Greg Laurie
PUBLISHER: Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing, 2016, (138 pages).

Ninety-Five percent of Christians have never led a person to Christ. If we do not share our faith, it may even be considered an "actual sin." It's a "travesty" not to obey the Great Commission. Believers who share the gospel with others tend to be happy people. These arresting statements kick off this book about evangelism and how we can effectively share the gospel. For if we do not share the gospel at all, we are effectively no different from non-believers. Greg Laurie has this conviction: If we want to share the gospel, begin with care. As the Father cares, so must we. We share the faith because we love Jesus and because Jesus desires to draw more people to His saving grace and loving embrace. We are called to preach the gospel everywhere and wherever we are. The gospel is to be preached and also lived. Going through the Who-What-When-Where-Whys of evangelism, Laurie shows us the how-tos that are more tact rather than mere facts. Like the woman at the well where Jesus gently highlighted the need of the woman or the way Jesus spoke with Nicodemus in the middle of the night. Love is a powerful draw of the gospel. In a nutshell, we share because we care. We care because God cares. The five steps Laurie proposes for preachers are:

1. Start the evangelistic message at the pulpit
2. Articulate the gospel in such a way that hearers can be encouraged to share the gospel one-to-one
3. Be clear in the invitation to believe in Jesus
4. Have a follow up structure in place
5. Start and maintain an evangelistic culture

The author was born out of wedlock, bore the name of a different father, endured troubled childhood, and became sarcastic on Christians carrying their Bibles. By the grace of God, his heart was changed and he is now the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside and Irvine California. Since 1990, he has been holding large evangelistic rallies and influenced many people for the gospel.

Frequently using his own stories, Laurie shows us that he is a broken person saved by grace. His goal in life is to show us the same grace that he has experienced, so that others can find the true grace of God. Evangelism is often talked about but not practiced as much. This is largely because of fear rather than a lack of know-how. I believe that the believer needs to be convicted by the Holy Spirit before he/she can go out to share. The key take-away in this book is to connect the art of sharing with the passion of caring. Without the love of God within, no amount of knowledge and evangelistic skills can make a person open the mouth to share Christ. With the conviction of the Holy Spirit, the believer will do everything within his/her means to bring the message of Christ across. It is like saying that the moment one knows the "why," one will find the "how" to get the message across. When in doubt, start with your story of how God had touched you.

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade

---

This book is provided to me courtesy of B&H Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.