Book Review: Sharing Jesus (without freaking out)

I recently finished reading Dr. Alvin Reid’s book Sharing Jesus {without freaking out}.  This book looked at the realities that occur within personal evangelism, and how to overcome them.  This is important because evangelism is something that we are called to as Christians, and more often than not, the average Christian finds the concept terrifying.

On page 119 of his book, Dr. Reid lists the following eight principles:

Principle 1: God created you for his glory, to advance his gospel with the gifts, talents, and opportunities he gave to you.

Principle 2: In order to share Jesus confidently and consistently with others, first share him confidently and consistently with yourself.

Principle 3: Shifting from giving an evangelistic presentation to having an evangelistic conversation takes pressure off the witness and relates the gospel more clearly to an unbeliever.

Principle 4: God has sovereignly placed you in this world at this time with the abilities and gifts you have to bring glory to him and show the joy of the gospel to others.

Principle 5: Effective evangelistic conversations connect the unchanging gospel with the specific issues people face.

Principle 6: Expect people to be open to the gospel, and learn to share Jesus where they live.

Principle 7: Talk to the actual person in front of you about the Jesus inside you; let them see and hear the change Jesus makes in you.

Principle 8: Developing a lifestyle of sharing Jesus consistently flows out of a plan to share Jesus regularly.

The principles give a good overview of the book, as the book is only eight chapters long.  The book is not very lengthy, and one could easily finish the book in a little over one week by simply reading one chapter per day.  I recommend that every Christian who is serious about evangelism to read this book.  It will challenge your current notions of how we are doing evangelism.

[Note:  This book was given to me free of charge by B&H publishing in exchange for an honest review.]