Jesus Creed

Jesus Creed

Promoting the Gospel

posted by Scot McKnight

Dickson.jpgWhether we like it or not, words like “evangelism” and even “proclaiming” the gospel are falling out of favor in the current generation. One reason why clearly surrounds the silliness, zaniness and utter nonsense some Christians fall for when it comes to gospeling. Any means seems to be justifiable for some.

But not for all, and it appears to me that that number is growing.
Which means this: talking about the gospel and about evangelism is becoming increasingly difficult. To whom do we turn in such times? Those who are getting the job done, and I can think of no one I know who is getting it done much better than the Australian John Dickson. His new book, now freshly reproduced for the USA, is called The Best Kept Secret of Christian Mission: Promoting the Gospel with More Than Our Lips
.
I read this book in preparation for my lectures in Ireland, and I found it stimulating, confirming and educational. I see the book as especially good for pastors and evangelistic ministries and anyone involved in missions — including the missional movement. I’m opening this space for anyone who wants to review it (sorry, I can’t get a free book for you) and I’m particularly keen on finding some missional folks reading it.
What’s in the book: missional stuff, pluralism stuff, using prayer and money to promote the gospel, the power of a local church for evangelism … and a really good, and I mean really good, chp on what the gospel itself is.


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Jen Rose

posted June 20, 2010 at 7:20 pm


Hi Scot,
It is great to hear that Zondervan has published this book to make it available internationally! At Morling College (Sydney), Mike Frost has been using “Promoting the Gospel” as the textbook for first year evangelism for ages (and he actually suggested in his endorsement of the original version that it should be used for this purpose). I took evangelism at the end of my theology degree as an elective, and having followed Mike Frost for some time, had no idea if I’d get anything new out of taking the class. I’m happy to say that it was John Dickson’s book that stretched my thinking on the subject.
My small group is actually starting a series tonight on the book, as we have been seeking to be missionally involved in our local soccer club and there was some confusion within our group on what this should entail (ie what actually counted as being intentionally missional). My hope is that through engaging with Dickson’s book we’ll be able to come to a consensus that while all of us may not be evangelists in the proper sense, we will all seek to promote the gospel in all we do there.
This is one of those books I’d put on a “must-read” list. I learned so much from it. Highly recommended!



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