A Christian, an Atheist, and a Freebie

First, I promise I'll finish the Launch Conference posts real soon. I feel bad that it's taken so long, but I promise it'll be done soon.

Now then... Last year I read a book called A.K.A. Lost by Jim Henderson, a book that questions the way evangelism has typically been done in the past 50 or so years. Jim Henderson also organized the Revolution Conference last fall that D.G. and I attended.

Aaron Klinefelter just informed me about a new book by Jim Henderson and Matt Caspar called Jim and Caspar Go to Church. The tag-line hints at the book's premise: A believer, an atheist, an unlikely friendship...

Here's the basic idea...

Jim Henderson is a Christian. Matt Caspar is an atheist. And together they visit 10 churches, including Willow Creek, Saddleback, The Potter's House, and other smaller churches. Then they offer their thoughts.

Sounds like a really interesting book to me!!

Here's the freebie.... Follow this link and you can read the first chapter of the book!

Launch Conference, Part 9: Evangelism

Yikes! It's been almost a week since my last post! To be honest, it has something with my Lent commitment this year, but I'll tell you more about that in a separate post.

For now, here is (at long last) the next section of my notes from The Launch Conference. This section is called Evangelism: Reaching People from Scratch. Here goes....

"Your target is not your market." --Jack Trout and Al Reis, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

• The only way to reach your market is to focus on your target.
• My target determines my marketing.

Key Question: Who am I trying to reach?


My Target Determines My:

• Marketing - make sure publicity is appropriate to your target
• Music - the music you choose is the #1 defining characteristic of your church
• First Service - where you meet, for example
• Comeback Events
• Entire Church

Four Questions to Focus my Evangelism Efforts

1. Who are the key population groups living in my area?
2. What population group is not being reached effectively?
3. What population group do I best relate to? (keep in mind that just because you have a heart for someone doesn't mean you can relate to them)
4. What is my unique "Sweet Spot"? (the intersection of those first three questions)

Three Evangelism Truths

1. People are more open to the gospel when they are in trouble.
2. People are more open to the gospel when they are in transition.
   
3. People are more open to the gospel when they are under tension.

Regarding "transition":

• Moving, marriage, having kids, loss of a loved one, loss of a relationship, loss of a dream
• What transitions are people experiencing in your area?

Five Ideas for Reaching People

1. Direct Marketing
2. Mission Teams (teams from other churches; e.g., to hang door hangers, to "prayer walk" or "prayer drive" an area)
3. Servant Evangelism (showing God's love in a practical way to the people in your city; e.g., handing out water, granola bars, etc. with invite cards)
4. Events (non-threatening, easy to enter events; atmosphere of Christian hospitality)
5. People Inviting People
   

Christians in "The Office"

Hey, this might be the end of the drought!

So, I've been watching "The Office" on DVD for the past few weeks. My wife and I are on Season 2 right now, and it was finally revealed that the character of Angela (Angela Kinsey) is a Christian.

Great!! Right?

Not really. Angela is the b**** in the office. She's no fun. Never smiles. Always wants to work. Makes everybody feel uncomfortable. Looks down on her co-workers. Tends to make snide comments.

At first, I was kinda ticked off by this. "Oh, great! There goes Hollywood, making us Christians look bad again!"

But then I thought, "Actually, this is probably how they really view most of us. And we need to learn from this."

And why do people view us as judgmental, uninspiring, and full of contempt. Sadly, I suspect it's because that's how a lot of Christians are--that's at least the impression I would get as a non-Christian watching this video: