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I received The Soul Winning Church compliments of The Good Book Company in exchange for my honest review.
The Soul-Winning Church by J.A. Medders and Doug Logan, Jr. is an incredibly helpful book on evangelism. The authors introduce the book by explaining their reason for using the term “soul-winning” in place of evangelism. Soul-winning is an older term they selected because it is more concise and stripped of the baggage and guilt that the term evangelism often comes with.
This was refreshing to me because I, and I’m sure many others, often consider evangelism to be talking to strangers and handing out tracts. The Soul-Winning Church helps Christians learn that while these practices can be helpful, they aren’t the sole means of reaching the lost. In The Soul-Winning Church, the authors include 6 keys that churches in various settings can implement. Each chapter is dedicated to one of the keys and gives examples of how they can be put into practice.
While each chapter convicted me and ministered to me, the first chapter on prayer was my favorite. It led me to repent of prayerlessness and unbelief and encouraged me to pray with faith for those who don’t yet know Jesus. Chapter four covers personal evangelism and I greatly enjoyed this chapter, too. The authors wrote that “. . . evangelism is simply telling people how awesome Jesus is,” (pg. 91).
They also helpfully explained that evangelism isn’t about arguing or winning arguments. Particularly fascinating to me was the research shared in the chapter that reveals more people are willing to hear about Christ than we may think.
While The Soul-Winning Church is targeted to pastors, I appreciated the authors acknowledging how there are opportunities for soul-winning within the walls of our churches for those in non pastoral positions. Some examples they give of this that greatly encouraged me are children’s and youth ministry which my husband and I both have the joy of serving in.
The book concludes with case studies of how churches worldwide have practiced soul-winning. It was inspiring to learn how other believers are being obedient to this call and to consider some things I can begin practicing in my local church.
While there are many helpful resources on evangelism, this book is one of my favorites. If you desire to better understand soul-winning and desire to see your church become increasingly winsome for the sake of the gospel, I highly recommend reading The Soul-Winning Church.
If you’d like to learn more about the 6 Keys, download a sermon plan, and read the case studies, head to https://www.thegoodbook.com/soul-winning.
