I am happy to partner with Ken Hemphill and Auxano Press in announcing the release of Steve Gaines's new book, Share Jesus Like It Matters. Here is an excerpt:
Bill Sullivan wasn’t someone you heard preach at a conference. He never wrote a book. He wasn’t even a pastor. He was a layperson from a Southern Baptist church who believed the gospel had the power to change lives.
One night many years ago Bill had a conversation about Jesus with a young, twenty-something couple named
Mike and Glenda. They came to faith in Christ that night. A few days later I stood on a pew and watched my parents get baptized. I never met Bill Sullivan and I didn’t fully understand what my parents did that night, but that gospel conversation changed my parents’ lives for eternity.
And it changed the trajectory of their three children, 13 grandchildren and one great-grandchild too.
I’m forever grateful that this Baptist layman took the time to share Jesus with my parents that night
I’m convinced that for the church in North America to make a dent in our continent’s lostness, we need more Bill Sullivans. The North American church needs more believers actively engaging their neighbors and coworkers in gospel conversations.
That’s why I am excited about this book Steve has put together. He is calling churches and individual Christians back to our core purpose—to know God and to bring Him glory by introducing more people to Him.
A major threat to the evangelical church in North America today is that so many have plateaued or are declining in membership. In the faith group I serve—Southern Baptists—we lose an average of 1,000 churches every year. Most of them have simply locked their doors and died. It is such a crisis that at the North American Mission Board where I lead, we have made church revitalization and church re-planting a major priority. It is not a problem unique to Southern Baptists.
Why are so many churches dying? We have found that by far the most common reason is that at some point the congregation turned inward. They started focusing mostly on ministries that served themselves. Good things probably, but they lost their focus on the outside world around them. Individuals stopped sharing their faith with non-believers. The church stopped connecting with its community. The salt lost its taste. The light grew dim.
That’s why Share Jesus Like It Matters is such an important book. Of course mostly because it really does matter to those with whom we are sharing. When Bill Sullivan shared Jesus with my father, it dramatically changed the course of his life, my mom’s life and our entire family. Probably just within your church there are families that can share similar stories. One life changed can lead to so many others.
