OLAWALE'S BLOG: My Top 5 Books on Evangelism

Letters and Papers from Prison
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Touchstone)

Bonhoeffer's reflections from prison opened my eyes to see more clearly that the gospel is not chained, even when we face severe obstacles. God's power will be displayed in the vulnerable witness of Christ and his community, even in an increasingly secular age.

Mere Christianity
C. S. Lewis (Macmillan)

Lewis's well-reasoned, no-nonsense, accessible account of the essential Christian faith helps readers come to terms with the fact that the gospel is not about sweet, pietistic niceties. It is about a divine subject who addresses us as the ultimate life-changing reality.

Let Justice Roll Down
John Perkins (Regal)

Perkins's autobiography provides a compelling account of the gospel's power to change people's hearts, lives, and communities. His holistic expression of the gospel is an incredible aid in offering the Good News to a broken, fragmented world.

Out of the Salt Shaker & into the World
Rebecca Manley Pippert (InterVarsity Press)

Pippert's book is a very practical and useful guide on how to be an effective witness. She assists readers in becoming more natural in their evangelism, more confident in the gospel, and more dependent on God.

Paul Louis Metzger is the author of Connecting Christ: How to Discuss Jesus in a World of Diverse Paths (Thomas Nelson).

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Join the Conversation

Rick Dalbey

July 06, 2013 6:28pm

Practical, compelling, and accessible? Surely you jest. The dense, 13 volume Church Dogmatics, Vol. IV, 3.1: on The Doctrine of Reconciliation by Swiss theologian Karl Barth? This has helped you in evangelism? Made you more successful in winning the lost to Christ?

Garrett Sandeen

July 03, 2013 6:29am

To Duane Bolin: Barth and Bonhoeffer certainly had more Calvin-like bents in regards to the sovereignty of God (Barth himself, in a TIME Magazine article, accepts the title of Calvinist from its author). They're mostly seen as neo-orthodox, nowadays, however.

Duane Bolin

July 01, 2013 12:51pm

Are any of these authors Calvinists?

Rick Dalbey

May 28, 2013 11:55am

Nice collection of books on the theology of evangelism. The most successful evangelist that ever lived is Reinhard Bonnke, still alive today. In the last 43 years, this modest German, Assembly of God evangelist has led more than 29 million Africans to faith in Jesus. Billy Graham has led 4.5 million to faith in Jesus. Bonnke's numbers are based on decision cards and each convert was matched with a local church and all happened in an era of computers and film which can easily verify claims. Or how do we deal with Heidi Baker who in the last 15 years established 15,000 churches in Mozambique and brought over one million to Jesus. The Welsh revival brought 100,000 to salvation and there is little evidence in Wales today of its fire. Why is this? In America evangelism is an area of academic study and is primarily celebrated when manifested in white communities by non-pentecostal evangelicals. Which leads us to miss the global story and the shifting locus of the church