Author: Jonathan Dodson

Three Strand Evangelism

Posted on January 21, 2008

“Most gospel ministry involves ordinary people doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality.” Evangelism is often presented as a program or something for professionals. It is neither. Growing out of a radical call to love other people in the way of Jesus, Total Church authors, Timmis and Chester argue for a refreshingly simple model of evangelism that is rooted in gospel and community.Three Strand evangelism includes: 1) building relationships 2) sharing the gospel 3) introducing people to community. This approach has most influenced our approach to “evangelism.” Regarding the role of the community the authors comment:

Not everyone can think on their feet. Some people are simply not good at speaking to strangers and forming new friendships. One of the practical benefits of the three-strand model of evangelism is that it gives a role to all of God’s people. By making evangelism a community project, it also takes seriously the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit in distributing a variety of gifts among his people.

Applied three-strand evangelism includes forming authentic relationships with others, inviting them into your community through dinners, movies, hearing bands, parties and so on, allowing them to witness the power and presence of God in people who aren’t afraid of culture and genuinely love others.

What Determines your Vote?

Posted on January 21, 2008

According to research done by Barna group, Evangelical voting concerns are quite different than the rest of the American population. In fact, the numbers are disconcerting…

Evangelicals’ top concern – by a wide margin – was abortion (94%). This was followed by the personal debt of Americans (81%), the content of television and movies (79%), homosexual activists (75%), and gay and lesbian lifestyles (75%). Evangelicals were more likely than other adults to be concerned about illegal immigration, but they were less worried about HIV/AIDS than virtually any other segment of the population.

Though Abortion is an incredibly important issue, culture of life issues should extend into other areas such as HIV/AIDS, Poverty, and Global Warming. Apparently, these issues aren’t of great concern to most Evangelicals. Evangelicals would do well to follow some non-Christian voter concerns, which included poverty (78%) and HIV/AIDS (76%).

The Housing Crisis, Demographically

Posted on January 21, 2008

Atlantic Monthly has a great piece on how the subprime mortgate market crash has affected the U.S. demographically. Here is a teaser:

At first, the subprime crisis stung two groups in particular—people of modest means who’d gotten in over their heads, and a wealthier crowd, people working at hedge funds and investment houses, who’d trafficked in the first group’s debt, fueling the market for exotic, unstable loans. One might find a measure of rough justice in the travails of the latter group (45 residences in Greenwich, Connecticut, home to many hedge-fund operators and investment bankers, were in foreclosure in the third quarter of 2007). But the ripples from the subprime crisis are now beginning to affect nearly everyone. A cooler housing market chills construction, consumer confidence, retail sales, and all the rest.