Missio Dei (The Mission of God) / Reading the Bible

Misreading the Bible Misses the Mark

A pastor search committee interviewed a recent seminary graduate. The candidate was young, and the committee wondered about his level of Bible knowledge. The chairman of the committee asked the student, “Do you know the Bible?”
“Of course,” he replied, “I just graduated from seminary!”

“Then tell us a story of the Bible—how about the ‘Good Samaritan’?” replied the chairman.
“No problem,” said the pastoral candidate.

“There was a man of the Samaritans named Nicodemus. He went down to Jerusalem by night, and he fell among the stony ground, and the thorns choked him half to death. “So he said, ‘What shall I do? I will arise and go to my father’s house.’ So he arose and climbed up into a sycamore tree. The next day the three wise men came and got him and carried him to the ark for Moses to take care of him. But, as he was going into the eastern gate into the ark, he caught his hair in a limb, and he hung there for forty days and forty nights. Afterward he was hungry, and the ravens came and fed him. read more

April 18, 2024

Book Reviews

Book Review: The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman

Jamie Bennett

Luther Rice College and Seminary

12/10/2023

Coleman, Robert E. The Master Plan of Evangelism. Ebook edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Revell, 2010.

Introduction and Summary

Robert Coleman, Ph.D., presents to his readers an examination of the topic of evangelism as observed from the life and times of Jesus Christ, the very one who started the task of evangelism and in whom the evangel is all about. Inside, the author intends to communicate principles of evangelism based on the mission of Christ and his work with his disciples. Rather than communicate methods or programs, he examines the way that Jesus prepared his disciples for a life of evangelism. Thus, the book is aimed at developing the priesthood of all believers in the area of evangelism. In other words, Coleman desires to develop the Church, and his purpose is to provide a principle-centered approach in which the Church can rightly take up the call in which “every member is a missionary. ¹” read more

Notes

1
This quote does not originate with Coleman, nor is used in his book. However, it is appropriated to describe the audience that Coleman is after. To read a personal evangelism resource that uses this quote as its thesis, see Alvin Reid, Evangelism Handbook: Biblical, Spiritual, Intentional, Missional. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2009.

December 10, 2023