Speaking the Gospel Today: A Theology for Evangelism

The book was delivered in the time frame that they said and the book was in the condition that was listed. I will use them again when I need material for my classes.

One of the other reviewers mentioned that this book was a bit "over his head" or meant for graduate students, not really for the average lay person. While I am a grad student, I respectfully disagree & say any lay person could use this book quite well with just a bit of insider info.:) This book was actually required reading for two of my classes, same quarter. I'll say this though, if I hadn't had the second class, I don't think I'd be writing the same review. The first class had us read through the whole book, straight through, and give a Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking-style (the little blue book) synopsis. The second class generally glossed over all of the other stuff in the book and honed in on Chapter Two and the chart to be found at the end. Using a case study method, the knowledge of the 7 evils were used as "diagnostic tools" for helping hurting people. For example, a man who has just lost his job could be dealing with estrangement, meaninglessness, etc... This knowledge was then used as a springboard for Christian conversation and witness. Over the course, we all honed our skills and grew in ability to recognize some of the more nuanced impacts of evil and how they could play together in an individual's life. The second course was taught by Dr. Kolb, and I sincerely believe this is how the book should be used. Perhaps it could be improved by some "case study" examples at the end, but I think Dr. Kolb wanted to be sensitive to the incredibly unique ways evil comes to people, and how dangerous "recipe card" application of Law & Gospel could be - a definite possibility if he were to include many case studies. Anyway, all the "case studies" one could ask for are standing around you, waiting for conversation. After the class, the best of what I took away is this: Pray. Be thoughtful. Be genuine. Let God's Word dole out Law, be ready with Gospel, and ALWAYS have a long-term plan of connecting people to a larger Christian community. May the Holy Spirit be with you as you go to speak the Gospel TODAY. :)

Once again, Robert Kolb digs deep into the understanding of the proper relationship between God and His people, and he shares with his readers the fundamentals of why God's people can boldy proclaim the truth of God's love for His creation. A wonderful work which encourages the believer to rejoice in the Gospel.