Share Jesus Without Fear

Introduction

The author of this document will offer an analysis of this book that consist of; an abstract, a concrete response, or an interpretation of a significant event in her life, a reflection on the book, and finally actions that the writer will make in her life and ministry as a result of studying this book.

Abstract

The authors of this book, William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd, offer a simple and short and sweet way to Share Jesus Without Fear. This book gives the reader a precise way that they may share Jesus with others without fear. They give easy to follow step by step instructions or guidelines one can use to share Jesus with someone.

In chapter one is the key chapter of the book. William Fay discusses his encounters with Christians who attempted to share Jesus with him in the past. Fay explained that even though, the speech did not cause his conversion, the presenter did not fail the reason he did not fail was because the responsibility for the conversion is the responsibility of the Holy Ghost.[1] When a person feels they have failed in converting a person, and then discovers that it is the responsibility of the Holy Ghost causes the Christian to exhale in relief.

The authors[2] discuss that if we do not share Jesus with others is the sin of silence; silence is an act of disobedience to a direct command from the Lord. When a person chooses obedience of telling someone about Jesus, they will feel an irreplaceable kind of joy in an ever-expanding bond with Jesus.[3]

The authors convey to the reader five Share Jesus questions.[4] The Christian/believer should never ever argue with the responses the non-believer. They should only say hmm, because it is hard to argue with someone if all they do is hmm.[5] In addition, when one answers with a hum, it will lead the non-believer in reading the scripture to discover the truth for themselves.

The scripted speech of revealing the scripture is easy and clear-cut. Readers are urged to create a list of non-believers who they have a relationship with.[6] This list gives them a jumping off point to share Jesus to others.

Concrete Response

As I read this book, I remembered one time back in high school when I had a discussion with two of friends in the morning before classes begun that day. Ruth was a Mormon, Rick was Jehovah Witness, and I was a Baptist. We got into a major argument. All of us had different views of Jesus and the scriptures. We all agreed that the Bible was the Holy words of God. However, we each interrupted them differently. If I had read this book and learned the Share Jesus questions[7] and the seven scriptures[8] that the authors suggest using to share Jesus with someone, I do not think there would have been any arguments because I would have just said hmm, and read it again out loud, if there was a wrong answer. I am feeling a little more confident about sharing Jesus since I cannot fail because it is the responsibility of the Holy Ghost to convert someone.

Reflection

Even though Share Jesus Without Fear is an evangelistic book that contributes to the spreading of the gospel, it comes across aggressive to some degree. For example, the statement on page six it states, The wound that killed him was silence.[9] God sent his son to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus is God's only Son, he had to power die whenever he felt it necessary. Like it says in the Bible, When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost (John 19:30, KJV). He could have stretched out his death forever, He could have died the moment he was put on the cross, but He died when it was time to die. He did not need anyone to speak up for Him. Yes, if we had followed his commandments at the very beginning or at any time before God sent His Son to die, there would have been no need for Him to send His Son.

Action

Action Step One: By the end of this class, EVAN 525, I will meet at least two unbelievers who live in my community utilizing Share Jesus Without Fear process. I will also invite them to my church that I currently attend.

I will allow God to work through me to direct me to these individuals. One of the main areas of this step that will require some work on my part, is going out of my home to meet these individuals. I am a stay at home wife and know very few people in this town that I have lived in for the past eleven years. I will start attending our church's nursing home visitation that we do every fourth Saturday of the month. I am in hopes of meeting an unbeliever, whether it be a resident of the nursing home or one of the workers and share Jesus with them using this process.

I will also start volunteering at our local hospital two days a week. I am also in hopes of meeting a fellow volunteer or an employee at the hospital and becoming friends with them to the place that I can share Jesus with them during one of our breaks. It is my hopes that if I utilize this process that the authors lay out in their book, that I will be able to share Jesus with someone and not be worried whether I succeed or not.

Action step two: I will give away two New Testament Bibles to two unbelievers. This one may cost me financially, but I know that God will bless me. The reason I want to give away these bibles is that I know personally that there are still several people in the United States of America. Our daughter that we adopted a few years ago, never owned a Bible of any type.

If these unbelievers do not have God's word in their hands, how do expect them to be a true follower of Jesus. Even though I accepted Christ at a young age, it was not until I cracked open my Bible and started reading it, that I finally started truly learning about God. Someone cannot learn about Him, if they do not pray, worship, and read His word. People learn three different ways. They learn by hearing, doing and reading His word. The more a person does this the more they will learn and the more they will want to know about Jesus. At least that is how it is for me.

Action step three: I will find three people online to share Jesus with using the share Jesus process. I will utilize the social networks that I belong to, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus. I will first try to chat with someone I do not know and then having the Lord guide me, share my testimony with them. I know this may be a little bit scary since I have only shared my story at my church and here in class. However, I know that God will let me know when a good time is to share it and He will also give me the strength to overcome any criticisms that I may come across.

On Facebook, I plan on using messenger to do this. That way it is more of a one on one sharing time. I have around two hundred and seven friends. All these people I know, maybe not personally, but they are friends of friends, live in the same town I do or use to, or went to the same school I did.

On twitter will be a little different. First, even though I am a member of it, I do not know how to communicate with anyone. So, my first goal with Twitter is to learn how to communicate and how to respond. The people I follow on twitter are either stars of my favorite show or someone who has similar interests as mine. Once I learn how to communicate, I plan on sharing a small version of my testimony and through God, I have faith that someone will reply wanting to know more. Then I will share more with them. I am still not sure how to do this on a one to one basis, but I will learn.

Finally, on Google plus, I again am not sure how to communicate within this network. However, with some time and guidance from God, I plan on sharing my testimony and again if anyone responds and would like to know more about Jesus, then I will go into more detail about who Jesus is and how they can be saved through the love of Jesus.

Bibliography

1. Fay, William, and Linda Evans Shepherd.Sharing Jesus Without Fear.Nashville: B & H Publishing, 1999.
2. William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd, Sharing Jesus Without Fear, Nashville: B & H Publishing, 1999, 3.
3. Note: Unless stated otherwise William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd will be referred to as the authors.
4. Ibid, 30.
5. William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd, Sharing Jesus, 30.
6. Ibid, 33.
7. Ibid, 138.
8. Ibid, 33.
9. Ibid, 44.
10. William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd, Sharing Jesus, 6.

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