Book Review: Unlikely Converts

Ever since I read Jordan Raynor's Called to Create, I have been receiving his newsletters. They discuss the creative process and our need to balance our call from God with our work in daily life. At the end, he always recommends a book. Anyone who knows me well will understand why this recommendation reverberated in my brain for days. I was desperate to locate and read the book.

Randy Newman studied evangelism at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has written four other authoritative books on evangelism: Questioning Evangelism, Corner Conversations, Bringing the Gospel Home, and Engaging with Jewish People. This book, Unlikely Converts: Improbable Stories of Faith and What They Teach Us About Evangelism, presents his findings from countless interviews with recent converts. Newman structures his book into two separate sections. Section One covers how people come to faith in Christ: gradually, communally, variously, and supernaturally. Section Two presents ideas for how Christians should present the gospel: carefully, fearfully, kindly, and prayerfully. He supports each chapter with examples taken from his interviews. The book is accessible and fundamental. If you are interested in the conversion process or in reaching the unsaved for God's kingdom, then you will surely enjoy reading Newman's book.