The Jesus Plan: Breaking Through Barriers to Introduce the People You Know to the God You Love

By Bruce Dreisbach

A radically refreshing and proven pattern for reaching those around you with the good news of Christ...join the adventure of reaching the lost in your world. An expert in church growth and evangelism,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1578564352
• ISBN13: 9781578564354
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: Waterbrook Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Relational Ministry...

While our nation sings the anthem of individuality and praises the strength of independence, The Jesus Plan calls Christians back to the heart of the matter, rediscovering relationships and community as the way to reach our lost family and friends. Christ, himself, worked not within the confined walls of a church building to change lives, but went into the world to find the needy. Driesbach reminds us of our reponsiblity to the witness of Christ's life, not limiting it to the institution of church. The need for church is not the question at hand, but our 'definition' of church. Did Christ not speak of more than buildings, programming, and sermons? The Jesus Plan is inviting Christians to take up the lost discipline of relational ministry, exemplified by Christ.

The way to reach the lost for Jesus - where they are!

We were so encouraged to find someone who had experienced the same thing we had in "the church". Bruce gives us renewed hope for reaching the lost for Jesus through relationships of love and not with "religion" that pushes them away. We highly recommend this book to individuals or organizations that have a heart for the lost and a desire to "go where they are" with the love of Jesus.

Powerful Message For Our Times

If you have a heart for the lost, and truly believe that they matter to God, you will find this book very helpful. Dreisbach shares ways to help close the culture gap and be able to effectively evangelize in your own neighborhood. He also identifies the basic skills that help believers to effectively witness to their family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Dreisbach also points our that it is priorities that will actually determine what will result from a ministry's efforts. This book has been a great encouragment to me.

Excellent Plan for Modern Evangelism

This is a good, quick read that tackles some important issues for the church. The type is double spaced and I was able to read it in just a few hours, so it is a good choice for someone who is short on time but wants a fresh persective on evangelism. Dreisbach basically paints a dismal picture of the church's current efforts to reach the lost. His basic premise, as articulated by many before him, is that God cares for those who don't know Christ, and he calls Christians to go find them. However, he points out that most churches today expect people to come to them to hear the gospel. While this may have worked in an era when most people went to church and when Christianity was prominent in the culture, it won't work now. Nowadays, when people are seeking guidance in spiritual matters, the church is not the place they turn to. Two chapter titles sum things up very well - "They Aren't Coming In," and "We Aren't Going Out." He repeats the oft told statistic that only 1 out of 10 Christians ever lead a person to Christ (I believe I got that numnber right) and then he asks what would happen if only one out of 10 married couples ever produced a child? No wonder the number of Christians continues to diminish. Another thing I liked about this was his critique of "trickle down evangelism." This is the idea that, if churches will concentrate on feeding believers, then the believers will naturally go out and share their faith with non-believers. He says this simply isn't working and won't work. We must become intentional in seeking to reach the lost. Given the typical traditional church schedule, Christians spend 90% (or more) of the time they have available for service and ministry going to meetings with other Christians. If we are to reach people, Dreisbach says we need to swing the percentage to the other side. Overall, I liked the book. Some will be uncomfortable with what seems to be a low view of the institutional church, but I think the points he makes about the need to prioritize evangelism are right on target.

Must read!

I am so convinced that to reach this generation, we have to do things in a different way than we have for hundreds of years. If you have a passion for the lost and aren't afraid to "step outside the box", this book is a must read.