Why does it hurt so much when Christians fall short? Could it be because, deep down, we know the church should be different—a reflection of Jesus in some way? In this thought-provoking Short Answers video filmed live at the Cairngorms Convention in Scotland, Andy Bannister explores the reasons Christians aren’t perfect, the messy truth of transformation, and how Christianity offers hope even when we fail.
Short Answers is a viewer-supported video series: if you enjoy them, please help us continue to make them by donating to Solas. Visit our Donate page and choose a free book as a thank-you gift!
An easy and fun way for your church to reach out is to set up a table or stall at a fete, market—or even the local car boot sale. Events like these often draw big crowds and the even your very presence can help raise the profile of the church in your village, town, or suburb.
We spoke to Geoff Naylor from Discovery Church in Wroughton. For several years they have had a stall in the annual village carnival. We asked Geoff about their vision in this: he explained that the main goal was quite low key; the first priority was that people in the community would know the church existed. Taking part in and being in the midst of this key event in village life was a great step toward that.
The practicalities were really simple, Geoff explained. You simply book a space, turn up with a collapsible gazebo, some folding seats, and a mixture of leaflets, gospel books and resources, along with some free snacks and see what happens! Activities like face painting are also a huge draw—you can offer that for free and whilst youngsters get painted you get to talk to the parents. The free drinks and face painting really draw people.
We asked Geoff about the fruit of this and he replied that as a relatively new church plant in the village, what Discovery Church wanted was presence, profile, and relationships. Having a stall did all of this so Geoff would strongly encourage other churches to try it!
Another church we spoke to was using the annual town fete to reach out, in their case using puppets. Every 30 minutes, they would put on a puppet show, telling a story from the Bible. Kids love puppets, parents love a free cold drink and as the pastor said, “The puppets can say things quite directly about faith, God, and Jesus and there’s no pushback, because ‘the puppet said it’.” After each performance, they give out Bible booklets with the story that was in the show. There have been some amazing conversations over the years, along with opportunities to pray with people.
So, give it a try—take a stand!
Pray: Lord, please lead us to those local community events where we can be a presence; and help us use them to build connections and sow gospel seeds. Amen.
__________
“You say there’s a God, so where was he when my unborn child died?”
This was the heartfelt question I was asked in a recent Q & A session. Sarah had been sharing her faith with a friend, only for her friend to then suffer a miscarriage. Suddenly all of her talk about a loving God rang hollow with her friend. Why had she been allowed to suffer in such a devastating way? Sarah wanted to know how to respond to her friend’s deep anguish.
I began by encouraging Sarah to support her friend at this time. I shared how my wife and I had experienced three miscarriages on our way to having our first child. What we valued as much as answers was the presence of Christians standing beside us, loving us and praying with us.
Next, I gently suggested that the Christian faith makes far better sense of our anger and frustration when pain and suffering strike. According to atheism, a failed pregnancy is just nature shrugging its shoulders and disposing of some unwanted molecules. But we don’t respond like that. Instead we grieve, we rage, and we protest “that’s not right!”. And I believe we do that because deep down, we instinctively know that the Christian story is true. Death is not the way things should be.
Finally, I suggested some ways Sarah could draw her friend into the biblical story. We know from the Bible that death is not the last word, that God has done something about the problem of pain, that God the Father has experienced the death of a child in Jesus and the cross. And because of Jesus, whilst we grieve, we do not grieve without hope, nor do we walk through the shadow of the valley of death without God’s presence. I also recommended a book, Sheridan Voysey’s Resurrection Year, that deals honestly, powerfully, and beautifully with this issue.
“I have never forgotten James. When he was a toddler, James had fallen down several flights of stairs in an Edinburgh tenement, and as a result he suffered irreparable brain damage…“
David Randall, former chair of Solas, takes an in-depth look at suffering, in the first ever Solas Paper (published back in 2013).
Christian reflections on an unwanted journey of grief caused by a family tragedy
Bible verses
There are many parts of scripture that we can turn to help us when we are going through pain and suffering. The Psalms have been a source of comfort for people throughout the ages with the ‘Lord is my shepherd’ being a particular favourite, while the book of Job is often explored when thinking about why bad things happen. There are lots of other verses that remind us of God’s love or comforting power, but one of the most powerful is God’s ultimate promise that there will be a time when He will put an end to all suffering:
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21: 1-7)
Other resources: Tim Keller, John Lennox and Warren Furman
Tim Keller looks at the human reaction to suffering and how the Bible informs us of a different perspective, as we walk with God through pain and trials.
On the anniversary of 9/11 John Lennox addresses students in New York about how we can begin to make sense of suffering from a Christian perspective.
A light-hearted testimony from Warren Furman (Ace from Gladiators) on rejecting God after a bereavement, and then finding fame, fortune and faith.
If you are struggling to cope with something right now, it is really important to reach out to someone for help: it could be a friend, family member, your church, or you can speak to organisations like the Samaritans anonymously. We also hope that these resources are helpful for you.
Though we might not like to admit it, all of us struggle with doubts in our Christian walk. And for those who don’t yet have a faith, doubt can feel like an insurmountable obstacle to truly embracing Christ. So whether we are helping others on their journey, or treading the path ourselves, safely navigating the terrains of doubt can be a challenge.
Randy Newman (1956-2024) was senior fellow for apologetics and evangelism at the C. S. Lewis Institute. He was formerly on staff with Cru, ministering in and near Washington, DC. He authored several books, including Questioning Evangelism, Unlikely Converts and Mere Evangelism. He has contributed a number of articles to the Solas website. Randy went home to be with the Lord in May 2024.
About PEP Talk
The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, our hosts chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.
We live in an increasingly pluralistic age and it can sometimes be a challenge helping people see the uniqueness of Jesus given all the religious options surrounding them. But a powerful way to explore those differences is with a dialogue event.
Solas’s Andy Bannister has been involved in many dialogue events over the years, especially between Christians and Muslims. Andy says his highlight was in Toronto a few years back where over 1,000 people attended—of which 600 were Muslims—to hear a panel with Christian and Muslim speakers discuss a number of topics, including questions like “Who was Jesus?”
More recently, Andy helped the Christian Union at Lancaster University organise a dialogue. The CU partnered with the university Islamic Society, who invited the Imam from the local mosque. On the night, he and Andy were interviewed about the differences between Christianity and Islam. It was a friendly, robust dialogue in which Andy had many opportunities to share why he believed in Jesus not Muhammad. And afterwards, Christian students got to talk over coffee with Muslim students late into the night.
Andy said: “I love dialogue events! They are are easy to invite friends to; you quickly get to the differences between belief systems and to the uniqueness of Jesus; but you also get to model Christianity by the manner in which you respond to the other speaker.” And you don’t just need to try a Muslim-Christian dialogue event; dialogues with atheists also work well.
So why not try a dialogue event in your church or CU. If you need help planning, or with topics, or in finding a speaker, do contact us at Solas: we’d love to help. And if there’s a mosque near your church, try reaching out to ask if they’d be interested in organising a dialogue event. Dialogue events are an easy way to build friendships with your local Muslim community; a bridge of friendship over which the gospel can cross.
One other tip: remember to prepare Christians so they get the most out of your dialogue event. Andy’s top tip is to ensure Christians don’t all sit next to each other, but distribute themselves among the audience and talk to the strangers they meet.
Prayer: Jesus, in the gospels we see how you reached out to those who didn’t believe in you. Give us the courage and confidence to try using dialogue as an evangelistic tool. Amen!
The St Andrews Literature Festival (rather confusingly) isn’t in St Andrews, but down in England. Unfazed by this geographical misnomer, Andy had a great trip talking books, writing, and of course specifically Christian writing. The full story is in the video above.
What is it about repair and restoration tv shows that is we find so intriguing? Why do they pull on our heart strings so much, and give us such a sense of satisfaction when we see the big reveal at the end? Whether it’s an old house or car being restored, someone getting a full makeover, or some old broken trinket getting a new lease on life – there is something about seeing something restored that makes our hearts sing. In this Short Answers video, Steve Osmond explains how God has hard-wired us for restoration, and that God Himself is in the business of restoration.
Short Answers is a viewer-supported video series: if you enjoy them, please help us continue to make them by donating to Solas. Visit our Donate page and choose a free book as a thank-you gift!
An easy-to-try but often overlooked type of evangelism is the book table. Find a busy public location (e.g. a street corner, a town square), set up a table (or if you’re ambitious, a display stand) and lay out some tracts, booklets, Bibles and Christian books (e.g. copies of Have You Ever Wondered?). Then simply wait for people to stop by and start conversations.
We spoke to Imtiaz Khan from London City Mission—an organisation that use book tables a lot in their evangelism. Imtiaz has been personally involved in this kind of outreach for years and said when he started, it was nerve-wracking, but he quickly discovered what a wonderfully easy form of outreach this was: many people are intrigued and stop to talk.
Imtiaz shared a story of an occasion when an Afghan man came up and just hung around, looking at books, but not talking. Finally he said: “Can I have a word?” He then opened up about his life and told how as a child in Afghanistan he’d been traumatised when he’d seen someone murdered. Imtiaz was able to pray and start a friendship with him.
Another time, Imtiaz was talking to a man who had stopped and asked what they were doing. Imtiaz explained: “We are Christians and we’re giving out free literature”. The man replied: “Do you know, I’m a Muslim—but the other day I was on a bus and saw a sign outside a church that said “Jesus is Alive”. And I thought: if he’s alive, why can’t he appear to me? Then a few nights later, I had a vision of Jesus!” As you can imagine, that opened the door to an incredible conversation!
Not all encounters are that dramatic. And not all involve Muslims—many different types of people are willing to stop and talk. Furthermore, book tables also raise the visual presence of Christians and locally: people realise their the local church is alive too!
So give it a go. Identify a good location; ask the local council if you need permission; get a foldable table and a range of books, tracts, and Bibles (including in multiple languages, if you live in a multicultural area). Don’t forget to pray. And remember: it doesn’t matter if you only speak to two people all morning, if those are the right two people!
Pray: Lord, give us the boldness to try a book table!
Bishop’s Stortford Baptist Church were our gracious hosts for a weekend of ministry. Solas haven’t worked much in this area, so it was great to meet new people and serve alongside a great church there.
On the Friday night they invited me to speak at a youth event. About twenty young folks came – and they were really pleased with that number because not only was it during the school holiday when many were away -but there was also another big event on in the town that evening! Rather than asking me to speak on a given topic or Bible text, they asked for an open question night when the young people could fire any question they wanted at me! The young people who came were really great too and had so many questions that we overran the time and were still going when the parents were queuing up outside to collect them! Some of the kids there had a faith, others were there to find out more; but they were really engaged and remarkably thoughtful. So it was a real joy to help them think through some of the big questions they raised and what the Christian faith has to say about them. Hearing on e-mail after the event how appreciative the young people had been, was another encouragement!
Then on the Saturday we held a Confident Christianity conference with the church. We often invite guest speakers to join us for these – people with particular expertise in an area of evangelism and Christian witness. We were joined in Bishop’s Stortford by Sara Stevenson, actually for the first time at one of our events. Sara is well-known for her work at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. I spoke about conversational evangelism using the title, “How to Talk About Jesus Without Looking Like An Idiot”, and on way sin which we can engage the apathetic and disinterested with the gospel of Christ. That obviously meant that we spoke about the approach we have used in the Have You Ever Wondered? book.
Sara’s first session was called “Sharing your faith in a Culture Opposed to Christian Morality” which looked into helpful ways of addressing ethical objections to the gospel. She followed that with a session on engaging refuges with the gospel – an important mission field in the UK in 2024. Then as usual we opened the floor to Q&A which led to some good further interactions and lots of good conversations afterwards. Our friends at 10ofThose were there with their excellent mobile bookshop too, which seemed to be very busy which was encouraging too.
Amongst the hundred-strong congregation was at least one person who told me that he isn’t a Christian. Some Solas events are designed for and promoted to people who are not Christians. Typically our café-style outreach events address the kinds of questions that people outside the church have about the Christian faith. But Confident Christianity events are really intended for Christians, to encourage, equip and embolden them in sharing their faith – so it was an interesting choice of meeting for him to come to. We had a lovely chat at the end, and he said he had come to give someone (who is a Christian) a lift there, and thought he would hate it; but said he had found it really interesting! It’s a reminder to all of us who speak in church-settings that you never really know who is going to be in your audience and not to miss opportunities to present the gospel.
With a rich Christian heritage, but a bleak spiritual present, Wales is in desperate need of the Gospel right now. God is not unaware of the situation however, and is calling people to pray, share the Word and plant new churches right now. Andy and Gavin chat with a leader of 100 Cymru and hear about the vision for 100 new churches in the next 10 years!
Ben Franks planted Hope Church Rhondda with his wife Lois in 2013. The church meets in a converted shop on Tonypandy’s high street and is hoping to launch two new congregations in the next 12 months. Alongside leading the team at Hope, Ben chairs the board of his family’s business while Lois runs a marketing company in Pontypridd.
About PEP Talk
The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, our hosts chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.
Made in the image of the Creator-God, humans are insatiably creative, as poets, singer-songwriters, painters, engravers, writers, filmmakers, and weavers, demonstrate. Some are professional, others are enthusiasts—and many people appreciate their work. Yet the power of the arts to communicate the gospel is often under-utilised.
Many Christian artists love to communicate their faith through their work. Creativity by Christians isn’t just for church, but can help bring bold Biblical themes into our cultural conversation. Sixties music icon turned radio presenter Paul Jones says that the ‘spirituality of the paintings of Caspar David Freidrich’ was instrumental in his conversion to Christianity: the transcendent power of beauty that first dented his staunch atheism. Whilst in the world of literature, C. S. Lewis communicated as much of the gospel through his fantasy and science fiction novels as he did through his apologetics books.
There are so many inspiring examples of people who’ve used their creativity for the gospel; such as
J.S. Bach, who composed all his works ‘To the glory of God alone’!
Andrew is a poet whose work is found both in print and read at literary festivals: his rich and wonderfully structured phrases draw on his deep Christian faith. Jen, another poet said: ”Jesus can’t help coming into what I write, as he forms an integral part of my inner world, although I once saw a judge at a slam poetry competition grimace when I mentioned him!” Clive is a singer whose faith seeps out through his lyrics! Phil is a filmmaker whose stories encapsulate gospel themes. Christian artists express the gospel in all kinds of ways.
Atheist children’s author Philip Pullman notoriously said that his books were about “Killing God”. Have we surrendered creative spaces to the world, or infiltrated them for the gospel? Where there is a local writers’ group, are Christian ideas being heard there, presenting a better story? Do Christians only sing in church, or also at the open mic night at the local pub? Is there a visual art space in your town, and do Christians ever contribute there?
So:
What is your creative passion?
Work hard to weave gospel themes into your work.
Strive to get your work seen and discussed outside the church.
Pray: Lord, thank-you that you have made us creative. Help me to communicate you through all the gifts I have been given.
Solas has got a good long history with St Peter’s Free Church in Dundee. In fact, if it wasn’t for St Pete’s there would be no Solas really! Since arriving in Dundee myself last year, it’s been great to get to know St Pete’s Associate Pastor, Will Lind a bit. The church’s continued support for Solas is hugely appreciated by us all here – especially their prayer support.
The first time I spoke at St Peter’s was when I was invited to go and share at their midweek prayer-meeting about the ministry of Solas. I got to give them an update on our work, as well as a few thoughts from myself about being the new speaker, and settling into life and ministry in Scotland. So was really nice to be able to share all of that with people who had been praying for Solas for some time, and for me before I had even met them. I love meeting with Solas supporters and to have the opportunity to pray with them too! After the meeting lots of people wanted to speak to me, there were some great conversations and it was a great encouragement to me.
That led in turn to me be invited to preach up at St Peter’s on a Sunday evening service. They have a fantastic congregation there, who seem really ‘solid’ – if that makes sense! The are a really informed group of people who continue to impress me with their commitment to prayer. Before the service I was able to join them for a prayer meeting, which I especially valued.
In the service itself I took them to 1 Peter 3:15, which is a foundational text for Solas’s work. I used it as an exhortation to evangelism, which the folks there responded to enthusiastically. I really enjoy the conversations I have with people after services, especially with warm, friendly congregations like St Peter’s who want to talk and chat about the message for ages after the end of the formal part of the ‘service’.
They get a good-sized congregation for their Sunday evening service – of people of all ages, including a good number of students. They are situated right next to the university and my guess is that about a third of the congregation were students, or student age. The pastor at St Peter’s is away at the moment, so I was also glad to serve the church in his absence and enable him to have a well-earned break.
Solas has a special relationship with St Peter’s so it was really good to be able to share in that. We do love serving churches all over the country. Please get in touch with us, if you’d like us to come and talk about evangelism at one of your services.
Often when we think about sharing our faith, we look primarily outside the church. I think that’s generally just the logical thing to do – one might be forgiven for drawing the conclusion that on a Sunday the church will primarily be filled with Christians. But, that’s not the whole story.
I’ve recently spent some time with the youth group at my church and I’ve been struck by how much more willing they are than the adults to invite their friends to come along. The result is that at any given meeting, there can be people present from atheist, Muslim, or other backgrounds. This opens up a great opportunity to not only serve younger people within in the church, but it also means there will be great opportunities to introduce people to Jesus and the Christian faith – and the door’s already open, they’ve happily come along to see what church is all about. Serving in Sunday school or youth ministry is a great way to learn how to answer questions from inquisitive minds, but also offers a great opportunity to share your faith with those who are not Christians.
Another thing to consider is that just because a young person is part of a church-going family it doesn’t necessarily mean that they have understood the Gospel and put their faith in Jesus themselves! When I was growing up I was sometimes taken to church even though I wasn’t myself a Christian. And, although I’d been to Sunday school a few times, and even gone to the youth group occasionally, I wouldn’t have been able to explain what the Gospel is, much less made any personal response to Jesus. We can’t assume that just because someone is at church, that they are a Christian.
Why not consider serving in your church Sunday school or youth group and pray that the Lord would help you to find people to share the Good News with? Help the group to develop a culture of invitation, and host events they are confident to invite people to. (Solas can help with these).
Prayer: “Lord, please use the Sunday school and youth groups at my church to bring those who don’t know you into the church”.
It was great to be able to speak at Glasgow Grace. It’s a church I love, and I especially appreciate the leadership there because they have such a heart for reaching the people around them outside the church. They are involved in the life of the community, are planning a church plant and are constantly praying and thinking about ways that they can reach the people around them in Glasgow.
I had previously spoken at one of the church’s outreach events in a pub in the city; and they invited me to preach on a Sunday following on from that. They invited me to tell the church a bit about Solas, explaining what we are about and the work we do in evangelism, evangelism-training and producing resources. I pointed them to some of the website articles, Short Answers videos and PEPtalk podcasts. I took a couple of books along, such as “How to talk About Jesus Without Looking Like An Idiot” and “Have You Ever Wondered?” too. I gave a few of those away and had some great conversations with folk as a result too. I must have been there for an hour and a half chatting to folk after the service!
It was awesome being there, it is such a vibrant, energetic church who responded really well to my sermon which was on 1 Peter 3:15, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
There were lots of students there on Sunday morning which was encouraging too. Some of them said the had never really thought this through before and were struck by the way in which the scripture exhorts to use our minds and reason; but that’s not where it ends – because reason and faith work together. Being a Christian does not mean you switch your brain off!
So, it was a privilege to be at Glasgow Grace again and I hope to work with them again in the near future!
Taking an entrepreneur’s approach, one man has been challenged by God to start sharing Jesus in his own life, and then expand it to the whole church. Can he do it? He’s done it before with poverty, so we are audaciously believing it can happen with evangelism!
Check out the Isaiah 61 Movement website and search for “i61” for your mobile app store.
Dr John Kirkby CBE (prefers ‘Johnny Boy’) is the founder of Isaiah 61 Movement (i61m) and Christians Against Poverty (CAP). John had a tough life after his father died. His marriage ended, with huge debt, he had lost everything. Now with a doctorate & CBE, John was healed and transformed because his friend shared life with him, shared faith with him, then shared Jesus. 30 years on, John has founded i61m to to see every Christian confidently doing the same for their friends, and build Jesus-sharing culture with churches everywhere.
About PEP Talk
The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, our hosts chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.
