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PEPtalk With Belle Tindall

by Solas

Where does our desire for the supernatural fit in the modern world? With a society built on rationality and technology, do we still have longings for a connection with something transcendent? Steve Osmond sits down with Belle Tindall to identify areas in our friends’ lives where we can show how the gospel story meets those longings.

With Belle Tindall – PEP Talk

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Our Guest

Dr Belle Tindall is a biblical scholar, writer, speaker, and podcaster. Based at the Centre for Cultural Witness, she is the writer in residence at Seen and Unseen. She is also a columnist for Premier’s Woman Alive magazine and co-host of Re-Enchanting, a podcast that ponders whether our disenchanted world can be re-enchanted with the wonder and mystery of the Christian story.

About PEP Talk

The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) 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.

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Launch Pad 10: Reassure People That You Welcome Faith and Belief Conversations!

by Editor

Recently I sat down with a friend at a stag party for someone we both knew. He wasn’t a Christian, and asked if I was still going to church. Very quickly this led to us chatting about God. Then our conversation was cut short by another attendee: “We can talk about anything, except politics and religion – now let’s have some fun!”.

There’s a sad perception that as soon as we speak about ‘religion’ it will lead to disagreement, leading to tension, leading to fighting – so just keep it light…‘how about that weather yesterday…!’ Many Christians have adopted this mindset too. Equally, many people who don’t share our faith assume that they can’t ask us about what we believe at the risk of offending us, that we’ll be awkward and defensive! The result – nobody talks about it.

But what if we could change that? What if we could signal to people that this is something that we actually want to talk about. And not just that, we also love hearing about what other people believe.

The more time I’ve spent in conversation listening to people, the more I’ve realised that many of them like talking about life, and how they make sense of things. This creates many opportunities to explain our faith. Have a glance at these interviews with someone who’s doing this in their workplace.

How about instead of letting the perception that we can’t talk about these things persist, we can make it known that we are open to chat about what we believe, and that we aren’t threatened or worried about disagreement.

How do we do this? Drop it into the conversation! After making it known that you are a Christian and are able to start deeper conversations, try to weave in to your conversation that you are really open to speaking about these things.

Perhaps something like: “Sometimes people feel like they can’t talk about religion, but I love asking big questions about these things. If you ever have any questions about what Christians believe I’d love to try answer them and hear what you think – I really won’t be offended”.

For other resources, check out https://talkingjesus.org/

Prayer: ‘Please Lord give me opportunities to show people that I am approachable and willing to talk, and to do it with gentleness and respect’.

Previously: Launch Pad #9 Praying Persistently for People

Next: Launch Pad #11 Change Perceptions One Drop At A Time

Ministry to Students: Training Leaders at UCCF London

by Solas

Student ministry continues to be a really important and fruitful mission field in the UK today. Christian Union groups on campuses up and down the country play an essential role in sharing the gospel of Jesus with students. Andy Bannister recently spent the day with the UCCF London team, discussing many aspects of ministry to students today – including the changing cultural context and the questions which now dominate the conversation. Watch the full report in the video!

Why Am I Not A Muslim?

by Solas

Aren’t all religions, especially the “Abrahamic faiths,” basically the same? In this slightly-less-short Short Answers film, Solas Director Andy Bannister (who is unusual in that he’s a Christian but has a PhD in Islamic Studies) explains why although he respects his Muslim friends, he is not at all convinced by the core claims of Islam. Discover why the claims often made for the Qur’an and Muhammad don’t stand up when put to the test—and why the evidence for Jesus stands head and shoulders above them.

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Please share this video widely with friends or family and for more Short Answers videos, visit solas-cpc.org/shortanswers/, subscribe to our YouTube channel or visit us on Twitter Instagram or Facebook.

Support

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!

Launch Pad 9: Persistently Praying for People

by Editor

When our kids were small, their favourite bedtime book was Who Forgot the Baby? It narrated the story of family of bears packing for a day trip. They loaded up the car with all the paraphernalia for a fun-filled visit to the seaside but were halfway there before realising they had forgotten to put the baby into the car. Like all books for Very Small People, what it lacked in plot it made up for in colour and chewability—but it also contained an important spiritual point.

In our faith we too can sometimes get distracted and miss the main thing. For example, in evangelism, we can get hyper-focussed on method, technique, programmes, and events. There’s nothing wrong with those things, but we mustn’t forget something absolutely crucial: prayer.

Prayer is the fuel in the tank of evangelism. And remembering the centrality of prayer is also an important reminder that in evangelism as in all things spiritual, this is God’s work, not our work.

Furthermore, prayer is also vital because I’m regularly reminded how many “coincidences” seem to be involved in evangelism: the right conversation at the right time with the right person, the tract that ends up in just the right pair of hands, and so on. As William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1940s remarked: “When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don’t, they don’t”.

But what should I pray? How about this as a starter. Make a list of five non-Christians in your life: family members, friends, colleagues, neighbours. Put that list somewhere you’ll see it often (stick it in your Bible, on the kettle, or to the cat) and then pray as often as you can for them. In particular, pray for natural opportunities to talk about Jesus with each person.

You may be amazed what God does. When we moved to our current home two years ago, my wife and I began praying for our new neighbours several times a week. Since then, we’ve seen one neighbouring kid start coming to church, two others to a “Bible Club” we’ve started, and one mum beginning the Alpha Course at our church.

So try praying: Jesus, would you please bring to mind the names of five people. Please prompt me to pray for them regularly. And would you please create “spiritual coincidences” whereby I can share the gospel with them. Amen!

Previously: Launch Pad #8 Practice Hospitality

Next: Launch Pad #10 Reassure People That You Welcome Faith and Belief Conversations

PEP Talk with Hannah Steele

by Solas

Steve Osmond fills in as host this week on PEP Talk and gets the chance to speak with an expert on mission and evangelism in postmodern culture. Hannah Steele is an academic and author whose passion is to see churches and groups of Christians grow together to become more missional and evangelistic.

With Hannah Steele – PEP Talk

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Our Guest

The Revd Dr Hannah Steele is Director of St Mellitus College, London and Tutor and Lecturer in Missiology. As well as Living His Story, she is author of New World, New Church? (SCM Press, 2017). Alongside her academic work, Hannah has spent time engaged in mission and evangelism among students in central London as a staff worker with UCCF.  She is married with three sons and loves watching football, baking and traveling.

Pre-order her next book here: Living His Story Together, due out 20 June 2024.

About PEP Talk

The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) 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.

SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Hillview Community Church

by Solas

Thanks for coming to the Confident Christianity Conference at Hillview Community Church! As promised, you can find our slides from the morning — as well as resources related to some of the questions in the Q&A — here:

Presentation Slides

The Art of Conversation SlidesDownload
A Leap of Faith_Existence of God_SlidesDownload
01 God and sufferingDownload
Living for God While Being in Babylon SlidesDownload

Q&A Topics

  1. Book: Being the Bad Guys: How to Live for Jesus in a World That Says You Shouldn’t by Steve McAlpine.
  2. On “success” in Evangelism read this.
  3. On the uniqueness of Jesus. Watch a Short Answers video here, and read about the topic here.
  4. On sharing the gospel at work, see our Frontlines series (Solas interviews with Christians who share Jesus at work) and TransformWork, the organisation behind Christian workplace groups.
  5. On use of the media in evangelism, see Solas’s columns in The Scotsman newspaper, and this guide for writing to newspapers by Douglas Groothuis.
  6. On “positive apologetics” see Solas’s forthcoming book: Have You Ever Wondered?
  7. On Evangelism to the Apathetic watch the Solas Webinar with Michael Ots and follow Launch Pad, weekly ideas for sharing your faith.
  8. On divisions within the church click here for a Short Answers video.

Launch Pad 8: Practice Hospitality

by Editor

The Bible has an amazing vision of the potential use of our homes for sharing the gospel. But the instruction to ‘practice hospitality’ is sometimes filed away under the heading “fellowship”, and the subsequent invitations restricted to other church folks.

Sometimes people are put-off because they confuse hospitality with “entertainment”.  Hospitable church-planter Tim Chester says that while entertainment involves putting on a show in which the house and the food must all be wonderful; hospitality is about sharing your normal life and your space with others. Entertainment seeks to impress, hospitality to embrace.

Friendly, down-to-earth, open-house hospitality achieves three things which can be transformative in our evangelism:

  1. Hospitality enacts the gospel

One of Jesus’s favourite metaphors for the Kingdom of God was of a party, or banquet to which God invites us. By not limiting our invitations to those who can repay us, or to whom we have some obligation, we become a living parable of the gospel of grace. It also costs us something—and that also looks Christ-like.

  1. Hospitality reflects the character of God

God is generous and loves his house to be full of people. In fact, Jesus says he is preparing his Father’s house for us. Repeatedly scripture says that people are supposed to reflect the character of God, so that others notice. The Bible regularly implies that an open heart towards others, will mean an open home too (if you have one).

  1. Hospitality is the context for great conversations.

Some of the most famous teaching we have from Jesus was shared around mealtimes. It is over food that we see Jesus engaging with everyone from the Pharisees of the religious elite, to socially ostracised tax-collectors. Tim Chester writes: “Jesus’s mission-strategy was a long meal”. Likewise, when we have (i) the desire to share the gospel, (ii) some tools to share it – what we then need is a context and an opportunity. Hospitality helps to create this environment in which to naturally share our faith. Practicing hospitality doesn’t make evangelism completely easy – but it makes it far more likely! So this week, make a conscious effort to open your home and your life to others, and make sure you don’t only welcome other Christians.

And pray: “Father, thank-you for my home. Please help me to make it into a place where others can find you. Amen”

Previously: Launch Pad # 7 Taking Conversations One Step Deeper

Next: Launch Pad #9 Persistently Praying for People

Practical tools for Evangelism. Andy at Pattern Church Swindon

by Solas

Pattern Church is a young vibrant congregation in Swindon – which is also Andy’s home church now. Recently Andy spoke there about conversational evangelism and his book How to Talk About Jesus Without Looking LIke An Idiot. Pattern is an interesting to church to work with because they have an unusually high number of people who have been Christians for only a short time, and who are really passionate about sharing what they have discovered. They were also hungry for teaching and advice about how to go about doing that, so Andyt brought them some examples from the life of Jesus himself – as a model for us to follow when sharing the good news.

What is the Meaning of Life? Part Four – Agency

by Solas

What is the meaning of life? In this fourth of a mini-series of Short Answers videos, Andy Bannister shows how to answer that massive question we need to think about some smaller ones: such as the question of “agency”. Can I make a difference with my life? Would it matter if I’d never been born? If you’re an atheist, these are tough questions—but Christianity has some very unique and exciting things to say here. (And check out the other three videos in the series to help you explore more about the question of life’s meaning).

Part One – Identity; Part Two – Value; Part Three – Purpose

Share

Please share this video widely with friends or family and for more Short Answers videos, visit solas-cpc.org/shortanswers/, subscribe to our YouTube channel or visit us on Twitter Instagram or Facebook.

Support

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!

Launch Pad 7: Take Conversations One Step Deeper

by Editor

We’re caught up in an epidemic of superficiality. There’s a lot of pressure to give the impression that we have it all together (#livingmybestlifenow), and social media hasn’t helped this at all. It seems that this has invaded our conversations too and made it harder to get beyond the surface level that we’re all so familiar with:

“Hi, how are you?”

“Fine, thanks. How are you?”

“Good…”

And then we part ways.

It seems quite difficult to get past this level of conversation sometimes, and the idea of getting to a place where we can share our faith seems really far off. On the one end of the spectrum is the humble ‘chat’ – which I do love, and it definitely has its place – and on the other end of the spectrum, there is the conversation where we get to share the most incredible news of all time: the Good News of Jesus Christ! How do we get from one side to the other. Often it can feel like we are like Sam and Frodo in ‘Lord of the Rings’ facing a great soggy bog that we have to somehow get across to reach our goal.

Here are a few thoughts for the journey:

  • It’s not a soggy bog! – Conversation is a beautiful gift where you get to learn more about people – that’s part of loving them well. Reimagine it as a privilege.
  • Don’t put yourself under pressure. . Enjoy being there in conversation, but listen well.
  • Get some conversational tools, (here and here).
  • Gently ask a question about value, meaning, or purpose to get the conversation moving deeper.

As you begin to converse and bait your conversation with hooks, people will share things that they value, like a cause, or things they enjoy doing – like meeting up at the pub with some friends. These are things that come up quite naturally in conversation, and tee you up to move deeper.

Once they are offered up in conversation you can ask a question about them, such as:

  • Why is that important to you?
  • Do you feel that gives you purpose? In what way? Why?

These are great to get things moving deeper!

Pray: “Lord, help me to steward conversation well, and see and use opportunities to go deeper”

Previously: Launch Pad #6 Stand Out Online (For All The Right Reasons)

Next: Launch Pad #8 The Practice of Hospitality

Scripture Untangled

by Editor

Andy Bannister was recently a guest on the “Scripture Untangled” podcast produced by the Canadian Bible Society. In the discussion, they get into some of the detailds around how the Bible and Qur’an vary in their understanding of God and all kinds of other issues too!

You can watch the complete episode here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E1pHuRP-5c&t=8s

Alternatively you can access the programme in these places:

The Canadian BIble Society Website
Instagram
Facebook

 

 

Surrey Gospel Partnership

by Solas

Thanks for coming to the Confident Christianity Conference at St Johns in Woking recently! It was great to see so many of you there and for Solas to partner with Surrey Gospel Partnership to put the event on.

As promised, you can find my slides from the evening — as well as resources related to some of the questions in the Q&A — here:

Presentation Slides

CCC-01-HTTAJ-slidesDownload
CCC-02-Happiness-slidesDownload

Q&A Topics

  1. How can we not lose sight of the person we’re talking to (so that people don’t become projects)?
  2. How can I witness to someone who has attended all the courses etc but not really got anywhere, and who I don’t have the same depth of relationship with as before?
  3. How do I talk about Jesus with someone who says they’re a Christian but whose lifestyle doesn’t suggest so?
  4. Borrowing Augustine’s levels of happiness framework, do you agree that Christians sometimes think they’re at level 4 when in fact they’re at level 3?
  5. Any advice on talking with family members about faith?
  6. Do you think spiritual hunger is growing or lessening culturally?

Other Recommended Resources

1) Our new Launch Pad series for 2024: every week, we’re sharing a short tip or idea to help you share Jesus with your friends.

2) Have You Ever Wondered? is a brilliant resource to help start conversations with your friends about faith, even if they appear to be apathetic or disinterested. (We’ve also got a book based on this coming at Easter)

3) Short Answers is our popular video series, with over 180 short videos tackling almost every question somebody might imagine about Christian faith. They’re great for sharing with friends who have questions, or watching to help you gain confidence yourself.

PEP Talk With Matt Frost

by Solas

Today on PEP Talk we chat with a church pastor about how sharing the gospel is a natural part of both his church work and personal relationships. With a particular emphasis on the essential role of prayer, Matt talks with Gavin Matthews about the formal and informal elements that make up a vibrant evangelistic lifestyle.

With Matt Frost – PEP Talk

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Our Guest

After 14 years as senior pastor of City Gates Church in central London, Matt Frost moved to Cirencester in July 2009 to become pastor at Cirencester Baptist Church.  Matt loves playing cricket for North Cerney CC, praying for the sick, supporting Liverpool, sharing the good news of Jesus with all kinds of people, listening to jazz-funk, bringing change, watching films of all kinds and chatting with God. You can follow Matt on Twitter here.

His podcast “Two Pastors in a Pub” is available from Google Podcasts or Apple Podcasts.

About PEP Talk

The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) 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.

SUPPORT THE PODCAST