Have you ever wondered how to witness to someone? The ideas suggested in "Turning everyday conversations into gospel conversations" are simple and easy to use. It's centered around using a simple everyday conversations and use them to share gospel message. The idea is to help people see their conflicts and how Jesus can guide us back to a loving relationship with God.

This was a difficult book for me to think through and review. There's a lot of good here, although using this technique won't necessarily work for everyone or in every situation. I do praise God for the wonderful work that Jimmy Scroggins and the church he ministers with are accomplishing in South Florida. Their passion for reaching the unsaved is admirable and should be imitated. He also has excellent insight in recognizing that simply inviting someone to church is usually not enough to get a response. People are not seekers, and that is becoming clearer every day. We also have to find ways to motivate and mobilize people in the pews to reach others; evangelism is not just a job for pastors or church staff. Also, discipleship must happen; converts cannot be allowed to just slip between the cracks and disappear. Scroggins helps keep a passion for evangelism within his church through often sharing stories of members sharing their faith, successfully or not. This is a great strategy for keeping a vision in front of people.

Chapter 1 explains the overall strategy behind the book. Chapter 2 is about the essentials of the gospel. Chapter 3 is an encouragement for ordinary believers to bring up the gospel in everyday conversations. Chapter 4 talks about how to transition a conversation from everyday events or problems to the gospel, while chapter 5 is an explanation of the 3 circles technique of sharing the gospel. Chapter 6 deals with different responses to the gospel, and chapter 7 is about involving new Christians in evangelism.

Chapters 4-5 have some good content if you use 3 circles properly and understand its limitations. Using a practiced or memorized technique is a great way to get people more comfortable sharing the gospel, but it can lead to people relying on the technique instead of the gospel. Specific techniques reach some people effectively, but not others (for a discussion on tailoring gospel discussions to individuals, see Os Guinness' great book, Fool's Talk). I do appreciate that there is flexibility built into the 3 circles technique to allow it to reach different individuals. Also, there's a danger in evangelism today of emphasizing that the gospel saves us from brokenness rather than sin. Brokenness is the consequences and results of sin; sin is disobedience to God. Brokenness is the symptom, sin is the problem. Scroggins makes it clear throughout the book that salvation includes repenting from sin. However, if our primary point of contact with someone is the brokenness that they experience, we must be careful to make it clear that Jesus died for our sin, not to fix our problems in life. Presenting the gospel as the answer to brokenness deals with felt needs like guilt or depression, but it may not be clear that we have a personal responsibility for our sins, and that unless we repent, we will answer to a holy God. Also, receiving the gospel doesn't mean that the brokenness we experience will go away. We must be careful not to over-promise solutions in this life that may not occur. Christians still deal with problems in life because we live in a fallen world. The book makes it clear that Scroggins understands the gospel completely, but those who use this technique should be careful to make individual responsibility for sin clear.

If you take anything from this book, take a passion for reaching the unsaved in everyday conversations. If you use the technique, recognize that it may not fit every situation, and make the nature of sin and judgment clear. I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher and was not required to write a positive review.

In this book, a method of practical evangelism is mapped out. I have used Scroggins method several times in witnessing encounters. It is memorable, scriptural, and allows you to connect well with others. This is an opportunity to expand your evangelistic horizons if you follow its advice.

There are plenty of books written on the topic of evangelism and plenty of books written about evangelism strategies for church, by there are few books (to my very limited knowledge!) on actually how to tell people the gospel.

Turning everyday conversations into gospel conversations is a good short book that helps the ‘average Christian’ (whatever that is) think through how to transition from normal conversations about life, politics, children, work… to having gospel centred conversations. The authors say;

“Scripture is clear that the Great Commission isn’t just given to a select few trained pastors. It’s given to everyone. I’m convinced that more people are interested in hearing the gospel than most Christians are in sharing it.”

So often you get the feeling that people assume Church leaders and people in full-time ministry are being paid to do evangelism and they can take a back seat. This is just not the case. So often people in full-time ministry are in a Christian bubble and don’t actually know many non-Christians, which is a sad thing. This idea that only trained people, people with a theology degree, or only the most energetic and ‘holy people’ can evangelise is just wrong. The global church wouldn’t be the size that it is now if throughout history we only let the ‘educated ones’ spread the gospel, in fact the gospel wouldn’t have even left Jerusalem all those years ago!

The authors describe our world as Humpty Dumpty; we have fallen of the wall, we are all broken, and we can’t figure out how to put all the pieces back together again. That’s where you come in!

Every Christian is called to be an ambassador for Christ, a declarer of the gospel. For some that will mean preaching from a pulpit, for some that might mean having a conversation over coffee but for every Christian out there it means to take the opportunity and to tell people the good mews about Jesus.

This book gives you an example of how to transition from a normal everyday conversation and turn it into a gospel conversation. It also comes with a simple system of ‘three circles’ that help the individual explain the gospel message, and if that involves too much drawing for you they’ve even developed an app. Here is an image of what the final picture should look like:



This is one of the few ‘systems’ that I have seen that starts its explanation right at the beginning with God’s design of the world. The great thing about this system is that you can make it your own, use the Bible verses you know and bring in your own story, it helps you get the conversation going.

The authors can come across in a slightly ‘use this to see people coming to faith’ but I don’t think that this was their intention. This system, whilst being very helpful, is not a guarantee that people will understand and become Christians, but it is a way to get people sharing the gospel from the get go.

Coupling this method with good biblical discipleship in which you wrestle with the Bible and some difficult questions could mean that many more Christians feel equipped to evangelise. The only thing that stand in people’s way are their own excuses and fears.

Whenever I speak about evangelism and the need for it this quote from Spurgeon always comes to mind and it stresses the importance of evangelism and the effects of not telling people the gospel.

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”

I was pleasantly surprised by how helpful this book is. I'd recommend it as a tool and inspirational guide for anyone intimidated by the idea of sharing the Gospel. It's a practical, convicting, and necessary read.

*This review is based on a free digital advance copy provided by the publisher. The opinions expressed are my own.

Turning Everyday Conversations into Gospel Conversations is an insightful read that equips believers to share the gospel as the Holy Spirit leads throughout the day as you go about your day. It puts the intimidation of not knowing how to share your faith to rest and gives you a 3 circle drawing that takes you through truth with others. I’m praying for the Lord to lead with it and I’m excited to have a basis to start with. I'm very blessed by having read this book and I know that you will be too.
I’ve received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

An easy read, but such a crucial read. Turning everyday conversations to the gospel is essential in the church today. I love the three circle method. It's simple yet covers the essential truths of the gospel.

I felt that the material in this book for staring conversations about the gospel was sound. But I also felt that I would probably not be comfortable with doing it that way.. Not that I need to be comfortable but sharing must be natural and personal.

I really like this book and the evangelism aspect of approaching life. Great bit of encouragement.

In the book Turning Everyday Conversations into Gospel Conversations, authors and pastors Jimmy Scroggins and Steve Wright, emphasis using everyday conversations to share the Gospel with people. Their 3 Circle approach while new is not unique. Their method is simpler than some but has many of the same elements as other traditional methods.
I would recommend this book to anyone that wants to reach the people around them with the Gospel. But their approach can seem a bit pushy if not used wisely. I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Some new material, new book allows to cover essential ground again with a slightly new slant making it more receptive

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a free digital edition of this book in exchange for a review.

What a wonderful short book with a very doable method to share the gospel!

The authors go through their method of sharing the gospel called the "Three Circles". They explain how Christians must be praying for opportunities to find people in their brokenness and provide a very simple way of sharing the gospel that can be done anywhere. There is even an app that they have created that can be used to share the 3 circles.

They not only share this innovative way to share the gospel, but they share their heart and Biblical examples of Jesus' great commission.

Every Christian should read this book!

"Turning Everyday Conversations into Gospel Conversations" is a book about how to transition everyday conversations into a simple discussion about the gospel and about the 3 circles method of explaining the gospel. This method requires some practice if you want to become comfortable with it, but it's simple to use. It can be used by children to seniors and by new Christians or long-time Christians. All you need is something to write with and write on.

The authors explained why they chose this method, how to transition conversations into the gospel, and how the 3 circles method works. You can use your own wording, but they gave examples of what you might say and do. One strength of this method is that it can be used by new believers to talk with their non-believing friends to explain the gospel. Overall, I'd recommend this book.

“Every Christian Is Either A Missionary Or An Imposter” -Spurgeon

In TURNING EVERYDAY CONVERSATIONS INTO GOSPEL CONVERSATIONS, the three authors present a simple, non-scary method of sharing the Gospel. Their idea is to have an easy way to “transition the conversation to spiritual matters.” The authors note that their home church is in a very un-reached community. “There are 1.4 million people living in Palm Beach County, Florida, and 96 percent of them are irreligious and unchurched.”

We should LISTEN to the needs of others, and be ready to respond. “When was the last time you had a conversation and the person with whom you were talking shared a problem, issue, or concern? It happens a lot. These interactions are gospel opportunities, and we train people to recognize and seize them.”

So, to reach the lost, we need to drastically rethink our approach. “Since we aren’t going to get them to “come and see” what we’re doing, we need to figure out ways to take the good news to the places they live, work, and play. “

Although most of the book covers the workings of the 3-Circles Gospel method, I think the strongest point of the book is not the Circle Method, but a more strategic point. Current evangelistic methods don’t apply any more. Here’s the mistake Evangelicals make: “We think that people will want to come and see what we have to offer. The ever-shrinking Christian population and changing U.S. trends demand that we reconsider this strategy.”

All in all, I thought TURNING EVERYDAY CONVERSATIONS INTO GOSPEL CONVERSATIONS presented a useful method for sharing the Gospel.

I thought this one sentence nicely summed up the philosophy of the book: “If God has put us back together, then He has also given us a job. He has tasked us with helping Him fix our broken world.”

Nicely stated.


Advance Review Copy courtesy of the publisher.

For another approach on presenting the Gospel, here is my #1 favorite book on Evangelism: Just Walk Across the Room.

A great book that delivers a model to make sharing the gospel more effective in the Church. I recommend to not just leaders but to any believer!