When Melinda Chiew and Dominic Steele decided to write a book together, they didn’t have to go far for the research.
It's usually the case of book first, DVD second. But with Introducing God, the course that gave birth to a DVD has finally made it to print.
Last night saw the launch of Introducing God: Meeting the God who loves us, the book version of the evangelistic dinner series.
Those new to Christian fellowship joined mature believers for the Inner-West launch. Together they gave thanks to God for his work in people's lives through the course.
CEO of the Bible Society NSW Daniel Willis and the Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen officially launched the book, which was written by Dominic Steele with Melinda Chiew.
"One of the greatest things anyone can do for anyone, anywhere, is introduce [people] to God," Dean Jensen said.
"Introducing God has become such a useful vehicle" it is a wonderful thing that we have this new way of saying the old message."
He said the book version "has the racy journalistic language usage that makes the pages turn quickly' without having a "Christian cringe factor'.
However, he emphasised that the "cleverness of the book lies in the exposition of Scripture'.
"You're reading the Bible before you know you're reading it," Dean Jensen said.
"That's really important because without the Scriptures you'll never know God. If we're going to be introducing people to God, we have to get them to read the Scriptures."
‘Relational’ evangelism to reach a post-modern generation
The course and book uses the Two Ways to Live gospel outline from Matthias Media and works on ‘relational’ model of evangelism.
It does this by looking at "key parts of [God's] biography and by hearing from people already in relationship with him' over dinner or coffee and dessert.
Dominic Steele, a former journalist and pastor of Christians in the Media, says many church leaders are looking to Australian evangelistic methods to better connect with 20 to 40 year olds.
He says for that generation, "the Church and Christianity are on the nose, but God and Jesus still have currency'.
"Church leaders are looking for something to connect with the real outsider, and Introducing God was written for that group."
To date Introducing God has been translated into French and Chinese.
It was launched overseas earlier this year in New Zealand.
It is being used in vastly different environments, from RSL clubs and pubs through to prison cells and onto university campuses.
Introducing God: Meeting the God who loves us by Dominic Steele with Melinda Chiew is published by the Bible Society, Evangelism Ministries, Christians in the Media and City Bible Forum. [url=http://www.introducinggod.org]http://www.introducinggod.org[/url]
