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Summary: Practical Postmodern Outreach for the Church
Review: After reading several books on outreach to the 'postmodern' church, Rick Richardson's book finally described the post-modern culture, and approaches that the church might use to reach the post-modern culture, in ways that make sense to me. Its straight to the point, has lots of application, and is an easy read. I highly recommend this to those that are striving to understand the role of the church in today's post-modern culture.
Rating: 
Summary: An outsider's perspective
Review: As a secular Jew, I read this book to get an insight into the (from my perspective) baffling mindset of Christian evangelism. So I can't tell you whether it will teach "fishers of men" how to improve their net-casting technique. All I can tell you is that it deepened my pessimism over whether "them" and "us" can ever really get along.Here is a man so confident that he has the answers to The Big Questions that he has the optimism (or presumption - I'm still not sure which) to classify we several billion non-believers as "pre-Christians". And since he sincerely believes that his exertions can save me from an eternity of torture in Hell, I guess one can be grateful (in the abstract, at least) that he's taken the trouble. But every cult thinks its followers are better off. And every each has its own seriously-considered recruitment methods. And the only difference between a cult and a religion is how much money and power it has. (Just ask the Mormons, who took only 100 years to go from one to the other.) So I guess what I'm saying is: thanks for praying for me. Just do me a favor and don't peddle your literature on my doorstep, okay?
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Summary: A Better Paradigm for Evangelism to This Generation
Review: I'm just finishing up this book, and I'm already excited about its implications in my own style of evangelism. Richardson seems to articulate what anyone who has been involved in evangelism has probably already suspected... that something is radically changing in our culture which should change the way we approach evangelism. Richardson isn't saying anything totally new, but his synthesis of the information is what makes this a valuable book. He describes well the characteristics of a postmodern generation and then outlines the implications for effective outreach. A striking point in the book is the observation that eloquent arguments for the resurrection and the existence of God are often not as compelling as they used to be to a "pre-Christian". The urgent questions being asked by postmoderns are not about what is objectively true and verifiable. Rather they are asking questions of identity and belonging, and Richardson explains how Christianity can answer those questions in a meaningful way to this generation. Richardson's application of Wesley's approach to outreach is also tremendous. Again he is synthesizing the observations of other brilliant Christian writers, but his application is excellent. He has adapted Wesley's "Four Steps into God's Kingdom" to be relevant to outreach today. In Richardson's approach these steps are: "Soul Awakening, Community, Conversion, and Transformation". The key points here are that people's interest in spirituality can be awakened by strategic events and encounters, and that "belonging comes before believing". I have been strongly recommending this book to the evangelism ministry at our church, and they are going to use it. They are already using Mark Mittleberg's "Building a Contagious Church", so this should be a valuable supplement to that approach.
Rating:
Summary: A Better Paradigm for Evangelism to This Generation
Review: I'm just finishing up this book, and I'm already excited about its implications in my own style of evangelism. Richardson seems to articulate what anyone who has been involved in evangelism has probably already suspected... that something is radically changing in our culture which should change the way we approach evangelism. Richardson isn't saying anything totally new, but his synthesis of the information is what makes this a valuable book. He describes well the characteristics of a postmodern generation and then outlines the implications for effective outreach. A striking point in the book is the observation that eloquent arguments for the resurrection and the existence of God are often not as compelling as they used to be to a "pre-Christian". The urgent questions being asked by postmoderns are not about what is objectively true and verifiable. Rather they are asking questions of identity and belonging, and Richardson explains how Christianity can answer those questions in a meaningful way to this generation. Richardson's application of Wesley's approach to outreach is also tremendous. Again he is synthesizing the observations of other brilliant Christian writers, but his application is excellent. He has adapted Wesley's "Four Steps into God's Kingdom" to be relevant to outreach today. In Richardson's approach these steps are: "Soul Awakening, Community, Conversion, and Transformation". The key points here are that people's interest in spirituality can be awakened by strategic events and encounters, and that "belonging comes before believing". I have been strongly recommending this book to the evangelism ministry at our church, and they are going to use it. They are already using Mark Mittleberg's "Building a Contagious Church", so this should be a valuable supplement to that approach.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: It is the author's premise that if the church is going to reach the postmodern generation it will have to use new methods of evangelism. He contends, and rightly so, that may of the forms, structures and practices that may have been effective in the past, are no longer so. The author does an effective job in defining the postmodern mindset. His discussion on classical, medieval, modern and postmodern thinking is excellent, it helps the reader put postmodernism in the larger context of the history of thought. I have to admit, I liked this book. Unlike Reid's Radically Unchurched, this book was a gripper for me. Perhaps those who are familiar with postmodernism may have found this book a little redundant, but for aging boomers, it was excellent. I liked Richardson's discussion on John Wesley's methodology and how it can be of use in reaching postmodern generation. Also pertinent was his discussion on St. Patrick and the Celtic mind vs. the Roman mind in evangelism. These discussions move the reader past ethereal theory to the actual nuts and bolts practice of evangelism. I have to admit that the evangelistic model given at the end of the book seemed a little confusing to me. But I accepted it as a challenge to get to know the postmodern mindset.
Rating:
Summary: Biblical, Innovative and Practical
Review: Rick Richardson does a good job here of getting 21st century Christians to THINK about evangelism in new and innovative ways. He encourages readers to get a better understanding of today's society, emphasizing that we as a church can't provide Biblical answers if we don't take time to listen to the questions. The author stays true to his title and draws outside the lines to explore new means of bringing people to Christ. Some people may misunderstand this book, thinking that Richardson is forsaking the time-honored gospel by substituting church growth gimmicks and man-made strategies. Actually Richardson is very conservative in his theology, but very progressive in his methodology. Unless the reader distinguishes between the two, he/she will have a difficult time benefiting from this work. I recommend this book to all believers, especially church leaders, who are looking for new ways to cultivate relationships with the lost and to bring them to salvation in Christ.
Rating:
Summary: Biblical, Innovative and Practical
Review: Rick Richardson does a good job here of getting 21st century Christians to THINK about evangelism in new and innovative ways. He encourages readers to get a better understanding of today's society, emphasizing that we as a church can't provide Biblical answers if we don't take time to listen to the questions. The author stays true to his title and draws outside the lines to explore new means of bringing people to Christ. Some people may misunderstand this book, thinking that Richardson is forsaking the time-honored gospel by substituting church growth gimmicks and man-made strategies. Actually Richardson is very conservative in his theology, but very progressive in his methodology. Unless the reader distinguishes between the two, he/she will have a difficult time benefiting from this work. I recommend this book to all believers, especially church leaders, who are looking for new ways to cultivate relationships with the lost and to bring them to salvation in Christ.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for anyone interested in reaching postmoderns
Review: We all sense that the culture is changing rapidly, and we grope for answers as to how that affects our ability to fulfill the Great Commission. The word most used to describe this shifting context is "postmodernism," but few can agree fully on what the term means. With even the definition of postmodernism being such a moving target, defining church outreach strategies seems even more difficult. Reaching this new generation requires that we learn to evangelize an increasingly secularized culture. In his book, Evangelism Outside the Box, Rick Richardson leans into past movements of God for valuable lessons, and then combines them with striking insight into today's culture which flow out of his vast experience of reaching university students through his ministry with InterVarsity. The resulting conclusions could dramatically improve church leaders' efforts to reach spiritually lost people - including the many who currently don't consider the local church a viable option in their search for God. In Axis, Willow Creek Community Church's ministry to Gen-X, we have leaned into Rick's learnings and reconsidered some of our approaches to reaching a postmodern generation. That process has given us increased clarity and impact in our own unique setting. Evangelism Outside the Box avoids the trap of presenting simplistic steps for reaching the world. Instead, a process is proposed that helps churches build relevant and effective ministries for postmoderns. Daniel Hill, Evangelism Leader for the Axis Ministry
Rating: 
Summary: Postmodern must not stray from biblical methods
Review: While it may be true that some have been saved by this method of evangelism, and have continued to be saved throughout their lives, the end result is usually not that happy. Statistics show that there is an 80-90% fall away rate from decisions in our churches, and nearly a 100% fall away rate from Crusades. Bill Bright himself, in one of his later interviews, admits that he was wrong for using and promoting this method because of the tragic results it produces (Revivals Golden Key, p.83). Rather than producing real conversions, the "love, joy, peace" gospel seems to only produce stoney-ground hearers and bitter backsliders who are innoculated to the gospel message.
Martin Luther called the ones in his day who used the same love-joy-peace gospel message that the majority of modern evangelists use a "sect" that was "stirred up by Satan" I would not recommend these tracts or this method, but rather the method that Jesus, Paul, all of the great preachers in history (including C.H. Spurgeon, Wesley, Finney, Edwards, Moody etc) have used and promoted vigorously. This is the biblical method that is timeless, was shown to us by Jesus and expounded upon by Paul. I think we can mix this method with post-modern ideas, but we cant stray from the core of it, for if we do that we are straying from the method the Bible teaches us.
It is the use of the law to bring men to Christ. For a good book on this, i recommend reading "Hells Best Kept Secret" by Ray Comfort, or "Revivals Golden Key" by ray comfort.
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