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Witness: Loving Your Church by Sharing the Gospel
128 pages
Published August 1, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 29, 2025
"We all talk about what we’re taken with. If we are taken with Jesus, we will talk about Jesus."
This quote pretty much sums up the heart of this book. I would say it’s a great one to read in community to talk about witnessing and evangelism. There are discussion questions at the end of each chapter and a small group guide in the back of the book.
I enjoyed how this book talks about sharing our faith and how it can be incorporated into our everyday lives. I think sometimes we can feel intimidated or unsure of where to begin when it comes to sharing the Gospel, but Dodson takes that pressure out of it in the way he instructs the reader.
This book features a whole chapter on biblical evangelism, and I appreciated that because we can look to the Bible to help guide us on where to start instead of thinking we know best.
There’s also a chapter on prayer and trusting God when it comes to praying for those without Christ. I like that this wasn’t left out. Prayer is so important when it comes to having a heart for sharing the Gospel.
This is another great addition to the Love Your Church series.
I received a complimentary copy as a reviewer, and all opinions shared are my own.
This quote pretty much sums up the heart of this book. I would say it’s a great one to read in community to talk about witnessing and evangelism. There are discussion questions at the end of each chapter and a small group guide in the back of the book.
I enjoyed how this book talks about sharing our faith and how it can be incorporated into our everyday lives. I think sometimes we can feel intimidated or unsure of where to begin when it comes to sharing the Gospel, but Dodson takes that pressure out of it in the way he instructs the reader.
This book features a whole chapter on biblical evangelism, and I appreciated that because we can look to the Bible to help guide us on where to start instead of thinking we know best.
There’s also a chapter on prayer and trusting God when it comes to praying for those without Christ. I like that this wasn’t left out. Prayer is so important when it comes to having a heart for sharing the Gospel.
This is another great addition to the Love Your Church series.
I received a complimentary copy as a reviewer, and all opinions shared are my own.
December 25, 2025
I guess this is a 3.5. This is a good start! There was very little in this book that I found objectionable, and it focused on the right things: emulating Jesus & his character in evangelism; being scriptural and prayerful; relying on the Spirit rather than your own persuasive technique; etc. There are a few minor missteps & imprecise uses of language (e.g., using the term “metaphors” to categorize soteriological concepts which are not un-literal, as metaphors are), but it’s clearly written as a light book so it’s easier (for me) to dismiss little slips like that.
The biggest issue with this book (in my opinion) was the initial framing for evangelism, which essentially said “If we love something enough, we’ll talk about it; so we should talk about Jesus.” Tons of people use that rationale, but unfortunately it doesn’t exactly align with reality and isn’t a biblical argument. There are lots of times when I don’t talk about things because of audience, setting, etc., even if I love them. Also, what if my emotional love for Jesus feels low one day? Does that lessen/remove the moral obligation toward sharing the gospel? I think it’s better to follow what Jesus says: abide in him, follow his commands, “in love” but not just out of the feeling of that love. (That’s just a side note though & doesn’t make a major impact on the book. That’s more my private soapbox.)
Despite that, though, the book grew on me as it continued. And again, it’s clearly not meant to be interpreted really precisely. It doesn’t offer explanations to the harder questions about evangelism/prayer, and doesn’t really advance anything new/unexpected, but is a good starting place for what it’s meant for.
The biggest issue with this book (in my opinion) was the initial framing for evangelism, which essentially said “If we love something enough, we’ll talk about it; so we should talk about Jesus.” Tons of people use that rationale, but unfortunately it doesn’t exactly align with reality and isn’t a biblical argument. There are lots of times when I don’t talk about things because of audience, setting, etc., even if I love them. Also, what if my emotional love for Jesus feels low one day? Does that lessen/remove the moral obligation toward sharing the gospel? I think it’s better to follow what Jesus says: abide in him, follow his commands, “in love” but not just out of the feeling of that love. (That’s just a side note though & doesn’t make a major impact on the book. That’s more my private soapbox.)
Despite that, though, the book grew on me as it continued. And again, it’s clearly not meant to be interpreted really precisely. It doesn’t offer explanations to the harder questions about evangelism/prayer, and doesn’t really advance anything new/unexpected, but is a good starting place for what it’s meant for.
January 8, 2026
This book can be summarized by something my college pastor said years ago: "People are people, not projects." Dodson does a great job in breaking away from cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approaches to evangelism and challenges the reader to live their entire life missionally in a holistic way. Being a witness is a risk because it requires you to deeply get to know people who are different from yourself and to be vulnerable about yourself. You have to be invested in people for the long haul. I was encouraged by this book to continue loving my friends and community and to seek to find ways to share the Gospel in a way that would relate and connect specifically to each person.
January 6, 2026
Super readable, pretty convicting, practical, and a great reminder of the power of the Gospel! Highly recommend!
July 23, 2025
[Thank you to @thegoodbookcompanyusa for my gifted copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.]
Evangelism is truly one of the things I’m most passionate about, so I am always eager to read books about sharing the gospel. I love the Love Your Church series and was excited to see a book on this topic included.
This title covers what it means to be a gospel witness, biblical examples and mandates, and practical advice. The part I most enjoyed was the discussion on the church being a “faithful presence” in our communities. Another section of the book I found to be particularly helpful was the author’s discussion of gospel metaphors and how we can use metaphors to help us choose an effective presentation for sharing the gospel.
I especially appreciated the author’s discussion of what evangelism is and looks like in light of loving and KNOWing our neighbor. People aren’t projects. We want to truly know people, love them, understand where they struggle, what their questions are, etc., so that we can share with them how Jesus loves them personally, meets their personal needs, and desires a personal relationship with them. There is more to effective and biblical witness than just sharing the gospel with our words. However, our words are required of us. Sharing the gospel as an effective witness is done with our lives, words, and actions and cannot be fruitful without the work of the Holy Spirit in us and in those we are witnessing to. Only Jesus saves. Thankful that these things were very clear in this book.
There are lots of books out there about “how” to share the gospel and “strategies” and “tools”--after all, we tend to love these things in the United States. (That’s a whole other discussion haha!) This book, however, is more about the heart of witnessing. I’m grateful for that.
Definitely recommend!
Evangelism is truly one of the things I’m most passionate about, so I am always eager to read books about sharing the gospel. I love the Love Your Church series and was excited to see a book on this topic included.
This title covers what it means to be a gospel witness, biblical examples and mandates, and practical advice. The part I most enjoyed was the discussion on the church being a “faithful presence” in our communities. Another section of the book I found to be particularly helpful was the author’s discussion of gospel metaphors and how we can use metaphors to help us choose an effective presentation for sharing the gospel.
I especially appreciated the author’s discussion of what evangelism is and looks like in light of loving and KNOWing our neighbor. People aren’t projects. We want to truly know people, love them, understand where they struggle, what their questions are, etc., so that we can share with them how Jesus loves them personally, meets their personal needs, and desires a personal relationship with them. There is more to effective and biblical witness than just sharing the gospel with our words. However, our words are required of us. Sharing the gospel as an effective witness is done with our lives, words, and actions and cannot be fruitful without the work of the Holy Spirit in us and in those we are witnessing to. Only Jesus saves. Thankful that these things were very clear in this book.
There are lots of books out there about “how” to share the gospel and “strategies” and “tools”--after all, we tend to love these things in the United States. (That’s a whole other discussion haha!) This book, however, is more about the heart of witnessing. I’m grateful for that.
Definitely recommend!
January 10, 2026
“Instead of projecting the image of a doubt-free, Bible-answer man, I let my friend in on my current need for Jesus. I didn’t imagine myself as a better but showed myself as his equal: a fellow struggler also in need of God’s perfect love in Christ”
Johnathan Dodson does a great job of challenging the readers not only to share biblical truths, but also to be true and authentic ‘witnesses’ of the truth and love that Jesus has revealed to us. I appreciate that he would constantly ask us to consider people in our life who we could be witnesses and to “share not only the gospel but ourselves” 1 Thessalonians 2:8.
A good challenge to love your neighbors! Definitely a good read.
Johnathan Dodson does a great job of challenging the readers not only to share biblical truths, but also to be true and authentic ‘witnesses’ of the truth and love that Jesus has revealed to us. I appreciate that he would constantly ask us to consider people in our life who we could be witnesses and to “share not only the gospel but ourselves” 1 Thessalonians 2:8.
A good challenge to love your neighbors! Definitely a good read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews