BLESS: 5 Everyday Ways to Love Your Neighbor and Change the World

by Dave Ferguson, Jon Ferguson

What If You Could Change the World without Changing Your Daily Routine?

When you’ve been transformed by God’s love, you can’t help but want others to experience the same grace and freedom. But how do you share it without scaring them away or offending them? For most Christians, “evangelism” is an intimidating word that suggests handing out tracts to strangers or doing other awkward things.

But what if there was a more organic, more authentic way to share your faith with your friends, neighbors, and coworkers?

Dave and Jon Ferguson have found five simple, straightforward practices that will allow any believer to do just that. And by consistently living them out, you can affect not just individual lives but your entire neighborhood and community—one person at a time.

Genres: Christian, Evangelism, Discipleship, Nonfiction, Christian Living, Religion, Christianity

208 pages, Paperback

Published January 5, 2021

Reviews

[Katie Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the simplicity and practicality of this book and its principles

[Cole Ragsdale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read. Basic but the intentional structures to actually loving your neighbors and not just talking about it was helpful.

"The first act of LOVE is always the giving of attention" - Dallas Williard

"When we invite friends for a meal, we do much more than offer them food for their bodies. We offer friendship, fellowship, good conversation, intimacy, and closeness. When we say, "help yourself...take some more...dont be shy...have another glass..." we offer our guests not only our food and drink but also ourselves. A spiritual bond grows, and we become food and drink for one another".

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is profound in its simplicity. The authors present very practical ways to love the people around you and in this way share the message of Jesus with others. It is an easy read, but don't let that fool you. What is easy to understand may take great repentance and soul searching to apply, especially if your idea of "sharing the good news" is to do so impersonally, from a distance or through a program. This is a book about humbly listening to others, loving them and praying or them. Within such a relationship sharing the message of Christ comes naturally and authentically. Just as Jesus intended.

[Jesse Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is what life as an active Christian should look like. Really, what an active friend should look like. If Christians lived like this (Actually Christ-like) they would have a lot less negative stereotypes. And, not to mention, the world would be a better place. It is challenging and encouraging. It is a super quick read with interactive questions that give room to journal. Good stuff.

[Kandice Miles-Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was refreshing and just what I needed. I want to thank my church pastor, Steve, for introducing this book to the congregation. It has been wonderful to read. It might have taken me a lot longer than anticipated, but it was well worth it.
The B.L.E.S.S. strategy is a simple to understand, broken-down, directions on how to spread the Good News of Jesus without the cringe that many of us hate. I cannot wait to start putting these practices to work in my life and BLESSing those around me.

[Paul Snider · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is my new favorite in this category. It answers, “How do I love the people around me in word and deed?” In such a simple, relatable, and empathetic way.

I only rolled my eyes a few times at typical pastor-y communication choices.

[Nathan Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. So often in church life it’s always “bring people to church”, “bring people to small groups”, but so often in the Bible we are called to “go”. To go out into the world and bless (or B.L.E.S.S) the world, where through these practices Jesus’ love can sometimes be seen more clearly than through a reluctant church encounter

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book and plan to revisit this again and again. We need to find intentional ways to engage those around us and this looks to be a promising plan.

[Syd :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

my church did a study over this book for the past 5 weeks and it’s a really easy and practical resource for showing the love of Jesus!

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish it. It misrepresents street evangelism, highlights Billy Graham horror stories, and pushes "blessing" without sharing the Gospel. Nope. Nope. Nope.

[Eric Chappell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Should have been a 7-minute read blog post.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read with Michael and Ricky at RCC. Lots of good, practical ways to love on your neighbors.

[Amos Williams, Jr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent book. Dave Ferguson puts forth a solid framework for connecting with people, but Ferguson's methodologies are not quite as gospel-centered as I hoped they'd be. At times gospel intentionality and gospel centrality are overshadowed, and even lost, by the catchy methodology. In my opinion, the BLESS methodology leans toward pragmatism. It almost feels like he's trying to sell something. Thankfully Ferguson does well to build the framework of the methodology upon Scripture which helps to give grace when the centrality of the gospel becomes foggy. I do believe the BLESS strategy will be impactful if/when its proponents are aware of the method's susceptibility to focus more on socializing than evangelism. I look forward to adapting the BLESS strategies to my own context.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, yet profound and easy to remember, the B.L.E.S.S. rhythms are great ways to share the love of Jesus with your neighbors. This ranks among the best books I have read on evangelism, and it’s not a book exclusively on evangelism. In an era when people are fatigued with those pushing an agenda, B.L.E.S.S. offers a refreshing and simple approach to gain a hearing of the Gospel from our neighbors.

[Beka Burch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous read on how to bless others and make disciples of Jesus!

[Caleb Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this book has lots of helpful thoughts and questions, but to be honest, I'm never a fan of breaking the Gospel down into "straightforward practices" that will allow the church to bless people. Although these practices are indeed important and truly would help us all live better, there's always a risk that you limit people's abilities to grow and move past these simple steps.

I also felt the book creates some pressure on Christians to be "blessing" people in every single moment, sure that's ideal but not realistic. At the same time, it's true, we should be so I understand the author's point. Overall, it does encourage Christians to go out for their way to be a blessing and I appreciate that.
One of the most disappointing things within the book so that Christians relationships are clearly made and formed to "teach them the gospel" and there is very few moments the book offers another reason. Say like... learning from our people and cultures..

There is a lot of helpful thinking here but I truly do think we need a bit more of a challenge and reality for books like this.

[Bob Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been working in church leadership positions or consulting with churches for almost 40 years - and this is the book I've been waiting for when it comes to demonstrating hospitality in the home.
Dave Ferguson and Jon Ferguson have drawn from their vast leadership experience in the local church to develop, experiment, tweak, and refine the concepts of everyday ways to love your neighbor in their book, B.L.E.S.S.
It is a most welcome addition to my library of home hospitality books. Filled with ideas, tools, and stories, this book will help anyone learn how to live out the mission of Jesus in what often is that most difficult of places - your neighbor across the hall or next door.
Check out the "Look Inside" feature for a sample of the simple, but powerful methods found in the book.
Buy it today, and put it into practice tonight!

[Blessed Goje · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent small book. I read the first edition and it's practical suggestions in the acronym BLESS are easy to put to practice. I had been practicing some of the ideas but the book helped me see how the Gospel can be so be so naturally shared.
The "E" was fun to read and discover that Jesus practiced this quite regularly while here on Earth. Now His disciples all over the world can go on practicing this with great effect.

Blessing people through our prayers places them on our hearts before we even begin to connect with them as God puts His love for them on our hearts.

These practices have the promise of helping us break barriers and connect with the most unlikely people around us.

May the Lord use it to bring glory to His name.

Blessed Goje,
The Navigators, Kaduna, Nigeria.

[Josh Olson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was frustratingly stretched content, overly explained, and bogged down by poor quality writing.

I don’t have any major disagreements with the aims of this book, aside from minor quibbles, but this subject matter needed to either be edited down 100 pages, or given more time to flesh out to justify its length.

This book follows an off putting formula:

1. “Here is what you should do”
- Here is how Jesus did that thing.
- “Did you catch that?”
2. Here is why you might not want to do that thing.
- Here is a story of someone overcoming that and doing the thing.

Essentially this formula gets spun and reapplied to nearly every BLESS topic, so much so that it becomes… boring?

This is not to criticize the theology, use of the Bible, or stories, but is mainly a criticism of the writing.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book and would be excellent for small growth groups to study together and then to hold each other accountable as they follow the practices. I think I could have used these practices more in my working and younger years. It doesn't mean that Seniors can't still be very effective in using these practices, and just this morning my hubby and I spent the morning with another delightful couple drinking coffee and having muffins. In this case, we are all dedicated to the Lord, but the concept would work great as a witness and friend to non-believers. We certainly don't have to travel the world to be missionaries - the world is coming to us and we need to be ready to befriend, and witness to all our neighbours.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains practical and deceptively simple ways to share the gospel: begin with prayer, listen to others, eat with others, serve others, and share your story.

While I have practiced each of the five ways in varying degrees over the years, I appreciated the authors' inspiring examples as well new ways to think about accomplishing each step. I also would like to rise to the authors' challenge to incorporate at least one practice daily as well as making a specific list of people to bless.

I listened to the audio version of the book via Hoopla.

[Casey Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short but deep handbook/guide to loving your neighbor. If you are like the teacher in Luke who asked, "Who is my neighbor?" Then you should read this book. It's a relatively simple guide to follow, BLESS, although much harder to live out on a daily basis. This book (in conjunction with a Bible study group or friends/family) will give you the encouragement to get out of your comfort zone and love the people in your community. If you want to know how to bless people in your life but don't know where to begin, start by reading this book.

[Ethan Lockwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The B.L.E.S.S. practices are a well structured, practical set of ideas that help the everyday Christian be a blessing in their own community. Through beginning with prayer, listening to those we desire to bless, eating together, serving those people, and lastly, sharing your story, we can slowly begin to change our community one day at a time. There is so much practically to the ideas outlined in this book and is one I would certainly recommend to anyone who wants a well intentioned outline of how you can change your community through the love of Jesus!

[Jon Burd · Rating 5 out of 5]

The BLESS framework is awesome! Very similar to “Surprise the World” and in fact they both cite a study on blessers vs converters for BAMs in Thailand that is fascinating.

Spoiler alert: the blessers outshined 48:1

I love how the others talk about how people want to be heard. We need to first listen. No one wants your agenda. They want to be heard. So “listen.”

There are so many missional books that talk about eating with others. We simply must orient our ministry around table and blessing more.

[Mary Tally · Rating 4 out of 5]

The intro to this book states that loving our neighbor is so important to God that he made it a command. If he hadn’t, we would most likely treat it as optional.

But, what if we began each day with a prayer to be a blessing to others and asked God for divine appointments?

The authors provide a simple, five-step process for blessing our neighbors - BE IN PRAYER, LISTEN, EAT, SERVE, and tell our STORY. We are responsible for loving. God is responsible for converting.

I recommend this book for individual or group study.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of 5 everyday ways to live your neighbor and change the world is full of practices and tools to use to be a blessing in this world. The authors speak truth by providing Scripture as evidence for every suggestion they make. If we make these practices everyday habits, we can change the world with the love of God. Thank you to the Ferguson brothers for these reminders of what God expects of us...to live Him and our neighbors. 🙏🏻❤️

[Tim Genry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is close to five stars. Why? Well, I’ve been reading a lot of these ideas over the past few years and I consider this to have been the missing piece of the Christian message I received while growing up. Surprisingly many churches don’t allow the freedom to execute this plan but such was the case in Jesus’ day as well. He showed us that the gathering is good but the other six days are equally important! Don’t give up on the church. Be the church!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed listening to this book and felt like it was insightful. Each letter in BLESS stands for a way to reach out and love your neighbor. It focuses on the importance of doing life with people so they see Jesus in you not just simply evangelizing.
There were a few things in the book that I'm not sure I agree with (I can expound if needed - just ask)
I recommend reading with a grain of salt. It definitely had alot of helpful content and I aim to get a physical copy to re read.

[Justin Ruszkiewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Awesome concept! The 3-star rating doesn’t mean I don’t think the B.L.E.S.S. Strategy is bad by any means. I plan to implement it. I even plan to teach my students through it. Having said that, this book just didn’t offer much, at least for me. Good ideas that make sense. Very helpful for students and those who are beginning their faith. But even then, I think there are better books out there on this.

Rating: 5/10, three stars.

[Hannah Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the really tangible ways this book sets out for us to love our neighbors. They gave great examples from Jesus’s life and they were stories I had heard before, but shed in a new light. Sometimes it becomes a lot about “do the BLESS practices! RAH RAH RAH!” I do think the bless practices are really great and I’m hoping to implement them more mindfully into my life!