Speak Out : Awakening Mission and Discipleship through Private and Public Communication

by Mike Breen

As you know, I’ve spent more than two decades helping people around the world lead out in discipleship and mission. But as I look back, I can’t help but ruminate on how many people who have led out the movement of discipleship and mission have embraced the effect rather than the cause. They focus on discipleship but overlook communication that so often sparks it to life. In these reflections, I’ve come to believe that communication usually comes first, and the awakening that happens through communication causes the effect of passion and palpable desire for discipleship and mission. So for me, it’s time to rewind the process of discipleship by going back to understand the cause. I have spent the last few years doing this both at a personal and academic level, and now I want to share what I’ve learned as I’ve reflected on my experience and what I’ve seen in my studies that has so often held up a mirror to what I’ve experienced.

250 pages, Paperback

Published June 29, 2019

Reviews

[Dick Wiedenheft · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual, this latest book by Mike Breen is easy to read and full of ideas that are both simple and brilliant. It’s a refreshing and creative contribution to the challenge of missional communication, aimed at those who communicate through preaching, teaching, or personal conversations. Breen guides the reader through the steps of developing a personal message, grounding it in the scriptural story (metanarrative), developing memorable and repeatable ways to communicate it (memes), then contextualizing it for your listeners and calling them to respond.

As with many of Breen’s books, you will likely finish with lots of questions about how to work out the material practically. In trying to make his book relevant to everything from preaching to personal conversations, he leaves the reader with the task of adapting and applying. A book can only take you so far (which is why Breen offers coaching).

As a preacher, I found some of the steps (like meme creation and calling listeners to respond) more helpful than others, and I would alter their order (e.g., putting contextualization before meme creation). For other steps, like developing a personal message and using the hero’s journey to call people to respond, I would need additional coaching to fully understand and implement them.

In conclusion this is a refreshing and creative book on missional communication which will supply almost every communicator with something new and helpful. But, be prepared to put in some personal work in order to get the full benefit of this book.

[Evan Hoekzema · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I thought this was a good book. Best parts for me was diving in on the Hero’s journey and some of Breen’s commentary/storytelling on the missionary travels of Paul near the end of the book. Breen argued that intentional communication coupled with a ripe environment for discipleship is what brings about lasting change. You need both.

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moments of brilliant insight in most every chapter. Some significant building on Breen's previous work(s).