Out of the Salt Shaker and Into the World - Chapter 1

The first book to bless this blog is Rebecca Manley Pippert's Out of the Salt Shaker & Into the World. This book was a gift from our IVCF staffworker, Jill and it was a welcome gift, because it was already on my list of books to read this summer. It's nice when things work out that way. :)

Anyways, some thoughts on Chapter 1 of this book (which, so far, gets 5 stars for its timeliness):

A quote from p. 22, bottom:
Our problem in evangelism is not that we don't have enough information--it is that we don't have enough to be ourselves.
-->Okay, so this quote, naked of the context in which it has been presented, is probably a bit dangerous. But I'm sticking it here because I'm perplexed about the idea of how to be "myself" while following somebody else's model...(ie. Pippert has a whole book here of 'how to' present your faith without pissing off or shutting out the world, and while it's admittedly less formulaic than most, there's still a model for evangelism being offered forth.) I'm sure I'll come back to this point as my reading progresses.

A quote from p. 26, para. 1:
It's odd. If you are sensitive enough to realize that you could offend someone, then offending others is probably not your problem.
--> Good point, Ms. Pippert.
--> I am definitely guilty of biting my tongue for fear of offending rather than speaking my mind, or even standing up for truth. Now, by "standing up," I don't mean shoving everyone else's viewpoints and arguments into the ground, until I'm literally the only one left standing...I just mean having a little backbone in appropriate situations. Sometimes, being "nice" is just easier.

So, there's a happy start. Hopefully it's enough to generate some thoughtful, insightful comments from the other 5 recipients of Jill's awesome gift...and maybe even from the gift-giver herself. :)