Top Highlights

• There are at least three reasons why evangelicals should address the felt needs of city-dwellers. To do so (1) provides a point of redemptive connection with those who are spiritually lost, (2) adds credibility to our communication of the gospel, and (3) is commanded by God and demonstrated by Christ.
• Because we have shown caring at the level of temporal need, we are given permission to express caring for their eternal need.
• There are times when it appears that some of the resistance to ministry through felt needs has more to do with a lack of heartfelt compassion for the lost than it does with aversion to the social gospel.
• Evangelism is a special kind of communication process. Its intent is to persuade. It is meant to encourage people to move from spiritual death to spiritual life. It is intended to produce a fundamental change. The goal of evangelism is to promote deep personal commitment to Jesus Christ as one’s Savior and Lord. Redemption requires a spark of faith...
• The urban world is full of exploiters—people who convincingly promise good and deliver bad. People see the good news as good when we have done good in their lives. Their past experience with us gives them confidence that what we say about something they haven’t experienced can be trusted. As they come to see us as trustworthy they are helped to bel...