The document discusses a conversation between Brian and April about April's exploration of Christianity. April expresses frustration with some aspects of Christianity but is finding value in her discussions with Brian and his example. Brian gently encourages April to keep an open mind and considers questions as opportunities to explore faith together. He emphasizes living out faith authentically through community.

2. becoming an agent of
God’s mission ...

3. becoming an agent of
God’s mission ...
it’s worth doing.

4. becoming an agent of
God’s mission ...
it’s worth doing.
you can do it.

5. becoming an agent of
God’s mission ...
it’s worth doing.
you can do it.
you’ll enjoy it.

6. becoming an agent of
God’s mission ...
it’s worth doing.
you can do it.
you’ll enjoy it.
you’re more ready than
you realize.

8. my vision and prayer

9. my vision and prayer
your churches are full and
overflowing

10. my vision and prayer
your churches are full and
overflowing
you are inviting your
friends

11. my vision and prayer
your churches are full and
overflowing
you are inviting your
friends
because you’re contagiously
enthusiastic about life with
God in the way of Jesus

12. In your hearts, set apart
Christ as Lord. Always be
prepared to give an answer to
everyone who asks you to
give the reason for the hope
that you have. But do this
with gentleness and respect,
keeping a clear conscience, so
that those who speak
maliciously against your good
1 Peter behavior in Christ may be
3:15-17 ashamed of their slander.

13. A story about a
book-release
party…

14. Hi Brian (do you prefer to be called
brian?) this is april, the harpist from
your book signing party. i read your
book this morning. it caused me to
think a lot about a lot of things. i
actually would like to tell you about
it, but im afraid this e mail will be
very lengthy...

15. i don't want to burden you (i
understand you listen to a lot of
people every day!) so im not
sure... but i really need to talk
to someone … and I cant think
of anyone else i can talk to
about religion.

16. 1. Your friends are looking for a
safe conversation partner ...
Service, not sales.
Honest customer review, not
infomercial.
Living example.

17. like i said to you last night,
recently i have been feeling like
I want to become a christian,
and maybe even start going to
church and stuff. but …
whenever i go to any church, or
read any church literature I
change my mind

18. 2. Most churches aren’t
currently helping your friends.
“those who know don’t have the
words to tell; those with the
words don’t know so well.”
They’re competing for a
shrinking market of “the nuns.”

19. The nuns (1): attend church
religiously!
The nones (2): no real church
background
The dones: de-churched,
dropouts, alienated, wounded
The no-funs: hanging on by a
fingernail

20. From Dave Kinneman & Gabe Lyons
“Nones” and “Dones” aged 16-29 years old
were asked, What is your current perception
of Christianity?
91% said antihomosexual
87% said judgmental
85% said hypocritical
78% said old-fashioned
75% said too involved in politics
72% said out of touch with reality
70% said insensitive to others

21. … i get so angry (and i dont
know why, because i havent
had any overly negative
experiences with the church)
and i get these horrible
visions of brainwashing and
the like.

22. its so frustrating for me,
because i feel like i dont owe
christianity any breaks and that
it deserves the tough
microscope i put it under. … i
dont want to let [them] "win" the
christianity argument, or
whatever.

24. 3. Out: arguments and sales-
pitches. In: listening ...

25. 3. Out: arguments and sales-
pitches. In: listening ...
To their stories

26. 3. Out: arguments and sales-
pitches. In: listening ...
To their stories
Their struggles

27. 3. Out: arguments and sales-
pitches. In: listening ...
To their stories
Their struggles
Their questions

28. 3. Out: arguments and sales-
pitches. In: listening ...
To their stories
Their struggles
Their questions
Their answers to your non-
test questions

30. Your questions identify you
as a willing listener, a “safe
person.”

31. Your questions identify you
as a willing listener, a “safe
person.”
Where are you from? Tell me
about your family. How was
your weekend? Do you have
any religious background?
Are you OK?

32. when i was reading your book today
at certain parts i felt so good, and
at certain times i actually felt like i
was about to cry, because it felt
like something was really getting
through to me. but i feel like theres
something holding me back, theres
some sort of defense mechanism in
me that tells me not to believe any
of it.

33. i guess thats probably why i
asked you what i did last night.
i need to make sure that im not
being "lured in", just to find out
once i go ahead and believe
that a whole bunch of other
stuff comes along with it that i
cant feel comfortable with,

34. and then my whole person
will change and ill become
closed minded and bigoted
and brainwashed and
everything bad... i just cant
feel that i can trust it. i dont
know what to do.

36. 4. Your example - of growth,
not perfection - matters
most.

37. 4. Your example - of growth,
not perfection - matters
most.
How much you care ...

38. 4. Your example - of growth,
not perfection - matters
most.
How much you care ...
How you cope with pain,
mistreatment ...

39. 4. Your example - of growth,
not perfection - matters
most.
How much you care ...
How you cope with pain,
mistreatment ...
How you fail ...

40. 4. Your example - of growth,
not perfection - matters
most.
How much you care ...
How you cope with pain,
mistreatment ...
How you fail ...
How you live and love ...

41. oh well. at the very least, i
really enjoyed reading your
book…

42. it met me at every corner.
that was frustrating, in a
way, but in a healthy way,
like eating veggies or
something. ill try to write a
review of it online when i
get a chance.
- april

43. hey brian - how do you suggest
dealing with the sexist/homophobic
parts of the Bible? It hasn't been an
issue yet, but it will be. ... are you
speaking on the nineteenth of june
at church? i think i will be in
maryland then.
april

44. brian - wow, I'm glad I e-mailed you
about that because I had been
thinking to myself "Why am I even
trying to like this? What good can it
do for anyone?" But after reading
your interpretation of it, it makes a
lot more sense. The Bible must be
an extremely difficult document to
read accurately. Is it worth it?

46. 5. Your friends’ questions are
their way of exploring the
credibility of Christian faith and
the plausibility of Christian life.
It’s not just your answers they’re
checking out - it’s you.

47. 5. Your friends’ questions are
their way of exploring the
credibility of Christian faith and
the plausibility of Christian life.
It’s not just your answers they’re
checking out - it’s you.
Good question. I don’t know!

48. 5. Your friends’ questions are
their way of exploring the
credibility of Christian faith and
the plausibility of Christian life.
It’s not just your answers they’re
checking out - it’s you.
Good question. I don’t know!
Can I think about that and get back
to you?

49. 5. Your friends’ questions are
their way of exploring the
credibility of Christian faith and
the plausibility of Christian life.
It’s not just your answers they’re
checking out - it’s you.
Good question. I don’t know!
Can I think about that and get back
to you?
Here’s what helps me.

50. 5. Your friends’ questions are
their way of exploring the
credibility of Christian faith and
the plausibility of Christian life.
It’s not just your answers they’re
checking out - it’s you.
Good question. I don’t know!
Can I think about that and get back
to you?
Here’s what helps me.
How does that work for you?

52. Also, (on a completely different note) I
remember when I was playing at your church,
someone talked to me about some kind of
service on Wednesday nights that they thought
harp music would be really good for (continuous,
contemplative music, I think she said ). I know
it's far in advance, but I just wanted to offer to
play for that whenever, once I get back to
Maryland in September. I don't want to push
myself on the church, but more and more the
idea of playing for and through God has sounded
appealing, and I remember how nice that
service sounded. So if that sounds like
something you all might be interested in, I'd love
to volunteer to do it. Take care- april

54. 6. Be a bringer, includer, and
inviter.

55. 6. Be a bringer, includer, and
inviter.
Faith is a team sport. People are seeking a
community that will help them become
what they hope they can become.

56. 6. Be a bringer, includer, and
inviter.
Faith is a team sport. People are seeking a
community that will help them become
what they hope they can become.
Maybe your church ...

57. 6. Be a bringer, includer, and
inviter.
Faith is a team sport. People are seeking a
community that will help them become
what they hope they can become.
Maybe your church ...
Maybe your dinner table ...

58. 6. Be a bringer, includer, and
inviter.
Faith is a team sport. People are seeking a
community that will help them become
what they hope they can become.
Maybe your church ...
Maybe your dinner table ...
Maybe a class, mission trip, new service,
or special event ...

59. hi brian,
I just got up from a _three and a half_
hour nap (taken immediately after i
returned home from church). i was
thinking about emailing you before i fell
asleep because i wanted to tell you how
much i enjoyed your message today. …
WHATYOU SAY is just so incredible.

60. i had a dream during my nap that i
wanted to tell you about. Im not one
to get really excited by dreams or
anything like that, and i feel sort of
weird telling you, but i just have to.
…

61. for some reason, out of the blue
(though in the dream,it didnt feel like it
was out of the blue) you poured
FREEZING cold water on my head and
said the baptism thing ("in the name of
the father, the son," etc, etc). it was
dripping all down my face,
everywhere... so much water, and it
felt so good, and i just started to cry
and saying over again "thank you.
thank you so much."

62. i said to you "i have been
thinking about this for awhile,
but wasn't sure i was ready",
and you said "youve been
ready for a long time" and gave
me a hug.

63. then i guess there was sort of a
dream segue type thing, and i
was sitting with my friend kate,
who at the last minute cancelled
out of going to my recital. i was
sitting with her giving her the
cold shoulder because she had
missed it and it hurt my feelings.

64. then i remembered: wait a second,
theres no turning back now, jesus
wouldnt have done this, and you have
no right to. and i just apologized to
kate and siad "its okay... it went well
and i understand why you couldnt
make it, and of course our friendship
is just as strong as always."

65. then i woke up. i dont know...
it just really affected me, ive
felt like ive been on the verge
of tears (happy tears) since i
woke up. thank you for helping
me bring about such a change
in my life.
april

66. 7. The Holy Spirit is at work,
and you can become a Spirit-
filled agent of God’s mission:
healing and beautifying the
world ... so God’s will is done
on earth as it is in heaven.

76. There are many reasons to
compare our churches to an old
male tortoise …
Slow-moving … isolated …
Ancient-looking
withdrawn in its shell … won’t stick
its neck out

77. There are
many
reasons to
compare the
changes in
our world to a
tsunami …

78. There are many reasons to
compare the emerging global
culture to an orphaned hippo …
Orphaned by religion …
science … government …
the economy … technology …
consumerism… “progress”…

80. -formation?
What could happen in our world
if we turned back outward
toward our neighbors - with
good news, hope, gentleness,
and respect?

82. becoming an agent of
God’s mission ...

83. becoming an agent of
God’s mission ...
it’s worth doing.

84. becoming an agent of
God’s mission ...
it’s worth doing.
you can do it.

85. becoming an agent of
God’s mission ...
it’s worth doing.
you can do it.
you’ll enjoy it.

86. becoming an agent of
God’s mission ...
it’s worth doing.
you can do it.
you’ll enjoy it.
you’re more ready than
you realize.

88. my vision and prayer

89. my vision and prayer
your churches are full and
overflowing

90. my vision and prayer
your churches are full and
overflowing
you are inviting your
friends

91. my vision and prayer
your churches are full and
overflowing
you are inviting your
friends
because you’re contagiously
enthusiastic about life with
God in the way of Jesus