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Our Last Great Hope: Awakening the Great Commission
Every day we encounter scores of people headed to an eternity without God. What will it take to wake us up to their desperate need for a Savior? While the earth's time clock ticks away, well-meaning Christians go to church, pay their tithes, and pray for foreign missionaries―going through the motions of Christian life as millions face an eternity without God. If heaven is indeed for real, and only those who have put their faith in Christ will be given entrance, shouldn't we be making the most of every opportunity to share the Gospel, the last great hope for all the world? Join pastor Ronnie Floyd as he challenges readers to face reality and begin a global movement to reach the lost. He says, "God is calling us to an awakening regarding his most urgent command found in Matthew 28:19 to go and make disciples of all nations. This Great Commission is the compelling charge given to us with divine authority by our Commander in Chief, Jesus Christ." Our Last Great Hope will move us beyond casual and theoretical talk about the Great Commission and lead us into a Great Awakening. “This book could revolutionize the way we think. . . . Read it and be inspired, changed, and equipped.” ―Bruce Wilkinson, best-selling author of The Prayer of Jabez “Floyd challenges us to engage the next generation . . . a must-read.” ―Greg Surratt, lead pastor of Seacoast Church and author of IR-REV-REND “This book inspires me to do extraordinary things through my most ordinary life. Our Last Great Hope should be your fi rst required read.” ―Leonard Sweet, best-selling author of Jesus Manifesto “ Our Last Great Hope pushes us beyond predictability and points us to a deep, intimate knowledge of why we are here.” ―Ed Young Jr., pastor of Fellowship Church and author of Outrageous , Contagious Joy “I’ll be pulling this book off my shelf again and again.” ―Pete Wilson, author of Plan B and Empty Promises “This book is an energizing wake-up call to today’s churches.” ―Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 6, 2011
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February 27, 2013
After reading the initial book reviews of Our Last Great Hope by pastor and author Dr. Ronnie Floyd, I was somewhat reluctant to actually endeavor to read this work. Most of the reviewers portrayed the book as difficult to connect with and just missing the mark of greatness or better (or worse) yet not being able to make it past the introduction. Despite the relatively unfriendly remarks by fellow blog reviewers, I decided to make my own decision as to the merits of Dr. Floyd's effort.
Unlike the individual who found the introduction to lack a connection to the reader, I found the opening salvo to Our Last Great Hope to be rather timeline and biblically centered. The topic of evangelism must find its roots in the Great Commission as well as the commands throughout scripture to declare the message of God's salvation to the lost. With that said, Floyd rightly begins his discussion of this rather important aspect of the Christian walk by sharing his own experience as grasping that concept. The grand nature of sharing the gospel to a world replete with individuals lost in the morass of sin is daunting to say the least and must not be taken lightly. He reminds us of the church's lack of effort over a long span of her history when it comes to sharing the gospel. Thankfully, many churches are re-evaluating their evangelistic efforts taking note of the command to share the gospel in their local communities, their towns, their nation and finally to the entire world.
Dr. Floyd opens his book with a salient reminder of the need for personal introspection most notably the need to focus our every effort on God. Are we trying to win the favor of man? If so, we must take note of the words of the Apostle Paul in this matter who reminds us "For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ." True evangelism is focusing the lost on the message of the gospel, a message centered in the truth of God's word. If God's word and focusing on him are not first and foremost the center of our efforts in our daily life, if knowing Christ intimately, passionately, and sharing Christ constantly are not the hallmarks of our lives as Floyd so eloquently reminds us, then we need to stop before we start and reorient our lives to focus on God.
Additionally, Dr. Floyd makes note of disturbing trends in the church. Basing his statements on recent research by the Barna Group, "we are a church in crisis." As noted by Dr. Floyd, our collective spiritual muscles are out of shape as we have for far too long been sponges and for that matter we have been dry sponges. What is needed is a renewed passion for the things of God evidenced by a zeal for studying scripture, a passion for the lost, the unabashed preaching of the gospel, rejection of Universalist ideals, a renewal of discipleship within the church, as well as being salt and light to a lost world. The church has succumbed in recent years essentially fallen asleep at the wheel. Dr. Floyd rather starkly reminds us to quit hitting the snooze button and to instead get out of our spiritual death beds and be about the Lord's work as a great harvest of human souls awaits.
The urgency of the message we have been commanded to share is the next topic of discussion for Dr. Floyd. He rightly reminds the reader of the importance of adhering to sound doctrine in a time where increasingly the church has acquiesced to non-biblical concepts. Heaven and hell are real and matters of eternity are to put it simply, matters of eternal importance. We as believers must not lose sight of the fact that "true and complete theology instills a sense of urgency." In an effort to demonstrate the urgency of evangelism, Dr. Floyd shares some rather startling facts. According to recent research there are 11.646 people groups in the world. Of these people groups, "6.734 groups contain less than 2 percent evangelical Christians." Even in our own country, according to "projections of the North American Missions Board, more than 233 million Americans do not have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ." Those statistics are sobering.
Dr. Floyd next provides the reader with some very practical ways of doing evangelism beginning with our own families and then reaching out into our communities. In many ways, a point made clearly by Dr. Floyd, parenting is a form of evangelism and discipleship. As we build on this foundation, it is next essential to begin to become more active in community outreach efforts. Believers can make an impact in their community in a number of ways that do not necessarily include standing on the street corner doing evangelism. There are a number of outreach efforts already established through which churches can connect with in order to meet the physical and spiritual needs of people, especially in the inner city. Delivering furniture, being a Big Brother or Big Sister, providing food for a soup kitchen or being part of a prayer ministry are just a small number of ways we can do evangelism.
Our Last Great Hope concludes with reminders on the need to live the Christian walk in such a way that we "talk Jesus daily." This is perhaps the aspect of evangelism most believers fail to practice the most. The idea of speaking to a stranger about salvation through Christ's sacrifice on the cross is frightening to most Christians. This should not be so. Dr. Floyd points out many times in his own life when he found himself "shrugging off the promptings" he felt by the Holy Spirit. Dr. Floyd reminds the reader of the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 10:14 which declare "How can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher?" Most Christians likely feel it is the pastor's job to declare the gospel message to those who just might by the grace of God wander through the doors of their church. This is such a short-sighted view of what the Bible outlines as evangelism. It is the duty of every believer to share the promise of salvation.
Finally, Dr. Floyd ventures into an area that will prick the conscience of many believers, namely the area of giving. It is a sad state of affairs when a church spends more money on toiletries in a month for their parishioners than it takes to dig fresh water wells for villages in India that will provide fresh drinking water for years to come. Dr. Floyd rightly reminds us "The tithe is not a policy of convenience, or an option to consider, or an exercise for the super-spiritual. It's for everyone, at all times - as is the blessing that comes from offering it. Remember that God's shovel is bigger than yours; you will never out give him." Ultimately, it is all about where we are placing our treasures. Are we storing eternal treasures by adding daily to the kingdom of God or are we more concerned with our bank accounts and the comfort of our congregations? Our Great Last Hope is a kick in the pants holistic overview of the need for evangelism. May we keep in mind the words of Jesus found in Luke 10:2: "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few." May we labor to spread the promise of salvation to the 6,734 unreached people groups while we still have today!
I received this book free from the publisher through the[...] book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255
[...]
Unlike the individual who found the introduction to lack a connection to the reader, I found the opening salvo to Our Last Great Hope to be rather timeline and biblically centered. The topic of evangelism must find its roots in the Great Commission as well as the commands throughout scripture to declare the message of God's salvation to the lost. With that said, Floyd rightly begins his discussion of this rather important aspect of the Christian walk by sharing his own experience as grasping that concept. The grand nature of sharing the gospel to a world replete with individuals lost in the morass of sin is daunting to say the least and must not be taken lightly. He reminds us of the church's lack of effort over a long span of her history when it comes to sharing the gospel. Thankfully, many churches are re-evaluating their evangelistic efforts taking note of the command to share the gospel in their local communities, their towns, their nation and finally to the entire world.
Dr. Floyd opens his book with a salient reminder of the need for personal introspection most notably the need to focus our every effort on God. Are we trying to win the favor of man? If so, we must take note of the words of the Apostle Paul in this matter who reminds us "For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ." True evangelism is focusing the lost on the message of the gospel, a message centered in the truth of God's word. If God's word and focusing on him are not first and foremost the center of our efforts in our daily life, if knowing Christ intimately, passionately, and sharing Christ constantly are not the hallmarks of our lives as Floyd so eloquently reminds us, then we need to stop before we start and reorient our lives to focus on God.
Additionally, Dr. Floyd makes note of disturbing trends in the church. Basing his statements on recent research by the Barna Group, "we are a church in crisis." As noted by Dr. Floyd, our collective spiritual muscles are out of shape as we have for far too long been sponges and for that matter we have been dry sponges. What is needed is a renewed passion for the things of God evidenced by a zeal for studying scripture, a passion for the lost, the unabashed preaching of the gospel, rejection of Universalist ideals, a renewal of discipleship within the church, as well as being salt and light to a lost world. The church has succumbed in recent years essentially fallen asleep at the wheel. Dr. Floyd rather starkly reminds us to quit hitting the snooze button and to instead get out of our spiritual death beds and be about the Lord's work as a great harvest of human souls awaits.
The urgency of the message we have been commanded to share is the next topic of discussion for Dr. Floyd. He rightly reminds the reader of the importance of adhering to sound doctrine in a time where increasingly the church has acquiesced to non-biblical concepts. Heaven and hell are real and matters of eternity are to put it simply, matters of eternal importance. We as believers must not lose sight of the fact that "true and complete theology instills a sense of urgency." In an effort to demonstrate the urgency of evangelism, Dr. Floyd shares some rather startling facts. According to recent research there are 11.646 people groups in the world. Of these people groups, "6.734 groups contain less than 2 percent evangelical Christians." Even in our own country, according to "projections of the North American Missions Board, more than 233 million Americans do not have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ." Those statistics are sobering.
Dr. Floyd next provides the reader with some very practical ways of doing evangelism beginning with our own families and then reaching out into our communities. In many ways, a point made clearly by Dr. Floyd, parenting is a form of evangelism and discipleship. As we build on this foundation, it is next essential to begin to become more active in community outreach efforts. Believers can make an impact in their community in a number of ways that do not necessarily include standing on the street corner doing evangelism. There are a number of outreach efforts already established through which churches can connect with in order to meet the physical and spiritual needs of people, especially in the inner city. Delivering furniture, being a Big Brother or Big Sister, providing food for a soup kitchen or being part of a prayer ministry are just a small number of ways we can do evangelism.
Our Last Great Hope concludes with reminders on the need to live the Christian walk in such a way that we "talk Jesus daily." This is perhaps the aspect of evangelism most believers fail to practice the most. The idea of speaking to a stranger about salvation through Christ's sacrifice on the cross is frightening to most Christians. This should not be so. Dr. Floyd points out many times in his own life when he found himself "shrugging off the promptings" he felt by the Holy Spirit. Dr. Floyd reminds the reader of the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 10:14 which declare "How can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher?" Most Christians likely feel it is the pastor's job to declare the gospel message to those who just might by the grace of God wander through the doors of their church. This is such a short-sighted view of what the Bible outlines as evangelism. It is the duty of every believer to share the promise of salvation.
Finally, Dr. Floyd ventures into an area that will prick the conscience of many believers, namely the area of giving. It is a sad state of affairs when a church spends more money on toiletries in a month for their parishioners than it takes to dig fresh water wells for villages in India that will provide fresh drinking water for years to come. Dr. Floyd rightly reminds us "The tithe is not a policy of convenience, or an option to consider, or an exercise for the super-spiritual. It's for everyone, at all times - as is the blessing that comes from offering it. Remember that God's shovel is bigger than yours; you will never out give him." Ultimately, it is all about where we are placing our treasures. Are we storing eternal treasures by adding daily to the kingdom of God or are we more concerned with our bank accounts and the comfort of our congregations? Our Great Last Hope is a kick in the pants holistic overview of the need for evangelism. May we keep in mind the words of Jesus found in Luke 10:2: "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few." May we labor to spread the promise of salvation to the 6,734 unreached people groups while we still have today!
I received this book free from the publisher through the[...] book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255
[...]
February 9, 2012
I have a confession to make. I am as bad at evangelism as you are. I simply don't share my faith as much as I should. There are reasons (maybe excuses?). I was raised in a Christian culture that put a high premium on proseltyzing, but often this happened in ways which were formulaic and insensitive. The fact that I don't share my faith is maybe even worse than the fact that you don't share yours because I am a trained minister of the gospel. So when I read books about evangelism I do so with trepidation and feelings of inadequacy, shame and guilt (there is more going on me beside the conviction of the Holy Ghost!).
Author and mega church pastor Ronnie Floyd is sold out on the importance of Evangelism. As someone who has dedicated himself to the study and practice of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20)and chair of the Southern Baptist Great Commission Resurgence Taskforce he is passionate about getting other Christians to actively engage in sharing their faith. He wants to see churches and individual Christians activate their resources toward this end. This isn't a book which coaches you to get over your feelings of anxiety about Evangelism; instead Floyd wants you to feel the urgency and do it.
Ultimately I didn't love this book and actually can think of much better books on this topic. But Floyd makes some important points. In his first chapter he gives you `three tough questions' to ask yourself about why you are not evangelizing: (1)Do I know Jesus intimately? (2) Do I love Jesus passionately? (3) Do I share him constantly? These three questions diagnose our spiritual condition and help us name our connection to Jesus. The point is that if we are going to engage effectively in Great Commission work, it will be out of the outflow of our relationship with Jesus and not merely out of a sense of obligation.
But Floyd also wants you to feel the urgency of fulfilling the great commission. Taking a position of Christocentric exclusivism, that is only those who have explicitly made Jesus savior and Lord will be saved, he argues that only 11% are truly Christian, 38% of the world population have heard the gospel and rejected it and the rest haven't heard. Whether or not you completely buy Floyd's stats(I have my doubts) or theology it is clear that the church is not doing a stupendous job of making disciples of all nations.
Floyd also makes wide ranging suggestions about how to evangelize in both personal and programmatic ways. He urges parents to evangelize and make disciples out of their children, Christians to build significant relationships with non-Christians, churches to invest in world missions, use of technology in evangelism, increased financial commitment through Christians (actually) tithing and church planting to reach different `people groups,' `cultural clusters' and `community distinctives.' Personally I disagree with some of his strategies. For example, he suggests adoption from the third world as a way to evangelize the nations, but seems in-cognizant of the complex justice issues wrapped up in world adoptions. Also his model of church planting seems a little too `homogeneous unit principle' for me (if you want to reach people from the Marshall islands, plant a Marshallese church; Plant churches to reach cowboys, etc). But Floyd seems more passionate about evangelism than his particular suggestions, he just wants Christians to be actively engaged in making disciples of all nations.
What I found most problematic about Floyd's approach is that he continually seems to make evangelism and discipleship about people's eternal destiny and has little to say here about the in-breaking of the Kingdom now. Jesus came to save you not just your soul and salvation needs to be understood in broader terms than just the realm of heaven and hell. The gospel is good news to people because in Christ we are reconciled to God and one another and we get to experience that STARTING NOW. Why would a book on the Great Commission only focus on conversions and eternal destiny? The Great Commission is also about a lifestyle of following Jesus in discipleship, obeying all he commands, and experiencing his presence all through this age until the age to come. In other words the Great Commission involves inviting people in to a whole new way of existence. I think an exploration of the Great Commission should be much more compelling than what Floyd does here! It is Greater!
Also the title of this book bugs me. What is the last great hope that Floyd speaks of? His answer comes in the last paragraph of his book:
Awakening the Great Commission is our last great hope. Positive and personal response is garaunteed from every tribe and language and people and nation. May we seize this special moment, tune our voice to sing His praise, advance into feilds which are ready for the harvest, and expand God's glory globally with the song of victory on our toungues.
As inspiring as this paragraph is, our last great hope is not our evangelistic efforts. Our last great hope is Jesus. When we make the `Great Commission' our hope and not the Commissioner, we emphasize our own actions and participation and not who Jesus is and all that he has done and does on our behalf. It makes our last great hope, us. So while I agree that Christians should evangelize and that personally I need to evangelize more than I do I live in the hope of Christ who calls all people unto himself.
While I started this review with words expressing my feelings of guilt about how I fail at Evangelism, I want to close this post on a different note. Recently in my personal prayer time, the Holy Spirit impressed on me Paul's words from Romans 1, "I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation for the Jew first and also for the Greek." Normally when I think of this scripture and others like it I think, "I don't evangelize enough. I am ashamed of the gospel." In my prayer time and reflection on this verse I felt led to `own' this verse in a new way. This wasn't simply Paul saying to the Roman Christians he was not ashamed, as prayed the Spirit led me to declare these words for myself: I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation... And you know what? I am not ashamed! I have staked my life on the gospel and am grateful for all Christ has accomplished on my behalf. My job is to live into this confidence and share it with others. Can I do it better and more faithfully? Yep, and I walk this journey confident in the God who saved me. May you go and do likewise!
I received a review copy of this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for this review.
Author and mega church pastor Ronnie Floyd is sold out on the importance of Evangelism. As someone who has dedicated himself to the study and practice of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20)and chair of the Southern Baptist Great Commission Resurgence Taskforce he is passionate about getting other Christians to actively engage in sharing their faith. He wants to see churches and individual Christians activate their resources toward this end. This isn't a book which coaches you to get over your feelings of anxiety about Evangelism; instead Floyd wants you to feel the urgency and do it.
Ultimately I didn't love this book and actually can think of much better books on this topic. But Floyd makes some important points. In his first chapter he gives you `three tough questions' to ask yourself about why you are not evangelizing: (1)Do I know Jesus intimately? (2) Do I love Jesus passionately? (3) Do I share him constantly? These three questions diagnose our spiritual condition and help us name our connection to Jesus. The point is that if we are going to engage effectively in Great Commission work, it will be out of the outflow of our relationship with Jesus and not merely out of a sense of obligation.
But Floyd also wants you to feel the urgency of fulfilling the great commission. Taking a position of Christocentric exclusivism, that is only those who have explicitly made Jesus savior and Lord will be saved, he argues that only 11% are truly Christian, 38% of the world population have heard the gospel and rejected it and the rest haven't heard. Whether or not you completely buy Floyd's stats(I have my doubts) or theology it is clear that the church is not doing a stupendous job of making disciples of all nations.
Floyd also makes wide ranging suggestions about how to evangelize in both personal and programmatic ways. He urges parents to evangelize and make disciples out of their children, Christians to build significant relationships with non-Christians, churches to invest in world missions, use of technology in evangelism, increased financial commitment through Christians (actually) tithing and church planting to reach different `people groups,' `cultural clusters' and `community distinctives.' Personally I disagree with some of his strategies. For example, he suggests adoption from the third world as a way to evangelize the nations, but seems in-cognizant of the complex justice issues wrapped up in world adoptions. Also his model of church planting seems a little too `homogeneous unit principle' for me (if you want to reach people from the Marshall islands, plant a Marshallese church; Plant churches to reach cowboys, etc). But Floyd seems more passionate about evangelism than his particular suggestions, he just wants Christians to be actively engaged in making disciples of all nations.
What I found most problematic about Floyd's approach is that he continually seems to make evangelism and discipleship about people's eternal destiny and has little to say here about the in-breaking of the Kingdom now. Jesus came to save you not just your soul and salvation needs to be understood in broader terms than just the realm of heaven and hell. The gospel is good news to people because in Christ we are reconciled to God and one another and we get to experience that STARTING NOW. Why would a book on the Great Commission only focus on conversions and eternal destiny? The Great Commission is also about a lifestyle of following Jesus in discipleship, obeying all he commands, and experiencing his presence all through this age until the age to come. In other words the Great Commission involves inviting people in to a whole new way of existence. I think an exploration of the Great Commission should be much more compelling than what Floyd does here! It is Greater!
Also the title of this book bugs me. What is the last great hope that Floyd speaks of? His answer comes in the last paragraph of his book:
Awakening the Great Commission is our last great hope. Positive and personal response is garaunteed from every tribe and language and people and nation. May we seize this special moment, tune our voice to sing His praise, advance into feilds which are ready for the harvest, and expand God's glory globally with the song of victory on our toungues.
As inspiring as this paragraph is, our last great hope is not our evangelistic efforts. Our last great hope is Jesus. When we make the `Great Commission' our hope and not the Commissioner, we emphasize our own actions and participation and not who Jesus is and all that he has done and does on our behalf. It makes our last great hope, us. So while I agree that Christians should evangelize and that personally I need to evangelize more than I do I live in the hope of Christ who calls all people unto himself.
While I started this review with words expressing my feelings of guilt about how I fail at Evangelism, I want to close this post on a different note. Recently in my personal prayer time, the Holy Spirit impressed on me Paul's words from Romans 1, "I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation for the Jew first and also for the Greek." Normally when I think of this scripture and others like it I think, "I don't evangelize enough. I am ashamed of the gospel." In my prayer time and reflection on this verse I felt led to `own' this verse in a new way. This wasn't simply Paul saying to the Roman Christians he was not ashamed, as prayed the Spirit led me to declare these words for myself: I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation... And you know what? I am not ashamed! I have staked my life on the gospel and am grateful for all Christ has accomplished on my behalf. My job is to live into this confidence and share it with others. Can I do it better and more faithfully? Yep, and I walk this journey confident in the God who saved me. May you go and do likewise!
I received a review copy of this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for this review.
February 10, 2012
Homo Homini Lupus
http://manisawolftomen.blogspot.com/
Ronnie Floyd's book Our Last Great Hope: Awakening the Great Commission sets out to evaluate and to exhort Christians to take serious the commandment of Christ to make disciples of all nations. Floyd opens with an explanation of his credentials--in the case he was part of team which investigated the Great Commission for a full year--then he dives right into the meat explaining the why of the Great Commission, its importance to Christ, and the urgency with which all followers of the Way ought to be pursing this goal. From there Ronnie begins to explain the way in which this must be accomplished. By Creating Great Commission lives, that is family life and church life centered around this vision which was so important to Christ. Then the book closes with more advice on how these two things can be accomplished.
The writing is clear and crisp, it flows smoothly from one idea to the next. It is clear on every page that Ronnie Floyd drinks deeply of his own advice. This is not empty lip flapping and look-at-me scribbles, but the passionate drive and desire of one man who has given himself to the work of his Lord. The chapters are divided off into shorter sections which make all of the information more palpable and between most chapters is a short anecdote or other little sampling which breaks up the books and gives some relief to the pressing matters in the main.
Ronnie Floyd is no outstanding stylist but the plainness of language is fitting to the serious attitude given to the material. It is clear that he hold his purpose and his God in high reverence. But he does commit one sin against the written word which is nigh unforgivable: he refers to objects in reality as "high-def." Please stop. Reality has neither low or high resolution settings. I mean it. Stop. If you do it again, I'll put your next book down and never read a Ronnie Floyd work again. Seriously.
An Easy 4/5 Stars. If you love God with all your heart and all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself, if you desire to do what is required of you, to act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God, then you must do what He has commanded. Ronnie Floyd's Our Last Great Hope will tell you how.
Propter sanguinem Agni,
RS
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255
http://manisawolftomen.blogspot.com/
Ronnie Floyd's book Our Last Great Hope: Awakening the Great Commission sets out to evaluate and to exhort Christians to take serious the commandment of Christ to make disciples of all nations. Floyd opens with an explanation of his credentials--in the case he was part of team which investigated the Great Commission for a full year--then he dives right into the meat explaining the why of the Great Commission, its importance to Christ, and the urgency with which all followers of the Way ought to be pursing this goal. From there Ronnie begins to explain the way in which this must be accomplished. By Creating Great Commission lives, that is family life and church life centered around this vision which was so important to Christ. Then the book closes with more advice on how these two things can be accomplished.
The writing is clear and crisp, it flows smoothly from one idea to the next. It is clear on every page that Ronnie Floyd drinks deeply of his own advice. This is not empty lip flapping and look-at-me scribbles, but the passionate drive and desire of one man who has given himself to the work of his Lord. The chapters are divided off into shorter sections which make all of the information more palpable and between most chapters is a short anecdote or other little sampling which breaks up the books and gives some relief to the pressing matters in the main.
Ronnie Floyd is no outstanding stylist but the plainness of language is fitting to the serious attitude given to the material. It is clear that he hold his purpose and his God in high reverence. But he does commit one sin against the written word which is nigh unforgivable: he refers to objects in reality as "high-def." Please stop. Reality has neither low or high resolution settings. I mean it. Stop. If you do it again, I'll put your next book down and never read a Ronnie Floyd work again. Seriously.
An Easy 4/5 Stars. If you love God with all your heart and all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself, if you desire to do what is required of you, to act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God, then you must do what He has commanded. Ronnie Floyd's Our Last Great Hope will tell you how.
Propter sanguinem Agni,
RS
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255
December 27, 2011
I was intrigued by the title of this book, Our Last Great Hope: Awakening the Great Commission, by Ronnie Floyd, which is why I chose it for my next read and review. However, I am not sure that I am the proposed audience for this book.
Ronnie Floyd tells us that the "Great Commission" is a simple concept as stated in Acts 1:8: "Tell every person in the world about Jesus Christ and make disciples of all nations." While a simple concept, he acknowledges that it is implementing it where all the difficulty lies. The bulk of the book is centered around how to implement it.
When I first began reading it, it seemed to me that he was encouraging people to enter ministry. This is wonderful, however, the ministry is not for everyone, and if everyone left their regular occupations for ministry, we would see some trouble. I would have liked him to focus more on how people in the business world could implement the Great Commission on a simple and daily basis. He did acknowledge that if someone truly loves Jesus, their job is not truly secular--because they are sharing Jesus with people they work with--however, there was not any detail on how in fact to do just that.
The rest of the book seemed directed more toward pastors and leaders of churches. The last couple chapters of the book focus solely on this, and as a result, I found the book less inspirational on a personal basis. While it is true that "To know Christ is to love Him; and to love Him is to share Him," I did not find many examples (beyond tithing and giving to missions) that opened up paths for sharing in our daily lives.
For the right audience, this is probably an incredibly helpful book. While there were some gems in the book that have stayed with me, for the most part I felt it was a book intended for a church leader, and I felt a bit lost. That being said, I do believe that the Great Commission is our calling as Christians, and we need to be doing more to share Jesus with everyone we know.
I was provided this book for free from the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program, in exchange for my unbiased review. Thank you BookSneeze.
http://www.wendyalton.blogspot.com/20...
Ronnie Floyd tells us that the "Great Commission" is a simple concept as stated in Acts 1:8: "Tell every person in the world about Jesus Christ and make disciples of all nations." While a simple concept, he acknowledges that it is implementing it where all the difficulty lies. The bulk of the book is centered around how to implement it.
When I first began reading it, it seemed to me that he was encouraging people to enter ministry. This is wonderful, however, the ministry is not for everyone, and if everyone left their regular occupations for ministry, we would see some trouble. I would have liked him to focus more on how people in the business world could implement the Great Commission on a simple and daily basis. He did acknowledge that if someone truly loves Jesus, their job is not truly secular--because they are sharing Jesus with people they work with--however, there was not any detail on how in fact to do just that.
The rest of the book seemed directed more toward pastors and leaders of churches. The last couple chapters of the book focus solely on this, and as a result, I found the book less inspirational on a personal basis. While it is true that "To know Christ is to love Him; and to love Him is to share Him," I did not find many examples (beyond tithing and giving to missions) that opened up paths for sharing in our daily lives.
For the right audience, this is probably an incredibly helpful book. While there were some gems in the book that have stayed with me, for the most part I felt it was a book intended for a church leader, and I felt a bit lost. That being said, I do believe that the Great Commission is our calling as Christians, and we need to be doing more to share Jesus with everyone we know.
I was provided this book for free from the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program, in exchange for my unbiased review. Thank you BookSneeze.
http://www.wendyalton.blogspot.com/20...
August 27, 2011
"The old stereotype of the church as a spiritual country club, a polite and comfy refuge from the world, must be discarded. We are a lighthouse, a rescue mission mobilizing to go out onto the rocks and pull the wounded from the wreckage of a fallen culture."
This book, written to help "awaken the great commission," uses many analogies and examples to help explain to modern Christians the importance and urgency of witnessing. Ronnie Floyd pours his heart out to us, explaining that Christ's final command to us was His most important command...an order, not an option of something to do in case we get bored.
It is obvious from the very beginning of this book that the author truly believes in what he's writing about. It's his burden to evangelize and he is simply trying to explain to Christians that it should be EVERYONE'S burden. In chapter nine, he uses the best metaphor I've ever heard for witnessing. If you or I were at a beach and knew there were sharks in the water, would we sit idly by and read our magazines on our beach towels as hundreds of swimmers were being hunted and eaten? Or would we fight for them, warn them, with the urgency that comes from imminent death? Floyd says that the way most Christians act today is callously abandoning non-Christians to a fully preventable death.
Can you live with that?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
This book, written to help "awaken the great commission," uses many analogies and examples to help explain to modern Christians the importance and urgency of witnessing. Ronnie Floyd pours his heart out to us, explaining that Christ's final command to us was His most important command...an order, not an option of something to do in case we get bored.
It is obvious from the very beginning of this book that the author truly believes in what he's writing about. It's his burden to evangelize and he is simply trying to explain to Christians that it should be EVERYONE'S burden. In chapter nine, he uses the best metaphor I've ever heard for witnessing. If you or I were at a beach and knew there were sharks in the water, would we sit idly by and read our magazines on our beach towels as hundreds of swimmers were being hunted and eaten? Or would we fight for them, warn them, with the urgency that comes from imminent death? Floyd says that the way most Christians act today is callously abandoning non-Christians to a fully preventable death.
Can you live with that?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
April 30, 2012
Our Last Great Hope: Awakening the Great Commission Our Last Great Hope: Awakening the Great Commission by Ronnie Floyd is a good book to help you get up and get evangelizing. The book is about living out the Great Commission: "Go and make disciples in Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth." Floyd moves through what Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth look like for Christians and it’s not just mission’s trips.
The book moved along slowly at first because Floyd hit the same topics over and over. Eventually it picked up steam and really used the momentum to get me excited about taking a focused look at my life and how I can evangelize to those in it. I love that he draws the parallels to our neighborhoods (Judea), our country (Judea) and the rest of the world (the ends of the earth). He makes evangelism more about a lifestyle approach than about specific actions that need to be taken. I got a little bogged down in the first half of the book, but the second half is much better. Floyd brings up the money discussion and what exactly it looks like for Christians to tithe. It is a very enlightening and inspiring chapter that will get you motivated to give your money away. Overall this book has a very encouraging and upbeat feeling that won’t leave you feeling like a failure at evangelism.
*** I received this book free as a part of my Booksneeze membership. The views written here, however, are completely my own.
The book moved along slowly at first because Floyd hit the same topics over and over. Eventually it picked up steam and really used the momentum to get me excited about taking a focused look at my life and how I can evangelize to those in it. I love that he draws the parallels to our neighborhoods (Judea), our country (Judea) and the rest of the world (the ends of the earth). He makes evangelism more about a lifestyle approach than about specific actions that need to be taken. I got a little bogged down in the first half of the book, but the second half is much better. Floyd brings up the money discussion and what exactly it looks like for Christians to tithe. It is a very enlightening and inspiring chapter that will get you motivated to give your money away. Overall this book has a very encouraging and upbeat feeling that won’t leave you feeling like a failure at evangelism.
*** I received this book free as a part of my Booksneeze membership. The views written here, however, are completely my own.
December 7, 2011
Our Last Great Hope centers around revitalizing Christians' call to the Great Commission. I found this book to thought provoking once I got into it....which unfortunately, was rather late in the book. I didn't feel pulled into it or hooked into it to the point I couldn't put it down or anything great like that. Then again, with a subject like the Great Commission, perhaps most people wouldn't feel super excited to read the whole thing in one day? We don't get excited over being reprimanded by a parent or employer....
Despite my above statement, it is a topic that still needs to be discussed. Still, I wasn't super thrilled over the writing style. As a writer myself, I could tell Floyd was extremely excited when he wrote this book, but I failed to feel the excitement carry over to the reader. The writing itself felt a little bit repetitive at times. Then again, maybe that's not such a bad thing: "Repetition is a powerful teaching tool." (p. 81)
When I finally got myself plugging along at a decent pace, I began feeling more interest, and better yet (at least in some peoples eyes), convicted. I was just disappointed it didn't kick in till the last few chapters. Despite that, there were solid, thought provoking quotes and points throughout the book. I received this book for free from Booksneeze for this review.
Despite my above statement, it is a topic that still needs to be discussed. Still, I wasn't super thrilled over the writing style. As a writer myself, I could tell Floyd was extremely excited when he wrote this book, but I failed to feel the excitement carry over to the reader. The writing itself felt a little bit repetitive at times. Then again, maybe that's not such a bad thing: "Repetition is a powerful teaching tool." (p. 81)
When I finally got myself plugging along at a decent pace, I began feeling more interest, and better yet (at least in some peoples eyes), convicted. I was just disappointed it didn't kick in till the last few chapters. Despite that, there were solid, thought provoking quotes and points throughout the book. I received this book for free from Booksneeze for this review.
March 13, 2012
Very good book. Highly recommend for those looking to be provided with a wake-up call on what, we as Christians are called to-do according to Biblical beliefs and the Great Commission. We are the last great hope for so many seeking something and just not knowing what that something is.
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