(Tricia here: I haven't read this yet, but I am hoping to - it sounds really interesting. Might be a good small group or family study.)
What is faith and why does it matter?
Make sharing your faith a priority in the new year!
Everybody has faith. They may not be aware of it, but every person you know trusts in something that they can’t prove or know in an absolute sense. And everybody has what author Mark Mittelberg calls a faith path, a way of deciding what to believe that leads them to their spiritual point of view. “Faith. Everybody lives by it—even skeptics and atheists! That’s right. Everyone you know trusts something they believe in but can’t prove or know absolutely. They take it on faith,” Mittelberg says. “If you want to talk to your friends about your faith, it helps to understand what they believe and how they got there. Because badgering people to change their minds just doesn’t work.”
Many people don’t realize they’re living by faith, and few would be able to describe their faith path. But in the Faith Path workbook and DVD series, based on the book Choosing Your Faith, (which Mittelberg coauthored with Lee Strobel), Mittelberg discusses the six common faith paths (relativistic, traditional, authoritarian, intuitive, mystical, and evidential) and how some are definitely more helpful than others. Not all faith paths lead to something good. Some are dead ends.
Many Christians cringe at the thought of talking with non-Christians about faith. It’s almost like trying to explain music to a deaf person or a painting to someone who is blind. But one important thing any Christian can do is understand their friends—listen to them and consider how they think. Then it becomes possible to truly communicate God’s truth.
The Faith Path workbook and DVD can be used by church groups and individuals with a heart to more effectively engage unbelievers in faith conversations. The program builds on Mittelberg’s sensible, evenhanded approach to evangelism. DVD segments include teaching from Mittelberg, as well as short interviews with fascinating people talking about the faith paths they were on before they came to Christ. Interviews seen on the DVD are then discussed in a thought-provoking, enjoyable group format, as well as in workbook entries. Among other things, participants will learn to recognize the danger of paths that lead away from Christ and will deepen their own faith in Christ and reinforce their reasons for believing.
Faith Path (Workbook & DVD) by Mark Mittelberg
David C Cook/October 2009
Workbook-ISBN: 978-1-4347-6513-0/softcover/141 pages/$12.99 DVD-ISBN: 978-1-4347-6514-7/$24.99
http://www.davidccook.com/
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