Wipf and Stock released a book this month that you need to add to your library. Mobilizing a Great Commission Church for Harvest—edited by Thomas P. Johnston–contains a variety of chapters geared toward leading churches to be on mission.
Tom has been a friend for several years. We were in the same doctoral program and graduated at the same time. He is an Associate Professor of Evangelism at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Tom is also the author of other books including Charts for a Theology of Evangelism.
I recently asked Tom to share with you a little about this new book. Here are some of his responses.
Tom, please give us a brief summary of the book.
Mobilizing a Great Commission Church for Harvest is about empowering church leaders to catch a vision for creating a Great Commission ethos in their local church. Each chapter revolves around one segment of this overarching goal. There are chapters on training people for personal evangelism, leading mission trips, the use of evangelists in revivals, involving the church in servant evangelism projects, sports evangelism, student evangelism, collegiate evangelism, etc. Amazingly, each topic is addressed by a person who is passionate about his subject, as well as a practitioner of the same. 
What makes this book different from other books on evangelism and the Great Commission?
Mobilizing is unique in the area of practical local church evangelism in that it is written by 19 Southern Baptist professors of evangelism, all of whom teach evangelism at an SBC-affiliated school, all of whom have pastoral or practical experience in their field, and all of whom are passionate about their topic. Mobilizing is written by men who subscribe to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, and who believe in the inerrancy of Scripture.
An adjacent beauty of this book is that although there is great harmony within the umbrella of the Bible as the authority, there is also diversity and nuance among the authors. This wiggle-room shows how the variety of spiritual gifts and personal interests of each author cause them to wrestle with most effectively fulfilling the Great Commission to the glory of God.
All of the contributors are Southern Baptist professors. Is this book mainly for Southern Baptists?
While Mobilizing a Great Commission Church for Harvest is written by Southern Baptist authors, its application is not limited to Southern Baptists. All Christians who love the Lord, love His Word, love His Commission, and love lost souls ought to gain great dividends from reading Mobilizing. Feeling the passion, wrestling with the convictions, and considering the practical helps should help every reader envision a more fruitful harvest in his/her local church.
While Mobilizing will provide introductory material to students seeking to learn how to make evangelism an integral part of the local church, it will perhaps be even more fruitful for the pastor and deacon who have struggled in the area of the practical application of the Great Commission in the local church. As an interim pastor right now, I recommend that every pastor ask his Deacon Body to read and discuss Mobilizing. This book would make a great study for Bible Study Groups. It is never wasted time for Christians to seek to understand and implement the Lord’s call: “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few” (Matt 9:37).
Thanks, Tom, for sharing with us today.
In order to provide you with a glimpse of the book, I have also included a list of the chapters below and the corresponding authors.
“Unleashing the Power of Matthew’s Great Commission” – Thomas P. Johnston
“The Pastor as Key to a Great Commission Church” – Edsel D. Pate, Jr.
“Issues in Every-Member Evangelism” – David Mills
“Considering Approaches to a Great Commission Church” – Will H. McRaney, Jr.
“How to Develop a Great Commission Church” – William D. Henard III
“Building a Great Commission Denomination” – Charles E. Lawless Jr.
“Understanding the Gift of the Evangelist in the Local Church” – Darrell W. Robinson
“Keys to Benefiting from a Revival Meeting” – Jake Roudkovski
“The Call to Preach: Revitalizing Pulpit Evangelism” – Paul H. Chitwood
“Invitations with Integrity” – Mark Tolbert
“Splashing Your Way to Evangelistic Effectiveness” – Kenneth S. Hemphill
“Preparing for Spiritual Warfare in Evangelism” – Preston L. Nix
“Practical Principles for Perennial Personal Evangelism” – J. D. Payne
“Apologetics: The Key to Revitalizing Personal Evangelism” – Adam W. Greenway
“Servanthood Evangelism as a Bridge to the Gospel” – David Wheeler
“Effective Outreach through Sports Evangelism” – Josef Solc
“Get Real: Mobilizing Students for Outreach” – Alvin L. Reid
“Effective Methods for Reaching College Students” – Edward Pearson
“Disciplemaking: Preserving the Fruit of Evangelism” – Timothy K. Beougher
Now, get your copy today. But, don’t just read it. . . . Apply it!
