BOOK REVIEW: “A.K.A. LOST” by Jim Henderson

Finished reading “A.K.A. LOST” on Sunday morning here in my office before preaching.

I can’t get the book, or the ideas I learned from reading it out of my head nearly a week later. The book sits on my desk being a constant reminder of how challenged I was while reading it. I appreciate Henderson’s approach, his writing-language, and his willingness to be real. Reading the book has sparked numerous conversations about the subject of evangelism again and again since I started reading it a couple weeks ago!

The “tag-line”, ‘Discovering ways to connect with the people Jesus misses most’ speaks volumes of the content of the pages. One of the main points that has transformed my way-of-thinking already is moving from a “lost” mindset to a “missing” mindset. For me, this means re-realizing the “Sunday School Truth” that God loves EVERYONE and EVERYONE has been created in His image and that simply by referring to non-Christians as “lost” instantly builds a stereotype of “us vs. them”. On the other-hand, if I have a “missing” mindset – one that declares that Jesus wants a relationship with everyone and that it’s His job through His Spirit to “find” them; I begin to realize that my task on earth is to help people SEE Jesus as the one wanting a relationship with them.

Henderson suggests something called, “Ordinary Attempts” at evangelism in the book. “Ordinary Attempts” are opportunities that surround us probably daily. Simply asking someone “how they’re doing” and actually pausing long-enough to truly listen to the answer is classified as an “Ordinary Attempt”. Offering to pray for someone that mentions a situation that needs prayer is another “Ordinary Attempt”.

Growing up with an “old school” look at Evangelism that involved the confrontational “Where would you go if you died tonight?” and knowing that people we interact with in the “world” have come to expect such from Christians, I am excited at pursuing “Ordinary Attempts Evangelism”. In a sense, letting God do what He does best and realizing MY part in His plan for reaching those He misses.

The book has recently been re-released with a new cover and a new title, “Evangelism Without Additives” – I like that title better, too. I’d like to have dinner with Jim Henderson. (by the way, Jim Henderson is NOT the creator of the Muppets – that was Jim HENSON.)