Approximately two months ago, my friend and mentor, Tony Miano, provided me with a copy of his book, “Cross Encounters: A Decade of Gospel Conversations.” I promised Tony a thorough read and a review for our followers. Unfortunately, I was a bit slow on the read part. Life as a law enforcement officer, a husband and father, a podcast host, and the fact I simply cannot read with noise around me, caused me to take longer than should have been warranted. I wish to extend an apology to Tony and those who awaited my review. I will work to serve all of you better in the future.
For purposes of transparency, I worked with Tony for nearly three years as co-host and chat room manager of Cross Encounters Radio. It was Tony who recruited and mentored me for that program. We went through many adventures during that time, some good, and some bad. But, not one day do I regret serving along side him in that capacity. Thus, some may feel that my positive review of this book is influenced by that relationship. I hope to assure you that simply is not the case. Tony himself will tell you that we did not always agree on matters and I had no qualms discussing those things, privately. Thus, my view on this book is it is worth the time to read because it is an excellent book.
Tony documents in “Cross Encounters” a plethora of one to one gospel conversations he has had on the street in his years of evangelism. His stated goal in this book is to encourage believers to be obedient to the command of Scripture to make disciples of every nation. I believe this book accomplishes that goal.
Rather than being an instructional manual, a “how to” guide on being an evangelist, “Cross Encounters” puts you in the shoes of a Christian desiring to see God glorified and lost souls saved. Each encounter is transcribed from audio or video recordings made by Tony as he witnessed to people. This gives the reader the feeling of being directly in the conversation and seeing the gospel message work in the hearts of unbelievers. More than being just scripts of two people talking, however, Tony includes his motivations and thoughts that occurred during the conversation. Not only do you hear the words spoken, but you see the mind of an evangelist at work. This is an important piece because it allows us to understand where our hearts and minds need to be when we share the gospel ourselves.
Tony states at the outset he has specifically chosen those encounters in which the conversations were amicable and even receptive to the gospel. Where some may accuse the author of skewing results, there is purposeful reason in his methodology. Tony makes it clear that true biblical evangelism is not a results oriented task. Christians are not to proclaim the gospel biblically because it guarantees the most converts. We proclaim it as such because it is the Word of God and we desire the glorify Him who saves sinners through it. Thus, there are no results to skew. Tony doesn’t purposefully give you the best encounters to prop up his “method.” Rather, his intent is to allow the reader to see that the gospel message, when biblically proclaimed, can and does affect the hearts of people by the power of God. Salvation is a work of God, not of methods. Therefore, by presenting the encounters he does, Tony helps to build confidence in the reader that the gospel, as proclaimed in Scripture, really is sufficient.
The book is organized into several sections such as “Street Corner Evangelism,” The Power of a Bible,” and “Loving our Muslim Neighbors.” Each section contains numerous examples of gospel encounters specific to that topic. Additionally, Tony has written chapters in those sections which give invaluable tips and instructions for those engaged in evangelism in these arenas. A particularly notable chapter, “Evangelism Tip #5: Hello Officer!” is a great tool to help Christians know how to interact with law enforcement and security officers in the public square. Far too many professing Christians seem to want confrontations with officers today in order to plus up their YouTube hits. I recommend any evangelist actually interested in staying on the street to share the gospel read and apply Tony’s chapter regularly.
Concluding the book are four appendices which the reader will find useful and valuable. The first addresses the fact that American Evangelicalism as a religious entity has done much damage to the true gospel. As such, Christians need to understand what the gospel is, and is not, and must be willing to defend the biblical truth. The second and third appendices specifically address the creation of abortion ministries and the biblical passages that can be used in speaking with abortion minded mothers. The final section regarding the Catholic Church addresses specific teachings found in their own documents. This is a useful resource in equipping Christians to understand the false teachings of the papacy and what we can expect to encounter when we speak with professing Catholics.
In conclusion, I highly recommend “Cross Encounters: A Decade of Gospel Conversations.” Christians should take the time to sit down and read the accounts of the gospel at work, on the street, being presented to the souls who desperately need to hear it. It will encourage and equip, and may even challenge your preconceived notions of what genuine biblical evangelism looks like.
“Cross Encounters: A Decade of Gospel Conversations” can be found at Amazon.com and Solid Ground Christian Books.
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