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October 31, 2019

Evangelism: Developing and Communicating Your Story of Jesus

On October 31st, CU New York had the privilege of hosting guest speaker Ken Fish for a salon focused on the topic of evangelism through conversation and testimony sharing.

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Ken, as always provided an in depth Biblical approach to the discussion and thorough insight to the questions posed during Q&A. Overall, Ken stressed three key things to keep in mind when sharing the gospel.

First, keep it short. Practice a 30 second elevator pitch, which should cover what Jesus means to you. Secondly, he cautioned to be careful about the 'what' part of your testimony you are sharing, and not to overshare without consent. Lastly, Ken said to have a 2-3 minute testimony prepared ahead of time to share after your pitch.

Ken directed to remain cognizant of the other person's body language and to always ask for permission to share more after that short pitch, no matter how interested they may seem. This longer story can and should provide more details about your story of coming to Christ, that were left out of your pitch about what Jesus means to you.
 
Ken noted that we don't need a theological degree to share our testimonies. In fact, we should be careful not to speak in Christianese. He also warned that we must be okay with respecting a no, if someone doesn't want to hear more or disagrees with us. 
 
After Q&A, a small group of attendees stayed after for a few minutes to practice an exercise in which Ken challenged them each to write and share their own 30 second pitches articulating why they follow Jesus.
 
This wisdom shared by Ken, emphasizes that we are all called to share the gospel to those around us, but to do so in a way that respects the boundaries of others. Ken's talk provided concrete advice as to how Christians, of all professions, can strive to do this effectively.
 
About the Speaker
Ken Fish is an honors graduate of Princeton University. He has also earned an MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary and an MBA from UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management. Formerly a colleague of John Wimber, the late leader of the Vineyard Movement, Ken brings more than 30 years of academic study and practical experience in this discipline.

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