Christian Retailing

Top outreach resources announced Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Thursday, 12 March 2009 03:02 PM America/New_York
altBooks by Tyndale House Publishers, Harvest House Publishers, Zondervan, InterVarsity Press (IVP) and Baker Publishing Group were among those recognized by Outreach magazine's Sixth Annual Outreach Resource of the Year Awards, which honor the best Christian evangelism products.

Unlike previous years, Outreach did not award one overall Outreach Resource of the Year because of the variety of the nominated resources and the subjects they covered.

Announced in the magazine's March/April issue, the winners in the Evangelism category were: XEE: Sharing Your Faith Starts Here (Evangelism Explosion International); The New Media Frontier: Blogging, Vlogging, and Podcasting for Christ by John Mark Reynolds and Roger Overton (Crossway Books & Bibles); The Mystic Way of Evangelism: A Contemplative Vision for Christian Outreach by Elaine Heath (Baker Academic/Baker Publishing Group); and Faces in the Crowd: Reaching Your International Neighbor for Christ by Donna Thomas (New Hope Publishers).

In the Apologetics category, the winners were: Understanding Intelligent Design: Everything You Need to Know in Plain Language by William Dembski and Sean McDowell (Harvest House); Faith to Faith: A Conversation About Christianity and World Religions by Dan Scott (Harvest House); Evidence for Faith 101: Understanding Apologetics in Plain Language by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz (Harvest House); and Choosing Your Faith in a World of Spiritual Options by Mark Mittelberg (Tyndale House).

The books recognized in the Cross-Cultural Ministry category were: City Signals: Principles and Practices for Ministering in Today's Global Communities by Brad Smith (New Hope); Muslims, Christians, and Jesus: Gaining Understanding and Building Relationships by Carl Medearis (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group); and You Don't Have to Cross the Ocean to Reach the World: The Power of Local Cross-Cultural Ministry by David Boyd (Chosen Books/Baker Publishing Group).

In the Justice category, the winners were: A New Christian Manifesto: Pledging Allegiance to the Kingdom of God by Bob Ekblad (Westminster John Knox Press); A Credible Witness: Reflections on Power, Evangelism and Race by Brenda Salter McNeil (InterVarsity Press); and An Agenda for Change: A Global Call for Spiritual & Social Transformation by Joel Edwards (Zondervan).

The winners in the Compassion category were: Linking Arms, Linking Lives: How Urban-Suburban Partnerships Can Transform Communities by Ronald Sider, John Perkins, Wayne Gordon and F. Albert Tizon (Baker Books/Baker Publishing Group) and Baroness Cox: Eyewitness to a Broken World by Lela Gilbert (Monarch Books).

In the Leadership category, the winners were: Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands: Lessons in Non-linear Leadership by Nancy Ortberg (Tyndale House); Experiencing LeaderShift: Letting Go of Leadership Heresies by Don Cousins (David C. Cook); Preparing for Change Reaction: How to Introduce Change in Your Church by Bob Whitesel (Wesleyan Publishing House); The American Church in Crisis by David T. Olson (Zondervan); and It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It by Craig Groeschel (Zondervan).

The winners in the Culture category were: Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling by Andy Crouch (InterVarsity Press); and Porn Nation: Conquering America's #1 Addiction by Michael Leahy (Northfield Publishing/Moody Publishers).

Resources recognized in the Children's Outreach category were: Going Public: Your Child Can Thrive in Public School by David and Kelli Pritchard (Regal); MEGA Sports Camp: Game Plan (Gospel Publishing); and Welcome to Holsom: Adventures in Faith (Gospel Publishing).

In the Youth Outreach category, the winner was Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations by Alex and Brett Harris (Multnomah Books).

Publishers and organizations that produced outreach-related resources submitted 140 nominations. The magazine's editorial staff pared the nominees to 91 resources, which were placed into nine categories.