Speaking with Bold Assurance

Bert Decker, Hershael W. York

• Publisher: B&H Books
• Year: 2001
• Print ISBN: 9780805422108
• eBook ISBN: 9781433670213
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Whether preaching or witnessing, speaking is a critical communication tool in almost all facets of Christian life. This book brings the Bold Assurance concept to Christian leaders and laypeople, giving them a tool to help them use their minds, mouths, and beings to communicate effectively. Readers will learn the tools for powerful and effective communication based on two things: biblical truth and proven concepts from the business world. For the first time, Christian laypeople and leaders alike can reap the benefits of speaking boldly and skillfully by understanding how God uses us as communicators.

Part I

Why Bold Assurance?

Bold Assurance is an exciting new concept that builds speaking skills and confidence with God-given principles. Although Speaking with Bold Assurance will be useful for anyone, it is specifically geared for Christians who want to share God's Word and precepts effectively, whether in the boardroom, the classroom, at church, or at home.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 2 TIMOTHY 1:7

First, bold assurance is for the lay Christian. People in all walks of life are afraid of speaking before groups or under pressure. Christians often appear to be even more timid in their speaking, particularly about their faith—faith which should be the bedrock of their being.

God did not create us to put audiences to sleep, but to wake them up to the hope and glory of His way. JOHN MAXWELL, PARAPHRASED

Second, bold assurance is for Christian leaders. Leaders in business continue to write and read speeches and dump data when they could create and inspire with thoughts and stories. And pastors and preachers, whose primary business is speaking, even more so tend to compose and read sermon manuscripts rather than inspire and motivate their listeners with the natural power of speech.

For the LORD will be your confidence… PROVERBS 3:26

There have been thousands of books on speaking and hundreds on preaching, but none has combined a practical and proven methodology for speaking effectively with God's Word. The Bible tells us how God wants us to be communicators. Bold Assurance is the concept that combines these principles in ways that help you communicate more effectively. Speaking with Bold Assurance captures these concepts in one easy-to-read-and-implement book.

Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say. EXODUS 4:12

CHAPTER I

Introduction

God spoke. He spoke in Creation when he said, “Let there be light.” He spoke through his prophets who said, “Thus says the Lord...” He spoke to us through his Word, the perfect revelation of who he is and his will for our lives. Most of all, he spoke through Jesus Christ, his only Son, who came to reveal God's love for an undeserving sinful world.

And God wants to speak through you. He has placed you in a network of family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and acquaintances that only you are uniquely positioned and qualified to touch and to reach. But if you are like most people, you sometimes feel intimidated into silence.

Have you ever sensed an opportunity to share a spiritual insight with someone, but you weren't sure you could say it just right so you kept the truth to yourself? Have you ever lost a sale or a business relationship because you did not know how to express that you really are the best person for the job? Has God ever given you a perfect opportunity to share the gospel with someone you have been praying for, yet you remained quietly ashamed because you did not feel adequate to give him the very thing he most needed? Have you ever declined to teach a class because you were afraid to speak to a group?

This book is for everyone who hungers to be a more effective communicator of God's truth, whether you are sharing yourself, your life, your story, or your insight into the Scriptures. Whether speaking to a large group or to just one person, the powerful principles of communication that we have put into this book will make you more comfortable and competent in speaking.

We are committed to helping God's people convey God's truth in a manner consistent with the magnificent message that is ours to share. But we are also committed to helping God's people share themselves in a way that establishes trust and credibility for all situations. Though there are many secular books and programs available that can help anyone be a better communicator (some of which we have written!), there is a critical need for a book with the Christian message, ministry, and lifestyle at its core.

If you read and follow the potent principles in this book, you will learn to:

• Talk to anyone, anytime
• Share your faith with others
• Create and organize ideas
• Enhance your credibility
• Overcome stage fright
• Persuade others
• Make your point
• Think on your feet
• Avoid being intimidated
• Communicate with authority
• Give your testimony

The result of combining God's Word with proven and practical skills to increase your speaking effectiveness is bold assurance. As you commit yourself to communicating his truth, be prepared to experience God using you more powerfully and more frequently than ever before.

CHAPTER 2

What God Says

Most Christians would be shocked to discover how much God says in his Word about communicating. The common theme in almost all of those passages, however, is power—complete confidence in God's power.

Paul, for instance, reminded the Corinthian believers that he came to them “in weakness and fear, and with much trembling” (1 Cor. 2:3), but that was only how he felt, not how he came across. They witnessed that his “message and [his] preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power,” and they believed because their faith rested on that demonstration of God's power conveyed through Paul's demeanor (1 Cor. 2:4-5).

THE POWER IS IN THE PASSION

Many people have used this passage to teach exactly the opposite of what Paul is saying. They argue that since Paul seems to be decrying the rhetoric and technique of his contemporaries, we should not employ any type of human methodology at all. The power, they argue, rests solely in the content of the message, never in the communication of that message.

The question we must ask and answer, therefore, is what exactly was the demonstration of power to which Paul referred. If we really believed that only content mattered, then we would have no need of anything but written communication. Pastors could merely mail manuscripts of messages to their members. Sunday school teachers could simply have students read the lessons or study guide. Sales personnel would never have to meet with potential customers; they could just E-mail them the information.

No, as important as content is—and it is essential and central to communication—it needs a conduit of communication, a method of transmitting it from one person to another. No one knew that better than those who heard the apostle Paul preach.

Picture what his first-century hearers witnessed. Perhaps he was scarred, having suffered beatings, flogging, stoning, and the ravages of life on the road in an inhospitable environment. Tradition ho...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Endorsements
• Fulltitle
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Table of contents
• part 1
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• part 2
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• part 3
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• part 4
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19
• Part 5
• Chapter 20
• Chapter 21
• Chapter 22
• Chapter 23
• Chapter 24
• Chapter 25
• Part 6
• Chapter 26
• Chapter 27
• Chapter 28
• Chapter 29
• Chapter 30
• Chapter 31
• Resources
• Back Cover