Start here.
I have written here since 2010 on evangelization, parish life, Scripture, apologetics, and the moral life. These six are the best place to begin.
Go Home and Live as Missionary Disciples
If your faith feels humdrum, you may not have entered the mission yet. A talk to men on what that asks of you.
Formed By Distraction
Eliot described minds pulled from one distraction to the next. We now carry that in our pockets. What is it forming in us?
What Is a Catholic?
A plain answer: who belongs to the Church Christ founded on the Apostles, and what holds that Church together.
Why You Need Your Men’s Group
Before asking whether men’s groups work, ask what problem they are meant to solve.
Why Protestants Are Becoming Catholic at My Parish
What draws evangelicals and mainline Protestants into the Catholic Church, as they told me in class.
How God Speaks in Human Words
The first of four articles on how the Bible is at once a human book and the Word of God.
Your Next Talk Needs a Simple Narrative Structure
Is Your Next Talk Already Boring?
Testimonies are powerful because of their narrative structure. They have a flow to them that most talks, which are not based directly on human experience, simply do not have. And yes, most talks that you will hear (and maybe give) do not seem to bother with even a basic beginning, middle, or end narrative flow.
That is to say, most talks are usually a list of main ideas, coupled with supporting details, that have no sense of an overall, unified message. They are a mere grouping of individual, isolated elements connected to a topic. Some speakers, or certain occasions, may be fitting to use this approach. But, for the rest of the time, we evangelists and catechists should use testimonies, stories, and a simple narrative structure applied to the whole talk to help create the sense of drama, of meaning, and of flow.
Information or Conversion (part two): Personal Witness
Testimonies As Change-Oriented Talks
In the previous post I talked about a retreat where the enthusiasm of the students pushed me to go deeper with them in my talks. My response was one of two options: either I switch to a more information-dense presentation, or I push them further in conversion. Going with option two, you have to start with testimony, especially your own.
Introduction to Witness: Story Time
There are few things as powerful as a testimony in evangelization. Proclaiming your witness with all of the up's and down's that life has thrown at you, and drawing out those connections to Christ and how He has moved in your life personally has its own gravity. It pulls people in without being preachy or pushy.
Moreover, testimonies are narratives, and everyone loves a good story. People remember stories far more than they do talking points, quotes, jokes, or footnotes. The morals and dangers stand out like billboards. The lessons are felt because they are real. Teachings come alive. Plato used dialogues. Jesus used parables. People love a good story.
But you aren't reading this because you love a good story. You are reading this because you talk to people about Christ.