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April 2018: Top Five Christian Books Remembered

The Top 5 Christian Books Remembered . . . Other Than the Bible

We asked Contemporary Christian Music Radio listeners in multiple markets across the North America during the past few months about their favorite Christian book they have read other than the Bible. Here are the most mentioned titles:

1. (tied) Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers
1. (tied) The Shack, William P. Young
3. Mere Christianity, CS Lewis
4. Left Behind Series, Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye
5. (tied) Heaven is for Real, Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent
5. (tied) Jesus Calling, Sarah Young
5. (tied) Knowing God, J.I. Packer

We see this as a little peek into the heart of our listener. Other than the Bible, not only what have they read, but also, what stuck? And what did they remember?

  • Fascinating that 3 of the Top 4 are Christian fiction.
  • The Shack, likely propelled by the movie, tied for #1.
  • For male decision makers, it’s important you understand the appeal of Francine Rivers.
  • Mere Christianity, 66 years after first publication still ranks high! If you’re in Christian media and you’ve never read it, you have some homework.
  • Check out the staying power of Left Behind, now almost 25 years since the first book was released.
  • Note that only one of the top books is a daily devotional.
  • And for the first time since we started surveying, A Purpose Driven Life/Rick Warren did not make the list.
  • It’s also worth noting that none of these are recent releases.

Coming in May to Finney’s Fast Five, we ask Christian radio listeners what they want you to keep doing on your Christian radio station or program. We’ll show you the Top 5 answers…

Finney’s Fast Five Plus | March 2018
The Top 5 Morning Show Topics

We asked Contemporary Christian Music Radio listeners in multiple markets across the North America during the past few months about different Morning Show topics and how interested they are in hearing them on the radio, with 1 = not interested and 9 = very interested. The numbers below are averages of all responses in multiple markets.

 

Here are their Top 5 answers:

1. A word of encouragement from a Biblical devotional 8.2
2. A Word from Scripture and how it might apply to your life today 8.0
3. Free, fun activities to do with your family around town this weekend 7.6
4. A story from a listener about how God has done a miracle in her life 7.5
5. A prayer of thanksgiving from a local pastor 7.2

 

We began asking about interest in various Morning Show topics years ago, and, at first, didn’t include spiritual topics. We would ask about activities with your family, the weather, ways to volunteer, etc. And then a friend suggested we include spiritual topics. And we did.

And from the start, topics like what you see at the top of this list soared to the top. Note specifically the two topics that score above an 8 average. In our 1 to 9 scoring system, the only way to get an 8 or higher is for almost everyone to give a high score. The scores are high and these topics are nearly unanimously positive.

Biblical encouragement, helping your listener grow spiritually, Scripture, prayer – all come back from Christian radio listeners as high interest.

One of the great secrets about our business, even among those who work in it, is that your listener wants more of the very thing your station ought to be about – Jesus!

Christ . . . Christian encouragement . . . Christian growth. Not sports . . . not politics . . . not pop culture . . . not Presidential tweets . . . but about Christ.

In April, we tackle a new subject. We ask Christian radio listeners: “Other than the Bible, what are the Top Christian books you’ve ever read?” We bring you their Top 5 answers.

 

 

The Bottom 5 Morning Show Topics

We asked Contemporary Christian Music Radio listeners in multiple markets across the North America during the past few months about different Morning Show topics and how interested they are in hearing them on the radio, with 1 = not interested and 9 = very interested. The numbers below are averages of all responses in multiple markets.

Here are their Bottom 5 answers, ranked from worst to less worse.

1. The latest on President Trump’s tweet’s  2.7
2. The latest Hollywood news 3.2
3. Update on the local NFL team  3.3
4. Tips on ways to better communicate with your children 6.6
5. Three ways to improve your marriage or relationships today 6.9

Notice the three lowest scoring topics are below an average of 4. This is indicative of what we see pretty much every time we ask Christian radio listeners.

 

They are mostly not interested in:

1) Sports.
2) Hollywood/Pop Culture.
3) Politics

 

To grow your listener impact, better to stay away from these.

The topics at #4 – communicating with your kids, and at #5 – ways to improve your marriage and relationships – are interesting. When we dive into comments from listeners about these two questions, here’s what we see:

For “Tips on ways to better communicate with your children”: if the respondent has kids, communicating with her kids is usually interesting to her. It’s the people who don’t have kids or who don’t have a good relationship with their kids who go negative . . . way negative. And that’s enough of the Christian radio listening audience to make this not a unanimously interesting topic.

We see similar issues with “ways to improve your marriage or relationships”. We see comments from people who are never married . . . or who had a bad marriage experience, that this topic can be painful and a possible turnoff.

Both of these topics, though, are closer to the cluster of topics that are the highest rated. Nothing like the low interest we see on sports, pop culture and politics.

 

Interested in the top-rated topics with Christian radio listeners? That’s our Finney’s Fast Five for March! Stay tuned.

 

 

Finney’s Fast Five Plus January 2018

The Top 5 Social Media Outlets For CCM Listeners

Finney Media does research across the US – representative sample surveys that give stations detailed data on not just songs, but also listener perceptions about Christian radio. We asked Contemporary Christian Music Radio listeners in multiple markets across the North America during the past few months what social media outlets they use most. Here are their Top 5 Answers, ranked by the percentage of respondents who indicate they use that Social Media site:

 

1. Facebook 90%
2. Youtube 72%
3. Instagram 54%
4. Pinterest 53%
5. Snapchat 32%

 

Facebook . . . Among Christian radio listeners, #1 by the mile. Facebook use is widely prevalent among our listeners, with 90% indicating they are on FB.

We included YouTube as a choice since it has a social component to it. A strong #2.

Note then how strong Instagram and Pinterest are. For your station or program, for a Christian radio listener, be thinking Instagram and Pinterest after FB and YouTube.

Then note how Twitter isn’t even in the Top 5. The percentages of use among our listeners are so low – under 25% indicating they use Twitter – that we believe you have a challenging strategic decision to make – de-emphasize Twitter and focus your energies more on the Top 4 – Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest OR be intentional about reaching people who don’t currently listen but might if reached through Twitter.

 

Coming in the February Finney’s Fast Five: The Bottom Five Morning Show Topics. These are the topics to run away from – because your listener will run away if you talk about them.

 

 

Finney’s Fast Five Plus | December 2017

The Top 5 Christian Music Radio Tuneouts

Finney Media does research across the US – representative sample surveys that give stations detailed data on not just songs, but also listener perceptions about Christian radio. We asked Contemporary Christian Music Radio listeners in multiple markets across the North America during the past few months about why they tune out or leave.

Here are their Top 5 Reasons:

 

1) You have difficulty getting the signal.

2) The station plays a commercial.

3) The DJ talks too much.

4) They play a song you’re tired of.

5t) They play or say something you don’t want your kids or family to hear.

5t) The DJ talks about something you’re not interested in.

 

A fascinating Top 5. The first one – You have difficulty getting the signal – makes sense. There are places where your station may not be received well. And she chooses to leave when she gets there.

Tuneout #2 – Commercials (or things that sound like commercials). If your station is non-comm, this is an area of opportunity. Minimize the number of interruptions to make your station more listenable by comparison to commercial stations.

Check out the powerful poisonous combination of the Tuneout #3 coupled with Tuneout #5. – DJ’s talking too much about things you’re not interested in. Together they are among the most toxic tuneout triggers – AND so very coachable/fixable.

And then Tuneout #4 – They play a song you’re tired of. Be careful with this one – This easily becomes “songs out staff/my family members/our board/the people who call or email are tired of”. Those songs almost always aren’t the same songs your listener is tired of.

 

Coming in December’s Finney’s Fast Five: Why Your Listeners Turn the Radio Up: Top 5 Tune-ins in Christian Music Radio!

 

Finney’s Fast Five Plus November 2017

The Top 5 CCM Artists . . . and The Next Five

Finney Media does music testing across the US – representative sample surveys that give stations detailed data on hundreds of songs. We asked Contemporary Christian Music Radio listeners in multiple markets across the North America during the past year about which CCM songs, newer or older, are their favorites. From that research, here are the Top 5 Artists with CCM radio listeners, based on the number of songs each artist has among the Top 200 testing songs. We’ve also listed what the results were using the same criteria in 2016.

2016

2017
1.Third Day

2. Chris Tomlin

3. Casting Crowns

4. Jeremy Camp

5. Mercy Me

  

1t. Third Day

1t. Chris Tomlin

3. Mercy Me

4. Jeremy Camp

5. Casting Crowns

 

…and the next five                     ..and the next five

6. Toby Mac

7. Phillips, Craig & Dean

8. Matthew West

9. Needtobreathe

10t. Newsboys

10t. Big Daddy Weave

 6t. Big Daddy Weave

6t. Matthew West

7t. Toby Mac

7t. Needtobreathe

7t. Aaron Shust

 

A few observations about the top artists

  • Chris Tomlin caught Third Day at #1. Third Day has so many newer and older songs that test great that they will likely be on this list for a while. Meanwhile Chris Tomlin has finally caught them. Each has 15 different songs in the Top 200!
  • Mercy Me jumps to #3. No slowdown in the testing of either their older nor new songs and, as a result, they jumped past both Casting Crowns and Jeremy Camp to #3.
  • Big Daddy Weave jumps four spots to #6. Another big year for Big Daddy Weave.
  • Aaron Shust jumps into the Top 10, now tied with Toby Mac, and Needtobreathe. If you’re saying to yourself, “I didn’t even know he had five hit songs”, you’re not alone.We would be happy to fill you in on what they are.  And we’ll also include the high testing songs that pushed each of the Top 10 artists into the Top 10! Lots to think over!  Simply click here.

Coming in December’s Finney’s Fast Five: Why Your Listeners Leave: Top 5 Tuneouts in Christian Music Radio.

 

Summer Review 2017

One Topic | Four Series

Printable Version HERE.

Preface

What are the spiritual thought patterns of our listeners?

Over the summer in Finney’s Fast Five, we compared Christian radio listeners with Christians nationwide on beliefs and faith attitudes. Using Barna Research’s nationwide survey results on Beliefs, Faith and Cultural Attitudes, we asked the same questions Barna asked of Christian radio listeners in multiple markets across the US to see if their beliefs are similar to or different from Christians nationwide.

We found some encouraging, some enlightening—and some would say troubling—trends among our listeners. In this compilation, you’ll discover what makes up those currents of thought and action.

So please read on for what we think is our big communication challenge, and very importantly, what we as Christian communicators can do about it.

Let’s wrestle and pray about the important thing in our work—how we can communicate clearly to help our listener move closer to Jesus.

June: Christian Radio Listeners Perceptions of Moral Truth

We asked Christian radio listeners across the US about their perceptions of Moral Truth. Is it absolute, relative or have you never thought about it? Here are their responses, compared to Christians nationwide as surveyed by Barna.

                                                                 

Answer Christian Radio Listeners Christians Nationwide*
Moral truth is absolute 75% 59%
Moral truth is relative 13% 28%
Never thought about it 13% 14%

 

We’ve all heard that the moral fabric of our world is fraying. What was accepted as true 50 years ago cannot be assumed among people in 2017.

From Barna Research: “Christian morality is being ushered out of our social structures and off the cultural main stage, leaving a vacuum in its place – and broader culture is trying to fill the void. There is growing concern about the moral condition of the nation, even as many US adults admit they are uncertain about how to determine right from wrong.”

So here’s what we wondered. If Christians nationwide are “squishy” in their theology, how are Christian radio listeners different? And how do we need to change what we do to better communicate the Truth to current listeners to our radio stations or programs or to prospective listeners? This edition of Finney’s Fast Five is the first in a series examining these questions.

Our first question is about Moral Truth. As you can see in the table above, Christian radio listeners agree that they believe that “Moral Truth is absolute” in higher numbers than Christians nationwide. About 75% either Completely Agree of Somewhat Agree.

But that leaves 25% of your listeners who believe either “Moral Truth is relative” or “Never Thought About It”. Moral Truth is absolute. But a quarter of your listeners don’t agree.
And the question is what do we do if what we’re hoping for is more hearts, more deeply?

“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage ware against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.” 1 Peter 2:11-12

Coming in Finney’s Fast Five for July: we continue our series on Christian radio listeners’ beliefs with a series of Agree/Disagree statements like “The highest goal of life is to enjoy it as much as possible.” The answers are again sobering . . . or encouraging . . . depending on your perspective.

*Barna Survey of “Practicing Christians” nationwide 2015
Barna Trends 2017, p. 50

July: Focus on Moral Truth, Part II

In July, we were focused on beliefs about Truth. Using the statements below, we asked Christian radio listeners if they Agree or Disagree with these statements. The percentages are the Total of “Completely Agree” and Somewhat Agree.”

Christian Radio Listeners Christians Nationwide
The Bible provides us with moral truths that are the same for all people in all situations, without exception. 94% 83%
Every culture must determine what is acceptable morality for its people. 28% 47%
Whichever is right for your life or works best for you is the only truth you can know. 16% 41%

The first two statements contradict one another. Yet, many Christians nationwide agreed with both statements! Christian radio listeners are closer to agreeing with one or the other, but even many of them agree with both statements. Even the third statement, a statement that truth is totally relative to the individual’s life experience has significant agreement, especially among Christians nationwide.

Notice how the main difference between the first two statements is that “Bible” is in the first and not in the second. We’re talking to an audience, and potential audience, whose beliefs have been effected by the world to a point that they have not internalized what they learned at church, unless we supply them with the right Biblical answer.

Because so much of life – with the exception of church, Bible study, a strong Christian family and your Christian radio station – doesn’t hand them the right Biblical option, we have a communication challenge. To quote a friend in Christian radio, “we have to kill the assumptions”. We can’t assume that our listener believes that morality is the same for all cultures. 28% of listeners and almost half of Christians, listener or non-listener, believe morality changes over time.

Our goal is helping you point your listener toward taking a step in His direction today. We urge you to discuss with your team what that means for how you communicate the Truth.

 

*BarnaTrends 2017

August: Main Life Goal/Life Fulfillment

In August, we were focused on Main Life Goal/Life Fulfillment. Using the statements below, we asked Christian radio listeners if they Agree or Disagree with these statements. The percentages are the sum of “Completely Agree” and “Somewhat Agree”.

Christian Radio Listeners Christians Nationwide*
The highest goal in life is to enjoy it as much as possible. 41% 67%
To be fulfilled in life, you should pursue the things you desire most. 49% 72%

Wow. A smack-in-the-face heaping helping of 2017 reality! Truth = The main purpose of life is to bring glory to God. Our churches and our Spoken Word content teach it. Our songs sing it. Our announcers reflect it. And, yet, two thirds of Christians nationwide believe that “the highest goal of life is to enjoy it”. Four in ten Christian radio listeners agree with that statement. The percentages of agreement are even higher when the same idea is phrased as “To be fulfilled in life, you should pursue the things you desire most.

We must teach/sing/reflect/proclaim the Truth. If we’re going to do so effectively, we can’t presume the listener’s understanding of Truth. When about half of our current listeners, and two thirds of our potential listeners, agree with statements like this, we risk a communication gap. And in our short-attention-span- theatre, I-have-two-hundred-channels-and-will-leave-if-you’re-not-connecting-with-me-right-now world, if there is a gap, she will likely check out mentally/emotionally or leave.

An example: As heard on from a major radio preacher recently: “we need to read fewer books about the Bible and more of the Bible”. His words are true – we should read the Bible more. But his words assume your listener is reading anything from or about the Bible. If she isn’t (and she likely is not), his words could sound to her condescending, judgmental and out of touch.

If his goal is more Bible reading, what if it sounded more like assuming the reality of little Bible reading? “Would you try a ten day experiment with me? Ten minutes, ten verses, for ten days. I know you’re busy, but for the next 10 days, could you commit to reading your bible in a quiet place for 10 minutes? Read or listen to ten verses each day from the book of John. Begin on Day 1 with John Chapter 1, verses 1 through 10. Then on Day 2, same Chapter, verses 11 through 20. And then ask yourself after ten days . . . Am I closer to God? Have I grown spiritually? I believe you’ll be amazed.”

Here’s the thing. No one who is currently reading the Word will object. And those who aren’t are more likely to give it a shot.

 

*BarnaTrends 2017, p.53

September: Cultural Attitudes vs. Biblical Belief in Listeners

In September, we were focused on Cultural Attitudes. Using the statements below, we asked Christian radio listeners if they Agree or Disagree with these statements. The percentages are the Total of “Completely Agree” and “Somewhat Agree”.

Christian Radio Listeners Christians Nation Wide*
Any kind of sexual expression between two consenting adults is acceptable. 27% 40%
The best way to find yourself is by looking within yourself. 60% 76%
People can believe whatever they want, as long as those beliefs don’t affect society. 34% 61%
People should not criticize someone else’s life choices. 66% 76%

The “Christian Radio Listener” numbers are people who listen to Christian radio regularly. The “Christians Nationwide” numbers are people who say they are Christian. In both cases, their beliefs often do not line up with what we preach, say or sing with the lyrics of our songs:

“Your will above all else. My purpose remains. The art of losing myself. In bringing you praise.”**

“Lord, I come, I confess. Bowing here I find my rest. Without you I fall apart. You’re the one that guides my heart.”***

Barna President David Kinnaman and Q Founder Gabe Lyons observe: “Millions of Christians have grafted New Age dogma onto their spiritual person. When we peel back the layers, we find that many Christians are using the way of Jesus to pursue the way of self . . . While we wring our hands about secularism spreading through culture, a majority of churchgoing Christians have embraced corrupt, me-centered theology.”****

Here’s our communication challenge: we cannot assume Biblical belief among our listeners.

Should we change the Gospel message? Definitely not.

Should we grapple with who we hope to talk to/play songs for and how we can reach them right where they are? And should we wrestle with how we can help them – more hearts, more deeply – to lean in, listen and take a step in Jesus’ direction? We believe so.

 

*BarnaTrends 2017, p.53

**From The Inside Out/Hillsong United lyrics

***Lord, I Need You/Matt Maher lyrics

****Kinnaman/Lyons – Good Faith

 

 

 

October 2017

Top 5 Songs For Each Of The Past 5 Years

 

Finney Media does music testing across the US – representative sample surveys that give stations detailed data on hundreds of songs. We’ve pulled together the results from a number of projects performed in 2017 to bring you the Top 5 testing songs from each of the past five years. Enjoy!

 

 

2012

1) Whom Shall I Fear/Chris Tomlin

2) 10,000 Reasons/Matt Redman

3) God’s Not Dead/Newsboys

4) Redeemed/Big Daddy Weave

5) Great I Am/Phillips, Craig & Dean

 2013

1) Phil Wickham/This Is Amazing Grace

2) Oceans/Hillsong United

3) Let Them See You/JJ Weeks Band

4) Lord, I Need You/Matt Maher

5) Beautiful Day/Jamie Grace

 2014

1) Francesca Battistelli/Holy Spirit

2) There Is Power/Lincoln Brewster

3) At The Cross/Chris Tomlin

4) Greater/Mercy Me

5) How Can It Be/Lauren Daigle

2015 

1) Good Good Father/Zealand Worship

2) My Story/Big Daddy Weave

3) First/Lauren Daigle

4) Feel It/Toby Mac

5) The River/Jordan Feliz

 2016

1) Trust In You/Lauren Daigle

2) Eye Of The Storm/Ryan Stevenson

3) Good Good Father/Chris Tomlin

4) Ever Be/Aaron Shust

5) Thy Will/Hillary Scott

 

A few observations:

  • The rankings are pulled from recent song scores. This is the latest information on these songs. We recommend that you review your library. If you’re playing them, GREAT! If you’re not, consider putting them back in.
  • Passion for Christian music continues to be enormous! Positive perceptions of the biggest songs is outstanding.
  • Worship music continues to be huge. There is no slowdown in the excitement among listeners for vertical titles, including songs that maybe you should take another look at. Few CCM stations are still playing Great I Am from PC&D. But it probably deserves a shot on your station.
  • Songs by female artists are performing well. 35% of the top titles from 2013-2016 are sung by women. And it’s not just Lauren Daigle. Far different from what we saw earlier in the decade.
  • No, they are not tired of Good Good Father. Both versions continue to perform very well. High familiarity, high passion, low burn. WE may be tired of it, but your listener definitely isn’t! By the way, our counsel on which version? Either one . . . or both! Just make sure you’re playing it!

 

Coming in November’s Finney’s Fast Five: The Top Five Testing Artists In CCM Radio

 

September 2017

Cultural Attitudes vs. Biblical Belief in Listeners

In the past three months, we’ve compared Christian radio listeners with Christians nationwide on beliefs and faith attitudes. Using Barna Research’s nationwide survey results on Beliefs, Faith and Cultural Attitudes, we asked the same questions Barna asked of Christian radio listeners in multiple markets across the US to see if their beliefs are similar to or different from Christians nationwide. This month, we’re focused on Cultural Attitudes. Using the statements below, we asked Christian radio listeners if they Agree or Disagree with these statements. The percentages are the Total of “Completely Agree” and “Somewhat Agree”.

 

Christian Radio Listeners Christians Nation Wide*
Any kind of sexual expression between two consenting adults is acceptable. 27% 40%
The best way to find yourself is by looking within yourself. 60% 76%
People can believe whatever they want, as long as those beliefs don’t affect society. 34% 61%
People should not criticize someone else’s life choices. 66% 76%

 

The “Christian Radio Listener” numbers are people who listen to Christian radio regularly. The “Christians Nationwide” numbers are people who say they are Christian. In both cases, their beliefs often do not line up with what we preach, say or sing with the lyrics of our songs:

“Your will above all else. My purpose remains. The art of losing myself. In bringing you praise.”**

“Lord, I come, I confess. Bowing here I find my rest. Without you I fall apart. You’re the one that guides my heart.”***

Barna President David Kinnaman and Q Founder Gabe Lyons observe: “Millions of Christians have grafted New Age dogma onto their spiritual person. When we peel back the layers, we find that many Christians are using the way of Jesus to pursue the way of self . . . While we wring our hands about secularism spreading through culture, a majority of churchgoing Christians have embraced corrupt, me-centered theology.”****

Here’s our communication challenge: we cannot assume Biblical belief among our listeners.

Should we change the Gospel message? Definitely not.

Should we grapple with who we hope to talk to/play songs for and how we can reach them right where they are? And should we wrestle with how we can help them – more hearts, more deeply – to lean in, listen and take a step in Jesus’ direction? We believe so.

Coming in October’s Finney’s Fast Five: The Top Five CCM Songs From Each Of The Last Five Years

 

*BarnaTrends 2017, p.53

**From The Inside Out/Hillsong United lyrics

***Lord, I Need You/Matt Maher lyrics

****Kinnaman/Lyons – Good Faith

August 2017

Main Life Goal/Life Fulfillment

In June and July, we began a series comparing Christian radio listeners with Christians nationwide on beliefs and faith attitudes. You can see both reports from June and July. Using Barna Research’s nationwide survey results on Beliefs and Faith Attitudes, we asked the same questions of Christian radio listeners in multiple markets across the US to see if their beliefs are similar to or different from Christians nationwide. This month, we’re focused on Main Life Goal/Life Fulfillment. Using the statements below, we asked Christian radio listeners if they Agree or Disagree with these statements. The percentages are the sum of “Completely Agree” and “Somewhat Agree”.

 

Christian Radio Listeners Christians Nationwide*
The highest goal in life is to enjoy it as much as possible. 41% 67%
To be fulfilled in life, you should pursue the things you desire most. 49% 72%

 

Wow. A smack-in-the-face heaping helping of 2017 reality! Truth = The main purpose of life is to bring glory to God. Our churches and our Spoken Word content teach it. Our songs sing it. Our announcers reflect it. And, yet, two thirds of Christians nationwide believe that “the highest goal of life is to enjoy it”. Four in ten Christian radio listeners agree with that statement. The percentages of agreement are even higher when the same idea is phrased as “To be fulfilled in life, you should pursue the things you desire most.”

We must teach/sing/reflect/proclaim the Truth. If we’re going to do so effectively, we can’t presume the listener’s understanding of Truth. When about half of our current listeners, and two thirds of our potential listeners, agree with statements like this, we risk a communication gap. And in our short-attention-span-theatre, I-have-two-hundred-channels-and-will-leave-if-you’re-not-connecting-with-me-right-now world, if there is a gap, she will likely check out mentally/emotionally or leave.

An example: As heard on from a major radio preacher recently: “we need to read fewer books about the Bible and more of the Bible”. His words are true – we should read the Bible more. But his words assume your listener is reading anything from or about the Bible. If she isn’t (and she likely is not), his words could sound to her condescending, judgmental and out of touch.

If his goal is more Bible reading, what if it sounded more like assuming the reality of little Bible reading? “Would you try a ten day experiment with me? Ten minutes, ten verses, for ten days. I know you’re busy, but for the next 10 days, could you commit to reading your bible in a quiet place for 10 minutes?  Read or listen to ten verses each day from the book of John. Begin on Day 1 with John Chapter 1, verses 1 through 10. Then on Day 2, same Chapter, verses 11 through 20. And then ask yourself after ten days . . . Am I closer to God? Have I grown spiritually? I believe you’ll be amazed.”

Here’s the thing. No one who is currently reading the Word will object. And those who aren’t are more likely to give it a shot.

*BarnaTrends 2017, p.53

 

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