(BNC) — In a single sitting, I read Lance Mosher’s book, Conformed, Reborn, Transformed, the story of his conversion. He starts with early influences and moves soon to the days before his baptism into Christ as the crucial point in the story. With clear writing, a fast pace, and good dialogue, Lance takes the reader behind his eyeballs to accompany his struggles as he came to accept the truth of the gospel.

The electronic formats of Lance’s book are free, an encouraging offer, considering his purpose. Print versions are for sale.

At the end of the book is included an “Overview of Studies” that summarizes the main points of the gospel message presented in the book.

The book was published in 2013, giving the author a decade of perspective on his experience. That experience enriches the reader, both in and out of Christ.

Lance appears to have a similar purpose to Michael J. Shank’s 2011 book, Muscle and a Shovel. Both recount the process of teaching by which the author’s come to a knowledge of the truth. Both are effective in their presentations. Both show how they were taught the gospel by loving, knowledgeable Christians.

 Read also:”The most compelling conversion story I’ve ever read.”

They are not the first, of course, to use this method of first-person story to share the gospel.

In 1986, for example, Gospel Advocate Company published Joanne Howe’s account of her conversion in A Change of Habit. She has since written two other books.

And while it’s a fictionalized account, Tim Hall utilized the story form, in 2005, of two couples to teach the gospel in Discovering the Kingdom of God. A form of his book is also in DVD format, published by World Video Bible School.

A few years ago, Forthright Press also published “Conversion Stories” online as an encouragement to disciples and as a prompt for those outside of Christ. (See our short list of such stories on WiseBible.)

Though it may be too early to predict, it’s just possible that the story form may be the medium of choice in the 21st Century for the communication of the gospel.

In the 20th Century, Leroy Brownlow’s book, Why I Am a Member of the Church of Christ, was the best-seller and go-to choice to share with friends and neighbors.

Electronic media such as DVDs will no doubt grow in popularity. WVBS is doing a bang-up job in this area, especially with the “Searching for Truth” effort.

But for detail, it’s hard to substitute print, or at least, the book format. And for dealing with detail in our virtual world of short attention spans, the story form manages to provide the human drama to lighten the transmission of teaching that necessarily includes numerous biblical texts and involved explanations.

The brotherhood reacted in the past against the denominational personal testimonies in church meetings, and rightly so. In these first-person accounts, however, we have an excellent medium to use, among so many others, to help people find their way out of religious error in order to discover the simplicity of biblical faith.

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