Most evangelism books are riddled with gimmicks. Ask this question. Say this prayer. Give this speech. Maybe that's why Organic Outreach for Ordinary People: Sharing the Good News Naturally (Zondervan) by Kevin G. Harney is so refreshing. Harney urges readers to toss the scripts and concentrate on fostering red-hot excitement for the gospel in their own lives, and then to share the faith in natural language with the people around them.

Harney stresses that evangelism isn't the exclusive domain of the "superspiritual, the velvet-tongued, and the hyperextroverted." Rather it's for average Christians willing to incorporate biblical practices into their daily lives. To illustrate his thesis, Harney mines his ministry and the lives of regular folks for stories of ordinary outreach. And at the end of each chapter, he provides "organic activities" (practical evangelism ideas), individual and group reflections, and a prayer designed to focus and stir passion for outreach.

But the book's best insight ...