The Unexpected Adventure: Taking Everyday Risks to Talk with People about Jesus

306 Pages·2009·1.95 MB·English

by  Lee Strobel

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Resources by Lee Strobel
The Case for the Real Jesus
Finding the Real Jesus
The Case for Christ
The Case for Christ — Student Edition (with Jane Vogel)
The Case for Christ for Kids (with Rob Suggs)
The Case for Christmas
The Case for a Creator
The Case for a Creator — Student Edition (with Jane Vogel)
The Case for a Creator for Kids (with Rob Suggs)
The Case for Easter
The Case for Faith
The Case for Faith — Student Edition (with Jane Vogel)
The Case for Faith for Kids (with Rob Suggs)
Faith Under Fire (curriculum series)
God’s Outrageous Claims
Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary
Off My Case for Kids (with Robert Elmer)
Surviving a Spiritual Mismatch in Marriage (with Leslie Strobel)
Resources by Mark Mittelberg
Becoming a Contagious Chris tian (with Bill Hybels)
Becoming a Contagious Chris tian Training Course,
updated DVD edition (with Lee Strobel and Bill Hybels)
Becoming a Contagious Church, updated edition
The Journey: A Bible for the Spiritually Curious
(with Judson Poling, et al., eds.)
Choosing Your Faith . . . In a World of Spiritual Options
Choosing Your Faith New Testament
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The Unexpected Adventure
Copyright © 2009 by Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By
payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-
transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this
text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or
stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form
or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter
invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan e-books.
Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader February 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-56493-5
This title is also available as a Zondervan ebook. Visit www.zondervan.com/ebooks.
This title is also available in a Zondervan audio edition. Visit www.zondervan.fm.
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Strobel, Lee, 1952 –
The unexpected adventure : taking everyday risks to talk with people about
Jesus / Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 287).
ISBN 978-0-310-28392-8 (softcover)
1. Evangelistic work. I. Mittelberg, Mark. II. Title.
BV3790.S887 2009
248’.5 — dc22 2008051817
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New
International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by
permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked TNIV are taken from the Holy Bible, Today’s New International
Version™. TNIV®. Copyright © 2002, 2004 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of
Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked The Message are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993,
1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copy-
right © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used
by permission.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copy-
right © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All
rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked GNT are from the Good News Translation — Second Edition. ©
1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
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For Marie Little,
our close friend
and widow of evangelist Paul E. Little.
She has spent a lifetime
taking risks large and small
to share the grace of God
with p eople around the globe.
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Table of Contents
Introduction When Eternity Holds Its Breath 9
Day 1 Adventure Enrolling in the Adventure 19
Day 2 Adventure When You Just Don’t Know 25
Day 3 Adventure Being Your Own Eccentric Self 31
Day 4 Adventure Those Imperfect Opportunities 37
Day 5 Adventure Embarrassed for God 43
Day 6 Adventure Breaking the Pact 49
Day 7 Adventure Spur-of-the-Moment Friendship 55
Day 8 Adventure Putting Love into Action 61
Day 9 Adventure Inviting Adventure 67
Day 10 Adventure Emerging from the Cocoon 73
Day 11 Adventure Stumbling into Action 79
Day 12 Adventure Faith Like a Child 85
Day 13 Adventure Divine Interruptions 91
Day 14 Adventure The Influence of a Story 97
Day 15 Adventure Mountaintop Experience 103
Day 16 Adventure Linking Together 109
Day 17 Adventure The Cowboy Who Almost Shot Me 115
Day 18 Adventure An Unfair Advantage 121
Day 19 Adventure Prayers of Desperation 127
Day 20 Adventure Representing Jesus 133
Day 21 Adventure Unlikely Candidate 141
Day 22 Adventure Praying Persistently 147
Day 23 Adventure Roadside Redemption 153
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Day 24 Adventure Seeing Through Smokescreens 159
Day 25 Adventure Potential in Partnering 167
Day 26 Adventure In the Nick of Time 173
Day 27 Adventure Making Room for Questions 179
Day 28 Adventure The Big Oops 185
Day 29 Adventure The Impact of Evidence 191
Day 30 Adventure Ordinary Life, Extraordinary Impact 197
Day 31 Adventure Worship with Class 203
Day 32 Adventure Ready to Make a Difference 209
Day 33 Adventure Spiritual Backup 215
Day 34 Adventure Passion for People 221
Day 35 Adventure The Unseen Side of the Journey 227
Day 36 Adventure Outrageous Grace 233
Day 37 Adventure Power of the Gospel 239
Day 38 Adventure Those Odd Coincidences 245
Day 39 Adventure A Time for Urgency 251
Day 40 Adventure Hang Time 257
Day 41 Adventure Ripple Effects 265
Day 42 Adventure Addicted to Life Change 271
Conclusion Risks and Rewards 279
Meet the Authors 285
Sources 287
Recommended Resources 289
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