I received this posted comment about my other post today on an apologetic of hospitality as was written about by Ryan Bolger. The commenter writes (Jeff) writes:
…..I don’t know if I agree with your post today, though, about the Four Spiritual Laws. We’re probably on the same page..but just to clarify..I do think there IS a time for the 4SL. Just maybe not your first meeting. 
I was on staff with CCC for ten years and did campus ministry for two. Was involved in an evangelism task force to see if what we were doing as staff was working. Found thru my own experience that I was tired of meeting with an athlete, sharing the 4SL, and then never seeing them again. So that’s why I said we’re probably on the same page. But there does come a time..when the soil is soft..that people need to understand the gospel. I think there is still no better explanation of it than the 4SL. There are a number of people in our church that I’ve talked to that would consider themselves seekers or even Christians that don’t know the clear gospel plan…and definitely not well enough to share it with anyone. I shyed away from using the 4SL. But now I’m going back to it…in the right context. Make sense? Agree?
Thx,
Jeff
New Valley Church
www.newvalleychurch.org
And I would say that I agree with Jeff. I don’t think that the Four Spiritual Laws are useless, or that a lot of different methods are useless that we often find in traditional apologetics. But what I have seen, is a trend that is moving away from some of those things. They are no longer the standard by which one does evangelism, or apologetics, though there is a time and place for them. I agree, that different contexts require different things. We must be able to discern the context, environment, person, etc., when we are in these situations. On some days I may use a more linear, structured, rational apologetic with someone I meet, when the next day I may use something less rigid, less defined. In fact, working with college students is interesting. One can often discern what apologetic is best useful, by looking at one’s major. I often approach the engineer students very differently than I do the English literature students. But what I have seen that never fails, is the example that we set for others by the way we live our lives. That is something that transcends debates, arguments, theories, etc. And hospitality is one way that we live out our Christian lives before others.
Thanks for the comments Jeff, and for the clarification….and it’s cool to communicate with someone who had been in this ministry years ago. I, and my students are inheriting the seeds that were sown before us.
Rhett, (off topic): I had no idea where to reach you other than here. Thanks for the mention of my piece on the Perils of Perfect Theology. Oddly enough, my next post after that was about meeting Michael Reagan the other evening, and remembering Dr. Wenning, former Bel Air Pres. pastor. I was so impressed by him during President Reagan’s funeral in Simi Valley, and I think I remember having met him when he pastored Penn Hills Pres. in Pittsburgh. Thought you’d be interested to know I plugged your church after you plugged my blog! Who’d a thunk it.