An Interview with Martin Salter

Hi, Martin, who are you and what do you do?

I’m Martin Salter, I’m married to Sarah and we have three rapidly growing kids. I’m lead pastor at Grace Community Church in Bedford, and in my spare time I enjoy running and cooking (not at the same time).

Wow, awesome! As well as that, you’ve also written a few books, could you tell us about those? [MIA key, but also other books!]

I did my PhD in missiology and published it with IVP a couple of years back – It’s called Mission in Action and explores the ways in which our lives bear witness to the gospel. I’ve also written a couple of short evangelistic books entitled What’s It All About and Thinking It Through.

So, your last book was quite long, but your new book, So Loved, is quite short. Could you tell us a bit about what it’s about?

Yes, I wanted to write a simple, accessible, short explanation of the gospel that Christians and churches could use in their outreach. It’s based on John 3:16 and explores this verse a word or phrase at a time. So we think about the God who loved, gave and came. We explore faith. We consider the consequences of accepting or rejecting this message. I’ve written it with my own non-Christian friends in mind. It had to be something I could happily put in their hands. It’s aimed at anyone whether they’d consider themselves a big reader or not.

Brilliant! Could you share your hopes and prayer for this book?

My big hope is that this little book finds its way into the hands of many people who perhaps aren’t quite sure what they believe at the moment. Ultimately only God make the seed that is sown grow, but I am really hoping and praying that God would use this simple tool to get the good news of the gospel to many people.

Thanks so much for sharing. How can IVP readers be praying for you going forward?

Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6 that we’re in a spiritual battle. Anytime we put our head above the parapet to try and share our faith we will encounter opposition. So prayers that I as a pastor (and we as a church) would remain faithful in the battle would be hugely appreciated. Thank you.