Sharing the Gospel during a Newsletter Sales Call

The business line rang at 11:05 and Caller ID showed an unidentified caller (usually means a telemarketer). I decided to go ahead and answer. A moment after I picked up the phone I heard the little click on the other line that confirms it is a telemarketing call. She wanted to talk to the person who handles the internet marketing for our company (yet another confirmation that it was a sales call!).

I said it would be “me” – and she started into the sales pitch. A $299-a-year newsletter with all the best internet marketing tips. We talked for about five minutes about the newsletter and I shared my thoughts/concerns.

After awhile I mentioned something about her sounding like a nice person, and how I wouldn’t want my saying “no” to the sample issue (which was free) to hurt her “conversion rate”. She said I sounded like a nice person – and I had the perfect segue into the Good Person Test.

I asked if she had a minute, and she did. She had never heard of the test before – but was willing to take it. She definitely considered herself a good person.

We went through the commandments:

• Lying (guilty, although she doesn’t really consider fibs to be lying)
• Stealing (guilty, although probably nothing of any real value)
• Blasphemy (guilty, but probably not really taking His name in vain openly, more likely minced oaths).
• Murder of the heart (guilty, but she has never really hated someone, although has called people “stupid” or “moron” and has been angry with people).
• Adultery of the heart (guilty, and this was the first one that she didn’t justify or try to downplay).
  

When I asked if God were to judge her if she would be innocent or guilty, she shared that she would be guilty. When I asked if she would go to heaven or hell, she believed heaven.

When I asked “why?” – she didn’t really have a good response. Other than that she tries to be good, and everyone else is also guilty of the same things. We talked about a court of law, and she readily agreed that a judge can’t let someone who has broken the laws go because others do the same. We also talked about how our good can never compensate for the bad that we’ve done (a bank robber that gives some of the money to charity, or a murderer who decides to volunteer his time at a hospital).

When I asked if she knew what a guilty sinner who was headed for hell could do to go to heaven, she had no idea, but she wanted to know if I knew and she then she specifically asked me to share with her.

We spent the next 20 or so minutes discussing God’s incredible plan of salvation, and it made sense to her. At one point she shared that she was moved to tears and that the phone call had made her month.

She used to attend church and occasionally read her Bible – so what I was sharing made sense. She agreed that she has been religious, but that she hasn’t really been born again.

She is a young, single parent with a small child to take care of. I encouraged her that her getting right with God was the most important thing she could do in properly raising her child.

I’ve shared with quite a few people over the phone, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever had someone that was so receptive.

Since this is an anonymous blog I won’t share her name, but I would be grateful for your prayers on her behalf. I’m praying that the light she has received would be acted upon and that the Lord will reveal even more of Himself to her.

At the same time the phone call was very encouraging to me. My schedule has been unbelievably full, and I haven’t had (taken) as many opportunities to share on the phone (today’s phone call took about 25 minutes). May I not be slack in sharing with those that are headed for a hopeless and dark eternity.

Surely God takes our intentions into consideration??

Today I called my insurance company to make a small adjustment to a policy. Adjusting the policy was quick. The agent then tried to sell me several other products, and we spent a few minutes discussing why I didn’t need them or didn’t feel they would be right for me.

Following that, she said that it is important to them that all questions and issues are fully resolved, and she wanted to make sure she had resolved everything for me. I said that the insurance was all taken care of, but that, if she had another minute before her next call came in, I had a question for her that was a little off topic. Her response: “Sure, go ahead.”

I asked if he she had ever heard of or taken the Good Person test, and she hadn’t. I let her know there was a moral at the end. I like sharing that there will be a moral at I don’t think they will feel I am trying to trap them or trick them (even though I am, in essence, asking them leading questions). On the other hand it’s hard to take the greatest truth in all of creation and refer to it as a moral, it is WAY more than simply a moral. But, an unbeliever would look at a spiritual truth as a moral, so that’s the word I use to give them “heads up” that we are headed somewhere in particular.

When I asked if she felt she was a good person, without even a pause or hesitation, she strongly answered, “Yes, I feel I’m a very good person.”

She wasn’t straightforward when she admitted to breaking the various commandments. Each time I would ask her about a commandment, her response would generally be “Well, I must have.”

That’s how she acknowledged lying and stealing. Despite being almost 60 years old she said she had never taken God’s name in vain.

When I asked about murder she said “No, but I’ve been so angry with some people at times that I’ve felt like doing something!” She said that while laughing, not realizing that she beat me to the “murder of the heart” punch!

When I summarized her condition before God (that other would look at her and see a good person but God, who is Holy and truly Perfect, would look at her and see someone who is a lying, thieving, murderer and adulterer at heart) she said, “Wow, that sounds pretty bad.”

When I asked her whether, after she died, God would judge her as being guilty of breaking His commandments, she said she felt God would view her as being innocent.

When I asked why God would see her as innocent, she said “Surely God takes into consideration our intentions?”

I didn’t go into the fact that when she was angry with someone, or told the lie, or stole something, or lusted – she was doing it with the full intention of being angry/lying/stealing/lusting.

Instead, I briefly shared how a crime is a crime. Our modern justice system is being overrun with Political Correctness and is starting to try and take “intentions” into consideration, but a crime is still a crime.

I shared that God would surely see her as guilty of having broken His commandments considering how many she had just acknowledged breaking, and I asked her where she thought God sent people who had broken His commandments. Her response, “That’s scary, but it’ll be a really crowded place.”

While she had interacted well throughout the “bad news” of the gospel, it was interesting that she wasn’t really interested in hearing the good news – in finding out how a guilty person who has broken God’s commandments and deserves hell can have their penalty paid for them.

So, in closing, I asked if she had a Bible at her house. She did. I asked if she reads it. She doesn’t. I encouraged her to read the book of John to find out what God did for her so that she wouldn’t have to go to hell.

Then I thanked her for helping me with my insurance problem, for taking the time to go through the Good Person test, and we then said goodbye.

The Insurance Audit...

Insurance audits, or, at least the ones I’ve been through, seem to go very quickly on the telephone. Each year we receive a package in the mail from our company’s insurance agency. Inside are pages and pages to be filled out. The cover letter says that we are welcome to fill out the form and mail it in, fax it in, or simply call in for a phone audit.

I called in last week and went through the phone audit (it took about 5 minutes). I don’t recall whether or not I then shared the gospel with the lady on the phone.

Today we had another call from the insurance agency about an audit related to another policy we have.

The agent and I had a good time on the phone. When I identified myself and company I could hear him beginning to dig through what sounded like an enormous pile of paper as he tried to locate our policy. I made a comment about the paperless office, and “welcome to the 19th century”. He laughed, and said they had tried to go paperless awhile back but it, obviously, hadn’t worked. I said I could tell, as it sounded like he had just dove into a huge recycling bin. He finally found it and we went through the various questions.

Three minutes later he said we were all set until next year. Well, I said, I wouldn’t necessarily be looking forward to the call next year, but, it is always nice to have done. I said they had originally missed us with their first phone call because we were traveling for a month. He asked if it was a vacation, and I said, no, we had a Christian ministry.

I asked if he had a Christian background and he said that he did. I asked if he knew where he was going to go when he died and he laughed – saying someone else had once asked him that same question. I asked what his answer had been and he said whatever it was, the other guy was fairly negative about it! He shared that he, like everyone else, hopes to go heaven.

I asked if he had a minute before the next call came in to take a quick test. He was quiet and I assume he was thinking about it – perhaps he wasn’t very interested in taking the test but couldn’t figure out a way to tell me that politely? I reminded him that he had just asked me a bunch of questions --- surely he had a minute for me to ask him a few? He agreed.

I asked if he was familiar with the ten commandments – and he was. I asked if he had kept all of them, some of them, or none of them. At first he thought he had kept them all – then he said he may have broken one of them!

My next question was whether he could name them all (which he couldn’t) and I wondered aloud how he could have kept commandments that he wasn’t aware of.

We went through a few of them:
- Lying (guilty)
- Stealing (guilty)
- Blasphemy (guilty)
- Adultery of the heart (guilty)

He agreed that he was guilty before God and felt that he would go to hell as a result. I encouraged him to get right with God before it was too late. I said, perhaps, if he didn’t want to get right with God today he could call me back on the day he was going to die and I could share more of the gospel with him, but, unfortunately, he doesn’t know the day he is going to die.

I then shared the good new of the gospel: how a person that has broken God’s law and deserves hell can go to heaven when they die. He listened and agreed with everything I shared. He seemed to be awakened to his need for salvation, but not alarmed about his condition before God.

We talked more about hell, and I asked him if he has a Bible. He does. I asked if he ever reads it.

He response was that he is guilty of having gone to church and read his Bible in the past, but hasn’t been doing that lately.

I gently shared that not attending church and not reading his Bible are probably some of the mildest sins that are currently in his life, and that an unbeliever who isn’t seeking God and hasn’t repented and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ will likely have a lot of serious sin in their life. He humbly agreed that I was right.

He went on to say how grateful he was that I was talking with him as just the other day another gentleman had been sharing with him. He agreed that God was trying to get his attention.

At the end of the call I asked if I could pray for him – and he said that would be good. I thanked God for arranging circumstances so that he and I could talk, and for the work that God was doing in this young man’s life. I asked God to continue convicting him, and at the same time to reveal Jesus as Savior to him. I asked God to open his eyes to the Truth in God’s Word. I thanked God for the health that He had blessed this young man with, and asked God to continue blessing him and his family.

“Oh, I lie all the time!”

I help a certain church with their finances, and this week needed to apply for a credit card on behalf of that church (ordering any type of product from a web site, these days, is almost impossible without a credit card).

I decided to call and apply for the credit card over the phone.

The card I was applying for was a small business credit card, and at the beginning of the call she had assured me that it would work fine for a small church

At one point in the application process she asked me, “What is the purpose of the business?” My response was along the lines of, “To share the good news of the gospel with those that are lost and dying and headed for an eternity in hell.” Obviously, God has other purposes for the church as well, but it was interesting to be asked the question by a credit card company!

After the application process was done, she didn’t ask if there was anything else she could help me with (which is normally the perfect segue into sharing the gospel). Instead, I had to jump in and say I had another question for her, but that it didn’t have anything to do with the credit card application – did she have just a minute before the next call came in? She had time, so I started into the Good Person Test with her.

She felt she was a good person, and she was then OK with me asking some questions to see how true that was. She said she was familiar with the ten commandments, and felt she had kept most of them.

I started with the 9th commandment: thou shalt not lie. I shared that I have told lies in the past, and I asked her if there was ever a time in her life when she had lied.

Her response? “Oh, I lie all the time!”

I wondered whether it was at work (as people are asking questions about the credit cards?!?) or in her personal life, but I didn’t ask...

I was impressed with her honesty in admitting her habitual lying – although one would have to say that it is an oxymoron to have an honest, habitual liar.

We went through the rest of the test and, after hearing (and agreeing with) the bad news (she was facing an eternity in hell) we went through and she heard the good news of the gospel.

I’m praying that the Holy Spirit will continue to work in her heart and she will surrender her life to the Lord Jesus Christ.

To the Mormon that posted a comment…

Thank you for stopping by my blog (even though it was just for a minute – and even though it was likely with ulterior motives). As you know, the comment you left was short and perhaps a little flattering, but I had to delete it because it included a link to your blog. While your blog does include the name “Jesus” in it, the Jesus you are referring to is completely different than the Jesus that I preach and share…

I would encourage you to spend even more time than you hopefully already do in the Bible. You are no doubt familiar with Jesus’ command to us that we are to be perfect, just as our Father in Heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). If you read Luke 10, you’ll see that Jesus, while talking with a teacher of the law, told him that, in order to avoid “outer darkness” (Jesus didn’t use that exact term, but “outer darkness” and eternal death/torment is the opposite of eternal life and heaven) he had to love God with all his heart and his neighbor as himself – and that sounds like perfection to me.

I know that I am not perfect. Which means that even if I were to live perfectly from this point on for the rest of my life, it would already be too late for me as I have already committed “crimes” against God. (although, yes, even though my sins are forgiven I do strive to live as Jesus would have me)

I wonder how you will ever be able to achieve perfection? What a tremendously heavy burden to bear. How hard it would be to live a perfect life – to have never told a lie (hopefully you haven’t already told one, because, anyone that has told one lie has become a liar), or stolen something from someone (especially easy to do when we are young), and have never wanted something that belongs to someone else (which is – obviously – coveting).

I encourage you to examine your life and see whether you are perfect – or whether you have committed one of the crimes that is listed in Revelation 21:8:

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

The lake which burneth with fire and brimstone (which is the second death) is not someplace where you would want to spend eternity – and these are not my words – but God’s Word.

A few stories from the Fair...

The incident that I remember best from the Fair happened mid-week…

Two teenaged girls came up to the booth wanting a balloon. Everyone else was busy so I started making them balloon hats. I asked if they also wanted something to drink but they said they were fine. I shared that we were there doing balloons and giving out drinks and talking about heaven and hell.

I asked them if they knew where they would go when they died, and one hoped for heaven, the other wasn’t sure. I asked what they believed a person had to do to get to heaven – and they had a few guesses but really weren’t sure. We went through the commandments to see if they would be innocent or guilty before God. They both acknowledged that they would be guilty. When I asked where they would spend an eternity they both said “hell.” As I began sharing the gospel with them, it somehow came up in conversation that they were there at the Fair, but not as regular “fair-goers”. They were at a nearby booth with their Church and were handing out water! I couldn’t believe that these two, who were at the Fair likely with the goal of sharing the gospel at their church’s booth, ended up at our booth acknowledging at first that they weren’t sure where they would spend an eternity, and after a few minutes conversation, clearly acknowledging they were both headed for hell! While both seemed interested in the conversation, they didn’t seem too concerned or interested in the solution (even though they did listen as I outlined what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for them).

Sometimes it was interesting to see who would come up to the booth for something to drink. It is very hard for a proud person to accept something for free. There were a number of times that two friends would be walking down the thoroughfare --- one would come over for something to drink and the other would stand back and wait for them. We would usually offer the ‘standing-back-waiting-friend’ something to drink. A lot of times they would accept, but sometimes they said “no, thanks”.

One night after the sun had set we had several fellows stop by that appeared to be in their early 20’s. They were dressed completely in black and had somewhat unkempt/wild hair styles. One had his face painted (it didn’t look like a sport team’s color/pattern). As they somewhat approached the booth, I asked if they would like a balloon – it’s amazing how sometimes others, besides children, enjoy the balloons, and by offering a balloon I knew there would be more time to share the gospel. They said sure – and asked what types of balloons I made. I began going through the list. They eventually settled on a turtle (which is a very small single-balloon animal – whereas some of the wild hats or more complex animals require 4, 5, or even 6 balloons). I started working on the turtle and we began discussing heaven and hell. They were either both really playing along and humoring me, or they were both incredibly receptive. I shared the bad news of the gospel as well as the good and gave them both a detailed tract to read later on. By then I had finished the balloon (I made it very slowly) and they were set. They walked off and I was left picking my jaw up off the ground that they had been open to a balloon and willing to listen to and discuss the gospel.

Another night a young man who was probably about 20 years of age stopped by the booth. He was just standing in front of the booth. I asked if he would like something to drink – and he did. He seemed open, so I began a conversation. I shared the gospel and we talked quite a while. Turns out he had stopped by and talked at length with us last year as well. I probably spent 15-20 minutes (total) with him, and we stepped into the back of the booth so I could give him a Bible and show him a few Scriptures that we had been discussing. At the end of our conversation I prayed for him. The Lord was definitely working in his heart, but he doesn’t seem as if he is willing to surrender quite yet. But he knows that the Holy Spirit will not always convict and that the longer one waits the greater the danger…

Saturday night a young man with many, many piercings happened to stop by (with several of his buddies). He was a former Satanist who had been raised in a Catholic home. He had read the Bible 4 times. To get to heaven, he believes a person has to avoid being a bigot and also not kill anyone that doesn’t deserve to be killed (he didn’t share who makes the decisions on whether a person deserves to be killed). He doesn’t believe God is a loving God. We talked for a few minutes but his spacey answers and constant changing of the subject to something different made me suspect he was high. Instead of prolonging the conversation (which wasn’t getting anywhere) I gave him some tracts and thanked him for stopping by (hopefully he read the tracts later on).

Saturday a young fellow and his (probable) girlfriend stopped by. He was about 18 or 20 years of age. As we began talking/sharing he said he knew where he would spend eternity. I asked where that would be, and he said “Heaven” – and that he sometimes evangelizes a nearby shopping district. I shared that we don’t get to heaven by sharing the gospel with others. We talked for another minute or two and I, out of curiosity, asked if he reads his Bible. Praise the Lord – he does every day. I asked the girlfriend the same question, and was surprised when she, literally, hid behind him because she was either shy or didn’t want to answer. It became obvious that they really weren’t interested in talking more about reading the Bible or what the Bible says about salvation – so they said “goodbye” and headed off.

It was a very good week, despite the time that was invested, and the tremendous heat. Our prayer is that as the Word went forth, it would do a mighty work in hearts, as we know that it will not return unto Him void.

Native missionary pastors…

I have an incredible (and true) testimony/story to share – but I want to give some background first…

If you haven’t heard of Gospel for Asia or Gospelink – you need to order the free book: Revolution in World Missions. If possible, I would recommend you consider giving a few dollar donation to cover the cost of the book and shipping – but, whether or not you are able to give anything - I encourage you to get the book!

One thing I will mention: I believe the book leans towards not sending any American's out as missionaries but, instead, using that money to sponsor local missionaries in other countries. I can definitely see the incredible logic in that thought as the average American family costs $3,000+ to keep on the field per month while the average local pastor in Africa or Asia often requires only about $100 month for full support. If you do the math that translates to 30 native pastors (who already know the language) vs. one American family. However, I know that when God calls, a person should respond! Perhaps they are called to the field as a Hudson Taylor (to live as the locals in an inexpensive way), but, when He calls, anyone should answer.

Gospel for Asia and Gospelink both allow you to support local pastors that are already on the mission field and that already know the local language. Gospel for Asia works only in India. You are only able to sponsor up to 1/3rd of a missionary (I think it is about $30 or so per month) and you get a report every six months or a year.

Gospelink allows you to sponsor in a variety of countries (Africa and now Asia) and you can partially or fully sponsor a local missionary pastor (full sponsorship is $110 per month). What I really love about Gospelink is that you can personally correspond with your pastor – in fact, they encourage you to do so! In addition, every three months, you will receive a personal letter from your pastor outlining their ministry, how many people they led to the Lord as a result of your support (often an incredible number!), and many times photos will be included.

If you are not already sponsoring a native missionary pastor in a foreign country, I strongly recommend you do so. $110 a month may sound like a lot, but think about that money: it will, in essence, put a full-time missionary onto the field!

The reason I share all this? I have a sister in the Lord that shared a report with me that she had received from the pastor that she fully sponsors. I have transcribed a portion of it below.

(this pastor personally led 19 people to the Lord during the 3-month period that he was reporting about)

“About the preaching of the word and the winning of souls for Christ. God helped me very much.

“I planned to go for door to door evangelism campaign. Before that I sat for two days of prayers, over that programme. After prayers, I started the work. The first day I visited nine houses and three persons were converted, one repented. The second day I found a man and his wife, and his sister-in-law with her two children.

“They welcomed me and gave me a chair. I introduced my subject telling them that I wanted to share with them the word of God. The woman asked me “Which God do you want to talk about?” I answered that it is God the Creator, the One Who sent Jesus Christ His Son to become the Saviour of the world. She said that, “Us, we do not worship Jesus Christ. We worship God in the name of Kimbangu a great prophet.” I told her that this Kimbangu got his power from Jesus Christ, but you have turned the story and started to worship him as God. The Bible says there is no other name on earth which is above Jesus’ name. Then I told them to believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God to be saved. They said “We will not believe because Jesus you are talking about did nothing for us.” I told them that Jesus did a big work at the cross, He came to die for us and God woke him mightily from the dead that is why He is preached everywhere in the world. He resurrected and appeared to people with the power of fire from the Lord, and now He is at the right hand of God. But Kimbangu is still in the tomb waiting for the day of judgment. I continued telling them to believe in Jesus Christ in order to have eternal life. They said “Not now can we believe, he is a man who was born like any person was born.” Finally they told me to leave and come back another day.

“After three days I fasted and pray for them, then I went to meet them again and found them all three. They welcomed me and presented me a chair. I asked them “Brothers, what do you think about the subject we discussed last week with you about Jesus?” One said that we have nothing to think about Jesus, nevertheless what we want to tell you is that you also, you believe in the name of Kibangu, you will live well and be rich. I stood and said the Word from the Bible, in the book of the prophet Jeremiah: “Cursed is a man who trust in man, who make a man become his hand and in his heart he forget God” (Jeremiah 17:5)

“Then I told them that the day Jesus was being baptized the voice came from heaven saying “This is my beloved Son, in Who I am well pleased” – God did not say about Kimbangu that He was His son, he did neither say it about Mohamed neither Kadima, nor to anybody in this world, but God’s voice spoke about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and Whoever believes in Him should be have eternal life. If you believe in Jesus you become the beloved one of God. And those who have believed in Jesus have been set children of God. They now believed in Jesus Christ and accepted Him as their Lord and Saviour! This happened in Kikala Wamba area, Kamibanga quarter, Kampemba township.”

I added the emphasis throughout the report...

What a blessing to hear of this man of God: he first spent several days in prayer before going out door-to-door. Then, after a visit, he spent several more days fasting and praying for a particular family before he revisited them. Sometimes, here in America, we think that hearts are hard (and, truly, especially because of riches, they are) but that in Africa hearts are open (and, truly, especially because of poverty, they are), but look at the time spent wrestling against principalities and powers! Perhaps we would see more fruit here in America if we invested that much time in prayer and fasting for the souls of those that are around us!

You may not feel led to begin sponsoring a native missionary pastor right now, but, at least, I ask that you order the free book and read it. You will be challenged and encouraged!

Next I hopeto share some of the testimonies from the County Fair...

County Fair Evangelism

The Lord put it on my brother’s heart to have another County Fair outreach this year, and last week was the week…

A lot of planning and preparation goes into the Fair Outreach. The main concept was to give out free, ice-cold, soda and water, along with gospel tracts (Isaiah 55:1). Last year, in order to draw traffic, I had also made a lot of balloon animals and hats – which we found to be incredibly effective! This year I "trained" a number of others in making some of the basic balloon animals and hats (it’s amazingly easy to do the balloon twisting, and there isn’t a tremendous need for lots of variety in the shapes). Animals are hardest to do, but many of the children simply want bright, big, colorful hats - and those are simple!

Our booth location was in a different space this year, which was a mixed blessing. We estimate that we had about half the traffic that we had last year when we were directly across from the Carnival. But, we felt we were able to have as many, if not more, conversations with people in sharing the gospel. We ended up giving away between two and three thousand gospel tracts. I estimate that we made almost two thousand balloons throughout the week. And we definitely gave away a lot of water and soda! In fact, simply transporting the heavy coolers full of water and soda is one of the biggest challenges for the week (and one of the hottest jobs!).

The Fair started on a Tuesday, which was the first day of the summer that we were issued a Heat Advisory in our region. Of course, the Heat Advisory continued through the end of the Fair. Each night, as we drove to the Fairgrounds, the temperature was close to 100 degree’s, and the heat index was between 105 and 110. And, standing in the sunshine usually adds another 20 or so degree’s to the heat index. Since we usually started at the booth an hour or hour and a half before sunset – we didn’t have to worry about getting cold!.

I spent time before the Fair researching tracts. For those that are curious what we used, here are some of them:

Ronald Reagan Million Dollar Bills – we found these million dollar bills this year that we really like. They feature President Ronald Reagan on the front and have a more detailed gospel message on the back (more detailed than the LivingWaters.com million dollar bill). Another booth at the fair was handing out LivingWater’s million dollar bills (and we had some of those, too), so it was nice to have something different. We also had some of the LivingWaters.com Billion Dollar Bills on hand for those that “already had the million.” Sometimes, with a child, I would ask if they wanted a million or a billion, and every time I asked, they were always sharp enough to choose the billion.

What If? - We had a different tract “focus” for each night of the fair- and the “What If?” tract was one of them. We always tried to give out the main tract of the night along with one of the more detailed tracts (see the next two tracts).

Some of the tracts we ordered from LivingWaters.com:

Are You Good Enough to Go to Heaven - This is a VERY detailed, text-heavy tract. But it does a good job of presenting the gospel. I tried to give out one of these to almost any adult that came by for a soda, and a lot of the youths as well. Sometimes I would give out a million dollar bill along with this tract.

Are You A Good Person? Comic - This is another one that we gave out to many people. It is good for adults, but also ideal for teenagers. If I didn’t give out the text-based one (above) to someone, I always tried to make sure I gave them this one. There were even times during the week that we would offer this tract to a teenager who had already received it earlier in the week, and we would then have the opportunity to discuss the tract with them and see what they thought of it.

Hey Kids - I gave out a lot of these to children after making them a balloon. As I handed it to the child I would make sure it was OK with the child’s parents, and none of the parents ever said "no". A number of parents were even glad when I shared it was a gospel tract which talked about the 10 commandments and heaven and hell. This is an excellent (probably the best I’ve found yet) presentation of the gospel to children. So many children grow up false beliefs about salvation and believe they are saved despite having never repented and without having been born again. This tract helps plant seeds by encouraging children to memorize the ten commandments.

Everything Man has Learned about Women - There are many teen aged “couples” at the Fair. Interestingly enough, this year I also witnessed two verbal fights between boyfriends/girlfriends. We ordered a number of these little booklet tracts to have on hand through the week. (for those that don’t know what the tract is: it is a small 24-page booklet that is blank, and has the gospel message in small print inside the back cover) I ended up giving more of these to fellow's that were in their upper teen’s or early twenty’s (whether or not they had a girlfriend with them). Everyone enjoyed them and it opened the door for a number of conversations.

IQ Triangle Cards - When making balloons for children (whether it was an animal or a hat), we would always talk with them. With teenagers, it was always the gospel. With younger children, it varied. Sometimes it was just about the Fair and school (which was starting the next week) – and then we would give them some children’s tracts afterwards. I gave a lot of these tracts out to teenagers after asking about school starting the next week, and then saying the card was a little bit of an early reading test. We had a lot of fun with these… I would always share that I had missed it until I read the back, and I shared that the gospel message was on the back.


Because we had so many tracts we again wore "work apron belts". We bought them from Home Depot last year for about $1/each. A number of people, last year, wondered if Home Depot sponsored the booth. This year, we covered the Home Depot logo up. In trying to match up the most appropriate tract to each person that we met during the week, I would usually have 10 to 15 different types of tracts in my apron at one time (usually two or three copies of each one) and would have to step to the back of the booth to grab a few more quite often.

We had a number of very interesting interactions throughout the week. I’ll try to share some of those next…

Charlie Coulson - the Drummer Boy

While researching and purchasing tracts for the County Fair outreach next week, I came across a very powerful testimony. It is the story of a Jewish Army Surgeon during the Civil War, and his incredible conversion. It takes a little while to read, but will greatly encourage your heart. It is very emotional at times.

Click to read (online): Charlie Coulson - the Drummer Boy

It is a "booklet" tract I came across that is published by Pilgrim's Press. (I might post, later on, some of the tracts that we ordered for the fair. Most came from Living Waters, but we found a new million dollar bill that we think we will like better - from OneMillionTracts.com. Anyways, we did get one tract from Pilgrim's Press, although it was a little unusual in that the Pilgrim's Press tracts were not folded- but were delivered "flat").

They were passing out tracts for me!

Twice, on a recent trip, I had people ask for additional tracts and then give them out to others for me. I try to remember times like these when I run into rejection!

I was in a very, very, small airport. The security people at that airport have always been very friendly and professional. When I was going through security I struck up a conversation with the TSA gentleman that was running the x-ray machine. I’m always careful to follow all the rules (took the laptop out of the bag, made sure liquids were in a clear plastic bag, etc. etc. etc.) – and that seems to help. After I made it through the metal detector (normally I take my belt off but this time the fellow that was running the metal detector said to keep it on as it shouldn’t be a problem – and, he was right) I kept chatting with the x-ray fellow.

It takes me a little while to get all of my gear off the x-ray machine’s conveyor belt and back into pockets and my laptop bag. In my laptop bag I have my supply of tracts. Since there was no one else coming through security right then (as I said – small airport!), the x-ray tech wasn’t busy. I asked him if he had ever been given a million dollar bill, and he said he hadn’t. I gave him one and he was very grateful and duly impressed. I pointed out that the back has the gospel message around the edge (I don’t recall if I gave him a more detailed tract to go with it). Another TSA security agent that was next to him asked if she could have one as well – I said sure. The original x-ray tech then had an idea: he asked if he could have another one so he could give it to his boss who would absolutely love it. I told him I had plenty, and thanked the Lord for the three-fold increase that He gave (one tract to one person expanded to three people).

Due to a rescheduling of flights (delayed flight as a result of a thunderstorm, which would have missed my connection, then rescheduled with a different airline for the following day) I was flying a different airline/route than I usually do. Because of the last-minute change of flights and reservations, I wasn’t able to get the aisle seat on all my flights (which, as I have shared before, makes working on the laptop a slightly more pleasant ordeal).

For one flight, the plane was configured for three seats, aisle, two seats. And it was a longer plane than usual. For that flight, my seat was a window seat on the three-across side. I was one of the last on the flight because I was charging my laptop during the layover. I boarded the plane and went about half way back to my seat (yes, the other two people were already sitting down); but the lady in one of the seats said a gentleman had put his stuff in my seat and then gone back to the restroom and would be returning soon. Fun! Someone thought my seat was their seat… Maybe, I prayed, the Lord could use this to get me an aisle seat!

I had passed two empty seats up closer to the front which would have been perfect: aisle and window on the two-seat side. With such a full flight (they were the only empty seats I had seen up to that point) – it would be great: I could sit in the aisle seat and store stuff in the window seat. However, there were two younger girls that were also in the aisle looking for their seat. Since we were the last ones on the plane I was hoping they were headed further back (they had already passed the two open seats) and I asked them where they were headed. They double-checked their ticket stubs and found out they were supposed to be back up towards the front in those two empty seats.

I figured I would keep heading towards the back looking for an open seat. The flight shouldn’t have been overbooked (the airlines usually deal with overbookings before beginning the boarding process), and I figured any open seat would do. In fact, any open seat had a really good (statistically speaking) chance of being a better seat for doing computer work than the one I was assigned.

This plane had a weird configuration in that there was a little kitchen/galley area on the 3-seat side of the plan about 75% of the way back, with more seats behind it. The only empty seat I saw was an empty AISLE seat in that area, and there was a stewardess working in the galley. I told her what was going on and asked if I could take the open seat. She said “sure.”

The setup for the seats plays a part in the story – so I’ll try to describe it quickly. I was in the aisle seat with a gentleman next to me (turns out he is a believer and we had a great time of fellowship and prayer together). Then the aisle. On the 3-seat side, there was a jump seat by the aisle, and then two seats further over. Behind them, they had a wall and then the galley.

During the takeoff, a stewardess sat in the jump seat, and then folded it up later.

Mid-flight, I had the idea of putting a million-dollar bill tract into the magazine holder in front of the jump-seat. I figured the stewardess would notice it and perhaps ask the people sitting in the seats next to her and they would start a conversation about it. So, that’s what I did. I set the tract so it was sticking out a little bit and then kept on working on my laptop and talking with the brother that was next to me.

Ten or fifteen minutes later the stewardess stopped by the jump seat to get something out of her bag. She immediately noticed the tract and picked it up and began to read it. She started talking with the people in the seats that were right next to her. She then started talking to the people in the row in front of us – showing them the tract asking if they had put the tract there. She asked another row as well. As she turned towards where I was sitting I told her I had put it there for her. She was very grateful and wondered if I had more.

The people she had shown the tract to also wanted some, and she also wanted to give some to her coworkers. I gave her some more million dollar bills along with some other tracts and she began passing them out. She called a few coworkers over and gave them some as well.

She came back and stood in the aisle and I gave her a few more tracts for herself (the others she had given away). I began explaining a little more of what was in the tracts. Turns out, she had a nominal Catholic background and (as routinely is the case) was hoping in her good works to gain her access to heaven. As we went through the ten commandments she acknowledged that she was guilty before God and was beginning to realize that her good works couldn’t earn her salvation. At one point a coworker came by and she told her coworker “Hey, sit down, you need to listen to this!” But the coworker was busy right then.

All in all, it was a blessing to be able to share the gospel with her, and to have what was easily a 10 or 15-fold increase of tracts passed out! I encouraged her to read her Bible (starting in the book of John) and pray to God for Him to reveal Jesus to her – and she promised to do so.

One thing I know: it doesn’t always work like this. In fact, I would have to say this is a rarity – but it was such a blessing and encouragement to my heart.

It is VERY easy to get lazy in passing out tracts. I wonder how many other situations that are similar to this one I have missed out on because I didn’t bother to pass out the initial tract?

Next week we are going to help out with another County Fair outreach. It’ll be hot (forecast is calling for heat indexes up around 105) – which will be good as we’ll be giving out free (ice cold) soda and water, along with tracts. Please pray for us. I will try and post updates…

More thoughts on religous "entertainment" movies... As well as the news...

BiblicalFirst posted a somewhat lengthy comment on the Tozer article I linked to below. I've been a little behind in my work and personal projects (includes researching tracts for our upcoming County Fair outreach which we're doing again this year) - so I haven't had a lot of time to respond. Instead of posting the comment and trying to respond to it there, I thought I would generally respond to it here…

One of the questions was whether I felt religious movies would include instructional movies which have the intent of teaching history or business or the like? I don't think I would include preaching or teaching videos in the genre of what Tozer was addressing.

The question was asked about the Jesus film and others that are used in outreach. That isn't something I have spent much time studying in Scripture. I can say that I, for one, wouldn't ever feel comfortable being an actor and playing "Jesus". I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Does the end justify the means? Obviously, we would all agree "not". I'm not saying I disagree with the "Jesus" film used as an outreach - I am saying that religious movies are sweeping the nation and drawing many Christians away from what they should be doing (something BiblicalFirst resoundingly agreed with).

I think there is something to be said for the written word -- which is the primary way God choose to communicate with us. If God would have wanted us to visually see Jesus’ ministry from when He was here on earth: it would not have been hard for God to have allowed technology to have advanced to the point where His ministry could have been recorded for us to see. Instead, God chose the written word, and, truly, the spoken word in sharing.

I would liken the parables that Jesus shared as being along those same lines. Many of His parables were based on real life, but, the ones that weren't - I believe He shared as a parable, and didn't act out (with the disciples helping) in a sort of theater-type production.

Moving on from movies - I know there are many Christians that religiously watch the news in order to keep informed of worldly events. I've found two very interesting Scriptures that seem to address the news.

I will include some context, but will bold the particularly applicable sections.

Isaiah 33:14-16 (KJV)
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? 15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; 16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

I wonder if it is possible to watch the news these days and not hear of bloodshed and to avoid seeing evil?

Ephesians 5:10-12 (KJV)
10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

If it's a shame to speak of the sinful things that are done in darkness, it would also be wrong to listen to those things being shared about.

The Menace of Religious Movies...

I saw an interesting article by A. W. Tozer: The Menace of Religious Movies.

The religious movie movement is sweeping the nation, with many Christian organizations supporting and encouraging not only the viewing of entertaining movies, but also the making of them. I'd encourage everyone to read the article. I believe that if all Christians were to stop watching TV and Movies and dedicate that time to the Lord - there would be a revival in our land.

The article was probably written back in the 50's or very early 60's... Back when even regular TV and Movies were NOTHING compared to what is available now.


I apologize for not having posted any recent witnessing encounters. I did have a fascinating experience on one of my last trips that would be neat to share (the type of encounter where other people begin handing out the tracts for you, and bringing their friends to you to hear the gospel!).

The fear of rejection...

While traveling – and especially when traveling by air – I have found that I always seem to have increased opportunity to share the gospel because I come in contact with so many people. The big question for me always is: will I take advantage of the opportunity?

Fear tends to be the biggest giant I have to face when sharing the gospel: the fear of rejection; the fear that I won’t say the right thing. Both of those fears are based in my pride – and are definitely not based in my reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ. I think I’ve been reflecting on the fear of rejection lately, and that is what I want to focus on today.

The fear of rejection is a very real fear, and since I have experienced rejection a number of times, I know that it is an event that is likely to happen – and so the fear seems even more real.

My prayer is that, if rejection occurs, it would be of the gospel and never of me or my methods. If I am sharing the gospel from a proud, haughty, and hard heart – people will react to me as the messenger. I desire to share with a meek (gentle) spirit:
1 Peter 3:15-16
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

Lately I had some travel via airplane, and had a lot of opportunities to share. And I had several experiences that relate to rejection.

With one of the flights, I sat next to a gentleman who was friendly, although we didn’t talk a lot since he was busy with his book and I was busy with my laptop. At the end of the flight I gave him a million dollar bill and a tract. He thought it was neat and was thanking me --- until I shared that they were gospel tracts. He then handed them BOTH back and made it clear that he wasn’t interested, and he even seemed offended that I would give them to him in the first place. I experienced a definite dose of rejection.

But, as I think back to that moment – while it was painful - someone politely handing a tract back and saying they aren’t interested really isn’t that bad. He didn’t tear them up into little pieces in front of me and then throw them on the ground. He didn’t spit in my face. He didn’t physically assault me. He didn’t go to the airline and file a complaint that I was harassing him by trying to force my religion on him. He was polite and respectful in doing what I would hope anyone would do that didn’t want the tracts: simply handing them back. And, to be very honest, if someone doesn’t want the tracts I’m offering them, I don’t want to force the tracts on them.

And I think back to Jesus’ words:
John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also.

I have also thought to myself: if I was to face rejection every time I shared the gospel with someone or tried to give out a tract, would that change the command that the Lord has given me to be busy sharing Him with others? When Jesus gave us the instruction to be busy witnessing, he didn’t include a rejection clause:

Matthew 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

In fact, when Jesus tells me that He’ll be with me, it is an encouragement that, even when I face rejection, He’ll be there. He knows exactly what rejection is like.

And yet I still seem to struggle with the fear. I can think right thoughts in my mind, but I still have to make the conscious choice to overcome the fear – through the strength of Christ – instead of giving in to it.

I believe the key to overcoming the fear of rejection is to do just that: step forward and overcome it. By repeatedly doing so, the fear seems to lessen, even though, for me, it doesn’t ever seem to go away.

Practically speaking, how does overcoming the fear result in encouragement? Because not every one rejects the gospel or tracts...

On these recent flights: I faced one rejection, but had perhaps 10 or so instances of acceptance. Two of those remain in my mind. They seem simple and unimportant, but they encouraged my heart.

If you have flown recently, you’ve noticed that the airlines like to board flights REALLY early. And if you aren’t on the plane twenty minutes prior to scheduled departure, they can actually cancel your ticket. I am usually working on my laptop up until the last minute to board the flight, and a number of times I’ve been the last one on the plane – and then I get to sit with everyone for the next 15-20 minutes while we wait for the flight to depart.

While going to board a flight I was, as usual, one of the last ones to the counter. The fellow at the ticket counter was friendly. After he scanned my ticket and handed back the stub (I forget what we were chatting about), I fished in my laptop bag for a million dollar bill and an “Are You Good Enough to Go To Heaven?” tract. I asked if he had ever been given a million dollar bill before, and he hadn’t – but he was very interested in having one. Even when I told him they were gospel tracts that shared from the Bible about heaven and hell – he was genuinely grateful for them. Not only that, but the lady next to him spoke up and said SHE wanted one. I was experiencing the opposite of rejection: I had someone actually ASKING to be given gospel tracts. And that encouraged my heart!

My final flight was an evening flight that was two and a half hours long. A smaller jet (two seats on each side of the aisle). As usual, the flight was pretty much full. I had an aisle seat (makes the laptop easier to work on), and as I approached my seat I could see that a young “tough” would be next to me: a body-builder, heavily tattooed, with a military-style hair cut.

What a pleasant surprise to find out that he was friendly and outgoing. He was in the military and had a few days before he was being sent to Iraq for a 15-month deployment. He had a wife at home and they had recently found out that she was pregnant. As we talked it became evident that he didn’t want to be away from his family for 15 months, and that he was concerned about his safety. He enjoyed sharing about his tattoos (each one was custom, and some of them had cost $300+) and his military career. We touched briefly on spiritual things, but I didn’t feel led to go through the law with him right then. Once the plane was at altitude I started work on my laptop and he slept the rest of the flight.

When we landed we talked some more, and that is when I gave him several tracts. I shared that I would pray for his safety – and he was incredibly grateful and genuinely moved. He thanked me several times for the tracts and he promised that he would read the tracts. Here was a “tough guy” that had not rejected the gospel (well, at least he hadn’t rejected the initial sharing of the gospel), but had instead been willing to open his heart and share his fears and concerns – while promising to read the gospel tracts.

Lord Jesus, may I always speak truth to myself when I am faced with a fear. And when it is the fear of rejection in sharing the gospel, may I rest in Your promise to be with me, and rejoice in Your goodness to me demonstrated in past acceptances of the gospel.

Discussion with an ordained Baptist Deacon?

Today we were back at the homeless shelter for our once-a-month service. The Lord blessed our time, and our prayer is that He received glory and honor as a result of the service and time there, and that men were challenged and encouraged in their walk with Christ Jesus.

After the service, and while the men were eating I happened to strike up a conversation with a man that was in our area as a result of Hurricane Katrina (he was originally from New Orleans). We talked a bit about his vocation (computers) and then I brought up his relationship with the Lord.

I found out very quickly that he claimed to be an ordained Baptist Deacon, and that he had been to Baptist Seminary. And yet, my heart went out to him as we talked about the Lord Jesus Christ.

I brought up the ten commandments, and when I asked if he had kept some of them, none of them, or all of them, he felt he had basically kept them all – or at least that was his goal. “So, would you consider yourself to be a good person”, I asked. “Definitely good, in fact, I’m awesome!” was the response.

He said that at a Baptist Convention (I wasn’t sure how much of this I was believing, but I didn’t want to debate minor details but rather focus on the major issues) they had discussed the commandments, and decided that the 9th commandment, “thou shalt not steal”, was the most important. I pointed out that God had put the most important one first, but that all of His commandments are important. He would have none of that, and kept explaining the importance of economics and stealing.

As we talked, it soon became very clear that he doesn’t believe the Word of God. He felt that God was logical, and, as such, we could use our logic – apart from God’s Word – to define Who God is. I agreed that God is logical, but said that He has revealed Himself to us in His Word. For example, God said that if we break His law, we are guilty and deserve hell. That’s very logical to me. Here is the law – and here is the consequence (that's the way human court systems also work). This man vehemently disagreed. He felt someone that had only committed 500 sins would be much more worthy of heaven than someone that had committed a million sins.

When I shared Romans 3:23 with him and showed him the verse (For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God), explaining that, in God’s eyes, 1 sin, 500, or 1,000,000 – it doesn’t matter – we have all fallen short of God – he once again vehemently disagreed and felt that was my opinion.

I tried very hard not to argue with him, and it soon became obvious that sharing with him was going nowhere – and that it was fruitless. I gave him a tract to read later on (titled “Are you a good person?”).

At one point I asked him if he was aware that the Jesus had specifically said that no one is good but God - his response was that Jesus didn’t say that (Matthew 19:17 And He said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God… Mark 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Luke 18:19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.) At that point, I said the conversation wasn’t of any benefit and that we obviously disagreed, because I believed God’s Word – word for word – and he had chosen not to.

I got up to end the conversation, and was surprised that he got up to continue the conversation with me. He had become very animated and fairly upset through it all.

I pray that the Holy Spirit will use the conversation that we had to get a hold of his heart.

My goal had been to share the truth in gentleness and love, and I trust his becoming upset was a sign that the Lord was working in his heart.

RSS and blog update...

When Blogger converted my blog to the new format, it also refreshed all of my RSS feed items. Those of you that watch the blog via an RSS reader will see a lot of items showing up as "new" - that are actually old. My latest post is the one about the "queen of heaven".

Queen of Heaven?

Yesterday evening in our family devotions we were reading in Jeremiah. We read a reference to the “queen of heaven”. I know that Catholics refer to Mary as the queen of heaven, and I decided to do a little research.

I was shocked by what I found.

In Jeremiah, several times throughout the book, God, through Jeremiah, is exhorting the people of Israel to stop worshipping idols, and to not worship or pour out libations to the queen of heaven. Jeremiah warns of the consequences of idolatry and worshiping anything or anyone other than the God.

Scripture clearly teaches that there is no mediator other than the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”) – which means we are not to pray to anyone other than Him.

The clear teaching of the Catholic Church is that it is good and proper to pray to Mary, and on top of that, the Catholic Church clearly calls her the queen of heaven?!?

Link to the Official Vatican web page

ENCYCLICAL (a letter to be circulated through the Catholic Church) OF POPE PIUS XII ON PROCLAIMING THE QUEENSHIP OF MARY TO THE VENERABLE BRETHREN ….

From the earliest ages of the catholic church a Christian people, whether in time of triumph or more especially in time of crisis, has addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven….

What is even more amazing is that the Catholic Bible actually includes similar references (in Jeremiah) to the dangers of worshipping the “queen of heaven”! Any “good” Catholic, by definition, must worship (that is what praise and veneration is) and idolize the queen of heaven.

I would encourage any Catholic reading this to please spend a few minutes studying this – for yourself – in God’s Word (even the Catholic translation would be acceptable for looking at these verses) and study the references in Jeremiah to the queen of heaven – read the verses before and after to get a feeling for what is happening and the dangers of what the Israelites were doing by their idolatry, and the judgment that was soon coming upon them. I’ll include the verses below for those that would like quick and easy references…

In this first reference Jeremiah was encouraged to not even pray for their repentance because God was so angry with them:

Jeremiah 7:16-20
16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee. 17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. 19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces? 20 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

This is a longer reference, and includes a response from the people after being rebuked by Jeremiah for worshipping the queen of heaven. Their response was that they would continue, despite the fact that God’s Word was clearly telling them to stop. God, once again, said that He would destroy them as a result of their not turning from their idolatry.

It’s interesting to note that, in Scripture, prayer is pictured as incense (Rev 5:8; Rev 8:3; Rev 8:4), and these idolatrous Israelites were burning incense to the queen of heaven – and refused to stop! On top of that, the reason they wanted to continue praying to the queen of heaven is that they believed she was answering prayers – something which is claimed by the Catholic Church, but is contrary to Scripture.

Jeremiah 44:15-22
15 Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, 16 As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee. 17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. 18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. 19 And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
20 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying, 21 The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind? 22 So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.

If you have your Bible out, I would encourage you to keep reading and studying past verse 22 in the above section (in your Bible) as the judgment continues, with yet another reference to the “queen of heaven” in verse 25.

I knew the Catholic Church idolized Mary as the queen of heaven, and I knew it was contrary to the clear teachings of Scripture, but I was absolutely struck yesterday evening and this morning with the amazing clarity of God’s Word on the subject, and the incredible parallels between burning incense and offering prayers...

May none of us simply follow the teachings of man or a religious system, but may each of us be in the Word on a daily basis, following after the Lord Jesus Christ and learning of Him!

Yet another open customer service rep...

We’re back on the road for another few weeks (ministry trip). We are praying that the Lord will provide many open doors to share the gospel as we travel and share at a few small conferences.

Before leaving I called in to our cell phone company to have the data plan changed around a bit. I talked with a gentleman who helped me get everything squared away (actually, later, I found out it was the wrong package and I had to call back in – but at the time, it appeared everything was set!).

After he had helped me with the data plan he asked if there was anything else he could do to help me out. I said the cell phone was all set, but that I had another question not related to cell phones for him – if he had a minute. I had been praying (in my heart) during the phone call that the Lord would give me an opportunity to share with him, and when I asked the question I was praying that the Lord would give him a favorable reply.

He said – “go ahead”. I even double-checked his availability by saying something to the effect of “I know you probably have other calls coming in, but this’ll be quick” – and he again said “not a problem, I have time.”

I asked if he had ever heard of or taken the good person test, and he said that he hadn’t. I said it only takes a few minutes and has a “moral” at the end (that’s how unbelievers would view a spiritual truth, although salvation is far greater than simply a “moral”!). I asked if he considered himself a good person, and he said that most of the time, but, if he’s honest, not all the time. I was impressed with his answer, because a lot of people simply say “Yep, I’m good.”

I asked if he was familiar with the ten commandments, and he was. I asked if he felt he had kept all of them, none of them, or some of them. He felt he had kept most of them – but, again, to be honest, he had broken some of them.

I shared the honesty is a good one to start with, since it is the 9th commandment, that we are to never tell a lie. I acknowledged that I have told lies, and asked if he ever had. He said he had, and when I asked what that would make both he and I, he came up with the word “liars”.

The 8th commandment is that we are to not steal anything. I shared that I have stolen in the past, and that most people have stolen something when they were young, but tend to do less as they grow older - and I asked if he had ever stolen something. He acknowledged that he had stolen something when he was younger. I asked what that would make both of us and he said “thieves”.

The 3rd commandment is to not take God’s name in vain, and while he couldn’t remember a specific time, he was confident he had at some point. I said God calls that “blasphemy”.

I then said that, while people would look at him and see a good person, and he was able to get our cell phone all squared away, God would look at his heart, or mine, and see someone that is a lying, thieving, blasphemer at heart.

I asked if he were to die, and God were to judge him based on those ten commandments, as He says He will, would he be innocent or guilty. He said that, based on those commandments, he would be guilty.

I asked where he would then spend eternity, heaven or hell? He paused for a moment, and said that, he couldn’t say because his coworkers might misunderstand the conversation and think he was swearing, but that it was rather obvious.

I appreciated his sensitivity, and asked if his eternal destination concerned him – it did.

I then spent a few minutes sharing the gospel with him, and encouraging him to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has a Bible at his house, and I encouraged him to be reading in the book of John.

As we talked, I shared the difference between head knowledge (knowing about what Jesus has done for someone – as one would know a historical fact), versus life-changing repentance (actually turning away from the sin in ones life and living fully surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ) and belief in Jesus. He understood it to the point where he said most people know about Jesus with head knowledge – but they aren’t willing to change the way they life with heart knowledge.

I was surprised at his understanding of what he needed to do, but was saddened that he wouldn’t actually take the step and be broken before the Lord, but I have been praying for his salvation…

A cold telemarketer hangs up on me...

Earlier this afternoon I received a phone call from a major credit card company. They are offering a credit card that gives 5% rebates on purchases of regular office supplies.

I shared with the lady on the phone that we have a credit card that gives 3% rebates on office supplies (although we hardly ever buy items that qualify!) and are currently happy with the current card. I did say that we would keep them in mind if we ever did want the higher rebate amounts.

She went on to share about the online control panel for the credit card and the controllable spending limits. I shared why that wouldn’t make a difference for us, and said we were happy with our current card.

She went on into some other advantage, and I politely shared why we were happy with our current card, but that we would keep them in mind.

I then confirmed her name (I had heard it at the first, but wasn’t exactly sure I had heard it correctly), and said I had a question for her – she was open. But then I said it didn’t have to do with the credit card – she hesitantly said “OK”.

I asked if she had ever taken the good person test, and she emphatically said that she had. I asked if she had passed it, and she said she did. I said I had taken a good person test, but had failed it. I mentioned that my test had to do with the ten commandments and had an important moral at the end (obviously, the gospel message is WAY beyond a mere “moral” teaching, but, to an unbeliever, it helps them understand that the process is “leading somewhere”).

She was becoming a bit more hesitant to take the test and I encouraged her that it wasn’t a hard one at all. I asked if she considered herself a good person, and she said she did – but she wasn’t wanting to go on!

Since I could sense that she didn’t really want to go on, I even apologized for being “off script” (I could tell that the beginning of the conversation was being read from a script, due to her tone of voice).

She was even a bit defensive about the test, wondering if I was the one that made the judgments and set the rules!

At one point she said this was a business call (meaning she wanted to keep talking about the credit card). I shared that we had talked about business, but I had expressed to her that we were not interested in the credit card, and thought she might be interested in then taking the test.

She was then being quiet, and I actually encouraged her to not hang up on me as she probably doesn’t like it when customers hang up on her (I have had other telemarketers hang up on me before). She then rattled off a goodbye “Thank you for talking with me today and if you have any other questions about our credit card offers please call us at 888-nnn-nnnn, goodbye” and hung up.

I genuinely had an interest in sharing the gospel with her, and was surprised that she didn’t go through the test. I did not bring up the good person test in order to get her off the phone – I could have politely said goodbye and hung up at any time.

I believe telemarketers are harder to share the gospel with because of the types of people they speak with all day. Some people even have a hobby of recording telemarketing calls and “pranking” them with odd questions and conversations.

I was praying that the Holy Spirit would work in her heart while we shared, but she apparently wasn’t open. And, who knows, she could have even had her supervisor listening in on the call at that point (I suspect a lot of those call centers either record their operators phone calls or have supervisors that listen in at different times to make sure the person is “selling” properly).

I did have an opportunity to share on the phone with a customer service rep at an insurance company earlier in the day. It was a short time of sharing, but the Lord Jesus Christ seemed to bless it and I was able to share the gospel and encourage the reading of His Word (especially the book of John).

Today was a blessed reminder that the Lord doesn’t hold me responsible for the way people respond, but He does expect me to be sharing and planting the seed - in gentleness, with concern, and always founded on the truth of His Word.

Ezekiel 3:18-19: When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Gospel of John as a tract...

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but today I was out running errands and when I was grabbing tracts to take with me, I only happened to have million dollar bills and gospels of John on my desk.

Finding good tracts can be hard, and while a well written gospel tract can be very effective, I believe it’s hard to do better than the actual Word of God.

Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it SHALL accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (emphasis and CAPS added)

When checking out at a store today I asked the lady if I had ever given her a million dollar bill before (I didn’t think I had as she looked unfamiliar to me). She said I hadn’t – but was very interested in one. I asked if she liked to read things, and she said she did. I gave her a Gospel of John with a million dollar bill in it as a book mark. She was actually grateful for them and thanked me. While one cannot base the workings of the Spirit and the success of sharing the gospel on how someone first responds to the Word, it was a blessing to have her accept them!

As I’ve posted earlier, I ordered my Gospel of John’s from the Pocket Testament League (www.pocketpower.org). I don’t care for most of the covers they have because they make the Word of God to look like some little religious pamphlet that a cult would be handing out. I went with the plainer cover that shows loaves of bread and is titled “Bread of Life.” They send out the gospels for free, but ask for a donation to cover their shipping costs, and obviously they appreciate donations to cover the printing costs as well.

If you decide to join the Pocket Testament League, I guess there is a way to put in a “referral” or “member” number – so you could put mine in (224553). Supposedly, there is a way that you can see how many gospels you’ve given away on the site, and if other people join using your referral number, you can see how many THEY have given away. I tried checking the site once to see if I could find those stats, but didn’t notice them… But, it would be an encouraging way to see how God might be using the gospels that were handed out to encourage others to do the same.