80,000!

Recently I had the privilige of illustrating a cartoon gospel tract for Living Waters. The tract rolled off the presses in January with 80,000 copies, and I was just notified that the tract has sold out in only six weeks! Living Waters is printing 250,000 more (that's a quarter million!). Needless to say, I am very excited! If you want to order some copies to distribute, you can read the tract online and order packs of 100 HERE (more copies should be available in a couple of weeks).

Oh, and in case you are wondering I choose not to accept any profits or royalties from sales of the tract.

Back to Blogging

I'm back to blogging, though I might not post quite as frequently as I would like. Thanks to everyone for their kind words of concern about my Dad. He is home from the hospital and doing well. But I certainly appreciate him more now, considering that we came within a whisker of losing him. If the paramedics had arrived just a couple of minutes later, he would have been dead. It's a good reminder of how brief our lives are and how we really never know how much time we have left--therefore we should strive to live each day with things that last for eternity (i.e. God's Word and the souls of men) as opposed to the things that only last during this life (i.e. money, prestige, entertainment, etc.) What a shame that so many of us focus on the latter rather than the former.

So share the Gosple while you can. You never know when your time will be up.

Taking a Break

Yesterday I received the gut-wrenching news that my father has had a heart attack. Fortunately the ambulance arrived just in time to revive him, the surgery went well, and it appears he is going to be just fine. For that I am extremely thankful to God, it could have been so much worse. And I've received a lot of prayers and well-wishes from friends, which really means a lot. But I'm still kind of shaken up as I realize what almost happened. It's the kind of thing that is supposed to happen to "other people" but never to you.

Over the next few days I will be doing nothing but spending a lot of time with family and trying to catch up on freelance work. So my blog is going on the back burner for a while...but hopefully not too long. Thanks to all my regular readers for your patience and understanding. I'll be back soon!

Cedric

Stand to Reason

If you start sharing the Gospel frequently, you will run into all kinds of questions and objections. "You can't trust the Bible." "It doesn't matter what you believe." "What about evolution?" Etc. Knowing how to deal with such questions can seem intimidating. Even if you know the right answers, it's hard not to let the conversation degenerate into an argument and take you off the main topic of the Gospel.

That's why I'm so grateful for the ministry of Stand to Reason. These are some really smart folks who specialize in training Christians to think clearly and communicate effectively. They put on a seminar in Minneapolis a few months ago that blew me away, and I'm currently taking their Ambassador Basic Curriculum course through my church. It's a 15-CD set complete with over 200 pages of printable PDF notes, which I highly recommend. Stand to Reason doesn't just give you facts to memorize, they teach you tatics for communicating effectively with others. Check it out!

Swimming Lessons

Evangelism is like swimming. There is only so much a person can learn on dry land. The real training begins when you jump in the water.

Have you put your toe in the water yet? Yes, sharing the gospel is scary. And yes, you might make some mistakes. But mistakes will keep up humble and dependant on the Lord, for "God gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). Jesus calls us to be fishers of men, and he is ultimately the one who will bring the fish into our nets when the time is right. But we can't catch any fish standing on shore.

Pray for God to give you the courage to open your mouth and speak to someone about their salvation. Or, if that is too much, try leaving a tract in a grocery cart or a bathroom stall. But do something. Jesus can take even the smallest offering and multiply it to feed thousands.

A God of Wrath?

Modern Christianity downplays or even ignores the wrath of God, probably because we dislike the stereotype of the "hellfire preacher" who portrays God as a mean, angry, spiteful bully. But there's a difference between wild "hellfire preaching" and true, biblical preaching about hell. The key is to make hell seem reasonable.

By humbly and lovingly talking about sin and our many violations of God's holy law, Hell suddenly makes sense. Not only that, but the cross suddently makes sense. When people understand that Jesus died to save us from the wrath to come, his incredible love and mercy suddenly come into focus. His grace truly becomes "Amazing".

The New Testament is full of passages about hell and judgment. Read this list of verses. Ponder them. Let them sink into your heart. Then ask God to enlarge your compassion for the multitudes of lost sinners headed for judgment without a Savior.

Mockery of Christians is Nothing New

One last post from Michael Green's excellent book, Evangelism in the Early Church. From pages 244-245:

"[Insults and mockery] pays the highest compliment to the zeal and dedication of the most ordinary Christians in the subapostolic age [2nd century]. Having found treasure, they meant to share it with others, to the limits of their ability. There is a touching example of this determination in the quarters of the imperial page boys, on the Palatine Hill in Rome. Here there is a third century picture, drawn in a youthful hand, of a boy standing in the attitude of worship, with one hand upraised. The object of his devotion is a figure on a cross, a figure of a man with an ass's head. Underneath is scrawled, 'Alexamenos worships his God.' Clearly one of the pages was a Christian, and unashamed of it. His schoolfellows were spitefully mocking him for his stand. But he was not ashamed, if we may judge from another inscription written in a different hand: 'Alexamenos is faithful!' Perhaps this was his own response to the cruel cartoon. Perhaps it was that of one of his classmates who had come to recognize the truth of what Alexamenos proclaimed."

The next time you face mocking or ridicule simply because you are a Christian, remember that you are not alone. "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.... In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 15:18; 16:31)

Evangelism in the Early Church (Part 3)

Evangelistic Motives
(Adapted from Michael Green's excellent book, Evangelism in the Early Church.)

"[The early Christians were] so convinced that they had discovered the riddle of the universe, so sure of the One true God whom they had come to know, that nothing must stand in the way of their passing this good news on to others....They might be slighted, laughed at, disenfranchised, robbed of their possessions, their homes, even their families, but this would not stop them....They were not prepared to deny Christ even in order to preserve their own lives; and in the manner of their dying they made converts to their faith." (p.273)

Green highlights three motivations that fueled evangelism in the first and second centuries:

1. A sense of Gratitude
The early Christians had been transformed by love. A love so great that it compelled their Lord to willingly suffer and die for their sins, offering forgiveness and hope even to His enemies. This same love now lived in the hearts of His followers, along with a deep sense of gratitude. How could they not give up everything in service to this Lord, and how could they not share this good news with others?

2. A Sense of Responsibility.
The early church understood they would one day be called to account for their service to the Master, and they were determined to please Him in everything they did. They understood the reality of the coming Judgment Day, when every person would be confronted with his deeds. (The stress on Judgment in the second century was so great that it was the subject of ridicule among some pagans.) They took seriously their responsibility to live every day in the light of eternity, conscious that their every action was subject to the scrutiny of God.

3. A sense of Concern.
Jesus came to seek and save the lost. The early Christians saw that on the cross Jesus suffered the wrath of God in our place, and rose triumphant to demonstrate his victory. United with Christ we could face judgment unafraid, released from the paralyzing terror of wondering all through our lives if we would be accepted or rejected on the last Day. If you believe that outside of Christ there is no hope, it is impossible to posses and atom of human love and kindness without being gripped with a great desire to bring people to this one way of salvation. Many in the early church plead earnestly, even with tears, to try and persuade others to step out of darkness and into the wonderful light of Christ.


May we do the same. Take a moment to examine yourself, and ask God to grow these same motives in your own heart.

The History of Natural Man

I came across this neat little Flash animation called The History of Natural Man. It's a simple but dramatic presentation of our sinful nature and why we need a Savior. I wish it did a a better job of explaining how we get saved (answer: repentance and trust) but it's still a powerful reminder of why we can't save ourselves.

After you watch it, take a minute to ponder the wonder of your salvation. Then ask God for the courage to share that Good News with someone else.

Dying to Witness

Joshua Ritchie has posted an inspiring little entry over at his blog about his friend "Big Al". It's a story about a guy with a truly amazing heart for evangelism. Give it a read.

Optical Illusion Tract Holder

A while back I designed an optical illusion tract holder for Living Waters. The dog's head appears to follow you as you walk past it. It's a neat idea if you want a way to display tracts on a shelf or tall counter top. It reads, "Take one if you dare!", which will naturally arouse curiosity about the tracts. You can view a video of the illusion and order it here (tracts not included).

Check it out!

Joshua Ritchie has been kind enough to recommend this site on his blog, Deception in the Church. Judging from his blog name you might think Joshua has a big axe to grind. Actually he has a good head on his shoulders and a great heart for evangelism. His blog is a good read, I highly recommend it.

Evangelism Training

First, if you live in the Minneapolis area you are invited to our monthly evangelism training meeting tonight (Tuesday 2/7) at 7pm in the Northwestern Bookstore, Har Mar Mall, Roseville. We talk about various aspects of sharing the gospel, and then usually break up into small groups to do some role playing. It's a fun time and it's free (hey, can't beat that!) See you there.

For the rest of you, I also highly recommend The School of Biblical Evangelism which you can online from the comfort of your home. If you can't afford the course, at least buy the textbook. From the website:

"With 101 lessons on subjects ranging from basic Christian doctrines to knowing our enemy, from false conversions to proving the deity of Jesus, you will be well-equipped to answer questions as you witness to anyone. This study course will help you to prove the authenticity of the Bible, provide ample evidence for creation, refute the claims of evolution, understand the beliefs of those in cults and other religions, and know how to reach both friends and strangers with the gospel."

Hell's Best Kept Secret

This is one of the best sermons I have ever heard. It has caused me to completely re-think how I share the gospel. The speaker, Ray Comfort, is not a fan of modern evangelism. Instead he draws insights from great evangelists like Spurgeon, Whitfield, Wesley, etc, translating them into modern terms in refreshing and creative ways. The reason modern American Christianity is so impotent, he says, is because we have negleted a key biblical principle used by these great men: Using the Law to bring conviction of sin. Give it a listen, it will open your eyes,

More Adventures of A Chicken

"All men who are eminently useful are made to feel their weakness in a supreme degree."
--Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon Gold, p.61

"I have learned to thank God for fear, because without it, I wouldn't pray. I wouldn't bother. It is my own weakness that make me pray. My weakness makes me whisper, "Help me, Lord," and thus becomes my strength."
--Ray Comfort, Spurgeon Gold, p.61

"I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling."
--The Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 2:3

"Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is acting in spite of our fears."
-- Unknown

More often than not, I'm a coward. When I talk with someone about Christ or even just pass out a tract, my heart beats faster and my palms get sweaty. How encouaraging to know that great men like Spurgeon, professional evangelists like Ray Comfort, and even the great Apostle Paul also struggled with fear. Yet these men put aside their fears, took up their crosses, and followed Christ in spite of the jeering crowd. May God grant us that same courage.

If we wait until we are no longer afraid to tell others how they can be saved, we will never speak...and they may never hear.

Letter From an Atheist

The following is an e-mail sent to evangelist Ray Comfort at Living Waters. This atheist "gets it" better than some of us Christians:


"You are really convinced that you've got all the answers. You've really got yourself tricked into believing that you're 100% right. Well, let me tell you just one thing. Do you consider yourself to be compassionate of other humans? If you're right, as you say you are, and you believe that, then how can you sleep at night? When you speak with me, you are speaking with someone who you believe is walking directly into eternal damnation, into an endless onslaught of horrendous pain which your 'loving' god created, yet you stand by and do nothing.

If you believed one bit that thousands every day were falling into an eternal and unchangeable fate, you should be running the streets mad with rage at their blindness. That's equivalent to standing on a street corner and watching every person that passes you walk blindly directly into the path of a bus and die, yet you stand idly by and do nothing. You're just twiddling your thumbs, happy in the knowledge that one day that 'walk' signal will shine your way across the road.

Think about it. Imagine the horrors Hell must have in store if the Bible is true. You're just going to allow that to happen and not care about saving anyone but yourself? If you're right then you're an uncaring, unemotional and purely selfish (expletive) that has no right to talk about subjects such as love and caring."

Objection: "You Can't Trust the Bible"

If you start sharing the Gospel regularly, you will hear this objection a lot. It takes several forms. Here's a few tips on how to respond:

"The Bible is full of contradictions"
Politely ask them to give you an example. Chances are they can't. Most non-Christians have never studied the Bible for themselves, they are just parroting something they have heard other people say. Appeal to their intellectual integrity, and ask them if it is reasonable to reject the Bible without first reading it?

"The Bible was written by men, therefore it has mistakes"
Just because a human being wrote something doesn't automatically mean it has to have errors. Ask them if they reject washing machine manuals or school textbooks just because they are written by humans?

Besides, if there is an all-powerful God and He wanted to give us a sacred text that was error-free, isn't it possible that he could have preserved it throughout the centuries? Then politely point out that the hundreds of fulfilled prophecies prove that the Bible is supernatural.

"The Bible has been re-copied and re-translated so many times that it is corrupted."
Many people believe that the modern Bible is really a copy of a copy of a copy, sort of like the game of telephone. That's simply not true. Every time a new translation is made, the translators go directly to the original Greek and Hebrew as their source.

Besides, the abundance of translations actually makes it easier to catch mistakes and weed them out. Suppose I gave copies of a recipe to five of my friends. Then they write out copies for their friends. And so on. Eventually someone slips up and writes "1 tablespoon" instead of "1 teaspoon". If we gather all the copies and compare them, the erroneous card will easily stand out from the rest. It's the same with the Bible.


One final tip: Never hesitate to quote the Scriptures to unbelievers. Suppose you put a sharp sword to my throat and said, "Give me your money or I'll cut off your head!" Then I respond, "Ha! I don't believe in swords!" Silly, isn't it? Similarly, the Bible is "living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword...it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). The sword of the Spirit can bring conviction of sin to even the heardest heart.