Passing Along a Blessing

“What are you reading?” The young man behind the fitness center counter asked me. I was holding a mailer from a Creation ministry that I had read while using the treadmill. Especially since he asked about it, I left the material with him. That particular mailing did not have as much content as I would have preferred, but maybe this young man looked up the website after he got off work.

Do you have Christian tapes, video, music, books, and magazines that you don’t need any more? Take the time to find a good second home instead of holding on to these things or tossing them in the trash.

Good places to donate your things may be:
Libraries
Homeschool groups
Nursing homes
Prison ministries
Inner city ministries

Through Google I found a number of ministries that will use your books to bless prisoners and third world pastors and believers. If you are unsure about donating to an unknown organization, look for:

1. A Biblically-based statement of faith
2. Disclosure of their financial status
3. An approval by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability

I found only one ministry that had all three of these on their website, Christian Resources International. They have also been in ministry since 1956, which tells me they are not some fly-by-night operation. I have not donated to them so I cannot endorse them from personal experience.

Read a story about offering magazines for a waiting room.

Choosing Your Faith

I highly recommend a book, Choosing Your Faith by Mark Mittelberg. Mark helps the reader discover how to choose what to believe. You can learn more about the book by watching Lee Strobel interview Mark about his book.

You may also want to have copies of the Choosing Your Faith New Testament. I have some in our home that I plan to give to people who are interested in knowing Christ. These paperback Bibles are in the easy-to-understand New Living Translation. The New Testament also features several of Mark’s articles about why we believe in order to help readers make a decision about their faith.

Easter Outreach Ideas

I am addressing Easter cards this afternoon and plan to invite some of our neighbors for a local sunrise service and also for our church’s Easter service. As you probably know, Easter draws a lot of people to church services who otherwise would not go to church during the rest of the year.

I have given the “Jesus” film as a gift at Easter time, but realized today that I have not been that creative in using Easter as an open door for reaching people. Fortunately, I received two emails recently with a lot of good ideas that I can share with you today.

Campus Crusade’s website has an article entitled “10 Outreach Ideas for Easter“. The ideas range from gifts, to Easter egg hunts, to Facebook ads, to a strategy your church might consider (Prayer on the Porch).

Some of the items mentioned can be ordered at one of Campus Crusade’s online stores.

Our staff at our main store suggest two new resources.

1) The Case for a Creator is a new DVD based on Lee Strobel’s book of the same name. According to the email I received, “The Case for a Creator DVD is one of the most compelling arguments for the intelligent design theory useful for believers and skeptics alike.”

Click here for more infomation or to order your own copy.

2) 6 Reasons for Faith distills the essence of the Gospel into 6 points and 55 pages so you can take it anywhere. You could mail it to family or friends, hand it out when shopping, or use it for a community outreach.

Political thriller books by Joel C. Rosenberg

If you know someone who likes to read political thrillers or is curious about Bible prophecy, I recommend a series of books by Joel C. Rosenberg. The books can get violent, so you may prefer to read them first before you decide if you want to recommend them. As the reader goes further into the series, the author presents more and more of the Gospel and explains how to become a Christian.

Joel Rosenberg is knowledgeable about Biblical prophecies and current events. His first two books spent many weeks on the New York Times bestseller list partly because his books seemed to foreshadow the September 11th attacks, the War in Iraq over weapons of mass destruction, and other events.

We have read the first four books. The fifth book will be released March 2008.

• The Last Jihad
• The Last Days
• The Ezekiel Option,
• The Copper Scroll
• Dead Heat

We have recommended these books to non-Christians and also given them as gifts. Prophecy is a popular topic to open up spiritual conversations.

These books are an easy way to learn Biblical prophecy, too. See our blog on prophecy for more information.

Help for talking with people

Several decades ago, a very introverted teenager picked up a book by Barbara Walters on how to talk with people. I don’t remember the content anymore, but I remember it helped me. If striking up a conversation with people is difficult for you, you might try finding a book or two at the library to help you.

About that time, I also read How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie. A friend recently read Carnegie’s book and posted some helpful information and links on his blog for Thursday, December 20, 2007.

Another friend recommends The Fine Art of Small Talk by Debra Fine, a helpful how-to book on the subject of small talk. Fine’s book discusses many topics including attitude, introductions, sustaining conversation, and bringing conversations to a close. It’s mainly focused on social events and business situations, but is applicable to a wide range of conversations.

A real-life example.

Get the facts on The Golden Compass

I’ve been following the buzz on The Golden Compass. It’s very important for Christians to get their facts straight so we do not send the wrong message to people. I recommend:
• an excellent article from Christianity Today, and
• also another perspective this article from Chuck Colson’s ministry

to help you sort out fact from fiction.

God is the Issue: Identifying Cause and Effect

This is the site for a book discussion of God is the Issue, chapter one. Please post your comments on this chapter. The quotes and questions are intended to guide, not limit, discussion.

Quotes from the chapter:
… we must keep in mind that the ultimate debate is not about changing societal behavior. Rather, it is about the person of God Himself. As a culture, our behavior will necessarily be determined by our underlying God-belief.” – page 30

“God is the watershed. If we fail to make God the issue, we shall ost certainly and inevitably fail on every other cultural front. Time is not on our side and neither is the culture. If we fail to make God the issue now, even greater personal sacrifice will be required in the future.” – page 32

DISCUSSION for Chapter one, Identifying Cause and Effect

1. Describe the difference between focusing on symptoms versus focusing on causes when witnessing. Why are discussions about symptoms irrelevant if there is no discussion about cause?

2. Name a problem America faces which is symptomatic of a failure to acknowledge God. Also, identify the aspect of God’s character or a corresponding biblical principle which could have kept that problem from arising had it been acknowledged or obeyed.

3. What have you done, or could you do, to make God the main issue in your community? State? Nation?

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Book discussion: God is the Issue

I am experimenting with an opportunity to be more interactive with The Sower subscribers.

So, you are invited to read a short, but important book, God is the Issue by Brad Bright. Brad explains who the book is written for on page 17:
“This book is written to the person who ardently desires to bring about wholesale change within the American cultural mindset. It is written to the person who wishes to help frame the message that could ultimately allow us to win the war, not just individual battles.”

You can get an overview of the content of the book by reading this CBN interview of Brad Bright.

You are invited to join our discussion of the book OR join the discussion on The Sower Facebook group..

Go to The Study Hall for a reading / discussion schedule.

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God is the Issue

He opened his book and I opened mine. I wondered if he noticed the big, bold letters on my book’s cover: God is the Issue by Brad Bright. I was really enjoying Brad’s book and wishing I was a little further along so I would be better equipped to speak with Matt. I opened to the Chapter, Communicating God’s Heart, and read:

“. . . our hearts often do not truly reflect God’s heart. We focus on symptoms, but God focuses on the cause. We tend to judge others based on their outward appearance. God always judges based on the heart.”

Well, I knew right then the book could wait and my conversation with Matt could not. Click here to read the whole story.

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I highly recommend this book by Brad Bright. I’m planning to re-read it as soon as possible.

Brad clearly explains how Christians have been witnessing defensively. Brad gives clear examples how we can communicate positively on many cultural issues. This CBN article will give you an overview of the message of Brad’s book.

If you ever find yourself on the losing end of a conversation, you will greatly benefit by reading this short, but powerful, book.

Rapid Deployment Kits for the Military

Campus Crusade for Christ’s Military Ministry has many resources you can use for reaching men and women in the military and their families. Be sure to visit their website to discover more than I have time to mention here.

To highlight a few, the Military Ministry sends:
Chaplain’s Boxes with books and videos
20, 000 New Testaments and Bibles in Rapid Deployment Kits every month.

If Properly Led is a great leadership conference held in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

You might also enjoy reading my story about sending DVDs to my cousin serving in Baghdad.