The Great Commission
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 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. – Matthew 28:19-20
Be Prepared
In this post I will discuss ways to spread the Gospel, which even shy people can easily do. Many of these methods I learned from the multitude of suggestions given at www.chick.com. The first step is to be prepared; this includes preparing yourself mentally and spiritually as well as by becoming well supplied with Gospel proclaiming literature. Scroll to the end of this list for links to great sources.
Ideas For Distributing Tracts
There are many ways to distribute tracts. Chick tracts (Named after their author, Jack Chick) are very attractive and effective due to their miniature comic book format. They really do get read. It is important to always carry these tracts with you, because you can leave them to be a witness wherever you go. When you buy gasoline, leave one on the fuel pump. When you use a public restroom leave at least one in the restroom. When you mail in a check to pay a bill, send a Chick tract along with your check. At first I was almost afraid to do this one. What if they are offended and decide to pretend that they never received my payment? That could hurt your credit rating or create some type of penalty fee. But I did it anyhow. And I’ve been doing it for months now with no trouble. That’s a lot of Chick tracts delivered free, you don’t have to use a stamp just to mail a Chick tract. I also try to send a different Chick tract each time, just in case the same person is in charge of my account, but I tend to think they have thousands of employees and a different person gets my envelope each time, that is a lot of people you can reach. So here is one disadvantage of paying bills online or automatically through your bank account – less opportunity to witness. Unless you know how to send an e-tract along with your payment, if that is possible?
Waiting rooms and lounge areas are a great place as well. I’ve done this before. I’ve left New Testaments, Gospels of John, and Chick tracts – and they have gotten read. One time I placed a New Testament and it disappeared for a while. Then it reappeared maybe two weeks later – and it was obvious from its dog eared pages that it was heavily read over those two weeks. Everyone seems to love the Chick tracts. It is obvious that they get read, and they also disappear because people take and keep them. I’ve seen people experience a wide variety of emotions from reading them.
Satan Works To Discourage Us
Satan wants very much to discourage people from distributing tracts. But remember this – How much is a soul worth? What I am saying is that many people think they would be wasting their time and money distributing tracts. Now if you are a good talker, and would rather share the Gospel verbally with nearly everyone you see – then perhaps tracts are of little value to you. But if you are not daily sharing the Gospel in other ways then your unwillingness to spread tracts is only evidence that you have a spiritually dead life. Seeing as Christ has done so much for us we should surely want others to have the same blessing. The Scriptures encourage us to bring this same blessing to others. Through familiarity with the scriptures also comes the increasing of our faith that we may receive the many blessings from God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Everyone is called to be a part of the great commission. God gives no commands today which are not meant to be kept by everyone.
Importance Of Prayer
Before distributing any tracts, gospel, or testament it is vitally important to pray. Here is another problem with those who do not share the Gospel in any way – they lack Faith. After I pray over a tract, I am fully persuaded that God is able to use it to save sinners and strengthen saints.
Sharing The Gospel In Other Languages
Another great use of Chick tracts is to reach people whose language you can't speak. Where I have been there are Vietnamese as well as those who speak Russian, Ukrainian, and of course Spanish. Even if they also speak English, I think it is often more meaningful to them to read something in their native tongue. Especially if there is less material available in their own language, they are likely more inclined to read whatever is available. Whenever I leave tracts in another language they seem to disappear even faster than the rest.
The Best Way To Leave Tracts?
There are both advantages and disadvantages to leaving tracts in secret or openly. If you leave them when others are observing you the advantage may be that the person who reads the tract will know to talk to you if they have questions. They will also know who to blame, and perhaps persecute. If you leave the tracts secretly, someone who finds them may have questions and not know who to talk to for guidance. But if they despise the message they will not know who to trouble. More importantly they will not be able to stop the person leaving tracts. Suppose you leave a tract which is written to help Roman Catholics escape from the bondage of that false religious system. Suppose they interpret this tract as hateful and complain to someone who has power over you, such as your employer, someone in a position to enforce laws, or via a judge through a lawsuit. However, if no one knows you are leaving the tracts then you cannot get in trouble. Sometimes to witness you are called to risk losing money, your job, your status, or even your life. But sometimes in this country (USA) you can witness effectively without seriously risking any of these. I believe than one solution for many is to leave the tracts secretly, but at the same time be a good Christian example, clearly in both word and deed. This way if any read the tract and need someone to talk to they will go to you anyhow. Not because they know you left the tract, but because they know that you will be able to help them and guide them in how to be saved and grow in the Christian faith (Matthew 10:16).
Believing The Devils Lies ?
Today Satan works hard to destroy the church from within, and to help him succeed you should remain relatively quiet about your faith.* You should be a mediocre lukewarm Christian.* You should be Christian enough to believe you are saved, but you should never profess beliefs which seem too fundamental or extreme.* You should never say anything which condemns the majority of professing Christians.* You should tell others only about the love of Christ and avoid subjects like hell or sin.* You should be afraid to say anything against the Roman Catholic Church, against the Muslims, against any other false religion, or to criticize any who proudly and openly profess and glorify their sins.* After all, if you get yourself in trouble or killed then you will be unable to ever witness to others.* You should never speak harshly to anyone, and never tell anyone things that will upset them.*
*These are the lies of the Devil. And by these the church is destroyed. The verses that help to expose these lies are as follows; Matthew 28:19-20, Revelation 3:16, Matthew 7:21-23, Matthew 10:28, 35, 37, 38, 39, 2 Corinthians 5:11, 2 Corinthians 10:12, 18, Luke 3:7, John 8:45, Galatians 4:16, and Ezekiel 3:18, among others.
The Growth Of The Church
The way for the church to grow is by faith and fearlessness, not forgetting charity (love in action)(1 Corinthians 13:13, 1-13). If the whole church was unafraid of men then the church would grow. The church cannot be destroyed from without, only from within. Take for example John Knox and Martin Luther, two men who spoke the truth and who could have easily been killed early in their lives. Even Christ himself was protected from death until the proper time (Matthew 26:18) (and Paul in 2 Timothy 3:11). God will protect men in the most dangerous of situations (Psalm 34:19), provided they do his will, and provided that God has not yet decided to bring them home to himself (2 Corinthians 5:8-9).
No Fear Of Persecution
There are three reasons that no true Christian should fear persecution or even martyrdom. For the Lord delights in true Christians, these are his servants, who are his friends and saints. For they do his will from their heart, believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them who seek him diligently (Psalm 149:4, Revelation 19:5, John 15:14, Matthew 7:21, Ephesians 6:6, Hebrews 11:6). First, if we suffer and are persecuted or killed for Him we shall reign with Him, live with Him and have great reward (Matthew 5:10-12, 2 Timothy 2:11-12). Second, we are not irreplaceable. As Abraham had faith that God could raise up Isaac (Hebrews 11:17-19), and as Christ knew that God could raise up children for Abraham from mere rocks (Matthew 3:9), so to can God raise up new disciples from the weakest among us to do great things for His Glory (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). Third, as Tertullian observed of the early churches persecution – "The Blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." And that is why the church cannot be destroyed from without by the flesh, but only from within, by spiritual attacks of Satan, sent by deceiving spirits and the mouths of false prophets and ear tickling preachers (Ephesians 6:12-18, 2 Corinthians 10:4, 1 Timothy 4:1, Revelation 16:13-14, Mark 13:22, 2 Peter 2:1, 1 John 4:1, 2 Timothy 4:3-4).
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he who winneth souls is wise. - Proverbs 11:30, Daniel 12:3, Matthew 13:43
The term "soul winning" can be misunderstood, because people don't win souls, it is the Holy Spirit who changes the hearts of men. Nevertheless, it is a term the scriptures use; therefore we should use it also, we should just be cautious to be sure we properly understand what it means (1 Corinthians 3:4-11, especially 1 Corinthians 3:7).
Good sources for Gospel Proclaiming Literature (Tracts and Gospels)
http://www.ptl.org/code/products.php (be sure to select KJV)
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