WHAT ARE YOU SELLING?

     Not long ago Mark and I went to Wal-Mart.   Right in the front of the store was a booth set up where a man would clean your glasses for free, in hopes you would buy some of the cleaner he used.   I had seen these booths before and most of the time the salesperson would not let you get anywhere near him without wanting to clean your glasses.   I had bought some of the cleanser before and was glad to see this particular salesman.   We went over to him and I gave him my glasses.   He cleaned them and then he cleaned Mark’s.   He never asked us if we wanted him to and he never tried to sell us his product.   He was very nice and very soft-spoken.   I told him I had purchased some cleaner before but this seemed to be a better deal.   I had Mark pay him for some and we left.   Afterwards, Mark and I talked about how we were probably his only sale that day and that we hoped this was not his sole means of support because he just was not a good (aggressive) salesperson.   He didn’t approach us and he never told us anything about his product.  
     Sometimes I believe that we approach evangelism in quite the same way as this salesman.   We hang out our signs that announce the times of services and then we just sit and wait on people to come to us.   There was a movie a few years back whose catch phrase was “If you build it, they will come.”   Well, it does not usually work that way in the church.   We are supposed to seek out the lost and erring and bring them to Christ.   Instead when we talk with our nonChristian friends and family we do not mention religion.   We certainly never mention it to strangers (i.e. cashier, librarian, bagboy, etc.).   We just are not good “salespeople” and yet we have the best “product” in the world to be “selling.”   Our faith in God should certainly be something we believe in enough to try to convert others.   We have the best gift on earth and we should not only be willing to share it, but champing at the bit to.   Nowhere in the Bible do we read that we are to just build a building and hope people show up.   Nowhere do we read that teaching others is an option; it is not, instead it is a direct command.   We read, “Go, YE, therefore, and teach all nations…teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…” (Matthew 28:19) and though this command was given by Jesus to his disciples, as the book by Ivan Stewart says, Go YE Means Go ME.   Luke 19:10 tells us that “the Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost.”   As Christ was our example, then it is now our duty to seek and save the lost.   Jude 22-23 tells us there are different ways to approach people depending on their understanding.   For non-Christians, we are to have compassion and treat them more gently than those Christians who know better and yet have forsaken their Lord.   For those Jude tells us to save them “with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.”   How are we going to save others if we do not teach them?   The non-Christian, perhaps does not know to seek Christians out and the erring Christian is not trying to do God’s Will so it is up to us to find them and teach them the error of their ways.

     Perhaps the most important part of the Great Commission is that we do GO; we do try to teach.   God’s Word does not promise us that we will always succeed.   Noah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and even our Lord Himself taught people who did not always respond.   I suppose it might even be possible to live your whole life trying to convert others and never succeed in reaching anyone, but that is rather doubtful if you are truly trying.   However, should that happen we are told in I Corinthians 3:15 “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss:   but he himself shall be saved…” so God will not hold it against us for trying and failing.   What He will not accept is if we do not try. On the other hand, if we try and we succeed in bringing others to Christ we not only help them, we help ourselves.   I Timothy 4:16 (ASV) says “Take heed unto thyself, and to thy teaching; continue in these things: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” And James 5:20 reminds us “that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”   Remember, as the saying goes, we have been taught to teach, won to win, and saved to serve.   So what are you selling?   Can people tell by the life you live and the souls you try to save?

                                                                                                                            Beckye Mosher

HOW DO I FEEL ABOUT PERSONAL EVANGELISM?

How many people have I helped lead to Christ?___

How many people do I NOW have my heart set on to win to Christ? _______

To what extent have I gone to try to win these people? ____________

Approximately how many hours (or minutes) per week do I average talking to people about the Lord? _________________

How often do I pray for certain individuals to obey the Lord, or to be restored to faithful Christian duty? __________________

Do I ever pray FERVENTLY that I might become a better soul winner?_____

DO I SINCERELY TRY to help that prayer be answered? _________

Am I generally embarrassed to converse with people about Christ? _____

Do I know enough Scripture to help one become a Christian? __________

Do I honestly feel that I am my brother's keeper, and that his salvation may depend LARGELY upon me? __________________

Have I offered the excuse, "I DON'T KNOW HOW," for not doing personal work? _______

Do I think I can ever really learn how until I try? ________

When do I plan to begin? __________________________________

Has it ever occurred to me that many will die and go to God unprepared while I'm wasting time thinking I don't know how? _____________

Am I interested enough in Heaven, and does it mean enough to me that I earnestly desire others to go with me? ___________

Does a checkup list like this help me to do better? _______

REMEMBER:

1. God knows what I really CAN or CAN'T do!

2. I can't deceive God!

3. I will be held responsible for not making some attempt!

(copied)

THAT MAN I MARRIED

Introduction: I used to put out a monthly ladies bulletin. I started it before Caiti was born and then continued it most of the time up until a few years ago…more like 7, I guess. I quit when Caiti started college and I went with her. Several people asked from time to time when I was going to start them up again, but life just got progressively…IDK…more complicated, more depressing, more bad things happening, more overwhelming. So I quit writing. I’d like to start back again. I figure I will talk some about the issues we’ve had and intersperse them with old articles in hopes that people don’t die of boredom.  I picked the name for my blog partially because my ladies bulletin was entitled Heart to Heart from Acts 4:32 and partially because this will not entirely be about Bible but probably will have a lot of babbling. Below is an article I wrote in the early ‘90’s.

THAT MAN I MARRIED

I don't think any of us really know what we are getting into when we get married.   All of a sudden the guy who used to show up all clean and smelling sweet to take you out to a fancy place turns into a not-so-tidy fellow  worried about making ends meet.   Not only that, now you each have two sets of parents to deal with and while your parents' requests seem perfectly normal, his parents' requests are definitely not!  Why can't he see that?   Yes, this wonderful guy you married has suddenly become less than perfect---and guess    what?  He seems  to think you have one or two faults yourself.

     Marriage is probably one of the first major life changes you will make.  And just when you figure out that it won't be one long honeymoon, along come other drastic changes such as children, job changes, moving, etc.  Major changes can bring you together or pull you apart.  One thing I never thought about until Mark pointed it out is that when we are going through major changes, that's when we end up having some of our biggest arguments over things that, needless to say, are really silly!   Since we have become aware of this, now we try not to take out our frustrations on each other, but work together on the problem instead.

      Now it has been said that when a bride is preparing to walk down to her husband-to-be, the first thing that she sees is the aisle, the next is the altar, and then she sees him--her groom.   So naturally she thinks, "Aisle, altar, him:  I'll alter him."  Now although we may enter into marriage with changing him in mind, you will soon find that he will resist you every step of the way.   However, after so many years, you will finally just stop trying.   He hasn't changed, but you have.   You just don't care any more because you are used to him and his quirks (and vice-versa, luckily for us).  

   We have to remember that we took each other for better  or  worse, richer or poorer, and in sickness and in health---it was not a multiple choice test (I'll take better, richer, and healthy---wouldn't we all?). Marriage is not an end---you're born, you date, you marry, the end.  Marriage is a beginning of making two lives into one.   Marriage takes two people who love God and each other enough to overcome all obstacles.  And you can read all sorts of books and articles on marriage, but the best training is on the job.  Marriage is a lot of work; left alone it cannot survive.   That's why we must find time for each other alone.   That's why there is always room for improvement---our own, not our mate's!

   A lady once wanted to divorce her husband and went to a lawyer for some advice.   He told her that if she really wanted to make her husband miserable, she should go home and for three months do every little thing she could for him---try to be the best wife anyone ever had---then when she divorced him, boy, would he be sorry.   Well, several months went by and finally the lawyer called the lady and said, "Hey, what happened?   I thought you were going to divorce him."   "Divorce him???" the lady cried, "I love him!"   Guess what had changed?   Her attitude and her actions.  True the husband probably responded in kind, but it started with her.   Start with you. Try to make your marriage and your life a happy one.   Marriage is intended to last for a lifetime and since we can reasonably expect to live 80+ years, that's a long time.  But if you are truly married to your best friend, it may not seem long enough.

                ---Beckye Mosher