Those of us interested in the conversion of souls through faith in Christ are always looking for well written tracts that succinctly articulate the gospel to the lost. For years our church has exclusively used Ultimate Questions, a tract written by Christian apologist and author John Blanchard. Over fifteen million copies of Ultimate Questions have been sold.Next week Evangelical Press will release in the United States the tract Where Do We Go From Here?, written by the bestselling Christian author John Blanchard. The tract is 40 pages long, very well written, and is the absolute best gospel tract I have read in terms of articulating the gospel for a person facing impending death.
Let me encourage you to read the information about the tract and order at least 100 copies for your evangelistic efforts at your church. Our church will be ordering them by the thousands and will leave them in hospital rooms, jail cells, and in the brochure packets that tell people about our church. In a day when the gospel is often presented in a cartoon or puerile manner, we should be grateful for an indepth, scholarly, but readable presentation of the good news by John Blanchard.
23 comments:
Cheers to Emmanuel Church.
Hard to resist something endorsed by folks like MacArthur and Duncan.
And of course, Burleson. :)
Surely it can't be another dreadful "God has a wonderful plan for your life" or "Jesus is better than beer" tract?!
Ordering today!
Wade, excellent ideal....
Wade,
Good heads up. I have not read "Ultimate Questions," but intend to simply because my friend recently posted that his wife was saved after reading the tract. (I think today she was to be baptized!)
I also intend to look at this new one. Thanks,
Steve Young
Wade,
I know that he has been to your church a few times. John was at my former church last fall and I got to play golf with him twice. He is pretty good. He is a great apologetics speaker too.
Humor Warning:
Here's hoping it contains the requisite number of inerrancy citations and "must nots" to earn the imprimatur of the old boys comfort club!!
I never quite understood why we produce "cartoon-version" witnessing tools. Sure seems we dumb down our evangelism efforts, then wonder why people don't grow in their faith.
Thanks for the heads up and for building a solid foundation for your people in Enid.
m. steve,
We worked with many folks in Mexico and Brasil who could not read anything other than cartoon material. More literate items were beyond them. I am told now, that the illiteracy rate in my county of residence is about 30%. How's that for a reason?
Hey Steve read your blog about why you can't figure out why God would create half of the population who can't do something (referring to woman pastors)---He has already done that---men can't give birth. No matter how much they maybe moved by the Spirit.
Chris,
Okay, I'll give you that point. I think in the early morning hours this morning, I failed to think of the example you gave.
While some animated narratives may serve a purpose, we do need to be careful in keeping the message accurate and if the audience allows, challenging in presentation. I've just seen one too many tract with talking animals and trees. I'm sure as soon as I say those don't have a place, someone will jump in and say I am being unfair to tree and animal lovers.
By cartoon, if you're talking about Chick Tracts...man I love those things! Sure, you have to be careful which one's you hand out but some are quite good. I still read them now and don't in the least bit feel like someone had to “dumb” then down for me. And I hand them out too, if you visit the restrooms in my building, you’ll see some in the stalls. Talk about a captive audience :0
belief matters,
seems like you are talking about a wholly different issue in kind, especially when women are specifically charged with sharing the gospel of Jesus' resurrection.
m. steve,
I liked some of the cartoon ones I saw in Brasil. At the same time, I had most success handing out gospels of John, Mark, Luke, or Matthew. It was the first book many people I gave the to had ever owned. At big events, it was common to see tracts thrown on the ground. I never saw any of the gospels thrown away, however.
It may not have been as directed in evangelism, but stamping the gospels with a local church information had some measurable results.
They have been charged with doing that but there is no charge in Scripture given for them to be pastors.
Belief matters,
So what is the primary role of a pastor?
-sharing the gospel (proclamation)?
-organizational leadership (not intrinsically spiritual)?
-exercising authority (downplayed by Jesus in terms of control/power?
-moderating business meetings?
-counseling?
-officiating weddings and funerals?
-shaking hands as people leave the sanctuary?
-?
-?
I Peter 5 would provide a good answer, but I have gotten us off topic. I apologize to Wade and the others for posting all this here.
Blessings to All
Jeff
"I never quite understood why we produce "cartoon-version" witnessing tools. Sure seems we dumb down our evangelism efforts, then wonder why people don't grow in their faith."
Like Veggie Tales for kids? Talk about dumbing down God's Word. And Children are like sponges when it comes to the real Word. They believe it!
Although, I do love the 'Cheeseburger' song. :o)
Complexity is an issue, and literacy is definitely an issue, but it sure seems that the KEY issue is contact with a live, warm body standing there looking at you who cares enough to have knocked on your door, am I right?
P.S.: Wade, the word verification things are getting tough to figure out!
Humor Warning!
If someone reads one page a day, then you have 40 days of ...
Seriously, I look forward to seeing this. I hope it doesn't take me 40 days to read, but it is the end of the semester.
Wade,
What happened? You changed your profile picture....
I respectfully have to say that Rachelle was the best part of your old profile picture.....
You look too, well, pastorly in your new picture..... maybe you could loosen up a bit and get a picture of yourself in some casual cloths....
something like, well, a, T-shirt or something.......
I sure hope Wade does not believe it unscriptural for Rachelle to speak on the blogs.... :)
-Absolutely, kidding!
PS: John, while I agree with your comment about Wade's new photo-- have you taken a look at YOURS lately? LOL
I forgot to shave the day I took my profile photo....
P.S: I picked a Camel because of many things; I am stubborn, but essential in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I am slow, but consistent. I save for a rainy day. I plan on being around forever (camels live 80 years). I am not that pretty and my value is within me.
Disclaimer; I have never smoked a Camel, hate cigarette smoke, and am glad they cost $5 a pack.
john moeller, I noticed that in your disclaimer you did not disavow "The Camel Method." Are you going to combine Blanchard's tract with Camel?
I think I lost something in the translation... uhhhh
The orig blog spoke about a '40 page tract'. Now I always figured tracts are somewhat 'pocket pals' that someone could read in a few minutes...etc.
Aren't you mixing spoons with forks? Long, short, content, format, colors should all be tailored to the audience preferred. You know... like the NT 4 Gospels.
godscomputermanual.com
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