Category: By This Name

Can you tell me what the Old Testament is about?

Staff Writer
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medical-scan-equipment“Hey, I remember you!” Ginny* greeted the medical technician as she came into the room full of equipment.

“Oh yes, you were here a year ago, right?” Sonia replied. She had a distinct accent, which Ginny soon learned was due to her Eastern European heritage.

The two women chatted about the weather, where they each were from, and how they came to live in their small town. As Sonia arranged the scanning equipment, she asked Ginny, “So what do you do?”

Ginny has been a GoodSeed staff member for many years. Since she’s made it her habit to look for opportunities to reach out, she had a ready reply for Sonia: “I work with an organization called GoodSeed. We make books for people who maybe aren’t religious, but who are curious about the story of of the Bible–about the Old Testament and the New Testament–and about what it all means.”

“Oh!” Sonia exclaimed, with obvious interest. “I was born in Ukraine, but I’m actually Jewish, and I’ve been asking people, ‘Can you tell me what the Old Testament is all about?’ But no one has been able to answer me.”

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We rearranged our lives to make sharing the gospel possible

Naomi
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organizerGoodSeed staff Jeremy* hung up the phone and stared at the hastily scribbled notes in his small notebook. Joy gripped his heart as he considered all that the Lord had been doing through the faithful witness of one couple, Ron and Laura. Jeremy had conducted a training session some years ago that the two of them had attended. It had made such an impact that they went home and began rearranging their lives so they could be more active in sharing the gospel.

Laura had told Jeremy over the phone, “Ron used to work construction on job sites long distances from home, which made it difficult for him to be involved in these studies. But God has helped us rearrange our lives so that he now has a job only two minutes away.”

Was this drastic change worth it? Laura said, “This is the easiest thing we have done with our lives… but not the quickest.” Sharing a clear gospel with others takes time, but the results are worth it. Both Ron and Laura felt that the tools provided by GoodSeed gave their outreach a greater impact.

Laura said, “When you learn to share the gospel this way [with these tools] it simplifies your life… you know what to do!”

Jeremy marvelled at what the couple had done. He smiled as he reviewed the stories they had shared with him.

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What were her true intentions?

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book study

Rachelle* seems to always be guiding someone through the gospel message using Par ce nom, the French edition of By This Name. Though she never sets out searching for an individual to teach, the Lord regularly brings people into her life who desire to understand the Bible’s message. Amièle, a young teenager, was one such seeker.

Amièle had a rough start in life. Her home life was defined by upheaval and uncertainty, finally culminating with a move to live with her grandparents. When a friend invited her to attend church, she agreed and began joining the teen class each week. Though she attended for a year and a half, she still understood very little about the Bible. As this became more apparent, her Sunday school teacher asked Amièle if she would like to study a book called Par ce nom. The teachers would be Rachelle and the Sunday school teacher and the participants would be Amièle, the teacher’s daughter and a young man who was not a believer.

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Why use the concept of a global classroom? — Insight #8

Classroom teachingThis series gives an inside view on the structure of By This Name and how it breaks through confusion in our diverse society, bringing clarity to the message of the gospel.

One unique theme used to great effect in By This Name is the concept of the “global classroom.” Highlighted in chapter seven (page 145), the global classroom is the idea that all the peoples of the world are students in a class and the teacher, Yahweh, chooses one among the class to help in his presentation. From all the possible nations on earth, Israel was chosen as the “example nation.” By watching how Yahweh interacts with the Israelites, the other peoples of the world can understand who Yahweh is and what he is like.

“Why Israel?” the reader may ask. “What makes that people group so special?”

The Bible provides the answer:

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Dad, are we Jews or are we Christians?

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By This Name in HebrewA Jewish parent shared this question of identity with a GoodSeed staff worker one afternoon during a meeting in the ancient city of Jerusalem. His teenage children had posed the question to him after being repeatedly harassed at their local school for their beliefs. Finally they confronted their father, frustrated with these attacks on their identity. “Dad, are we Jews or are we Christians? What are we and what’s the difference between the two?” they asked.

He reassured them, “You’re both. You’re Jews who believe that the Messiah has come, just as He promised.”

As a ministry looking to support the Christian faith in Israel, the Bible Society in Israel (BSI) began looking for a resource that would explain the harmony between the Old Testament and the New.

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Why talk about prophecy when sharing the gospel? — Insight #7

This series gives an inside view on the structure of By This Name and how it breaks through confusion in our diverse society, bringing clarity to the message of the gospel.

One of the obstacles in sharing the gospel is getting the reader to trust in the truthfulness and reliability of Scripture. If he or she doesn’t believe in what the Bible is saying, then that person will likely reject the gospel. So how do we enable someone to gain confidence in the Word of God?

God has seen fit to put into his Word a powerful, self-authenticating feature that shows his Word not only to be true, but accurate. It’s what we know as prophecy.

Prophecy is a unique, self-authenticating feature of the Bible
Simply put, prophecy is a prediction about a future event. And the Bible is replete with it—nearly 27% of Scripture is prophetic. No other ancient book provides so many prophecies about future world events. Many of the prophecies in the Bible have been precisely fulfilled hundreds, even thousands, of years after they were initially given. Each fulfilled prophecy adds credence to the fact that the Bible is a reliable text. By This Name highlights a number of fulfilled prophecies to help the reader build trust in Scripture.

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A long journey of the soul

Naomi
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journeyA person’s journey to the Saviour can sometimes seem a long road, especially when we’re so desirous of a quick decision and so aware of the urgency attached to the gospel.

Rose* watched Gracia travel one such journey, spread over the course of many years. Gracia is an immigrant, born in a country dominated by a religion whose main emphasis is salvation through works. Rose and Gracia met at work and over time, formed a friendship.

Rose has used GoodSeed materials for many years, so whenever GoodSeed published a new book, she made it a habit to offer it to her co-workers. Thus Rose gave Gracia both The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus, as well as a copy of The Lamb. When Gracia’s daughter took a great liking to The Lamb, Gracia raved about the book and bought additional copies for other family members. But even with all this exposure to the gospel, she held firmly to her own belief system and would not seriously consider another way of thinking.

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Why deal with syncretism when sharing the gospel? — Insight #6

syncretism-add-mixThis series gives an inside view on the structure of By This Name and how it breaks through confusion in our diverse society, bringing clarity to the message of the gospel.

At the very basic level, syncretism happens when someone simply adds what they think the Bible says to what they already believe. Combining these two very different views leads to them adopting a third belief system.

What does syncretism look like? Take Lynn for example. Lynn believes in the Bible. A college friend explained the gospel to her and Lynn accepted what her friend shared. Every day, she reads a portion of Scripture. Every week, she not only attends the religious services in which she was raised but also a new church with which she has connected. She also tries, at every opportunity, to be good, to do good and to have good thoughts. She believes that God will find her acceptable and she can get to heaven because of these good works. She believes that good will come back to her if she does more good. (After all, will she not reap after death what she has sown in this lifetime?) For now, she also relies on horoscopes to foresee the future and to help guide her decision-making.

This description of Lynn is one of syncretism. She has mixed non-biblical ideas with Scripture, resulting in a completely different belief system. People like Lynn are very common in today’s world. They simply layer on bits of biblical truth onto their underlying belief system. There is no true understanding of the gospel message.

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She had very little to say

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new home, real estate, moving and furniture concept - close up of male lifting up sofa or couch

Luc and Rachelle* had made the big decision. It was time to sell their house and downsize in order to lower their expenses. The couple began the process of reducing their belongings and they went online to post household items for sale.

One night, a couple responded to one of the furniture listings. Bruno and Therese, a recently-immigrated couple from Africa, were interested in a number of pieces. Arrangements were made but when they arrived to pick up the items, Bruno realized their vehicle wasn’t big enough to hold it all. Luc offered to load some of the pieces onto his vehicle and drive it over to Bruno’s place. Bruno and Therese were very appreciative as Luc arrived at their place with the items. He even helped them carry the furniture into the house and set everything up.

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Risen: a springboard to the gospel

Michelle
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risen-movie
Image © 2016 Sony Pictures Digital Productions Inc.

It is not unusual to see accounts from the Bible make it to the silver screen. Even if the films are not biblically accurate, they are good conversation starters that allow us to share what the Bible really does say. It is an opportunity for us to share the message of the gospel.

This year is the release of Risen. It tells the story of Christ’s resurrection from the perspective of a Roman soldier. Rather than throwing doubt onto the biblical account, Risen supports it. It presents Jesus as the Messiah sent by Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews. While one can appreciate how the story is crafted, the movie doesn’t explain why Jesus died and rose again. And so here is a good opportunity to take the conversation further with your unsaved friends who have seen the film.

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