The GoodSeed Blog – Page 39 – Articles, news and testimonies

Easy enough for a burned-out mind like mine to understand.

(Editor’s note: Upfront it seems difficult to guide someone through a study of the Bible. But what if you had to deal with troubled teens? How do you hold their attention? How do you explain the Bible’s truth in a way that they can understand? Learn how George used the Worldview Rethink tools to do just that.)

Recently, George* finished a Worldview Rethink course with teenage boys from a resident recovery program. These boys were aged between 13-18 and were struggling with life-controlling issues like behavioral problems, substance abuse and more. The Worldview Rethink curriculum provided an easy and clear way to teach the Bible’s message to these troubled youths.

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What does it mean to be a Christian?

(Editor’s note: In a world of ever-increasing biblical illiteracy, people presume they know what the Bible is all about just because they attend church regularly or they do “Christian” things. As Brandon’s story illustrates, a person can live his life acting like a Christian without actually being one. But it isn’t hard to get a good foundation of the Bible if one reads a book that explains its message clearly.)

We received a long, hand-written letter from Brandon.* In over four pages of beautiful penmanship, he described his mistaken ideas about what he thought it meant to be a Christian. He writes:

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God used his magic wand!

magic wand

(Editor’s note: When we create our tools, we do our best to ensure the text itself explains the gospel clearly. Even a young person who can read aloud can lead another through the gospel. This is Jessie’s story.)

Gloria’s* seven-year-old daughter, Jessie, recently started asking questions like “Who made the world? Where did people come from?” As a child, Gloria had gained some Bible knowledge from her Grandma and from summer camps, but now all she could tell Jessie was “God made the world.”

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Easy craft lamb

One teacher regularly uses The Lamb to share the gospel with children on mission trips. She shared this easy lamb craft made out of everyday materials. The kids love it and it reminds them of Jesus, the lamb, who takes away their sins.

Materials

Empty plastic pill bottle
Cotton balls glued all over the bottle
Black straws cut to length and stuck on as legs
Black paper for the lamb’s face
Stick-on eyes from the craft store

Easy and fun!

Why wouldn’t I believe!

Coffee heart

What would you do if your son or daughter was interested in someone of a different worldview? Learn how one father in Australia lovingly provided a way for a young man to explore the Bible’s worldview and see what God did in this young man’s life.

We recently received an email from Greg* in Australia. He related to us how his son-in-law, Kyle,* came to put his trust in Jesus. When Kyle had been serving in the military, he had wanted to date Greg’s daughter, Megan*. She was interested in Kyle, but unwilling to date an unbeliever. Her father also made it clear to Kyle that he did not approve of a relationship. But Greg offered Kyle an opportunity to get an understanding of what the Bible is about so Kyle could understand Megan’s faith.

Kyle said he was willing to explore the Bible and so Greg led a study with Kyle and Megan. They got together to read through By This Name. Greg was understandably skeptical about Kyle’s level of interest. Was this just Kyle’s way of getting over the family’s objections? Was Kyle being sincere in wanting to investigate the Bible? Kyle had never been to any church and he had no knowledge of the Bible. He wasn’t even religious in any way. But Greg pushed ahead with the study.

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Would you accept life-changing truth in five minutes?

Five minutes

At GoodSeed, we encourage believers to share the gospel in two ways: give and guide.

In giving, you pass a GoodSeed tool, such as a book or audiobook, to someone else. That recipient then has an opportunity to explore for himself the message of the Bible. The book (or audiobook) is an invitation to investigate. It gives this person enough information to decide for himself if he believes the gospel. The authority is not you, the giver, but it’s the Bible as explained by the book’s author. The reader can spend as many hours as needed in exploring the message of the book.

In guiding, we are personally explaining the gospel to someone else. Asking a stranger to trust us in a span of a few minutes is very difficult, as Etienne* below, has discovered. It’s not easy to convince a stranger to believe our message if he doesn’t know who we are. Etienne has learned that time must be spent establishing trust before a listener will believe the message he is sharing.

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Only God is able to penetrate the minds of the young and old

100 Years Old

Editor’s note: How can we share the gospel with an elderly person, especially one who suffers from dementia or another condition that limits the clarity of the mind? Doug Nichols, Founder and International Director Emeritus of Action International Ministries, has found a good way to share the gospel with such senior citizens. He and his wife Margaret read aloud “The Lamb” and managed to share a clear gospel with a group of elderly folks. Now that’s inspiring! Read on as Doug shares the story:

My 100 year-old father-in-law resides in a home-care facility with five other residents (Dad calls them “inmates!”). Even though the facility owners are Christians, we have been praying about how to share the gospel and minister to these elderly residents. Many have Alzheimer’s, dementia, or are otherwise slow in their thinking. Recently, my wife Margaret began reading the children’s picture book, The Lamb to six residents after lunch. They could hardly wait for each session. It was excellent!

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The gospel smashed into my heart

Photo credit: Willem van Bergen on flickr

Out of the blue, we received a phone call last week. It was from a gentleman named Manuel* who lives in the US. He said he was prompted by God to share his story with us.

Manuel related that he became a believer 30 years ago but his life took a dramatic turn when he attended one of our TERM Seminars in Idaho. He was brought through The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus and he said he really “bumped into the meaning of God.” He fell in love with the book and sought to use it to explain the gospel to others.

His first two students were his mum and dad. They were impacted by the message. His dad said the gospel “smashed into my heart” and made him realize how much of a sinner he was.

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A cycle of sin, confess… sin, confess…

Sin, Confess... Sin, Confess... Let me take a moment of your time to tell you my story–the true story of a Christian who became a Christian. No, that was not a typo! Let me explain…

I grew up in the Bible Belt surrounded by churches. The local school was called a Christian school; and most folks were called Christians. My parents also subscribed to this way of thinking. We went to church Sunday after Sunday, read our Bibles and prayed regularly. In fact, we made a good number of short-term mission trips together.

So it happened one day that the local evangelical church we attended had a joint Sunday School meeting. All the kids were gathered together to watch a film. I can’t remember what it was about but I do remember an adult stepping forward after the film and saying that if we wanted to go to heaven that we needed to invite Jesus into our hearts. So around the age of five I did just that–without telling a single soul–not even my own mother.

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How can I use the Stranger VideoBook with Worldview Rethink?

Leader's Guide and VideoBook

Question:

Dear GoodSeed,

After seeing the book The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus recommended by DA Carson in his book, “The God Who is There,” I quickly began to look for it. I found your website recently and have been looking into it. I bought both the Rethink Worldview Curriculum Box and The Stranger VideoBook. I am one of several pastors at a fairly large church and am always looking for material to teach the basics of Christianity. Most of our new visitors have very little religious background (most have never opened a Bible at all) and are somewhat skeptical of Christianity. A couple of questions about material:

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