Church Entertainment...Please Read...

Ok, so this is a bit off topic of the Gospel for Chico, but it does have application.

When my wife and I were in Mexico and helping out with the distribution of the Operation Christmas Child we got to hand out shoe boxes with a Gospel message along with each box. However there was also a huge song and dance that went on before each distribution, and a puppet show Gospel presentation. Maybe I'm wrong because there is a huge culture difference?

Here are just a few of the pictures...

The reason we the church exists here on earth is to be a witness to the whole world. Whatever happened to telling Bible stories, and singing Gospel songs?

So why does the church use Entertainment?

What's filling the pews and keeps people coming back for more? Meaty preaching, biblical teaching, or . . . entertainment?

A.W.Tozer said "For there are millions who cannot live without amusement; life without some form of entertainment for them is simply intolerable; they look forward to the blessed relief afforded by professional entertainers and other forms of psychological narcotics as a dope addict looks to his daily shot of heroin. Without them they could not summon courage to face existence."

You see there is a deadly disease and it's spreading into the church, and it may already have infected your entire congregation. The church as a whole has forgotten that we are to use the Gospel to convert the lost (Mark 16:15-16, Matthew 28:19, and 2 Timothy 4:2).

G. Campbell Morgan said "When amusement is necessary to get people to listen to the gospel there will be failure.  This is not the method of Christ.  To form an organization and provide all kinds of entertainment for young people, in order that they may come to the Bible classes, is to be foredoomed to failure."

When people desire to have an entertainment driven church instead of a Christ driven church they are creating a idol to follow. Christ is the head of the church and we need to submit to Him alone.

A.W.Tozer put it this way "Religious entertainment is in many places rapidly crowding out the serious things of God."

The church mission is not to provide entertainment but to persuade and plead with every man to come to Christ, and turn from their sins once and for all. We are not sugar candy but the salt of the earth, drawing men to Christ, to thirst after Him, not the things of this world.

C. H. Spurgeon said "The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them."

With the entertainment business in the church it clearly shows that some do not believe in the the power of the Gospel, and therefore they cause themselves to rely upon the power of men.

I find the words of C. H. Spurgeon to be a fitting way to conclude...

"Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into His mission, He would have been more popular but, because of the searching nature of His teaching, many turned away. I do not hear Him say, "Run after these people Peter and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick Peter, we must get the people somehow." Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them."

If your going to use entertainment, please don't use it as a replacement for the Gospel. When you use entertainment to draw people and then share the Gospel, don't be surprised when they want more entertainment.

Let me know your thoughts, please post a comment.

For more please read "The Great God Entertainment"  by A.W.Tozer, and "Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats?"  By  C. H. Spurgeon

For more on how to share the Gospel with children check out: Child Evangelism - A God-Centered Approach for Genuine Conversion By Massimo Lorenzini

Share Jesus Without Fear

Well I got to go downtown to the market again with my wife, even though it was raining we still went. We got got talk to a guy named Nick and his friend Michael. You see Nick was a mormon, and Michael was an atheist, so we had a very interesting talk. We all got to talk to a guy named Leo who had just talked with an older guy the day before about spiritual and eternal things. God's got great timing, and continues to show us little ways on how he is weaving us into planting and watering those Gospel seeds.

When you go out to witness know clearly the Christian faith and the gospel. This way you can share Jesus without fear, and rely on the Scriptures. This is because there are unique mormon doctrines and they use the Christian vocabulary (gospel, atonement, god) but radically redefine their meanings. So whey you talk to mormons make sure you define clearly what you mean when you use biblical words.

The Bible teaches salvation alone through the cross of Christ (John 3:16; Rom. 10:4,10–13; Eph. 2:8–9), and that salvation is a gift to be received, not a merit to be earned. You want to keep the central doctrines of the faith as the focus of your discussion, and also take them through the "good" person test, and show them their imperfections and their need for Jesus as their Savior alone.

For more information visit: http://www.livingwaters.com/witnessingtool/howtowitnesstomormons.shtml

Everyday is a missions trip, do you see the mission field?

I got to go downtown to the Saturday morning market again and passed out over 100 Gospel tracts of "Are you a good person?". I met a Methodist man who said he didn't think handing out tracts was effective, and said hes more into discipleship. I told him we are commanded to do that too. Most of the time it's Christians that will tell me that this kind of witnessing doesn't work. I also got to talk to a guy named Tony who said hes a Christian and was involved in Campus Crusade for Christ years ago.

I got to use the tombstone quiz (what are 4 things on every tombstone? name, birth date, death date, the dash) to jump to the spiritual (eternity is a long time). We talked about relative truth vs. absolute truth, and that we do know right from wrong because of our God given conscience. We also talked about the modern movies he had been seeing that contain blasphemy in them (if I was to use your wife or moms name as a curse word you would be offend so why not the God who gave you life?).


I then took him through the good person test and was able to tell him what Jesus did for him on the cross. He was very thankful and he said that our conversation had made sense.

Check out: http://hollywoodandgod.com

Everyday is a missions trip, do you see the mission field?

The use of Gospel tracts

Joey Hancock of the American Tract Society said, "Fifty-three percent of all who come to Christ worldwide come through the use of printed gospel literature."


Billy Graham said of Gospel tracts: "Nothing surpasses a tract for sowing the seed of the Good News." 

Charles Spurgeon said, "When preaching and private tale are not available, you need to have a tract ready...get good striking tracts, or none at all. But a touching gospel tract may be the seed of eternal life. Therefore, do not go out without your tracts." 

Dr. Oswald J. Smith said, "The only way to carry out the Great Commission will be by the means of the printed page." * Remember that ice breakers or gospel tracts are for people not places.

It has been said that nothing cost less, goes farther, lasts longer or says it better than ice breakers (gospel tracts are for people not places). Regardless of your spiritual maturity or experience in sharing the gospel, ice breakers (gospel tracts are for people not places) is an indispensable helper.

Any person can do it. We cannot all preach; we cannot all conduct meetings; but we can all select useful ice breakers (gospel tracts are for people not places) and then hand them out to others.

For example this last month here are a few places I've passed out tracts at:
 * Warrens Drive Thru Lube - gave a smart card tract to Jeff a mechanic.
 * Teriyaki House - left a tract in the tip jar for staff.
 * Super Cuts - gave a tract to Miguel there and a nice tip for him.  
 * Burrito wagon off Eaton and Esplanade - gave a tract for a lady there.

 * Chico Pet Works - gave a Gospel of John tract for Melisa and a very nice tip.
 * Super bowl game party - gave tracts and gave a 10 commandment coins

 * Mangrove Veterinary Hospital - gave tracts to staff
 * Work - gave 10 commandment coins to 3 coworkers, 2 for their birthday.

Here are my suggestions for developing an effective tract ministry.

1. Pray.
You cannot win anyone to Christ, neither can a tract. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.

2. Engage your audience
This can be done by making eye contact, with a simple smile, asking questions or listening carefully to what is said.

3. Use top-quality tracts.
Invest in the best ice breakers (gospel tracts are for people not places) available. 

4. Get organized.
Place ice breakers (gospel tracts are for people not places) where they will be readily accessible for your use, like at work, in your car, in your backpack, in your wallet, in your pockets, or anywhere they will fit.

5. Give out an ice breaker (gospel tracts are for people not places) each day.
Never leave home without an ice breaker (gospel tracts are for people not places). You will be amazed as you see the Lord bless your efforts.

Check out "The Use of Tracts" by R. A. Torrey (http://www.biblebelievers.com/Torrey3.html)

* Remember that ice breakers or gospel tracts are for people not places.

"Excuse me sir, are you saved? If you died tonight, are you going to heaven?" ~ Frank Jenner of George Street

Mailbox full of Junk Mail?

The #1 reason I get from people who are reluctant to be a witness for Jesus is this: “I just can’t get out the house (or office).” So here is a way to witness without going out to witness...

Take the junk mail that fills up your mailbox and use the postage paid envelope to send a tract. Grab your favorite Gospel tracts, say a million dollar bill or something.

   Then tuck the tract neatly into the envelope…confident in the fact that the postage has already been paid. And if the recipient will only repent and trust in the Savior, his sins will be paid for as well. Pray for the recipient also.