Author: Staff Writer

Stolen!

Photo credit: Jon Collier on flickr(Editor’s note: Here is a rather quirky story from our archives.)

In 2000, we were getting The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus translated into French. Lillie,* one of people helping on that project, told us that her husband’s copy of the book was stolen from his office!

Several months later, Lillie and her husband traveled to attend their son’s wedding. They brought along with them three copies of L’Homme sur le chemin d’Emmaüs. During the time they were with their family, their car was broken into and all three copies of the books were stolen too!

Lillie managed to laugh it off and said that if she ever hears of a criminal coming to know the Lord after reading The Stranger, she’ll know where he or she got the copy. When she related these two incidents to her Bible study group, they thought that the book must be really special if people were willing to steal it! They asked to study the book together.

We never know what happens when a book explaining the gospel gets into another person’s hands. Whether he (or she) received it as a gift or he stole it, our prayer is that he will read it, understand it and believe.

(* All names changed as per GoodSeed policy.)

 

Photo credit: Jon Collier on flickr

 

More passionate about sharing the gospel

Tools designed to share the gospelIn March, two of our staff members conducted a seminar about sharing the gospel. One of the couples that attended wrote a note:

“Both my wife and I left feeling revived and more passionate about sharing the gospel.

“I shared my experience from the seminar and we are going to start a Bible study group with a few of our leaders and core members using “The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus.” We will offer a few classes over the summer and in the fall to our members. The members of the first two studies will lead the fall classes.

“We have been looking for ways to better disciple our people and encourage them and equip them to share the gospel…. We will be using this study as a platform and starting place.”

Whenever people get excited about sharing the gospel using our tools, we thank God that our ministry is able to help believers fulfill the biblical mandate of being ambassadors for Christ. Pray with us that this couple and their church will be able to share the gospel with many.

 

“The Stranger” now available in China

Heavenly Stairways Webstore

We’re excited to announce that a local Chinese publisher is now printing and selling the Simplified Chinese edition of The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus… in China! (And with a new cover too.)

In our continued effort to make our tools available to anyone anywhere in the world, we’re glad to see that people in China are now be able to order the book from a local bookstore called Heavenly Stairways.

If you have friends in China, let them know the The Stranger is now available to them in the stores and online: The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus in Simplified Chinese.

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

Photo credit: Quinn Dombrowski on flickr

(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.

Continue reading “Easy enough for a burned-out mind like mine to understand.”

What does it mean to be a Christian?

Photo credit: Angel James de Ocampo on flickr

(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:

Continue reading “What does it mean to be a Christian?”

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.”

Continue reading “God used his magic wand!”

Easy craft lamb

 

Easy Lamb CraftOne 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

  1. Empty plastic pill bottle
  2. Cotton balls glued all over the bottle
  3. Black straws cut to length and stuck on as legs
  4. Black paper for the lamb’s face
  5. 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.

Continue reading “Why wouldn’t I believe!”

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.

Continue reading “Would you accept life-changing truth in five minutes?”