Staff Writer – Page 25 – The GoodSeed Blog

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.

Continue reading “The gospel smashed into my heart”

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.

Continue reading “A cycle of sin, confess… sin, confess…”

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:

Continue reading “How can I use the Stranger VideoBook with Worldview Rethink?”

I don’t know what to say!

One of the most common reasons that believers don’t share the gospel message is that they don’t know what to say. Even if they had a friend or neighbour willing to learn the message of the Bible, these believers are nervous because they don’t know where to begin. We can understand that sentiment. The Bible is a big book!

Continue reading “I don’t know what to say!”

How churches are grounding their congregations

Recently we received two testimonies. One was from a ladies’ small group from a church in Alberta, Canada and the other was from a church in Singapore. These two churches were an ocean apart but they had the same vision: to ensure every member understood a clear gospel.

These two churches found it useful to use By This Name as the book for small group study. Longtime churchgoers as well as and people still seeking to understand what the Bible is all about benefited from going through the creation-to-the-cross approach used in the book. They saw how the Old and New Testament tied together as one story, and for many, it made them want to read the Bible more! Here are their stories.

Continue reading “How churches are grounding their congregations”

I found my faith in Christ through this study

Ladies Church Study Our ladies’ study group consisted of 12 ladies with different levels of Bible knowledge. There were ladies with no knowledge at all, some with many of years of study and everything in between. The study ran for two months and we met every Wednesday morning. Our book study was By This Name by John R. Cross of GoodSeed International. The commitment was to read 1-3 chapters every week and fill out the companion workbook before the sessions. At the sessions we would watch video segments that would reinforce the previous week’s reading as well as go through and discuss the questions in the study guide.

Continue reading “I found my faith in Christ through this study”

The Bible had always been confusing for me

A church in Singapore regularly runs its own version of a TERM Seminar. They use By This Name as the text and run the course over seven Friday evenings. All types of people, from long-time church goers, to new believers, to those who are just seeking to find out what the Bible is all about attend. Here is a testimony from a recent participant.

Continue reading “The Bible had always been confusing for me”

This I can read!

The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus (Large Print Edition)

When sharing the Good News of the Bible with aged parents or older friends, one of the challenges is that they simply can’t see the text of the book clearly enough. It’s for this reason that we have a large print edition of the The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus. The bigger text is a lot easier on the eyes. The pictures, charts and maps are larger too so anyone can read the book with ease.

Resources: The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus (Large Print Edition)

Dad, are you ready to die?

Photo credit: Bruce on flickr Stuart* levelled his eyes steadily at his father Frank. He took a breath before asking one of the most difficult questions a son could ask: “Dad, are you ready to die?”

Frank had been in and out of the hospital over the past few months with a series of problems. First there was a fractured hip, then the cancer and now there was fluid in his lungs. The doctors had run tests and determined the problem—his kidneys had failed.

Continue reading “Dad, are you ready to die?”

He took every copy we had

We received the following story from a couple in the UK who helped a pastor with tools to lead a Bible study.

A visiting pastor spoke at our church this past Sunday. We told him about the Bible studies we’d run using The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus. He lit up like a christmas tree! In fact, before he left town, he took every copy of the book and the companion workbook that we could spare. He said he had been praying for material like this. He explained that all the outreach efforts at his church were now taking place in homes or outside the church and he had been looking for tools that would help people who said they were believers but their understanding of the Bible was limited. One couple had said to the pastor that the preaching at the church was way over their heads. They didn’t understand much! They told the pastor that they needed to review the basics. So as the pastor had been praying about what to do, he met us. He thought the meeting was arranged by God!

After passing him all the copies of the book and workbook, we also gave him our last set of the Ambassador Series and a copy of “By this Name.” He was elated.

I just got an email from him yesterday. He said he had already started a Bible study using “The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus.” It never ceases to amaze us how opportunities to guide others through the Bible seem to spring out of nowhere!

It never ceases to amaze us how God uses those who are prepared to share the Good News.

Resources: The Ambassador Series: Learning to teach as Jesus taught