The GoodSeed Blog – Page 22 – Articles, news and testimonies

Boy puts his faith in Christ after reading “The Lamb”

Recently, we heard from Wesley* on our Facebook page about a story unfolding in his church.

He’d been approached by a lady in his church who was concerned for her grandchildren. Wesley described GoodSeed’s book, The Lamb, to her and the woman immediately requested four books. When she received them, she gave the books to her grandchildren and waited to hear their response.

The mother of one of these grandchildren began reading The Lamb to her son each night before bed. The father, an unbeliever, would be sitting across the room, listening in.

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Special sleeves for “The Story that Matters”

Many of us desire to reach out to acquaintances with the gospel, but struggle to know exactly how to do it. Many of GoodSeed’s materials are ideal for people in just such a situation, equipping individuals with tools they can simply give away like a large gospel tract.

One such tool is our most recent booklet entitled The Story that Matters. Small, affordably priced and illustrated with modern, expressive line art, this sixty-four page book is an excellent tool to hand out to those you meet on the street or en masse to large groups.

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I finally understand! I believe what you are saying!

Ice shanty for ice fishing

This past summer, Richard* accepted a call to pastor a church in the US Northeast. As he began his new ministry, one of his areas of responsibility concerned the selection of Sunday school materials. As he thought about what would be most helpful for his congregation, he pulled out his copy of What’s in a Name? This DVD lecture (which is part of the Ambassador Series) focuses on the issue of clearly explaining who Jesus is and what he accomplished on the cross. A person needs to both understand who Jesus is (his identity) and the significance of his life, death and resurrection (his history) if he is to come to faith in Christ.

Richard assembled a teaching outline based on the DVD and taught it. Afterwards, a young man came up and asked to speak to him. It was the second time that Leonard* was visiting the church. Invited into the pastor’s office, the young father gushed, “I finally understand! I believe what you are saying!” Quizzed on what he understood, Leonard was able to clearly explain back to Richard the essence of the gospel. Leonard went on to say that he wanted to turn from his sin and follow Christ. Richard was very encouraged by his response to the message of the gospel.

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May 2015 TERM Seminars in Ireland

Coffeeshop study The updated TERM Seminars are going to Ireland! Our ministry parter, BES (Bible Educational Services), has helped to secure five locations and dates across the island.

These TERM Seminars cover Modules A and B only and will give believers and church leaders time to rethink evangelism efforts in the context of today’s modern, ever-changing world of increasing biblical illiteracy.

A whole generation of people are growing up not having read the Bible and do not know even the most basic knowledge of God and Jesus Christ. Sharing the gospel with them can be confusing and frustrating. Is there a biblical model we can follow?

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“I feel confident in my salvation now”

This is the second instalment in a two-part story. Read the first installment.

A Tale of Two Brothers: Jake’s Story

Paul encouraged Timothy to not “let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12 NIV)

In the following story, Jake* has modelled for me, a 30-some year-old believer, what it means to simply trust and obey the Lord as he provides opportunities to share the gospel.

Jake’s older brother, in turn, had earlier set an example for him by leading students through a simple explanation of the gospel in the schools he attended. Now, Jake is following in his brother’s footsteps, continuing to teach fellow students.

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2015 TERM Seminar in Alberta, Canada

TERM Seminar: Visual AIds

In an ever-changing world filled with different worldviews and competing ideologies, how can we share the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that doesn’t confuse the message or make assumptions of our audience? Does the Bible have anything to say to address a world of people who are indifferent or worse–cold–towards its message of hope?

The GoodSeed TERM™ Seminar is a time to stop and rethink evangelism in the context of our diverse world. This seminar takes participants into Scripture to see what it has to say about evangelism methodology. In the process, there springs to light an approach that Jesus used on the road to Emmaus. The architecture of “The Emmaus Road Message” (TERM) has proven effective–whether we are engaging the confused, the seeker or the hardened.

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Connecting the dots

What does it take to make a GoodSeed translation available?

( Read this in French / Lisez ce en français )

Rusty’s* desk is crowded. Stacks of paper, books, a MacBook with a blue sticker supporting local businesses and a coil of cables are being arranged to go into a sturdy backpack in preparation for a work trip. This upcoming trip will see Rusty pass through the UK, Germany, Italy and a few other places too risky to mention. Behind him, a map of the world is tacked to the wall not simply as office decoration, but as a way to visualize the remote locations where his contacts are located. Another wall bears a whiteboard covered in a long list of languages. Written neatly in a sloping hand, the list reflects the current translation projects GoodSeed has in progress. Many of the languages come from areas on the globe where the good news of the Bible is not readily available.

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The filthy rags of the Tugutil

Indonesian jungle

( Read this in French / Lisez ce en français )

In our Worldview Rethink curriculum, we carefully lay the foundations of the gospel story in order for a person to have a clear understanding of the good news of Jesus Christ. We take time to cover the four irreducible minimums of the gospel:

A holy God
A helpless sinner
A sufficient substitute
A personal faith

It’s important to start with the character of God—who he is and what he is like. Then, it’s equally important to talk about humankind’s sin condition—how our sin separates us from God.

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Reaching out in the halls of public schools

This is the first installment of a two-part story. Read part two.

A tale of two brothers: Benjamin’s Story

Recently I had a phone conversation with Benjamin.* I had heard through the grapevine that he had been very active in reaching out to fellow students in public school, using one of our books, The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus. Benjamin graciously agreed to share his story and how God used those years in his life and in the lives of others.

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It’s maybe the best I’ve seen to share the gospel

Provence Several years ago, while Allie* and her husband were on vacation, they had several opportunities to share the gospel. However, they had lacked a resource they could give to those they had met. So last year, in planning for a vacation in France to celebrate their wedding anniversary, Allie did some research and ordered GoodSeed resources for the trip. She was so excited with what happened that she wrote to tell us about her adventure. Here is Allie’s story:

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