Monday, November 22, 2010

New Radio Program...

If the Lord wills, I'm going to launch a radio program in the days to come. It will be geared towards women. We'll discuss things like: modesty, evangelism, how to be a good homemaker, how to find a good church, issues with food, tips to tame our tongues, joy, contentment, finances, missions, discipline, sexual purity, etc. etc. I want to hear from you. What should the program be called? Give me your ideas...post your name ideas below. God bless.

Friday, November 19, 2010

The 1st person on my blog when it hits 200,000, wins THIS...

A Thirty-One Handbag!
Special Thanks to Kristen R. for donating this wonderful handbag
(ps I was tempted to keep it - it's a perfect little witnessing bag).

And it will be filled with various Gospel Tracts.
There are 5 pockets total.

3 on the inside...

And one on both sides of the outside.
Here's what you must do TO WIN:

If the counter turns to 200,000 and you're on my site...

1) Either take a photo of my blog (showing the counter at 200,000) then email me the picture (email [at] fishwithtrish.com)

2) Hit the "print screen" button and that will capture the blog (make sure you can see the hit counter before you hit the "print screen" button you can paste the picture onto a paint document after you print screen)...then send me an email as proof that you're the winner...

If its close to the 200,000th mark (within 15 hits give or take) send me a photo and if no one sends a photo of the blog with the counter at "200,000", I will choose the person who comes closest to the 200,000th mark to win the bag.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Open to U.S. and Canada residents only.


Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Psalm 107:1

Monday, November 15, 2010

Mr. Nice Guy Trailer - a really cool idea (let me know if you ever have an event and want to apply to use it)

Ray Comfort talked about this Trailer on his newsletter last week but I didn't put two and two together (that I know the owners) until my friend Mike Owens emailed me tonight. Here's what he wrote:

Tim Crawford and I have this new trailer for you (or anyone you know of) to use for special events. It's especially good if there's children there. Carnivals, sporting events, church events, etc...Our goal is to comfortably bring "Are You A Good Person" with Mr. Nice Guy (Kirk Cameron and David Jeremiah) to as many kids, teens and parents as possible. It's a 22' fully enclosed trailer. Carpeted walls and floor. Projector and Bose sound system with 6' screen. Seats 18. (We've had as many as 25 packed in several times) We can take the trailer just about anywhere - and it has its own generator for places with no power. Thanks Mike."


Mike told me that, "One little boy watched it 5-6 times and kept coming back asking to watch it again." And then the following day they had another boy watch it 7 times and wanted the DVD so he could show it to ALL HIS FRIENDS!!"

If you haven't viewed the video, click on the highlighted portion. It's only 6 min and 18 seconds.

If you have an upcoming event and would be interested in possibly using the trailer, please email me at (email [at] fishwithtrish.com) include the following: your full name, what the event is, what church you attend, what city you live in and how many kids you expect to attend the showing of the film. And in the subject line type: Mr. Nice Guy Trailer.


Thursday, November 11, 2010

Thanks to all who have served our country and currently are...

Pic above: My grandfather (top row left - US Navy 1943 thru 1947).


Pic above: Flight crew (my grandfather, second from the left - US Navy)
receiving an award. He's not sure what the commendation was though.
I thank God that my grandfather is still alive and that I have the
opportunity to ask him all sorts of questions.
Papa I hope you're still up because I'm going to call you.

Pic above: Papa in the cockpit of his F7F

Take the time to ask your grandfather questions this weekend.
Happy Veteran's Day to all who have served and currently are.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Nailing Down Good Works

I was cleaning out my garage recently and found some old high school pictures. They immediately brought back memories of how consumed I was with the way I looked. It was so bad that I kept a detailed daily journal of what I wore to make sure that I didn’t repeat the same outfit within a two month period or more. Talk about vanity. I wanted to make sure I had the perfect outfit and that I never repeated it too often, lest I get criticized by my peers. Maintaining my image was important. Talk about living for man's approval (Prov 25:29). That was before God saved me.

As Christians, we still can get caught up in the web of the world and buy into what the world says a woman should be. If we're not careful to keep a watch on our life and on our doctrine, we can be quickly swept away into the current of ungodly philosophies which rob us of our time and energy—things which aren’t eternal and are quickly fading away (Prov 31:30).

I love to surround myself with ladies that are rich in good works and not focused on themselves. I'm reminded of the ladies at the Tuesday night Bible study I attend. They are full of encouragement and desire to be women of the Word. After I leave the teaching, I'm inspired to be a more godly Christian, wife and friend. This results in me conjuring up ways to bless my husband and those around me. The Bible explains to us that "bad company corrupts good morals" (1 Cor 15:33). If you surround yourself with ladies that are focused on vain things, more than likely you will find yourself becoming vain. So choose your friends wisely.

The Bible also gives very stern warnings against both conceit and putting too much focus on our outward appearance. "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others" (Phil 2: 3-4). When we focus on ourselves, our vision is blurred and our life is sapped. But when we focus on the Lord and plunge our self in the daily reading of the Word of God and spend our time doing good works for His Kingdom, we have a purpose that is clearly eternal and brings us joy. It's what we're made for: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Let's be ladies that bring meals to those in need, who visit the orphan and widow during their time of distress, who make a phone call and pray for the sister who is having a tough time, who send an encouraging email to the person God laid on your heart this morning. There are so many ways we can look out for the interests of our brothers and sisters.

I've been to the nail salon less than a hand full of times and half of those times were gifts. It's such a nice treat to get pampered and have someone else do your nails. The ladies at the salon do a good job of painting them to perfection. Since I'm a penny pincher, I buy a .99 cent bottle of polish and do them myself. As I write this, I have the remnants of silver polish on my fingers (see pic above). It's probably been a month since I've painted them. So much for keeping my nails maintained.

Some ladies go to the salon twice a month and pay good money to maintain their fingers and toes. Others go once a week because they want them to look perfect all the time. The Bible says that women who profess godliness will be careful to maintain "good works" (1 Tim 2:9-10). Maintaining good works should be a greater priority than maintaining our nails, our wardrobe, our hair or our image. The Bible says to be careful to maintain good works for the glory of God. Don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with getting your nails or hair done or wearing nice clothes, but let's be ladies that are known for our godliness rather than our large variety of outfits. Let's be ladies that are more concerned about maintaining good works than maintaining our nails.

If the Son has set you free than you are free indeed (John 8:36).

Friday, November 5, 2010

Reformation Day Outreach Pics (God bless all of you for your faithfulness to the Gospel)

We did a Reformation Day lesson with our children in children's church on Sunday.

We pinned the 95 theses on the church door and we colored a picture of Martin Luther pinning the theses on the door.

The kid's had a great time and learned about the reformation.

Stephanie Catoe
Fresh Spring Baptist Church












Hi Trish!

Here's our pic. It's my daughter with our bowl of tract / candy bags. We live in Illinois. We had a record 9 trick-or-treaters this year (last year we had 5!) but that didn't stop us. The next morning my husband and son put the leftover candy and tracts into door hanger bags and put them on doors around the neighborhood--the same thing we did last year. When someone is standing outside to receive it, they are delighted to receive a door hanger bag full of candy and more importantly they're getting the gospel!

Charlene






My daughter Anabelle Collins handing out Halloween million dollar bill tracts. She handed out tracts everyone she got candy from. She also helped me pack our ziplock bags full of candy and tracts. It was awesome! - Adam Collins



My precious friend, Sarah (below), passed out candy and tracts on Reformation Day. Isn't she adorable. Sarah and her family used to attend Sovereign Joy but they moved to another state recently and they are missed. Sarah was one of my students in Sunday School. Miss you all very much! Trish

"Last night Sarah passed out gospel tracts attached to the candy for the trick-or-treater's that came to our door. Thought you would appreciate that. " Gina (Sarah's mom)



Voice of the Martyrs sends tracts on balloons to 'closed' countries... So we tried 135 of them. In Lockhart, Texas. -Imran Acosta





A short clip (below) of Reformation Day. Over 200 kids came. "We did illusion cards and the Death Beth cards (for the teens) and gave out 8 big bags of candy it was a lot of fun. We might have to try something different than illusion cards next year a lot of them remember from the last couple of years, so they spoiled the trick :)." Melissa, http://www.allneedchrist.com/



I have to admit I always tried to focus on the lighter side of Halloween, but this year when I took my children to their weekly story hour at the Library of coarse all the books they read were about ghosts and witches and haunted houses. I sat their watching my children being desensitized right before my eyes. (Broke my heart, but made me realize that IS what the holiday is about) I watched the video that Todd F. posted on the Wretched page showing a letter from a man named Aric basically explaining that we should hate evil because God hates evil also that church festival's can send a message to our kids that the holiday must be important if we make an excuse to participate. This made sense to me, but I had already signed up to run a booth at the Fall Festival at our church so I decided not to back out and go. I have to say that it really did glorify God. My particular booth, I had a bag of prizes and a bag of candy and after the kids played the game they could pick what they wanted. I also had a stack of Bibles, I can't tell you how many kids dressed in the worst scariest, (really saddest) costumes came into our event with no parents even there and I watched them one after another picking Bibles for their prizes. We had parents that brought small children and we had a costume contest and of coarse the parents that came dressed up were not saved and they won the contests. Winning movies like Left Behind and Fireproof and kids winning veggie tales and other movies about God. It was really neat to see. If we didn't do that, we wouldn't of got to share the Light of Christ to people who would other wise never set foot inside a church on a really dark holiday. Love in Christ~ Misty





Hi Trish, We had a Fall Festival at our Church building field on Sunday...This has been one of the neatest events I put together. I actually had been making plans for years to do something like this and it finally came to pass. We had at least 10 people volunteering at our tent, different times. I invited people from the church that showed an interest in evangelism, specifically, to be part of this. Some of the items I used were the illusion poster (the one with Einstein looking at you and trivia questions on it), Darwin books that were forwarded by Ray Comfort, the evolution banner in the background, lots of tracts, and the Lie Detector. The Lie Detector and illusion poster provided an opportunity for people to ask questions while they were looking at our table. The questions led to conversations about the Gospel. Some of the volunteers at the booth were new to evangelism, and it was so inspiring to me to see them sharing the Gospel with visitors to the tent. They were ecstatic and encouraged to realize that they could do it. And I was encouraged as well. So we were able to share the Gospel with different people on this Reformation Day. Another interesting thing we did was to take some tracts and attach them to helium balloons and let them go in the air. Some of them I attached the tracts to a little plastic parachute man and sent the parachute man with the tract in the air. They went into the sky and we never saw them again, but I know helium balloons only last for a few hours. It would be really interesting to see where they landed! Our pastors thanked us for the booth. I don’t know that that was what they had in mind originally when they were planning on having evangelism be part of the hospitality tent (we actually got a tent of our own to use). There were a lot more visitors there than what I thought would be. The tracts were a hit too. One day when we are all in eternity, will we see the results of what we did that day. And we had fun doing that event, as well. This event took place in Casselberry, Florida. Susan Seifert In the 2 pictures of the tent, the people in the first picture (Fall Family Festival-October 31-2010) are Me (in the orange shirt) Janelle (in the white shirt) and Anne Marie (in the blue shirt). The little girl is Savannah, and I don’t remember the little boy’s name. They were both children of Brian, a volunteer at the booth. In the second picture (Fall Family Festival Pic 10-31-10) is my mom, Estella, helping set up the tent, along with Savannah. In the pic with the balloon, the people were visitors, and I didn’t get their names.




Hi Trish, my family gave out nearly 150 Gospel tracts on Reformation day. I am so proud of our six year old daughter who passed out many tracts both at our door and to our neighbors homes we trick or treated. I was able to pass out tons of Halloween Millions on the neighborhood streets. Celebrity Millions were used when we ran out of Halloween Millions. This was our first year passing out tracts on Reformation Day. This was a very good and probably often overlooked day to get the Gospel to many. Thanks Darren Anderson

Monday, November 1, 2010

Send me your Reformation Day pics and I'll feature them...

If you did an outreach yesterday (Reformation Day) and handed out candy and tracts and/or hit the streets to witness, I'd love to see it. Here's what to do: email me a picture to (email [at] fishwithtrish.com) and I will feature it here on my blog. Make sure to mention the names of who is in the picture (first name is fine -if you don't want names mentioned no worries) and what state you live it. In the subject line type "Reformation Pic" (Deadline: Thurs, Nov. 4th 2010). It will be encouraging to see all your faces.

(Pic above: Witnessing buddies on Reformation Day from left to right: Nathanael, Christina, Sarah, Justice, Trish, Joel and James).

An encouraging email came in today:

"Trish - I just saw your video of how to pass out tracts for Halloween, I mean Reformation Day. For years, I would have nothing to do with halloween since it was associated with evil things. A few years ago, a dear brother and evangelist challenged the idea of hiding under your bed on Halloween. He actually goes out on the streets with friends and witnesses to people. He suggested tracts and candy. He made the same points that you did, people come to your door, you can give them the Gospel. I was convicted and changed my ways immediately. I talked with some friends at church that don't really do much to share their faith but, they are all willing to do treat bags with tracts on halloween. My network of ladies is growing that participate in this.

This year, there were not many kids in my neighborhood and so I went to my unsaved brother's house. He and his wife had no objections to me passing out my treats right along with them. What was really awesome, my sister-in law started reading the tracts and my teenage nephews and their friends got their own special treat bags from me when they got home from collecting candy. The boys are 14 & 15 years old. None of them saved and they started reading their "creepy cash" tract and talking about it. The subject got dropped before I could witness to them but, I noticed each kid took their tract home with them.

I had never thought of doing the curved illusion tract when they come to the door. I LOVE THAT IDEA!!!!! I hope to use it next year myself! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You inspire me to do what I can to share the Gospel! Thank you for being faithful to share what you do, it really does encourage others to do something as well. Keep those tips coming!

-Beth McAdoo
Fairfax, VA