Tracting Bloopers

My friend Ray Comfort came up with a great App for the iPhone called “Tract Printer”. It makes the iPhone look like it's printing a Gospel tract and makes handing out tracts really fun. In fact, it’s one of my favorite tools for handing out tracts. Usually I go up to people and say, “Hey let me print a free movie ticket for you” and I “print” a 180 Movie ticket to give to them.  

Another favorite is the Curved Illusion tract from Living Waters, which tricks the eye into thinking that one card is longer than the other.  When the cards switch places suddenly the longer one looks shorter and vice versa. When I use the Curved Illusion tracts I hold them up and ask, “Which one is longer?” People love the Tract Printer and the Curved Illusions, so I use them both regularly. 

One day I was at the mall evangelizing and scurrying from person to person showing them both of these tracts with great reactions until I went up to one guy to show him the Tract Printer. I guess in all my scurrying I forgot which tract I was holding, held up my iPhone and said, “Which one is longer?” He looked at me like I was crazy until I finally realized I was holding up my phone, not the Curved Illusions.

My friend Kristen loves the Curved Illusion tracts too. We were attending a conference in Oklahoma, and were in the hotel lobby late one night when she suddenly said, “I’m going to go show that guy my curves…wait, that didn’t come out right..I mean my Curved Illusions!” Everyone busted out laughing at her gaffe, and it’s been a running joke ever since.  

Curved Illusion tract:

Tract Printer in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_1Nn0T0qVc

Stark Reminders

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I received some very stark reminders that death is a part of life, and that it can strike at any time. Christmas Eve a dear sister in Christ emailed me to let me know that her precious 3 month old son had passed away very unexpectedly. Then I learned that my uncle Louie, who was close to 90, had died of heart failure. And finally on Christmas Day my friend texted me that the son of one of her high school friends had died. He was only 19.

A few weeks earlier this same friend had asked me to hold her accountable to witness to her parents (again) by the end of the year, which is almost here, but after receiving these stark reminders, she is rethinking waiting even that long.

Perhaps these stark reminders are for you too. Perhaps you have an unsaved family member, and like my friend you’re the only Christian in your family. I encourage you not to wait. 150,000 people die every day, and you could be one of them. www.NeedGod.com

Fishing With Trish...

Question: I want to share the gospel and still be a biblical woman. How do I do both? 

Answer: One of the greatest signs of being born again is to have the desire/boldness to speak the Word of God and to tell others about his glorious Gospel (Acts 4:31). A biblical woman is a woman that shares the good news of the Gospel with her family members, her children and the lost in general. There is no distinction. You can't be a biblical woman and not talk about the Gospel. The Gospel is at the very center of a biblical woman. 

Now don't get me wrong, she is not to shirk her responsibilities at home for the sake of "hitting the streets". Her home should be in order - it is her main responsibility to manage (Titus 2:3) - but she can certainly incorporate sharing the Good News in various ways without neglecting her duties at home by handing out tracts as she runs errands, preaching the gospel to the telemarketer, talking about the Gospel as she rises and walks along the way with her children, joining the church door-to-door evangelism team once a month or the weekly street ministry, visiting old folks at a local retirement facility and sharing the good news, and the list can go on and on. Note: all of this presupposes that your husband is okay with you going out door-to-door, on the streets with a team, etc. If he is not, then honor him. There are plenty of other ways to be a gospel witness (namely, passing out tracts as you go along your way running errands and as you teach your children the ways of God). Remember that Jesus' Great Commission to preach the Gospel and make disciples throughout the world was given to the entire church. So, Go! Share your faith; one soul at a time.  

Wonderful Idea!

My assistant saw this posted on Facebook the other day:

"I used the phone book this year to send some Christmas cards with the Gospel to strangers."

What a wonderful idea!

What sort of things have you done during Christmas, or any time of the year, to share the Gospel? I’m always up for trying something new for the sake of the Gospel, and if I use your idea I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. :-)

To Be Continued?...

My friend and I went to the Walmart by my house not too long ago, specifically to hand out tracts right outside the entrance. All was going well until a Walmart lady approached us and told us that we couldn’t hand them out there anymore. So, we left.

A short time later I went back to the same Walmart to do some shopping and asked the lady at the jewelry counter for help finding something. She was very helpful so I said, “Thank you, here’s a gift for you” and handed her a tract to which she sternly replied, “I TOLD you that you couldn’t hand those out here!” I was shocked, but then realized it was the same Walmart lady my friend and I had encountered before. How did I not recognize her?

A couple weeks after that, I was at the same Walmart in the checkout line and said to the lady in front of me, “Here’s a little gift for you” and handed her a tract. To my horror she came unglued and said, “I TOLD you that you couldn’t hand those out in here! I’m calling the manager. Why would I want a gift from you? Only my family gives me gifts!” It was the same lady, and for some reason God had blinded me from recognizing her once again. I was frazzled, and before I even made it out of the store I called my friend to tell her what had happened. She couldn’t stop laughing.

Then, yesterday I was in the checkout line at Trader Joe’s in a whole different city. I was looking at a lady that was making a purchase thinking she looked familiar when it dawned on me: Walmart lady! What were the chances? Different city, different store. I couldn’t stop laughing; God certainly has a sense of humor. I was laughing so hard that one of the employees asked me rather quizzically, “Do you want to check out, or…?” Thankfully, she didn’t see me. And doubly thankfully, I recognized her before I gave her a tract. 

I don’t know if this story is over yet or if it’s “To be continued…” I’ll be sure to let you know. J

How To Feel Old In An Instant

I was witnessing to a girl at The University of North Texas recently and this is how it went:

Me: When do you think the world is going to end?

Girl: When Jesus returns.

What does someone have to do to go to heaven?

Accept Jesus into your heart.

But, I’m a good person, why do I have to do that?

Well, that’s not going to get you to heaven just being a good person.

What’s you’re name?

Trish.

How do you spell that?

T-R-I-S-H

What’s your email? I want to send you a good message called Hell’s Best Kept Secret and some movies.

TrishD_95

Is '95' for the year you graduated high school?

No, it’s the year I was born.

That’s where the similarities ended, and I walked away feeling OLD, as ‘95 is the year I graduated high school. Lol.

If you haven’t heard Hell’s Best Kept Secret, it’s worth a listen. It’s what God used to shape me in my evangelism. Listen here for free: http://bit.ly/1rnW38f

We Got A Double Whammy!

Last Wednesday I was rejected for the Gospel’s sake (twice!) in record time. I hadn’t set foot in the grocery store more than 10 feet before I encountered the first Gospel crusher. He was playing Christmas music on a saxophone right inside the store taking donations for the Make-A-Wish foundation. He had a sign showing that he had raised $15,800 so far. My friend tossed some money into his saxophone case and I tossed in a copy of The Biggest Question DVD. 

“What’s that?” he asked me. I told him it was a DVD about eternal things and asked him if he remembered actor Kirk Cameron, that he was a close friend of the ministry that made it. He said he had met Kirk several times, that Kirk was well aware of his 501c3, that he was a music minister, and a Christian, and then tried to give the DVD back. I smiled and told him to keep it, watch it, and give it to someone that would benefit from it. Then I turned to give a copy to the second Gospel crusher. I handed her the DVD and she asked what church it was affiliated with. I told her that we like the old dead guys like Spurgeon and Whitfield. She promptly handed the DVD back and said she was Catholic. That’s when saxophone guy gently pulled me on the shoulder trying to get me away from her clearly not wanting me to talk to her. He then proceeded to tell my friend and I that he was “doing something”. That he was being a “light”. That “your DVD is great and all, but I’m not just asking people for donations, I’m doing something.” It seemed like he was more concerned about people’s earthly comfort than their eternal comfort. Then he started to play his saxophone and we politely left to browse the store. About 15 minutes later saxophone guy found us, handed the DVD back while shaking his head and making a face like he was disgusted that we were handing them out. I think we hit a sour note with him.

So, what did we do? We boldly kept going and gave DVDs to several more people, all of who received them gladly. After all, Peter and John endured greater trials in Acts 4 than what we had just experienced, and they kept going. Why? Because just like saxophone guy knew, people indeed are dying, but they’re also lost.  And no wish fulfilled here on earth can surpass what Christ fulfilled on the cross. John 15:7 says, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”