Wrapping up 2015 with a Candy Cane Tract

Here's a candy cane gospel message we made to give out over the Christmas holiday season, in hopes of redeeming the time and pointing as many people as possible to the Savior.

I looked up various versions of "The Candy Cane Story" on the internet, and using these as a reference I wrote the story in my own way using Microsoft Publisher. We used a local print shop to make about 200 cards. We donated a bunch for family gift packages for our church's bus ministry children, our friends Aquila & Priscilla Sletten took a box full over the the Iowa Veteran's Home. The rest we've been giving out around town. May the Holy Spirit water this seed sown, that many would come to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The text of this message is below:

We Hope You Enjoy this Candy Cane! 

As you take it in your hand, turn it upside down: you will see
the J that reminds us of Jesus, who left Heaven’s glory 2000 years ago, and was born in a lowly stable in Bethlehem, just as the prophets had written many years before.
Turn it back upright, and you will see the shepherd’s crook, that reminds us that he is the Good Shepard who loves and cares for all who will follow him. The stripes remind us that he was wounded for our sins: the red speaks to his blood shed on Calvary’s cross to pay the penalty for our sin, and the white tells us how only he can wash away our sins, and make us white as snow. For all have broken God’s Law, the 10 Commandments, and all deserve the punishment … eternity in Hell. But God wants all to be rescued from this fate, and this is why Jesus came into the world.

We are glad you accepted this candy cane as a gift from us, but even more, I hope you will accept the gift of forgiveness and eternal life that comes, not from religion, a church, your sincerity, or by being a good person, but from trusting in this same Jesus as your own Savior. If you have not done so, why not turn to him today?

Days of Strong Delusion

We are living in the days that the apostle Paul wrote about, the days of the spirit of strong delusion. "Delusional" is an apt description of the following quote I read from an article on Sky News:

'France international footballer Lassana Diarra also said his cousin Asta Diakite was killed in the attacks. In a tribute, the former Chelsea and Arsenal midfielder said: "She was like a big sister to me.
"In this climate of terror, it is important for all of us who represent our country and its diversity to stay united against a horror which has no colour, no religion. Stand together for love, respect and peace."'

Are you kidding me? No religion? Was it Mormon missionaries shooting up that concert hall in Paris? Did the killers shout "Krishna is Lord"? Excuse me, but we know e-x-a-c-t-l-y what religion these killers were following: ISLAM...the teachings of the prophet Muhammed.

Mary and I travelled down to Osceola to hear Mark Cahill speak at a church meeting down there. The person sitting next to Mark on his flight up to Des Moines asked him how did he know that Allah, the god of Islam, was not the true God? Mark's answer was something like this: "What kind of God would applaud the killing of all those people in the Bataclan concert hall by these terrorists? 

And after these men get killed (or blew themselves up), and their God shakes their hands and says "Thank you so much for killing all those people", and welcomes them into Paradise?" What kind of God anywhere would do that? No way."

Hope you are wide awake and looking around at what is going down in the world today. If you are born-again, you don't have to worry about any of it. The moment we die, our God welcomes us into His presence only because of what Jesus Chris has done for us. If you are not born-again, you are in big trouble and need to be born-again. Look to Jesus Christ alone, turn to him as a sinner, and trust in his shed blood on the cross as payment for all your sin, and the one true God of the Bible will forgive all of your sin (yesterday's sin, today's , tomorrow's & forever) and give you the gift of eternal life.

The Truth About Hitler (You Probably Will Never Hear About)

Atheists and others frequently use the actions of past historical figures to discredit Christianity, and slander our God. They set up a strawman argument, and then justify their willful rebellion against their Creator: sinful men standing in judgment of a Holy God! 

The Crusades are a favorite argument along this line. However, the Crusades were a product of the Roman Catholic Church, not followers of Jesus Christ, who commands us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), not put them to death. The Crusaders were following the Pope, not the Lord Jesus Christ.

Another argument is that Hitler was a Christian, and that the Holocaust was a result of Christianity. The following video answers this false claim, and shines the light of God's truth and history on what Hitler really believed and did. Please watch:

Contrast

A couple of weeks ago, I received a text message from someone I do not know, telling me: "I found your Bible." Now, I knew they hadn't found my Bible, because I was reading it at the time. But Mary and I give away free Bibles, and we put our name and contact information inside the cover, because we want to be available to help answer questions, etc. We often pray that the Bibles that go out would not sit around gathering dust. I tell people, "This Bible is free, but there's one stipulation: you have to read it."

When I got this text message, I thought someone had just tossed it aside, or maybe misplaced it, so I wanted to get it back. Through a few texts back & forth, this person agreed to drop it off at our home during the day. What I didn't know was the condition this Bible was in (see photo). Burned....

Contrast: The next day, as I was listening to the Through The Bible Radio (TTB.org) daily broadcast, I heard a testimonial of the work of God in the country of Mongolia. Some background:

Back in the late 1980's, missiologists said there were only 4 known Christian believers in the country of Mongolia. Today there are well over 100,000. So, over the last 30 years we have seen the birth of the church in this country. The Bible has only been translated into the Mongolian language for about 20 years...the complete translation of the Bible in this language was completed around the year 2000.

A man from Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia wrote in to TTB to thank them for their Bible teaching radio ministry in Mongolia, and this part caught my attention: he said,

"My most precious possession is a New Testament of God's holy word that a friend gave me. Now I am beginning to understand what I hold in my hands: it is a gift from God to us. I turn the pages slowly because it is so precious."

Contrast: In West Papua, Indonesia, the Kimyal tribe celebrated the arrival of the Bible in their language with singing, dancing, and praise to God. In the short video clip below, one man says this:

"God is an amazing God. He's given us this wonderful gift: His word. We've received the Bible. We have it in our language."

"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?" (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)

An Unexpected Witness

Going out with the Gideon's this year for bible distributions have been pretty good this year. I did miss a few being away in New Jersey for business and visiting family.  I did though have some bible distributions of my own giving some family members some testaments (New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs). Those were really interesting, one which I will share one encounter in a later post. 

But before one of my distributions I got there early and saw this kid sitting on a park picnic table before school even let out. I really felt the desire to talk with him so I took a few tracts and a testament with me and walked over. I introduced myself, and started a conversation with him about what he believed. He wasn't a student at that school and graduated last year. He said he was a Lutheran Christian but when prompted to tell me what the gospel was he just didn't know. He never understood why Jesus had to die, what sin is, and thought God was just going to forgive everyone someday. It was a really good conversation and in the end he was really thankful for the talk and the testament. It was an unexpected witness for both him, and myself. 

It really bothers me though when talking with people, especially young people, about how much they don't know. Most grew up in the church and went to Youth Group, but can't tell me the basics of Christianity, and what it means to be a true follower of Jesus. What are kids learning today? Why are they so biblically illiterate? Is it because the parents are just as clueless? I just don't know. But what I do know is that we need to train up these kids in the bible and give them the strong solid foundation they need in life, before it's too late. This young man's name is Rusty. Pray for him.