Gospel Tract Spotlight: What Happens After #YOLO?

A néw tract from Bezeugen Ministries will be in the October tract club mailing. Yolo (the acronym for "You Only Live Once" is used a lot today, especially  by young people. It was made popular by a Canadian rapper named Drake in his song "The Motto" from 2011. Many have made it their motto to live on the wild side. Several months ago, I started asking people what yolo meant. About 95% of those who I asked knew what it was.

I would ask "What happens after you live once?" "You die" some would say. Then, I would ask "What happens after you die?" I would get several answers. 

I told Carl Kalbfleish about what I had been doing and the response that I have been getting. I sent a  draft to him, he edited the content, and came up with the eye-catching design on the front. This is a good tract to start a conversation. It will be in the next Bezeugen Tract Club mailing. Enroll. to get 30 free tracts a month to hand out to someone who is living a yolo life!

http://www.bezeugentractclub.org/?page_id=9

This is how the back reads: 

YOLO - You Only Live Once. This is said by people everyday. It is tweeted with a hashtag on Twitter (#YOLO). It is actually stated in scripture: And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; - Hebrews 9:27. What happens after you live once? There are two places mankind will live for eternity. Let's see where you spend eternity after YOLO  according to God's standards, The Ten Commandments. Have you ever told a lie? Stolen anything? Hated someone? Jesus calls hatred murder (Matthew 5:22)! Ever used God's name carelessly? That is blasphemy and is a very serious offense (Exodus 20:7). Will you be innocent or guilty? Heaven or Hell? God does not want you to go to Hell (1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9). Two thousand years ago, God sent His only son Jesus Christ to earth. Jesus being fully God and fully man, lived a perfect life, fulfilled the Law and then willingly became the perfect sacrifice for the sin of the whole world. He died on a cross to pay for your sin (1 John 2:2). Jesus rose from the dead, defeating sin, death and the devil. God "commands all people everywhere to repent" because "He has set a day when He will judge the world"  (Acts 17:30-31). If you repent and believe the Gospel, then God will forgive all your sin and give you eternal life (Mark 1:15, John 3:36) YOLO, then eternity. 

The 10 Foot Rule

When I worked at Walmart several years ago, I was taught the "10 Foot Rule" in my training. To quote Sam Walton - "... I want you to promise that whenever you come within 10 feet of a customer, you will look him in the eye, greet him and ask him if you can help him." I practiced it then and I do it now in witnessing or acknowledging someone that in near. 

On your next trip to Walmart, see if the "10 Foot Rule" is put into practice. Most likely you will be disappointed. Employees and even managers don't even bother to greet anyone. I try to get a manager's  attention when  they just walk on by without smiling or acknowledging that I'm in the vicinity. I want to ask if they know what the "10 Foot Rule" is! 

Try it the next time you are out witnessing. Give a tract to people who are in 10 feet of your reach. Some people  appreciate the fact that you took time to hand them a tract! I had one man look at me like I was crazy! He had probably never received a tract before. The more you do this, the more you may give tracts out! 

Door To Door Evangelism - August 23, 2014

We went out in two groups this morning. We went to where about 15 travel trailers and an rv were behind a convenience store. I had met a man who was staying there through one of our tract challenges. Isaac was from south Louisiana. They are working on the construction of a Centurylink in Monroe. We mostly left door hangers and tracts with our church address on the back. We talked to Roark, a Jehovah's Witness. He seemed pretty steeped in their doctrine. He tried to agree with us a about hell, but they don't believe it. He did take a door hanger. I gave a tract to Mitch who was working at a business by the lot. At Lampkins, the store, we talked with Brian. He was on work release. He has been off of crack cocaine for 10 years. 
We visited Scott and Lisa. Lisa came to church last week with her Uncle David. Scott said that he would come in the morning with Lisa. He is an alcholic. Please pray that he will get saved. We stopped at a few more houses, seeing some of our old neighbors.

The "You're Welcome" Gospel Tract

This is originally posted on the Bezegeun Ministries website:

You could probably say this is something like a “third generation tract.” Let me explain. For several years we had wanted to create a Gospel tract for Thanksgiving. We released the Give Thanks tract in the November mailing of the Bezeugen Tract Club. Shortly after releasing that tract, someone commented on one of our BLOG posts suggesting a Thank You tract. We prayed about the idea and earlier in 2014 released the Thank You tract. That tract has been very well received.

A short time later someone suggested, “why not a tract for you’re welcome also?” We werepraying about the idea when I had a meeting with two gentlemen with the Texas Alliance for Raceway Ministries (www.txarm.org). They described that their ministry is about servant evangelism. They are there to serve. But they are also there to share the Gospel. As we talked about what partnership the Lord may have for us together, I suggested that we could develop a racing trivia tract as well as a “You’re Welcome” tract that they could hand to people who thank them for their service. Both of these tracts were developed and distributed at the Texas Motor Speedway at an Indy Race the beginning oh June 2014.

With that in mind, we then create a different front for the tract and printed it for use in the Bezeugen Tract Club. The tract will be released to the entire tract club in the September mailing. However due to a mistake that was made it is referenced in the letter for the August mailing but only some of the members of the tract club actually received it in that mailing.

So whether you are serving someone or simply saying “You’re Welcome” after they thank you, may the You’re Welcome tract be used to glorify God and share the Gospel with the lost!

This tract and many others can be ordered through One Million Tracts by going to the Bezeugen Gospel Tracts @ onemilliontracts.com

Share A Tract With........

The “Share a Coke” campaign is wanting people to share a coke with someone. As Christians, we share the Gospel everyday. A good way to do this is through Gospel tracts. A tract can be left anywhere for someone to read. A tract can be used to start a conversation with a lost soul. Tracts are ammunition to share the Gospel with anyone…. as you go!

Tract Challenges From The Bezeugen Tract Club

We now have a daily tract challenge on the Bezeugen Tract Club Facebook page which also goes out via Twitter. You can participate in the tract club daily tract challenge and have a chance to win prizes including more gospel tracts to hand out! Here is how to participate:

1. Enroll in the Bezeugen Tract Club
2. Follow Bezeugen on Twitter orLike the Bezeugen Tract Club Facebook page
3. Watch for the daily tract club challenges posts. Some are in picture form.
4. Comment on the posts on the Facebook page or reply to the Tweet on Twitter when you have completed the challenge.
5. Each day you complete a challenge you will get your name entered into the drawing. The more times you complete the challenges the better chance you have to win.
6. At the end of each week we will draw a name to win a prize which will also include tracts.

 

YOLO ... what then?

YOLO - You Only Live Once. This is said by people everyday. It is tweeted with as a hashtag on Twitter (#YOLO). People say it when they have done something because of a wild and free spirit. I have been asking people lately what YOLO means. Most  knew what it was. A few didn't. I asked what would happen after you live once. Some said eternity would be next. Others said that they didn't know. I was able to give each one a tract and asked them to think about our conversation. Try this the next time you witness and see what kind of response you get. 

This is a good tract to use when you ask someone about YOLO. It can be ordered through onemilliontracts.com through the Bezeugen tracts. 

Live Each Day

Roughly 150,000 people die each day. What if today is your last? “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Based on the Ten Commandments, how will you do? Have you ever told a lie? Stolen anything? Hated someone? Jesus calls hatred murder (Matthew 5:22)! Ever used God’s name carelessly? That is blasphemy and is a very serious offense (Exodus 20:7). If God judges you by this standard, will you be innocent or guilty? Should God send you to Heaven or Hell? God does not want you to go to Hell (1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9). Two thousand years ago, God sent His only son Jesus Christ to earth. Jesus being fully God and fully man, lived a perfect life, fulfilled the Law and then willingly became the perfect sacrifice for the sin of the whole world. He died on a cross to pay for your sin (1 John 2:2). Jesus rose from the dead, defeating sin, death and the devil. God “commands all people everywhere to repent” because “He has set a day when He will judge the world”  (Acts 17:30-31). If you repent and believe the Gospel, then God will forgive all your sin and give you eternal life (Mark 1:15, John 3:36). Do it today! www.AfterLifeCatalog.com       80-BEZEUGEN     (802-393-8436)

The Story Of The Tetelestai Tract From Bezeugen

This is one of the two new tracts in the August tract club mailing. This is taken from the Bezeugen website.

The Story of the Tetelestai tract

One day, a couple of years, ago I was standing in line at the Chick-Fil-A at the Stonebriar Mall in Frisco, TX to buy my lunch. While I was standing in line I struck up a conversation with the guy behind me, a young man probably in his mid to late 20′s. As we stood in line we were talking and I learned that he worked in the mall. Eventually, the topic of spiritual things came up. I was explaining that eternal life is a free gift because the penalty has already been paid for our sin. I said, it was as if his lunch had been paid for. I was next up to order. I placed my order and when the cashier, who turned out to be the manager on duty, asked me “is that all” I said, “no, I also want whatever he is getting” and pointed to the young man I was talking with. So that manager looked at him and said, “what would you like?” The young man felt uncomfortable having me, a complete stranger, buy him lunch and refused to order. But the manager, who had been hearing the conversation, said, “I can’t close out this ticket until you place your order.”

So finally he placed his order.

What happened next amazed us both!

As I was expecting the manager to tell me the total for the order instead he said, “I’ve taken care of it for you both.” WOW! What an awesome demonstration. The young man was deeply impacted. When I walked by the kiosk where he worked a little later he told me that he had called his wife and shared with her what an awesome thing had happened.

There are many ways to make the connection to something that has been paid in full. Start in the natural realm with things that people think about being paid. Or use a real world demo like described above. You can pay for someones coffee, gas for their car, groceries, etc. You can even pay for the car behind you at the drive thru and then hand two tracts to the cashier. Ask them to give one to the people in the next car along with their food and let the tract explain that their food has been “paid in full” just like their sin!

The week before Thanksgiving (2013) a friend and member of the tract club called me and suggested the idea for this tract. He described the whole thing in a voice message. Seemed like a great idea and it tied in nicely with the things that we have done to use the analogy. Then a couple days later another friend called left a message and said, “I’d like to talk to talk with you about an idea for a tract.” When I called him back the idea he shared was the same idea of a tract to hand to someone to let them know a bill had been paid in full. Isn’t it amazing how God uses multiple people to share an idea. Prompting each of us in our own way shows that He is at work in the midst of it. So we continued praying, had more discussion and this tract is the result of all of these things.

Fireworks Evangelism - Monroe, La. - July 5, 2014

We had a great time at the local firework show. We had a team of 6 which included my 14 year old son, Bro. Gary, Bro. Garan,  Bro. Charles, and his daughter. We were able to give out around 1900 tracts. I gave tracts to people who have taken them from me @ Walmart. I also saw Chris, who was dressed like a woman when we gave a tract to him on a street ministry night. I gave him and his two friends the Are You A Good American? tract. Bro. Charles and his daughter crossed the bridge to work the other levy. Most people took the tracts. We only had a handful of rejects. Several who had been drinking took tracts. On the way back to our vehicles, a train had stopped. This gave us opportunity to give out a few more until the train started moving again. What a way to end the holiday weekend!

The Story Of The John 3:16 Tract

This is from the Bezeguen Tract Club page: 

John 3:16 is perhaps the most widely known Bible verse for Christians and non-Christians alike. It is the simplicity of the Gospel in a single verse. What is the verse? And more importantly, what does it mean? We made this Gospel tract so that engaging people could be as easy as asking, “do you know John 3:16?” and seeing what they say. Either way whether they know it or not it is an opportunity to share with them what it means.

We pray that the John 3:16 Gospel tract will lead to many conversations about Jesus and eternal life only found through him!