THE WORDLESS BOOK

 

SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

THE WORDLESS BOOK

Want to know a great way to share the Lord with children as well as adults? Then try the Wordless Book. It’s a great way to present the gospel through colors. You can use it with a group or one on one with people you meet. Just go through the colors, share the verses, and then seek to pray with the person to receive Christ.

You can make up your own with construction paper or any other material you can find. Be creative! Variations of the Wordless Book include wristbands, etc., all of which may be ordered online. Seek to memorize the verses that go along with the colors. If you don’t have your Wordless Book handy then just say the colors instead. Here’s how the Wordless Book goes:

GREEN: Speaks of the perfect world God created. (Gen 1:1) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… (Gen 1:31)…God saw everything that He had made, and…it was very good…

BLACK: Speaks of the darkness of sin. (Rom 3:23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…(Rom 6:23) For the wages of sin is death…

RED: Speaks of the blood of Jesus. (2 Cor 5:15) and He died for all… (1 John 1:9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

WHITE: Speaks of our sins being forgiven. (Isa 1:18)… your sins…shall be as white as snow…

BLUE: Speaks of the promise of heaven. (John 3:16) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

GOLD: Speaks of the streets of gold God’s children will walk on in heaven. (Rev 21:21)…And the street of the city was pure gold…

Then ask the person: “Would you like to receive Jesus in your heart?” If they are willing then have them repeat the sinner’s prayer phrase by phrase after you:

“Dear Jesus, I believe in You…and that You died for me…and that you rose again. I am sorry for my sins. Please forgive me. Come into my heart…and be my Savior. Help me to live for You. And please take me to heaven. Thank you Jesus. I love You. AMEN!”

The Wordless Book is just one method among many to lead people to Christ. Find what works for you! The important thing is to engage people in conversation and let people know that the Lord can color their world with the beauty of His salvation!

Louie

ORIGIN OF CHRISTMAS

SHEPHERD TO SHEEP 

ORIGIN OF CHRISTMAS 

In Rome, Saturnalia—a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture—was celebrated. Beginning in the week leading up to the winter solstice and continuing for a full month, Saturnalia was a time to party and live it up.   

In the early years of Christianity the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to bring in the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention date for his birth (a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the validity of the celebration). Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By the end of the eighth century, the celebration of Christmas had spread all the way to Scandinavia. Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.   

By the Middle Ages, Christianity had, for the most part, replaced pagan religion. In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of its depravity and therefore cancelled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday. 

The pilgrims that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone celebrating Christmas was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all.  After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. Christmas wasn't declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870. 

Some religious groups and individuals say that since the origin of Christmas is pagan then a Christian should not celebrate this holiday.  Others believe that the pagan roots are so far in the past that they have no influence on the celebration.  But what does the Bible say? (Rom 14:5, 10) One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind…10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother?... No matter what you believe let us rejoice that the Lord has come to be the Savior of the world!  And let’s go tell it on the mountain!! (Christmas history partly adapted from history.com)   

Louie

SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

THE THREE OMNIS

 

In Psalm 139 David describes God as all knowing (omniscience), all present (omnipresent), and all powerful (omnipotent).  We call these the three Omnis!   

OMNISCIENCE: God has all knowledge.  (Psa 139:1-6)  O Lord, You have searched me and known me.   You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. 5 You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. 

OMNIPRESENCE: God is all present.  He is everywhere at the same time.  (Psa 139:7-12) Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall[a] on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; 12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. 

OMNIPOTENCE: God is all powerful.  (Psa 139:13-16) For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. 

After David thought about the character and attributes of God it gave him a sense of accountability to God.  Since God is OMNISCIENT (knows all things), OMNIPRESENT (everywhere at the same time) and OMNIPOTENT (all powerful), then he wanted to be in right relation to Him.  (Psa 139:23-24) Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. 

We too can be in right relationship with God because Jesus died on the cross for our sins and reconciled us to God.  And as we serve the Lord we know we will stumble and fall but we can confess our sins to God and receive His gracious forgiveness.  The three OMNIS keep me “on-my-knees!” 

Give  your life to the Lord today.  He knows all about you and still loves you!  He will never leave you or forsake you.  And He is able to meet every need in your life…if you’ll let Him!

Louie

GOD'S MATH

 

SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

GOD’S MATH

(Psa 139:17) How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

Math is pretty amazing. Think of how many times you use it per day. You count this and you measure that. You do this when you cook, when you pay bills, when you work on a project. God even gave us a calculator of our fingers (and toes!) to add things up! In the book of Acts we see that God’s math played out in the birth and formation of the early church and it becomes a picture of how He works in our lives today.

ADD: (Acts 2:41) Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. The Holy Spirit had fallen on the believers on the Day of Pentecost. Peter preached his sermon and many received the Lord. Later in Acts 4:4 it says more heard the word and believed and the church grew to five thousand souls.

MULTIPLY: (Acts 6:7) Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem… Right after the seven were chosen to serve the twelve apostles were then free to devote themselves to the word of God and prayer. Revival broke out as the word of God spread and now the church is growing exponentially.

SUBTRACTION: (Acts 5:5) Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. Ananias and his wife Sapphira lied to Peter and the Holy Spirit about how much they were giving as a gift from the sale of their property. This deception was judged by God through death.

DIVISION: (Acts 14:4) But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles. As the church grew people were divided as to the legitimacy of this new group. Also there was a division between Paul and Barnabas about taking John Mark on the second missionary journey due to his flakiness on the first missionary journey. (Acts 15:39-40) Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed…

So how do we total it all up? In our lives there is going to be growth (2 Pet 3:18) and sometimes progress beyond belief (Mark 4:8). But then there will be a pruning (John 15:2) and sometimes even a separation (Job 1:21). We love the first two but we must embrace the other two for a full count of God’s blessings. But remember all things work together for good (Rom 8:28) and measure up to God’s blessings! We haven’t even reached a fraction of the understanding of His love for us (Eph 3:17-19). The number one thing is to trust Him (Pro 3:5-6) and never doubt the angle He is working from (Isa 55:8-9). Remember He numbers the stars and even the hairs of our head (Luke 12:7). It all equals to rich insights of superb value leading to amazing dividends!

Louie

DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS

SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS

(2 Chr 20:12) …nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

Decisions. We make them all the time. Where should we go? What should we do? How should we do it? From large decisions to the little decisions we make it’s all important because we know that what we decide sets a course of action that we will be taking.

The first tendency we have is to just jump to a conclusion and choose whatever because we are desperate and hate having things up in the air. That can be devastating because we didn’t wait for more clarity and so we chose poorly. Now we have to live with the consequences of our rashness and lack of prayer. The other tendency is to be so afraid of making a decision that we vacillate for an eternity and never to come to a conclusion even when the Lord confirms it and makes it so black and white. We want to be so sure but that produces an uncertainty that can drive a person crazy as well as the people around him or her. Is there a better way to choose?

Jesus had to make an important decision. Out of His followers He was going to choose twelve apostles He would train to be the ones who would carry on His work in His absence. How would He make His decision? (Luke 6:12-13) Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 13 And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles. Jesus prayed to His Father to help Him make this decision. Now if Jesus prayed for direction, how much more should we be directed by prayer? (James 1:5) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally…and it will be given to him.

When we need to make a decision let’s make time for prayer. (Pro 3:5-7) Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; {6} In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. {7} Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. When we acknowledge the Lord in all things He is faithful to show us the way every time.

As a result of prayer, Jesus was able to choose His twelve apostles. Notice how it says when it was day He called His disciples to Himself. God will light our way for us and lead us in the decisions we must make. (Isa 42:16) I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them.

Decide now to make your decisions out of devotion. God will unfold His plan for you when you seek His will and follow His guidance. You don’t have to take a stab in the dark when the Lord is the Light!

Louie