Say No To Tract(s)

I make jam and home made preserves for ourselves, and also to sell at fetes . One person on this board told me that it would be a good idea to put a Bible verse on the label of the jars. I thought this was a good idea, and have been doing it for some time now.
Gwyneth

 

Abiyah,

IMO, I think you were being very critical over a misspelled word. You clearly knew what they were talking about.
So why the harsh focus on the spelling of words?

 

This is the exact quotation of my note.

Do you really think this is overly critical? I was
confused by the title and thought others might be
also. I believed it was a subject worthy of
consideration, and I did not want it passed by, as I
almost did, because of a misspelled word. Initially,
I thought it was about track, as in sports.

You will note that I am not perfect, and I said so in
my post. I make MANY spelling errors, especially
since the system I am using for the Internet is
very faulty, has a perfectly horrid keyboard, and
no spell-checker.

Sometimes, I wonder if I am too harsh, too blunt,
too -- ???? I appreciate your input on this matter,
taking it to heart, but I did not realize I was being
harsh at all. It was not my intention.

[ October 08, 2003, 01:17 AM: Message edited by: Abiyah ]

 

Oops! I am not spposed to write here. Sorry!

 

I know a man personally who found a tract on the back of a toilet in a restroom at an airport. This man's wife was going to have an abortion that week. He read the tract and was saved! He then ran home and told his family. They all went to church and Sunday morning they all received Christ! That night the preacher preached on abortion!

 

We give out tracts with money folded inside them to homeless persons. The cynics are convinced that they smoke the tracts and buy wine with the cash. But if we should just happen to lead ONE to The Lord . . .

 

There is this HUGE billboard sized sign facing an interstate that I travel on once a week. The Sign says "Go to church or the Devil will get you." I imagine that it is private property that just happens to be facing interstate but I feel a personal affront every time I see that sign. It is tacky and rude and you can't help but see it. I believe in respecting people's rights to chose what to believe and I can assure you there are likely people who have seen that sign who have come away with a very bad impression of Christians.

 

I was in Las Vegas recently, driving down the Las Vegas strip. A small group of "Christians" were on the side walk carrying signs. One sign had some very derogatory remarks, apparently directed at those who they considered sinful. The remarks on the sign were so insulting it was amazing. And to think that the person carrying the sign wanted to be make an impression on those he considered sinners! I am sure that the sign made an impression, but not the type of impression he or she intended. I can't remember the exact words, but it was something like "You dirty rotten immoral people".

 

It depends. If you're putting them on a bench, or tucking them in stalls, or leaving them on the sinks, etc etc etc, then, it most likely is littering. Just because the topic is religious in nature doesn't change that.

Now, if you're placing them in an area that is meant for the placing of literature, such as a rack, or kiosk, then that is different.

I personally don't care for tracts. They can do good, but they can also do damage. The one does not outweigh the other. The Bible is silent on the issue of tracts one way or the other, so I don't think tracts are wrong. But since they often don't make us look good, I think there are more effective ways to spread the gospel, like letting our lives be our witnesses.

 

I believe tracts can be an effective tool, if used with care. It is not the most effective tool, but a tool. If you use it in conjunction with personal touch it is much more effective than just leaving it hanging around. The most effective method remains personal evangelism... But you can use tracts along with that. I personally leave a tract with the tip when I leave a restaurant. Of course, that is often precluded by an active effort on the part of my family to treat the waiter/waitress kindly and we ask them if they would like us to include their requests in our prayer.

 

Interesting. I must agree with you. I wonder how many of those proetestors took smoke breaks .

Many people can be quite judgemental. For example, next weekend, I will be going to Las Vegas with the girl I'm dating. I've gotten a bit of flack from a small handful of people at church for this. Interesting, too, since we're getting separate hotel rooms, and we're going to see Andrea Bochelli and Star Trek: the Experience; not to gamble, and not to have extramarital sex. But people will believe what they want to believe, won't they?

 

Hello everyone!

I'm new and I must say that I'm more than impressed with this site in general and this discussion in particular.

I wish I'd discovered this board when I was working on my book about tracts.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this discussion.

God Bless.

Roscoe

"The Happy Tractster"

 

Indeed, some of the best advice I seen on the use of tracts.

Thanks for sharing.

Roscoe

 

Good to see you finally made it, Roscoe.

 

Mike,

Thanks for the invitation. I have to admit, this is one of the most resourceful forums I have visited. I can spend a whole week just reading a single section. I also like the way the topics/sections are divided.

Makes me feel proud to be a Baptist.

Again, thanks for pointing me in this direction. I look forward to learning much.

God Bless.

Roscoe

 

Which Way To God?

I've written one, but use some of the Chick tracts especialy at the jail. Some of his need to be used with discretion, but many are downright wonderful.

We use some others at the church, my wife puts one in the bills.

This is a Certs situation. Personal one-on-one is always the best but sometimes you don't get the opportunity for that. Lifestyle evangelism is nice but dead without one-on-one interaction. Tracts are really best for giving to the one you already had the one-on-one with, but at times a "bullet" shot in the air finds a target so leaving them at various places is fine. I read numerous tracts at the Washateria as I was growing up and attended YFC and various Billy Graham things but was not saved until I was 21. Were those tracts and thangs seeds and water? Sure. So seed and water but go out and do personal harvest.

 

Someone gave my daughter (age 8) a chick tract the other day. When she gave it to me and I took a look at it I got really really angry. It was horrifying.

I guess I'm just lucky that the one child that I have that doesn't have perpetual nightmares was the one that was given this tract.

I ask you...what are people thinking giving such horrible things to children?

My church uses tracts. But there not like chick tracts at all. And I'm glad.

 

Interesting. I must agree with you. I wonder how many of those proetestors took smoke breaks .

Many people can be quite judgemental. For example, next weekend, I will be going to Las Vegas with the girl I'm dating. I've gotten a bit of flack from a small handful of people at church for this. Interesting, too, since we're getting separate hotel rooms, and we're going to see Andrea Bochelli and Star Trek: the Experience; not to gamble, and not to have extramarital sex. But people will believe what they want to believe, won't they? </font>[/QUOTE]IF you want to stop them dead in their tracks just ask them, "Who's living for Jesus Christ because of your life." Almost every time I ask that the answer is the same--silence.

People that have that much time and interest to watch someone else spend little time on discipling others.

But I will say that the Bible does teach that we are to avoid appearances of evil. So we do need to be particularly careful about what we do and where we go.

 

Mike,

Thanks for the invitation. I have to admit, this is one of the most resourceful forums I have visited. I can spend a whole week just reading a single section. I also like the way the topics/sections are divided.

Makes me feel proud to be a Baptist.

Again, thanks for pointing me in this direction. I look forward to learning much.

God Bless.

Roscoe </font>[/QUOTE]No problem. I invited you because I appreciated your posts on the Strang boards and knew you'd have a lot to add here.