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What makes Good Friday good?

March 29, 2013 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

What makes Good Friday good? I like this cartoon from BC cartoonist Johnny Hart.

Good friday cartoon bc

Good Friday is good because of the forgiveness, love and freedom we experience. This video is from the Magdalena Jesus Film, a version of the Jesus film prepared especially to reach out to women. It was inspired by a colleague while visiting Afghanistan. He saw the women covered head-to-foot in burka dress. His heart was broken by their isolation. He asked God how could these women hear about the freedom and love they can have through Jesus. The Magdelena film was a result.

Magdelena This is Freedom

 What makes Good Friday good for you? 

Filed Under: ccc, Thoughts Tagged With: evangelism

Using Facebook

November 22, 2012 by Keith Seabourn 1 Comment

“How do I use Facebook to share Christ with my friends?”, asked the student.

Kay and I were asked this question several times last week. We were in College Station, Texas participating in Grace Bible Church’s GO missions conference.

Perhaps you have been asking this question also.

Our internet ministry colleagues in Ethiopia have invited people to join in a day of using Facebook to share God’s love with Facebook friends. 244 people will spend time on Saturday, November 24th using Facebook as a platform for reaching out. Maybe their plans can help you with some creative ideas.

The objectives of this Facebook outreach are to encourage students to share the good news with their friends and to create multiple opportunities for them to know Jesus. Some of the strategies we are going to use are

  • Sharing short personal testimonies on video or text (Here is an excellent worksheet to help you prepare to tell your story)
  • Using Short films (See the Global Short Film Network site for excellent films. Also, the IAmSecond.com site has excellent testimony films.)
  • Sending private messages to their “Inbox”
  • Sharing Bible verses (Colleague Miheret has suggested 20 encouraging Bible verses here)
  • Sharing pictures

How are you using Facebook to live out your faith among your network of friends?

 

Filed Under: ccc, Ministry Tagged With: evangelism, social media

What’s happening in Ethiopia

March 11, 2012 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

25 years ago Ethiopia was a closed, Communist nation. Christianity was illegal. Now Ethiopia is open to the gospel and it is spreading like an unquenchable fire. The harvest is plentiful and the laborers, well, not so much.

While we were in Ethiopia, Kay and I had dinner with a Campus Crusade for Christ short-term STINT team. I learned of this exciting video where Seth shared these opening remarks.

Watch and enjoy!

[iframe http://player.vimeo.com/video/38076449 400 225]

God has chosen now as the time for Ethiopia from Tim Casteel on Vimeo.

Thanks to Tim Casteel for publishing and to Karin Tome for alerting me.

 

Filed Under: ccc, Ministry, Stories Tagged With: evangelism

Fighting jet-lag

March 10, 2012 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

Mosquito nettingIt’s 2:30 in the morning. I’m looking at the drape of white gauze mosquito net illuminated by the security lights outside our building. The buzzing of mosquitos is a safe distance away.

As I’m laying in bed fighting jet-lag, I think of a childhood song “his banner over me is love”.  This mosquito net is like a banner that I’m beneath. I think of the hedge God puts around us to protect us. This mosquito net is like his hedge.

This is what travel to a far part of the globe looks like for the first few nights. Sleeplessness during the night watches. Can’t stay away during the daytime. I’ve learned a lot about helping my body adjust, but jet-lag is a companion of travelers. God doesn’t seem to hedge jet-lag away from us.

I hear my roommate tossing and turning. He flew in from East Asia. He’s fighting jet-lag also. When I room alone, I can turn on the light and read. But I don’t want to disturb my roommate, so I spend this sleepless time looking at the white gauze and listening to the buzz in the room.

And I pray for Betsy.

Betsy was my seatmate for 7 hours flying from Amsterdam to Nairobi. Betsy loves Africa as I do. She lived in Kenya for a year and comes back frequently. She is married to a writer for National Geographic who is in Tanzania doing a story. She runs a wildlife conservation foundation. We talked of our experiences in different parts of Africa.

And we talked of spiritual things. Betsy grew up in a Christian home, but she’s explored most of the world’s major religions. She converted to buddhism a few years ago. She said she loves the beauty of all the religions. We talked of Christ’s claims which seemed to rule out other ways to God. We also talked of the exclusivity claims of Islam and Jewdaism. She was troubled by these but kept talking about how beautiful the religions are.

Betsy’s conservation group teaches monks in Mongolia to care about the earth. She is attending a conference in Kenya to help religious leaders care for the environment. She is very aware of the good that religious leaders can do.

We had a robust conversation, but I felt unable to help her think more critically. I especially wished I could have connected her with the God whose banner over me is love, who cares deeply about his creation, and who cared so much for Betsy that he sent his Son to pay for her sins.

I was not able to get that far with Betsy.

I was encouraged, though, that I was able to have a robust conversation without bruising the fruit of Betsy’s heart. She commented that she hadn’t had such a good conversation about spiritual things in a while. I am glad that I could be the evangelical Christian who could love things about Africa with Betsy and could talk about God without bruising her.

So I pray for Betsy during these night hours.

Filed Under: ccc, Ministry, Travel Tagged With: evangelism, Travel

Jesus on an iPad

June 8, 2011 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

“I told you that I’m not very interested in religion,” she said.

“Yes, you did. Would you like me to continue?” I asked.

“Sure. This is interesting.”

I smiled, flipped to the next screen, and we continued.

This was my first experience sharing the gospel using a new tool for mobile phones. As we continued, my mind flashed back to the beginning of this current adventure.

I found my seat on the flight from Atlanta to San Francisco. It was a Boeing 767, with a 2-3-2 seating plan. I moved into the aisle seat on a 2-side but didn’t get too comfortable. Kay wasn’t traveling with me this time. My seatmate hadn’t arrived yet. I wondered who God would send.

She showed up at the last minute, a fairly seasoned traveler. She sat down, her book came out, and she was in her bubble.

I was able to engage in some conversation. We talked about family (she has 2 children), about work (she was flying to San Francisco for 2 weeks), and about church involvement (she was raised in the Catholic church but is no longer active).

When I asked about her interest in spiritual things, she replied that she is content with her life and doesn’t find a need for more religion. I would talk about spiritual things and she would talk about religion.

Show Images to see this icon

I had just installed the God Tools mobile phone app recently released by Campus Crusade for Christ. This app has several different gospel presentations helpful for different audiences. I was looking for an opportunity to try this hi-tech way to share the old-old story.

I told her I had recently found this interesting app that talked about Jesus without talking about religion. Would she be interested? Yes, she would.

Somewhere over the middle of America at 35,000 feet, she heard about God’s love.

Each time I would try to engage her in some simple questions, I would hear “I’m not interested in religion.” But each time I would ask if she wanted to continue, I would hear “Sure.”

Success in WitnessingI think it was her interest in the hi-tech tool. But God was reaching out to her. Although she “wasn’t interested in religion”, she heard of God’s love, of our sin, of God’s forgiveness through Jesus, and of her need to receive it.

Although, she did not indicate any response, I was relaxed in knowing that I had a secret weapon. She thought it was a hi-tech presentation. I knew the Holy Spirit would be reminding her of spiritual truths.

It was a successful adventure.

What adventures have you had using new tools to talk about Jesus?

How you can get the God Tools app 

  • If you have an iPhone or iPad, go to the Apple App store and search for God Tools. Look for the icon.
  • If you have an Android-based phone, go to the Android Market and search for God Tools. Look for the icon.

Filed Under: ccc, gto, Ministry Tagged With: evangelism

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