SHORT SHOTS Vol. I Short evangelistic articles designed for individual re-release in various public media by Bible-believing, evangelizing local churches and Christian organizations. written by Clyde C. Price, Jr. (c) 1989 by Clyde C. Price, Jr. ############################################################ ################ This electronically distributed edition of ############### Short Shots is offered as text in the same ############## way that "Shareware" is offered as software ############# programs. That is, download and read it ############ free of charge, and if you print much of it ########### in your organization's publications, send ########## me about the same honorarium that your home ######### church would give a guest preacher. ######## ####### If you can't afford it now, don't worry ######## about it. Just GET THE WORD OUT! ######### You are encouraged to pass along hard copy ########## to your newsletter producing and tract ########### publishing friends. As a worker in small ############ churches, I've lacked contact with ############# evangelical pastors or churches where I ############## might preach or sing. I chose this ############### medium because I am committed to ################ serve YOUR ministry, and develop tools ############### for local churches to use in their ############## own ministries. God BLESS you! ############# CALL me or WRITE me, USPS or E-mail. ############ I'm sowing ########### for a HARVEST! HALLELUJAH! INTRODUCTION I offer these articles for use in any media for any local Christian churches or organizations who hold to the inerrant Scriptures as their rule for faith and practice, and who endorse these articles enough to use them. As the most important part of this endorsement, a condition for use is that you do not edit out the call to Lordship in the initial gospel call. If this raises any question in your mind, please read "TO THOSE WHO READ THIS COLLECTION". I designed these short pieces primarily as ad-copy for paid advertisements in weekly local newspapers, although they could also be used as a feature in newsletters, or as text for a 30 or 60 second radio spot. Many of them could be produced separately as leaflet-style tracts with a church address imprint or stamp. I have taken this slant because I believe more churches would advertise if they had a source of evangelistic "ad-copy". For those who reprint this material, especially in a newsletter or a glossy tract, I ask you to leave "--Clyde Price" at the end of the article, on a principle of accountability. I here acknowledge my debt of gratefulness to the ministry of the Navigators for pointing my attention to certain portions of Scripture. I have not duplicated their topic headings or materials as such, but the main texts and the sequence, with a small variation, could be recognized from the first two sections of the original Topical Memory System, which used only New Testament references. (Perhaps this was because military personnel often had only their Gideon New Testaments.) I didn't think I needed their permission to quote Scripture, so I haven't asked for it; but I gratefully acknowledge that the framework is largely that of a man of God whom I look forward to meeting, soon after I greet my Savior. I ask that my use of Dawson Trotman's sequence be considered an exercise in "not speaking my own word" and to achieve a balance of selection beyond my own wisdom. I must bear myself the responsibility for any imperfections or error in these pages. For insights into Scripture and its application, I am in debt to so many, widely known and nearly unknown, that I can't begin to list them. The Lord Jesus keeps much better references than I,and He will assign proper credit on that Day. Writing these articles I STARTED with the Scripture, then sought to unfold the meaning, implications, and some application of THIS bit of God's Word in an attention- provoking way. At the exhortation of my friend and teacher, Rev. Ben Wilkinson, I have sought to tighten the immediate evangelistic thrust of the articles, challenging people to face the Christ of the Scriptures NOW. In this collection, I refrained from personal illustrations or reference to myself. My purpose is to promote YOUR ministry. While constantly aware of being on the holy ground of the eternal and infinitely serious truths of God's Word, my tone is usually colloquial (some have said "smart-alecky"), usually upbeat, and sometimes sassy or even feisty. This is for the purpose of provoking ongoing interest, comment, and reaction. A response of anger to the truths of the gospel is much better than a reaction of apathy or tolerance. Gamaliel is never recorded as becoming a Christian. Saul did. While being VERY careful about theological content, I have sought to avoid theological jargon and flat statements about which Bible-believers disagree. As a Bible-believer, I clearly present the call to Lordship in the initial gospel call. I do not believe that anyone who deliberately WITHHOLDS the title-deed of his life from Christ is truly a Christian. People who preach Christ as SAVIOR with a specific option on LORD are selling damnably faulty fire escapes. A defective seed produces deformed Christians. PREACH THE WORD! Call people to repentance and faith, with Christ as Lord over every area of life. If you won't do that, then for God's sake SHUT UP about religion and go sell water purifiers or health foods. You might help somebody that way. Please USE these articles as PART of your church's outreach, BUT NOT ALL OF IT. Use them to lubricate and enhance your other ministries. Send copies and clippings to acquaintances. Call attention to your ads in your evangelistic visitation. Encourage your members to ask their neighbors and acquaintances if they have noticed them. This can lead to many soul-winning conversations. You could add on a coupon for a Bible correspondence course. These are available through Source of Light Mission in Madison, GA 30650 USA, 404-342-0397. If you have trained counselors on call at specific times, you could print a phone number for those who need counseling. You could ask for those who would be interested in a discussion-style Neighborhood Bible Study such as those in the Kunz and Schell series. You might advertise beyond your local "Jerusalem" as part of your "Judea and Samaria" outreach. You can print an upbeat article on the backs of handbills used for special events or special programs. It is my conviction that the best way to meet--and favorably impress--evangelical Christians in the general public, is to be out in the field doing the work of evangelism. It is my opinion that forays into the "secular" or mass media for any purpose should have evangelism as either a spearhead or as a barbed hook in whatever "bait". The articulation of a Christian/Biblical world-and-life-view is a sadly underused variety of "bait." Even these specifically evangelistic articles, lacking the "face to face" element, ARE PERHAPS ONLY PRE-EVANGELISM, but they may scatter some seeds that you can go out and reap. By the working of the sovereign God, in answer to your prayers, perhaps many will come to Christ whom we will not learn about until our Lord introduces us. May you be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth with your children in the gospel! His, Clyde C. Price, Jr. Red Oak, Georgia MAIN TEXT SUGGESTED TITLE/HEADLINE 1. II Cor 5:17 Extra-Terrestrial Invasion 2. Col. 2:6 Does your walk match your talk? 3. Col 2:9-10 Jesus is God 4. John 15:5 Fruits or just Nuts? 5. Phil 1:6 Christians Under Construction 6. Gal 2:20 Church of the Living Dead 7. Mt 4:4 Minimum Daily Requirements 8. Acts 17:11 Check it out in the Book 9. Col 3:16 Does music turn you on? 10. John 16:24 The King's power-of-attorney 11. Mt 21:22 If you believe... 12. I Jn 5:14-15 Don't even pray about it! 13. Jn 14:21 No frivolous commands 14. Jn 15:10 & 14 Joy commandments 15. Heb 5:8 Obedient God 16. I Jn 1:3 "I was there when it happened!" 17. Acts 1:8 The Anointing of Reality 18. I Pet 3:15 Ready to answer (18 b) "Let's Get Personal." 19. Rom 3:23 Believe the Bad News! 20. Jn 3:19 Conflict of interest 21. Rom 3:12 The Roman Road 22. Rom 6:23 Payday Someday 23. Heb 9:27 Born once: die twice; Born twice, die once 24. Rom 5:12 Don't Blame God (24 b) "to those who read this collection" (#'s 25, 26, & 27 are not in the sequence of the Old TMS) 25. Rom 5:8 God proves His love 26. I Pet 3:18 Accept the Substitute 27. I Cor 15:3-4 Of primary importance 28. Eph 2:8-9 (10) What about good works? 29. Rom 3:24 Justify yourself? 30. Titus 3:5 God o' mercy 31. Jn 1:10-12 A family forever 32. Rev 3:20 Guess who's coming to dinner 33. Rom 10:9-10 "Jesus is Lord!" 34. I Jn 5:11-13 Know for certain 35. Jn 5:24 Do you want out? 36. I Jn 5:13 Eternity begins now Goals and Evaluations for your public relations Example contract for a covenant group Afterword Some "Baker's Dozen" stuff About the author EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL INVASION? Would you believe it if someone told you that an extra-terrestrial life-force was planting its "seed" in living human beings and creating from every racial and ethnic group on the planet an entirely new species of being? The first chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament states that Jesus of Nazareth existed before His birth, death and resurrection on earth, that in fact it was through Him the universe was created, and that all who put their trust in Him are "born" into the family of God. This is a "close encounter" of the eternal kind. The "seed" that germinates this spiritual birth is the Word of God, the gospel. (See I Peter 1:23) The apostle Paul speaks of this new-born person as part of a "new creation" or a "new species of man". He writes, "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature (OR, "new creation"); the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." (II Corinthians 5:17 NAS) People who are inhabited by a powerful Person are in your midst, seeking to enlist you into their New Creation family of God. This does NOT mean that you will be "taken over" by hostile alien forces. As a matter of fact, this is the purpose for which you were created. You were DESIGNED to be a container of the life of God and an intimate friend of Deity. Please read more about this in the Gospel of John. The Lord Jesus Christ, the creator and master of the universe, calls you to an eternal and abundant life of fellowship with Him. Heaven will be your true home, and you can "phone home" any time you want. Even if you think this is a zany way to get your attention, we're serious about sharing with you the abundant life we've found through our faith in Jesus Christ. We'd like to meet you. Come visit us. [Clyde Price SHOT01] DOES YOUR WALK MATCH YOUR TALK? If at some time in the past you have "gotten saved" or made any kind of profession of faith in Christ, and you think, "that's all there is to it", you need to hear something else from the Scriptures: If you have truly received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you did so by entrusting yourself to Him to be the supreme authority--Lord, King--of your life because He had paid the price for you, spirit, soul and body, on the cross at Calvary. (See John 1:12 and Romans 10:9-10.) The method of entrusting yourself to Christ, or putting your faith in Him, by which you received eternal life, is the same "modus operandi" that God wants you to use for everyday living. The apostle Paul wrote, "As you therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him..." (Colossians 2:6 NAS). The whole second chapter of Paul's letter to the Colossians is a key chapter for believers in Christ to learn about what He has done for them and who they are in Him. When Paul says "walk", he's talking about a person's whole lifestyle. Paul is very concerned that folks who TALK about faith in Christ also WALK in line consistently with the faith they profess. If you claim to be a Christian, does your WALK match your TALK? If you're not a Christian, don't let non-walking talkers hedge you away from Reality. We invite you to read the Gospel of John, or any of the letters of the New Testament, to see what consistent Christianity is supposed to be. Remember if you're not a believer that you're "reading somebody else's mail" when you see promises to believers. Don't get angry or jealous. Become a walking and talking believer yourself. Don't wait. Do it now. Put your trust in Jesus. [Clyde Price SHOT02] JESUS IS GOD Have you ever heard the phrase, "Jesus is God"? Did you know that according to the Bible, the Person we know as Jesus of Nazareth was/is the Creator and sustainer of the physical universe? You can verify this for yourself in the first chapters of the New Testament books of the Gospel of John, Paul's letter to the Colossians, and the letter to the Hebrews. The apostle Paul wrote to the Christian believers at Colossae, "For in Him [Jesus Christ] all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority..." (Colossians 2:9-10 NAS). Human beings were designed to have a special intimate fellowship with Deity, but sin spoils that intended relationship. It is only through Jesus Christ the God-Man, who died on the cross for sinners, that we can find the fulfillment of our beings. [* optional insert ] Jesus Christ rose from the dead victorious over all other forces of the universe to offer eternal life, forgiveness, and true fellowship with God to all who put their faith in Him. At least look at the chapters mentioned above. See what the New Testament itself actually says about this Jesus of Nazareth. Apart from Jesus Christ you will always be incomplete and unfulfilled. Believe what the Bible says about Him, and put your trust in Jesus. [Clyde Price Shot03] [optional insert: Paschal, the French physicist and philosopher said,"There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man, which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ." --end of insert. (Paschal quoted from the 6th page of "Dear Dr. Van Dusen..." by Bill Bright, Campus Crusade for Christ, International, n.d. Sorry, I don't have the source for the original quote. ccp) ] FRUITS OR JUST NUTS? There is a purpose for the Christian life apart from the self-centered concern to escape Hell. God intends that those who have entrusted themselves to Jesus as their Savior and Lord should "bear fruit" here in the earth. The Lord Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing." (John 15:5 NAS) We Christians "abide" in Christ the same way we initially received Him as Savior and Lord, by FAITH. We hear and believe His word, and obediently order our lives according to it in the mighty power of His Holy Spirit. This lifestyle of obedient faith, or faithful obedience, is not the SOURCE of salvation, but the RESULT of being saved. The Word of God is a powerful seed, which will grow and produce the fruit of transformed lives, Christlike character, and a living, contagious faith. In a sense, the other people who come to faith in Christ through our witness and influence are also considered the "fruit" of our lives, our "spiritual children". Unfortunately, even genuine Christians are capable of cranking out efforts in their own strength. Some spiritual mavericks do things that are pretty "nutty". And also unfortunately, even genuine Christians can slip into sin. Nothing done apart from the leading and empowering of Jesus Christ will endure for eternity. Some Christians spend their entire lives without ever getting near the"assignment" that God has for them. Some Christians worry too much about "Is this project I'm working on REALLY of God, or is it just of me?" Other Christians are more concerned with SERVING the Lord than they are with KNOWING Him. God wants you to set your supreme concern on walking closely with Jesus Christ day by day, and He will then give you the things He wants you to do. God is much more concerned with what you ARE than He is with the works that you DO. He wants you to get to know Him through the truth of His Word in the power and fellowship of His Spirit, together with His other children. We invite you to come visit us. [Clyde Price SHOT04] [end of 1st file of 7]