Evangelistic pamphlets for your

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 Sunday morning 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 attentionprovoking 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

II Cor 5:17 Extra-Terrestrial Invasion
Col. 2:6 Does your walk match your talk?
Col 2:9-10 Jesus is God
John 15:5 Fruits or just Nuts?
Phil 1:6 Christians Under Construction
Gal 2:20 Church of the Living Dead
Mt 4:4 Minimum Daily Requirements
Acts 17:11 Check it out in the Book
Col 3:16 Does music turn you on?
John 16:24 The King’s power-of-attorney
Mt 21:22 If you believe…
I Jn 5:14-15 Don’t even pray about it!
Jn 14:21 No frivolous commands
Jn 15:10 & 14 Joy commandments
Heb 5:8 Obedient God
I Jn 1:3 “I was there when it happened!”
Acts 1:8 The Anointing of Reality
I Pet 3:15 Ready to answer (18 b) “Let’s Get Personal.”
Rom 3:23 Believe the Bad News!
Jn 3:19 Conflict of interest
Rom 3:12 The Roman Road
Rom 6:23 Payday Someday
Heb 9:27 Born once: die twice; Born twice, die once
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)
Rom 5:8 God proves His love
I Pet 3:18 Accept the Substitute
I Cor 15:3-4 Of primary importance
Eph 2:8-9 (10) What about good works?
Rom 3:24 Justify yourself?
Titus 3:5 God o’ mercy
Jn 1:10-12 A family forever
Rev 3:20 Guess who’s coming to dinner
Rom 10:9-10 “Jesus is Lord!”
I Jn 5:11-13 Know for certain
Jn 5:24 Do you want out?
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]

[2nd file of 7]

CHRISTIANS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

“Please be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet.” Believers in Jesus could wear a big yellow sign, “Christian under construction.”

After being “born again”, the Christian baby believer is responsible to FEED on the “milk of the Word” (see I Peter 2:2 and Hebrews 5:12-14) and to GROW as a Christian (see II Peter 3:18).

God Himself is at work in the lives of Christians, at times providing “crisis experiences” of grace, but mostly providing a progressive ongoing growth through the everyday grind of life.

The apostle Paul wrote to people he loved dearly, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6 NAS) The phrase “will perfect it” is given in other versions as “will bring it to completion” or “will keep on working” until that Day.

Believers in Christ not only escape the well-deserved sentence of Hell by God’s grace, but it is also entirely in the power of God’s grace that we live our daily lives and grow as persons toward Christlike maturity.

If you are already a believer in Jesus, and not committed to the ministry of another Bible-believing church, we invite you to come grow with us.

If you are not yet a believer in Jesus, we urge you to put your trust in Him. We also invite you to read the little letter of Paul to the Philippians in the New Testament. Most folks could read it out loud in ten minutes. It is some of the most tender and personal material in the Bible, and it speaks of Paul’s love for his friends and his faith in his Savior, even in the worst of circumstances. Read it for yourself. Come and visit us. We’re confident! [Clyde Price SHOT05] CHURCH OF THE LIVING DEAD The apostle Paul made several startling statements in

the same breath: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and delivered Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20 NAS)

Paul visualized himself up on the cross with (or IN) Jesus Christ. “I have been crucified with Christ.” He amplifies this thought in Romans 6. Paul considered himself, in a sense, to be a DEAD MAN.

Paul visualized the Risen Christ as living in his own body, “and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” He amplifies this thought in Romans 8.

The apostle states his motivation for turning his body over to Jesus the Son of God: He “loved me and delivered Himself up for me” as an atoning sacrifice for sin on the cross. For more detail on this, see Romans 3:19ff.

This does not mean that Paul had condemned himself to the semi-life of a cosmic zombie. Jesus Christ said, “I came that they [My ‘sheep’, My people] might have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)

Paul’s method of experiencing this abundant life on an ongoing, daily basis, he states simply, “and the life which I now live in the flesh, I LIVE BY FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD…”

Paul writes here in intensely personal terms some deep and heavy spiritual truth. We invite you to read the letters to the Galatians and Romans to get a firmer understanding of what Paul is talking about. This principle of the “exchanged life” is one of the deepest concepts in the Bible. By faith, you give your life to Him, and He gives His LIFE to you.

Can YOU say the same things Paul said? If not, you need to put your trust in Jesus.

[Clyde Price SHOT06]

MINIMUM DAILY REQUIREMENTS

Do you eat a good diet? Do you take vitamins? Or do you exist on Twinkles and Freeters and onion dip?

What do you feed your soul?

Even if you are careful to consume only organically grown whole foods, the MDR for your spirit is prescribed by Jesus Christ: “But He answered and said, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”‘” (Matthew 4:4 NAS)

God has revealed Himself supremely in the Person of Jesus Christ. He has revealed Himself in words and language in a Book, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

In the quote above from Matthew, Jesus is quoting the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. The quotation applies primarily to people who are already in a faith-covenant with the true and living God. Whether you already have a faithrelationship with God or not, we challenge you to READ THE BIBLE, one “book” at a time, with a bookmark. Every page testifies one way or another to the reality of Jesus Christ.

If nothing else, consider that the Bible has had tremendous literary and cultural impact through most of history over much of the world. Anyone who wants to be truly educated cannot afford to be unfamiliar with the Bible.

Some people have even found saving faith in the bleak little book of Nahum. (If you believe the Bad News, you can FLEE! Sin must be judged; all sin not dealt with at the cross of Christ must be dealt with in the lake of fire. Judgment has been declared, the only way out of the “City of Destruction” is to flee in faith to the cross of Jesus Christ, where the fire of judgment has already fallen.)

Most of the Bible is more enjoyable. It is a story of God seeking a people for Himself, and His love for His people. You can believe everything the Bible says about Jesus, and all God’s promises are true. He is “as good as His Word.” Put your trust in Jesus.

[Clyde Price SHOT07]

CHECK IT OUT IN THE BOOK

Do you know preachers who get uptight and huffy if you ask them to back up what they’re saying from Scripture?

The book of Acts records, “Now these [Jews of Berea] were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:ll NAS)

Luke, the human author of Acts, considered that it was a NOBLE-minded trait for the Bereans to CHECK OUT the preaching of the apostle Paul carefully against the Scriptures. At this time, these could have been only what we call the Old Testament: the Law, the Prophets, and the Wisdom Writings of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Paul was constantly “dialoging” with people, welcoming questions and answering them from the Scriptures and from his knowledge of the life and ministry of Jesus the Messiah.

Paul could and did claim APOSTOLIC authority for his preaching, but Luke–and apparently also Paul–considered it COMMENDABLE that the Bereans wanted to base their faith on the Scriptures and not JUST on the assertions of a preacher.

If you are presently under the influence of a preacher who preaches on his (or her) own authority, and refuses to be accountable to questions about their Scriptural views, we would frankly suggest that you GET OUT and find a Biblebelieving church.

This does not excuse any attitude of rebelliousness or criticism of a God-called Bible-believing pastor. But any true servant of God will rejoice when people search the Scriptures for themselves, and even ask questions. We certainly do. Even if we can’t answer all your questions, we’d like to meet you and talk with you.

We encourage you to read the Bible for yourself, daily, just like the Bereans. Begin in the Gospel of John.

Find out what the Bible says about Jesus. Then BELIEVE it.

[Clyde Price SHOT08]

DOES MUSIC “TURN YOU ON”?

Does music turn you on? Do you find melodies and lyrics flowing unbidden through your mind when your brain is “in neutral”? Have you ever caught yourself humming a beer commercial? Have you ever encountered a child who could sing/recite/mimic a large number of television commercials?

God commands His people to saturate their thinking and talking with the words and principles of Scripture. One POTENT medium to convey God’s words into our inmost being is the marriage of the Word with melody.

The apostle Paul wrote, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16 NAS)

It would be much easier to make Scripture the “home base” of our thought-life if we Christians would frequently and consistently sing Scripture songs and songs based on the Truth to ourselves, our children and our brethren. And it wouldn’t hurt anybody a bit if we were overheard by our nonChristian neighbors or co-workers.

An entire book of the Bible is a collection of songs. The Book of Psalms in an inspired collection of Hebrew poetry written for singing that expresses every emotion of the human heart. The lyrics of many traditional and contemporary songs are either directly quoted or adapted from the Psalms.

Many people always begin their devotional reading of Scripture in the Psalms, taking five a day and going through the entire book in a month. We encourage you to read the Book of Psalms for yourself.

Somewhere along the line, be sure to read the New Testament. We recommend beginning with the Gospel of John or the Gospel of Matthew.

It would probably be good to reduce the use of the Tube that hypnotizes our families with beer commercials punctuated by insipidity.

If you turn off the Tube some night and can’t think of anything better to do, try something really out-of-thisworld: sing some choruses, read the Bible, and talk together with God. He will be glad to hear from you. [Clyde Price SHOT09] THE KING’S POWER-OF-ATTORNEY If somebody gave you a check for $1 million, would that

make you happy?

God has given to believers in Jesus Christ the privilege of calling upon Him, using the power-of-attorney name of Jesus Christ, to honor any and all of the promises He has made in Scripture.

Even promises made under the Old Covenant are reapplied for New Covenant non-Israelite believers “in the name of Jesus” (see II Corinthians 1:20).

The promises of God for the believer could be compared to an unlimited drawing account, or a pad of purchase orders for any legitimate area of need. Using the “power of attorney” of the name of the Son of God “limits” the supplicant to that which fits within God’s intentions revealed in Scripture, but these are VERY generous.

On the night He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus Christ told His closest friends on earth, “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.” (John 16:24 NAS) One purpose that God has in answering prayers is to give His children specific things to REJOICE about.

These promises are not just for anybody. To become a “co-heir” with Jesus (Rom. 8:12-17), you must be BORN spiritually into God’s family (John 1:12-13 & 3:1-19). To do this, you need to receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord.

Then you can “go over the books” and begin to receive your inheritance.

We encourage you to read the Gospel of John for yourself. You will find in it many exciting promises for believers. We expect you to have questions, and we would like to try to answer them. Come by and see us.

[Clyde Price SHOT10]

IF YOU BELIEVE…

Some people treat God as if He were a vending machine. They approach Him when they want some THING, or maybe when they are in trouble and need bailing out.

Other folks pray frequently, always ending their prayers with the tag-phrase, “if it be Thy will…”, and it seems that these dear folks are never quite sure WHAT the will of God is.

The Lord Jesus Christ made a statement, which should be pretty plain, but over-enthusiastic and not-too-careful preachers have really stretched this promise out of shape. He said, “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.” (Matthew 21:22 NAS)

This literal translation of “believing” could have been translated, “if you believe” or “if you have faith”. The Big Question is this: What is it you are putting your faith IN? What are you believing? If you are believing sincerely something that’s not true, your results are going to be defective. Your “faith” might produce SOMETHING, but sooner or later, your faith in anything other than the promises of God will be disappointed.

Here is the key to this verse: You can BELIEVE the promises of God which He has made to His children. He cannot lie, and He has provided GOOD things in the Covenant He has made with those who put their trust in His Son Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

This doesn’t justify wild or selfish or destructive petitions, and God is not obligated to answer those.

But YOU CAN BELIEVE IT when God offers you forgiveness and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Read all about it for yourself in the Gospel of John. He has already promised to give His LIFE to those who ask in faith. Ask Him right now. He is as good as His Word. Put your trust in Jesus. [Clyde Price SHOT11] DON’T EVEN PRAY ABOUT IT If someone deliberately deposited $1 million into your

checking account, would you start writing checks on it?

God has made many promises in Scripture for those in faith-covenant with Him through Jesus Christ. These promises, when rightly understood, can ALWAYS be considered to be God’s will for the believer.

Sometimes believers faced with a decision will say, “Well, let me pray about that.” Some folks genuinely and sincerely are seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit; and others are using religious language as an excuse to put off action.

God has given many commands about things to do and things to avoid. We can consider that concerning situations governed by these commands, we KNOW what God’s will is. Some things are ALWAYS God’s will, and some things– especially deliberate sin–are NEVER God’s will. We don’t even have to “pray about it” to learn His will.

God has given believers a tremendously strong promise in Scripture:

“And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” (I John 5:14-15 NAS)

We Christians would profit by disciplining ourselves to a habit of basing every single request we make to God on known commandments and promises that we have found in His Word. He is not a God of fiat. He is the Covenant-keeping God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Christians are the children and servants of the true and living God. As servants, we need to pray and work for the furtherance and establishment of our Father’s program on the earth, rather than asking God’s endorsement on our own novel projects for our own purposes. He is not our servant. We are His.

When we Christians learn to pray in line with the will of God–that is, in line with the Word of God–heaven and earth will be shaken by the powerful prayers of the saints.

[Clyde Price SHOT12]

NO FRIVOLOUS COMMANDS

God never gave a frivolous command. We often hear quoted, “God is love!” (See I John 4:7-17.) God never gave a command that was not generated by the demands of holy, righteous love.

If we don’t understand or like a particular command, it is because we do not understand the nature of God’s entirely pure love.

The Lord Jesus said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love Him, and will disclose Myself to Him.” (John 14:21 NAS)

Some scholars read into this a re-endorsement of all the non-ceremonial commandments of the Old Testament; others protest this and insist that this covers only the actual words of Christ.

Since it only takes two or three hours to read all the words of Christ in the gospels (in a red-letter edition), we challenge you to read it for yourself. God was the same God in the Old Testament, and His nature has never changed. Taken at face value, THERE IS NO CONFLICT.

The only commands the Lord Jesus ever gave were generated by His love for His people, and fully consistent with Love. Anyone who disobeys a command of Christ is not operating in love.

Do you love Jesus? Don’t answer too quickly. Look at the things He commanded, then evaluate how much you are obeying Him. The resulting score will tell you HOW MUCH you love the Lord Jesus.

If you know that you DO NOT love the Lord Jesus, you are missing out on a friendship with the most exciting, interesting, and adorable Person in the universe.

Experience the Love you’ve been missing out on. Put your trust in Jesus as your sin-bearing Savior and yield to Him as your risen and living Lord.

[Clyde Price SHOT13]

JOY COMMANDMENTS

The word “commandment” has harsh connotations for a lot of folks. It seems to conjure visions of some stern, angry authority-figure who’s looking for something to find fault with.

However, the “commandments” in Scripture, and especially the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ, were given for a different purpose.

The Lord Jesus said, “If you keep my commandments you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love. …These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” (John 15:10, 14 NAS)

The commands of Christ revolve around unconditional love and complete trust. We are commanded to put our trust in God, and especially to put our trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Then we are commanded to love God completely and other people unselfishly. Note that trusting in Christ for salvation is not a politely offered option, it is a COMMAND. Disbelief or delay is disobedience.

Obedience to these commands produces JOY.

If you are jaded to “religious stuff” and these things we are discussing seem UNREAL, here’s a nitty-gritty suggestion:

Jesus claimed about the commands to love God and neighbor that “on these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:34-40) In other words, the Old Testament pictures in terms of human relationships what a genuine, holy, righteous love will do.

With this in mind, we challenge you to read the book of Deuteronomy or the Gospel of Matthew or both, and write down your questions. Then come and see us. We’d like to talk with you, even before you’re finished. We don’t boast that we’ll have every single answer, but we’d like to introduce you to The Answer.

But you don’t have to wait. Put your trust in Jesus.

[Clyde Price SHOT14] [end of 2nd file of 7]

[3rd of 7 files]

OBEDIENT GOD

The book of Hebrews in the New Testament says some amazing things about the Lord Jesus Christ, among them: “through whom [His Son, Jesus Christ] He [God] made the world,” and that at present the Lord Jesus “upholds all things by the word of His power.” Concerning the Deity of Jesus, “But of the Son He [God the Father] says,’Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever…'”

In view of these statements that Christ is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe; THE PROCESS of becoming a human being, living the perfect human life, and becoming both the perfect High Priest and the perfect sacrifice is MIND-BLOWING. One statement is especially provoking: “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the

things which He suffered.” (Hebrews 5:8 NAS)

Becoming a human being was the only way God the Son COULD “learn” obedience, through the experience of becoming the Father’s obedient Son and Isaiah’s prophesied Suffering Servant.

The first ten verses of Hebrews 5 discuss how the Lord Jesus became the High Priest of the New Covenant. He was already perfect in Himself as God the Son. Through His obedience, He BECAME the perfect High Priest AND the perfect sacrifice, the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” This was the course which He had to run, the assignment He had to accomplish.

The New Testament book of Hebrews, depending on the edition, would be about 16 pages or less. We challenge you to get a good modern translation of the Bible such as New American Standard, the New King James Version, or the New International Version, and READ IT FOR YOURSELF. Whether we are able to answer all your questions or not, we’d like to meet you and talk with you.

You will find in the book of Hebrews that the crucified and risen Lord Jesus lives today to be for you the perfect Prophet and Priest and King.

He’s “just perfect for you.” Put your trust in Jesus.

[Clyde Price SHOT15]

“I WAS THERE WHEN IT HAPPENED!”

Someone challenged, “Well, how do you KNOW you became a Christian right then?” And the young man replied, “Because I was THERE WHEN IT HAPPENED!”

An “expert witness” may be called to the stand to testify about a subject he knows about. Material witnesses are called to testify because they have PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE about something that has happened. They know about it because they were “there when it happened.”

The apostle John wrote, “What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (I John 1:3 NAS)

Even if someone disagrees with what we teach, or even rejects the Bible entirely, it’s hard to argue with people who testify that because of Jesus Christ, their marraiges have been put back together, they’ve been set free from addiction to chemicals or illicit sex or a meaningless materialistic lifestyle.

And we take SPECIAL joy in the children of believers who have come to love the Lord Jesus at an early age, and who, because of Him, have been spared many of the pains and pollutions of the gross sins of the world. Their testimony of God’s faithfulness from the cradle to the grave will have great impact in the Kingdom.

We invite you to read the Gospel and the Letters of John to see more of what we are talking about. And come visit us. We’d like to meet you.

We’re able to sing the pop-song, “What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life” as a praise-song to the Lord Jesus Christ. At our church, we have a bunch of folks who are ready and eager to give their “testimony” about what Jesus Christ has done for them, and they KNOW, because they were “there when it happened.” It’s hard to argue with that.

Put your trust in Jesus. He’ll make a big difference in your life, too.

[Clyde Price SHOT16]

THE ANOINTING OF REALITY

As Christians who are eager to introduce others to the Lord Jesus Christ, there are often times when talking to another person or a group of people that we are conscious of a flow of power coursing along the channel of our witness, and sometimes guiding us to say things we had not previously planned to say.

People have remarked about Billy Graham that the most important factor in his preaching was not his own eloquence, but that as he preached, people were conscious of the presence of another Person who was bearing witness to the message.

After His crucifixion and resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 NAS)

We depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to impel us out of our easy chairs, to lead us in our witness, and to give our message an “anointing of Reality” in the hearts of the people who hear us, the Spirit bearing witness that our message really is the Truth.

One of the things we routinely ask people to do is this: read through the Gospel of John, and ask God Himself to show you if this is the Truth. If you are sincere, He is already committed to show you.

People who consider “their” religion to be an intensely “personal” matter, and who resent strangers or acquaintances who attempt to “force their religion down other people’s throats” entirely misunderstand our motives.

We have been enjoined by our Savior and King and best Friend to take the Good News of salvation and abundant life SIMULTANEOUSLY throughout our own neighborhood, and out into surrounding areas, across our nation and all over the planet. And even to YOU.

We CAN’T “cram it down your throat”, but we do encourage you strongly: Put your trust in Jesus.

[Clyde Price SHOT17]

READY TO ANSWER

Have you ever seen somebody wearing a pin that said “Jesus First” or “Jesus is Lord”, and you wondered what it was they were into? Did you ask about it, or were you bashful about asking a “personal” question?

If you have any degree of interest at all, PLEASE go ahead and ask ’em.

The apostle Peter wrote one of the “standing orders” for followers of Jesus, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” (I Peter 3:15 NIV)

Of course, we would not dare to endorse in advance everything said by just anybody who is wearing a Christian pin, nor to guarantee absolutely that such a person is going to be courteous. But most people who go to the trouble of acquiring and wearing a “Jesus First” or “Jesus is Lord” pin, have already made Jesus Christ the Lord of their lives and consider His Kingdom to have first priority in their lives. They (we) put on those little pins IN THE HOPE that they will lead to conversations with people.

As a matter of fact, you could get started reading the Gospel of John on your own, and start writing down questions you’d like to have answered.

More in the spirit of what Peter was addressing, if you see someone you know is a Christian obviously having a hard time and yet responding to conditions with a peace and an inner power that you do not understand, go ahead and ask ’em, “Hey, man, what makes you tick? How do you do it?” It was a previously given “homework assignment” that they should be willing and ready to answer your question.

If you are already a Christian, you obviously need to be able to give your testimony clearly with no notice, and be able to share the gospel simply, clearly and quickly with any person willing to listen to you. All right, Christians, you have your “homework”.

And for you who haven’t yet trusted Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord, we encourage you to put your trust in Jesus; and any questions you have about that, we’ll be glad to try to answer.

[Clyde Price SHOT18]

18 B “LET’S GET PERSONAL”

In using short articles like this as one element of your local church outreach, it may be that a copy of your typewritten and mimeographed or photocopied church bulletin carrying an evangelistic article as a feature COULD have more impact on people than a beautifully printed glossy tract.

In the medium of a newsletter, you can link a gospel “shot” with a clear notice that at THIS location and at THESE times there are some warm breathing PEOPLE who can be looked over and talked with. There are people in THIS church who are seeking to know Christ personally and to make Him known widely. And THESE are the very people who can pass this letter along into the hand of somebody they can look in the eye and grin at.

In my personal ministry, I often use printed tracts. Before passing them out, I have signed thousands of them by hand and given my phone number. Sometimes I put my mailing label or personal rubber stamp with my P.O.Box number so that there is an open channel back to the “sower”. (Applying this, here’s my address: Mr. Clyde C. Price, Jr., P.O.Box 667, Red Oak, GA 30272-0667 USA. CIS#76616,3452)

Though so far, few people have gotten back to me that way, there are thousands of people in metro Atlanta who have had Clyde Price’s personal endorsement of the Good News. I think this carries more weight than an unmarked piece professionally printed in another state. This is why I prefer to write things to be used by LOCAL CHURCHES instead of just promoting my own ministries and programs. I would rather be your servant and EFFECTIVE through YOUR “endorsement” and follow-up, than to be a famous evangelist with little lasting fruit.

I challenge you to find ways to make your outreach more personal, even as you expand into more public media.

ccp

BELIEVE THE BAD NEWS!

If you don’t believe the Bad News, the Good News isn’t really good news, it’s either meaningless or insulting. The Good News of salvation and eternal abundant life in Jesus Christ means very little to people who believe that they are already “good enough” for God, or who think that God is going to accept everybody.

Many people have a concept of God that closely resembles a white-robed, nearsighted grandfather/Santa Claus who loves to embrace unwashed filthy children. In countries infected with the Santa Claus myth, this confusion may come about through ascribing to St. Nick several attributes of Deity, thus making him an idol or false god, and encouraging confusion with the true and living God.

The God-who-really-is is a holy God who hates and must punish sin (see Nahum 1:3). And the Bible says clearly, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NAS). We’re all in the same boat.

If you don’t think that you have sinned VERY MUCH, consider this: “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10 NIV)

Now you know that according to the Bible YOU are a sinner who needs a Savior. That’s the Bad News. Now you’re ready for the GOOD NEWS: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 NIV)

We did not simply make this up. Read the book of Romans for yourself. You can probably do it in less than three hours.

One evangelism teacher jokingly proposed this approach to strangers: Worker-“Are you ungodly?” The surprised victim would probably answer, “No, I’m not ungodly. What do you think I am, a heathern?” Zealous workers reply- “Well, that’s too bad. You can’t be saved then. The Bible says ‘Christ died for the ungodly.’ [Rom 5:6] If you’re not ungodly, then Christ didn’t die for you.” Whether you think this is funny or not, don’t miss the point.

News of the Savior is only good news when you realize that you need a Savior. Put your trust in Jesus. [SHOT19 Clyde Price] CONFLICT OF INTEREST Among public officials, there is a commonly used phrase

“conflict of interest”, and this is a condition which is either carefully avoided or concealed.

Many individuals, whether “public” or private, deliberately avoid making a commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ because they know that some of the things they are doing and the policies they are following are incompatible with faith in Christ.

The Lord Jesus gave this evaluation: “And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19 NAS)

The word “loved” in this passage is the Greek verb AGAPAO, usually used to refer to the God-kind of love. This involves a RELIGIOUS love of darkness, a deliberate committment on the level of “religion”–whether it’s called that or not–to exalt and practice evil.

In this immediate passage, and in the first three chapters of John, it is made clear that people who are genuinely open to the “light” of Truth will be drawn to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you know that you are committed to things which God will not accept, we call on you to REPENT, and find forgiveness in the Lord Jesus. Nothing on earth is worth the alternative of eternal weeping and gnashing of teeth.

If you consider yourself an “honest seeker after Truth”, we invite you to read the Gospel and letters of John, and ask God to show you whether this is Truth or not. We confidently expect that you will encounter Reality in our Lord Jesus Christ. Come and talk with us. We’d like to meet you. [SHOT20 Clyde Price]

[end of 3rd file of 7]

[4th file of 7]

THE ROMAN ROAD

“I’ve been doing good things all my life. I’ve never hurt anybody. I have a close family and good relationships on my job. I go to church sometimes, and I don’t even cheat on taxes. Don’t you think God will accept me into heaven?”

Sorry, friend, not on that basis He won’t. The Bible has a shocking statement for you, that you may even consider insulting. But remember, this is from God’s Holy Scripture. The apostle Paul addressed the issue of being “good enough” by referring to several passages in the Old Testament, including this one:

“All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is no one who does good, There is not even one.” (Romans 3:12 NAS quoting Psalms 14:1ff. and 53:1ff.)

The point is that nobody is good enough by their own record to meet God’s standards (see Matthew 5:48). In the system of works, God’s standard is total perfection, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who ever made a passing score.

We challenge you to find a good readable version of the Bible, such as the New American Standard or the New King James Version, and read the entire letter of Paul to the Romans. Depending on the edition, this might be about 20 pages or less.

Pay special attention to 3:23 6:23 5:8 10:9-10 12:1-2. These references have been used by thousands of Christian witnesses as a brief presentation of the Good News. This presentation is fondly called “The Roman Road.” (The number before the colon is the chapter. The number after the colon is the verse.)

You will find that Paul explains the purpose of the Law (i.e. “the Ten Commandments”) is to show us that we are sinners who need a Savior. Chapter 3 explains clearly that no one can be made right with God by doing good things or by being “good enough”.

The only way to be made right with God is by trusting in Jesus Christ as your sin-bearing Savior and your living, ruling Lord. Then His perfect righteousness is imputed, or “credited”, to YOUR account. THEN your motivation for “being good” is to please your King, out of gratitude, because you love Him.

Walk this “Roman Road” for yourself. Entrust yourself to Jesus. Do it NOW.

Clyde Price SHOT21

The “Roman Road” references from the New King James Version

3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.

12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

(Some folks add in John 1:12 or Revelation 3:20.)

PAYDAY SOMEDAY

You look forward to getting your paycheck, don’t you? Especially if you really worked hard for it, and most especially if you have financial obligations that need to be paid out of THIS check. Hopefully, you have a sense of satisfaction that you EARNED this money, and in every sense it is rightfully yours.

The Bible speaks of a “paycheck” which is rightfully yours, which you have earned yourself with your own actions, but which you are NOT looking forward to with pleasant anticipation:

“For the wages of sin is death…”

This “death” refers to an eternity of separation from God in what the Bible calls “the lake of fire”. It also includes the “down payment” of a physical body subject to aging and diseases and an environment cursed with the pollutions resulting directly or indirectly from human sin.

This same passage that tells of our wage also tells of an alternative to that earned paycheck, and that is in the form of an unearned, undeserved gift:

“…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself the “wages” of our sin when He died on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for sinners. The victory of His resurrection from the dead promises eternal, abundant, purposeful life for all who will put their trust in Him as sin-bearing Savior and living Lord.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 3:23 NAS)

We urge you to read the letter to the Romans and the Gospel of John for yourself, and then if at all possible, come by and talk with us.

We warn you that if you have not received the Gift, that you WILL receive your wages. There’s going to be a Payday someday.

It could be sooner than you think. Don’t wait. Put your trust in Jesus.

[SHOT22 Clyde Price] [WITH WARM MEMORIES OF DR. ROBERT G. LEE, WHO PREACHED HIS FAMOUS SERMON “PAYDAY SOMEDAY” MANY HUNDREDS OF TIMES. HIS WORKS FOLLOW AFTER HIM.]

BORN ONCE: DIE TWICE; BORN TWICE: DIE ONCE

“Well, man, I’ll just balance out my kharma some other time, maybe in my next life.” In the last several years, an increasing number of people from traditionally Protestant American, European and British-heritage areas have embraced belief in reincarnation. Some even try to back it up with twisted Bible texts. One plain statement that Scripture makes is this: “It is appointed for men to die once, and after this

comes judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27 NAS)

Jesus Christ declared the necessity of the “new birth” through faith in Himself. (Read John 3.)This birth of the Spirit, or “second birth” is the essential beginning of eternal life.

This second birth comes about when we have heard the gospel, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit applies the work of “new creation” as we believe the message and put our trust in Jesus alone for our salvation.

All who have this “second birth” through faith in the Lord Jesus shall be found on Judgment Day to be recorded in the “Lamb’s Book of Life”; and those who have not trusted in Christ will be judged according to their works and cast into the “lake of fire” (see Revelation 21).

If you’re born twice, you only die once. If you’re born only once, you die twice.

There are no second chances, no balancing out kharma, trying to “tip the scales”, no past or future incarnations. “TODAY is the day of salvation.”

Jesus Christ said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” (John 14:6 NAS) Read the Gospel of John for yourself. This is the most urgent issue of your life.

Don’t wait ’til your next incarnation; you won’t have one. Don’t wait ’til tomorrow. For you tomorrow might not come. Put your trust in Jesus, right NOW.

[Clyde Price SHOT23]

DON’T BLAME GOD

DO NOT BLAME GOD for the sinful things done by other people (or by yourself), or for the painful things that happen as an indirect or direct result of somebody’s sin.

The apostle Paul explains in his letter to the church in Rome how sin entered our world. He wrote:

“Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12 NAS)

God created Adam and Eve without sin. They had, at that point, the ability not to sin; and since they were responsible moral agents they also had the ability (but NOT THE RIGHT) to sin.

They both sinned before having any children, and all their descendants (including YOU) have been born into the same state of separation from God which they voluntarily stepped into.

As a result, you were born into a world which bears the scarring effects of the sins of our first parents and their children through the millennia.

We cannot simply blame our plight on Adam and Eve. The Bible charges each of us with specific acts of sin, and convicts us by showing us the Law which we have broken. We stand convicted as sinners whose only hope is the Savior promised to Adam and Eve even before they were evicted from the Garden (Genesis 3:15).

Read the letter to the Romans and the Gospel of John for yourself. You will see that God is not the Great Ogre who has caused your problems, but rather He is the loving Father who has provided for your deepest needs, and desires to bring you into His LIFE.

From the same chapter in Romans quoted above, we read Paul’s words, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:12)

Though we had no hope of life, being born with the same sin nature our parents had, and standing condemned by the record of our sinful acts; GOD SENT HIS SON to purchase redemption for everyone who would trust in Him as Savior and yield to Him as Lord. Do it today. Put your trust in Jesus. [Clyde Price SHOT24]

24B TO THOSE WHO READ THIS COLLECTION:

If you’re wondering why I avoid the phrases “Christ died for everybody” or “Christ died for all sins”, my purpose is to avoid any chance of someone reading into the message any possibility of universalism.

I John 2:1-2 states that the propitiatory sacrifice of our Lord was SUFFICIENT for all sin for all time. The rest of I John explains that only those who trust Him as Savior and abide in Him as Lord can boast with any confidence that they “have the Son of God” and the life which is in His name. John notes that those who SAY they love God without obeying Him are LIARS.

Christ’s death was a payment SUFFICIENT for everyone, but His REDEMPTION will only be EFFECTIVE for true believers.

I think it is both safer and more piercing to draw a CLEAR LINE, and invite the sinner to step over it.

Some would object to my insistence on Christ as Lord AT THE OUTSET. I can only say that if you have changed citizenship from the dominion of darkness to the Kingdom of the Son, you automatically owe your allegiance to the King. He is the believer’s elder Brother and Friend. He is also our liege Lord. I believe that any gospel message which omits or short-circuits the crown rights of King Jesus is damnably defective.

I do not believe that anyone who only wants the goodies of heaven and deliberately withholds the title deed of his life from the Lord Jesus can claim to be a real Christian. If you say, “Jesus is Lord” when He is not your Lord, that is not a confession of saving faith. It is a LIE.

If you object to this, please DO NOT USE ANY OF THESE ARTICLES. Such use would then constitute theft of the fruit of my creative labor, and also fraud in the form of false advertising. I SPECIFICALLY FORBID the use of these articles if the call to Lordship is edited out.

Let us seek together to know and to make known our Lord Jesus Christ, in as many different media as God providentially makes available to us. May all glory go to the Lamb who has purchased us His people with His own blood.

Abraham’s blessing is extended to us in the New Covenant. “And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” God, give me MIGHTY seed, in every nation of earth! I call on You to make good Your promise to do this in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord.

ccp

GOD PROVES HIS LOVE

Many people do not really believe that God loves them. They look at the heartaches and tragedies of their lives and ask how a loving God could “do this” to them.

They fail to realize that many things that occur in life are the direct or indirect result of somebody’s SIN.

God does not take personal responsibility for the sinful actions of people, or the physical or emotional consequences of sin.

Instead, He demonstrates His love toward people by taking an incredibly expensive course of action to deal with our most basic problem. He gave His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sin, and raised Him from the dead for our justification. The apostle Paul wrote: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that

while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 NAS)

Almost everyone has questions about why God allows the various kinds of evil and tragedy in the world. Don’t wait until you understand all those questions to put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you become hardened in your bitterness, you may not even be able to respond to the gospel.

The first letter of Peter is written to people who have been through fiery trials and found that their faith in Jesus Christ could pull them through. God proved His love even in their trials. Read this little letter for yourself.

Don’t blame God for the evil you’ve seen. He is the one who spent the blood of His Son to buy your forgiveness, and He offers you this incredibly expensive gift freely, IF ONLY you will put your trust in His Son, The Messiah of Israel, the Lord Jesus, as your own Savior and King.

Long before you had ever considered Him, He had made this demonstration of love for sinners, even such as you.

Don’t be mad at God; and don’t doubt His love. Receive it by receiving Jesus Christ as your sin-bearing Savior and risen, reigning Lord. Don’t wait. Do it today.

[Clyde Price SHOT25] [SHORT SHOTS 4th file of 7]

[SHORT SHOTS 5th file of 7]

ACCEPT THE SUBSTITUTE

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” (I Peter 3:18 NKJ)

In all the universe and for all of eternity, there is only one answer for the Sin-problem, “Christ…suffered once for sins.” Jesus Christ died on the cross as a onetime substitutionary sacrifice for sinners, in order to cancel effectively the “criminal records” of every sinner who would trust in Him for salvation.

Jesus of Nazareth is the only human who ever walked the earth who lived without sin. He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:16) He had not Himself earned the wages of sin, eternal death. (See Romans 6:23.) He died, “the just for the unjust”, as a substitute.

The Bible teaches that Jesus of Nazareth was/is God the Son, pre-existent Deity, who created the universe and invaded the earth which He had created, to live in it as a man, and to purchase with His blood people from every family of humanity. (See John 1, Colossians 1-2, Revelation 5.)

We don’t understand the physics of it, but He was raised to life again physically by the power of the Holy Spirit. He was “put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” And He lives today to call you to Himself. Trust Him now as your Savior and the Lord of your life.

Read the first letter of Peter and the Gospel of John for yourself. The Lord Jesus died in your place for your sin so that by faith you might share in His Resurrection LIFE.

His purpose was “that He might bring us to God.” He is the only one who ever paid the sin-debt. He is the only one ever to conquer death and the grave. He has the right to say, “I am the way,…no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6) That’s what He WANTS, to bring us to God.

Put your trust in Jesus Christ as your sin-bearing Savior and the Lord of your life. He is your Creator and Sustainer, and He calls you to be His redeemed one, a member of His Bride, a sheep in His pasture, and His eternal friend.

[Clyde Price SHOT26]

OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE

The message which the apostle Paul preached was rooted deeply in the Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Covenant. He stressed that the mission which the Messiah had fulfilled had been clearly prophesied in the Old Covenant.

He wrote to the church at Corinth, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (I Corinthians 15:3-4 NAS)

“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures…”

We read in the prophecy of Isaiah, “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6 NKJ)

“He was buried.”

And they made His grave with the wicked– But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.” (Isaiah 53:9)

“He was raised” from the dead.

“When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, HE SHALL PROLONG HIS DAYS, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the travail of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:10-11)

The death and resurrection of the Messiah as an atoning sacrifice for sin was prophesied clearly by Isaiah, centuries before the star shone over Bethlehem. Jesus of Nazareth was revealed first as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” He may return at any time now as conquering King.

God’s salvation in Jesus the Messiah was not a lastminute emergency operation. It was agreed on by God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit before the foundation of the world.

That’s pretty solid planning. You can put your trust is Jesus.

[Clyde Price SHOT27]

WHAT ABOUT “GOOD WORKS”?

A lot of folks will tell you frankly that they are trying to get to heaven by doing good works. Salvation by works DOES NOT WORK.

Some who say that they are trusting in Christ alone for salvation disavow ANY “religious” works at all, and have an unholy kind of Christianity that doesn’t affect their lifestyle at all. This kind of “greasy grace” is also a poisonous substitute for the gospel.

The apostle Paul gives us the balance between these two deadly extremes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 NAS)

The gift of God is free but not cheap. It cost God His Son. He offers the gift of salvation freely to all who will receive it by faith in Jesus Christ. This does not make FAITH the only acceptable WORK. A beggar gets no credit for reaching out his hand to receive a handout.

Read Paul’s letter to the Ephesians for yourself. In it you’ll not only find how humans can get to heaven, but God’s purpose for the entire universe.

There are no “works” or “good deeds” that we do to earn salvation; and after we have received salvation by grace through faith in Christ, there are no “works” that we do to STAY saved. However, because we are now God’s children and His ambassadors and servants on earth, He has some things which He wants us to do. We do THESE works because we ARE saved, not to become saved or to stay saved. Our motivation is our love for Jesus Christ, our desire to please Him.

We want you to get to know Him, and we are positive that you’ll love Him too. Put your trust in Jesus.

[SHOT28 Clyde Price]

JUSTIFY YOURSELF?

Have you ever done something stupid, then given a dumb excuse for it, and had someone say, “Well, you’re just trying to JUSTIFY yourself!”?

When you justify lines of print on a typesetter or a word processor, you are putting the print in the RIGHT PLACE, where it is supposed to be, as the author or editor intended it.

Being “justified” before God is a matter of coming into a RIGHT STANDING before Him, without the condemnation of sin.

Too many people try to justify themselves before God by pointing to “good deeds” or religious rituals that they have done. Some trust in their race or nationality, or lodge ritual, or some other mistaken idea about what it takes to be “right” before God.

The apostle Paul says that people are “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24 NAS).

Trying to follow a list of do’s and don’t’s won’t work, because Paul says in the same chapter, “by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight.” (3:20)

Read the letter to the Romans for yourself, and also the Gospel of John. This is the simple, but widely misunderstood teaching of the New Testament.

People can only receive “right standing” before God through the redemption Christ Jesus purchased on the cross. We sinned and earned death; He never sinned, and died, so that all who put their trust in Him would be “put right” with God, receive His forgiveness, and have eternal abundant life as a free gift.

Someone has spelled GRACE as an acrostic: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.

We receive this gracious gift through faith. Someone has spelled FAITH: Forsaking All I Take Him.

Receive God’s gift. Put your trust in Jesus.

[SHOT29 Clyde Price]

“GOD O’ MERCY!”

“He [God] saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5 NAS).

God does not save people “on the basis of deeds…done in righteousness.” The BASIS for salvation is not anything that we did or were going to do, but entirely in what the Lord Jesus Christ did: He died for sinners on the cross as an innocent substitute, and rose again from the dead to give eternal life to everyone who trusts in Him.

God has chosen to save sinners “according to His mercy,” because He is a merciful and loving God. He is indeed a GOD OF MERCY. But HE CAN ONLY save those who put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, because He is also a holy and just God who MUST PUNISH SIN: either at the cross of Christ or in the lake of fire.

As a sinner comes to Christ, the Holy Spirit is working in the sinner’s heart, “making alive” the gospel to the person, and enabling the person to trust in Christ alone for salvation. “By the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,” the Holy Spirit applies the cleansing blood of Christ to the heart of the new believer and washes completely clean from all sin. This “regeneration” is also called “the new birth”.

There is a place for “good deeds” in the life of the believer, but these are as a RESULT of being saved, and NOT IN ORDER TO BE SAVED. Paul wrote in the same letter, “Christ Jesus…gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” (2:14) Paul says later, “And let our people also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, that they may not be unfruitful.” (3:14) We Christians are commanded to care not only for people’s souls and their eternal destination, but also for their practical needs, especially in emergencies.

We Christians should also not leave out of our gospel message that the Lordship of Christ over your life will involve some changes in your lifestyle. Laboring for King Jesus is more exciting and fulfilling than ruling over any other Kingdom.

If you who read this are not yet a Christian, we invite you to read the Gospel of John for yourself, and ask God to show you directly in your own heart the Truth.

We confidently expect the Holy Spirit to bear His witness to the message. We would like to meet you and try to answer your questions.

[SHOT30 Clyde Price]

A FAMILY FOREVER

Do you know of a family that is split, or maybe even shattered? Have you experienced yourself the pain of alienation? The Lord Jesus understands all about that.

The first chapter of John teaches that Christ is the Creator of the universe, and that He became a human being to live personally among the people He had created for Himself. “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:10-11 NAS)

He came as a virgin-born baby to the planet that He had created for a fellowship-place with mankind, but He was rejected by His people, betrayed by a very close friend, accused and convicted in an illegal trial, and executed as a criminal. He rose again from the dead in victory to offer forgiveness and eternal life to all who put their trust in Him.

Maybe “His own” in v.11 refers to the Jewish nation to whom He was specifically sent in His earthly ministry, and who rejected Him as their predicted Messiah, or John may have meant mankind in general.

Some however have received Him, and you should receive Him, too. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born…of God.” (John 1:12-13 NAS) All who receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are born spiritually into God’s “Forever Family.”

We invite you to read or listen to the first chapter of John, and see if it really says this. This isn’t some strange and weird new teaching. We want to introduce you to what the Bible says about the Lord Jesus Christ. We trust that if you examine the Gospel of John with an open mind, that you will become convinced that this is the Truth, and that Jesus Christ is the living Son of God.

We are praying that you and many of your family and friends will “receive” King Jesus into the throne room of your heart. Just picture your family “infected” with an “epidemic” of forgiveness, reconciliation, and love. Put your trust in Jesus. [SHOT31 Clyde Price]

[end of 5th file of 7]

[SHORT SHOTS 6th file of 7]

GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER

There is a quote from the New Testament which is used very commonly in giving the invitation to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. It has long been used with children as an invitation verse. In the book of Revelation, the Risen Christ said,

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20 NAS)

Children who hear this and respond to “receive Jesus into their hearts,” often visualize a door opening up in their chest, and a miniature Jesus coming to live in their blood-pump.

If these children are not discipled and nurtured and challenged in their growing-up years, as they get into their teens or young adulthood, their childhood conversion experience bears little apparent relevancy to the exciting adult temptations they are now facing.

Tragically, many who professed Christ as children fall away from the faith as teens or young adults. Many simply become “lukewarm” churchgoers and live much the same lives as their unchurched neighbors.

These words in Revelation were actually addressed to a professing Christian group which had grown worldly and “lukewarm.” Notice that the word “heart” is not used. This is an attempt to book a “dinner date.” You invite someone over for dinner when you want to socialize, make friends, and have a good time. You have friends over for a PARTY.

Instead of opening a door in your chest like Seethreepeeoh, why not invite Jesus “over for dinner.” You will find that He is a fascinating adult companion. We suggest that you unplug the Tube, take the phone off the hook, and curl up with the Gospel of John. Before you start, ask the Lord Jesus to meet with you and reveal Himself to you and begin to show you that abundant life which is a close walk with Him.

It is a GOOD thing to receive Christ as a YOUNG child, especially in a family that prays together and talks about the contents and applications of the Scriptures together. EVERY CHILD OF GOD needs continuous teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in right living. This can only come as Christians minister the Word to each other.

Keep the love-walk FRESH, walking with your closest Friend day-by-day. Help the fires burn hotter by fanning each other’s flames. A church dropout is a reproach to God, but maybe is understandable. (See Rev. 3:16.) A lukewarm Christian is NAUSEATING.

We warmly invite you either to come to Jesus for the first time, or to come back to Him. Invite the King of Kings “over for dinner.” He is the most fascinating Person in the Universe. Let’s party.

[SHOT32 Clyde Price]

[Note to all future editors and typesetters: The word in the 2nd paragraph, 2nd sentence, 6th word is “dis_ci_pled.” Please don’t “correct” it. English verb “to disciple” as equivalent to Greek verb “MATHETEUO”. ccp]

PROJECT IDEAS

One project you could do with some expense would be to publicize a free barbecue or fish-fry (something to EAT) for anybody in the neighborhood who wanted to come.

Book a Christian singer or group, or an evangelistic (SHORT) movie, such as “The Gospel Blimp”. Announce the time and date in the local paper AND with handbills door-todoor in your saturation area. You could omit the press release if you wanted to focus on the smaller immediate area.

I suggest four elements for your handbill & ad:

1)Design the handbill/ad as a “Free Ticket” with space for a) a family street address, b) the names of people in the family c) church affiliation, if any, d) number of adults and children coming to the Shindig, e) infants needing childcare, and f) their reservation number. g) Note that this is valid for the DOOR PRIZE only if filled out completely. At the cost of a Big Bear or a camera, you’ll have a lot more tickets filled in.

2) If you do not have unlimited food &/or money, you may want to ask for RSVP by phone to get a reservation number to write on the ticket, and at that point reassure them that there is no charge and no offering will be taken. You just want to meet them. If you feel that reservations and numbers are too mechanical, have a “commando squad” with cash ready to raid a nearby Burger Doodle.

3) INCLUDE VERY CLEAR DIRECTIONS TO YOUR BUILDING. If possible, meet on the same property where your church meets. That way everybody who gets there for the food will know how to find their way back for services. If you are on public transit, include bus route numbers.

4) Print on the back a clear, upbeat, non-threatening gospel message.

You shouldn’t saturate the area in person with handbills EVERY WEEK, but several times a year you can plan special events as an excuse to “blitz” the area: A watermelon picnic, carwash by the teens, VBS week or Backyard Bible Clubs, special meetings with a non-local preacher (ask me if I’m available). …YOU think of some.

When you give stuff away, try HARD to get their address, phone number, and names of family members so your evangelism team can courteously return the visit.

I hope you will continue week by week with ongoing visitation evangelism, but with periodic (maybe up to monthly) special events, you can rate feature articles in the local papers and achieve much greater visibility in your neighborhood.

PREACH THE WORD!

CCP

“JESUS IS LORD!”

Do you know people who claim to have Christ as Savior but not as Lord? Do you see any inconsistency between accepting a free “fire insurance policy” fro Hell, and deliberately refusing to follow Christ in daily life?

An often quoted passage about salvation was written by the apostle Paul to the church in Rome:

“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10 NAS)

If you were to “confess” to the murder of Abraham Lincoln, you would not be “confessing”, you would be LYING. If you “confess” Jesus as Lord, but he isn’t really the Lord of your life, you are not “confessing”, you are LYING.

The same words from Greek, PISTIS and PISTEUO, are translated into English as faith, belief,trust; or to have faith, to believe, to trust or entrust.

If you are depending on the FACTS of the substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and you confess Him truly as the Lord of your life, then according to this passage of Scripture you are SAVED.

“Jesus is Lord” is not a slogan to parrot mindlessly. It is an eternal truth. Jesus Christ IS the Lord of the Universe, whether you believe it, or LIKE it, or not. And someday every knee in heaven and on earth and in hell will bow, and every tongue will admit seriously that “Jesus is Lord.” Voluntarily or under compulsion, this means even YOU. (See Phil. 2:5-11; and read the entire little letter to the Philippians.)

We call on you to be certain that you have deliberately submitted to Jesus Christ as the Lord of your own life. “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who DOES NOT OBEY the Son SHALL NOT SEE LIFE, but the WRATH OF GOD abides on him.” (John 3:36 NAS)

Don’t wait until you’re forced to bow the knee. Voluntarily surrender to Jesus.

[SHOT33 Clyde Price]

KNOW FOR CERTAIN

“Oh, I don’t think it’s possible to know before you die whether you’re going to heaven or hell. Don’t you have to wait ’til it’s all over to be judged?” If you wait until then, friend, it will be too late! The Bible teaches clearly that people can KNOW for certain whether or not they are “going to heaven” BEFORE they die.

The apostle John wrote, “And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.” (I John 5:11-13 NAS)

Eternal life is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Through faith in Him, we can receive forgiveness from all our sins, power over sin in our earthly lives, an abundant and purposeful life here on earth, and knowledge that we have God’s eternal life as a PRESENT POSSESSION.

The apostle John openly announced that his Gospel was a deliberate work of TRUE “propaganda”. He wrote it for the purpose of PERSUADING people to believe certain facts, and to entrust themselves to Jesus Christ (the same purpose as this article).

He wrote, “Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book [the Gospel of John]; but these have been WRITTEN THAT YOU MAY BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:30-31 NAS)

If you haven’t yet trusted Christ, we challenge you to read our “propaganda”, the Gospel of John, and ask God to show you inwardly whether or not this is true. You can really KNOW. Entrust yourself to Jesus.

[SHOT34 Clyde Price]

Do you want OUT?

What country were you born in? Have you ever crossed a border between countries? Do you have the same citizenship you had at birth?

If you suddenly discovered that you were standing in the country called “Eternal Death” and realized that you were its lifelong citizen, would you be interested in emigrating to the commonwealth of “Eternal Life” and obtaining citizenship there?

The Lord Jesus Christ said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24 NAS)

In the letter to the Romans, especially the fifth chapter, the apostle Paul explains how every human being since Adam and Eve has been born into a state of spiritual separation from God, and as a result of the nature we were born with and the actions we each have committed, we all qualify to be citizens in good standing of the State of Eternal Death.

If you are apart from Christ, you can only await your physical death and final judgment to assume residence in your permanent quarters: the lake of fire.

However, the Lord Jesus paid the penalty for sinners on the cross, and He offers free migration and new citizenship in His Kingdom for all who will put their faith in Him as Savior and King. All such spiritual refugees “pass out” of Death into the new state of Life.

The Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ is more than an invitation to flee wrath and become a mere Displaced Person or a ragged refugee. Through the New Birth wrought by the resurrection of Christ, the Lord Jesus provides a place in the family of God for you, and status as a co-inheritor with Himself, IF ONLY you will put your trust in Him alone for salvation.

We invite you to read the Gospel of John and the letter to the Romans for yourself. We’d like to meet you and try to answer your questions. But don’t wait. Do it now. Put your trust in Jesus. [SHOT35 Clyde Price] ETERNITY BEGINS NOW Many people involved in traditional forms of religion

think that no one can know before death whether they will go to heaven or not; you must wait, they think, ’til you’re judged to find out. This is a dangerous fallacy, because if you wait until then, it will be TOO LATE.

The apostle John addresses genuine Christians, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God in order that you may know that you have eternal life.” (I John 5:13 NAS) He did NOT say, “in order that you may hope to receive it someday.” He said to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, “in order that you may KNOW that you HAVE eternal life” and, in fact, have it as a present and permanent possession.

Eternal life does not begin with physical death. Physical death only confirms for eternity the spiritual state a person is already in.

The eternal life spoken about in the Bible begins with the New Birth, when a sinner, you for instance, transfers trust from whatever you HAD been trusting, to faith in Jesus Christ alone to be your sin-bearing Savior and resurrected King.

You can find in the 4th book in the New Testament, the Gospel of John, and in the three letters of John near the end of the New Testament, clear confirmation that we are not simply making this up. Read them for yourself. This is the plain, though widely neglected, teaching of the Bible.

If you already HAVE eternal life through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we’d like to meet you. We always enjoy meeting members of God’s Forever Family.

If you have not yet trusted Christ for His gift of Life, we’d like to have one of our workers talk with you or write to you and attempt to answer your questions. But we urge you not to wait. Do it NOW. Put your trust in Jesus. [SHOT36 Clyde Price]

[next file is more general and more personal “baker’s dozen” stuff. end of 6th file of 7]

[7th file of 7]

AFTERWORD

These first 36 articles are based on the references in the original Navigator’s 108 reference Topical Memory System. This first volume of articles reflects on and hopefully applies all three “packs” of the Wheel and the Gospel. I added three and left out one.

A military veteran Navigator friend whom I met at Georgia State University had started on the Old TMS before it was discontinued, and shared the outline of references with me, probably in 1971. (Thanks, Joey!) I’ve been thinking over these references, more or less in this order, rather frequently since then, along with the rest of my studies in the Word.

I have never been formally associated with the Navigators, nor been to any meeting of Navs, but I gratefully acknowledge the impact that they have had on my life and ministry, especially Dawson Trotman’s address “The Need of the Hour”. Father, I ask You to convey my grateful thanks to my brother “Daws” awaiting the day when I can meet him and thank him for myself.

I’m planning on two more similar volumes dealing with “Promised Blessings” & “Challenge”, and then “Resources” & “Expected Fruit”.

My concept behind sharing in mass media the promises and commands (and rebukes) addressed to Christians is “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord!”

Evangelism is the preaching of Good News. Certainly we must rebuke sin and show the need of a Savior. We also need to brag about how wonderful our Savior is, how exciting and fulfilling the Christian life is, and how satisfying it is to serve our King.

“O magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together!”

[Here’s some “Baker’s Dozen”-type stuff from the notebook. I hope that you enjoy it, and pray that you may find it edifying and useful.]

GIDEON

I saw on a news broadcast that the Anti-Defamation League objected to the New Testaments being distributed by the Gideons, an interdenominational businessmen’s organization, to students near a Gwinett County [GA] elementary school.

I’d like to point out, first, that the Gideons were not in the school, but nearby on the sidewalk, passing out the little Testaments only to the children who came up to take them voluntarily.

Second, there was no denominational or sectarian comment in the little books, only the text of the King James (Authorized) Version of the New Testament.

Third, the presence of the Gideons outside the school and away from school property does not imply any support or approval by the school board.

Fourth, while some would consider the school had some responsibility to protect children from drug-dealers and kidnappers on or near campus, I ask, is it necessary to protect children from businessmen who used to be welcomed into schools with presentation assemblies?

Fifth, the English Bible, especially in the King James Version, is recognized as a literary masterpiece that has shaped our language and our allusions since its first publication to the present. Isn’t it historically and literarily significant to know the source of so much of our linguistic heritage?

Sixth, although the Supreme Court may have overlooked this, the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the FREEDOM of religion, and that the federal government is prohibited from interfering with its free exercise. The Federal Government, but not the states, was prohibited from establishing any religion or denomination as the official one for the country. The states were free to have established churches and to require membership in good standing in order to be an elected official.

“Separation between Church and State” is a provision of the Soviet constitution, but that phrase does not occur in the constitution of the United States of America. Whose constitution are we going by, anyway?

Seventh, why is the Anti-Defamation League upset? If Doctor Luke was a Hellenistic Jew, the entire New Testament was written by Jews who had come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel. Certainly the ADL disagrees with this, but there is NOTHING in the text of the New Testament that defames or denigrates or dishonors Jews or in any way suggests or justifies anti-Semitism.

I freely confess that I am a believer in Jesus as Messiah and King, and I accept the entire Bible, a thoroughly Jewish book, as God’s inspired message to mankind. I am VERY proud of the fact that my father, C.Cotton Price, is an active Gideon.

In an age when sexual perverts are coming out of the closet and clamoring for preferential treatment under affirmative action laws, I refuse to go into the closet because I am a Bible-lover. The Bible is at least a very important part of our culture, and should be read by every person who claims to be educated.

I don’t think that responsible and upstanding Christian businessmen should be treated like neighborhood drug pushers.

Clyde C. Price, Jr.
Red Oak, Georgia

“STAMP IT”

I. Thunk-thud, Thunk-thud, Thunk-thud. I spend a lot of time stamping things. I stamp product information and reprinted health

articles for handouts and bag stuffers so my customers will know where to come back and buy more good stuff.

I put my personal stamp, or my signature and phone number or both, on over a thousand tracts, booklets and Scripture portions a year so that there will be a channel from the people who receive them back to a living, listening human being, if they want it.

In fifteen years, I have only had two people ever call me back from literature I had given out. An old praying mother needed someone to pick up her middle aged son from jail, and wanted somebody who had spoken with him about the Lord. I did it. Another time, a woman wanted to talk to somebody at 3 am one night. I listened to her, and told her that God had a way out for her.

For all the thousands of other people who have received those gospel leaflets and booklets, they have not simply taken an anonymous fingerprint-free piece of Madison Avenue propaganda. CLYDE PRICE PERSONALLY ENDORSES THIS MESSAGE. I hope that’s worth something.

II.

God can use His Word in printed form, or broadcast, or recorded, or any other less personal method. Those other media are NOT bad, and NOT inferior, and should not be abandoned or avoided; but the most God-honored medium in history is tell-a-person.

When I use tracts, I try to give the printed message along with a spoken “plug”: “This little booklet is an outline presentation about how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ” or “…about how to receive the gift of eternal life.” Or, “This is the Gospel of John from the New Testament in plain English, and [pointing to my stamp] that’s me.”

I have spent many hours copying out sections of Scripture by hand onto bookmarks for love-gifts to people going on certain kinds of spiritual retreats. I feel that when I HAND-COPY Scripture FOR another person, that I am personally endorsing and adopting God’s Word as MY MESSAGE TOO to the other person. The apostle Paul spoke of “MY gospel”. Well, it’s MINE too.

I HEARD the invitations to “TASTE and see that the Lord is good” and to DRINK of the living water that really SATISFIES. And even though I’m not a celebrity, I’m a “satisfied customer” and I am eager to give my personal “testimonial.”

The Gospel is GOOD NEWS. Jesus is GOOD. Clyde Price says so, too.

[I wrote this when I was working in a health food store. –cp]

“DILUTED”

An introduction to homeopathic remedies said that the father of modern homeopathy
treated an illness by taking certain herbs or minerals and DILUTING them.
He concluded that the more DILUTED they were, the more effective they were.

I strongly suspect that there are limits to this kind of reasoning,
but I started thinking about
treating people with the Word.

Sometimes a hunk of straight,
undiluted Scripture
is hard for an individual to digest,
especially if he lacks
the required adult enzymes
necessary for strong meat.

Maybe “preaching” the Word involves
rephrasing, illustrating, explaining Truth –“watering down” without changing content– into a medicinal solution or “milk”
that the patient can digest.

It feels funny to compare a preacher
to a homeopathic doctor
or a nursing momma.

Clyde Price

BANKRUPTCY

Bankruptcy entails a release of all or certain debts without the necessary consent of the creditor. In one sense, it violates the principle of paying back debts when a person is able to pay (Proverbs 3:28). On the other hand, the nation of Israel had a limitation on debts such that every seven years all Israelite debts were cancelled. No term of payment exceeded seven years, and debts incurred late in the cycle were still released at the end of the seven year cycle. This enabled an Israelite of limited means and perhaps difficult circumstances to make a fresh start after a maximum of seven years of debt or of indentured servitude (Deuteronomy 15:1ff.).

This was one of God’s gracious provisions for His people under the covenant of grace. It did not extend generally to foreigners. For a society which does not have such a provision, it is not my opinion that Christians should legislate one. The Lord Jesus Christ teaches that Christians should lend freely without expecting to receive anything back in return; this presupposes a readiness to forgive the debt before the debt is incurred. (Matthew 5:42; Luke 6:34-36)

In recent times, bankruptcy has become much more easily obtained and much more respectable, to the extent that many people who actually could pay back all or most of their debts are filing bankruptcy under the liberalized loopholes which allow the filing party to keep most of his or her personal property and pay back little or nothing to the creditors. This amounts to stealing.

The assumption of debt directly incurs commitment to pay it. For a Christian, this involves fulfilling his word, a very important aspect of maintaining the credibility of the gospel before the world. (cf. Psalms 15:4-5, the man who swears to his own hurt and does not change.)

It is my opinion and contention that no Christian should seek bankruptcy at any time, and especially never personal bankruptcy. All other possible means of settlement should be exhausted, and “all things are possible with God.” (Matthew 19:26)

Clyde C. Price, Jr.

[This brief paper was written as an assignment for Christian Principles of Finance, a course at the Atlanta School of Biblical Studies, an evangelical and Reformed seminary and Bible college in Atlanta which emphasizes the practical training of Christian workers in an urban setting.

Write for a free catalog and schedule to: ASBS, P.O.Box 150, Avondale Estates, GA 30002 USA.]

WELFARE

The nation of Israel was instructed by God to provide for the needy of the land by the practice of leaving “gleanings” in the fields for the poor and the needy. The fields were not reaped to the very corners, nor meticulously picked up, and neglected sheaves were deliberately to be left behind.

This system had several advantages. It required no government bureaucracy to maintain or administrate it. It effectively scattered the needy throughout the land instead of concentrating them in the cities. It put the able-bodied needy into contact with landowners who could use agricultural manual labor.

God gave special commands to care for the orphans and the widows, not to mistreat them and to provide for their needs. (Exodus 22:22, Deuteronomy 14:28-29)

These concerns are reiterated in the New Covenant as obligations of charitable action by believers (James 1:27, I_Timothy 5:3-16), and limited to those who are unable to work productively (II Thessalonians 3:10).

The welfare system in the United States of America encourages unemployment of able-bodied people who otherwise would have to seek gainful employment. It positively discourages marriage and encourages illegitimate births; and it encourages concentration of welfare recipients in urban areas.

If the Biblical concept of poverty is the lack of sufficient food, clothing and shelter, then only a very small number of people in this country are in poverty. The responsibilities which God gave to human government do not include support of an indigent class of people who find the dole easier than gainful employment. Welfare in this country is an unnecessary and unfair burden on the middleclass tax-paying worker who directly or indirectly pays almost all the taxes in this country.

Clyde C. Price, Jr.

[This brief paper was written some time ago, before the explosive growth of the problem of homelessness, which is an issue different from the one addressed here.

It was an assignment for Christian Principles of Finance, a course at the Atlanta School of Biblical Studies.]

“HEALTH FOOD NUT”

I’m not a “health-food nut”,
really.
I had problems, and looked around
for things that would help.
I found some.

I’ve cut out and cut down
on some things
and added in a lot of others.
With every meal I take a handful
of pills and capsules and tablets
and none of them “drugs”,
and all of them either food or food-stuff.

I’ve recently found out about

a whole area of foods
that I had been eating
that had been clouding my mind
and sapping my energy.
If I cut them out completely,
it will be VERY hard to eat out

or have dinner with friends,
and I’m sure some people
will call me a “health food fanatic.”

Am I a fanatic
because I want a clear mind
and energy to do my work?
Am I a “nut”
because I want to be healthy?

Clyde Price

TAG

Please share this collection widely, and share printouts or separate ASCII files of either the whole thing or articles that you particularly like with other people who produce newsletters, advertisements and tracts.

I shared several of these articles into the message bases of BBSs before issuing the collection.

If my name and address show up too often, please consider that, especially in the “extra” material beyond the 36 articles in the main collection, this is a collage of small pieces I wrote for separate release.

Although I realize that the compiled and compressed form will be easier for use by MS-DOS users, I hope that provisions will be made for “little guys” with smaller-RAM machines, like the ones I used to create these files.

Other collections include ARROWS and SCRAPS, with SONRISE, a 31-day devotional “on the way”, other collections of my stuff in the works, and ASCII editions of uncopyrighted Christian classics being shared primarily through BBSs.

I’m a writer and speaker, a (so-far) unordained Bible teacher, presently a member of a Bible-believing Presbyterian church, and graduate of Georgia State University (BA, Journalism, BA Classics) and of the Atlanta School of Biblical Studies (M.Div.). I’m engaging in “tentmaking” business enterprises based in the Atlanta area related to nutrition and energy conservation, and I’m available by schedule to come and preach/teach/sing/visit, etc.

I’m presently (1990) raising support for a part-time support-staff position with Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship as a staff writer helping our workers communicate with each other and their “Adoptive Families”, helping our workers to document their own ministries and to develop new evangelistic and ministry-training materials.

I would welcome your participation in my praying and giving “Adoptive Family” in this editorial-documentary-&-“public relations” work of serving other servants of the Lord. Please write to me directly concerning my writing ministry with PEF and news about what’s happening in that exciting fellowship of ministries.

I invite you to call or write to find out about other Christian material available on electronic media, and other news of interest to Christians who use computers. The Atlanta Christian Technology Society would like to send you a free newsletter. Just write: ACTS, P.O.Box 922023, Norcross, GA 30092. The “home” bulletin board system of ACTS is CrossRoads TBBS (404) 633-8619.

I ask you to PRAY for the continuing anointing of God on my ministry, the fire my personal walk with Him, and my physical health. This is not just pious closing talk: I want and need your prayers.

May God bless you richly as you seek to know Him deeply and make Him known widely. May our Triune God make you abundantly fruitful in the Gospel! His, Clyde.

[end of 7th file of 7]