Year after year they carefully defined what fishing means, defended fishing as an occupation, and declared that fishing is always to be the primary task of fisherman as they searched for new and better methods of fishing. “The fishing industry exists by fishing as fire exists by burning,” they said. They loved slogans such as “Fishing is the task of every fisherman,” and “Every fisherman is a fisher.” They sponsored special meetings called “Fishermen’s Campaigns” and “The Month of Fishermen to Fish.” They invited special speakers to promote the subject of fishing and to hear about all the ways of fishing, such as the new fishing equipment, fish calls, and discovery of any new bait. The plea was that everyone should be a fisherman, and every fisherman should fish. One thing they did not do, however. They did not fish.
Over the years, courses were offered on the needs and nature of fish, the location of fish, the psychological rationing of fish, and how to approach and feed fish. Those who taught had doctorates in fishology. But the teachers themselves did not fish. The fishermen produced materials solely devoted to fishing methods, equipment, and programs to arrange and to encourage meetings to talk about fishing. Many who felt the call to be fishermen responded. They were commissioned and sent to fish. But like fishermen back home, they never fished.
After one stirring meeting on “The Necessity of Fishing,” one young fellow left the meeting and went fishing. The next day he reported he had caught two outstanding fish. He was honored for his excellent catch and scheduled to visit all the big meetings possible to tell how he did it. So, he quit fishing to have time to tell other fishermen about his success as a fisherman. They wondered about those who felt it was of little use to attend the weekly meetings to talk about fishing. After all, were they not following the Master who said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men?” Imagine how hurt some were when one day a person suggested that those who did not catch fish were really not fishermen, no matter how much they claimed to be.Yet it did sound correct. Is a person a fisherman if, year after year, he never catches a fish? (Proverbs 11:30; John 15:7, 16).
Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “The elders of East Main established an evangelism plan for 2022. East Main is blessed with members that have a serving heart. We have 110 members that have signed up to work in the evangelism plan (see chart below). In the month of December, we will be training members in their area of choice. In January, we will implement the plan. Please pray for the success of this ministry.
Tim Hayes has been studying with Eric Renfroe who was baptized in September. Seth Ferguson, our college minister, has been studying with Bryan Sykes, one of our college students who was baptized in October. Another one of our college students, Andrew Martin, has been studying with his girlfriend, Lydia Bowman, who was baptized this month. Eric, Bryan, and Lydia continue studying God’s word. We had a young lady, Megan Braswell, respond to the invitation yesterday to be restored. Megan will start a new Bible study with our pulpit minister, Jon Mitchell, and one of our members, Cherie Carroll. Cherie is learning how to do personal Bible studies. A visitor, Greg Stewart, will start a new Bible study this week with Tony Summar and Gerry Whitaker. Other studies in process are with Matt Carlson studying with Brad/Gail Rowley. David Brown and Brad Rowley started a new study with Gavin Torino and Alundra Rodriguez two weeks ago.”
North Jefferson church of Christ, Mt. Pleasant, Texas: This congregation has become a model for evangelism. They hosted HTHSOE in March. This past Sunday, I had the pleasure of having a virtual meeting with their elders and preachers. They have made the Great Commission the focal point of their local work baptizing 17 souls into Christ this year. It was enjoyable to discuss the future and how they might help other area congregations do the same. I believe we will be hearing much more from them in the future.
Jacksonville church of Christ, Alabama: RJ Tracy (College Minister) reports, “Chloe and I started her third study in BTTB, and before we started, we did a refresher. She could see that the church she grew up in did not worship correctly and was not structured correctly. When we came to salvation and baptism, she had a little trouble at first. She believed she was saved and explained in detail how she was saved through prayer and was later baptized. We camped out for a time in 2 Peter 3 and Romans 6. When it came time to answer the question, “are you saved” she wasn’t sure anymore. We talked about what she was taught from the Baptist church and then we looked again at the Bible. She made the comment that growing up she was never given Scripture for what she did. Having seen book, chapter, and verse she knew exactly what she needed to do. She understood the commitment she was making, she understood what she would be added to, and she knew that this was the only way to have salvation. She was baptized and added to the Lord’s church that same night!”
Oak Hill church of Christ, Rome, Georgia: Steve Murdock (elder) reports, “Braydon Helton who was baptized by his uncle Ryan Helton, has attended Oak Hill since birth. His family, Rod Salmon, and others have been working with him toward his conversion. We rejoice with him over his decision to put Christ on through baptism.”
Warner Robins church of Christ, Georgia: Dave Domingue (elder) reports, “We continue to kindle the fires and enjoy how God is at work in Warner Robins. Sunday the Growing in Christ class kicked off with a great turnout. Our new sister Ruth received her new Bible after her recent baptism. She is excited and wanting more Bible studies. Thanksgiving week was a great opportunity to connect with shut-ins with gift baskets prepared by our youth, and we welcomed visitors to our Thanksgiving Day meal. Additionally, visitation team 4 was busy Sunday night with cards. All glory to God for saints who live out a winning evangelistic strategy.”
University church of Christ, Montgomery, Alabama: Austin Faris (elder) reports,
1. We have assembled a Card rack that holds 45 different cards. Now it is easy to select the cards that need to be sent.
2. With many in our congregation on vacation this past week, we did not have a sermon on the Back to the Bible booklets today. We will have Part One, of Booklet #3 next Sunday.
3. We filled more of the various job responsibilities with new leaders.
4. On Sunday, December 12, we plan to update the congregation on the progress of our Evangelism Program and introduce the leaders in the various programs.
5. At this point, I know of one University couple that has a Bible Study going on with an individual, using the Back to the Bible booklets.
Cowetta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (preacher) reports, “We had a new couple move into the area from out of state and place membership. When they first visited, we sent compassion cards to them thanking them for visiting and welcoming them back. When they returned the next week, they were amazed by all the cards they received. They said nothing like that has ever happened to them before. So, we are excited to have them working with our congregation. This Thursday, Jamie and I are having dinner with a couple and afterwards going thru Lesson 1 of BTTB. We are excited about their enthusiasm and pray the study will lead to his re-dedication and her giving her life to God. Please keep this study in your prayers. Finally, we put together new movers’ baskets and will be headed out shortly to contact people who are on the new movers list for our area that we receive from the House to House/Heart to Heart New Movers program. God bless you and your family in your work for the Lord!”
Wewoka church of Christ, Oklahoma: Gage Coldwater (preacher) reports, “The work is going great. We finished all three studies last week with Barbara Hail. She was disgruntled with most churches in general when we met her. She had been kicked out of the Baptist church in town for not giving enough, and so she was converted to the Jehovah witnesses. She quit going there because she celebrated her son’s birthday and they got mad at her for doing that. She just kept telling me she wanted the simple truth of what the Bible says. She attended worship with us for several weeks. She told the wife of one of our elders that she was not going to be baptized no matter what! But this week after studying with us for nearly three hours, she exclaimed she needed to be baptized for remission of sins! We baptized her and she immediately exclaimed that she felt like a heavy burden was lifted. She said the care cards we had been showering her with made her feel so loved by the church here! Please pray for us to help her continue to grow in Christ!”
Beloit church of Christ, Kansas: Dustin Doughtery reports, “The lady I baptized last Thursday, Peggy Miller, already told her sister all about the studies, and now she is wishing to have a study. She lives in Topeka, Kansas (about 2.5 hours away). Carol and Peggy are going to attempt to do a study over the phone with her.”
East Homer church of Christ, Alaska: Steve Cannon (member), “We delivered new movers’ baskets yesterday and had a good time. Church was cancelled this morning due to a blizzard. We plan to deliver new movers baskets every month, but we did not have the HTH magazines to give them.”
Coldwater church of Christ, Kentucky: Luke Puckett (preacher) reports, “This week I finished covering book 3 of Back to the Bible with the congregation. We will continue to focus on evangelism, and the congregation enjoyed covering the books. One deacon finished book two with a prospect. They will start book three next week. We pray he will be receptive to the truth. Our work teams are continuing to send cards to a few prospects that we have. We built a card rack to help our team easily be able to access the cards to send out. We also created a small flip chart that shows all the available cards and card numbers so they can find and send out more effectively. The congregation is still working on contacts so we can hopefully have more prospects.”
Chase Park church of Christ, Huntsville, Alabama: Pat Cowden (preacher) reports, “We had a slow week with studies because our prospects were out of town for the holiday. We did get a visitor from the community; we took him to lunch and are attempting to set up a study.”
Peninsula church of Christ, Hampton, Virginia: Ben Phillips reports, “We have had three new contact cards come in from the members this last week. This is encouraging to see because it means the brethren are praying for and seeking the opportunities to reach those on their evangelism bookmarks. We will be following up with these contacts. We are making progress week by week and are thankful for the Lord’s blessings!”
Deerfoot church of Christ, Birmingham, Alabama: Richard Harp (preacher) reports, “We have completed the foyer to welcome new visitors. Meanwhile there are a few studies being conducted. Jason Newland studied with his co-worker, Jody Parker. Jason says he is coming around. I am still studying with Kyle, but he got a case of COVID, sold a house, and started a new job all since we started the study. We hope to finish the third book this week or next. We did receive the model chart, but I have not put it up. Will speak with missions’ group about where to put it.”
Siwell Roach church of Christ, Mississippi: Derek Broome (associate preacher) reports, “Over the past couple of weeks we have been following up with some new contacts. We have also had several visitors continuing to return week after week. Our card groups and the kindness of so many members have been so helpful. Two recent visitors have indicated they are interested in having a Bible study. Please pray that these studies come about and that their hearts will be open to the Word.”
Smithville church of Christ, Mississippi: Andrew Wynne (preacher) reports, “We have distributed most of the new mover baskets for October-November. Please be praying that we will start to see the fruit of our efforts as we strive to grow in Smithville. I completed BTTB book 1 last week with a lady who is a member of the Baptist church. We are scheduled to start book 2 on Friday. She has seemed very open so far. Please keep this study in your prayers.”
Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (preacher/elder) reports, “Hello Rob,
Since last week, we have divided up our congregation into two card writing teams with two co-leaders in each group. We have members filling out contact cards for our card writing program to be held this Sunday afternoon. Members are praying for those on their bookmark list and are trying to prospect individuals for Bible Studies. We continue to make gift bags and take down new visitors’ information. Some members have already started having Bible studies using the Back to the Bible booklets. We hope to continue to work on the evangelism plan in order to bring lost souls to Christ.”
Recent Comments