Week Eight, 2018
GET OUT THE WORD OUT
By John Grant
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. – Matthew 28:19-20
The annual Super Bowl is one of the most watched events each year. Millions view it. What drives it is not the people purchasing tickets to sit in the stadium, but the advertisers who pay vast sums of money to reach the viewing public.
This year, advertisers paid up to five million dollars for a thirty second ad and that doesn’t even cover the cost of production. It takes the sale of a lot of razor blades or whatever product being advertised to cover the cost. At no other time during the year does any business obtain that extensive amount of viewership. Super Bowl Sunday has power! Power to draw viewers; power to capture attention; power to make consumers sit up and watch commercials.
Why do they do it? They do it because it works. Advertising has been defined as the most powerful, persuasive, and manipulative tool that firms have to control consumers all over the world. It is a form of communication that typically attempts to persuade potential customers to purchase or to consume more of a particular brand of product or service.
Its impacts created on the society throughout the years has been amazing, especially in this technology age. Influencing people’s habits, creating false needs and distorting the values and priorities of our society, advertising has become a poisonious snake ready to hunt its prey. However, on the other hand, advertising has had a positive effect as a help of the economy and society. The point is that it is a powerful tool to influence the public.
Jesus told His disciples to advertise and go to all nations to share His Word. Have you ever thought of the advertising power the Christian church has? There are 2.3 billion Christians on planet earth. That’s one of every three. What if each one led someone to the Lord, one on one.
Frank Laubach was a distinguished minister, a graduate of two ivy league schools came up with the “Each One Teach One literacy program and with that, he taught much of Africa to read and write. It has been used to teach about 60 million people to read in their own language. An estimated 2.7 million people worldwide were learning to read through Laubach-affiliated programs.
He also used it to teach people all over the world to love Jesus. Why did he do it? He did it because it works.
I was privileged to meet this wonderful man shortly before his death and was spellbound as I heard him say how easy it is to teach and influence people one on one. Who is your “one” for Jesus?
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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
Ken Whitten on Following God:
Jesus is worthy of total abandonment and supreme adoration, because when you meet Jesus, everything changes. Followers often don’t know how, but they know who. He must have total dominion of our lives. It involves leaving comfort for discomfort and leaving cover for uncover. We must give Jesus free direction in our lives. The process moves from abandonment to adherence.
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Words Do Have Meaning!
In the book, Champions For Life, Bill Glass related how a negative remark his mother made to him as a child stayed with him for the rest of his life. It was not his mother’s intent to hurt him, but she forgot the incredible power and the long term influence our words can have. Does this mean that we have to be so careful with what we say that we have to tiptoe around every subject for fear of offense? Perhaps we should, or at least understand the power of our tongue and our words as we are warned in James 1:26. If we do not bridle our tongue, it can lead to both vanity and hubris which causes us to forget that everybody is somebody. Dwight Short
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QUOTES YOU CAN USE
Our fear of what could happen is often worse than what does happen. Nehemiah 3-4
President Abe Lincoln: “Have malice toward none and charity for all”. This is an excellent way to build respect.
Whenever you make a commitment to the Lord, the enemy will vigorously oppose your every attempt to spirituality advance. —Ken Whitten
You don’t get to choose the life you have, but you do get to choose who you are going to be in it. —Unknown wise person
How will young people learn to love the Lord if they don’t see that love being modeled for them? —Dwight Short
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©2018 John Grant | Florida State Senator (Ret.) | 10025 Orange Grove Drive | Tampa, FL 33618