Share God!
We had a special guest this week: Clark Camp of the Gideons International. Clark gave a great message about our job, as Christians, to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
If someone is looking where to start, when first opening the Bible, Clark recommends starting in John; he believes this the book closest to Jesus.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that Light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true Light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
~ John 1:1-14
Jesus was here in the beginning and is here now, AND He sent us the Holy Spirit.
We are all here because God can use us.
God is using the Gideons to share the Bible with anyone who will let them. Here are some examples of how God used the Gideons for His purpose - from three different people Clark has met and spoke with about their testimonies.
Hotel Room Bibles
A woman checked into a hotel room on a Friday evening with plans to commit suicide. She opened the drawer next to her hotel bed, and she saw the Bible in there (set by the Gideons). She took it. She read her Bible for two years; didn't go to church in that time, just read the Bible. She soon thereafter became a Sunday School teacher. She has taught Jesus to hundreds of children over the years.
New Testament Bibles - From the Streets
A man living in the world - drugs, satanic rituals, etc. He needed saved from an overdose. A man gave him a New Testament Bible from the side of the road. He threw it in his truck. Four years later, when his friend was killed, he found the Bible (sitting on a shelf) and began asking questions. When he got to Matthew 7:7, he knew in his heart, he had to seek. So, he went to local churches. He was invited to a revival, where he and his girlfriend gave their lives to Christ. Today, they have a church of 500+ members and hundreds of missionaries.
Prison Ministry
A career criminal (at the age of 43 years old and already in and out of prison 75 times), rejected the Gideon's Bibles over and over again. He finally agreed to take one, because he was facing the possibility of a long sentence. When he finally got in the Word, he began praising God from his cell. They sent seven guards to the sound of this man worshiping in his cell. They had no idea what was happening. Three months later, he had his court date, and instead of being sentenced to 15-20 years in prison, he got 80 days in a work camp. During that time, he led 52 of 56 men from that same camp to accept Jesus. Today, he does prison ministry. As of today, he has led more than 1,200 prisoners and addicts to Jesus.
Clark believes the church needs to feed the needy; not the government. We should be helping our neighbors as God’s church. After all, Jesus is free!
He is not dead, He is alive.
WE are the church of Jesus Christ. It is our job to keep moving it forward.
Learn more about the Gideon’s and how YOU can get involved with their ministry at https://gideons.org/get-involved.
