Apologetics for the Masses #550 - Planting Seeds

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Topic

Planting Seeds

General Comments

Hey folks,

2 things:

1) The Bible Christian Society is in the process of mailing out Catholic tracts to approximately 18,000 homes and businesses in the Metro Birmingham area. About 8000 of the tracts are the Which Church is THE Church of the Bible? quiz (you can take the same quiz that's in those tracts here: https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/quiz). The other 10,000 or so are The Roman (Catholic) Road to Salvation tract. (Again, if you would like a copy of these tracts, I can send them to you via email - just let me know.) I look at each one of these tracts we're mailing out as a seed. Please pray that many of these seeds will land on good soil and that the Holy Spirit will be able to nourish those seeds and help them to take root and produce much good fruit.

2) My first "official" podcast should be out next week. I say "official", because I have posted one already, but that was, more or less, just a dry run in which I was trying to get the lighting down and the camera angle just right and learn how to use the equipment and such. I'll be posting these videos on Facebook, X, TikTok, and Instagram. Please keep this new "venture" in your prayers.

Introduction

This is going to be a relatively short newsletter.

Challenge/Response/Strategy

I have a question for you: Have you benefitted in some way, shape, or form by reading these newsletters or by listening to my talks or by reading some of the other apologetics materials that are available absolutely FREE on our website or our Facebook page? Perhaps you've learned more about your faith? Or, maybe, you've learned new and/or better ways to share your faith? Or you're now more confident in sharing your faith - either in person or online? Maybe you've shared these newsletters or our talks with others in order to help them better understand the Catholic Faith?

Yes, this is my semi-annual appeal to you to help us do what we do - share the truths of the Catholic Faith with hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. and around the world each year. Normally in these appeals, I share some "testimonials" of folks who have benefitted from reading and/or listening to our materials. But this time around I'm just going to focus on you. Again, have you benefitted in some way from materials you've received from the Bible Christian Society...yes or no? If the answer to that question is, "Yes, I have," then I would like to ask you to please prayerfully consider investing in our evangelization efforts - if you are financially capable of doing so.

In the 22 years I've been sending out this newsletter, all I've ever asked for in these semi-annual appeals is ten cents a day. That's it. $0.10/day or $3/month or just $36/year. It would be absolutely awesome if you could do that! If you can do more...great! If you can do less...great! Whatever you can do, though, would be greatly appreciated!

What will we do with the funds you invest with us? Legitimate question. But, first, let me tell you what we've done, and are still doing, with the investments folks have made with us in the past:

First, in the last 25 years, we've distributed several million copies of our apologetics talks to people around the world - initially on cassette tapes, then CDs, then mp3 downloads - all for FREE! (For a full listing of these talks: https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/download.) Also, this newsletter is one of the most widely read Catholic apologetics newsletters in the world, with more than 60,000 subscribers! And, as I mentioned above, we're sending out Catholic tracts to thousands of homes and businesses in the Greater Birmingham area. After this particular mailing, we'll have sent out approximately 30,000 tracts...with many more to come. No one else is doing anything like this! We've mailed out hundreds of Catechisms of the Catholic Church to non-Catholic pastors throughout North and Central Alabama. (Here's the letter we send out with the Catechisms: https://www.alabamaevangelization.com/catechism_letter.)

We've done millions of internet banner ads. Put full page ads on the Eucharist, Mary, Purgatory, the Pope, etc. in newspapers in Birmingham and Huntsville - that, of course, was several years ago when people still read newspapers. (You can see those ads here: https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newspaper.) We've done hundreds of billboard ads throughout North and Central Alabama. Television commercials in the Huntsville and Birmingham markets.  And now we're about to get into the podcasting arena.  In short, we have a comprehensive multi-pronged approach to evangelization that no other Catholic organization I know of is currently duplicating.

All in all, we've helped a whole lot of good Catholics become better Catholics by learning not just what their Faith teaches, but why. We've helped many non-Catholics move closer to, and quite often into, the Catholic Church. Our materials have helped men start down paths that led to the priesthood and the permanent diaconate, and provided subject matter for many a homily. People who would never ever talk about their faith now do so with joy and confidence, and are bringing family members and friends into the Church. We've helped 9-yr. olds evangelize their friends and great grandmas to finally be able to answer questions about the faith from friends that they couldn't answer for 50 years or more!

So, what will we do in the future with any funds you invest with us? One word...MORE! (Except, of course, for the newspaper ads.) More tracts mailed out. More Catechisms mailed out. More TV and internet ads. Geofencing (covering whole geographic areas with Catholic ads popping up on the devices of anyone in those areas). I hope to start radio ads in the not-too-distant future. And, I am hoping that this podcast venture will take off and reach as many folks, if not more, than the newsletter does. But, all of that will only be possible with your help.

Okay, some of you might be thinking, "Well, John, it's all well and good that you send out all of those Catechisms and tracts and do all those TV and billboard ads in Alabama, but we don't live in Alabama. What about our area?" Well, two things: 1) I'm starting locally, but it is my hope and prayer to eventually do television - and radio - ads at the national level and to do billboard campaigns in multiple cities and states. 2) But, even more to the point, whether a soul is in Alabama or Texas or Michigan or California or Australia or Brazil or Thailand or Cameroon or Bulgaria or wherever, if the seeds sown by this apostolate can help bring a soul into the Church founded by Jesus Christ, then that benefits every member of the Body of Christ no matter where they may live around the world. Temporal geography is irrelevant when it comes to winning souls...eternal geography is all that counts. Besides, the effects produced by souls won in one area, will eventually be felt in many other areas, as well.

Now, back to that first question: Have you benefitted in any way, shape, or form from the materials provided by the Bible Christian Society? If you have, then I humbly ask, beg, plead, implore, entreat you to prayerfully consider supporting this little apostolate of ours. And, whether you can do so in terms of financial support or not, I ask all of you for the spiritual support of your prayers. So...please pray for the Bible Christian Society and, if you are able to do so, please consider supporting us financially, as well. (See below for information on how to do make a donation.)

Closing Comments

I thank you for your consideration of my request, and please know that I keep all of you, and your loved ones, in my daily prayers.

Donations

The Bible Christian Society is a non-profit organization that relies solely on your support to bring the truths of the Catholic Faith to hundreds of thousands of people throughout the U.S. and all around the world each year. If you would like to help us do what we do, you can donate online at:

https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/donations

or send a check to:

Bible Christian Society

PO Box 424

Pleasant Grove, AL 35127.

Anything you can do is greatly appreciated!

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