The Life of a Gospel Tract

        As Tom prepares to hand out gospel tracts at another public event, I've been thinking on why discouragement is often a companion of tracting.  Perhaps it's because we insert ourselves too much into the process.  God has commanded us to preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15), yet He alone does the saving (Romans 9:15-16).  If we are obedient, we need not be ashamed--no matter the results.  Easy to say, hard to live out.   For those who love God, it hurts to see His Word and His Gospel crumpled, ripped, or thrown into the street or trashcan.   This may be why so many Christians see tracting as a waste of time.  Lots of materials given out, not much visible fruit.  But sometimes a crumpled or torn up tract on the ground is evidence of a convicted heart.   A heart in which the seed of the gospel has now been sown.  That seed may not come to fruition for many weeks, months, or years yet.  Sometimes we are the seed sowers and sometimes we water seeds already planted.  Either way, God brings the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).  And God can still use those discarded tracts, as seen in the video below.

Hat Tip:  Word Street Journal

        The recent air show disasters are a good reminder that we don't know when our last day will be--or the last day of the people who receive a gospel tract from us.   The following example comes from Paul Latour over at The Word Street Journal blog.   He recently received this encouraging letter from a friend who had been handing out tracts at the Martinsburg Air Show:

Even as I write this I am still grasping the impact of something that happened today. A group of 9 of us had an outreach at the Martinsburg Air Show. We had not been there before and were not sure of the logistics of where the best place was to give out tracts.

This is where it gets interesting...  click here to read the rest