Here’s more news about the movie Fireproof and the various Bible studies cropping up around the country that pick up on the central theme it addresses.
We just see this soon-to-open movie as a tremendous time to point to the value of covenant marriage. The shorts and hat make us walking billboards for good Christian movies and visible reminders that God envisions marriage as a permanent commitment between a man and woman.
National groups such as Focus on the Family, Outreach, FamilyLife, The Marriage CoMission, America’s Family Coaches, AMFM, Marriage Alive Communications, and MarriageToday endorse the movie and are urging their constituencies to see it. Influencers such as marriage expert Gary Smalley and Bubba Cathy of Chick-fil-A are also working to spread the word.
We have really exciting news about what is about to generate a huge about of buzz in the Christian community!
Online Christian Shopper’s Kerusso brand is the official apparel partner for Fireproof, the third feature film from Sherwood Pictures (the creators of Facing the Giants).
Fireproof is an action-packed love story that opens nationwide on September 26. Fireproof (www.fireproofthemovie.com) will have audiences laughing, crying, and inching toward the edge of their seats as they are drawn into the world of a firefighter, his wife and a marriage worth rescuing.
We have really cool T-Shirts for men and women and a ballcap themed from the movie.
These are going to be huge. With the film, churches across the country will be holding Bible studies, showing clips and using the movie to teach about covenant marriage.
Our apparel is styled to look just like the real T-shirts firemen wear on the job - the men’s navy tee features the iconic Firemen’s Cross and Axes. The block-lettered backprint is also typical of a real fireman’s T-shirt. It features the firemen’s creed that makes it clear to Caleb (lead actor in Fireproof movie) - Never Leave Your Partner.
The woman’s Tee is hot pink and features detailed interlocked wedding rings. Share your commitment to God’s plan for marriage through this official Fireproof T-shirt. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. - Mark 10:9
And the coordinating cap features matching Firemen’s Cross appliqué. It’s a great symbol and witness to the commitment a man and wife share.
They are now shipping. We expect them to sell out as the movie sweeps the country.
Have you seen Jon and Kate Plus Eight? It has become a very popular program on TLC. The show is about Jon and Kate Gosselin who have a pair of twins, and a set of sextubplets.
In Season 3, Episode 32, you can see Jon wearing our very own Kerusso Isaiah 40:31 Christian t-shirt! The verse says, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.”
It is so refreshing to find a television show where the stars are not afraid to show their Christian beliefs. Thank you Gosselins for being a good example for other parents and proudly telling the world that you are Christian and proud of it.
That’s right, we are giving away a free Christian T-Shirt and we are also paying the shipping to get it to your door. For our special sweepstakes offer, we are giving away is one of our bestsellers. The Christian shirt you could win is the famous Blood Donor Shirt displayed here on your left.
To enter simply:
Leave a comment to this point telling us which Christian t-shirt is your favorite by visiting our Christian T-Shirt store, the Online Christian Shopper. Be sure to leave a comment after this post letting us which shirt you like and why. No comments like “I want to win,” please. Give it a little effort about what it is about that particular Christian tee that you most like.
Make sure that there is a way for us to contact you. If your email does not show up in your profile, then you can either leave it in the comment, or email it to us directly if you do not feel comfortable with posting it. We would not want to have to disqualify a winner because there is no way for us to contact them.
US entries only please and one entry per contestant.
To get an extra chance at winning here’s some other ideas: 1. Bloggers can post about this comment or leave a link to this contest in your blog’s sidebar and email us to let us know about it. 2. You can Stumble our website, http://www.onlinechristianshopper.com and let us know where we can find your stumble.
This contest will be ending Friday, July 18 at Midnight.
Here’s some statistics I heard from our pastor the other day:
* More than 43 million Christians have been killed for their faith since the crucifixion of Jesus.
* It’s been estimated that more Christians have been martyred in the 20th Century than in all the prior 1,900 years combined.
* There have been more than 26 million documented cases of martyrdom in this century alone.
* More than 200 million Christians in over 60 nations face persecution each day, 60% of these are children.
* 150,000 to 165,000 are martyred each year.
Christians today are the most persecuted group in the world. Persecution is on the rise because of the expansion of Islamic and Hindu extremism, and because of the anti-Christ spirit that is prevalent throughout the world.
Makes me appreciate more the “This shirt is Illegal” Christian T-Shirt we offer. As it says, there are many places in the world where just sharing Christ is a crime!
Of the world’s over six billion people: 151 million claim to be atheists, 2 billion are Christians, 1.2 billion are Muslims, 786 million are Hindus and 362 million are Buddhists.
Literally hundreds of thousands of people today are being killed, brutalized, sold as slaves, imprisoned, tortured, threatened, discriminated against and arrested solely because they are Christians.
We’re told by Jesus to go out into the whole world and tell others about the Good News?
But just how can we do that?
Here’s my top ten suggestions on how to share Christ with a nonbeliever.
1. Look for common interests. With most people, it does little good to hit people over the head with a Bible. Instead, talk about common interests, problems, experiences. In other words, build a relationship.
2. Listen more than you talk for the first few minutes. Ask questions. How did that make you feel? What did you think about then? Then what? Open -ended questions are always the best.
3. Empathize. Sympathize. Let your eyes and body language convey to the person that you are listening and understand. Don’t pass judgment. Don’t ever say “I know just how you feel.” you don’t.
4. Ask questions that let you go for Biblical direction. “Have you read what the Bible says about this?” Or “Can we see what the Bible says about this?” Always present the Bible as an authoritative resource. Try some humor.You know the acronym for BIBLE: Basic…Instructions…Before…Leaving…Earth.
5. Share your story. Tell about your life BC - Before Christ. And your life AC - After Christ. Learn to be able to give your personal testimony in three minutes or left.
6. Don’t be afraid to say you don;t know the answer to a particular question or problem. Offer to check it out and promise to get back with an answer or scriptural reference. And do so.
7. Remember your witness. Often, before a friend or coworker seeks spiritual counsel, they’ve been watching you for weeks. If you stress out or lose your temper, apologize. No one expects you to be perfect. It’s how you handle difficulties that often open the door for a conversation.
8. Seek out open doors for a continuing dialogue. Don’t try to deal with every issue in one meeting.Take time to discuss one or two in depth. Try to arrange follow up discussion times.
9. Invite them to church. There they can find true spiritual community. Offer to pick them up and drive them and treat them to lunch afterwards.
10. Practice lifestyle evangelism. Have a Bible always handy. Wear Christian T-shirts or jewelry where appropriate. Many a spiritual conversation has started because of a Christian T-shirt.
The Christian fish symbol, known as the Ichthus dates back to as early as the first and second century A.D. The symbol is not just a sticker that people put on their bumpers or a charm on a necklace, it has a much deeper meaning and is very significant to both early Christians and the Christians of today.
Ichthus, also spelled ichthys is the Greek word for fish. The spelling in Greek is IXOYE for Iota, Chi, Theta, Upsilon, and Sigma which mean Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Read the rest of this entry »
For anyone who holds that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was a man-made hoax conspired by a group of disciples should check out what happened to them.
It verifies the truth of the Bible.
For 11 of the 12 apostles, and many thousands of other early Christians, died for believing this story.
This is dramatic, since they all witnessed the events of Jesus and still went to their deaths defending their faith.
Why is this dramatic, when many throughout history have died martyred deaths for a religious belief?
Because people don’t die for a lie. Look at human nature throughout history. No conspiracy can be maintained when life or liberty is at stake. Dying for a belief is one thing, but numerous eyewitnesses dying for a known lie is quite another.
Here is an account of early Christian persecution, as compiled from numerous sources outside the Bible, the most famous of which is Foxes’ Christian Martyrs of the World… Read the rest of this entry »
Let me tell you something here that will blow you away: Some years ago, a scientist named Peter Stoner took just eight of Old Testament prophesies about Jesus and used scientific principles of calculation to try and determine the odds of them being fulfilled.
The eight were pretty straightforward predictions:
That the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem; enter Jerusalem on a donkey; be betrayed by a friend; who would be paid 30 pieces of silver; make no defense before his accuser; have his hands and feet pierced and die by crucifixion surrounded by thieves. Those eight prophesies, and 292 others, are made in the Old Testament—written hundreds and hundreds of years BEFORE Jesus was born.
Now what do you think the odds of them being fulfilled were?
I quote from a report done by Peter Stoner in a book called Science Speaks, the conclusions and methods of which have been carefully examined and endorsed by a prestigious group of scientists, members of the American Scientific Affiliation.
I quote: “We find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophesies is 1 in 10-to-the-seventeeth power.”
That would be one in the number 100, followed by 15 zeros.
In order for us to comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates it by supposing that quote “we take 10-to-the-seventeenth power in silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now, mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one.”
“Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophesies and having them all come true in any one man.”
What a great illustration to share with your skeptical friends.
And then get them to watch this music video “All Things New” by Brad Paisley and Sara Evans:
In New Testament times, the Roman Road system was strategic in God’s plan. It enabled the spread of the Gospel throughout the then-known world. In the same way, the Internet today is a worldwide network which can facilitate effective Gospel communication.
April 27 has been designated Internet Evangelism Day – a worldwide focus day which aimed at empowering churches and other groups to use the Web to spread the Good news of Jesus Christ.
The outreach is sponsored by The Internet Evangelism Coalition (IEC) – an umbrella group of evangelical Christian organizations who share a vision for online outreach – is backing the IE Day and facilitating its promotion. Among members of the coalition are the American Tract Society, the Billy Graham Center, Campus Crusade for Christ and Evangelism Explosion.
By using free downloads from the Internet Evangelism Day website – PowerPoint, video clips, music, drama scripts or handouts – churches can demonstrate to their members the huge potential of the Web for evangelism.
Their website also carries a wide range of pages explaining how best to build church websites, write blogs, create video clips, and interact in many other ways with the worldwide web community, to share the gospel. But this isn’t just for churches.
Ayone who is serious about evangelizing and sharing theit faith needs to understand the amazing opportunities the Internet creates for evangelism. Web evangelism is for anyone, not just the technically gifted. “There are many ways to share your faith online, without any technical background at all,” says IE Day Coordinator Tony Whittaker.
Web evangelism gives believers opportunities to reach people with the Gospel right where they are, just as Jesus and Paul did. The Web is an open window to the whole world.
The Web’s explosive growth has been remarkable. In ten short years, it jumped from being a minority hobby for computer enthusiasts to a communication medium used by over 1000 million people worldwide. If your visit to this website lasts ten minutes, in that time interval 460 people will have used the Web for their very first time.
The world impact of the Internet and the digital revolution will be as far-reaching as the invention of the printing press.
To use the Web effectively, we must understand its nature as a medium. Each time a new means of communication is developed, people initially think of it in terms of a previous known medium. Thus, TV began as radio with pictures, but was soon viewed as a different medium in its own right, as people learned its potential.
If you really want to start thinking about what this digital revolution means, check this out:
But wait, there’s more. Do we have you thinking? Here’s more food for thought.
What this means to the church and Christians is… the whole world… the whole World Wide Web… can now be reached… really reached… with just a few mouseclicks.
Have you seen Jon and Kate Plus Eight? It has become a very popular program on TLC. The show is about Jon and Kate Gosselin who have a pair of twins, and a set of sextubplets. 
