I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

The clocks have gone back, prompting my neighbour to remark that she wished she could hibernate from the first of November until sometime in spring. I told her that I was too busy, and I was about to quote Warren Zevon’s immoral words when I realised that I would have to explain the irony in them, and that would have taken up most of the morning: and thus I refrained.

It’s surprising how much Christian literature you can give away if you go out just once or twice a week on a regular basis. I looked in the kitchen cupboard last week to see what I had left. There was still a third of a boxful of bibles - those ESV Economy ones - and a good selection of evangelistic booklets, topped up lately by a kind friend who was visiting 10ofThose. However, in the corner of the cupboard where the tracts are kept, there were only two small bundles remaining. Time to order some more!

The tracts I’ve been using for the last couple of years - along with those of my own design - have come from Living Waters Europe. They’re imaginative and engaging, but also uncompromising in their presentation of the gospel. I picked out three from their website, the ones that you can see above; but, as usual, when I tried to pay by credit card, the system ground to a halt, and I had to get my wife to do it through her PayPal account. 

That said, they arrived in good time, in a package about the size of a large shoebox, but several times heavier. Underneath the invoice I found some free samples from the rest of their range. Here they are, in case any of them might be of interest to you.

I tend to play safe with evangelistic booklets, and stick to several by John Blanchard that address topics likely to come up in conversation with enquirers, such as the ones below. There are lots of others available, of course - but you need to feel confident that what you’re putting into the hands of other people is sound, solid, biblical sense.

I would take more bibles with me, but weight is a factor: everything has to be packed into one rucksack, which already contains bulky items of equipment. Perhaps I should carry copies of the New Testament or single gospels. I can hear my Fundie friends now, as they stop by to see what I’m up to: they would follow up the usual “That’s not a bible version, it’s a per-version!” with “And it’s the whole bible for the whole man!” as they went on their way rejoicing.

As so often, the conversation with my neighbour made me think. A text came into my mind: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Where was that from? Jeremiah? I looked it up. Yes, it was, Jeremiah 8.20, and it needed to be read in the context of Jeremiah 7.8-10. The usual thoughts followed on from there, on the state of the church and the state of the nation … I know, you’ve heard it all before. 

If someone asked you to name five Christian leaders in this country who are (a) well-known to the general public and (b) biblically sound and morally uncompromised, would you be able to oblige them? Mr Graham doesn’t count, of course. Are you struggling? I’m utterly at a loss. Where are the great men who can gather a crowd every time they step out into the public square to preach? Where are the pastors to whom the MSM turn whenever they want a weighty comment on a national issue? Where are the Christians in industry and in the public sector and in the Government who are setting the agenda for the rest of society? I won’t hold my breath until you answer.

Perhaps it is simply that this is the day of the foot soldier. And who would that be? Well, I’m writing this and you’re reading it. So, at the moment, it’s just the two of us. Shall we sit and wait, then, and see what happens?

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am! Send me, when I emerge from hibernation, when the weather is warmer and spring is in the air, when there are more of us to go out together, when we can gather round some great new leader who will inspire us all to watch in awe as he does his wonderful work on our behalf…"

No, that can’t be right, can it?

P.S. For those of you still in doubt about the answers to the questions posed in “Puzzling Pictures 9: How Great A Salvation” (blog entry for 14.10.18), may I recommend (along with searching the scriptures, of course) this useful little booklet, again by John Blanchard? I recommend it highly - in fact, if you can’t get hold of a copy, just ask me, and I’ll give you one of mine.

P.P.S. No, that isn’t a spelling error in the first paragraph, it’s just that you don’t know what Warren Zevon’s life was like. If you listen to that song, all will become clear.