How do we share Jesus with those who don't feel they need Him? Should we even try? Recently a friend contacted me who is heading an effort to share God's message with his community. After spending 2 or 3 Sabbath afternoons knocking on doors to try and engage people in spiritual dialog, he was kind of frustrated. He said, "the people are nice and considerate, but they don't have an interest in studying the Bible."
Trail Runner - Stockxpert
I say, If that's true, then we know Bible study isn't common ground. We may feel like we have something to say, but clearly this is not the appropriate way to reach their hearts.
The question begs to be asked, what do people need or want that we can give? Here's an idea that was recently suggested by a couple of friends who live in the Riverside, San Bernardino area.
Everyone wants to be healthy! Nobody likes to be sick. This is common ground. That doesn't mean everyone wants to talk about disease prevention. Unfortunately, most don't want to talk about it until they are sick. But what if we developed a set of on-line study guides (brief and easy to follow) that helped people better their physical and spiritual lives? And what if they could be linked to a local church that wanted to offer classes on weight loss, time management, finances, or other topics. Yes, finances. I believe finance is a health topic because it directly affects our sense of well-being and level of stress. If you've lost your job and can't pay your rent or mortgage you're health is going to suffer.
What do you think about this? Do you think more people would respond positively to this than to an invitation to study the Bible? It's not a new idea. For years, Seventh-day Adventists have helped people improve their lives through health education. But in many places this has not been done for years. For whatever reason, we've gotten away from doing it.
1). Might it work in your community, if done right?
2). Could the Internet be pivotal in helping it to succeed?
The AnswersForMe website was designed with kind of outreach in mind. Maybe now we need to make the package complete with a set of on-line, self-correcting lessons, and 4-color flyers that can be passed out in communities for local classes and one-day events.
What do you think? I would love to hear your feedback on this.
According to a recent study, "A lousy marriage might literally make you sick. Marital strife and other bad personal relationships can raise your risk for heart disease, researchers reported" (AP - Oct. 8, 2007). In other words, stress on the home front can have a direct impact on your health. 
The tax that the U.S. government (Federal and state) collects on cigarettes is really a death tax. It is one of the most convoluted behaviors I've ever seen exhibited. It is hypocritical for us to say "smoking kills," then to go right ahead and allow cigarettes to be sold over the counter for human consumption. In essence we're saying to smokers, "Hey, you shouldn't consume tobacco because it's deadly stuff. But if you insist, that's OK, we'll keep it legal, but we're going to benefit from your misery by taxing your addiction."