Jeff Adams

No, I am not talking about the word of God conceptually. I am talking about the power of a Bible, or a New Testament, the book itself. I’m sure we would all agree that there is power in the word of God! But I want to share testimony of the power of a New Testament.

Several weeks ago on June 22nd I finished a short series on Reasonable Service by telling the story of Mexican army officer captured in Veracruz by an invading French army in 1861. Expecting to be shot by the French officer who had taken him outside the fort, you can imagine his surprise when instead of shooting him, the Frenchman pulled a small, black Spanish New Testament from his pocket. Explaining that his mother had given him the testament to give away, he told the Mexican that he would spare his life if he would promise to read it. The Mexican gave him his word and read it he did, putting his faith in Christ as a result.

From Veracruz he walked to Texas where he grew as a disciple and became a powerful preacher, starting churches all over northern Mexico and raised his children to serve God. Four generations of his descendants have faithfully served Christ and had tremendous impact on Mexico, Guatemala and beyond. His great grandson is a personal friend of mine. His name is Junior; I wrote about him recently and you can read it here.

After telling this amazing story of the long-reaching power of giving away a single New Testament, I challenged our church to do the same and see what God would do. In each pew, on the altar and in the lobby were simple paperback New Testaments in both English and Spanish. Most people took at least one and committed to give it prayerfully to someone who would promise to read it.

I have already received several wonderful stories of what happened to some of those New Testaments. Today, I got a phone call I thought I would share. That very morning a young pastor from Ohio was visiting our church. At the conclusion of the service he was one who took a New Testament. In fact, he took it all the way back to Ohio. After some prayer, he knew exactly who should be the recipient of the New Testament.

He called to tell me the story. Next door to the church is a grimy, urban gasoline station run by an Arab man who works very long hours to make a go of it. Obviously from a Muslim background, the gas station owner could not understand why this young man would be a pastor. Praying for the just right moment after returning from Kansas City, the young pastor gave him the New Testament and had him promise to read the book of John. He did and the result was a series of discussions culminating in his putting his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior this past week.

The New Testaments we gave out were nothing special. We assembled them ourselves in a Bible conference a few years ago. Anyone could go to the nearest Wal-Mart and buy a complete Bible. But, despite the availability, I come across people all the time who have never had a Bible and never read one.

What could happen if we would all prayerfully give away just one New Testament each month to someone who would promise to read it?