If you’re like me, it’s rare to go through a single day without seeing a plea on a friend’s social media for the latest multi-level marketing health and fitness product. Whether it’s Plexus, Advocare, Beachbody, Amway, essential oils, Isagenix or any of the other wonderful products made available to consumers desperately desiring to make a major change in their lives, there is no shortage of people championing these products. 

A few years ago, my wife and I decided to join the next big health product weight loss shakes company. I can tell you this, they were the best protein shakes I have ever tasted, especially if you added ice cream to them. We knew that we would need to utilize every opportunity in person and through social media to share of our new found love. We began to influence people to join our cause. It didn’t take long for us to meet our first goal—get enough people on board to receive our product for free. We were well on our way to influencing people, becoming healthier, and having some financial freedom. That all came to a quick halt because we realized we were spending way more time talking to people and posting on social media about these shakes and their benefits than we were talking to people about Jesus. It is so easy to get consumed with desire, passion and a good thing, that we let it overtake the main thing in our life. We made the decision to make Jesus the subject of our passion in person and online. 

I know a lot of great people who work for these companies, are passionate about the products and weave their faith into their business, and I am so grateful for that. However, what if we worked that hard to make Jesus known and have the gospel shared? We must remember that as Christians, we are not called to build up to the next level of gold, ruby or platinum, but instead we are to lay our crowns down at the feet of Jesus. I believe that if we were as diligent for the gospel to advance as these companies are, we could see a fresh movement of God sweep our nation and the world. As Christ followers, let us learn four concepts from these companies about how they get their message out, and let us apply them to our own lives:

1. Those who invest their lives and money into these companies believe in their product! They are not just heralds but also practitioners. They do whatever it takes to get the product out because the product has made a difference in their own lives. As Christians, we have the best thing to believe in that man has ever known. The gospel of Christ transforms us from the inside out. Let others know how much you believe in what Jesus has done for you.

2. They are not ashamed of the product. The sales people are not afraid to tell you about their product. They are proud that they work for these companies and the products that they use. I wonder if that could be said of Christians today? Often our faith is the last thing we want to talk about. The reason these companies grow so rapidly is because the representatives are unashamed in their sharing. This reminds us of the method of the early church we see in Acts—they were unashamed and very active in preaching Jesus. 

3. They are not easily discouraged. If you have ever told someone no about joining in on their journey, you will realize that they do not go away defeated. They believe that if they keep modeling what the products can do and keep asking that eventually you will want to join them. This is a contrast to many evangelicals today. Many who try to share their faith and are rejected walk away feeling defeated and reluctant to try again. What if we continued to model what Christ has done in us and were steadfast to share the good news of the gospel? 

4. They desire to involve their family, friends and neighbors. These enrepreneurs desire for those closest to them to experience the benefits of the product and join them on the journey. If you are somehow connected to a follower of one of these products, it is only a matter of time before you know what it is all about. I can only imagine how transformative the gospel would be if believers would be as passionate that their family, friends and neighbors hearing the gospel as these folks are about their products. 

I love seeing before and after pictures of people on their health journeys. However, more than that, I love to see people’s lives change through the gospel. These products and companies are great; however, they are just for a temporary body that will soon wither and fade away. Our passion to advance the gospel will have eternal ramifications that will outlive and outlast every one of us. 

SAN ANTONIO Because of estate planning, a Texas businesswoman was able to leave a multimillion-dollar gift to her local church upon her death, placing the congregation in a strong financial position for launching a new campus.  

Castle Hills Baptist Church in San Antonio took advantage of a free service offered by the Southern Baptists of Texas Foundation—a “House in Order” seminar that encourages believers to leave kingdom-focused financial legacies by tithing their estates to ministry.

“The House in Order seminar lays a biblical foundation for how to be good stewards of what God has given us over the years,” Jeffrey Steed, director of planned giving at the SBTF, told the TEXAN. “We talk about wills, power of attorney documents, living trusts and living wills.”

Representatives from the foundation also discuss planned giving during the seminars, which last 45 to 60 minutes. 

“I always encourage individuals to at least tithe their estate to their local church or whatever ministry,” Steed said, adding that churches can host the seminars during Sunday School, on a Sunday evening, a Wednesday evening or as a special event.

“Some churches will have it in Sunday School with all the adults pulled into one room because it is something that every adult should consider. I talk about guardianships for children too, so it applies to all ages—to protect family and to benefit ministry,” Steed said.

Estate planning helps a person plan for how an estate will be distributed after death, Steed said. It involves wills and other documents to ensure a smooth transition of assets from one generation to the next. Particularly for a person living with kingdom focus, estate planning should include not just family but ministry, Steed said.

“Estate planning is, for most individuals, the most important and impactful stewardship decision of our entire lives because that’s when the majority of our wealth is going to transfer,” Steed said. “Most people don’t do much planning, if any.”

Castle Hills in San Antonio hosted a House in Order seminar in 2004 and again in 2012. During the first seminar, a single businesswoman made plans to distribute part of her estate to the church. When she died last fall, the church received roughly $2.75 million, according to Mark Hogan, an elder at Castle Hills.

“Our church is in the planning and executing stages of adding another church location, and this has been an incredible blessing to our church,” Hogan, a financial advisor at Wells Fargo Advisors, told the TEXAN. “When you’re looking to buy land or remodel a building, a gift like that is an incredible blessing for capital to start with.”

The plan for the new location was in place before the church knew about the gift, Hogan said.

“We had no clue how we were going to get the money to do this, but God knew exactly when we would need it,” Hogan said. “These kinds of gifts help us to spend far more time reaching out to the community instead of trying to find where the funds are going to come from. Even though it may take years before the blessings come in, God’s perfect timing certainly was in place for us.”

Hogan encourages Texas churches to consider hosting estate planning seminars. 

“I think we’re in tune with tithing on our current income, but sometimes God grows assets that we’ve really never tithed on because they were never current income—especially land or businesses,” Hogan said. 

“When you’re getting ready to pass an estate on, I think it’s a great idea to consider tithing back to your church off your estate and consider giving an offering off that estate to charitable organizations that are near and dear to your heart, to include the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention or the Southern Baptist Convention.”

Churches interested in hosting estate planning seminars can contact the Southern Baptists of Texas Foundation at 817-552-2500 or visit sbtexasfoundation.com.

“We would love the opportunity to be in churches and educate members on estate planning,” Steed said.  

LAFAYETTE, La.—“I would go to hell,” a man replied honestly when Wayne Barber asked him where he thought he would be if he died.

But the man, who was helping his sister with her flooded Louisiana home, changed his demeanor as Barber, a chaplain with Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief (SBTC DR), explained the gospel to him. At the end of their conversation, the man prayed to receive Christ.

“You could just see the Holy Spirit working,” fellow chaplain Laquita Hunter said. “The man became cooperative.”

He spoke of his intentions to tell his wife, a Christian, what had happened to him, noting, “She is probably not going to believe it at first!”

This man represents one of around 40 professions of faith SBTC chaplain teams have recorded as of Aug. 28 during their relief efforts in a 50-by-50-square mile section of Louisiana, stretching from Crowley east to Beaux Bridge and from Opelousas south to New Iberia, according to SBTC DR white hat Mike Jansen of Linden, Texas.

Housed at The Bayou Church in Lafayette, SBTC teams have prepared as many as 9,700 meals per day, which are then delivered by the Red Cross to families and individuals in need. Additionally, mud-out and clean-out operations have started and chaplains are offering the hope of salvation to all who will hear.

SBTC DR deployed rapidly after Louisiana DR requested assistance. Jansen arrived on August 18 to take over white hat duties from Marvin Leleux of Louisiana DR. Wally Leyerle of First Baptist The Colony assumed white hat duties from Jansen on August 22.

Some 30-40 SBTC volunteers are working daily alongside teams from Louisiana, Jansen confirmed, adding that the number of actual volunteers varies daily as individuals rotate in and out.

Cleanup efforts have included assisting at least two churches, the Lafayette Korean Church and First Baptist Church Broussard, so those congregations could hold Sunday services. DR teams also focused on affected pastors’ homes to free preachers to minister to their congregations.

“We are doing mud-outs and clean-outs, a little bit of tarping of roofs,” Leyerle said. “We are sending out our chaplains with assessors, and they are telling people about the love of Christ…. The Lord seems to be directing our people right where they need to go.”

Barber and his wife, Ann, along with Hunter have experienced divine guidance as they drove through affected neighborhoods.

“God turned us around,” Wayne Barber said, explaining a day he sensed the Lord telling him to “go back” and stop at a home they had passed.

As they pulled into the driveway, a man in his 30s strode out to meet them.

“I saw y’all drive by, and I saw y’all turn around,” the man said. “I knew you were coming back to talk to me!”

Wayne Barber did talk to the man, and the man prayed to receive Christ. The man’s mother, a Christian who had long prayed for her son to come to faith, walked over from next door.

“Every day before we go out, we pray for divine appointments,” Barber said.

On another occasion, a woman in her 30s claimed that a negative experience with a pastor’s wife as a youth “turned her away from the church.”

“She thought Christians were hypocritical,” Hunter said.

Hunter presented the gospel to the woman, urging her to forgiveness. “We talked and she cried, then she accepted Christ.”

Like so many flood victims, the woman had lost her home and possessions, but she found hope in the Lord. “We could tell, when we left, that her life had changed and was going to be different,” Hunter said.

Names and contact information about all who pray to receive Christ are recorded and given to area churches for follow up, Barber said.

Jansen described the work of SBTC feeding teams as exhausting, stretching from 3:00 a.m. till the evening to prepare lunches and dinners for pickup and delivery by the Red Cross to shelters and the community. “You know, it’s just an awesome thing to see the volunteers giving all of their time and energy to produce the food to see that the people of Louisiana have a hot meal.”

Even the simple presence of helpers in the midst of disaster’s aftermath brings encouragement.

“Every time I go out in public and people see me wearing the SBTC DR shirt, I am constantly being told thank you for being here,” Leyerle said. “We are able to minister to people just by being here.”

DR teams from Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas Baptist Men are working in other designated sections of the state.

“It appears we will be there some time.” SBTC DR director Scottie Stice said, urging all available SBTC DR volunteers to consider deploying.

To learn more about how to sponsor a church or pastor’s home affected by floods in Louisiana, donate to SBTC DR work in Louisiana, or volunteer, visit bit.ly/LAfloods.

“Who is my neighbor?”

That’s the question a lawyer asked Jesus, which prompted the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. It’s also the question Christians should ask themselves as they seek to reach their neighbors with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

According to a 2015 article in New York magazine, 1 out of 3 Americans have never spoken to their next-door neighbors. In light of this, SBTC Director of Missions Shane Pruitt believes many Christians miss out on the gospel opportunities right at their own doorsteps. Added to this is the fact that more and more people from other countries are moving to Texas, making neighborhoods fields ripe for harvest.

And that is where the annual state missions ministry offering of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention can help. The Reach Texas offering, which runs from September through August each year, helps fund evangelistic endeavors in the Lone Star State.

“The Lord has brought the nations to Texas,” Pruitt said. “We believe the Lord is using the Reach Texas Missions Offering to literally impact the world because every penny goes towards church planting, evangelism, missions, and disaster relief right here in Texas. If we reach Texas, we’ll touch the world.”

The statewide challenge goal for 2016-2017 has been set at $1.45 million, and the Week of Prayer and Emphasis is September 18-25. Resources to promote the Reach Texas Offering in your church, including videos, bulletin inserts and Bible study curriculum are available for download at sbtexas.com/reachtexas. Churches can also order printed copies of this year’s prayer guide at the website.