Give Me Souls, Take the Rest." St. John Bosco

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Topic

The two jobs of a Christian - get to Heaven and take as many people with you as possible. We can help...

Challenge/Response

A Short Story
In March of 1998, not having any clue as to what I was doing, or what all I was getting into, I launched the Bible Christian Hour. It was a weekly, one hour, live, Catholic apologetics radio program on the largest Evangelical Christian radio station in Alabama - a hundred thousand watt FM station. Catholic apologetics on an Evangelical Christian radio station...in the heart of the Bible belt! I had no training in apologetics. I had no training in Theology or Philosophy. I knew nothing about radio. Furthermore, I didn't really have any intention of doing a radio show. It just sort of happened. It was all in response to a series of nasty anti-Catholic programs that station had aired a few months earlier.

Well, I hosted the Bible Christian Hour once a week for a year. It caused quite a stir - in both the Catholic and non-Catholic communities. A number of Evangelicals were pretty upset with that radio station for allowing a "Catholic" on a "Christian" radio station. There was even a write-up about the program in the national publication of the Watchman Fellowship - a Protestant cult watch organization. Anyway, not long after the radio show ended, I got a request from the woman who ran the Catholic bookstore in town (Birmingham), to give a series of talks at her parish - Our Lady of Sorrows. So, in the summer of 1999, I gave a talk each of 4 Wednesday nights in a row. The parish hall was packed to the gills every one of those nights...400-450 or so people. I had a friend of mine record the talks "just in case someone might want a copy".

Well, in January of 2000, EWTN Radio got ahold of those talks and aired them on the 8 or 9 AM/FM affilates they had at the time, which I knew absolutely nothing about. All of a sudden I started getting calls from around the country. People wanted copies of my talks - so a "tape ministry" was born. We sent out 2000 cassette tapes in the year 2000. Then 3000 the next year. 15,000 the year after that. Then 35,000 cassettes and CDs the year after that. Then 85,000. And the numbers kept going up. I stopped keeping track several years back as we were closing in on 2,000,000 copies distributed, so no telling how many copies have gone out, especially when you include downloading.

In addition to sending out copies of my talks, I would have folks asking me to come and talk at their parishes in Kalamazoo, Michigan; Stockton, California; Reno, Nevada; Jacksonville, Florida; Dallas, Texas; and elsewhere - so an evangelization apostolate, the Bible Christian Society, was born. And it just kept getting crazier. Hundreds of parishes over the years. Dozens and dozens of conferences. And, as my name got out there, people started emailing questions to me - all the time. Hundreds of apologetics questions every year. Some days it was taking me 7 or 8 hours to just answer people's email questions. So, in 2004, I started a newsletter - Apologetics for the Masses - to see if I couldn't give more answers to more people in a more efficient way. Now, with around 60,000 subscribers, it's one of the most read Catholic apologetics newsletters in the world.

All of this from a guy with a Finance degree and an M.B.A. who was doing just fine in the world of banking. The Lord has quite the sense of humor.

So, why am I telling you all of this? I'm telling you all of this, because twice a year I come to you to ask you for just a little bit of help. Just a little bit. And whenever I ask someone for help, I want to give them a good reason (hopefully) for them to consider helping me out. So, I wanted to give you a brief version of how the Bible Christian Society came to be and how I came to do what I do, especially for those of you who have never heard any of this before. And, I actually have a few more things I want to tell you about the Bible Christian Society and what we do, and have done, which will (again, hopefully), give you sufficient reason to support what we do.

In addition to all the audio materials we provide folks (for free), and all the written materials we provide folks (for free), and the video materials we provide (not free but basically at cost), the Bible Christian Society has been responsible for bringing 3 Catholic radio stations to the Diocese of Birmingham. We've done dozens upon dozens of television ads in both Birmingham and Huntsville at various times (you can see those ads here: Bible Christian Society Television Ads). About 10 years or so ago, back when a number of people still read newspapers, we did full page ads - once a month for twelve months - in the Birmingham News and Huntsville Times (you can see those ads here: Bible Christian Society Newspaper Ads). We've done a few million (yes, million) internet banner ads along with targeted email blasts. We even geofenced a Baptist megachurch with Catholic ads - that church had just done a six week Wednesday night series attacking the Catholic Church. So, for about two months, every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening, folks in that church or its parking lot or the nearby vicinity, were getting Catholic ads on their cell phones whenever they connected to the internet.

For the last several years we've been sending out Catechisms of the Catholic Church to non-Catholic pastors in the Birmingham area - several hundred so far - with a letter asking them to please accept the Catechism for their reference library, and that, should they ever have occasion to speak about the Catholic Church from the pulpit, in a Bible study, or at Sunday school, they could get their information "straight from the horse's mouth". And the letter made special note of the 32-page scriptural index in the back of the Catechism that shows how thoroughly biblical the Catholic Faith is. Also, just in the very recent past, we've sent out a tract - The Roman (Catholic) Road to Salvation (available on request via email) - to every business and household in the 35094 zip code - the zip code my parish is in. Some 7500+ tracts went out which were, hopefully, the first batch of many more to be sent out. At least, that's the plan.

So that's kinda what we've been doing the last 25 years. The Bible Christian Society is unique in that there isn't another apologetics/evangelization apostolate or ministry that has engaged in so many different venues of evangelization as we have done, and are continuing to do. All on a shoestring budget. And I would like to keep doing more! But that depends entirely on you! On the immediate horizon I hope to send out tens of thousands more of The Roman (Catholic) Road to Salvation tracts in Birmingham and the surrounding areas. Also, there's been movement on finally (FINALLY!) getting a podcast going. I'm hoping to have everything in place maybe by sometime in July. I want to keep sending out more Catechisms. I have another book in mind. And much more...

So, for all of these reasons, I'm asking you to please consider supporting us - first, and foremost - with your prayers, and, also, if you are able, with a financial contribution. All I've ever asked for in the 21 years I've been sending out this newsletter, is ten cents a day. $0.10/day. $3/month. $36/year. No inflation in the ask. Of course, if you would be of the mind to do so, we would gratefully accept more - no donation will be refused, no matter how large - but if you could see your way to give just a dime a day, that would be awesome and would be greatly appreciated!

I'm going to close by giving you a few "testimonials" as to the impact of the work we do, but, before I do that, I want to say one more thing: I can't give you a cost/benefit analysis in regards to all the evangelization we've done. How effective were the TV ads? The banner ads? The mailing of the Catechisms? The mailing of the tracts? Honestly, I don't know. I can't give you numbers as to how many people have either learned more about their faith, as Catholics, or learned more about the Catholic Faith, as non-Catholics, because of all the work the Bible Christian Society has done. I also can't tell you how many people have come into the Church either directly, or indirectly, because of seeds planted by the materials we've sent out. But, I do know it's a goodly number for the former (at least, based on the emails and letters and orders I've received), and there have been a decent number of the latter. However, I don't really worry about numbers. I don't worry about conversions. That's not my job. That's the job of the Holy Spirit. My whole concern is with planting seeds. That's my job...that's our job. To throw the seeds out there and then pray they land on good soil and that the Holy Spirit nourishes them and helps them to bear good fruit. Remember, get to Heaven and take as many people with you as possible. We can help folks with that...you can help folks with that.

I just want to plant more seeds. A lot more seeds! But I can't do it without your help. None of this would have happened, or will continue to happen, without the support we receive from all of you. So, I thank you for your past support, and I thank you for taking the time to read this and to pray about and consider any future support. Remember, just a dime a day...

"You were a great influence on my returning to the church back in 2011. After many years of subtly trying to get my wife to convert, I started passing your emails on to her (who had been a Free Will Baptist all her life). I am happy to announce that your teachings had the same effect on her. After 48 years together (45 years of marriage), my wife came in to the church at Easter Vigil 2024.  Keep on doing God's work!

Greg & Ruth M.

"Thank you for everything you have done. Even though I haven't read the majority of your newsletters in the last couple of years (new email provider, different life situation,...), there was a time (a couple of years ago) where I read them all and where they had been really helpful in a discussion with somebody who, at that time, had been very important to me. While the relationship with that person didn't work out quite the way I had hoped, everything I learned from your newsletters and some other Catholic online resources helped me grow in my Catholic faith. And in the end, that is much more important than any earthly relationship."

Klara S.
Austria

"Thank you for all your work that has sustained and elevated my Catholicism...Your work has born some fruit. My best friend is a non practicing Jew. He is a high level attorney who has skills beyond comprehension. We have been close friends for over 30 years. Since about 2003, after listening to you and reading your publications, I have been able to engage him with information about The Church. A breakthrough.

Dave S.

Closing Comments

Anything you can do is very much appreciated. And whether or not you are able to support us financially, please do support us with your prayers! Have a great week!

Donations

The Bible Christian Society is a non-profit organization that relies solely on your support to bring the truths of the Catholic Faith to tens of thousands of people throughout the U.S. and all around the world each year. If you would like to help us do what we do, you can donate online at:

https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/donations

or send a check to:

Bible Christian Society

PO Box 424

Pleasant Grove, AL 35127.

Anything you can do is greatly appreciated!

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