From t-shirts to in-depth training, we need every imaginable channel to help us follow Jesus.
This is nothing new.
In Exodus, the process of turning slaves into a people of God not only involved thunderous messages from Sinai and a big book of minute rules and regulations but also the reminder from Moses to write God’s law on their doorposts and to wear it on their arms and foreheads (Deut. 6:8-9).
The biblical example of God’s Word in all of life is my inspiration for the Bibleverse—a group of ministries from Bible-teaching to t-shirts. This website is the hub of them all, as they relate to each other with the goal of getting God’s Word into all your life. When you do that you will naturally grow as a disciple of Jesus and share Him with others.
Check out all that is available; view, download, listen, and use every resource here to get God’s Word into all your world! For a short explanation of each of the major ministries of the Bibleverse, CLICK HERE to go back to the home page.
Following is a longer explanation with samples and examples of why the Bibleverse was created and how you can use the various resources.
Why I created the Bibleverse
In a post-Christian society at large and in many cases a post-biblical church, if you care about God’s Word, if you believe the Bible is the Word of God, not just a book of good suggestions to make us healthy and wealthy, if you believe that Jesus is the only way to God and eternal salvation, if you believe a life following Him is the only way to true peace and fulfillment now and forever, if you, as I do, believe the things I just listed, we are definitely a minority.
Being a minority often means we are outnumbered and far too often we assume a defensive position in our bunkers at home and church. We hunker down waiting for Jesus to return and declare the battle is over. But that is not how we are supposed to live.
We have been commanded to win our world for Jesus and to grow converts into mature disciples. We need to go on the offensive. The New Testament is filled with encouragements to “fight the good fight” and we want to do that.
The question is how?
In the past, when the world had a Christian, Bible-based framework, to get people’s attention we could use the big guns of preaching and teaching to the world around us because many people went to church as it was the socially expected thing to do. These tools are still useful to help grow Christians, but they are not enough to reach the world outside the church, because most of the people who listen to or go online for preaching and teaching content are already committed Christians who want to grow in their faith. That is wonderful and I welcome them all.
To reach the rest, we need to learn to be guerilla fighters. Here’s how I came to this conclusion
I have recently been writing (see book Tetelestai, here) and teaching in my Bible805 ministry about how believers are like the guerilla fighters in the French Resistance who, though D-day had taken place and the outcome of the war was not in doubt, still had to fight. Their fight was like ours as we live between the time that Jesus won his victory over sin and death at the cross and the time He returns to claim His ultimate victory.
The French Resistance used guerilla tactics. In fighting, they often carried out small, strategic strikes. In their communications they used clandestine radio broadcasts, and publication of newsletters, pamphlets, and posters to encourage the population of Paris to resist and fight until the final victory arrived.
For years through my Bible805 and Effective Church Communications ministry I’ve created materials to equip people to be effective disciples, but what I have been doing no longer seems like enough. As I was praying about it, I thought again about the example of the French Resistance and how God has used their creativity and many media channels to encourage and equip an out-numbered resistance army, an army in the same position as Bible-believing Christians today.
I also remembered how God communicated in the Old Testament
In Exodus, the process of turning slaves into the people of God not only involved thunderous messages from Sinai and a big book of minute rules and regulations, but also the reminder from Moses to write God’s law on their doorposts and to wear it on their arms and foreheads (Deut. 6:8-9).
Those actions may not seem as powerful as stone tablets written by the finger of God, but they were something people could see every day and be reminded of the importance of God’s commands in their lives. It seemed that writing on the doorposts and wearing God’s Word on their foreheads back then could appropriately translate today into inspirational t-shirts, baseball caps, and posters.
As one thing led to another, combining the inspiration of the French Resistance and the variety of communications God used, I realized I needed to create a variety of resources for you beyond Bible lessons and church communications how-tos. The resources needed to be more low-key, easier to infiltrate into a hostile world, in other words, guerilla-type tactics.
I do not want to take the guerilla warfare analogy too far or be overly dramatic but here is one way this variety of resources might work
If you have a difficult time initiating spiritual conversations, you could put a picture in your office or wear a t-shirt with a thought-provoking saying or Bible verse on it. It might not have the explosive power of a stadium-filled evangelistic crusade but it might be a guerilla action that starts a conversation about the Christian faith, about hope, or about Jesus. That is what I created the many resources of the Bibleverse to do.
People wear t-shirts all the time promoting their favorite teams; they post pictures of sayings they agree with, and they drink coffee from mugs that remind them of a positive thought they want to think about. Though I know there are many spiritually-themed resources available, I wanted to create t-shirts, mugs, and printables that went along with the lessons I taught. That way when the t-shirt, printable, or mug sparks a conversation about God or the Christian faith you will have something to talk about, plus an in-depth lesson to share if the opportunity comes up.
Here are some ideas of how this can work:
From teaser to a significant spiritual challenge
One disclaimer here. The process I am about to describe is not available presently for all the lessons on Bible805 or for all church communication special events (though I have ones for Christmas, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day). I trust the individual materials I’ve created work on their own, as well as parts of a coordinated lesson or event. Following is one example of how the various items, including printables, t-shirts, mugs, and lessons can work together for a significant spiritual impact.
Here is an example: On the Bible805 website are two lessons What does God expect? and Why do bad things happen to Christians, when we try so hard to please God? To go along with the lessons was the key verse, Micah 6:8, that challenges us to “Do justice, Love kindness, Walk Humbly with our God.”
In our world that has become increasingly unkind, Micah 6:8 is a very timely challenge and a reminder to all of us. Here are some of the things I created for you to share Micah 6:8. First are printables, then t-shirts and mugs. Keep in mind this is a TINY representation of all the products available.
To go to the downloadable files, for the printables, go to the Bibleverse Shop and for the t-shirts and mugs, go to the Bibleverse t-Shirts and More Shop.
Also in one of the lessons, I used the encouraging statement from Dame Julian of Norwich who lived during the Black Plague of the 14th century, when she shared God’s promise to her, “All will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well.”
Here is the selection of printables I made to go along with it and then an idea on how you can use it.
To download the images, go to: https://www.Bible805Images.com
Guerilla warfare strategy for using this saying to initiate a gospel conversation
Imagine if you have a poster in your home or office or on your t-shirt or mug with the saying, “All will be well…..” A friend sees this and asks, “How can you feel that way? Our world is falling apart and far from things going well.”
And you can answer, “I totally understand. It is not that all things are good now, but that saying was written by a woman who lived through the plague in the 14th century. Her world was falling apart, but she trusted that maybe not in this life, but that someday, Jesus would make all things new, and she would be part of a world where all would truly be well.”
And perhaps, you can go on to share Jesus.
If nothing else, you have planted a seed in your friend’s mind that you are someone who knows Jesus and if your friend has a question, if you pray that God warms their heart towards the gospel, perhaps they will take the initiative and ask you for more information.
This is one example. I’m sure that the many verses and sayings in the Bibleverse Shop will give you many more ideas, but following are a few more:
Other ideas for guerilla tactics to share Biblical content
I created numerous sayings in the Bibleverse Shop and on T-shirts and mugs that you can download in many sizes either for large posters in your church, 8.5 x 11 pictures in your home, or smaller ones 5×7.
The smaller sizes especially make great gifts. I use the Bibleverse materials all the time to create gifts for friends and for church classes.
Here are a few of the images (there are many more on the site) and below the images, I’ll describe how I’ve used them.
All are available at the Bibleverse Shop.
How I used the images above
I used Only One Life to give to members of a Bible study after we finished a discipleship series. I did these in the 5×7 size and put them in frames from the Dollar Store (I do this a lot).
I used All will be Well during the Covid winter as a little gift and reminder about God as a present for all my neighbors. I did these in the 5×7 size and put them in frames from the Dollar Store.
I did up a poster with the saying, “When in Doubt, Pull your Bible Out” to put up at church to encourage people to read the Bible. I had it printed up 24×36 from an online shop and it came out with excellent resolution. I was very happy about that as I’ve worked hard to make them that way—all of the images are both in high-resolution PDF and 300 dpi JPG.
One of my favorite sets is a series I did on life after death, with my favorite picture with the verse, “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” I did it with the idea of using it as a set of pictures in a senior’s home. These look great printed up 8.5x 11 and again put into simple frames from the Dollar store.
There are many sayings, plus Bible verses that you can use in many ways in the Bibleverse Shop. Because there are so many and I would like you to be able to use them in many ways, (I have social media Instagram and Facebook formats, plus 5×7; 8×10, 8.5×11, 11×14, 16×20 18×24, 24×36, 30×30, A1, and A4 sizes for each image in both hi-res PDF and hi-res jpg formats).
The Printables are all available at: https://www.payhip.com/Bibleverseshop
Here is a short video tour of it:
The t-shirts and mugs are available at: https://www.bonfire.com/store/bibleverse-t-shirts/
Please use all the designs in your own ways. Guerilla fighters are known for their creative approaches to strategy—make them your own and let me know if something worked particularly well for you and I will pass it on. Email me at yvon@bible805.com
Check them out for yourself!
The Bibleverse Shop has free downloads for you to sample. Check it out and sign up for a yearly subscription—that way you will always have content for social media, for gifts to encourage others and help them and yourself get the Bible into all of life! CLICK HERE to go to the Bibleverse Shop.
I’ve focused in this introduction on one part of the Bibleverse, but please check out the various parts of it below and on this site for the related areas that will help you get God’s Word into all your life.
My prayer in closing this introduction to the Bibleverse, is that it will help us all fulfill Paul’s prayer for Timothy and mine for all of us in 1 Timothy 6:11, 12, that we
Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. [and that we]
Fight the good fight of the faith!
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If you want to explore ALL the parts of the Bibleverse, here are the links to them
I have two areas of emphasis in my online ministry, one in Bible teaching and one in Church Communications. I have combined these resources into an overall group entitled the Bibleverse, which is a combined ministry whose purpose is to bring the Bible into all of life. The Bibleverse has many parts and below are various areas and links to them that may be useful to you.
A few overall notes on the Bibleverse sites
First, when you come to a site associated with the Bibleverse, I want it to be a peaceful, non-distracting, encouraging time that will help you know God better and serve Him more joyfully and effectively. Because of that and too many other reasons to list here, the only materials for sale on any of them are ones I create and that help support the ministry.
Second, NONE of my sites (I cannot help what YouTube does) contain ANY outside advertising, affiliate marketing, or other distractions. No distracting videos or memes popping up, no offensive ads that will break your search for edifying materials with thoughts of “Why is that ad on a Biblical website?” will EVER be on a Bibleverse site.
Third, also for the sake of peace, I do not allow comments on my sites or social media if I have a choice on them. My time is more than full attempting to keep up on creating content for the following ministries (and I often fall behind) and I can either focus on content creation or interacting with comments. Though some comments in the past when I allowed unlimited ones were positive, many in the past have been vile attacks by cults and disturbed people. I choose to focus on content creation. If someone wants to reach me, my email is on my sites in the About sections.
With that as an overview, following are the various parts of the Bibleverse. Use them with my prayers and encouragement as you fight the good fight as guerilla fighters, as the resistance army for the Kingdom of God.
Hub of all the ministries of the Bibleverse
Bibleverse, overall site: https://www.bibleversehub.com
This is the overall site that introduces you to the various parts of the Bibleverse and has periodic updates of the ministries on it, previews of new materials and how to use them, links to podcasts, videos, free downloads,and all sorts of things related to the Bibleverse. This site doesn’t have a lot of content on it to start, the other sites have much more, but I wanted a hub to build on.
Bible805—Bible-related sites
Bible805 website: https://www.Bible805.com
Yvon Prehn’s Bible teaching, blogs, charts, misc. materials and links to Bible podcasts and videos. This is a hub within the bigger Bibleverse to all the Bible-teaching related materials.
To sign up for a newsletter of updates and new materials on the Bible805 website, CLICK HERE.
Bibleverse Shop: https://www.Bible805Images.com
A fantastic source for an ever‐increasing collection of Printables you can use to create Bible verse and inspirational sayings pictures and images in many sizes and formats, from social media images to files you can print on office computers and that can be printed at professional print shops for large posters or canvas prints. All are FREE or PWYW (pay-what-you-want).
Bibleverse t-shirts and more Shop: https://www.bonfire.com/store/bibleverse-t-shirts/
One demand shop for t-shirts and mugs printed with Bible verses and sayings related to the Bible805 ministry. All proceeds go to support the ministry.
Bible805 Podcast, https://anchor.fm/yvon‐prehn8
From here you can find links to listen to the Bible 805 podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and many other podcast channels.
Bible805 YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/Bible805
Quality Bible teaching videos, all for free that you can learn from and use in teaching. These are the same content as most of the podcasts, but in video format. In addition, I have an ever-growing collection of YouTube Shorts on this channel—one-minute thoughts, verses, challenges to encourage you in your Christian life.
Bible805 Academy https://www.Bible805Academy
Though you can access the videos for free on YouTube at the link above, if you would like to legally download them and share them with a Sunday School class, small group, home school, or Bible school, you can download the video along with notes, discussion questions, and images you can use to advertise it all for All are FREE or PWYW (pay-what-you-want).
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Bible805
Effective Church Communications—church communications related sites
Effective Church Communications website: https://www.effectivechurchcom.com/
This site is the hub of the Effective Church Communications ministry and is a huge repository of blogs and articles on strategy and inspiration, on how to create communications that will grow your church in numbers and your people in spiritual maturity—in other words, to fully fulfill the Great Commission. The site also has hundreds of FREE TEMPLATES for church communicators primarily in ready-to-print PDF format and editable MS Publisher format.
Effective Church Communications YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/yvonprehn Quality training videos on church communications, all for FREE that you can learn from and share. If you want to download and use the videos in training or for personal learning without the distractions of YouTube, go to the ECC Library below.
Effective Church Communications Library https://www.ECCLibrary.com
An ever‐growing online Library of eBooks and church communications training videos that will give you the skills, strategy, and inspiration to create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission, all for FREE or PWYW (pay-what-you-want).
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/effectivechurchcom/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EffectiveChurchCommunications
Podcast about Effective Church Communications: https://anchor.fm/yvon-prehn
Links here to where you can also listen to this podcast on the various podcast channels, such as I-Tunes, Spotify, etc.
Miscellaneous
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvonprehn/
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