Free
Your
Mind
The Heart Reader
Author: Terri Blackstock
By:
Quill Wordsmith
wordsmith@excapethematrix.com
One of the many things that’s required of a believer in the Christian faith is to share the good news or gospel of Jesus Christ with the entire world. Believe it or not – many Christians have a tendency to be afraid to share their faith. Mormons riding through inner city streets on their bicycles to talk about their Christ, Jehovah’s Witness cruising shopping centers with their windows rolled all the way down, and then you have the every Sunday church goers. Believe it or not there’s a difference between the three. Terri Blackstock’s Heart Reader pulls out various elements to show the world as well as Christians how attentive Christ can be – as well as how God can use his people to bring a lost world to know salvation.
In Heart Reader, we’re introduced to Sam Bennett. Pretty much an average Joe, married, church going business type gentleman. After nodding off through a Sunday morning service, he has a dream that takes his life on a turn that he never saw coming. Everyone from the waitress at the diner to his pastor, he begins hearing what seems like confessions – thoughts being said aloud – but in actuality it’s the deepest inner most spiritual thoughts crying out from each one of these people. Of course it appears that he’s going crazy because he responds to each person’s “thoughts”, though he hears them as actual conversation.
After consulting his best friend and Pastor, John, he realizes that this is a direct gift from God. But to him, it’s more of a curse. Just imagine walking into the bus station, sitting in a diner, or walking through the grocery store and everyone’s most anguished thoughts being spoken aloud directly to you. There are two things that he must realize. The first is, this is an excellent gift purposed to make the act of evangelism far easier to accomplish without coming off as another fraudulent “bible thumper”. Most Christians or believers are quick to say that they aren’t ashamed of their love for Christ, however they make sharing that love far more difficult in regards to evangelism, that ties in with the second realization that Sam must reach; be yourself.
Those outside (and even those who are apart) of the church at times, identify Christianity or “the church” as being dogmatic, hypocritical, or even false. That’s when you have to accept the fact that Christianity is more than a religion or a belief but it’s a relationship. Your life, your actions, your thoughts, your everyday lifestyle would have to be a reflection of the relationship you have with Christ – not just the religious routine of going to a weekly worship service. In order for Sam to be able to evangelize effectively while using the gift of reading people’s hearts, he had to tell his own story (testimony)….not just be able to quote a few scriptures.
Heart Reader is one of several books written by Terri Blackstock written as fiction, to demonstrate how to evangelize as well as how to be able to tune in directly with God and what he’s saying. There are times when people may not listen along with times when people will almost instantaneously link to the very words that you have to share. Sometimes they’ll accept the truth while other times the truth is so real that they’ll turn from it – until they themselves can face it. Heart Reader, though a rather elementary read, has a timeless message for both believers and non-believers on how easy salvation is and how powerful our individual testimonies can be for the world.
And He Writes. . .
Quill Wordsmith