Calling all Shepherds!!! Your mission: No soul left behind. Gotta catch ’em all. Leave no soul unturned. Find the one. Fill the funnel of love. You have a treasure that is not to be kept hidden. That gift from God is for everyone. God made everyone and God loves everyone He made.
What’s the point of WordChat? It truly is to foster conversation of eternal significance. Who ever is NOT thinking about God needs to start! There are as many ways to shepherd and conversational strategies to start as there are people in this world to tend to. It is not a one and done thing. There is no formula of how to explain God’s magnificence. But once you are His, you become a shepherd too. He has gathered us for this very purpose. We must be obedient but breaking open a hard heart is serious and difficult business!
Why WordChat?
Our Daily Bread
Meet Them Where They Are
To be heard, we need to listen. To love we need to be loved. God loves us. He hears us. We need to hear others. Who are they? Where are they? Don’t be afraid to ask deep questions. Similar to when our Creator shepherd makes us His, we must help Him do the same for others. Just like we reflect His shepherd duties, we need to reflect His loving and listening skills. Love like Jesus. Listen with an open heart. When we do this, we can meet others where they are. Not so much to turn the light bulb on, but to show them where the switch is.
1 Corinthians 9:19-22
Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
Send Messages
Everyone’s nose is in a phone a all throughout the day. Sending messages is a great way to show someone you are thinking of them. They will likely see a notification. What if the message that you send makes them feel so elated? What if it makes them think about our Maker?
1 Corinthians 9:10
Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.
Spark Conversations
Regardless of the types of messages you send or outreach you do, gearing the conversation to the deeper aspects of life is what we are charged to do. We are not supposed to let the lost just keep wandering without some type of shuttle provided, wisdom shared, comfort given, love lavished. We need to help them find their way to their soul even if they have already started without you!
We are soul tenders now. The second (and most recent) audible I ever heard from God was “tend to the soul.” It sticks with you. We must see peoples souls, not their worldly shells. When their time and attention is on distractions, sin and things with little meaning, our hearts must break for what they are missing! We can’t keep this treasure to ourselves. We have to break down the hard rocks of rebellion, apathy, hatred and anxiety. Much of anxiety is caused by thinking it’s all up to you and you have no answers!
Let your loved ones know about what truly is the salvation of Jesus Christ. Not only is it the
1 Corinthians 9:10
Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.
How to WordChat
Think of the people in your life you’d love to get to know the Lord. How close are you to them? It doesn’t really matter as WordChat is really aimed at nudging from almost any direction vs hitting over the head. Peruse the WordChat galleries. There is something for every state of the soul. If you don’t see something perfect, send a submission from the About page. We will do our best to create the perfect message.
The Path & Journey
The Path
Regardless of where we start shepherding or they start exploring, the path is open for everyone. We are to shepherd folks onto the path, lead those behind us and let those ahead tend to us. We are students and teachers, wrapped in prayer, conceived in grace. The burrito of love.
Psalms 16:11
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Identify the Soul State
Honestly, it’s not that hard to ask someone about their beliefs. I love it when they say, “oh, I used to go to church with my parents.” It makes me chuckle. We then get a chance to go deeper into what their soul state really is. Even if you don’t ask, you might know a great deal in order to answer that question.
Send uplifting messages to those who need it. Regardless of how well you know them or their journey on the path. Consider these God’s messages in paraphrase. Let them know you are thinking of them. What if one message would mean everything?
From cracking the heart of an atheist to helping a seeker learn more, seeds is the perfect place to start their soulful exploration. Gentle reminders and ways to stir the soul. Starting a conversation by sending a WordChat message. How can you help them see Him?
WordChat separates seeker prayers and believer prayers. All prayers reach God. All thoughts reach God. We must hone our prayer life and thought life to His will. Sending prayers are a sweet way to bless someone and show you are thinking of them.
Spend time every day meditating on God’s Word to us. He intends for us to grow towards Him daily and pursue his mystery and vastness. He shares bits of Himself with each of us. Take advantage of The Bible’s transformational truth!
FInd Messages
Broken in to four main galleries, WordChat messages range from lifting someone’s spirit to asking deep soul touching questions. Sending a WordChat message versus a regular text (which is greatly encouraged as well) might spark a bit of a different conversation. Give it a try!
Search WordChat, ask God, ask your heart, what are messages that I can send my loved one(s) to stir their soul? How can I ask a question that provokes thoughts not avoidance? How can I lift this person up to show them how much I love them? Show God’s love to let them see who He is. The goal is to inspire conversations of eternal significance.
Send and Pray
Send your messages. Send many to many. Pray for what to send, who to send it to and continue to pray that wisdom and holiness is gained on all sides. We get to sanctify as we shepherd. We are growing our faith and His flock. It’s great to call someone, text, send an email, send pics, all types of outreach are encouraged. Think of it as dropping seeds.
Pray and Chat
You’ve prayed, you’ve identified targets, created or found messages, sent them, prayed some more and now we wait. How do they respond? What are the results? Can you shepherd them a bit more with each message? Share all your experiences in our WordChat community. Join WordChat and hear from others and share your stories. What works? What doesn’t? What are the trials? Where are the triumphs? Let’s lean in to rise up stronger with more ways to break open the hard hearted!
Durable Hooks
The point of WordChat merch is that carrying around a prayer on your tote bag could be the exact thing that someone behind you in the grocery store needs to see. God is divinely providential and proximity aware! Call them Durable Hooks. Get some merch and carry around some public prayers or holy nudges. Share your stories in the Chat forums.
Chat Community
Lean In To Learn
God wants us in community to grow our spirit. He wants us all in a circle talking about Him! He LOVES it! Give Him the courtesy to talk about Him as much as possible. He wants you too.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.
Admit You're Broken
Acting like the Good Lord Almighty has fixed you and made you sin free and the perfect person is not the flex. The flex is, “we are all broken and God loves us anyway.” Instead confess, “I love and believe in the sacrifice and salvation of Jesus Christ, but that does not fix me and make me perfect. That convicts me to try to be like Him more and more, each day. I pray this for you as well. He doesn’t need us fixed, He just wants us ready.”
We all need forgiveness. Every. Day.
Proverbs 13:20
Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.
It's Personal
My soul is bent to shepherd and I don’t feel very good at it. I feel better behind a keyboard than in IRL talking with a non-believer about God. Probably because God gifted me a beautiful child who does not believe in Him! She is way smarter than me and has so much more knowledge about the world than I do, but I am starting to feel the armor that I have.
I have the spirit and supernatural realm to which she is actually enamored, in her readings and writings. I have the good Lord God on my side to fight this battle of refusal. She refuses to admit to a Divine Creator. God and I are going to tag team this eternal effort. I need other ideas for ways to crack the extra hard (and smart) nuts. We all do! Sharing is caring. Share your stories. Read others’ stories. God is working in all of us so together, we can inspire each other to new ways to appeal to the many lost hearts out there.
Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
