From Tree to Tree: Making and Growing a Relationship with God and Witnessing and Becoming a Mentor

By Albert Rushing

To open up a whole new approach for you to use your Christian beliefs to engage with your friends, relatives and yes strangers, hence making your world growing, contented and full of joy. To teach an approach to communicate love, respect and honor to everyone in your circle and those on the edges of our community and to the world. Why not! I started with the idea of just communicating love ,respect and honor to everyone. I have traveled extensively globally during my thirty-year career. One day after retiring, it occurred to me that I never talk about God or religion to anyone—anywhere. I can talk to people at my place of worship with no problems, but I rarely speak of my faith elsewhere. I wondered why. The purpose of this book is to engage quickly and spread the ideas of love and Jesus. If a new conversion experience happens, there is a path to maturity, growth, and a newfound faith in God. A complete and thorough approach of introducing someone to Jesus and a Christian lifestyle. Then mentoring them to a life long Christian journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798385003907

Albert Rushing

AL is a life long christian with a love for Jesus. His journey offers a unique complete and thorough look at witnessing to friends neighbors and strangers. then mentoring them to maturity in faith, knowledge, and wisdom. A non invasive and non threatening approach out of a love for people and Jesus. He will give a couple approaches out of 100’s that have been developed and used over the centuries. A complete journey from gaining knowledge of Jesus to growing your relationship. Your relationship with people and Jesus will bring a smile to your heart. Al takes you from a First approach with questions that develop into a conversation about life.. Remember it is about them not yourself, then you are on the way to making a new friend. This book takes you from an entry to the Garden of Eden to a growing Garden of relationships with other Christians and Jesus. From the Tree of Life, to the Tree Jesus was sacrificed on.

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Copyright © 2023 Albert Rushing.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0389-1 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0388-4 (hc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0390-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023913686

WestBow Press rev. date: 8/25/2023

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1Making the Plan

Chapter 2Let’s Get Started with Your Fifteen-Second Story

Chapter 3Growing One Step at a Time

Chapter 4Recognizing God’s Perfect Design (Circle 1)

Chapter 5A Broken, Sinful World: This Is Why We Witness (Circle 3)

Chapter 6Forgiveness of Sin: A Relationship with God Restored (Circle 3)

Chapter 7Sanctification: Gain Knowledge and Wisdom to Learn and Grow (Circle 4)

Chapter 8Fellowship: Christians Accepting New Believers (Circle 5)

Chapter 9Assurance: Christ the Destroyer of Death (Circle 6)

Chapter 10Pass It On: Be a Soul Winner (Circle 7)

A Soul Winner Has Mastered the Art of Prayer

Appendix 1: Drawing of Seven Circles

Appendix 2: The Roman Road to Salvation

PREFACE

I have traveled extensively globally during my thirty-year career. One day after retiring, it occurred to me that I never talk about God or religion to anyone—anywhere. I can talk to people at my place of worship with no problems, but I rarely speak of my faith elsewhere. I wondered why.

While drinking coffee on my patio and watching the wind blow through the trees, I decided I didn’t talk about it because I thought it was too complicated. I was not prepared to engage, and I didn’t have a plan. I needed a process a protocol, something short, to the point, and engaging. That’s when I got the urge to write a book and to make a plan to encourage a conversation about God.

From the beginning, I wanted to write about conversation, conversion, growth, and maturity. I wanted to describe the journey of a new Christian and the responsibility of a mature Christian to assist in the growth of each other. I wanted to examine the progress of moving from a witness to a mentor. I wanted something that was not confrontational—and that two people could engage in.

Johnny Carson and David Letterman popped into my head. They had long, successful careers of talking to people in short clips. They focused on their guests and not on themselves. They gave brief introductions and then asked questions. They always kept the focus on the guest, not asking long, involved questions or projecting that they already knew the complete story. They fed off their guests’ replies and flowed through their lives. Neither Johnny nor David ever went beyond about fifteen seconds.

I needed something short as an introduction. I decided to use a fifteen-second approach. After quickly introducing myself, they would know who I am and what I am about, and then I could turn the focus to them. That approach seemed to make for a more interesting conversation. Did I mention I am an introvert?

The purpose of this book is to engage quickly and spread the ideas of love and Jesus. If a new conversion experience happens, there is a path to maturity, growth, and a newfound faith in God. As I watched the wind blowing the limbs of the trees around me, I thought about the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, the tree Jesus was crucified on, and the trees in my neighborhood. The Word of God is eternal, resulting in the title of this book.

INTRODUCTION

A friend of a friend had a large steel plate in his right leg. The plate went from his ankle up to his knee. He was playing football one day, intercepted a pass, and was hit with cross-body block. His cleat did not come out of the mud, and his leg snapped in half, breaking his tibia and his fibula.

He was rushed to the hospital, and the doctors discovered that his bone had been shattered. The injury had psychologically broken him