Gospel Fly: Witnessing Tool for Christians (via Mowser)

THE GOSPEL FLY:
WITNESSING TOOL FOR CHRISTIANS

The Gospel Fly looks just like a trout fly. It has a black tail, red body, yellow hackle, white wings, and green head. It's very attractive and eye catching. Quite often when people see it, they will comment and ask if you are interested in fishing. You can answer either yes or no but then you may say that this fly is called the Gospel Fly and that wearing it helps you to do what God has told us to do in the Bible. You may then say that Jesus told us to be "fishers of men" and that the colors of the fly and the body parts can be related to verses in the Bible. Presenting the Good News is then up to God and you. The Fly comes in a number of different configurations. One is mounted on a small block of wood with a double stick pad on the back that can be mounted almost any place. I have one on my computer monitor. Second configuration is mounted on a piece of wood used as a business card holder. Third and newest...and my favorite.....is as a hat pin, tie tac or lapel pin. Very pretty jewelry grade pin with 14 kt. gold around the perimeter and around the colors. More info below.

Here's a picture of the Gospel Fly that is tied on a hook. The "real" Gospel Fly is mounted on pieces of wood as shown in the pics below. The image is close to actual size, about 3/4 inch.

The Gospel Fly Sample Dialogue

You may want to use parts of this sample dialogue when talking to a person who inquires about the Fly. Each part of a fishing fly has a meaning to a fish. Each part of the Gospel Fly can be related to a verse in the Bible that can apply to the Good News. God said in the Bible, "I will make you fishers of men". The Fly and this text is intended to help you be a fisher of men. The following dialogue is an example that you as "Man" might use when talking to a person who needs to hear the Good News as "Contact".
Contact: Hey, what kind of fly is that? or, I didn't know you were a fisherman, or, I've never seen a trout fly like that.
Man: This isn't a fishing fly for fish, it's a fly for making me a fisher of men. (Ladies may want to say something like, "This is a people fly".)
Contact: What do you mean, fisher of men/people fly?
Man: The Bible talks about Christians being "fishers of men". This fly can tell people how to know God and Jesus Christ, His Son, and how to know for sure that they are going to Heaven.
Contact: How does it do that?
Man: Well, since you asked, each color and each part of the fly has a meaning that can remind us of verses in the Bible. The dark color of the tail can remind us of sin. Its location at the back of the fly tells us to put sin behind us. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The body is red to remind us of our heart and the blood that was shed when Jesus died for us. The Bible says in 1 John 1:7 that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. The wings of the fly are white to remind us of how we can be pure and clean after we ask Jesus into our heart. After we do that, He forgives all of our sins. We can read about that in John 1:12. The wings remind me that someday I'll meet him in the air when He comes back to take His children to Heaven. John 14:2 and 3 tells us about going to live with Jesus. The hackle, or the gold part, reminds me of the light of God that radiates out in all directions and also of the streets in Heaven that are pure gold. The Bible tells about those streets in Revelation 21:21. The green head reminds me of growth. God says in the Bible that we should grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. The Bible talks about growing in 2 Peter 3:18. What I've just told you is what's known as the "Gospel" or the "Good News" but whatever you call it, it explains how you can go to Heaven and live with Jesus forever. I know I'm going to be there. How about you?
You will want to put some of this dialogue in your own words and the person you are talking to will have questions.
God will help you through the "hard" parts.

Buying the Fly
A quantity of Gospel Flies could be useful for men's groups, retreats, summer camps, or any evangelistic emphasis. Hunting and fishing guides and outfitters might keep a few on hand for their clients. Also they could be used as fund raisers by youth groups, traveling evangelists, singing groups, just about any group that wants to see the Good News put out there. Wanna go fishin? :)Cost of the Fly mounted on the wooden block is $2.50 each plus postage.
Included with each Fly is a "sample dialogue" plus a tract that has the Sinner's Prayer at the back. Information for ordering more tracts is on the back, cost is $.15 each. You should have a lot of them as they "disappear" rapidly.....a good thing. : )
Send a check or money order to:
Rocky Bemis
PO Box 494883
Redding, California, 96049

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Gospel Fly History
Sometime around the mid-60's (where has the time gone?) I was living on the Coast of Northern California near Eureka. My Mother was active in Child Evangelism Fellowship then and conducted Good News Clubs. One of CEF's teaching tools was (and still is) the Wordless Book. The Wordless Book has colors instead of pictures, the same colors as the Gospel Fly. At that time I was doing a lot of fishing and some fly tying. Somehow the phrase "fisher of men", Wordless Book colors, and flies came together and the Gospel Fly was born.

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Above is an example of the Gospel Fly that is mounted on three different business card holders. Each holder was designed around the interests of it's owner. In this case, bowhunters, golfers, and hunters. Many different occupations could be represented by changing the "holding" mechanisms. These blocks are fun to make and really stimulate the creative mind. Woodworkers can buy the flies separately and make their own card holders. Flies can be purchased separately on #8 hooks for $1.00 each. Designed for the Christian businessperson, you can be sure the Fly will get comments from clients. The pieces above are made of redwood and manzanita burl. I'll be trying to make these available for about $15.00. Since these are still in the "experimental stage", I'd appreciate some comments if you might be interested in buying one or two when I have more on hand. I'll be adding a few more later as I find time to make them and get them posted.

The picture below shows the Fly mounted on the small "stick on" blocks plus a couple card holders.

The newest configuration of the Gospel Fly is shown as a lapel pin, hat pin, or maybe a tie tac. Pics show it on a hat....sorry but it's the cleanest hat I had.....and by itself showing a close up of both sides. This is a cloisonne type pin, baked enamel colors outlined by 14 kt. gold trim around the rim and around the colors. This is a very nice looking pin in person, not overpowering in size but big enough to see what it is. Diameter is one inch, the size of a quarter. I will sell these individually for $3.00 each. They would probably sell in Christian Supply stores for $5.00 to $6.00. They might be really good fund raisers for outdoor oriented groups. For orders over 10 pins, I will lower the price to $2.25 each, hopefully leaving enough room for resale or for making them affordable to give to Sunday School classes, outdoor groups, etc... One of the good things about the Gospel Fly concept is that you don't need to be a "real" fisherman to wear it. After all, we only need someone to comment on it and that's when the "witnessing tool" application begins.

Questions, comments, or Gospel Fly experiences: rbemis@snowcrest.net

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