Over the last 20 years I have been helping retailers grow and expand their e-commerce businesses. I have learned and enjoyed many experiences from these companies, but something seemed like it was missing. I finally realized that while I was helping support business initiatives and expand market share, none of my efforts would matter in the not so distant future. The positions I occupied would continue to exist for another person. My office and stature would belong to someone else, doing similar things, and trying to make a difference. All of my hard work would basically amount to more dollars in the company's bank account. So I decided to launch my own online clothing company consisting of professional dress shirts and tee shirts, but with one common theme. The shirts would consist of a design that would intrigue others to ask, what is that symbol for? The symbol is a fish and it represents an eternal future for those that wear it. More importantly, it could represent life everlasting for someone that doesn't know Jesus Christ.
I spent my youth in the church but had abandoned the ministry since college. I didn't stop praying or believing, I just thought that I could better use my time instead of spending it in church. I couldn't even give God one hour of my week, not to mention any time learning and understanding His word. Jesus has always been in my heart and I really do believe in helping others achieve success in their lives. But at the end of the day, their success was about me and my ego. I wanted to prove to everyone that I could be successful at my company and as success continued, I started to believe that I was the reason why we were getting great results and not the efforts of others. That's when I knew I needed a change of heart. I wanted my actions to glorify God and not me.
After praying to God and asking him to help me find my calling, I was given a leadership series on CD. The series was titled 'Lead Like Jesus' with Ken Blanchard and Bill Hybels. During one of the sessions, Bill reads from Luke 5 and then paraphrases his interpretation. He describes how Jesus was testing His disciples, to see which ones He wanted on His team. After passing several of Jesus' tests, Peter, James, and John are asked to put out their fishing nets just off of the shore. Peter replies that while they have been fishing all night and haven't caught anything, "because you say so I will let down the nets." Then they catch a record amount of fish so much so that the nets begin to break. After they bring their fish to shore, Jesus asks them if that was fun. The disciples replied that it was. Then Jesus tells them that while catching fish and trading them in for dollars is fun, but catching the hearts and minds of others for eternity is even more fun. At that point, the Bible says that they left everything and followed Jesus.
Marketing a car is fun. Selling products or distributing them throughout the world feels good. But is there anything greater accomplishment than converting a non-believer to Jesus Christ? Can you think of any one thing that would be more rewarding than that? I cannot.
I'm not a great witness. I usually do not share my beliefs with others unless they ask, but I really wanted to increase the frequency of those faith based conversations. I was working and interacting with people every day that I cared about, yet I did not have the courage to start a conversation about Jesus. I wanted to find an easier way, maybe something that I could wear that might just make others curious enough to ask.
I wanted to find the right Christian symbol to use for our shirts. After numerous hours of researching, I learned that hundreds of years ago, when Christians would meet strangers, they would draw an arc in the sand. If the stranger was a Christian he/she would draw a second arc, forming a fish. This allowed Christians to share their faith without the fear of discrimination. Back in those days it wasn't okay to be a Christ follower. This would be the perfect symbol, but many others are using it. How can I make this different? Once again I prayed to God and asked for support.
While I was preparing for my day, trying to brainstorm ideas in my hotel room, He spoke to me. He asked me to write the letter J and then C without picking up my pen. I did so and couldn't believe my eyes. The symbol was a fish! The two letters of His name made up the future logo of Fish Witness.
I knew that Jesus had spoken to my heart and answered my prayers. I also knew that this was His idea and I couldn't let Him down. There were so many reasons why I could not launch a new business. First, I'm not a webmaster and haven't used HTML coding since college. Second, my marketing experience was limited, especially my e-commerce experience. Finally, I'm not a clothing or shirt designer so how do I know which fashions to use? Then I remembered Luke 5:5, where the disciples told Jesus, "because you say so I will." Jesus gave me the design so I must carry out the rest of the plan.
In late June my wife and I launched an online apparel company titled Fish Witness. We simply added the JC fish symbol to quality shirts and t-shirts for men and women. The logo is about the size of a silver dollar, just large enough to get noticed, but not so large that it might offend someone. In addition we set up a blog on our site for those to share their story about how this simple symbol helped lead someone to Jesus Christ. The process is simple. Purchase a shirt from Fish Witness, wear it, and when someone asks you about it be ready to witness. Share the Good News with them! We call it 'Wear and Share.' We believe that there is no greater gift than the gift of eternal life. All we want to do is help you get that opportunity as often as possible and then share that story with other members on the Fish Witness website.
When I was younger I wanted to be either a doctor or an EMT because I thought if I could save one life, then my life would count. I couldn't wait to feel the joy of saving another's life and was always on the ready to be a hero. Many years later I realized that life as defined in my example was an earthly life. The real life is eternal life. Jesus loved us so much that He died for us on the cross. He said that He'd rather live with us eternally than on this earth. He died to save us from our sins, and He has gone to Heaven to prepare a place for us. Amen!
Since we launched the business I've had the apparel to wear and share my faith with others. At first I was hesitant to wear the product because I didn't want to attract attention to myself. Then I remembered that He helped me with the design for a reason and I must follow His direction regardless of my behaviors. When I say behaviors, I'm talking about being perfect. Jesus died for us to save us from our sins and the only perfect person was Him. I'm not perfect nor will I ever be, but I can demonstrate my faith to the best of my ability, continue to pray to Him, and witness as often as possible. You don't have to be perfect to share the Good News.
Share your faith with others. Demonstrate your beliefs and be ready to witness. Don't let others live without Jesus because they will die without you.
I spent my youth in the church but had abandoned the ministry since college. I didn't stop praying or believing, I just thought that I could better use my time instead of spending it in church. I couldn't even give God one hour of my week, not to mention any time learning and understanding His word. Jesus has always been in my heart and I really do believe in helping others achieve success in their lives. But at the end of the day, their success was about me and my ego. I wanted to prove to everyone that I could be successful at my company and as success continued, I started to believe that I was the reason why we were getting great results and not the efforts of others. That's when I knew I needed a change of heart. I wanted my actions to glorify God and not me.
After praying to God and asking him to help me find my calling, I was given a leadership series on CD. The series was titled 'Lead Like Jesus' with Ken Blanchard and Bill Hybels. During one of the sessions, Bill reads from Luke 5 and then paraphrases his interpretation. He describes how Jesus was testing His disciples, to see which ones He wanted on His team. After passing several of Jesus' tests, Peter, James, and John are asked to put out their fishing nets just off of the shore. Peter replies that while they have been fishing all night and haven't caught anything, "because you say so I will let down the nets." Then they catch a record amount of fish so much so that the nets begin to break. After they bring their fish to shore, Jesus asks them if that was fun. The disciples replied that it was. Then Jesus tells them that while catching fish and trading them in for dollars is fun, but catching the hearts and minds of others for eternity is even more fun. At that point, the Bible says that they left everything and followed Jesus.
Marketing a car is fun. Selling products or distributing them throughout the world feels good. But is there anything greater accomplishment than converting a non-believer to Jesus Christ? Can you think of any one thing that would be more rewarding than that? I cannot.
I'm not a great witness. I usually do not share my beliefs with others unless they ask, but I really wanted to increase the frequency of those faith based conversations. I was working and interacting with people every day that I cared about, yet I did not have the courage to start a conversation about Jesus. I wanted to find an easier way, maybe something that I could wear that might just make others curious enough to ask.
I wanted to find the right Christian symbol to use for our shirts. After numerous hours of researching, I learned that hundreds of years ago, when Christians would meet strangers, they would draw an arc in the sand. If the stranger was a Christian he/she would draw a second arc, forming a fish. This allowed Christians to share their faith without the fear of discrimination. Back in those days it wasn't okay to be a Christ follower. This would be the perfect symbol, but many others are using it. How can I make this different? Once again I prayed to God and asked for support.
While I was preparing for my day, trying to brainstorm ideas in my hotel room, He spoke to me. He asked me to write the letter J and then C without picking up my pen. I did so and couldn't believe my eyes. The symbol was a fish! The two letters of His name made up the future logo of Fish Witness.
I knew that Jesus had spoken to my heart and answered my prayers. I also knew that this was His idea and I couldn't let Him down. There were so many reasons why I could not launch a new business. First, I'm not a webmaster and haven't used HTML coding since college. Second, my marketing experience was limited, especially my e-commerce experience. Finally, I'm not a clothing or shirt designer so how do I know which fashions to use? Then I remembered Luke 5:5, where the disciples told Jesus, "because you say so I will." Jesus gave me the design so I must carry out the rest of the plan.
In late June my wife and I launched an online apparel company titled Fish Witness. We simply added the JC fish symbol to quality shirts and t-shirts for men and women. The logo is about the size of a silver dollar, just large enough to get noticed, but not so large that it might offend someone. In addition we set up a blog on our site for those to share their story about how this simple symbol helped lead someone to Jesus Christ. The process is simple. Purchase a shirt from Fish Witness, wear it, and when someone asks you about it be ready to witness. Share the Good News with them! We call it 'Wear and Share.' We believe that there is no greater gift than the gift of eternal life. All we want to do is help you get that opportunity as often as possible and then share that story with other members on the Fish Witness website.
When I was younger I wanted to be either a doctor or an EMT because I thought if I could save one life, then my life would count. I couldn't wait to feel the joy of saving another's life and was always on the ready to be a hero. Many years later I realized that life as defined in my example was an earthly life. The real life is eternal life. Jesus loved us so much that He died for us on the cross. He said that He'd rather live with us eternally than on this earth. He died to save us from our sins, and He has gone to Heaven to prepare a place for us. Amen!
Since we launched the business I've had the apparel to wear and share my faith with others. At first I was hesitant to wear the product because I didn't want to attract attention to myself. Then I remembered that He helped me with the design for a reason and I must follow His direction regardless of my behaviors. When I say behaviors, I'm talking about being perfect. Jesus died for us to save us from our sins and the only perfect person was Him. I'm not perfect nor will I ever be, but I can demonstrate my faith to the best of my ability, continue to pray to Him, and witness as often as possible. You don't have to be perfect to share the Good News.
Share your faith with others. Demonstrate your beliefs and be ready to witness. Don't let others live without Jesus because they will die without you.
About the Author:
Learn more about christian clothing. Stop by James Kitts's site where you can register for discounts christian tee shirts and wear your witness.
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