Shirts

[Symphony]

If you were going to choose just one verse, to either reference, or actually spell out, on a shirt, with your logo on the other side, what would that verse be??


Mine, so far, would be Romans 12:1

________________________________

Nope.  Scratch that.

I think what I'll do is offer only one quote.  And I'll let the folk here decide.

If you could pick one shirt, with one quote, what would that quote be?  And would it be the whole quote, or just the reference?

I think I'll do it that way.  And on the other side will be my logo, with company name in teensy letters underneath the logo.  I think I already know what the logo will be; and the name of the company.


So what should the shirt say?   If you had that one chance to communicate the Gospel, or some related challenge(such as what onestarfisher,here, is doing), what should it say?

[onestarfisher]

Wow, I just found the thread....Yeah, shirts! You can go anywhere in them and they can't really throw you out - you're in your clothes, afterall.....

Most of the suggestions above, IMO, are too many words....it needs to be as few words as possible (like 3 or 4) so it can be big and read from farther away....not some tiny little polo type logo....I really like the suggestion "Jesus wept" above, coupled with something about gay marriage. That was just excellent...

I have also thought of these:
FORNICATION IS A SIN
PAGANISM IS HELL
ABORTION IS MURDER
EVOLUTION IS A LIE
THE JEWS DIDN'T KILL JESUS, OUR SINS DID
Etc.

Also, a friend saw or thought of a shirt with this on the front "What did Jesus ever do for me?" and on the back, Him hanging on the cross....

I mean, I don't think it's being judgemental to state a fact. Jesus did. He didn't gild the lilly. I'm the first to tell people that all sins are wrong in God's eyes and that I'm no better.
I did think of saying this about my HOMOSEXUALITY IS A SIN shirt - something like, "do you know what this says in hebrew? Jesus Loves You."

So far, I have had no problems wearing the shirt anywhere. Sometimes someone will call out "amen, sister!" I have found that non-christians like the shirt and have had a chance to witness to some about sin in general and our need for a saviour....No one has jumped me so far or been threatening. Even walked right into the public library past 2 cops with the shirt on.....that was fun ;-) But by and large, the most common response is a stare - people can't believe it. I heard one little girl of abou 8 asking her father if he'd seen my shirt...I'll bet they had quite a discussion. (well, they shouldn't be teaching them in schools that it's acceptable)

This one gay guy was pretty upset about my shirt when he waited on me in a store and asked me about it. I tried to give a mild and gentle answer and told him  I didn't think I was any better than he....and I gave him a tract. The following week I went back in there and he sure remembered me, but he was quite nice and I gave him something else to read.....about salvation, etc....

You could also park your car somewhere and drape your shirt on the windshield to use as a sign as people drive by.....

[onestarfisher]

One thing I wanted to mention about the markers....I used a regular permanent one and also bought some for fabric. When I handwashed the shirt, it did run a little - don't know which marker it was, but the ones for fabric say they're washable....

You can also buy things in the office supply section where you can print something on your printer and iron it on. Or, you could buy plain stencil material and cut out your design with a special tool, (you could use tracing paper and carbon paper to trace the letters onto the stencil) then stencil the paint thru the stencil onto the shirt....or, if you can paint neatly, you can just draw your design on your shirt with a fabric pencil and paint it in....you can use craft paint but you have to mix a fabric medium with it....all of this in lieu of having to pay someone to print the t shirts.

[onestarfisher]

Not to belabor a point, but I had also thougt of some shirts that said (in BIG letters) something like

THE KING IS COMING! (you could put on the back in smaller letters "where will He find you?" ) (or, "how will He find you?")

or

JESUS IS COMING!

or   HALLELUJAH !!
 THE KING IS COMING!!

or LIFT UP YOUR HEADS!
     JESUS IS COMING!

Well, anyway.

[Symphony]

from Early57, on another thread:  

Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the City of David, A savior, Which is Christ the Lord  I like this for a shirt.  BUT, like onestar says, it'd be too long--at least, for distance.


Wow, thank you, onestarfisher....  This is some helpful info...

Some good ideas.  

you can just draw your design on your shirt with a fabric pencil and paint it in....you can use craft paint but you have to mix a fabric medium with it....all of this in lieu of having to pay someone to print the t shirts.

..very helpful...

I have also thought of these:
FORNICATION IS A SIN
PAGANISM IS HELL
ABORTION IS MURDER
EVOLUTION IS A LIE
THE JEWS DIDN'T KILL JESUS, OUR SINS DID
Etc.

Some good ones:  The question I'm asking myself is, why haven't I been doing this already, b4 homosexuality even became an issue.

Hmm.  Some good ideas.  "Paganism is Hell" is a real good one.  Hmmm.  That's where we're going--paganism.

[Symphony]

Wow this is all a great idea.  In fact, I may not do it as a business.  Might do it just one shirt at a time.  For myself.
By hand...

[onestarfisher]

Symphony, you posted this scripture "Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the City of David, A savior, Which is Christ the Lord "  which you said would be too long, but it wouldn't really. You could do it like this:

                     For unto you is born this day
                           in the City of David

                               a SAVIOR which is
                           CHRIST THE LORD

                                               Luke 2:11
I don't know how to do it here, but make the first 2 lines little and the words savior and Christ the Lord really big, and the scripture reference little......

I had thought of doing it as a business for a long time too, but always delayed because of complictions - don't know how to silk screen or don't have the money for someone else to do it, or nowhere to do messy work, don't know how to set up a web site, yada yada. If you remove the monetary idea from it and concentrate on the message, it's freeing. Because then you're strictly thinking evangelism. (and, isn't that what it should be??) I think if you do one shirt for yourself and walk around in it, you'll see how you feel about it. You could always do it as a business later if the Lord leads. Altho these kinds of messages don't seem to fly in the Christian bookstores....;-) I saw on the news that some people in SanFran had a HUGE banner - probably 20 ft wide and about 3 ft high, all professional looking. Guess what it said? HOMOSEXUALITY IS A SIN. (I do feel better now!)

[Symphony]

Thank you, onestar.   You've got some really good ideas.   Yes, I see that Luke 2 there could work well.

I had thought of doing it as a business for a long time too, but always delayed because of complictions - don't know how to silk screen or don't have the money for someone else to do it, or nowhere to do messy work, don't know how to set up a web site, yada yada. If you remove the monetary idea from it and concentrate on the message, it's freeing

Yes, a little to think through.  I'm thinking through it, a little; not sure that the monetary aspect is necessarily a problem.  Even for just yourself, you're still spending money for it, if only a few bucks, plus your time.  Yes, definitely, it is a labor of love.   Mass producing such an idea is where it almost automatically gets risky--losing that genuniness, and it becoming commercial.

I'm thinking though, it might be possible to "commercialize" it with it still being graceful, elegant, tasteful, true(all the things that Jesus was).  Jesus said make for yourselves friends of unrighteous mammon.  Or, that is, for instance, we couldn't be using this computer tech'y 'cept for having some money to pay for it.

Maybe I'm thinking the "degree" of commercilism.  Or the "kind".

If something like this were made available tastefully, commercially, it could be "backed into" just gradually--sorta just the way you're doing it; just one step at a time; don't bite off more than you can chew.  

If the LOrd blesses you with fruit, maybe that fruit wil include people joining you from the very ones you're evangelizing??  So I don't think it's has to necessarily jeapordize your original "labor of love", if you have a careful understanding of costs, whether or not you want there to be any "margin"(profit) with which to pay your own personal expenses, or whether you want any income to only cover costs of just the project  itself--OR, if maybe you want to just limit it to being paid for out of income you receive from unrelated employment or other sources, like you're doing now.  

Maybe only with time a gradual understanding will emerge as what is best in any particular situation.

You've got some good ideas.  I'm like your slogans.  

I'm trying to think of a way it might be done tastefully, professionally.  But even then, as you point out, most Christians seem terrified of mentioning many of these references.  

In a way, the commercializm question might have it's own built-in protections.  Basically, the reason even pagans see through commercialism, is because, we all instinctively know what is true or not.  Commercilism is usually associated with fiction or falsity.  If what you're putting on the shirts, though, is true--can it really be commercial--even if you're getting paid for it?

Well, these are just a few thoughts...

[Psalm 119]

"Got AIDS yet?"

This T-shirt was worn by a street preacher in Columbus, Ohio several years ago. He climbed up the flag pole, and removed the "gay flag" at the statehouse during the "gay" parade. He was promptly arrested.

Symphony, you won't be able to use that slogan.

Personally, I have found that the message should be short, and to the point.

"Remember the fireworks display at Sodom"

"Homosexuality is an abomination"

"Homosexuality is sin"

"God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve"

"Abortion is murder"

"Judgement is at the doors"

"Eternity? Smoking or non-smoking?"

"Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand"

"Which part of "thou shall not" do you not understand?"

Psalms 119

[Symphony]

Thank you, Psalm.  Yes, some of those I like okay.   Some I've seen.  A few I might pass over.

I don't think I want to be sarcastic or any hint of malice; I think the message of the gospel, as much as possible--the goodness of the gospel, and maintaining that attitude.


Hellfire, yes; I don't want to give the impression I'm indulging the hellfire, though--that is, retributive.  There's going to be more than enough of that going around.

I realize the gays may "string me up", I guess.  

Jesus said, "...I came not to condemn the world..."  John 3:17

[onestarfisher]

I dont think the gays will string you up, unless you were at a rally or something - I haven't been at one yet. I think the reason they don't try to string you up is because they aren't accustomed to people taking a stand just out in public - it's usually at a parade or outside a courthouse.  

Psalm 119, some really good ideas. Afterall, the 10 Commandments were short too.

Symphony wrote "If the LOrd blesses you with fruit, maybe that fruit wil include people joining you from the very ones you're evangelizing??  So I don't think it's has to necessarily jeapordize your original "labor of love", if you have a careful understanding of costs, whether or not you want there to be any "margin"(profit) with which to pay your own personal expenses, or whether you want any income to only cover costs of just the project  itself--OR, if maybe you want to just limit it to being paid for out of income you receive from unrelated employment or other sources, like you're doing now. "

Yes, and I'm not trying to give the impression that I'm attempting to be a purist over it. There's nothing wrong with a business. I think where I was coming from is this: before, when I had in my mind to start a business, t shirts and all, that was where my head was at, and then thinking what would sell. If you approach it the other way, as in, forget the monetary aspect, what needs to be said, what do I need to say? then it's that first. What needs to be said needs to come before what would sell - and once you're saying what needs to be said, you can always sell a t shirt about it. Whereas if you decide what will sell, and it doesn't, then you're changing what you say to accommodate what will sell. If you say what needs to be said, and then sell it, if it doesn't sell, so what? You haven't compromised anything. Make sense?? I only mentioned some of the slogans because I don't want to "hog" ideas. Like make everyone wait until I have a line of t shirts to share the message or slogan. It needs to be said now, not when I get it together. I'm sure I will wind up doing some of the slogans, but in the meantime, magic markers (the kind for fabric) and paint work just fine. These things need to be said.  

[JudgeNot]

These things need to be said.

So true.  So, so true.  You are echoing our prophets - both OT and NT.  Will we have the courage to say what needs to be said?  

I am guilty of not having the courage at the appropriate time.  May Jesus guide me in the future. Amen.

JN

[onestarfisher]

"Will we have the courage to say what needs to be said? "
 
I really believe that's the key. It seems like there's two approaches - there's the preaching approach, whether on shirt or with voice (but when you wear a shirt, you feel bolder to witness, I've noticed. One guy said he liked my shirt and we got to talking - he wasn't a Christian and I was able to swing right into all sins are the same and willl keep us from heaven and why we need Jesus, and he took a tract as well ) - and then there's the one on one type of thing, where of course you aren't shoving a sign in their face, you are being loving and reasoning with just them about sin.

I'm in the process of reading how Paul did it, what he said (in terms of public preaching), because he was sent to the gentiles. I want to see the elements of what he said and convert it to modern day issues.

[Symphony]

Yes, very good point.

onestar:  Yes, and I'm not trying to give the impression that I'm attempting to be a purist over it. There's nothing wrong with a business. I think where I was coming from is this: before, when I had in my mind to start a business, t shirts and all, that was where my head was at, and then thinking what would sell. If you approach it the other way, as in, forget the monetary aspect, what needs to be said, what do I need to say? then it's that first. What needs to be said needs to come before what would sell - and once you're saying what needs to be said, you can always sell a t shirt about it. Whereas if you decide what will sell, and it doesn't, then you're changing what you say to accommodate what will sell. If you say what needs to be said, and then sell it, if it doesn't sell, so what? You haven't compromised anything. Make sense?? I only mentioned some of the slogans because I don't want to "hog" ideas. Like make everyone wait until I have a line of t shirts to share the message or slogan. It needs to be said now, not when I get it together. I'm sure I will wind up doing some of the slogans, but in the meantime, magic markers (the kind for fabric) and paint work just fine. These things need to be said.  

Well thank you for sharing this.  

I think you've just defined "commercialism".

Yes, I've been tempted by the overall "what will sell" idea--as opposed to what needs to be said.

Yes, as I read the few slogans you listed there, I was struck by how 1) I"d never seen anything commercial quite like that and 2) several of them suggested the writer had put a little thot into them(that is, utilizing not just direct impact, but  inuendo and implication...  like in "Paganism is Hell"(most Americans don't think of ourselves as "pagans")--it's actually a very clever phrase--a variation of Gen. Sherman's "War is hell" slogan from the Civil War--but by changing one word you given it whole new meaning).

"What needs to be said..."

[onestarfisher]

Yes, I want to do a Paganism is Hell and wear it and see the response...should be interesting. I had originally gotten the thought as "Paganists go to hell" which is true because they aren't Christian.....but then Paganism is hell came to me, because it means the same thing but can be taken two ways.....

I think paganism is really satanism in disguise - it follows the same tenants of satanism, with the air, earth, fire and water - they just don't tell you who the spirit part is, they leave that "open". I went to a new vet with my cat and in walks this woman with a huge pentagram around her neck. I thought she was a tech but she was the VET. I had to (politely) tell her to stop examining my cat mid-exam, and then she practically got into a shouting match with me over her pentagram. Well, I wasn't shouting, but she was bordering on it. Wow.