The following is the introduction from the book, “Gospel Tracts and Changed Lives,” a book of TRUE accounts of how a lost person {unsaved, not born-again} came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ as the result of a gospel tract.
INTRODUCTION
Since the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1440, printing has changed dramatically. The invention of the printing press by Gutenberg was modern by all standards, even though the actual printing was slow. Aside from the paper needed for printing, there was the need for type, some of which may have been made of wood or metal. One article about Gutenberg sheds a little light on the subject of printing. This is from the Oregon State University Special Collections & Archives Research Center “Treasures of the McDonald Collection.”
“In 1436 Johannes Gutenberg, a German goldsmith, began designing a machine capable of producing pages of text at an incredible speed—a product that he hoped would offset losses from a failed attempt to sell metal mirrors. By 1440, Gutenberg had established the basics of his printing press including the use of a mobile, reusable set of type, and within ten years, he had constructed a working prototype of the press. In 1454, Gutenberg put his press to commercial use, producing thousands of indulgences for the Church. The following year he printed his famous 42-line Bible, the first book printed on a moveable type press in the West.
Gutenberg’s press was the combined effort of several discoveries and inventions. The printing press was, built around the traditional screw press, a precursor to today’s drill press, with an added matrix on which individually cast letters and symbols could be, arranged to form the desired text. This moveable type design allowed pages of text to be quickly set from a pre-cast selection of letters and symbols rather than laboriously carved from a block of wood as in the block printing method. Gutenberg also created a unique oil-based ink, which transferred from his metal type to the printing substrate much more effectively than the water-based inks that other printers of the era used. In order to print a page, Gutenberg would arrange the necessary letters on the matrix and coat them in his ink. The matrix mounted on the contact end of the modified screw press and lowered until it struck the paper underneath. The process, while labor intensive, allowed Gutenberg to print pages at a much greater rate than printers using the block printing method or those doing manuscript work. Johannes Gutenberg’s moveable type press marked the beginning of the Printing Revolution, a colossal moment in the history of information and learning. With access to printing presses, scientists, philosophers, politicians, and religious officials could replicate their ideas quickly and make them available to large audiences.”
The printing press became instrumental in the field of printing and Christian literature has tremendously benefited from it. Turning our attention to Christian literature, let us consider the small and often underestimated pamphlet commonly called a Gospel tract. Gospel tracts {GT for short} and how the Lord has seen fit to use them is the subject of this book. As readers weave their way through the book, they will read the testimonies of people who came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ because of a GT. They will read how lives were changed and reasons to use tracts. Occasionally some articles in this book may repeat or overlap something said in another section; that will be on purpose. In between the various testimonies of people throughout the book, tidbits of information will be included.
Every so often, as the editor of this book, I will refer to myself in the third person and other times in the first person; the reasons for that will be obvious.
In looking for credible stories or testimonies of how the Lord used GT in the lives of people, I did a lot of Internet research. In editing this book, I tried to use discretion for anything gleaned from these searches and, in doing so, have tried to avoid any plagiarism or using copyrighted material. Where possible and to be ethical, permission was secured from the respective writer for the use of his or her testimony. For some of the testimonies used, no last name or contact information was available. There is no particular order of sequence for the testimonies in this book.
Many of the testimonies or articles used were in need of a few minor changes in grammar, such as punctuation or spelling errors. Because every writer has his or her own style of writing and phraseology, as the editor of this book, I have tried to maintain that except for, a few minor changes as already mentioned.
The main objective in this book is to try and somehow impress upon the reader how the Lord has used the printed page, Gospel tracts in particular, for the salvation of lost souls. If the blessed Holy Spirit moves upon the heart of just one reader to begin using tracts, then the writing of this book will have been worth it.
This book is available from Pilgrim Fundamental Baptist Press for a contribution of $3.75 per copy, plus postage. To place an order, please visit our website at https://www.pfbaptistpress.org. The book is also available from Amazon for Kindle users.