Pilgrim's Pen

How to Be More Evangelistic in 2012

2012-01-03T04:53:00.001-08:00

(Originally written for the folks at Grace Bible Church, Escondido, Ca.)

At the beginning of most years many folks are making resolutions. some of those resolutions involve quitting bad habits or starting up good ones. Some determine that this will be the year that they accomplish some big goal and put a check on their bucket list. I have a challenge for you in 2012: an adventurous, thrilling resolution that is pleasing to God and carries with it a monumental . . . eternal significance . . . be an evangelist. Resolve in 2012 to be more evangelistic. Make this year that you step outside of that comfort zone a little more. Here are a few tips and suggestions that can help get you started.

1. Carry tracts with you. Resolve this year to always have tracts with you. I am a forgetful person, so I place tracts everywhere so that I will always have them on me. And don't just carry them around, give them away and leave them for people to read.

2. Pray for the Lost's Salvation. Make a list of lost people you know and pray first for them that our sovereign God would be pleased to save them. Weep over their soul and cry out to the Lord to have mercy on these sinners. This is also a way to stoke your heart for evangelism.

3. Pray for the needs of the Lost . . . And Tell Them You Did. People love to talk about themselves and often their problems. When your lost relatives, friends or co-workers tell you theirs tell them you will pray for them and their concerns. Or, if you know of a distress or need in their life without them having voiced it to you, pray for them, and then let them know you prayed for them. They will see this love and concern that you have for them and the Lord may grant this as a road that leads to sharing the Gospel (and should).

4. Join-in on an Evangelism Outing. Throughout the year GBC's Evangelism Ministry has plenty of evangelism outings. This year, resolve to at least join in one of them.

5. Read a Book on Evangelism. There are some good books on evangelism in Book Room on the Evangelism Shelves for checking out that will encourage and instruct you in biblical evangelism. If you have never read one before I wold recommend "God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life: The Myth of Modern Evangelism" by Ray Comfort or "Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God" By J.I. Packer.

6. Do Evangelism Lunches. Invite someone out to lunch with the objective of sharing the Gospel with them. In this way your not "waiting for an opportunity" to tell them about Jesus, but making one.

7. Use Social Networking. Sure, you may lose a Facebook "friend" or two but at least they may have been able to read about the Gospel from something you have posted. You can post Scriptures, links to evangelistic articles, or "tract websites" (sites that are themselves interactive tracts, like www.needgod.com).

These are just a few simple and easy suggestions to start becoming more evangelistic and fulfilling the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. May the Lord find us faithful in 2012.

Jumping into 2012

2011-12-31T23:44:00.001-08:00

Well, it is the eve of a new year. Tomorrow will be the first day of 2012. 2011 was a good year, a blessed year. God showed his kindness to my wife and I to give us another baby that will be born in June of 2012. I was privileged to attend the Ambassadors' Academy and begin open air preaching. This year we saw our churches evangelism ministry become more emboldened and it looks like God has raised up up more co-laborers. I was incredibly blessed to preach a Sunday evening series of four sermons through Colossians 1.15-20 and learned and grew much out of it myself. There has been the sorrow of saying good-bye to Christian brothers and sisters as they move away and the joy of new ones joining our church and getting to know and serve with them. Deeper friendship was carved with men I respect. God amazed me with his grace and kindness with what he has done in the lives of my sons with autism. And I could go on for pages. I could also talk about the hardships, struggles, failures of the year, but they are noting in the light of His glorious grace and they are not the point of this rambling.
What I do want to do here is mention a few things about this year that I want to take fro 2011 into 2012.

1. Bible Reading Plan. I have tried a lot of Bible reading plans in my Christian life of 36 years. Some took your through the Bible in a year, reading various portions, reading straight through, or chronologically, while others were a mad dash to read the New Testament (NT) several times a year and the Old Testament (OT) once or more. This year I discovered a plan that has been the best plan I have ever used. I have o give credit to John MacArthur for this one (who gives credit to another saint from his younger days for it). While teaching the Fundamentals of the Faith class this year at church I ran across this plan. You read the same 5-7 chapters every day for a month. I started with John 1-5 and then the next month hit the next 5 chapters. Thus far I have made it through the Gospel of John, Romans, 1, 2, 3 John, 1 & 2 Peter. At this rate I hope to have the NT finished in a little under 2 more years. Why have I enjoyed this method so much? Because it is a fundamental truth that we learn more with repetition. Some methods claim repetition but they cover a section and then return to it weeks or months later. That is too much of a time laps for my goal. I want to drink deep of these 5 chapters; get into the marrow of this meal. I have found that these chapters have an incredible way of working themselves into my life that month. I go around referencing them all of the time and thinking about them. I don't have to struggle to try to remember what I have read that morning because likely I have been reading it over and over for some days now. Also, you get to see how things fit together in that particular book better and remember where particular passages are located. THis method is something I am using just for the NT while daily supplementing it with a good dose of OT reading. I will be taking this reading plan with me into 2012, and 2013 for that matter.

2. Open Air Preaching. This is something I have always dreamed about doing and this year the Lord gave me the courage to do it. Open air preaching (OA) has been such a blessing and opportunity to get the Gospel out to masses in San Diego. I will be doing more, much more open air preaching next year, Lord willing.
3. Re-reading Favorite Books of the Past. In the past 6 months I have been reading through some old "friends," books that have at some point been instrumental in my growth as a Christian and/or shaped my theology. I want to read through a few more this year, particulary ones on family and sanctification.

OK, so what are things I need to crank up in 2012?

1. I really, really want to re-master my Greek (and in time, my Hebrew). I know this will take time and work. I need to make a plan to succeed here. I might look into getting into a class or finding some sort of accountability partner to keep me paced.

2. One of my favorite books of all time is Pilgrim's Progress. It is not only entertaining but filled with so much Scripture, theology, and practical guidance. Tonight I have downloaded an audio unabridged copy of it read by Max Mclean. I plan on listening to it at least once a month this year, if not more.

3. The Sermon on the Mount. Years ago I memorized half of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7). This year I want to memorize the whole thing and then move on to memorizing to other large portions of Scripture.

4. Biblical Counseling. I have been listening to many of the introduction lessons for the Biblical Counseling course for over a year with the plan to make 2012 the year I listen and study all the lessons and gear up to attempt the other requirements towards certification. I would love to do Biblical counseling in general but specifically I think I might be of some use in counseling those who are parenting special needs children.

Numerically all of these things may seem insignificant, but when I see what is behind all of them I just think to myself, "Whew, 2012 is going to be a busy year." Not to mention, I have family, work, and running goals for the year as well. But a busy year is a good thing and if I get a fractions of these things accomplished I will be grateful. And I keep in mind, not my will, but His!

Happy New Year!

"180"

2011-10-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year while attending the Way of the Master's (Living Waters) Ambassador's Academy I had the privilege of previewing a pre-released copy of the movie "180" with my fellow classmates. Before the film began Ray Comfort gave a few words about the movie but they did not prepare us for what we were about to see. Once the movie was over and the lights came back on you could have heard a pen drop. Seconds later the silence was replaced with the sounds of sniffles, tears, and groans. We were indeed moved. 180 is a pro-life movie and the MOST powerful one I have ever seen. In the movie Ray lays down a situation that present an ethical problem for those whom he is interviewing. He draws a sharp comparison to the Nazi Holocaust to that of the American Abortion Holocaust. The result is both men and women of the pro-choice persuasion changing their minds on camera and seeing the horrible thing that abortion is and adopting a new pro-life view. But even better, Ray does not stop there. He goes on in the video to present the heart changing Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I want to encourage every Christian everywhere to get the word out about this video. You can go to www.180movie.com to view it for free. Also, you can download a free copy or order DVDs (at $1 for 10 or more) from Living Waters. In this day and age it is not difficult to get the word out, it just takes you making a stand. I encourage you to post the link onto your blog, Facebook status, email signature, etc. I even wear 180 t-shirts that have not only led to conversations about the movie but to the Gospel.
This movie has already been view over a million times on Youtube. If you have not seen it yet please take the 33 min it takes to view it. It is well worth your time.

Formula of an Open-Air Sermon

2011-09-14T23:50:00.001-07:00

It seems that one of the reasons many Christians feel inadequate to do open-air evangelistic preaching is because they don't know what to say. That is understandable, because as Christians we have a lot we can say to the lost world, many wonderful things. However, knowing that typically a preacher will only have their audience for a bit, and so as to not overwhelm the listener, or get sidetracked, it is best to stick to some essentials of the Gospel presentation. Below is a brief outline I try to stick to when preaching:

1. There is a day of Judgement that awaits.
2. We are sinners and will be found guilty of breaking God's law on the Day of Judgement.
3. The penalty for sin is Hell, a place of eternal torments.
4. God has provided a way of pardon/forgiveness of sins at his own expense.
5. God sent his Son, Jesus, born of a virgin, fully man and fully God. He was sinless and always pleasing to God.
6. Jesus laid his life down on a cross and while on the cross took upon himself the wrath of God for the sinners who are his.
7. Three days later he took his life back up an arose from the grave, conquering death and sin.
8. The command is given to all men: repent (turn from your sin) and believe/trust in Jesus to save you from the penalty that you deserve.
9. Recount the Promises: everlasting life, forgiveness/pardon, adoption, justification, friendship with God, Heaven, etc.
10. Encourage the audience to call out in repentance and faith to God to save them today.

Now, you can choose to flesh out these points by expounding on them or you may even open up a passage of Scripture and as you preaching though it bring out these points as they are encountered. Keep in mind the audience and how long you will have to talk with them. Consider that if the crowd is moving along that you might want to alternate between a very basic points message followed by a longer one that expands those points more for those who might be hanging around to hear more.

Open-Air Preaching on Grand

2011-08-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

The Missing Years of Jesus

2011-06-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

I have often heard the folks attempt to throw a wrench into the Christian message by stating, "We have no record of Jesus' life from the age of 12-30." True, we do not have details of his life growing up as the son of a carpenter, living in Nazareth, possibly surfing the loss of his dad, and being the big brother to at least six siblings. But, we do have some very revealing statements about the life he lived during those "missing years." These words about those years a very profound. From the age of 12 to 30 while living what sounded like the life of many (as mentioned above) he did something very unordinary. In fact, he did some thing totally unique. It was something that only he has ever done. Something that set him apart from everyone else. Something that would set the stage for those years we read about later in Scripture. Are you ready to know what it is? Here it is: He was living a sinless life (II Cor. 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; I Peter 1:19, 2:22). Ok, before your snort and stop reading, just ask yourself, who else has ever done something this extraordinary? Just think of it, Jesus spent 33 years never telling one lie, using God's name in vain, or being unrighteously angry at someone. He went through all his teenage years and adulthood never lusting. So, what was Jesus doing during those missing years? He was living the sinless life we never could.
The follow up question to that is "why?" the Bible gives a very clear answer to why Jesus came and lived the life of one of us while remaining sinless: "Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted" (Hebrews 2:17-18). Had Jesus not lived that sinless life he would never have been a sufficient Savior. But because he did lived that blameless life he is able to save us to the uttermost.

All I Have Is Christ

2011-05-11T19:56:00.000-07:00

Returning to Grand

2011-04-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful night of evangelism on Grand Ave! It was our first night back at this event and there were four of us out there. God was soooo good. As soon as we got out there we were engaged in conversations. In fact, as we we crossing the street to the event I started talking to a man who was going across at the same time. It turns out that he is Amber Dubois' uncle (she was one of the girls who was murdered by John Gardner over a year ago). He needs our prayers.
While the others on our team where engaging in distribution of tracts and starting up conversations I had a nice talk to a young man named Sergio. He was raised catholic but has been attending a Mormon kingdom hall for the past month. He does not believe the Mormon teaching but goes because of some friends. He kindly allowed me to share with him the Gospel at length and was very heavy hearted but grateful when we parted. I left him with tracts and our church info.
The next conversation started almost immediately after the prior one. A man walking near me had a very nice Asian shirt on and I made a comment about it. He stopped to tell me the story about how he got it. His name was Ken (65 years old) and little did I know that Ken was actually on his way over to make contact with me (according to him). Ken seemed to have a good grasp of the Bible and as I continued to steer the discussion towards the Gospel he kept saying things that sounded familiar. I asked him what religion he was affiliated with and he said he was not officially in any. But as we continued to talk I found he had a problem with the Trinity and then with certain Christological (doctrine of Christ) issues. I then asked him, "Ken, are you in any way affiliated with the Watch Tower (Jehovah's Witnesses)." he sheepishly affirmed my suspicions but since he has not been baptized by them yet he did not want to call himself a JW, although he has been in studies with them for over 6 years and married to a JW. We talked for about an hour or longer. We had a nice and civil discussion. I was able to share with him the true Gospel and then we talked about some other doctrines and Biblical passages. I gave Ken my phone number and email address and asked him to give me a call so we could get together over lunch or something and continue our talk. Please keep him in prayer. He is blind and trusting in a lie. Should he receive the JW baptism he will become the third generation in his family to become a JW. Towards the end of our discussion his wife came over and Jenny Vitkosky engaged her in conversation. Pray for her as well.
As I was turning to leave there was a young couple standing near by and seemed interested in hearing what we were talking about. Their names were Betty and B (his name was so difficult for me to pronounce I am sure I would rally mess it up if I tried to spell it, so B will do) and they were 20 and 21 years old. I began by asking what they thought would happen to them when they died. They both admitted they did not know and had not thought it through. I then told them that a day would come when they would face judgement before God and took them through the 10 Commandments to show them their sinful and guilty standing before God. They both admitted that they saw themselves now as sinners and doomed for Hell. Just at this point, as I was about to tell them the Good News about how they could be saved, a man started shouting, "Don't listen to him." The voice was familiar. It was a man that goes by the name "Real." I meet him while doing evangelism on Grand last year and had talked with him for over 90 minutes back then and asked prayer for him one night at church. When he saw me he gave me a friendly greeting and I greeted him as well, and then he went back to shouting, "Don't listen to him." Real is in need of prayer. He is filled with a lot of false ideas and teachings and is very, very prideful. But a nice guys so he heckled me with a smile. I turned back to Betty and B and actually got closer and explain that I knew Real and that he was here to make sure they did not hear the news That could save them from condemnation. The two pressed closer to me and were vey intent on hearing what I had to say. I was able to convey the Good News of the Cross of Christ to them and they were delighted. There was almost a moment when Betty had a "ah-ha, I get it!" look on her face. I asked her if she had ever heard this message before and she said she had NEVER heard the Gospel before and B agreed with her. I encouraged them that today was the day to repent and fraise in Christ. I gave them tracts and church info. Please pray for these two. May God reach down and take from them their heart of stone and put sighing them a new and clean heart! I was so grateful that some in our team were able to eventually distract Real long enough for me to share the Gospel. May God grant betty and B and the others who heard the Gospel tonight everlasting life in His Son Jesus.
God is good and faithful. May God grant a great harvest.

App of Note

2011-03-07T18:13:00.000-08:00

I was blessed with the gift of an iPad a few months back and have found it to be a wonderful tool in many areas. I have also had fun with it by loading and checking out the miriad of apps out there, particularly Bible, Christian, and religious apps. Some I deleted shortly after opening them up. Others have found their permanent spot on one of my screens. I thought it would be fun to start posting an occasional app review, maybe about how I have used it.
Ok, with that said the app of the week is "GotQuestions" (www.gotquestions.org). This a very cool app! It takes hundreds of questions people often ask about God, the Bible, and other theological topics and arranged them under general headings. Tap on that heading and all questions related to it pop up. Tap your question and an essay giving the answer pops up for you to read. I found the articles to be informative without being too scholarly so as too lose the general audience. Additionally the app allows you to submit your own questions to the writers. This app is the offshoot of there website, blog, and even podcast (which you can subscribe to and listen to on your iPad).
How have I used this app? Well, although I enjoy reading full books and papers there are time when I enjoy read something shorter. This is a great app to go to for that. I can see this app being used by folks who may be in an environment whe a nonbeliever brings up some objection to some aspect of Christianity. The Christian will likely find that question in this app and be supplied with an answer within moment by doing a quick read of the article. This would also be a useful app for those new to the Christian faith and wanting to learn more about what the Bible says about a whole host of topics, theological and practical. This app has been moved to my front page! The only way I could see this app improved it to have the article read to you, an audio option. That would be a great addition to an already awesome app. But like I said, they have a podcast that basically provides that so maybe we will see this new feature sometime in the future.
It gets four out of five taps from me!

Sermon: Simeon's Testament

2010-12-02T12:51:00.000-08:00

This is a sermon I preached last Sunday night on Luke 2:25-35. In this passage of Holy Scripture Simeon receives the greatest "Christmas gift" he could ever imagine, something he had been waiting for for so long, something personally promised to him by God Himself: the "Consolation of Israel."

"SIMEON'S TESTAMENT"

Food Court Christmas Suprise!

2010-12-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

A woman from my church sent this out and I though it would be fun to share. Very neat!

God's Fingerprint on the Bible

2010-11-30T07:07:00.000-08:00

I have seen this approach used on Jewish non-Believers but this is the first time I have seen it used on a lost Gentile. Could it be that because of the exposure to some of the Bible that unbelieving America is very similar to the Jews in this regard? Interesting thought. They had the oracles but were unbelieving. America has been saturated in the Word from the past but unbelieving too. I will certainly have to try this approach with a Gentile next time on the street. Excellent video.

Black Friday Evangelism and More!

2010-11-26T07:30:00.000-08:00

For a second year Jarod and I headed over to the Westfield North County mall for some Black Friday evangelism at 3:30 a.m. and handed out Gospel tracts to those waiting in lines to get those deals from stores like Macy's and Sears. The two of us handed out about 500-600 tracts in as little as 40 minutes. But, boy, was it cold! My fingers got so cold I had trouble handing single tracts to folks. The shoppers received the tracts with much gladness as we smile, said "Merry Christmas," and handed them a Gospel tracts. The tracts we were using had a Christmas look to them but still contained the Law and the Gospel on the back. We even had a few folks come back and ask for another. When Jarod and I were thoroughly frozen we went inside the mall and did a loop, dropping tracts on chairs and tables that would soon be occupied.
Later on today my family and I are headed to a TSO (Trans-Siberian Orchestra) concert and I am hoping to hand out some more tracts there. Ought to be interesting :)
One of the things I love about the Christmas season is that it is soooo easy to give away tracts and engage folks in a spiritual conversation about their standing before God.
While I am posting today I just want to say thank you to all who are out there reading these seldom updated posts. I noticed this morning that the hit counter was past 12,000 and I am amazed. You might not thing that is a big number, but I am floored and humbled. Thanks to all. I will try to post more often and maybe something of quality will make it up here at some point :)

Run for Your Life

2010-09-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

God is Granting Laborers

2010-07-12T23:18:00.001-07:00

Last week we finished up the Way of the Master Basic Training Course and asked for the folks who attended the course to join us in doing some street evangelism on Grand last Friday night. We had a record setting 9 people out that night to do some gospel proclamation! God is good! I was so thrill to see the two ladies with us engaging folks in conversations and the youth we had with us handing out tracts. I continue to pray for God to grant more fishermen from our congregation and from the Church around the world. May God raise up an army of fishermen in this generation!
We are going to be conduction the Basic Course one more time and then offering the Intermediate Course in the late Fall. I am exited to see what God will do then!

Free Book and Audio

2010-05-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

Get a free copy of Ray Comfort's book "God Has a Wonderful Plan For Your Life: The Myth of the Modern Message." or you can download the PDF or audio version for free!!!
www.freewonderfulbook.com

Sad but true . . .

2010-05-16T22:44:00.000-07:00

Pray for reformation and revival.

Evangelism Board

2010-04-21T13:21:00.000-07:00

One of the Elders at my church thought it might be a good idea to make an "Evangelism Ministry" board to go up in the church to keep people informed as to whats going on with the ministry. So, this is what I came up with:

It's going up this week. I plan on updating it monthly and featuring different tracts, evangelism tips, stories, pics, quotes, etc. My prayer is that it will not only inform the saints but inspire them in the work of evangelism.

Evangelism Tip #4: “My Card”

2010-04-21T09:32:00.000-07:00

How many times a week does someone ask you for your phone number, email address, or a website url? You probably grab the nearest scrap of paper and ink out your info on it before handing it off to your friend. They take the paper, stick it in their pocket, and later they will pull it out to retrieve the information on it. But what if it weren’t a scrap of paper you put the info on, but a Gospel tract? It would be a Gospel tract that they would be pulling out of their pocket or purse later and find that there was more than just a phone number on inscribed on this paper, but the words of eternal life (John 6:68). This is a very handy and non-threatening way to put a Gospel tract in someone’s possession. Stop by the 'Evangelism Counter" in the church book store this Sunday and pick-up a few tracts and carry them with you for the next time someone asks for your number.

Run With Endurance

2010-02-28T21:44:00.000-08:00

This is a sermon I preached on Feb 20th, 2010 entitled, "Run with Endurance" that takes Hebrews 12.1-2 as it's text. Please excuse the rough audio at the begining and then at the end when you hear the singing it is over (I forgot to turn it off, lol).

Are Reformed Baptists Truely Reformed?

2009-11-28T21:30:00.000-08:00

I remember some years ago standing in formation with my fellow marines as information was gathered from us for some new dog tags that were being made for us before a deployment to the Middle East. One by one our names were called out by our Gunnery Sgt. when finally mine was called . . .
"Sgt. Fales!"
"Here, Gunny!"
"Blood type?"
"0+, Gunny."
"SSN?"
"--- -- ----, Gunny."
"Religion?"
"Reformed Baptist, Gunny."
"What!? You mean Baptist?"
"No, Gunny, there is a distinctive."
"What the *$#@ are you talking about Sgt."
I then took it as an opportunity to simply share the Gospel, not just with the Gunny, but with all of my troops that had heard me tell it to them so many times before.
Tonight I do not remember this story because of the differences I may have with other Baptist denominations, but because of a distinct similarity I share with other Christan brothers, the Reformed.
For hundreds of years Reformed or Particular Baptists have been challenged by those of the Reformed faith as to being genuinely "Reformed." Typically this debate for the Reformed has hinged on one point, the difference of Baptism.
It appears that this discussion has begun, or continue of late with Dr. James White and Dr. Scott Clark, with support for White's position being added to by Dr. Michael Haykin. You can follow these discussions at these links:
White
Haykin

Great comments from both of these men and I agree with them. I also want to point out the importance of Dr. Whites final point about the understanding of the newness of the covenant. I think we find right there the true hinge or difference between the two camps. Its not so much baptism, signs, but of what the New Covenant really is about. As he stated, you can not read Hebrews (and the rest of the NT) without seeing that with the advent and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ something has changed, something better, something new has arrived.
At no other time in the History of Salvation has the announcement been make that the Kingdom of God had come. Only with the Advent of Jesus do we see this. So, the covenant He came to ratify was the covenant, not of this earth or of an earthly kingdom or nation, but a covenant of the Kingdom of God. One only has to look at the New Covenant's description in Jer. 31 to realize the truth of this. The members of this New Covenant would be those who had the kingdom rule written upon their hearts. So then, the question is not a matter of who are baptism, but of covenant?
Today were I standing in formation with those Marines and the Gunny were to ask me, "Sgt. Fales, religion?" my response my be something like:
"New Covenant Reformed Baptist."
lol. OK, so you will benefit much more from reading the articles posted then what you just read here, sooo, go read them. :)

The Kingdom in Real Time, Pt.3

2009-11-08T23:18:00.000-08:00

Here is the audio for my sermon on Matthew 5:13-16.

The Cross on Grand

2009-09-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

As you may have read in a former post, I built a cross and wrote the words "ARE YOU READY" across the cross beam. Last Friday night one of my brothers in Christ, Jarod, and I took it out to Grand Ave in Escondido, CA, for the classic car rally that takes place every Friday night during the warm months of the year (when is it not warm here in SoCal?). We had been fishing this even for the past few years and this particular year yielded little in the way of good quality conversations with folks about the Gospel. Sure, we had handed out thousands of tracts, but those great conversations were lacking. This is why I built this cross. I had seen a video of a saint who did the same thing and just stood on the corner with it. Over the next two hours dozens of folks had approached him to ask the meaning for his standing there with a cross and "Ready for what?" I took this as my cue and built my own.
Standing in the parking lot before heading over to Grand Ave Jarod and I were both nervous. We were going to be stretching ourselves out of another comfort zone. Sure, we had distributed tracts, shared the gospel, and I had even done some open-air preaching before, but standing on a corner with a cross. And this was a BIG cross! People would think we were weird! People would make fun of us! But it would be all worth it if we had the opportunity to tell the good news to just one person that night. Jarod and I prayed for courage and headed to Grand.
When we got to our corner I bolted the cross bar into the horizontal position and through up the cross. It was big and the words painted in red were bold under that street lamp, "ARE YOU READY!" Instantly we had the attention of all four corners of the intersection. As I held the cross Jarod handed out tracts.
Within five minutes three teenage girls approached me and began to ask about the cross. The one that showed the most interest was named Gabby. She had a lot of questions and criticisms. She though my message was not a positive one. I asked he what more could she want when i was proclaiming the greatest news there was, God has made a way for you to escape the wrath that is due to you through the blood of His son. Shortly after taking a picture of me for Twitter she and her friends left. But when she did you could see that the Law had done its work. Her heart had been penetrated. The mirror had been cast up and she saw who she really was.
Fifteen minutes later gabby returned alone. "We nee to talk; I have some question." Her head was hung low. She continued to through up objections to support her belief in her own righteousness. She was a little girl with a lot of hurt and a lot of lies. In the end I gave her a Bible and a tract. I asked her to read the gospel of John. She said she would. My heart broke for this girl.
Jarod and I rejoiced at this wonderful encounter . . . but that was just the start of it. As we stood there under the cross, taking turns holding it, we received jeers from some, encouragement from others, and still more people coming to ask about our message and this cross. We both had great opportunities to proclaim the Kingdom Message.
By the time we left we were exhausted and rejoicing! We made out way the few blocks back to our cars. As we crossed the final intersection we were headed toward a food court that was littered with teens in the shadows. One last time I threw high the cross as we walked passed them. Again, some read aloud the words on the cross and others cursed us. We passed by and finished out walk to our cars. But had we looked back we would have seen two teenagers (18 years old each) following us. They approached us in the parking lot. They wanted to know what I was talking about with those words "ARE YOU READY." I asked them, "Are you ready to stand before God at Judgement. Will God send you to Heaven or Hell?" They both said Hell. I asked if that concerned them. Simultaneously they reached for their pendants around their necks and held them towards me. They were inverted black crosses. "No, we are satanists." For the next 45 minutes we stood there talking of the law and Gospel. I pleaded with them to repent and trust in the Lord Jesus. They had some great theological questions and though I would have loved to have discussed all of them I wanted to keep to the reason God had stirred them to follow us, to hear the Message of the Kingdom, REPENT AND BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL. They would not take Bibles or tracts from me but they did take my card. I asked them to email me so we could dialogue. When they left Jarod and I both shed a tear and felt overwhelmed that the Lord had bless us with the privilege of sharing with so many that night. God is good!
We had more conversations that night than we had had all year. It was that wooden cross that made the difference. With us holding it there people knew why we were there. There were no false pretences. As a Church building has a steeple to distinguish itself from the structures around it so our cross caused us to stand out in the crowd. This cross also stood as an instrument of conviction for many. That cross had no power in itself, but God sure used it that night to bring many to hear the Good News.
We will be bringing it along on other evangelism trips.

The Kingdom in Real Time, Pt.2

2009-09-20T22:56:00.000-07:00

Tonight I preached the second sermon in my series on the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7), "The Kingdom in Real Time." This evening I finished up the Beatitudes.

My Cross

2009-09-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

Well, this afternoon I finished making my evangelism cross and tomorrow night I will be carrying it onto Grand Ave. in Escondido, CA. for their classic car rally. We have been going there for the past few years now handing out tracts but this summer conversations with folks have been slim. I am hoping that this tool, this cross, will change that. People will know why I am on that corner when I am holding this thing. This one is a bit bigger than most of the ones I have seen other evangelists carrying around, but that's OK, people will see this one a mile away and I ought to be able to haul it around with no problem.

At first I thought about staining it to a darker color, but then I thought, its not suppose to look pretty, the Cross of Christ was not pretty. Also, keeping the lighter color allowed for the lettering to stand out more.

I have to admit, I am anxious about tomorrow. I've experienced verbal persecution for just handing out tracts and preaching, what will this bring? But more than being anxious about that, I am anxious to see how God will use this witness for His glory.

Stay tuned, I'll update tomorrow night.

A Cross, a Question, and a Fool

2009-09-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

There have been a lot of street evangelists taking to the streets of late carrying wooden crosses, ofter with something written on them like "Are you ready?" The idea is to get people to come and ask, "Ready for what?" I have to admit, I was not sold on this tactic. But after much thought I have come to some conclusions. I'll discuss those in a later post, but right now I have to go build a cross for tomorrow night's evangelism on Grand Ave. in Escondido.
Here is a video to show you how effective this method is.

Grudem's Systematic -- Free Audio Version!

2009-09-17T10:40:00.000-07:00

My twin brother turned me on to this last night. You can download the entire volume of Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology on iTunes for FREE!!! I remember when finishing my last tour in the Marines and doing training in 29 Palms, Ca. I read the entire volume in the two weeks I was in the field. Loved it. It was also the main systematic for my theology survey classes in seminary. I am looking forward to listening to these chapters again while I drive and run (along with all the other stuff I am trying to listen to, lol).

Recaping Halloween 2008

2009-09-17T09:42:00.001-07:00

It almost time for one of my favorite times for street evangelism, Halloween. We will have the privilege of going to many "haunted houses/trails" during this season and presenting the gospel to thousands of people! Here is a video recap of last year's evangelism efforts at Balboa Park's Haunted Trails.

Blessed are the Persecuted

2009-09-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

While doing my research and studies on my sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount I came across this nugget from John Piper, preached March 16, 1986. enjoy.

Matthew 5:10-12

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Is Jesus' Teaching on Persecution Outdated?
The first question I would like to take up this morning is whether Jesus' words about persecution are relevant in these days. Has modern society become so tolerant that talk of persecution is outdated? My answer is that these verses are very relevant and not at all outdated. Let me mention two reasons why this teaching on persecution is still relevant today.

1. The Global Perspective

The first reason comes from a global perspective. Let's just take two countries as examples. Peru's National Evangelical Council has documented the killings of 90 evangelical Christians from 1983 through 1985. 70% were Pentecostals, and 20% were Presbyterians, the rest undetermined. The Maoist Sendero Luminoso oppose the evangelicals because they refuse to join the armed struggle of the guerrillas. And the government police oppose them because they treat the wounds of guerillas. Besides the 90 killed in the last three years, another 20 have disappeared after being detained by police for questioning.

The other country I will mention is Romania. I just received a letter a couple weeks ago from John Swanson, the pastor of Elim Baptist in Anoka, in which he told me of a businessman who just returned from Romania with tragic stories of the persecution of Baptists in that land. The man will be speaking in their evening service on April 6 with a first-hand report.

According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, 2.2 billion people lived in 79 countries under significant restrictions on their religious freedom in 1980. 60% of all Christians live in these countries. And 16% (224 million) of all Christians live in countries where there is severe state interference and harassment.

So the least we can say is that from a global standpoint the words of Jesus are very relevant, and indeed very precious, for millions of our brothers and sisters who live under the pressure of constant surveillance.

2. Convictions About Sinful Nature and New Creation

My second reason for saying that these words about persecution are relevant today is taken from the words of Paul in 2 Timothy 3:12, "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." (See Acts 14:22; John 15:20; Matthew 10:25.)

How could Paul make such a sweeping statement? "All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." He makes it on the basis of a deep conviction about the nature of Christianity and the nature of the sinfulness of man. He is convinced that there is such a tension between the message and way of life of Christians on the one hand and the mindset and way of life of the world on the other that conflict is inevitable.

This conviction is rooted in the nature of fallen man and the nature of the new creation in Christ. Therefore it does not go out of date. It is still true today. Sooner or later a deeply God-centered Christian will be mistreated for the things he believes or the life he lives.

So these words of Jesus about persecution are relevant for today not only because millions of Christians in our global village are being persecuted for their faith this very day, but also because to one degree or another all of you who are dead earnest about putting God first in your work and home and school and leisure will bump into some form of opposition sooner or later. And none of us knows when our freedoms may cease or when we may be called by God to go to a dangerous place or take a stand here that will cause many to dislike us.

Now what is this teaching of Jesus?

Why the Persecutions Come
First, let's focus on why the persecutions come. This is important because not all persecuted people are blessed. Only those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Verse 10: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake."

Righteousness in the Structure of the Beatitudes

Recall the structure of the beatitudes. There are two groups of four, and each group ends with a reference to righteousness. The first group ends with verse 6: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." And the second group ends with verse 10: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake."

The three beatitudes that lead to hunger for righteousness are descriptions of a kind of holy emptiness. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn over their needy condition, and the meek who hand their cause over to God. It's natural that these three descriptions of emptiness and need should be followed by a description of hunger. If you don't have something, you hunger for it.

Then the next three beatitudes are descriptions not of emptiness but of fullness. The hunger is beginning to be satisfied by an overflowing mercy, a pure heart, and a power to make peace. So the righteousness longed for in verse 6 is given in the form of mercy, purity, and peacemaking. The result is persecution for this very righteousness.

Righteousness and a Relationship with Jesus

Another way to define the righteousness of verse 10 is to look at its parallel in verse 11. In verse 10 the persecution is "on account of righteousness," but in verse 11 it is "on account of Jesus." "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." "On my account" and "on account of righteousness" probably mean the same thing.

So what we learn from this is that true righteousness—the righteousness that surpasses the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (5:20)—always involves a relationship with Jesus. True righteousness is not done for its own sake. It is done for Jesus' sake. The mercy and the purity and the peacemaking of a disciple of Jesus comes from Jesus ("without me you can do nothing," John 15:5) and is done for the honor of Jesus. It's this attachment to Jesus that gives our righteousness its distinct character.

Why Is Righteousness Persecuted?

But that raises a question: if that is what righteousness means—being merciful and pure and peaceable by relying on Jesus and living for his glory—why would anybody persecute that? It doesn't seem very offensive.

The answer that goes to the root cause is found in Luke 16:14–15. Jesus has just said, "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." Then comes the persecution, the mockery. Verse 14 says, "The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they scoffed at him." There is the persecution and part of its explanation: "they were lovers of money." In other words, Jesus' attitude toward money is an attack on their love of money.

Then comes the rest of the explanation of their mockery. Verse 15: "But he said to them, 'You are those who justify yourselves before men.'" So here is the root of persecution with its two shafts. One shaft is the love of something evil or untrue and the other shaft is the need to justify that love. This is the root cause of persecution.

Jesus comes on the scene with a way of life and a message that implies that the love of money is treason against God. "You can't serve two sovereigns!" This is not an antagonistic insult. It is part of his purity. It is true. It is essential to know if you are going to be saved. But it goes against the Pharisee's love of money. So to justify themselves they put Jesus down. This is standard operating procedure for self-justification. And this is the root of all persecution.

A Life Devoted to Righteousness Will Be Persecuted

So we can see why a life devoted to righteousness or godliness will be persecuted or reviled or spoken against.

If you cherish chastity, your life will be an attack on people's love for free sex.
If you embrace temperance, your life will be a statement against the love of alcohol.
If you pursue self-control, your life will indict excess eating.
If you live simply and happily, you will show the folly of luxury.
If you walk humbly with your God, you will expose the evil of pride.
If you are punctual and thorough in your dealings, you will lay open the inferiority of laziness and negligence.
If you speak with compassion, you will throw callousness into sharp relief.
If you are earnest, you will make the flippant look flippant instead of clever.
And if you are spiritually minded, you will expose the worldly-mindedness of those around you.

Two Responses to a Righteous Life

When you desire to be godly in all your affairs and relationships—when you follow the righteousness of Jesus in his strength and for his glory—there are two possible responses people can have who stay around you. These are described in John 3:20–21.

For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. [That is one possible response: hating the light and not accepting it.] But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God. [That is the other possible response: doing the truth and coming to it and freely admitting that all good in us is accomplished by God.]

The two options are persecution or conversion. (See these two options in Matthew 5:10 and 16.) But, we ask, what about all the unbelievers in my life who are neither converted nor persecuting—who are just civil, or even polite? There are at least two possible explanations.

Two Explanations Why Neither Response Seems to Appear

One is that your light is under a bushel. You are keeping the stumbling block of the cross well concealed (Galatians 5:11; 6:12–13). You don't let your distinctive values show.

The other is that you are letting them show and the people around you are moving toward one or the other of these two polls: persecution or conversion. Neither of these must happen immediately. There are all kinds of factors that can hinder expressions of persecution. We see these often in the gospels when the Pharisees were angered but were hindered by expediency from expressing their anger in outright persecution. Neither persecution nor conversion will always happen immediately. In fact, many people are torn inside themselves, partly hating the claims of Christianity in your life, partly attracted by them.

So we should all examine ourselves to see if we are playing a kind of cowardly Christian incognito. And if so, we should repent and resolve to be more sincere in the expression of who we really are. But we must not assume that, because there is no persecution right now and no conversion right now, the fault must lie with us. The gestation period for the new birth may be nearing a happy end. Or the storm may be ready to break against you.

But in either case you can be very content. Which leads us to our other consideration this morning:

The Blessedness of the Persecuted
Verse 11: "Blessed—fortunate—are you when men revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad."

Now this is a shocking piece of counsel. What can possibly justify the command to be glad when we are hated and mocked and tortured and killed? And make no mistake about it—Jesus does have death in view here. This is what they did to the prophets (Matthew 23:30; 1 Kings 18:13; 19:10; Nehemiah 9:26; Jeremiah 26:23). This is what they would do to the disciples. So he says in Matthew 24:9, "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake."

Why This Shocking Counsel from Jesus?

What can justify such counsel to people in pain?—"Rejoice and be glad!" I see two possibilities: either this is the talk of an insensitive, sophomoric, ivory tower theologian who has never known what it is to scream with pain, or this is the talk of one who has seen something and tasted something and knows something about a reality that most people have never tasted or glimpsed.

This is the Lord speaking. It is not some pastoral novice that blunders into a funeral home slapping people on the back, saying, "Praise God, anyhow." This is the Lord. And he says to his disciples, most of whom will drink the cup of martyrdom, "Rejoice and be glad" when you are persecuted, when you suffer. How can he say this?

He can say it because he knows beyond any shadow of a doubt that the reward of heaven will more than compensate for any suffering we must endure in the service of Christ. "Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven." There is a mystery here—the mystery of joy in the midst of agony; the mystery of gladness in the midst of misery and groaning. And this mystery is contained in a miracle, namely, the miracle of faith—the bedrock assurance that heaven is a hundredfold compensation for every pain. To the degree that you believe what Jesus sees in heaven, to that degree you will be able to rejoice and be glad in suffering. "Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven."

Suffering's Relationship to Reward in Heaven

But this raises a question: In order to rejoice and be glad in the suffering of persecution, must you not believe that the suffering itself enlarges your reward in heaven? If the same reward in heaven could be obtained without suffering, would we not cry out against the uselessness of suffering rather than being glad to embrace it?

If nothing more comes of suffering than of not suffering, why embrace it with joy? What gave Rowland Taylor and Bishop Ridley and John Bradford the impulse to kiss the stakes at which they were burned? What moved Obadiah Holmes, after ninety lashes turned his back to jelly for Jesus, to say to the magistrates, "You have struck me with roses"? Why did Thomas Hardcastle say that persecution is "a precious season of grace"?

I think the answer is that the more your faith is tested through suffering, the greater will be your reward. I think this is taught in Matthew 19:29 ("And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life"), but especially in 2 Corinthians 4:17–18,

For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.

He says that affliction "prepares" or "brings about" an eternal weight of glory. As Charles Hodge says,

Afflictions are the cause of eternal glory. Not the meritorious cause, but still the procuring cause. God has seen fit to reveal his purpose not only to reward with exceeding joy the afflictions of his people, but to make those afflictions the means of working out that joy. (Commentary on Second Corinthians, p. 104)

In other words, rejoice and be glad in the midst of suffering for righteousness and for Jesus, because that very suffering will receive a very great compensation and a very great reward. And the greater the suffering your faith endures, the greater the reward you will receive in heaven. So rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven!

Keeping Our Hearts in Heaven
I close by pressing home one of the clear implications of this text. Jesus wills for his disciples to desire the reward of heaven more than we desire the reward of the world. Jesus wills for us to have our treasure in heaven not on earth (6:19–20). Jesus wills for your heart to be so set on heaven that to leave this earth is a cause of rejoicing. Not without tears!—as Paul said, "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing," and as Jesus sweat blood in Gethsemane in the face of his own pain, but for the joy set before him endured the cross.

Jesus wills for us to have our hearts primarily in heaven, our hopes primarily in heaven, our longings primarily in heaven, our joy primarily in heaven. There is no other way that you can rejoice and be glad at the loss of your earthly joys. How shall we rejoice and be glad when these things are taken from us if we have not loved heaven more?

Consider the Prophets of Old

So what shall we do? How shall we keep our hearts in heaven? Make a regular practice of your life to consider the prophets of old who were persecuted and killed for the cause of God and righteousness. Turn often to Hebrews 11:36–38 and read how by faith they suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated—of whom the world was not worthy!

Go often to these great men and women of old and get inside their hearts. Put yourself on the rack with them and learn how to love heaven with them. Listen as they say, "Abuse suffered for the Christ is greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt, for we look to the reward" (Hebrews 11:26).

Consider Those Who Have Given Their All for Christ

Read the testimonies of those who have given their all for Christ.

The letter of John Hooper written three weeks before he was burned at the stake in England in 1555: "You must now turn all your [thoughts] from the peril you see, and mark the felicity that followeth the peril . . . Beware of beholding too much the felicity or misery of this world; for the consideration and too earnest love or fear of either of them draweth from God" (Ryle, Light from Old Times, p. 115).

You children, consider the children of John Rogers. He was burned alive the same year Hooper was, because of his faith in Christ. His children accompanied him to the place of execution and called out encouragements to him through their tears that he might be strong and not turn back and dishonor Christ (Ryle, p. 64).

Consider the famous Dietrich Bonhoeffer. As he left his prison room on the way to the gallows in 1945, he said to Payne Best, "This is the end—for me the beginning of life" (Bethge, Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography, p. 830). Ten years later the camp doctor wrote,

At the place of execution, he again said a short prayer and then climbed the steps to the gallows, brave and composed. His death ensued after a few seconds. In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God. (Bethge, pp. 830–31)

Or consider the last letter of Vanya Moiseyev, the 20 year old Baptist soldier in the Soviet Red army. He had been tortured for some time. July 16, 1972, they went too far, and he died. On July 15 he wrote to his brother Vladimir,

Don't tell our parents everything. Just tell them, "Vanya wrote me a letter and writes that Jesus Christ is going into battle. This is a Christian battle, and he doesn't know whether he will be back."

I desire that all of you, dear friend, young and old, remember this one verse. Revelation 2:10—"Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life." (M. Grant, Vanya, pp. 175f.)

Look to the prophets! Look to the martyrs! Whatever you must do to get your heart in heaven and off the world, do it! Otherwise you will not be able to obey the command of our Lord, "Rejoice and be glad in persecution, for great is your reward in heaven."

And let the battle cry of the missions movement of our church continue to be:

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot, martyr

Addendum
If someone should ask whether having our heart in heaven will make us useless on earth, the answer is given by Jesus in the very next paragraph of the Sermon on the Mount. People who have their hearts so much in heaven that they fear no man but rejoice in persecution—such radically free and joyful people are the "salt of the earth" and "the light of the world"!!!!

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

For audio version click here.

The Kingdom in Real Time, Pt.1

2009-09-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

This is the first message in a series of sermons on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)that I will be preaching on Sunday nights at my church. If I figure it right I should finish this series in a few years. lol. Please excuse my poor delivery, I am still getting back into the swing of public speaking after not having preach in over 5 years.
As I preach through this series I will also be memorizing Matthew 5-7 (I once got as far as the middle of chapter 6) and I would love to, for the last message in this series, just quote the entire Sermon on the Mount.

Our War!

2009-09-01T23:18:00.000-07:00

Buckle Up, This is Powerful!

2009-09-01T23:00:00.000-07:00

What is Salvation? (In 2 Minutes) - Paul Washer

2009-08-23T22:42:00.000-07:00

Jesus, Cast A Look On Me!

2009-08-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

Jesus cast a look on me,
Give me sweet simplicity
Make me poor and keep me low,
Seeking only Thee to know

All that feeds my busy pride,
Cast it evermore aside
Bid my will to Thine submit,
Lay me humbly at Thy feet

Make me like a little child,
Of my strength and wisdom spoiled
Seeing only in Thy light,
Walking only in Thy might

Leaning on Thy loving breast,
Where a weary soul can rest
Feeling well the peace of God,
Flowing from His precious blood

In this posture let me live,
And hosannas daily give
In this temper let me die,
And hosannas ever cry!

by John Berridge

Shock Evangelsim

2009-07-31T16:09:00.000-07:00

Over the past few years there has been a wonderful trend in evangelism to return to a solid doctrinal message and method of proclaiming the gospel to the lost. Instead of handing out a coke (i.e.,God) and a smile evangelists are shocking the world with a message that they are actually sinners and in NEED of salvation. They do not lead people to believe that they can just “Try Jesus” as an alternative lifestyle that may help you feel better or improve your standards of living.
More and more we are seeing Christians taking to the streets in an effort to proclaim the Good News of Jesus to the lost. Evangelists are handing out tracts, engaging folks in gospel conversations, and open-air preaching. This is a wonderful thing. However, of late I have become concerned over a trend that is developing. Some are equating boldness in the Lord concerning evangelism as nothing more than opportunity for foolishness. I am not try to sound harsh here, but what I have seen by grown adults is akin to adolescent behaviour. You can search youtube.com and a host of blogs and see "evangelists" doing shock evangelism. The idea is to see who can do the most "insane" evangelism encounter. This can be seen when folks are being dared to go open-air preach in the middle of a crowded restaurant knowing that they are going to be expelled or have the police called on them for doing such. "Ah, but you gotta make sure you get it all on video or it doesn't count" is the idea. I don't have a problem with people photo or video documenting evangelism when the motive is to instruct and to inspire others. But folks, we are not out there preaching the Gospel to entertain viewers or our buddies.
I don't want to make this a long rant, I just want to say to all of those out there looking to "push the envelope" of "extreme evangelism" to check your motives, evaluate your heart. Are you falling into the trap of being a man-pleaser or seeking glory from man? Or is it about your love for God and His glory? Or is it all about your glory? Is your passion for the lost? Or is it all about the rush from trying to get yourself in trouble for preaching where you know you are not suppose to be doing public speaking (preaching or otherwise).
"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." Mat 6:1
"Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will." Phil.1:15

Evangelism Crash Course

2009-07-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

Evangelism Crash Course!

When: Saturday 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., August 22nd

Where: Grace Bible Church (Room: TBD)

RSVP: contact Chris Fales at chrisfales@sbcglobal.net or (858) 357-3802

Come join us for an intensive three-hour course on how to “fish for men.” This will be a great time of equipping the saints to be laborers in the harvest of the lost! Learn the bare essentials of effective biblical evangelism and see it demonstrated. You will have the opportunity to role-play evangelism encounters that will make you more confident in sharing the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.” Mark 1:17

Regeneration vs. The Idolatry of Decisional "Evangelism"

2009-07-28T22:41:00.000-07:00

Paul Washer at the Deeper Conference 2008 Breakout Session which was hosted by Living Waters & Way of the Master.

Sermon Audio: "Fishers of Men"

2009-07-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

I posted the notes but here is the audio of the sermon on Mark 1:17 that I preached last sunday evening.

Fishers of Men

2009-07-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

Tonight I will be preaching a breif sermon on mark 1:17. Here are the rough notes I will be preaching from (some of it will not make it into the actual preaching)

Fishers of Men
Mark 1:16-18

Mar 1:16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
Mar 1:17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men."
Mar 1:18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

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Intro

A few months ago I had the privilege to speak on the passage that precedes this one:
Mar 1:15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
In this passage we have Christ’s first sermon to the world and it was the message that he would entrust to the work of his followers. As we shall see in the passage that follows Christ waited no time in recruiting laborers for the harvest.
Jesus Would call Peter and Andrew and in doing so he would give them both a precept and a promise. The first gives birth to the second and the latter depends on the prior. “Follow me” was the command given while “I will make you to become fishers of men” was the promised that flowed out of that. At the same time man-fishing can be done aright only when one is following the Lord. A follower does those things that he sees his master doing and fishing for men is what the Master did.

The theme of “man-fishing” was not unique to the NT. In the OT God is seen as the Fisher of men, and the metaphor was often associated with judgment (Eze 29:4, Eze 38:4, Amo 4:2) Fishermen were foreseen in OT Prophesy. Jesus' words recall Jer. 16:15-17,19 where “fishers” and “hunters” of men will call people back from idols to God after judgment has occurred.

-The Summons to be fishes of men is a call to the eschatological task of gathering men in view of the forthcoming judgment of God. There is a natural link between Mark 1:15 and Mark 1:17, Man Fishing is evidence of the “fulfillment of time” which Jesus proclaimed , it is the effect of the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God.
Our immediate task is to be witnesses to the proclamation of Jesus concerning the nearness of the kingdom and the necessity for men to turn to God through radical repentance. But our ultimate function will be to confront men with God’s decisive action, which to faith has the character of salvation, but to unbelief has the character of judgment.
This can be seen in Jesus’ parable:
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Mat. 13:47:50

The is a tremendous link between the Doctrine of the Kingdom of God and evangelism as is seen in this passage and in the Great Commission:
“And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." Mat 28:18-20

Thus it might well be said that evangelism is the work of the Kingdom on earth

I. The Calling- Fisher of Men
One word has been used in Christendom to define the task of the Church on this earth: Evangelism It is the activity of the Church in telling the Gospel to sinners with intent to bring them to a saving knowledge of Christ.
Perhaps the greatest definition of activity of evangelism is found in the words of Jesus when he explained his mission thus: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10). Notice there are two aspects involved here: seeking and saving. The fishermen must go out and seek the lost. Fish do not come to the fisherman. None are thinking, I will go find a fisherman that I may be caught in his net or upon his hook. We must leave the comfort of our walls, our couches, sacrifice time and pleasure and we must go and seek. Is this not an aspect of the Great Commission given by our Lord Jesus when He told us to “Go”?
True, many have been saved from attending a church service and hearing the Gospel, but for a great majority this is not the case. We must go ourselves to the ponds, the lakes, the streams, the rivers, and the oceans. There we will find a vast multitude for the catch. Again this is rooted in Christ’s commission from Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”

What privilege it is that we should be involved in the salvation of the elect! We are called to be heralds, proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom and it’s King! This is a task that alone belongs to the Church, the redeemed. We were the lost, and now we are the seekers! We were the fish, and now the fishermen. We were the evangelized, now the evangelists. Once in the hedges and highways we now return to those haunts in pursuit of bring many others to the banquet! We are souls won! Oh, let us go and win souls for our King!

What is a Fisher of Men? In his book, Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan described him thus:
“A man, who had his eyes up to heaven, the best of books was in his hand, the law of truth was written upon his lips, and stood as if he pleaded with men.”

Defining the Soul-Winner:
The evangelist is a commissioned representative of the King of Glory, proclaiming to the enemies of the Kingdom, with all boldness and compassion, the truth of the Scriptures concerning their impending destruction for their crimes and pleading with them to repent and trust in and love the King, who did by his own blood, purchase the only way of escape.

1. Commissioned representative of the King.
“that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” Eph 6:19-20

2. He speaks the truth of Christ with boldness.
“proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” Act 28:31
Let us not mistake boldness with anger or unkindness. The Bible teaches nothing of that kind. His boldness is kindled by the fire of his love for God and for the lost.

Boldness in evangelism is supernatural:
“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness . . . And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” Act 4:29, 31

We must pray for boldness, for to be true, at heart I am a weak coward, afraid of what man thinks.

3. He speaks with compassion.
“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.” Mar 6:34

If his Lord had compassion upon the enemies of his kingdom, ought we to not have compassion as well? Were or are we the ones offended?

II. Motives for Evangelism-

1. Love for God that produces a desire to be obedient and glorify God.

Jesus said that the greatest commandment, the greatest thing a man could do in his life was to be a lover of God. “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30
Do you love God? Do you remember when you feel in love with your spouse? Did you keep it to yourself? Or did you proclaim it to the world? Did you tell everyone how she was the most wonderful woman in creation? Oh, that our love for God would compel from us the same in proclaiming to a lost world the greatness of our God!
Jesus has a standard for loving him: “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me” (John 14:21).
Obedience is the natural result of our love for him. He has lavished his love upon you, he has redeemed you! You now see the glory of God in a blaze of amazement as you never knew! As your love for him grows so to does obedience. The Lover of your Soul has commanded you to tell about the Good News of himself!
Why do we hesitate? Oh, that our hearts would melt white hot for love and obedience to Christ. Where that the case in each of us there would be no one in America that had not heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ ten-fold! Dear Lord, increase our love.
When we see the results of evangelism, the birth of another God-lover, God is glorified! Oh, you should be saying, “More! More! You oh, Lord, deserve more worshipers who will glorify your name.” The OT is replete with passages that call for the multitudes of the world to praise our amazing God! The proclamation of the Gospel is the means by which we proclaim God’s great love, His great wisdom, His complete sovereignty, His great sacrifice, and His great salvation.
“Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!” Psalm 96:2-3

2. Love for the lost.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30 -31
Do you love your neighbor? How much? As yourself? Would you have rather that no one ever told you the way of salvation? Family, your neighbor is doomed to destruction. Will we sit silently from inside the walls and watch them slip into the pit without one plea from ourself for them to turn from their hell bent ways? Will we not share with them the water we have been given? Is our love grown so cold that we can actually say, “I don’t care”? Paul commands “as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone” (Gal 6:10). What greater good could be done for them?
Do you have trouble stirring up the love for the lost because when you ponder them you see them as despites, the scum of the earth, they are the high minded and lofty, haters of the truth, and persecutors of the faith? Yes, that is who we are sent to. But consider how you once were in that crowd. You have little reason to withhold grace from these. God is the offended one. Yet, did not God display his own love towards the lost of this world? "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
This is personal too. For when ewe speak of the lost we touch not only upon the stranger but your closest loved ones.
“I am speaking the truth in Christ--I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit-- that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” Romans 9:1-3
“Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.” Rom 10:1

“Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that.” CHS

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3. The reality of Hell.

Consider, dear saints, the terrors that await the lost that leave this earth and enter eternity without the salvation of the Lord. Their eyes to close in this life only to open in torments. “Outside of Christ, God is terrible.” His wrath will be poured out upon the vile offender night and day and there will never be a respite from the flame! Anguish, wailing, and gnashing of the teeth will will be the state of all who enter that pit, by no means to ever escape.
Once was your destination, but by grace no more. But to be true, it still is the reward you deserve. Where it not for the love of God upon you you surely would have no hope. Oh, but consider your neighbor around you, each without faith in the Son of God and doomed to that place of brimstone.
Think on the horror of this place, Hell, and let that spurn you on to tell of the only way to escape from the flames of God’s wrath.
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” John 3:36

“If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap over our bodies. And if they perish let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unsprayed for.” CHS

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4. Trust in the sovereignty of God.

Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God- (recommend J.I. Packer’s Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God)
God saves! This truth is such a release for evangelism. It teaches us this valuable points: Some will be saved! The elect are out there. God will regenerate them and bring the to repentance and faith. He has declared that evangelists will have a part in giving this outward call while he gives the inward call to the elect. This is an antidote to discouragement. Paul was encouraged by a message from the Lord concerning this very matter:
“And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people." And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.” Acts 18:9-11
Paul would go on to write:
“Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” 2 Timothy 2:10
God’s sovereignty should be a motivation, not an excuse. One should never think, “God is sovereign, if he wants to save someone then he will do it.” Indeed he shall, but God forgive us for presuming to know his business better than he. Pastor Mark Dever “We should stop excusing ourselves from evangelism on the basis that God is sovereign. We should not conclude from his omnipotence that our obedience is therefore pointless.”
How has he ordained to save? Here now how Paul explains this matter:
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" But they have not all obeyed the gospel. So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." Rom 10:12-18
Do not despise the calling and task that God has given his saints. It is a privilege and a blessing that we should be integrated in this glorious work, the redemption of man.

III. Application
Obey your Master. He commanded:
“Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men,” and “Go, therefore and make disciple of all the nations.”
Follow and Go!
But I am not a soul-winner, Oh saint, did he not say that he would make you to become one? Trust in his word and then step out in obedience. “You will not of yourselves grow into fishers, but that is what Jesus will do for you if you will but follow Him.” CHS

Followers of Christ are fishers of men, if we are not a fisher of men we are not a follower of Christ.

Until the nets are full never let us ceases in our Fishing.

"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Mat 9:37-8
And that is what we shall do now. Let us pray that God would convict and empowered you to the task you have been called too.

Prayer:

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Christian Autism Book

2009-07-07T22:21:00.000-07:00

Finally! A Christian autism book that does not just tell a nice story but one that addresses how to approach autism and parenting from a Christian perspective. A few years ago the author, a friend, told me this book of hers was in the works and I could not wait. Now it is here and having read it I can not recommend it enough!!! It is a MUST READ for anyone related to an ASD kid, those teaching one (Sunday School teachers included), and for pastors shepherding a family with an autistic child.

Book Description:
It seems that nearly everyone knows a family with an autism spectrum child. Most recent figures suggest that the prevalence of all autism spectrum disorders in the United States is an astonishing 1% of the population in the United States, translating to twelve million parents and grandparents that are seeking answers.
There are many books available on how to “cure” an autistic preschooler, but none on how to raise one to adulthood. These promised cures raise parents’ hopes, but most parents will find that they are dealing with a lifelong challenge no matter what they do. Dr. Laura Hendrickson is a trained psychiatrist, biblical counselor¬—and the mother of an autistic child. She understands the struggles parents face as they try to communicate with their autism spectrum child and manage behavior challenges.
Building on Dr. Hendrickson’s medical background as well as her practical experience, Finding Your Child’s Way on the Autism Spectrum presents autism spectrum disorders as a different developmental pathway rather than a disability. Dr. Hendrickson has seen that those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders can make significant contributions to their world. And as a parent of an autistic child, she is able to offer practical solutions to the problems parents face. Dr. Hendrickson does not deny that autism is a serious challenge, but addresses specific ways to work with a child according to his developmental differences, or “way”, to raise his level of function. With an approach that is grounded in a deep understanding of the challenges those caring for autism spectrum children face, Finding Your Child’s Way on the Autism Spectrum gives the reader sound, practical tools for understanding how to guide an autism spectrum child to function more fully as the person God created them to be.

About the Author:
LAURA HENDRICKSON is a biblical counselor, former psychiatrist, and the mother of an adult son who is recovered from autism. She is a member of the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors, and the author of two books on biblical counseling issues, as well as co-author of Will Medicine Stop the Pain?

(Click on the picture of the book to order)

Racing Ahead

2009-07-05T22:38:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the lack of posts on this blog has been an indicator of where my priorities have been this year. Unfortunately I may have let myself become too engaged in preparing for a race (100 mile foot race) when I should be more concerned about a greater race (Hebrews 12.1-2). A few weeks ago the Lord blessed me with an injury to my hip joint (I seem to recall a particular biblical character who was also given an injury to the hip. lol). The pain can be bad some days and I am walking with a bit of a limp. I don't think it is anything permanent but it has served as a nice slap in the face to get me to remember some things and get me thinking. What do I want to be remembered for? What heritage will I leave for my kids? What really matters in eternity? What race do I really need to focus on and which one do I really want to win? It's time for me to get back on track here. Life is too short to get side-tracked. I am not saying that I will never try to run that 100 mile race, but it is not as important to me now as this greater race.

Noah the Evangelist

2009-04-26T18:56:00.001-07:00

Last Friday night my wife, Amanda, and our kids, Noah (9), Levi (6), and Chloe (6 mo.) joined up with two of the guys from our church, Jarod and Brett, to do some evangelism on Grand Ave in Escondido. This time of year there is a classic car show along Grand. That night we found people just did not seem to want to take out tracts. Usually Jarod and I are going though packs of tracts at a rapid rate at this event. After about an hour of walking the street we all meet up at a corner and began to talk. I asked Noah if he would like to hand out tracts. He said, "yes." I told him that written on them was the Good News that Jesus saves sinners. With great enthusiasm he began to hand them out. He would take a step towards a passer-byer and say, "Here ya go," and extend a hand to them with a tracts in it. Almost everyone took a tract from him! We watched as people not only took the tract but would take a few steps away and began to read it. WOW! He want through about 70 tracts so Jarod gave him some more but of a different type. It made no matter, Noah quickly distributed them as fast as the others. When he finished I knelt down to get level with Noah and right there I told him that God may have used him tonight to save someone from the dangers of Hell. He was sooo excited!

Ok, so for those of you who have never read my blog, don't know me or my family, or have just forgotten, Noah, the 9 year old boy of mine that was boldly handing out Gospel tracts to strangers on the sidewalk . . . is autistic. Yes, Noah has autism, a learning disability. Yet Noah was being used by God that night to pass out pieces of paper that contained the Gospel message on it. So, what hinders you from proclaiming to the Lost the Greatest News ever about the Greatest One ever, Jesus Christ, Lord of the Universe?

Safegaurd

2009-03-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

"Abide in me, and I in you." John 15.4
This week as I have been continuing through the the Gospel of John in my daily devotions (I always liked the term "private worship" better) I came to this portion of Scripture and it struck me hard. The commentary from the ESVSB added further to this blow:
"Abide in me means to continue in a daily, personal relationship with Jesus, characterized by trust, prayer, obedience (see v. 10), and joy. And I in you is a phrase without an explicit verb, but it probably is an abbreviated way of saying, 'See that I abide in you'; that is, 'Safeguard your relationship with me so that I continue to abide fully in you.'"
What a struggle I (or we) am in daily to "safeguard" our relationship with Christ. Just as we must try to safeguard out relationship with our spouse by avoiding temptations that are thrown out there to us by the world, so too are there daily offerings from the world to our flesh that would deviate us from out walk with Christ. Reading this verse I am left feeling ashamed at the times that I have allowed myself to abide in things other than Christ, of how little I tend and cultivate my relationship with Him. Here He stands, the greatest lover of my soul, and I treat him so often as a mild acquaintance. I must confess, I oft surrender too easy to the force of current around me. We must fight to safeguard our relationship with Christ. It is our most blessed possession. Would you not fight for your relationship with you wife or children? Then why not your relationship with Christ. Oh, that I would greedily guard the time I had set aside for private devotions in His word. Oh that I were more faithful in keeping up with the fellowship of the body of my Christ. Of that hours were locked away from the world to allow for unbroken times of sweet labored prayer. That I were abiding in Him when considering time that could be spent in evangelism, telling others about my greatest treasure, Jesus!
Oh, Lord, hold me fast and never let me go. Steer my heart back to Your goodness. Give me the strength to resist the pulls of life. Make me deft to all calls but Yours. Be my all-in-all! In you do I desire to shelter. Increase my desire for You and shelter me, Lord. You are sweeter than all this life and world can offer. Amen.

Free Online Access to the ESV Study Bible

2009-03-04T16:24:00.000-08:00

In case you did not hear about it yet:

"Crossway is pleased to make the ESV Online Study Bible available free—for anyone and everyone—for a limited time beginning today, March 2, 2009. Until now, the ESV Online Study Bible has been available exclusively to those who have purchased the print edition.
In addition to the features found in the print edition, the ESV Online Study Bible provides numerous interactive features enabling readers to:
• Record personal notes, reflections, and links• Click hyperlinked cross references• Search by verse, topic, or keyword• Digitally highlight Bible passages with various colors• Listen to audio of passages
For full access to these features through March 31, 2009, visit www.esvstudybible.org/online. Simply create a login and password. Email information will not be shared, nor will there be any obligation to purchase.
Lane Dennis, President of Crossway Books & Bibles, states, “Our goal as a Christian publisher is to distribute the Bible and essential resources for understanding God’s Word as broadly as possible around the world. I am very excited about the ESV Online Study Bible, because it assists the study of God’s Word in a way that is particularly relevant to today’s tech-savvy generation.”
Crossway invites you to share this information with others—with the hope that many will benefit from this online resource as they seek to further experience the timeless truth of God’s Word as a powerful, compelling, life-changing reality."

The Kingdom Message, Sermon on Mark 1:15

2009-02-24T15:02:00.001-08:00

You can now hear my sermon on Mark 1:15 here.

The Severity of Sin: Lost!

2009-02-15T23:01:00.001-08:00

“You have not as yet estimated the great burden of sin,” said the great early theologian St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury (Cur Deus Homo, i.xxi). Sadly to say this this problem was not isolated to his days of the 1100’s but is, like in most ages, and issue for out times as well. I am not speaking about this as being a problem in the world but in the church. The lack of a biblical understanding of the severity of sin is one of the reasons the church has continually encountered so many problems within itself throughout its two thousand years of life. This is evident when we read Paul’s words in I Corinthians when he rebukes the Church of Corinth for their condoning a case of incest within their own congregation. Not only did they allow this in their midst but they were even boasting of it as if it were some badge to be proud of. What a compromise we have put ourselves into. We lighten the weightiness of sin so as to not offend those who attend our churches and in the act of doing so we offend God instead and make null and void His Gospel.

If you were to ask the avid Church member that fills the pew of his local Church on Sunday morning what sin “is” you might be shocked to hear some of the answers. A typical answer might go something like this, “a sin is a moral imperfection that prevents me from being as good as I could or should be.” There is a serious lack of God-centeredness in that answer. According to the answer just given it would seem that the crime one has committed is against oneself . Yet if one were to be properly disciple in the Scriptures you would get an answer similar to this: “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God” (taken from The Baptist Catechism, Q.18). 1 John 3.4 is the basis of such an answer, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” Notice that according to this answer and the Bible that the offensiveness of sin is towards God. It is god who is offended by our sin. Sin is anything other than the absolute perfection in following the law of God. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “Doubtless every sin is a God-provoking thing. It seems to stir Him to jealousy. As the blood of Abel cried ‘Vengeance,’ so does sin. It is the thorn in the side of justice, a stab in the heart of truth.”

What is meant when I say that there is a “softening” of sin in our day? Simply this: it is the view that sin is not taken seriously by God Himself so it shouldn’t really concern us either. This misunderstanding of the doctrine of sin can, and historically has, lead to a distortion of foundational doctrines of the Christian Faith. One must only consider a sampling of the errors of this view can produce to grasp the direness of the situation.

According to those who do not see their sins as being a weighty thing there is not danger of Hell in sight. “Hell,” they say, “was made for ‘bad people’ like murderers, despites, and the gravest of rogues. My “sins” are too petty to attract the attention of God’s wrath.” This was the type of person St Anselm was speaking to in our opening line, “You have not as yet estimated the great burden of sin.” Why has this person not properly understood the weightiness of their sin? Because they have not yet first considered the magnitude of the Holiness and Majesty of God Almighty! If one is to have a proper understanding of ones’ sin, and of all thing, one must first see properly (biblically) the God whom they are transgressing against.

A passage of Scriptures that captures this relationship of these doctrines is found in Isaiah 6.1-8. There we read of a prophet of God calling down a curse upon his own head for merely having looked at God. What would make a man of God, one of His prophet do such an extreme thing? Because he saw God! He did not see a “care bear,” a grandfatherly old man, or even some cosmic impartial being. Isaiah tells us of a God that is fearful to look upon, even for a prophet. In this passage we even see that the angels around God are covering their faces from Him. But why is God so dreadful to look at. To be honest, God is the most splendid, glorious, radiant and beautiful being in existence. And that is just the problem here. God is Holy. Not just mildly holy but in this passage of the Bible the angels cry out that God is three times holy. In His presence they declare, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" God’s holiness is not a singular attribute like His love, justice, grace, mercy, etc. No, it is not to be seen that way. It is everything about God that is holy. He is complete otherness and perfection in all His attributes and character. He is the Holy Creator and Ruler of the Universe. Isaiah’s dread was the result of seeing his sin in the light of the holiness of God. He saw that a sin committed against an infinitely holy God could only be infinitely offensive, and therefore infinitely punishable. Even his “minutest” sin was a stench in the nostrils of God. There was noting “inoffensive” about any of Isaiah’s sins, and now that he had seen God he knew it. Every aspect of his life had no been in conformity with the perfect nature of God. There is no middle ground in God’s dealing of sin. If it is not glorifying to His name then it is refuse and must be cast into Hell, away from his holy presence. God will vindicate His name against all who offend it with acts of lawless rebellion, sin. As Isaiah learned, there are no “little” sins.

We must ask a practical question at this point. How do we run this tide of thought that runs so rampant in the Church at large? We must look to the Cross. It is there we see it all. It is there that we see how serious sin is. It was there upon that tree that the Son of God, that perfect, spotless, and lovely lamb did hang, nailed and sacrificed for the weightiness of my sin and yours. It was there that a Holy Love broke through the severity of our sins and saved us from the doom that awaited. Think on this, the cost of your sin, the death of the Prince of Heaven, Jesus Christ. Can you really think of your sin as non-offensive or minor when you consider the cost Christ paid for it. “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1Pe 1:19).

Look today to the Cross. There you will see your sinfulness and you will see the great, holy love of God!

Repent and Believe (Paul Washer . . . again)

2009-02-09T13:08:00.000-08:00

Creator and creation

2009-02-05T06:45:00.000-08:00

OK, time for a Paul Washer video.

Questions for the New Year

2008-12-31T21:27:00.000-08:00

Every year for the past four years I go to Don Whitney's website and print out a copy of his "Ten Questions for the New Year" and take a week to prayerfully and thoughtfully fill out the answers. Right now a lot of people are making New Year resolutions and doing so aimlessly. There is nothing magical about making resolutions at the beginning of a new year, but this time does provide us an opportunity to pause, reflect, evaluate, and take focus. Since I have found these 10 Questions to be so helpful I am going to post them here but feel free to go to Don's site.

1. What's one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
2. What's the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
3. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?
4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?
5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?
6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?
7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?
8. What's the most important way you will, by God's grace, try to make this year different from last year?
9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?
10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

In addition to these ten questions, here are twenty-one more to help you "Consider your ways." Think on the entire list at one sitting, or answer one question each day for a month.

11. What's the most important decision you need to make this year?
12. What area of your life most needs simplifying, and what's one way you could simplify in that area?
13. What's the most important need you feel burdened to meet this year?
14. What habit would you most like to establish this year?
15. Who do you most want to encourage this year?
16. What is your most important financial goal this year, and what is the most important step you can take toward achieving it?
17. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your work life this year?
18. What's one new way you could be a blessing to your pastor (or to another who ministers to you) this year?
19. What's one thing you could do this year to enrich the spiritual legacy you will leave to your children and grandchildren?
20. What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this year?
21. What one thing do you most regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?22. What single blessing from God do you want to seek most earnestly this year?
23. In what area of your life do you most need growth, and what will you do about it this year?24. What's the most important trip you want to take this year?
25. What skill do you most want to learn or improve this year?
26. To what need or ministry will you try to give an unprecedented amount this year?
27. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your commute this year?
28. What one biblical doctrine do you most want to understand better this year, and what will you do about it?
29. If those who know you best gave you one piece of advice, what would they say? Would they be right? What will you do about it?
30. What's the most important new item you want to buy this year?
31. In what area of your life do you most need change, and what will you do about it this year?

2008-12-21T16:51:00.001-08:00

Today after church we drove out to the single mountain that had some snow on it. Here are the results. lol.

Battle Mt.

2008-12-18T05:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was out on one of my training runs and went out a little further on a road I had not been to before. My turn around point put me at the foot of a hill that I had seen many times before from the freeway (I-15) but had no clue about it's name or history. Upon reaching the trail that lead up the hill I read a sign that revealed the hills name: "Battle Mt." What was atop of this mt. was what really interested me. From the freeway for many years now my eye has always been draw to the large cross that adorned it's top.
When I reached the top this is the view I was treated to:

It was beautiful. After doing some surface research I have managed to find out that the cross up there has nothing to do with being a memorial for a battle. So I asked some folks who are from the area what battle the hill was named for. None of them could tell me for sure. I wonder what kind of sermon illustration I can draw from that one day. I am sure you can think of some.

Sneezing Makes Me Laugh

2008-12-15T07:35:00.000-08:00

Here is a short clip of my baby girl, Chloe, as I was trying out my new cell phone's video camera.

The WRATH of God: A Reasons for Christmas

2008-12-02T07:21:00.000-08:00

Christmas in America is a very interesting time of year. Most of the population to some degree or another acknowledge that Christmas has something to do with the baby Jesus in a manger but little else is known by them. Even Christians seem to have little reflection on the Incarnation. Why did the Son of God have to be born into mankind? Why did the Divine Word, the Second Person of the Trinity become human? I want to take a post to meditate on this question. Just a chance to pause and reflect.

I want to first start with the bad news of Christmas. Yes, Christmas has a dark and scary side. Christ came to the earth as a babe for a few reasons and one of those was because of the wrath of God against mankind. But before I can even mention God's wrath I have to go back even further. What angered God in the first place? Sin. Sin is any failure to conform to the moral law/character of God in deed, thought, attitude, or nature.

At the dawning of creation man attempted to usurp the rule of God and proclaim himself as god.
Man (Adam specifically) was created righteous and free from sin and endowed with freedom.
He was "posse non peccare" - able not to sin, but the ability to sin was there. However, his defiance of God's law brought sin into the world and imputed sin to his lineage (Rom 5.12-21, I Cor 15.21-22, I Tim 2.14, Ez. 28.11-19). Now man has been left "non posse non peccer" - not able not to sin. In Romans 2.5 we read that God's wrath is reserved for the unrepentant sinner: "But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed." Because God is infinitely holy and righteous sin is held with the greatest of indignation in his eyes. But what does God's wrath look like? How does it manifest itself upon the sinner? One has only to look at the Cross of Christ to observe the wrath of God poured out upon someone. Though Christ was perfectly sinless He bore upon Himself the guilt for people (the elect of God) and thus the wrath of God that is due that guilt. God the Father and Son did this in perfect harmony in order to be both just and justifier; to redeem a people for them self. The wrath that should have been laid heavy upon us was taken by the Beloved Son of God, Jesus Christ. What a Savior!
But how does this fit in with Christmas? When we think of the birth of Christ we must think of the reality of the incarnation of the Son of God. This was no mere babe laid in the manger. This was the Son of God! He was Divine! One with the Father! Why was He sent? Why not someone else? The answer is simple yet profound. God is infinitely Holy. Sin -- your sin -- has offended Him to an infinite degree. Only God was capable of bearing the weight of the wrath that such an offence merited. Only Jesus could save us. And for those who have repented and trusted in Christ He has saved you! Merry Christmas! You have been spared from the wrath of God by a loving Savior!

"Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God." Romans 5:9

I'll leave you with this clip from John Piper about the wrath of God.

Welcome Christmas

2008-11-28T21:57:00.000-08:00

Ah, it is finally here, Christmas. This has to be my favorite time of year. There are so many good memories of Christmas time. As you can see I have hung the holly and thrown up a tree here on the blog. Oh, is that snow I see on the borders? Well I'll be, it is! Is that Christmas music I hear, too? Wow!
Well, now that we are officially in the Christmas season I can come out of the closet with my love for Christmas music (if you remember, I have been listening to it for over a month already). Also, you can expect some Christmas themed post here. Enjoy! And . . .

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christ, Or Else I Die

2008-11-28T07:33:00.000-08:00

Great hymn, great prayer:

Christ, Or Else I Die
Taken from the Gadsby Hymnal # 737
William Hammond, 1719-1783

Gracious Lord, incline thy ear;
My requests vouchsafe to hear;
Hear my never-ceasing cry;
Give me Christ, or else I die.

Wealth and honor I disdain,
Earthly comforts, Lord are vain;
These can never satisfy:
Give me Christ, or else I die.

refrain:
All unholy and unclean,
I am nothing else but sin;
On thy mercy I rely;
Give me Christ, or else I die.

Thou dost freely save the lost;
In thy grace alone I trust.
With my earnest suit comply;
Give me Christ, or else I die.

Thou dost promise to forgive
All who in thy Son believe;
Lord, I know thou canst not lie;
Give me Christ, or else I die.

Gospel Light Shines on Black Friday

2008-11-28T07:03:00.000-08:00

This morning I was awoken from bed by my wife who was letting me know that my alarm clock was going off. I had slept through it's annoying beeping sound for 10 minutes. She was already up with baby. It was 2:45 a.m. and somehow I was wide awake after my wife woke me. I quickly dressed, ate and kissed Amanda and Chloe good-bye and headed out the door with a bag full of gospel tracts and New Testaments.

I got to the Westfield Shopping Center of North County at about 3:35. J.C. Penny's was suppose to open at 4 but for some reason they opened the doors at 3:30. I was just a few minutes too late to get the line that formed in front of their doors. Parking my car I then headed over to the entrance of the store and began handing out tracts. 30 minutes later the stores manager came out and told me I had to stop handing out tracts in front of his store. "No, problem," I said as I shook his hand, "did you get one of these?" I handed a tract to him but he refused it.

I went to Sears next were there was a small crowd/line forming and distributed tracts. I really wanted to open air here but security was driving around and if they did end up asking me to leave this early then I would miss out on giving so many other people gospel tracts. So, I held off this time.

Eventually two other brothers (Jarod and Angelo) from my church showed up at about 4:30ish and we split up. Jarod and Angelo took the huge line in front of Macy's and I went back to Sears. By the time I had returned to Sears not only had the line gotten longer but another line, just as long, had formed at a second door. I worked my way back up and down the lines distributing tracts and at 5 a.m. the doors were opened. As the crowd rushed into the store the manager and I held the doors open. As new people entered I gave them tracts and before leaving I gave one to the grateful manager. With the crowd now gone I made my way back to Jarod and Angelo at Macy's where we stood outside distributing tracts and New Testaments.

At about 5:30 Jarod and I left Angelo to enter the mall itself. We were able to make two sweeps inside, handing out tracts, before the security guard asked us to stop handing out flyers in the mall. We complied and headed back out to meet Angelo. Shortly after we broke off and headed home (6:15ish). In all we handed out about 600-700 tracts. Our prayer is that God would use them to present the Law and the Gospel to the lost, leading them to faith and repentance. May the Lord be pleased to save those lost souls. "Black Friday" turned out to not be so black after all.

Ten Indictments

2008-11-27T12:38:00.000-08:00

This is a must hear message from Paul Washer. Get you note pad and pen out -- take notes. Chew on this. Digest it slowly. And then take a look at yourself and your church.

The 10 Indictments:
1. A practical denial of the sufficiency of Scripture
2. An ignorance of God (God's Attributes)
3. A failure to address man's malady
4. An ignorance of the Gospel/An ignorance of the Doctrine of Regeneration
5. An unbiblical Gospel invitation
6. Ignorance regarding the nature of the Church
7. A lack of loving and compassionate Church discipline
8. A silence on Separation (from the world).
9. Psychology and sociology have replaced the Scriptures with regard to the family
10. The Emergent Church , Church growth, and cultural sensitivity

(A full transcript can be found/read here)

Giving Thanks

2008-11-26T22:01:00.000-08:00

Tonight, on this eve of Thanksgiving Day, I was walking out of a store after purchasing a few last minute items (sorry, you just can not have a Thanksgiving Day feast without pickled okra, just not possible) and noticed that the rain had returned. Here in Southern California we are in a drought and this rain is desperately needed. In front of me walked a little boy holding his mom’s hand. The lad must have been about 5 or 6 years old. He was a happy sounding kid. But what caught my ear was when he noticed it was raining, looked up into the sky, and said “Thanks for the rain, God.” Repeatedly and variously this little child gave thanks to God for the rain. This prayer of thanks sounded sincere and genuine. This little one “got” what so many in this world miss: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1.17). This gift was a gift from God and we ought to give thanks to him for it.

Tonight, when I stepped out of the garage with my sons there was a rainbow in the sky. The rainbow always reminds me of God’s faithfulness in keeping His promises. That is what it was put in the sky for (Gen. 9.9-17). God is faithful to keep all his promises and He does so daily and moment by moment. The greatest promise He fulfilled was the advent of His Son Jesus and the work of atonement He did on the Cross for sinners. For those of us who have been blessed in the fulfillment of this Promise we have much to be thankful for. I thank You, Lord, for saving me, for taking for yourself a people and being our God (Jer. 31.31-34). And the sign of God’s covenant love towards us is Jesus’ sacrifice as it says in Romans: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us“ (5.8).

I want to also give thanks for my wonderful bride, Amanda. No man has every been more blessed on this earth as I have that God should give for my wife a woman after His own heart.

I give God thanks for my son Noah. This past year I have seen many strides and gains he has made over his autism. Just today he asked me to come upstairs with him and play soldiers and tanks with him. A few years back he would neither been able to ask that nor would he have wanted me or anyone else to interact with him in that way. Today is different. Noah also prays for people without being told to and requests to pray if skipped in a group. Thank You, Lord.

Thank You, Lord, for my son Levi. This year he has really broke through the language barrier that he has struggle with in his autism. At the same he seems to comprehend more and enjoy more. Both boys have been learning the Ten Commandments and have 1-5 memorized. Incredibly they are grasping the concepts.

And this year I have a brand new baby girl to be thankful for, Chloe. She is such a joy! Thank You, Father, for all the cute smiles she gives me at 2 a.m.

Time does not allow for me to tell how grateful to God I am for our new house, my new co-laborers in evangelism, our new (old) church, my extended family, and so on.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds“ (Psalm 9.1).

Brothers Fishing Together

2008-11-26T11:42:00.000-08:00

Last Friday night our evangelism team (excluding me) went to Oceanside, CA to do some evangelism. Here is Jarod's report:
"Tonight Jim Pietrek, Aaron, Angelo and I went to Oceanside. We walked along the main pier passing out tracts. There were not many people there, mainly fishermen. One young man, named Andrew, came up to me after receiving one and asked for another to give to his friend. Aaron started talking to him. Andrew was knowledgeable of the Bible and claimed to be born again, but seemed to be trusting in the fact that he was baptized instead of trusting in Christ. He gladly took a Gospel of John from Aaron. Please pray for Andrew.
Afterwards we headed back to the car and drove around a little, when we saw the movie theater and a small crowd hanging around outside the theater. Aaron and Jim went to the theater, while Angelo and I stayed on the other side of the street. We interrupted some young Mormon "elders" who were talking to a group and gave them all gospel tracts. We turned a corner and I handed a tract to a young Marine coming out of a liquor store. He was very arrogant and in my face. I admit, I was at a point where I was at a loss for words. Angelo then came over and started sharing the gospel and his own testimony with this young man. It was amazing the transformation that was happening right before our eyes, it appeared he was being convicted by the Holy Spirit right there. His arrogance was gone. His whole demeanor changed. He said he accepted Jesus into his heart when he was younger. Angelo asked him why he was doing the stuff he was doing then? The conviction seemed to get stronger. He admitted it was a temporary relief. We shared that what we were offering was eternal and Angelo asked him what was holding him back from bowing the knee. There was silence and then he said he needed to think about it and walked away. His name is Josh. Please pray for him, It was so amazing to see God working like that."

The Royal Law

2008-11-25T08:44:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I have posted a Paul Washer Sermon or snippit so here is an excellent one. Enjoy.

Black Friday is Coming

2008-11-24T14:05:00.000-08:00

It has become a new sort of holiday in American culture, "Black Friday." It is a day of shopping, savings, tempers, greed, and money. Stores will be opening their doors to eager bargain shoppers at 5 to 7 o'clock in the morning in hopes to get their books in the "black" for the year. Hundreds and thousands will be lined up at the entrances of these super-stores waiting to "attack" their prey. And yes, they will defend their catch if necessary. Yep, all those people in lines, for hours, with nothing to do. Well, it will be a good opportunity for them to read a Gospel tract and hear the Law and Gospel. On Friday me and some of the team will be out at one San Diego's largest mall. Along with our typical tracts I'll be handing out Living Water's Christmas MDBs. I have even been working on some "hand-off lines" (a catchy line you say when handing someone a tract) like, "Get your Christmas bonus?" Other lines like a simple "Merry Christmas" will do too as you are truly giving them a great gift, the Gospel. And here is a new line when asked what is one it, " The real bail-out plan."
I'll post a report and some pics on Friday of our adventure.
This marks the beginning of Christmas evangelism time! It is a prime opportunity to engage someone in a Gospel conversation since most know that Christmas has something to do with Christ. Also, gospel tracts are great to put in Christmas cards. Last year Clint, my twin, sent everyone a Paul Washer CD and a tract. Those were great gifts.
Please keep us in prayer as we head out early Friday morning to share the greatest Gift with those in the lines.

Slow Posting

2008-11-15T06:55:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to take a moment and let all those out there who are so gracious (and evidently bored) enough to read my blog that things are slow on here right now do to my little new born blessing, Chloe, and Internet connection issues. regular posting should resume next week when my new Internet service is up.

So, to reward you for your faithfulness I will leave for you today this picture of two "Christian Soldiers." LOL. Enjoy the laugh. (yes, it is me and my twin)

Taking the Gospel to Little Italy

2008-11-15T06:45:00.000-08:00

This is a report writen last weekend but due to computer issues it was not posted . . . 'till now . . .

This evening Jarod, Aaron, and my headed out to Kettner in downtown San Diego. I found out that there was an art event happening there so went to see if it would be a good "fishing spot." After taking forever to find a parking spot we made our way to Kettner on foot and handed tracts out to folks as we passed them.
When we got to Kettner we found people there looking in the art shops and studios. The number of tracts we gave out tonight were not as many as we were used to since we typically give out several hundred and tonight we gave out maybe 60 between the three of us. Many people, more than usual, refused to take the offered tracts. However, it is not the number of tracts that are given out that matters. Two of those tracts were given to two girls, Alysa and Stacey. After I handed them tracts they asked if we knew where they could get "booze." From there we began a gospel conversation with the two of them. Alysa claims to be a Christian but I seriously doubt that she is since she had no idea about what the gospel even was (she heard it tonight though) and I gave her a New Testament to begin reading. Her favorite "Christian" author is Joel Olsten because his writings make her feel good. She said she was married to an atheist too. His name is Anton. Stacey, was not a professed believer and believed that God was her "hommie" (no joke, that is how she described the Sovereign of the universe). Stacey though she was good enough to make it to heaven and things would all be cool by the time she made it to judgment. She went on to expound a lot of poor theology. Aaron and Jarod spent a good amount of time talking to her and when we had finished both girls were very sober minded and Stacey told them that our mission in conveying the gospel to them tonight had been accomplished. They left and skipped going to the bar because we had used up their drinking time talking about the Gospel and the danger of Hell. Jarod gave them a GBC card and invited them to join us this Sunday. Please pray for the salvation of Stacey, Alysa, and Anton.
When we got back to my van there were a bunch of teens hanging on the street where were were parked. They had just finished handing out food tot he poor. I asked them who they were with and they said they were from a particular church. I asked if they told these people about the gospel when they handed out food and they said, "No, we don't push it on them but we will tell it to them if they ask." That broke my heart. I encouraged the boys to do the work of an evangelist and to warn people about the judgment, of Hell, and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus. I gave them about 100 tracts and asked them to give them to the poor the next time they gave out food. They took the tracts and said they would. I pray they do. Please pray that God would raise up evangelists from them.

Dancin'

2008-10-23T22:45:00.001-07:00

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Slumbering

2008-10-23T09:47:00.000-07:00

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4.8

. . . because . . .

"Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." Psalm 121.4

(This is how Chloe and I were found at 6 this morning.)

Welcome Noah James

2008-10-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

Congrats Aaron and Emily on the birth of your fifth child, Noah James, born yesterday (10-22)! I look forward to all of our children growing-up together. God is good!

Chloe is Here!

2008-10-21T13:51:00.000-07:00

On October 18th, this past Saturday, our little girl Chloe Katheen was born at 10:04 p.m. She was 7.4 lbs and 20 inches. Her and my wife, Amanda, are doing well. We want to thank the Lord for such a beautiful gift. May she come to be Christ's and seek to bring Him glory. Thank you all for your prayers.

Inducement and Arrival

2008-10-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

First the inducement news. Looks like we are going to the hospital on Sunday morning to induce the birth of Chloe. She is just enjoying herself too much in the womb and needs to come out here now. Please keep us in prayer.

Second, the arrival news. It's here!!! I came home today to find a package on my door. It was from Crossway and yes, it was my new ESV Study Bible with the black genuine leather cover.
This Bible is THICK!
I knew what was in this thing before but now after having two hours to droll over it I have to say, I am blown away!
It exceeds my expectations. I would have paid double for this volume. I am going to check-out the ESVSB online site that come with the Bible next to see all on the online extras.

Now Available!!!

2008-10-15T06:20:00.000-07:00

James 3

2008-10-15T06:12:00.001-07:00

Here is a short film from Desiring God Ministries. Do you see yourself in this movie? I know I saw a guy who comes out now and then, myself.

"With it [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so." James 3.9-10

Due Date

2008-10-15T06:06:00.000-07:00

Well, today is the day! Yes, I know today is the day that the ESV Study Bible is now available and is now, as we "speak" being shipped to me. But that is not what I am talking about. Today is the due date for my little girl Chloe. These past nine months have flown by, even Amanda, my wife, thinks so. I am soooo excited about her arrival. With two boys already a little girl will be a nice addition to the family. Please keep us in prayer as we just wait now, and please pray that she is not too late :)
Thank You, Lord, for this new gift.

Is It Christmas Yet?

2008-10-14T08:48:00.001-07:00

Ok, I admit it! I have already begun to listen to Christmas music. Yep, I am one of those people. I don't ask, "Is it Christmas already?" I ask, "Is it Christmas yet?" I love the Christmas season and I love the music. I am not talking about the Chipmunk Christmas music, but about good solid doctrine Christmas music. This morning it was Handel's Messiah. Here is a little taste of it. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas. lol :)

Feel free to leave a comment telling be how pathetic I am. lol.

Evangelism Tip #3: The Law AND the Gospel

2008-10-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

A Brother recently asked me about my thoughts on sharing the Gospel with someone who, after hearing the law and admitting to being a law breaker, should be told the Gospel without showing some sign of contriteness or brokenness over his sin? The common rule adhered to in the Way of the Master style evangelism is "Law to the proud and grace to the humble." And I agree. However, I want to describe or qualify this. If, when I have taken them through the "Good Test" and I ask them if it concerns them that they are going to Hell all I am looking for is a "Yes" answer to give me the green light to proceed to the Gospel. Why am I not probing for tears or further contriteness? Because in these brief encounters with people on the streets The Holy Spirit may not be effectually working on this person to bring about salvation at that time. However, I want to plant the seed and give that lost person the entire message. Who knows, God may bring the message to that sinner's mind again some day and use it to convict him of his lawlessness and drive him to Christ in repentance and faith. In my encounters I have seen tears, I have seen the jesters turn to stone, when the law was used and the heart exposed for what it was, but not always. It is not my job to know what is in their heart. I am not doing the saving, I am doing the witnessing, the preaching, the proclamation. It is God the Holy Spirit that regenerates, convicts, saves.
With that said, if a person does say that it does not concern them that they are going to Hell then we will linger there and I will attempt to show him further the offence of his sin before a Holy God and the result of that sin being eternal torments in Hell. It he does not care then there is nothing we can do, he is left in his sin. Most of the time people will leave the conversation by this point and not want to hear more.
The point is, when you have to opportunity, and the person is willing to hear, give the entire message, the whole council of God.

Halloween Fishing

2008-10-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

Last night Jarod, Aaron (his brother) and I headed out to the Haunted Trails at Balboa Park again for the second weekend in a row. As we drove up we amazed at how long the line was this time to get into the "attraction." This was turning out to be a terrific "fishing hole." Often time during the night the line was over an hour long wait. Well, what better way to spend your time in line than to be reading a Gospel tract? So, with Creepy Cash, Million and Zero Dollar Bills of various types we set up at various points to cover all entry ways to the line so we could give a tract to everyone approaching. It was incredible! About 500-600 tracts were given out last night and we had opportunity for several "Gospel Conversations." Below is a bit of video I took of our "fishing" last night. The two Evangelists that you see handing out the tracts are Jarod and Aaron. Please excuse the bad camera work at the end where you will hear (but not see) me witnessing to some teens and often cutting off their heads in the camera shot. It is hard to evangelize and hold a camera.

I'll be taking a few weeks off because out baby is due this week and then we have a big move coming up. However, we are going to be planning a big finish at this fishing hole on Halloween night with open-air preaching and as many fellow evangelists handing out tracts and witnessing as we can muster. If you are int he area and interested in joining us drop me a line, we would be glad to have you join ranks with us.

A Scary Night of Evangelism

2008-10-05T16:31:00.000-07:00

Jarod and I ditched out plans for evangelizing at the air-show and headed to San Diego's Balboa Park to visit the Haunted Trails attraction. Yep, it's one of those "haunted house" things where people pay to get scared and see very grotesque things. However, it was happening at a public park, so that means we could get right up to it and talk to folks about the gospel and hand out tracts. Our choice of tracts that night was the good ol' Creepy Cash by Custom Tracts Source. They worked so well with this event. As people approached the venue we would say, "did you get your Creepy Cash," or "Hey, don't go in without getting your Creepy Cash." People seemed so happy to get them and one person said, "Cool, I already got a souvenir!" People were trying to read them in the dim light while waiting in line to see re-enactments of murder and terror. We gave away about 300 tracts in the time we were there. Even when we were leaving there were folks showing up still.

Next Saturday we are headed back and going to be able to stay longer and now that we have the logistics of the place down I'll probably do some open air preaching. Looks like we are going to be in Balboa Park all this month and then again in Nov/Dec for the holiday festivals they do.

One last thing, As we walked across the long bridge that goes over the freeway and connects two halves of the Park we ran into Alfredo and Maria who were walking our way. I gave them each a tract and talked with them as we walked. I was able to take Alfredo through the law (Maria was kind of shy so she listened and agreed with Alfredo's answers with a nod) and asked them if it concerned him that he would spend eternity in a Hell. Alfredo had just come from the Haunted Trails so scary images were fresh on his mind. They both agreed that it concerned them. I then told them the Good News that Jesus had come and taken the penalty they deserved and satisfied God's wrath on behalf of sinners. I called them to repent and trust in Jesus alone for their salvation. I thanked them for listening and we departed ways. Please remember these two in your prayers tonight/today. Thanks.

God sure is good. Thank You, Lord for saving us, and for letting us take part in Your great work.

Autism Runs

2008-10-02T15:54:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone know I have a new blog devoted to Autism and my running campaign, "Autism Runs," and will post updates on my running, training, and life with autism. Please drop by over there and see whats new. Also, there are links for donating to my Run and other Autism links. Thanks for the prayers and support.
www.AutismRuns.blogspot.com

Adam's Ave.

2008-10-01T05:54:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday night the Adam's Ave. became the sight of a huge free music festival and street fair. It also was the sight of a booth a sister church set up in order to hand out literature and give out cold water. Some of us took the opportunity to hand out some tracts and do some witnessing as well. Jarod was working the street by the time I managed to get there (I had to park a mile away, no joke) and so when I met up with him he explained that we only had two spots from which we were allowed to hand out tracts.
I stood on one side and he on the other. We went through about 1000 tracts in less than two hours. Both of us had opportunities to talk about the gospel with folks and Jarod got to talk to a J.W. wearing blinking light glasses. Hmm. O.k. Other that getting yelled at by some of the fair patrons the night went pretty smooth.

This week Jarod and I are hoping to hit the Miramar Air show. Please pray that we can get on base for that.

Clint Does First Open Air!

2008-09-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday night my twin brother, Clint, did his first open-air preaching in Glendale, Ca. This is "stop light preaching" and the preacher does a short message that last as long as it takes for individuals waiting at a crosswalk the get to the other side. So, you have to be quick and to the point. Congrats Clint! I am very proud of you.

Evangelism Tip #3: Connect

2008-09-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

This past weekend on Grand Blvd. I walked up to some young folks and handed each of them a tract. They took it and did not look twice at it. But what I noticed was that one of them, a young lady, had a splint on her leg and foot. Ah, a chance to connect, a chance to show concern. "Wow," I said, "What happened to your leg?" Over the years as a personal trainer I have learned that everyone loves to talk about their injuries. Give a person enough time and you are likely to hear their entire medical history. This young lady was no different, she began to tell me about how she is an athlete and how she injured her IT band and the surgery she had to have. I told her I was a personal trainer and gave her some good advice. She seemed to appreciate it. Ah, and then the segway from the natural to the supernatural. "More important that the words of wisdom I just gave you about your leg are the words that are on that piece of paper I just gave you and your brother (the other person was her older brother I had learned and he too was engaged in our conversation). Their interest peaked at that. From their I went into a presentation of the Law and Gospel. It was a good conversation and their expressions displayed thoughtfulness in the matter.
At other times during the night (and during most of my witnessing encounters) I am looking at the individual and doing a quick survey of them to see if their is a way to connect with them. I passed a group of Marines and as I handed them tracts I said "Semper Fi, Devil Dogs (the Marine Corps motto and a nickname for Marines)," and that made them more curious as to what I had handed them. Another person passed with a Chargers shirt on, "Did you see that game last week? We got robbed!" He took the tract and instantly began to read. There were people wearing different colored wrist bands so I asked them what it was for. They enjoyed telling me that it was for the particular car club that they were in that was helping out with the car show that evening. There is nothing wrong with just handing out tracts, but people seem to be more apt to read something that someone has given them if the giver has made a connection with them, even in the slightest way.

Runnin' Down a Dream . . .

2008-09-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

So here's the deal, between November 2008 and August 22nd I plan on running about 230 miles in races. It breaks down like this:
Nov 16 - Silver Strand Half marathon (13.1 m)
Jan 25 - Carlsbad Marathon (26.2m)
Mar 1 - Malibu Creek 50K (30 m)
Apr 18 - Leona Divide (50 m)
May 17 - Sycamore Creek 50K (30 m)
June 6-7 - San Diego 100 (100 m)
August 8 - Mt. Disappointment Endurance Race (50 m)
August 22 - Bull Dog 50K (30 m)
(These dates at tentative thus far)

In the past few year I have enjoyed my running and done a few races (from 10ks to 50 milers) but my races have been few and far between. This next year I am going to make up for all that. The challenges I will face are these:

1) I have never run further that 50 miles,so that 100 miler will be a bear and so will the training for it.

2) I just don't have the time to train for some of the high mile races, except at night. Yep, this ambitious plan is going to require me to spend some nights on the road and trail getting in those miles.

3) My body, will it hold up? I have recovered pretty fast in past runs but never had to turn around and run another ultramarathon the next month or even two weeks later. This will call for lots of ice baths and injury prevention.

My final obstacle is this, if I do this crazy thing for myself then I will eventually quite. Doing it for myself is not enough of a motivator for me to endure the sleep deprivation, the pain, the endless hours on the road/trails. I need something bigger than myself, more nobler than myself to be my reason for this insanity. I have found it: Autism (click here to learn about autism). I will be running these 230 miles in an attempt to raise funds for a specific autism charity, Autism Speaks. This is near and dear to my heart because my two sons are autistic. In the days and weeks to come I will be releasing more information about my little campaign, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, please consider making a donation, the botton for that is on the top left side of this blog. Thanks.
This is going to be a great adventure!

A GRAND Brotherhood

2008-09-21T06:41:00.000-07:00

After several weeks of being unable to join Jarod on Grand Blvd this past Friday I hooked-up with him for some street fishing. We met at 6:30 p.m. and waited at our meeting spot to see if any one else was going to show tonight. God had it planned for it to be just Jarod and I tonight. I have really enjoyed the fellowship Jarod and I have had for the past few weeks of witnessing on Grand. It's funny, I ave seen him maybe three times at church and three on Grand and yet, I feel like we have been friends for some time. I attribute this to two reasons: (1) we are bother brothers in Christ and their is an immediate bond there that is stronger than any human bond, it is supernatural, and (2) we are brothers in the trench together. While I was in the Marines I learned how quick and strong a bond can form between two people who are in harms way or on a mission together. They rely on each other, they experience the same struggle, they have the same objective. The same goes for those on the street seeking the lost. We are not is some cozy "evangelism friendly" environment. We are on the front lines (maybe I should say, behind enemy lines). That creates a bond. Each time Jarod is stopped by someone that he has handed a tract to (like inthe picture to the right, he is on the right) I try to do two things, pray for him and the lost person he is talking with and stay physically near him in case there is danger and I am needed. Sometimes it can be said we are in a hostile situation both spiritually and physically. Going through that together with the goal of seeing folks brought out of the darkness and into God's marvelous Kingdom develops a bond. So now, when I see Jarod at church, we share that brotherhood in Christ, but I also get that feeling of brotherhood in arms feeling. I am thankful for Jarod and his desire to serve the Lord. He is a true example of being a slave of the Master. He is a quiet man, but he is bolder than most men that I have met. His love for the Lord Jesus, and his love for the lost compel his boldness to speak truth to the unregenerate as he weekly spend his Friday nights on the streets handing out tracts and engaging in Gospel conversations.

Well, in another week the classic car event will wrap-up and our current evangelism venue will be gone for another year. Jarod and I have kicked-around some ideas but have nothing solid yet. I know that when Christmas nears I want to head over to Balboa Park here in San Diego for some preaching, maybe not weekly but at least a few time. We have also discussed plans for Halloween and the fall. It will be a great season for fishing.

I have some further thoughts about this past Friday night on Grand, but I am going to spread them out over the week. So for now, please keep me, Jarod, and all the other evangelists on the streets in prayer as we seek to make Christ known.

Have a Grand Lord's Day!

What Motivates You?

2008-09-18T11:02:00.001-07:00

He Had To Die

2008-09-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

Paul Washer sermon excerpt.

Chinese Pastor Set Free!

2008-09-11T18:52:00.001-07:00

This e-mail was sent out from Voice on the Martyrs yesterday. If you remember, I posted a request a while back that this pastor was arrested before the Olympics. He has now been freed. Thank You, Lord.

"Thank you for adding your name to the online petition asking the Chinese government to free Pastor Bike. Your voice was heard! Pastor Bike is FREE! On Friday, August 29, prominent Chinese house church leader Zhang Mingxuan, affectionately known as "Pastor Bike," his wife and a co-worker were released from Chinese custody. Pastor Bike was arrested along with his wife and co-worker August 6, two days before the Olympic Games began in Beijing. An outspoken evangelist, Pastor Bike has travelled on his bike to many places in China, handing out Christian literature and Bibles and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Instead of being held at a prison or a detention center Pastor Bike and his wife, Xie Fenglan, and their co-worker were taken to resort hotels on a "forced vacation" designed to ensure that they couldn’t talk to any foreign media. Pastor Bike was scheduled to do an interview with the BBC the day of his arrest.
All three believers are in good health and spirits and praising God for their release, according to our co-laborers at China Aid Association. The detainees said during their confinement they had opportunities to witness to guards and even high-ranking government officials staying at the hotels where they were held.
On August 26, The Voice of the Martyrs and China Aid Association launched an international online petition drive advocating for Pastor Bike, his wife and co-worker to be released. On September 4, China Aid Association delivered the petition — which had more than 57,000 names printed on 619 pages — addressed to Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Washington, D.C. Included was a letter thanking the Chinese government for releasing these house-church Christians.
We are thankful to you and the thousands of others who logged on and signed the petition. Christians in free nations often wonder if we can really make a practical difference for Christians in persecuted countries. Pastor Bike’s release shows that WE CAN!
Continue to pray for Pastor Bike, his wife and their co-worker and for other believers in China."

Our First Year!

2008-09-09T05:51:00.000-07:00

Today is my first year Wedding Anniversary! On September 9th, 2007, on the island Maui, Hawaii, I married the most wonderful woman to walk the earth, my bride Amanda. I stand in amazement daily that she ever uttered the words "I do" when asked if she would take me as her husband. For me, it was a "no brainer," I was definitely getting the better end of that deal. This past year has been one of bliss, blessings, and growth in so many ways. Next month we will be celebrating the arrival our our first baby together, little Chloe. I thank God daily for my beautiful wife and the love she showers upon me. I am truly the most blessed man in the world.

And this is our song, "White Sandy Beach" by Iz.

The ESV Study Bible

2008-09-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

Over the years I have come to take the ESV as my preferred version of the Bible and so I was thrilled when I heard that a Study Bible was being produced based on it's text. Not only does it have some great authors, theologians, biblical scholars notes all through it but it is chalk full of new maps, building models, and charts. Just check out the website and see the contributors to the ESVSB and you will be impressed (see link to the left). My copy has been order for some time and I have been counting the days 'till the UPS man rings the door bell and hands me a package containing this great new volume. Here is a video that Crossway has produced to introduce folks tot he ESVSB. (And no, I am not getting any kick-back from this blog post, lol)

Confession at Sunrise

2008-09-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

Years ago when I was serving in the Marines and afloat somewhere in the Persian Gulf and a massive warship I was witness to on of the most startling confessions I have ever heard. For months while on ship a very intelligent and persuasive Sergeant would attempt to convince others that there was no God. He was a very well read and devout atheist. Often he and I would engage in discussions that would draw crowds around our bunks to listen to the talking points. I pulled out every logical and biblical argument I could think of for the proofs of God. The fellow Sergeant was not persuaded and was very resolute in his foolishness (Psalm 53.1).

And then one day, shortly after morning chow I made my way to the hanger bay where we would soon be gathering our troops for morning formation. The great doors on the side of the ship were wide open and the deep blue ocean and was just beginning to be illuminated with the rising of the sun. Standing in the middle of the huge opening was this Sergeant, just standing there, watching to the sun rise up over the water. I walked up beside him, saying nothing to him, and looked out. The sunrise was spectacular. Without turning to look at me he said in an awe-struck voice, a voice of confession, "There must be a God." I was shocked. With all of my arguments, all my "proofs," it was the sunrise that broke his pride (Psalm 19.1-2). He could not argue with the majesty of what was before him. He then turned to me, humility had vanished, and he said,"If you ever tell anyone I said that I'll deny it." His pride was his master. He choose the lie over the truth (Romans 1.21, 25). I was so saddened to see this. My heart ached for this man's salvation and for the rest of the deployment I pleaded with him to repent and trust in Jesus.

Since those days I have learned that there is no such thing as an atheist. Every one KNOWS there is a God. Let us be faithful to point them to the true and living God.

Soul Winners, Master the Art of Prayer!

2008-09-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

"One thing more, the soul-winner must be a master of the art of prayer. You cannot bring souls to God if you go not to God yourself. You must get your battle-axe, and your weapons of war, from the armoury of sacred communion with Christ. If you are much alone with Jesus, you will catch his Spirit; you will be fired with the flame that burned in his breast, and consumed his life. You will weep with the tears that fell upon Jerusalem when he saw it perishing, and if you cannot speak so eloquently as he did, yet shall there be about what you say somewhat of the same power which in him thrilled the hearts and awoke the consciences of men. My dear hearers, specially you members of the church, I am always so anxious lest any of you should begin to lie upon your oars, and take things easy in the matters of God’s kingdom. There are some of you - I bless you, and I bless God at the remembrance of you - who are in season, and out of season, in earliest for winning souls, and you are the truly wise: but I fear there are others whose hands are slack, who are satisfied to let me preach, but do not preach themselves; who take these seats, and occupy these pews, and hope the cause goes well, but that is all they do. Oh, do let me see you all in earnest! A great host of four thousand members - for that is now as nearly as possible the accurate counting of our numbers - what ought we not to do if we are all alive, and all in earnest! But such a host, without the spirit of enthusiasm, becomes a mere mob, an unwieldy mass, out of which mischief grows, and no good results arise. If you were all firebrands for Christ, you might set the nation on a blaze. If you were all wells of living water, how many thirsty souls might drink and be refreshed!" Charles H. Spurgeon

Urgent!!!

2008-08-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

Pastor Bike, as he is affectionately known, is considered to be one of the most outspoken evangelists in China. He is a bold believer willing to cross borders, hand out Christian literature and Bibles, share Christ with those under age 18 and lead thousands to Christ. All these actions are considered "illegal" in communist China.

On August 6, just two days before the Olympics began, Pastor Zhang "Bike" Mingxuan was arrested, along with his wife and a coworker.

In response to these arrests, The Voice of the Martyrs and China Aid Association have launched a petition drive to free these three Christians and to let the Chinese government know that the world is aware that these Christians are being detained.

Together, our voice can make a difference. Please follow the link below to learn more, and please forward this email to your friends.

Go to FreePastorBike.com to sign the petition now.

Evangelism Tip #2: Tracts

2008-08-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

"Let each one of us, if we have done nothing for Christ, begin to do something now. The distribution of tracts is the first thing." — Charles H. Spurgeon

What to look for in a tract:

1. The Law - Before anyone can see what is so Good about the Good News they need to how Bad the Bad News is. The Law serves to open their eyes to the reality of their fallen estate and their need of salvation outside of themselves. It is in the law that the proud are brought low and humbled, broken.
2. Judgement - Once they have heard of their condition they need to be aware of the fate of those who perish in their sins; they will be called to account for them on Judgement Day, found guilty, and condemned to everlasting torments in Hell.
3. The Good News - Jesus came to rescue sinners. He did so by dieing on the cross to take the penalty and wrath for sinners and then rose again from the dead three days later. Christ alone has the power to save us from Hell and bring us into reconciliation with God.
4. The Call/Invitation - Repent and Trust. Turn and forsake sin. Trust in Christ alone for salvation. Read the Bible and obey it.

Be discerning and examine every tract prayerfully before using them! Beware of tract that tout Christianity as the answer to all for life's problem (God has a wonderful plan for your life") or makes false (unbiblical) promises.

For me personally, I like tracts that are nice looking or catchy, but we want to make sure that the graphics do not distract from the message but aids it.

Many folks sit idle in their churches wishing they had some sort of ministry. Well here you go! You can have a Tract Ministry. Here are some steps to developing an effective tract ministry.

1) Pray. You cannot win anyone to Christ, neither can a tract. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. Pray that God would be pleased to save the recipients of your tracts.
2) Approach with loving smile. This can be done by making eye contact, with a pleasant and loving smile.
3) Use Biblical tracts. Invest in theologically sound tracts to make a powerful presentation of the Gospel.
4) Make every opportunity count. Never leave home without a tract and never miss a God-given opportunity to save.
5) Distribute tracts each and every day. The Lord will bless your efforts.

If you are looking for good tracts take a look at the links I have under "Great Tract Sites" on the left side of this page.

Preach, Preach, Preach Everywhere!

2008-08-25T06:43:00.000-07:00

I have been a member of many churches with men who were gifted at preaching or were in seminary training for the pastorate. I am also a seminary graduate. So often these men are longing to preach, chomping at the bit to get into the pulpit to proclaim the word of God. Ah, if only they knew that there are audiences waiting for them on the streets! In a sermon entitled "Preach, Preach, Preach Everywhere," Charles Haddon Spurgeon in 1869 said,

"Are there not many of you who could preach? Let me earnestly entreat you if you can to do so. Let no man who has gifts keep them back. There are the streets, if you can find no other places, and let me say that there is no better work done in London than that which is done in the streets by the open-air services. There are some who hear the gospel there who never would have heard it if the twelve apostles had been preaching in any of our places of worship. Use your ability in other places if you can, but let every
tongue that can speak do so."

So, what are you waiting for, preachers?

With Melting Heart and Weeping Eyes

2008-08-24T08:55:00.000-07:00

This is one of those great hymns of days gone by. Like many of the past, this hymn is rich in theology. The hymn writer was not a fluff person. He was solid in doctrine. Notice specifically the order of this hymn. The person saw no danger, wrath, nor fear of death. But then, through God's law being illuminated to this person, realized that death, destruction, and vengeance were his due! Ah, how the Law brings things into right perspective! Oh how the Law of God brings us low. It should cause the heart of the lost to race in fear! Trembling lips should cry out, "Lord, save this wretch condemned to die!" Law to the proud, Grace tot he humble.

With melting heart and weeping eyes,
My guilty soul for mercy cries;
What shall I do, or whither flee,
To rid the vengeance due of me?
To rid the vengeance due of me?

Till late I saw no danger nigh,
I lived at ease nor feared to die;
Wrapped up in self-conceit and pride,
"I shall have peace at last," I cried.
"I shall have peace at last," I cried.

But when great God thy light divine,
Had shone on this dark soul of mine,
Then I beheld with trembling awe,
The terrors of Thy holy law.
The terrors of Thy holy law.

Should vengeance still my soul pursue,
Death and destruction are my due;
Yet mercy can my guilt forgive,
And bid this dying sinner live.
And bid this dying sinner live.

Does not Thy sacred word proclaim,
Salvation free in Jesus’ name?
To him I look and humbly cry,
"Lord, save a wretch condemned to die!"
"Lord, save this wretch condemned to die!"
"Lord, save this wretch condemned to die!"

Author: John Fawcett, 1740-1817. Converted at the age of 16 under the ministry of George Whitefield, he at first joined the Methodists, but three years later united with the Baptist Church at Bradford. Having begun to preach he was, in 1765, ordained Baptist minister at Wainsgate near Hebden Bridge, Yorks. In 1772 he was invited to London to succeed the celebrated Dr. J.Gill as pastor of Carter's Lane. The invitation had been formerly accepted, the farewell sermon at Whinsgate had been preached and the wagon loaded with his goods for removal, when the love and tears of his attached people prevailed and he decided to remain. Fawcett sacrificed a London appointment and remained where he was loved and respected. His salary was £25 pounds a year.
From the circumstances of this incident Fawcett wrote his well-known hymn, "Blest be (is) the tie that binds." In 1777 a new chapel was built for him at Hebden Bridge, and about the same time he opened a school at Breasley Hall, his place of residence. In 1793 he was invited to become President of the Baptist Academy at Bristol, but declined. In 1811 he received from America the degree of D.D. and died in 1817 at the age of 78. Dr. Fawcett was the author of a number of prose works in Practical Religion, several of which attained a large circulation.

A Grand Night!

2008-08-23T10:58:00.000-07:00

Besides being on Grand Blvd in Escondido last night, it was a grand night for me in many ways. Here is a recap of the night for you.

We met at the Starbucks (of course) near Grand for prayer to kick off our night of evangelism. Not only was it Jarod and I out there but Jarod's brother Aaron, Jim, and four older ladies from various churches. These older ladies were the sweetest. They were all in their later years of life and here they were, walking the streets at night to tell younger folks about the Great God who makes salvation available through His Son Jesus. These ladies were armed with tracts and used a survey approach to open the door for Gospel conversations.

While the ladies took the streets outlining Grand Blvd., the four of us guys split into pairs and took each side of the street of Grand to walk and distribute tracts, stopping occasionally to engage in Gospel conversations. As soon as we started I came across Dorian, a security guard for the event. I had given him a tract last time I was on Grand two weeks ago. He said he remembered me too and was using the tract as a book marker in his Bible. We talked for a bit and I learned that he was a man recovering from alcohol abuse and had repented and trusted in Christ. He and his wife were currently looking for a church so I pointed him to a good one in the area, Grace Bible Church.

Aaron and I continued down the street handing out tracts without much incident. There was a lot more noise on the street than usually with all the bands playing. Once we made it to the end of our street we decided to cross over and meet up with Jarod and Jim. As we walked the street towards them we continued to hand out tracts. I handed a tract to one young man and started walking away. Then I heard that young man calling form behind me to "hold up." The young man's name is Vladimir (pictured here). I'll get the audio of that conversation up on the web as soon as I teach myself how to do that :) But just to let you know, I went through the law and the Gospel with Vlad and he came away saying that it was no accident that we had met because he had been thinking a lot about his eternal destiny recently. Vlad also asked me for a church and I sent him to that same one I suggested to Dorian (Grace Bible Church). Please pray for him and stay tuned for that audio.

The night ended with me giving my first shot at open-air in the civilian world. I had done open-air before while in the Marines and to Marine but never to civilians as a civilian so this was new for me. I was nervous to say the least. We went back to the location that we prayed at at the beginning of the night. There is a nice little area where folks gather and a sidewalk that provided me the public property from which I could legally preach from. Our evangelism crew dispersed into the crowd of teens that made up my audience. I took a deep breath and went for it. As soon as I began to preach a young many got the nastiest, most hateful look on his face and began to drop profanity in my face like it was the only words he know. He cursed me and he cursed God, but I kept on as if he were not there. Eventually he left and I just kept preaching. By the time I had gotten though the law a great deal of my audience was leaving so I rapidly went on tot he Gospel. More heckling came from a girl and another boy. Then a bit of encouragement, Mike. Mike was a young man who heard me from a distance and started yelling encouragements to me. Wow! That was nice to hear.

Talking to the team we thought it best to next time move the preaching location and move it closer to the car show venue. In the future I will be preaching while the others are handing out the tracts on the streets and doing 1-2-1. The car show is only going to last until September so we are going t need to find a new place to hit. We talked about Balboa park for some of their holiday celebrations. The idea of preaching there excites me. There will be tons of lost folks there to celebrate the holidays and they will hear the Good News and why it is so good (the law).

It was a good night. I was blessed. I pray that seeds were sown or watered. I pray that souls will be saved. I learned a lot.

Evangelism Tip #1: Olympic Disqualification!

2008-08-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

Have you been watching the Olympic Games? So has the Lost. Do you know that the New Testament is chalked with references to sports? Paul makes use of boxing and racing terms often. Last night in the record breaking Men's 200 Meter Race Jamaican Usain Bolt took home the gold medal. Crossing the finish line right behind him was Churandy Martina of Netherlands Antilles and third-place finisher Wallace Spearmon of the United States. While all the men were celebrating their apparent victories with their nation's flags draped across their backs it was announced that Wallace Spearmon had been disqualified for stepping our of his lane. Later, after further review it was found that Martina was disqualified for the same thing. Wow! What a let down for both of these men. As fast as they ran they still went home empty handed, losers in fact. To have come all that way, to have passed through many qualifying heats to make it to the finals, to have given your all on the track and leaving all there, only to have been told their race never counted.

OK, if you don't see how this could lead to a discussion with the lost then you need to re-read this post thus far. In all their striving to be good and to run a good race, they are not running according to God's rules. They think they have won Heaven but they are wrong. When they stand before God He will judge them and it will be shown that they "crossed the line," and have broken His rules (the law). What a segway for the Gospel! We only have a few days left of the Olympic Games, use this while it is still fresh. I used it on a guy this morning and it opened up to a wonderful conversation.

OK, Christian, now with this talk of running a good race I want to leave this passage with you to think about:

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." I Cor. 9:25-27

One Night On Brand Blvd.

2008-08-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday night I was in Glendale and hooked-up with my twin and some other street evangelists on Brand Blvd. This ministry is led by Tony "the Lawman" Miano. Clint (my twin) and I meet up with Tony and the other evangelists at 5:30ish for prayer and and an evening of open-air preaching, handing out tracts, and some good one-on-one evangelism opportunities. Clint had been out on Brand before but it was my first time. I had a great time telling people the Good News of Jesus and getting to meet some great Christians who were spending their Saturday night sharing the Gospel they loved so much. Here are a few stories that cam out of that night.

Our location was a perfect one for street preaching and evangelism. When doing street preaching it typically must be done on public property, like a sidewalk. Well, it happens that this spot on Brand Blvd has a nice bit of sidewalk in front of a theater and shopping area. In fact, if you look at the picture of our spot you will see that when you preach load enough your voice will carry far into the shopping center. And as for handing out tracts, there were sidewalks on both sides of the theater that led to it and a cross walk from the other side of the street that led right to our location. Clint and I took up position on one side of the side walk (on the left side in this picture) leading to the theater and restaurants.
After only maybe 10 minutes of handing out tracts Clint got pulled aside by a man whom I had handed a tract to. Clint spent over an hour and 20 minutes just talking with this man, Erwin, about the law, Gospel, and the Bible. While Clint was witnessing to this gentleman I went through about 200 tracts and had to get 200 more from him.

Down the sidewalk there was a table set up so I wen to investigate. There were two Scientologists giving "stress tests" and attempting to give out literature printed on pink paper. I went up tot the table and left the gentlemen a tracts and then posted myself a bit further from them. When people would get a pink paper from them they would walk my way and I would hand them a tract and say something like, "This has got more useful information on it than the pink paper." I think the Scientologists got frustrated because shortly after my arrival they packed up and left, and it was not due to a shortage of people.

As the night went by more people flooded the streets. One of them was not to kind to me. He was very angered that we were handing out tracts and began to tell me how stupid I was for believing in the existence of a God. "You're on drugs!" "You're and alcoholic, aren't you!" He accused. He also began cursing the Jews and making some very anti-Semitic statements. It became clear after 5-10 minutes of trying to have a conversation with this man that I was throwing pearls before swine and Thanked him for his time and told him I was praying for him to be humbled and saved by Almighty God.

The open-air preaching was fantastic. Tony started off and then had some others get up on the box to keep it going. You can see Tony in this shot on the box. Crowds would gather as Tony and others would draw folks around by asking them trivia questions and then moving to a spiritual discussion. It was Law and Gospel, pure and simple. And, of course, when you have street preaching you will almost always have hecklers.

While one Brother was on the box a man who had a little to much to drink came along with his bike and began to get loud and shout at the preacher. So, Clint distracted the man and handed him a tract (see picture). The man took the tract and then gave it back to Clint and said it was worthless (because he was to drunk to see that it was not a real Million Dollar Bill but a tract) and that he was a printer and stuck his inky fingers in Clint's face. He then informed us that he was from New Mexico and had been abducted by aliens "but had never been probed." Then the man put his hands to his head to make horns and started calling Clint "Bullwinkle." I have to admit, I almost broke out laughing.Clint handled it wonderfully and made the move to remove this loud man from the crowd by asking him to step to the side to talk with him.

During our evening I made a move to go on the other side of the street to witness to the groups of teens that were gathering.I have noticed that when teen are in packs like that it is easy to not only hand them tracts but also to give them the law and Gospel verbally and dialogue with them. I also handed out a few Bibles. At one point I came across a family of four and handed them tracts and began to talk with them. The dad and mom were silent but the 8 and 10 year old were interacting with me, so, I gave the good test to the kids. "Have you ever lied?" The kids looked up at their dad and the smile on his face gave them away. "I've lied too, I informed them, "and so has your mom and dad, we all have. God thinks it is very bad when you lie and sees it as a serious crime against Him." "Have you ever disobeyed your parents," I asked the boys? "Yep," the dad was quick to respond. And the conversation went with me going through a few more of the commandments and then presenting the Good News. Mom thanked me as I left. There was a gentleman that had been standing near during the whole conversation and came up to shake my hand and thank me for telling people the Gospel.

While on one corner and very well dressed business man stopped me and asked what it was I was handing out. I told him they were Gospel tracts. He quickly reviewed one and then began to ask me if I really believed in Hell. "Yes, the Bible talks about it." He then started quoting Bible verses and asking me what they said. "I am not sure off of the top of my head," I replied, "I don't have that one memorized, but here, lets look it up in the Bible." His eyes popped open as he saw me pull my Bible out of my bag as if he was shocked that I had it with me. We looked up the verses he was quoting and I said, "Wow, you sure do have a lot of verses memorized and it would seem that you have a good understanding of them but when we look at in context it would seem that you have a wrong understanding of them. You have to look at the verse in context." After a while of looking up the verses and him having to admit that his understanding of them did not fit the context he gave up and left very abruptly. I tried to find out from him what religion (cult) he followed but he did not want to tell me.

It was such an eventful night and so much more happened. But I just want to close this post out with one more picture. This is s shot of the last guy to preach that night. That's right, you are looking at a 15 or 16 year old boy. This kid jumped up on the planter, mic in hand, and began to proclaim the gospel while adult hecklers railed against him. Wow, what boldness. What an example this teen is to the church that we should not be ashamed of the Gospel in the face of a hostile world. Thank You, Lord, for raising up youth like this.

Grand Blvd: Evangelism and Classic Cars

2008-08-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight I joined a new friend and fellow evangelist Jarod for a "walk" down Grand Blvd in Escondido. It was no mistake that we were walking down a street that was being used as a classic car display staging ground. Classic cars were parked along the sides of the streets and folks would walk up and down and admire the automobiles and socialize. Jarod and I, armed with Gospel Tracts in hand began walking up one side of Grand Blvd. handing out tracts and talking to those that would hear us. He met and interesting lady that took an offence of the tract and began to proclaim how faithful of a catholic she was and how often she goes to "church." I ran into a fellow who just wanted to argue about everything except talk about his impending appointment with the Judge. In cases like these you have to bring it back tot he Law and the Gospel. Don't chase those red hearings. Stay focused.
I met a few people who professed to be Christians so I asked them how I could get saved? Most had a hard time with this. I would say, "I just got hit by one of those classic cars right there and I am dying. What would you say to me." Faces were blank. I spent some time going through the Gospel with them too.
Jarod reached out his hand to hand one man a tract and the guy totally did a body roll to avoid coming into physical contact with the tract, as if it would melt his skin should it touch him. I tried to had a tract to an Obama activist handing out Obama stickers only to get a sneer and "I don't want it. I know what that is." OK . . . .
Jarod and I walked both sides of Grand and handed out over 600 tracts. We were both running dry on tracts and most of the people we were seeing already had ones we had given them, so we decided to pack it up and head for the cars. When we got to the parking lot we meet up with Jim. Jim was planning on going out with us but got to the location too late, so we sat around and talked about what happened on Grand for a while. Then two teens walked by us who had received a tract from us earlier and yelled out "Evolution is true and I can prove it!" Jim replied, "OK, come prove it." They were surprised and walked back to us. There first words, "Prove creationism is true." I thought they were the ones who were going to be doing the proving. Instead I took the conversation back to the Law and Gospel. Their names were Calvin and Mike. Mike did most of the talking and tied to jump around to varies topics like Wicca, Catholicism, evolution, the authenticity of the Bible, and more. I conveyed to the boys how much I loved them and did not want to see them go to Hell even though they did not seem concerned about it. In the end they both agreed to go home tonight and read the Gospel of John. I am praying that God would open their hearts and eyes tonight while they are reading His word.
What a great night. Tomorrow night I will be headed over to Brand Blvd in the L.A. area to do some more street evangelism. Time to order some more tracts, I am getting low, and I like it when I can say that.

Tell it to a Stranger

2008-08-08T09:53:00.001-07:00

No, evangelism is not an option, and most Bible believing Christians (the only real type there is) will agree with that. However, most of us would limit our evangelism "targets" to only our close friends and family. Which is odd because then most of us are too afraid to even witness to them. However, this is not the Biblical pattern. Sure we see that we should be telling the Good News to those closest to us but we also see a great deal in the Bible about how we should be sharing the Gospel with strangers, and doing so intentionally.

Think about it, we were given a commandment to love our neighbor (Matthew 22.39). Two questions should arise from that: (1) who is my neighbor and (2) what is the greatest way to show them love? The answers are quiet simple:

1. Everyone on this planet is your neighbor, including strangers (Luke 10.29-37).

2. The greatest love you could show a dying person bound for the torments of Hell for all eternity is to share with them the way of salvation through Jesus Christ. It is his greatest need. It may not be his greatest desire at the moment, but with the view we have we can see that it is certainly his greatest need.

Like I said, the answers were simple, but we don't like to hear them. Those answers obligate us to something big, something we often find ourselves not honestly wanting to do. Yep, you have to stop being a "comfort-zone-closet-Christian." You see, we have been called to be co-workers with God. That is a big thing! Taking on that role does not allow you to take a back seat, to hide, to remain quiet. That role puts you on the front line, where God is working. Can you imagine if every single Christian in the United Stated (or the world) were to take seriously the commandant to evangelize? You would be hard pressed as a lost person to make it through the day without hearing someone attempting to convey to you, through street preaching, tracts, witnessing, etc., the law and the Gospel.

Now, I can hear the objections form many of you out there. "Well, I just think it is better if I get to be someones friend first before I tell them about the Gospel," it has been said, "That way they will be more willing to hear it. And they might even see from my lifestyle that the Gospel makes a difference in their life."

Hmmm. What they are going to see from your lifestyle is that you are a sinner, just like them. Sure they may think you are a moral or "good" person, but they probably think the same thing about themselves.

And as to becoming their friend first, what verse in the Bible is that from? When I see evangelism in the Bible I see Jesus and His followers talking to a lot of people they don't know of have just met. Jesus called us to be fishers of men, not their buddies. When a fisherman goes out to catch fish he does not stick his face up to the water and attempt to talk to the fish, get to know them and become their friend. Instead he throws in a hook or a net and attempts to catch them.

Lets be Fishers of Men. Lets cast aside the fear. Let's love our neighbor. Lets tell the Good News to a stranger.

Another Opened Door

2008-08-06T21:59:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I visited a Church I was formerly attending a few years back. While there I met a man who's heart had been set on fire for the lost and a desire given to him to reach them with the Gospel. I gave him my card and asked him to let me know the next time he was going street witnessing and I would go. Well, tonight I got that e-mail and so this Friday night I am headed out to an event in Escondido to do some street evangelism with him and some other brothers. Looking forward to this! Please pray for us.

Evangelism Trip

2008-08-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

I am getting excited about my trip up to L.A. this weekend to see my twin and his family. One of the big reasons I am looking forward to it is because I am joining my twin in doing some street evangelism on Brand Blvd where Tony "the Lawman" Miano will be doing open air preaching. This will be the first time I will be part of an open air and street evangelism combo. Its my hope to learn from them too. When I get back I would like to start doing some open air at a local DMV or court house. Please keep me and the others who will be out at Brand Blvd. as we bring the law and Gospel to the lost. And pray for the lost as well.
Here is a clip that my brother took of last weeks Brand Blvd. event.

Tony "the Lawman" Preaching Last Sunday at a Todd Bentley Event in L.A.

2008-07-30T19:54:00.000-07:00

This is so great and so sad at the same time. Tony (for more on Tony check out his blog link to the left "Lawman Chronicles") and other street evangelists (including my twin, who is holding the camera) we to the Todd Bentley event in L.A. this past Sunday to proclaim the Law and the Gospel to the crowd waiting to go see this false prophet. It is great that they went and proclaimed. It is sad to see and hear the reaction of the crowd. These are folks who would have professed to be Christians getting upset and offended when the preaching starts. WOW! You gotta see this for yourself. There are a lot of clips but all worth it.

Pt. 1

Pt. 2

Pt. 3

Pt. 4

Pt. 5

Pt. 6 (last one)

Oh, and if you are not familiar with Todd Bentley here is a clip of his typical methods.