What do you suppose Jesus wrote in the sand, when the woman caught in adultery was brought before Him?
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John 8:3-11
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
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There are many great ideas of what it might have been. Some say it may have been the Ten Commandments, or the sins of the men who brought the woman before Jesus. Since Scripture doesn't tell us, we cannot know for sure what the Lord wrote in the sand, and I'm certainly not saying that my theory is right. It's simply my own speculation.
So, here’s one possibility of how it all went down, and what might have been written:
Jesus was teaching in the temple courts with people gathered around Him. As the teachers of the law and Pharisees brought the woman before them, interrupting Jesus’ teaching, I don’t think they realized what He was doing. They thought He was ignoring them or writing something in the sand about what He was currently teaching. They kept questioning Him, and He told them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
Now they realize that He wasn’t ignoring them after all, and they look down at the ground and notice what He had written: A reference to Scripture. Of course, the modern reference and verse divisions that we use today weren’t added until much later, but there must have been some sort of reference to what He was quoting from from the scroll of Ecclesiastes.
I’m sure many of them knew it by the reference, but I believe that after saying that to them, when He bent down and wrote in the dirt again, He finished writing the rest of it so there was no doubt that it was quoted directly from Scripture. And it goes perfectly with the words that He spoke.
Ecclesiastes 7:20
There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.
No one had a choice, but to drop their stones and walk shamefully away. Their trap had backfired on them.
So, what can we learn from this, regardless of what He might have written in the sand? That none of us are sinless or better than anyone else. We all deserve hell for breaking God's law. We are undeservedly saved from the wrath of God by grace through faith.
Now, if we have truly received this free gift of everlasting life, shouldn't we be taking this knowledge to others who are just like us? God doesn't want any to perish, if He is our Lord, shouldn't we feel the same? 2 Peter 3:9, Eze 18:32
Not only that, but we are commanded by the Lord. Matt 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Acts 10:42, Eze 33:8-9, 1 John 2:3
Go.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Phoenix Class - June 5th
There's still room in the class!
When it comes to sharing your faith, do you feel confident and courageous?
If you will be in the Phoenix area, there is going to be a one day WOTM Crash Course on Saturday, June 5th, from 12:30 – 5:30.
This course is FREE! We want to help you! Come join us and you will never be the same!
Watch three powerful video messages with Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron that will equip you to share the gospel, Simply, Effectively and Biblically!
After the class, you may wish to come with us to Tempe to watch as we put these principles into practice from 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Please Note: You will not be personally speaking with anyone your first time out...so relax, come and see what the Lord is doing!
To register just send an email to sower@TillTheneTsRfull.org with your name and the names of anyone else coming with you and type "REGISTER" in the subject line.
For more info, check out the website Till The neTs r full
When it comes to sharing your faith, do you feel confident and courageous?
If you will be in the Phoenix area, there is going to be a one day WOTM Crash Course on Saturday, June 5th, from 12:30 – 5:30.
This course is FREE! We want to help you! Come join us and you will never be the same!
Watch three powerful video messages with Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron that will equip you to share the gospel, Simply, Effectively and Biblically!
• Encouraging testimonies from people "just like you",
that now share their faith on a regular basis.
that now share their faith on a regular basis.
• Quick tips with creative tracts for use in your "everyday" life.
• Opportunity for hands-on, in-the-trenches training with proven leaders.
Where: Qdoba Mexican Restaurant at 742 E Glendale Ave
(At the Safeway Shopping Center)
(At the Safeway Shopping Center)
Date: Saturday, June 5th
Time: 12:30 p.m.– 5:30 pm
After the class, you may wish to come with us to Tempe to watch as we put these principles into practice from 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Please Note: You will not be personally speaking with anyone your first time out...so relax, come and see what the Lord is doing!
To register just send an email to sower@TillTheneTsRfull.org with your name and the names of anyone else coming with you and type "REGISTER" in the subject line.
For more info, check out the website Till The neTs r full
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Hollywood and God
Seen any good movies lately? Click the logo above and watch the interviews there.
Some stuff to think about.....
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Predestination and Freewill
There is a lot of division due to people's differing views on predestination and freewill. Both ideas are in the Bible, so taking one to the exclusion of the other is denying something in the Word of God.
I found this diagram a few years back, and it seems to make about as much sense as we're going to get of these two subjects and how they are both true, even though they seem contradictory to us right now.
What do you think?
I found this diagram a few years back, and it seems to make about as much sense as we're going to get of these two subjects and how they are both true, even though they seem contradictory to us right now.
What do you think?
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Saturday 05-08-10
As Tom and I were approaching Mill Ave, there was a car in front of us with a personalized plate. It said, "AL PAY" Huh, I guess I'll buy the midnight snacks tonight. What a weird license plate....
We often stop at a nearby Taco Bell after witnessing on the streets, since Tom knows a guy that works there. All the employees know us and actually come over and ask for more of the tracts that we leave with them: Million Dollar Bills, Curved Illusion, 10 Commandment Coins, to name a few. So much for people not liking tracts, or being offended by them. Check out what they have: Living Waters Tracts
We met Leigh, Joe, and Alan out there, and Doug showed up a little later, with some "Big Money" tracts that went really well. These are thousand dollar bills, a little bigger in size, probably twice as big as standard bills. Marcus and Phil came by later with Sean.
People from "The Door" were preaching at our regular spot in front of the post office, so we went across the street, next to the theater and set up there. I don't know too much about "The Door", but have heard a lot of negative things about them, both from people on the street and from other street preachers.
I'll have to dig into that a bit more, but it seems that they believe in works righteousness and that you can lose your salvation. Here's some general information from Wiki as a starting point if anyone is interested in looking into it.
I did some trivia questions for a dollar and a few people stopped by. A husband and wife got a couple of the questions right and then Mickie agreed to take the Good Person Test. I found out later that she was an ordained minister, but no matter.
This same Biblical way of sharing by "Law to the proud and grace to the humble" works no matter who you are or what you know, from ministers to atheists, luke-warm believers to heretics, rich or poor, young or old, it's Biblical and unchanging.
Tom spoke with her and her husband for a while afterward, and I gave her a copy of "Hell's Best Kept Secret" and "True and False Conversion", as well as a few tracts. If you've never heard these two teachings, you can listen to them free at Living Waters, on the right hand side of the website.
Next a random guy stopped and talked to us for a few minutes. He thought that only God can judge and that people shouldn’t judge one another. We explained to him that, while that is true, we can and should judge ourselves by God's standards. He didn't stick around too long after that.
So many people want to claim that we should not judge, but the real problem is that they feel convicted, they don't want to judge themselves because they know enough to realize that they would be guilty. But attempting to live in willful ignorance will not work, because God's Law is written on our hearts. They can supress their conscience, but that won't help them when they stand before God on Judgment Day. This simply shows our NEED for a Savior.
As Tom and I were playing with the light illusion, a guy named Shane stopped, and Tom took him through the Good Person Test. His friends were trying to get him away, but he stayed through the whole thing.
Later, Sean said he remembered talking to this guy sometime in the past. Seeds planted and watered.
Then there was Thomas, who held some strange Gnostic type beliefs. He seems to pick and choose from all religions and had studied a lot of different belief systems. He knew the Bible, but twisted it and often confused it with other writings – like the gospel of Thomas. He mentioned Kabbalah, aliens, symbolism and seemed to have heard the Gospel before as well.
But he feels confident that he knows the truth and every one else was just confused. He wouldn't take a tract, and went on his way. He left us with this quote, that I found quite interesting, from George Carlin: “Your birth certificate is proof of your guilt.”
We met a Greek Orthodox man named Seraphim and his wife, who stopped to talk to Tom for a while. But he seemed pretty content with his following of tradition rather than Scripture. Joe talked to him for a while too, and I'm not sure if any of it really stuck with him. But the Gospel was explained to him, so maybe he'll think more about it later. Pray that God opens his eyes and shows him the Truth.
After that, Tom, Doug and I stopped off at Taco Bell for a snack and fellowship, giving a few more tracts to the employees there before heading home.
Soli Deo Gloria
We often stop at a nearby Taco Bell after witnessing on the streets, since Tom knows a guy that works there. All the employees know us and actually come over and ask for more of the tracts that we leave with them: Million Dollar Bills, Curved Illusion, 10 Commandment Coins, to name a few. So much for people not liking tracts, or being offended by them. Check out what they have: Living Waters Tracts
We met Leigh, Joe, and Alan out there, and Doug showed up a little later, with some "Big Money" tracts that went really well. These are thousand dollar bills, a little bigger in size, probably twice as big as standard bills. Marcus and Phil came by later with Sean.
People from "The Door" were preaching at our regular spot in front of the post office, so we went across the street, next to the theater and set up there. I don't know too much about "The Door", but have heard a lot of negative things about them, both from people on the street and from other street preachers.
I'll have to dig into that a bit more, but it seems that they believe in works righteousness and that you can lose your salvation. Here's some general information from Wiki as a starting point if anyone is interested in looking into it.
I did some trivia questions for a dollar and a few people stopped by. A husband and wife got a couple of the questions right and then Mickie agreed to take the Good Person Test. I found out later that she was an ordained minister, but no matter.
This same Biblical way of sharing by "Law to the proud and grace to the humble" works no matter who you are or what you know, from ministers to atheists, luke-warm believers to heretics, rich or poor, young or old, it's Biblical and unchanging.
Tom spoke with her and her husband for a while afterward, and I gave her a copy of "Hell's Best Kept Secret" and "True and False Conversion", as well as a few tracts. If you've never heard these two teachings, you can listen to them free at Living Waters, on the right hand side of the website.
Next a random guy stopped and talked to us for a few minutes. He thought that only God can judge and that people shouldn’t judge one another. We explained to him that, while that is true, we can and should judge ourselves by God's standards. He didn't stick around too long after that.
So many people want to claim that we should not judge, but the real problem is that they feel convicted, they don't want to judge themselves because they know enough to realize that they would be guilty. But attempting to live in willful ignorance will not work, because God's Law is written on our hearts. They can supress their conscience, but that won't help them when they stand before God on Judgment Day. This simply shows our NEED for a Savior.
As Tom and I were playing with the light illusion, a guy named Shane stopped, and Tom took him through the Good Person Test. His friends were trying to get him away, but he stayed through the whole thing.
Later, Sean said he remembered talking to this guy sometime in the past. Seeds planted and watered.
Then there was Thomas, who held some strange Gnostic type beliefs. He seems to pick and choose from all religions and had studied a lot of different belief systems. He knew the Bible, but twisted it and often confused it with other writings – like the gospel of Thomas. He mentioned Kabbalah, aliens, symbolism and seemed to have heard the Gospel before as well.
But he feels confident that he knows the truth and every one else was just confused. He wouldn't take a tract, and went on his way. He left us with this quote, that I found quite interesting, from George Carlin: “Your birth certificate is proof of your guilt.”
We met a Greek Orthodox man named Seraphim and his wife, who stopped to talk to Tom for a while. But he seemed pretty content with his following of tradition rather than Scripture. Joe talked to him for a while too, and I'm not sure if any of it really stuck with him. But the Gospel was explained to him, so maybe he'll think more about it later. Pray that God opens his eyes and shows him the Truth.
After that, Tom, Doug and I stopped off at Taco Bell for a snack and fellowship, giving a few more tracts to the employees there before heading home.
Soli Deo Gloria
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Saturday 05-01-10
Tom and I met Alan, Leigh, Joe and Doug on Mill Ave. We messed around with Alan's new PA system for a while and then we prayed and got busy handing out tracts. People didn't seem to be as receptive as they were last week, but we still got a few of them distributed throughout the night, and had some great conversations.
A man named Michael stopped with his family to watch as Tom and I threw a red light back and forth across the sidewalk. This is a great illusion that has been attracting attention lately. People will stop, often with their children to watch, and then we can pull a coin out of the air and give it to them. It has the Ten Commandments on it, and then we give the adults a million dollar bill and we're able to transition to a spiritual discussion.
Tom spoke with Michael and his family, and I continued handing out tracts.
Next, Theodora, Peter and Gelly stopped to check out the light throwing illusion and we talked to them for a while. They were Greek Orthodox. Theodora seemed to have a good understanding of the Bible, as we went through the Good Person Test, she saw that she would be headed for hell if judged by God's standard of the Ten Commandments on Judgment Day. Peter was pretty quiet, and Gelly said she'd go to heaven because of her belief in Jesus Christ. We explained further, the need for repentance and trust in Him alone in order to make that sacrifice pertain to us. We left them with a few tracts, including a "Save Yourself Some Pain", which goes more in depth and can be found at LivingWaters.com
I did an open air trivia and three young guys stopped to take the Good Person Test. Gens, Gordon and Corey (who stayed in the background and was pretty quiet). Gens looked a bit convicted, as he went through the test, but I'm not sure he was ready to make any change in his life just yet. We left them with a couple of "Are You Good Enough to get into Heaven" tracts to hopefully read later.
You can catch a video of this and the following encounter at Tom's blog, by clicking the title of this post.
Tom did an open air and a man named Chris stopped with his girlfriend. He stayed to talk more afterwards, even though his girlfriend actually tried to physically pull him away. But he stayed as he enjoyed discussing spiritual subjects. His girlfriend wouldn't wait, though, and she said she'd just meet him wherever they were going.
He had a Catholic background, and Tom (who also has a Catholic background) was able to talk to him for quiet a while. When he was done, Chris hung around and talked further with Joe.
The night had gone pretty well up to this point. Marcus, Phil and Walter came by a bit later to do some open air at the corner. It was interesting that, throughout the evening, the same message was being preached, but reactions were quite different.
One particular young couple, who had been standing nearby listening to an informal debate between Walt and an atheist, looked interested, so I asked them what they thought. They said that both sides were wrong, and that they should not be out there. They didn't like it, but hung around and listened anyway.
I tried to talk to them a bit, but the PA was pretty loud, and it seemed that they had been drinking and believed that "all paths lead to the same place." They just didn't realize that place is the Judgment Seat of Christ, and it's where you go from there that really matters.
They started cursing at us and calling us names, while professing to be Christians themselves. I should have walked away at that point, but stayed and continued to argue with them. That was a mistake, it is not why we're out there and it was not glorifying of God. Those who are angry and not open to having a dialog about the subject will only waste our time that could be better spent speaking with someone else. If God hasn't opened their eyes, they're still blinded by Satan and the things of this world.
These two were very angry, and as Marcus and I continued to try to get our point across, they continued making derogatory comments, and the guy threw his drink on me. Then an atheist from nearby stepped in between us to help "protect" them from us, as if we were going to start some sort of fight or something. I think he was probably more help to us than to them. Marcus was video taping, which really seemed to aggravate the woman a lot. They finally left, and headed down the street.
Please keep all of these people in prayer - the atheists as well as the believers (some have never heard the Gospel presented in a way that really makes sense before), and all those who received tracts or heard the Gospel - that God would open their eyes, convict them and draw them to Himself for their salvation and His glory alone.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. - Ephesians 6:12
Later on, another guy came up to talk with Walter and Phil. He also said he was a Christian, and that he heard a lot of street preachers out there condemning people and pointing fingers at them. But he said that he appreciated the fact that they were not doing that. Completely different reaction than the previous one.
It just depends on who God is working on, so we continue to go out in obedience to the Great Commission.
I recently read a quote (from the Way of the Master Minute, at the bottom of this page) by LeeRoy Beatty. He said, "Jesus said, 'Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.' If you are not fishing, you are not following."
Interesting quote, and a bit convicting.
He also said, "Silence is not golden, it's yellow." So, don't be yellow, be bold, get out there and do some fishing. ><((('>
Soli Deo Gloria.
A man named Michael stopped with his family to watch as Tom and I threw a red light back and forth across the sidewalk. This is a great illusion that has been attracting attention lately. People will stop, often with their children to watch, and then we can pull a coin out of the air and give it to them. It has the Ten Commandments on it, and then we give the adults a million dollar bill and we're able to transition to a spiritual discussion.
Tom spoke with Michael and his family, and I continued handing out tracts.
Next, Theodora, Peter and Gelly stopped to check out the light throwing illusion and we talked to them for a while. They were Greek Orthodox. Theodora seemed to have a good understanding of the Bible, as we went through the Good Person Test, she saw that she would be headed for hell if judged by God's standard of the Ten Commandments on Judgment Day. Peter was pretty quiet, and Gelly said she'd go to heaven because of her belief in Jesus Christ. We explained further, the need for repentance and trust in Him alone in order to make that sacrifice pertain to us. We left them with a few tracts, including a "Save Yourself Some Pain", which goes more in depth and can be found at LivingWaters.com
I did an open air trivia and three young guys stopped to take the Good Person Test. Gens, Gordon and Corey (who stayed in the background and was pretty quiet). Gens looked a bit convicted, as he went through the test, but I'm not sure he was ready to make any change in his life just yet. We left them with a couple of "Are You Good Enough to get into Heaven" tracts to hopefully read later.
You can catch a video of this and the following encounter at Tom's blog, by clicking the title of this post.
Tom did an open air and a man named Chris stopped with his girlfriend. He stayed to talk more afterwards, even though his girlfriend actually tried to physically pull him away. But he stayed as he enjoyed discussing spiritual subjects. His girlfriend wouldn't wait, though, and she said she'd just meet him wherever they were going.
He had a Catholic background, and Tom (who also has a Catholic background) was able to talk to him for quiet a while. When he was done, Chris hung around and talked further with Joe.
The night had gone pretty well up to this point. Marcus, Phil and Walter came by a bit later to do some open air at the corner. It was interesting that, throughout the evening, the same message was being preached, but reactions were quite different.
One particular young couple, who had been standing nearby listening to an informal debate between Walt and an atheist, looked interested, so I asked them what they thought. They said that both sides were wrong, and that they should not be out there. They didn't like it, but hung around and listened anyway.
I tried to talk to them a bit, but the PA was pretty loud, and it seemed that they had been drinking and believed that "all paths lead to the same place." They just didn't realize that place is the Judgment Seat of Christ, and it's where you go from there that really matters.
They started cursing at us and calling us names, while professing to be Christians themselves. I should have walked away at that point, but stayed and continued to argue with them. That was a mistake, it is not why we're out there and it was not glorifying of God. Those who are angry and not open to having a dialog about the subject will only waste our time that could be better spent speaking with someone else. If God hasn't opened their eyes, they're still blinded by Satan and the things of this world.
These two were very angry, and as Marcus and I continued to try to get our point across, they continued making derogatory comments, and the guy threw his drink on me. Then an atheist from nearby stepped in between us to help "protect" them from us, as if we were going to start some sort of fight or something. I think he was probably more help to us than to them. Marcus was video taping, which really seemed to aggravate the woman a lot. They finally left, and headed down the street.
Please keep all of these people in prayer - the atheists as well as the believers (some have never heard the Gospel presented in a way that really makes sense before), and all those who received tracts or heard the Gospel - that God would open their eyes, convict them and draw them to Himself for their salvation and His glory alone.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. - Ephesians 6:12
Later on, another guy came up to talk with Walter and Phil. He also said he was a Christian, and that he heard a lot of street preachers out there condemning people and pointing fingers at them. But he said that he appreciated the fact that they were not doing that. Completely different reaction than the previous one.
It just depends on who God is working on, so we continue to go out in obedience to the Great Commission.
I recently read a quote (from the Way of the Master Minute, at the bottom of this page) by LeeRoy Beatty. He said, "Jesus said, 'Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.' If you are not fishing, you are not following."
Interesting quote, and a bit convicting.
He also said, "Silence is not golden, it's yellow." So, don't be yellow, be bold, get out there and do some fishing. ><((('>
Soli Deo Gloria.
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