Hope Through Tragedy

When I first heard that one of the 19 firefighters killed in the Yarnell tragedy was originally from MT (my home state), I found it interesting. Not a lot of people come from MT to live in AZ. But then a prayer request came through my church’s prayer chain that mentioned this guy, too. His family doesn’t live in Phoenix, or go to church at Shiloh, but somehow, there was a connection through another person, and through another and it ended up in our daily prayer request. I asked if I could share it, and was given the ok, so here it is:

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This note is from Steve DeFord. Read how the Lord works in all ways in all times. "Many of you may already be aware that the entire Granite Hotshot crew perished in the fire near Prescott. Our son Dustin was a member of that crew. Our hearts are filled with sorrow, but not without hope. About a week ago Dustin had a rather unusual opportunity to share the gospel with most of the crew for about two hours during some down time. We believe that Dustin was there for this time. In Eternity we will get to meet any who may have called on the name of the Lord in those last moments. "
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This intrigued me, so I looked up more information on Dustin DeFord, and found that his father, Steve, is the missionary pastor of the First Baptist Church of Ekalaka in MT and a long time member of IFCA International (Independent Fundamental Churches of America), which I hadn’t heard of before.

The Billings Gazette wrote about his family and mentioned a Facebook post that he had made, regarding how he found himself in AZ, when he would rather to have worked in Western MT: “My life is proof that God wants to use me — starting now.”

Despite enjoying his work as a firefighter (with his father and four of his brothers also being firefighters), his sister Becky said that he was interested in going into full time Christian service. He had studied at Cornerstone Bible Institute in SD and had worked as a missionary, and frequently talked about his religious beliefs.

Regardless of what those 18 other firefighters may have thought, or what worldview they may have held to, they had time to contemplate the words that Dustin had given them a week earlier, prior to their tragic deaths.

In church this morning, one of the application questions was, “What legacy will you leave? What do you want on your epitaph?” (in reference to the differences in King Ahaz [2 Kings 16:2-4], and his son Hezekiah in their leadership and the legacy each left behind). I had already begun writing this blog article, and that question fell right in with it. This is how I want to be remembered - doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

I feel that our country is under God’s judgment right now, as it draws closer to legalizing same sex marriage in all the states, calling it “equality and tolerance”, as our nation continues to kill unborn children, attempting to rationalize it as a “choice”, while our president says, “God bless Planned Parenthood” – the leading abortion provider in America (Isaiah 5:20). This is where we are as a country that has continued to reject God, His Laws, and even any mention of Him in public. We are under judgment and drawing ever closer to the time we will suffer the wrath of God.

Amidst all of this, Dustin DeFord was faithful, having witnessed to the people on his team just a week prior to this tragedy.

This is more difficult than it sounds. Only 2% of professed Christians in America share their faith. Too many professed Christians today don’t know how to share their faith, they are too afraid, or simply don’t think it’s their responsibility, or maybe they are too worried about what others might think. Still others may not be true believers at all, but false converts, with fear or the worries of this world taking precedence over the Gospel (see the Parable of the Sower, Mark 4:1-19).

Also in our outline from church this morning:
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” - James 1:22-25

Many in this country hear the Word, but few actually act on it, very few are doers of the Word that they hear. This reminds me of another verse, about a wide and narrow path (Matt 7:13-14).

We have a small team that goes out to Mill Ave every Saturday night to witness to the lost, per the Great Commission (Acts 10:42, Matt 28:19-20, Mark 16:15). We also host free training courses in evangelism (the next one will be the last Saturday in August), for those who want to become equipped to be able to share their faith with others.

Be an obedient doer of the Word, not a hearer only. Don’t be like a man who looks in the mirror, turns around and forgets what he looks like.
How will you be remembered? How does God see you? Men like Dustin DeFord inspire me to continue doing what is right in the eyes of God, for every one of us will face Him one day and be held accountable for the thoughts, words and deeds that we have done on this earth. Be ready.

Soli Deo Gloria

Free Evangelism Crash Course

Jesus said, "Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19)

Wouldn't it be true then, that if you're not fishing, you're not really following? (Luke 6:46) Have you ever felt that you should share your faith with others but didn't really know how to get started?

Learn to share your faith simply, effectively and Biblically. If you will be in the Phoenix area, join us in this free DVD based crash course in evangelism. Become equipped to do what we are commanded to do in the Great Commission.

Saturday, May 25, 2013
12:30pm until 5:30pm

Redemption Church
4141 E Thomas Rd
Phoenix, AZ 85018

Please RSVP by replying to this post by Thursday, May 23rd to reserve a spot in this life changing class on Saturday May 25th!

Afterwards, there will be the option of going out on the streets to see this principle in action.

Ten Commandments banned from school

Check out the news story here:
School bans Ten Commandments from classrooms

So, let's get this all straight. This kid has a problem with lying (#9), being considered wrong. He thinks that stealing (#8) should be ok. There is no reason to honor your parents (#5), or the Creator who made you (#1, 2, 3 & 4), and does not want anyone else to have the right to do so either.

Coveting (#10), adultery (#7) and murder (#6) should be no problem either - well, of course, unless some of these things happen to him or his family, then I'm sure he'll see some value in them.

You're an intolerant bigot Gage Pulliam, and a hypocrite as well.

Leopard's Spots

I am neither afraid of homosexuals, nor do I hate them. What I am sick of is this whole homosexual agenda being constantly crammed down my throat. I am considered a narrow minded, judgmental bigot because I believe what the Bible says on the subject, and no one seems to notice the narrow minded, judgmental bigotry against Christian beliefs these days. Can you say hypocrites?

The comparison of homosexuality and racism is really annoying. Does this not offend anyone who has personally dealt with racism before? It's nowhere near the same thing. A person's sexual preference does not necessarily have to be shoved in everyone's face publically, while a race or skin color is a physical difference that is readily apparent. The Bible tells us this - "can a leopard change it's spots, or an Ethiopian change his skin color?" Of course not. But can a man turn from an abominable sin and stop committing it? Sure, when that person is saved by Jesus Christ.

The homosexual agenda is not about "rights" so much as it is about special benefits and attempting to make everyone else accept this deviant behavior as normal. But it is not, and as a Christian who holds to a Biblical worldview, I will not change my mind on that. This doesn't mean that I hate gays or lesbians, and it certainly doesn't mean that I condone them being beaten or mistreated. Nor does it mean that they deserve special rights for their particular sin, either. We don't have "adultery pride" parades, and although society as a whole tends to overlook the sin of fornication, it is not crammed down everyone's throat.

The reason the homosexual agenda is gaining momentum with the general heterosexual population is simply sin. No one wants to point out the sins of homosexuality, lest their own sexual sins of fornication and adultery be brought up. Or their lust for power and greed of money or overindulgence in pleasures and food. America's population as a whole is obese both physically and spiritually, due to lack of exercise and spiritual discernment. Gluttony prevails and laziness wins out in the American heart, we wouldn't want to jeopardize our comfortable lifestyles by bringing up the nasty little three letter word of sin, would we?

Our churches promise our hearts desire, and we greedily flock to hear the prosperity gospel, overlooking how blessed we already are. Our insatiable appetite for the finer things is never quenched, as we trample others to get more than we can ever need or use in our lifetime. We can hardly judge anyone else's sins when our own lives are chock full of it. And anyone who would dare realize this and bring it up in public must immediately be shut down, ridiculed and silenced. If they won't be silenced, they must at least be mocked to the point that no one will listen to them.

So here we are today in America, Christians are now called hateful, dangerous bigots, while we accept the murderous ideals of Islam. Atheism provides the new religion of Darwinian Evolution masquerading as "science" and anyone who is brave enough to point out the inconsistencies and lack of proof is quickly shot down as some uneducated, myth believing, flat earth fool with no sense whatsoever.

With abortion killing our unborn children for convenience and profit, God being mocked and any mention of Him no longer allowed in class rooms, and erasing and re-writing any history of God in the foundation of our country, how could we not be under His judgment at this very time? And then people have the audacity to ask why God would allow bad things to happen in our country. Look around, figure it out. Read your Bible and see history repeat itself as we learn nothing from the Israelites past in rejecting God and facing judgment time and time again. The only real surprise is, why are we so blind?

Saturday 04/06/13

It’s always an interesting night on Mill Ave when the Art Festival is going on. This happens twice a year for three days. They shut it all down at night, but leave the tents up, so the roads are closed on Saturday night and we can do Open Air right in the middle of the intersection.

I brought out the celebrity board, Tom had his sign and Brandt brought his. Alan, Ronnie, Dan, Marcus, Sam, Jeremy, Tish and Joshua were also there. I talked with a guy named Adam, who came up to check out the celebrity board. We went through the Good Person Test (GPT), and I was able to give him a couple of tracts to take with him.

For some strange reason, he felt that Sam, who was standing nearby, was intimidating to him, so Sam graciously stepped away, even though the last thing I would say that Sam looks like is intimidating.
He said he needed a dollar to catch the tram back to Phoenix, so I gave him a tract, “A Gift For You”, which includes a space to hold a dollar bill, which I had already placed in it. He was very happy with that and actually came back a little while later after having read it.

I was talking to him a bit more, when I heard Tom yell for the police and start walking towards a guy who was walking away from him. Apparently, this guy didn’t like what Tom was saying on the mic, had walked over and ripped it off of him, then tossed it over his shoulder as he walked away. Tom picked up his mic headset and I followed the guy over to the corner so that he wouldn’t get away while we called for the police. I feel that we are within our rights to press charges for destruction of property, and don’t want people to feel that they can just tear up other people’s property without consequences.

As I was standing nearby, this guy had his back to me and was talking to some other people. He turned around to say a few words to me, asking if I’d ever had a broken leg. I said, “No, have you?” as I watched warily for a kick to my knee that never came. Most people just like to talk tough, but normally don’t act on it. But this guy wasn’t normal.
He decided he didn’t want to hang around, so he got his bike and turned it towards me, lifted up the front and rammed the tire into my chest. I thought that would hurt, because he put some force behind it, but it really didn’t. I guess he noticed that it didn’t have the desired effect, so he threw a right fist to my mouth, which I didn’t see coming. This loosened a tooth and bloodied my lip a bit, as some of the others came over to assist. At this point we really weren’t going to let him get away. Marcus grabbed him from behind and put him onto the ground and I helped hold him there until the police showed up. As we were waiting, Joshua put his foot on the guys ankle and Jeremy came up and witnessed to him. Might as well, he wasn’t going anywhere.

The guy claimed he had some sort of diplomatic immunity, but apparently had just been watching too much TV. Jeremy said that he recognized him from somewhere else. The police showed up, so we let him go, and I felt someone grab the back of my shirt. I looked behind me and saw that it was a cop, who had me sit down on the curb to question me while the other guy got some shiny bracelets put on him. He was carted off to spend the night in jail and I was given a report number for the incident, and will be subpoenaed to be a witness when they prosecute. I looked around and all his friends had scattered, nowhere to be seen.

It turned out that Tom’s mic still worked, so we went back to preaching and handing out tracts. Tom got into a conversation with some people, so Brandt started doing some Open Air on the other side.

Three guys were heckling him a little, one of them claimed to be a Muslim, but through Brandt questioning him a little, it quickly became apparent that he was not. He admitted this and said that he was a Christian, but obviously he didn’t take God’s Word seriously, either. One of his friends was heckling Brandt and came over to talk to Dan and I.

His name was Connor and although he was drunk, he did get serious in our conversation to state that he went to a Catholic church and knew that it wasn’t right. He said he had a problem with drinking and women, and knew that saying a couple of “hail Mary’s” and confessing to a priest were doing nothing to get him on track and take care of the problem. I gave him the name and address of my church and an “Are You Good Enough To Get Into Heaven?” tract. We had a pretty decent conversation and I pray that he will get into a good church and leave the superstitious Catholic church behind, to truly repent of his sins and be born again to new life.

Crazy night on Mill – please pray for those we talked with and gave tracts to, especially the guy who ended up in jail. He needs the Gospel, to be convicted of his sin against God and to truly repent and trust the Savior for salvation.

Soli Deo Gloria

Monkeys for Uncles (Christian parody of Money for Nothing)

Saturday 03/02/13

Another Saturday night on Mill Ave, with Alan, Ronnie, Dan, Marcus, Brandt and myself. Tom decided to take a break, since he had been out at First Friday the night before. The music man was not there, so it was nice and quiet for the first half of the night. I played some music through our PA, and then Brandt did some Open Air.

A guy named Marshall stopped and claimed that he had been demon possessed, but he said that he had beat it. I don't even know what he meant by that, but he was quite serious about it, so I didn't argue. He also seemed a bit buzzed, whether alcohol or drugs, I don't know, but it was difficult to get any details from him on that story. He wanted to know what we were doing, so I gave him a couple of tracts and talked to him for a while. He seemed receptive and I took him through the entire Good Person Test (GPT) and explained the Gospel. He thanked me and gave me a hug before heading on down the street.

A couple, Jason and Tish stopped by. They were familiar with WOTM and had been contemplating buying some tracts. We gave them a couple as samples, and I gave them a card so they could call or email me. I told them about the class we have coming up, and they might be interested in checking that out.

After a while, the music man finally showed up. Even though we were already there, he set up right behind us, in basically the same spot, and he seemed to think that he could just crowd us out. However, I refused to move, even when he told us that we were distracting him by having conversations too close to where he was playing. I told him that setting up behind a bunch of street preachers probably wasn't the best spot to make money.
He had nothing to answer, so he just stared at me. He did that for a good 5 minutes or so, never moving, while I continued handing out tracts and even talking to him and Brandt. Finally, he stated that he wanted to put his hands somewhere, motioning to my neck, and went back to playing his instruments.
When we were finished and started packing up, he was packing up his stuff at the same time. I would have thought that he would be happy to have us gone and hang out for a bit longer, but it didn't look like he was going to.

We stopped at Rally's for some food and fellowship. We were standing over by our cars, and a guy came over there to smoke a cigarette. He asked an interesting question, "If someone gave you a book, and you started reading it and realized that it was about your life, would you read the rest of it?" Dan said no, and then took the opportunity to ask him what he thought happens after you die, and then went straight into the Good Person Test (GPT). The guy's name is Ace, and it seemed that he believed, but didn't really follow, as many people do in our country. He did seem a bit convicted by the conversation and took it seriously, so he has something to think about. We gave him a couple of tracts to take with him when he left, and he thanked us.

Meanwhile, Brandt and Marcus were having a conversation with some people over by the walk up window, where they had gone to get a refill on their drinks.
Over all, it was a productive night sharing the Gospel on Mill Ave, and at Rally's.

Soli Deo Gloria