Saturday 02-23-13

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything on here, so here are a few highlights from the last few weekends on Mill Ave.

A woman named Alexis was stopped to check out the illusion board while waiting for her ride. I managed to get through the Good Person Test with her, but her ride pulled up before we could get to what she needed to do to be saved. I gave her an “Are You Good Enough To Get Into Heaven?” tract as she left.

Becka, Nathan and Alice stopped by with a few others. I took them through the "genius" questions and through the GPT. It seemed that they might have heard some of the questions before. I couldn’t really tell if they felt convicted at all, but did give them tracts when they left, except for one, who said, “I’m good.” I said, “Didn’t we just talk about that?

I saw some guys walking by carrying Bibles, and asked if they were having a Bible study. They stopped to see what we were handing out and we talked to them for a little while. Their names are James and David, and when asked what they were doing, they said they were doing the same thing we were. They said they were familiar with the WOTM teaching, but didn't seem to be using it in evangelism. I gave them a card and told them to contact us to check out Tom’s next class, so maybe we’ll hear from them again.

Alex and Abigail were a couple who stopped at our Einstein Illusion, and I was able to take them through the GPT. They were kind of quiet, so I’m not really sure what they were thinking, but I gave them each a tract after we were done.

A guy and four kids stopped by, and I was able to share the Gospel with them through the GPT, and gave them each a Ten Commandment coin. I showed them how to do the trick of pulling the coin out of the air. Going through the genius questions, they didn’t even know who Moses was – one of them said, “What’s a Moses?” It would seem that our teaching of our children is falling away these days.

I was getting ready to take things down, and a man named EJ came over. I could see his reaction as he noticed the illusion from pretty far away, . I was able to talk to him and share the Gospel. He said he’d heard it before, and even considered walking away, but that he liked to hear people out, so he stayed. He didn’t really seem convicted, even asking if there was any proof of hell when I was explaining it. I told him that by the time you have the proof, it’s already too late. Please keep him in prayer.
I’m not sure if he is saved or not, because hearing something, having knowledge, does not necessarily make one a believer, only God does that.
So we share with everyone as we are commanded, and God convicts those that He convicts, and draws those that He draws.

Here's Dan, talking with a group of people who stopped to check out his board.


I talked to a guy named Ryan, who was looking for 50 cents more to be able to get a hamburger. I gave him one of the “Gift For You” tracts that had a five in it. He was impressed with that and said he would read it. He even came back over and talked with me more after he read it. I gave him an "Are You Good Enough To Get Into Heaven" tract and he asked about my church. So, I gave him the address and service times of our church. Maybe we'll see him there sometime.
He said he’d grown up with Christianity crammed down his throat and had some issues with it. But this really seemed to affect him in a positive way.

Soli Deo Gloria

Saturday 01-19-13

The warm weather returned in Tempe this weekend, and we headed down to Mill Ave. There were a lot of people out and about in the nice weather. The music man was at our usual spot in front of the post office, and a couple of homeless guys were hanging out across from him, selling their roses made from palm fronds.

So, we set up a little ways away, and one of the homeless guys didn't really like us there, saying, "There's too many people on this corner." Later on, he told me that we were going to hell because we were violating Jesus' command. I asked what command was that, and he told me that Jesus said we were not to stand on the street corners like pharisees, looking for the praises of man, but to only preach to those who were like-minded. I asked him where it said that in the Bible, but he didn't know. That's because it's not there. He called his friend over, who he claimed had gone to seminary, but he would not get involved in the conversation. Later on, his friend said that he should leave us be, and eventually talked him into going to a different location.

A few people stopped by at different times to check out the illusion board, but wouldn't hang around for the Good Person Test (GPT). Since the ban on amplification was over, Tom did some Open Air near by and talked with a few people.

An older lady named Rita stopped and went through the questions and the GPT, but stated that she did not believe in hell or Christianity. She thought that there is one God, and all religions are worshipping the same one. I explained that all the religions are different and contradict one another, but she stuck to her universalist, spiritual beliefs. In the end, I had to just tell her that we are going to disagree on this. I offered her a tract, but of course, she wasn't interested, too bound up in her idolotrous beliefs.
Meanwhile, Marcus had been talking with her husband, and had the same result. Please pray for both of them, that God would convict them of their sins and draw them to Himself for their salvation.

We'll have a class this Saturday, so hopefully, we'll have more people equipped to carry out the Great Commission and become workers for the kingdom, as per the prayer of Luke 10:2.

Soli Deo Gloria

Fear God?

Fear God - what does that mean? It was a little disturbing when I first heard the term and didn't really make sense. But it was explained that 'fear' wasn't really referring to actual fear, but rather a healthy respect, such as you might have for your parents. That made sense to me and was pretty much what I believed that it must mean, and this was backed up and even taught by pastors.

I really would expect more from trained and schooled men of God than the silly thoughts of a child or new believer. Fear really means FEAR, that's why the word is used! Why? Why should you fear the Lord? Well, let's look into that.
God is holy, He is righteous and He is just. There is not the slightest hint of any darkness within Him, He is unapproachable light, purity, and perfection, by His very nature. There is no wickedness or evil thought within Him. So, why should we fear? Because, as a perfect, righteous God who actually defines justice, He must hate all that is contrary to His nature.
If you love children, how could you not hate abortion? If you love the Jewish people, could you possibly not abhor the Holocaust? If you love justice, what are your thoughts towards thieves, murderers and rapists?

It only makes sense that God would hate all those things even more than we would. And here's where it gets scary. We are NOT good. The Bible says there are none found good, not even one. We are wicked and evil and He cannot even stand to look upon iniquity, which we drink down like water. If we were ever in His presence, we would be destroyed instantly by His purity. Who can stand before Him? He has a perfect and holy standard, and we cannot even begin to come close.

Once we understand that we are the embodiment of everything that He hates, we should most certainly fear Him. He created everything in the universe, our planet, the sun, stars ten times the size of our sun – everything! Beings more powerful than we can even imagine, tremble it the very mention of His name, yet we arrogantly use His name as a curse word to express disgust.
We should most certainly fear, being enemies of the Creator by our wicked works.

But He is also loving, and forgiving, and has provided a way for us. We should fear because we are unrighteous and unworthy, and can do nothing to earn our salvation. We surely deserve eternal hell, and are saved only by the grace and mercy of an all powerful and loving God, and by His grace alone.

This fear does not outweigh the love that He has for us in providing a sacrifice on our behalf, that we might repent and trust in Him alone for salvation. Do that today, for now is the time for salvation.

Do You Share?

According to Bill Bright, only 2% of Christians share their faith. One of the reasons for this is that they don't feel equipped.

Most people are afraid to share their faith anyway, with a few obnoxious atheists mocking Christianity as "un-scientific" and "crutch for weak minded people". I find it quite the opposite, with the theory of evolution being un-scientific (life coming from non-life and violations of various scientific laws) and more of a crutch for those who want to think that they will not be held accountable for their actions. But that doesn't even matter and is an entirely separate topic for anyone interested in such things.

We don't even need to go there. Instead, we can go directly to the conscience, (con means ;with', and science is 'knowledge'), and when someone sins against God, they do it 'with knowledge'. The conscience itself is an ally in witnessing.

There is a simple Biblical principle that has been largely forgotten in the modern Church in the last couple of hundred years. Rather than a man-made "sinners prayer" or some sort of "altar call", made famous by Charles Finney in the 1800's, we should go back to the Bible, the authority of God's Word and witness the way that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ did it.

Check out His example in speaking with the woman at the well (John 4:4-29). First, He spoke to her about natural things, getting a drink of water in this instance. Then he moved to the spiritual realm, telling her of the living water. Being convicted of her sins, she went back into town to tell others about Him.

When the rich young ruler came up and called Him good, he was right. But Jesus reproved the man, for he did not understand what 'good' truly meant. Only God is good. And when Jesus went through some of the Ten Commandments, the young ruler claimed that he had kept them (1 John 1:8). Then He asked the man to give up his riches and put God first in his life (the First Commandment) and the young ruler walked away. Jesus did not run after him, telling him of a wonderful plan for his life and how God loved him so much, He let him go (Luke 18:18-27).

The Bible tells us that the proclamation of the Gospel is always Law to the proud, Grace to the humble (Prov 3:34, 1 Pet 5:5, James 4:6), and Jesus did not deviate from this. I would challenge you to show me a passage where He did not follow it, keeping in mind that when He didn't go through the Law first, it was because the person was already humbled and knew of his need.

How would we know if someone is humble, knowing their need? It's simple, just ask them. "Would you consider yourself to be a good person?" Prov 20:6 tells you what they will say, "Most men, everyone will proclaim his own goodness...." yet the Bible tells us over and over again that there are none found good, not one (Psalm 53:3, Rom 3:23, Is 64:6).

Ask someone how they think one gets into heaven and you'll find the most common answer is by "being good." If that is true, then we earn our way into heaven, there was no need for Jesus Christ to die on the cross and the Gospel makes no sense. This would leave us with nothing but blind faith and no understanding. We wonder why "prosperity preaching" is so popular, and universalism is gaining ground in the modern churches, and terms like "carnal Christianity" abound. And then we wonder why atheists mock it.

What the Bible actually teaches is that there are none found good when we're held to God's moral standard, that every one of us deserves to spend eternity in hell for breaking His commandments, but that He actually created a plan of redemption for us. The fine had to be paid, and God came down in Jesus Christ, lived a perfect, sinless life, then laid down that life as a sacrifice to pay the penalty that we deserve, for the wages of sin is death. But death couldn't hold Him, and on the third day, He rose again, defeating death forever.

Now, all that we must do is put our faith and trust in Him, and when we do that, we will also repent of our sins, turning away from them, hating those sins that we once loved because we can see what it cost, and that God so graciously and lovingly paid that fine for us. We couldn't possibly continue to willfully live in a lifestyle of sin if we even begin to comprehend that (Heb 10:26-29).

If we will simply repent and trust in Him alone, we will be saved apart from works, yet we will do good works out of gratitude for the new life we have been given, released from condemnation and slavery to our own sinful nature.

To God be the glory, proclaim His name!

Christians in America

I would have to disagree that most people in this country are Christian. Most of them may THINK that they are Christian, but the Bible itself warns of false converts and those who are self-deceived. And THAT is most of your "Christians" in America today.

I used to think, you know, I'm a Christian, I believe in Christ and all that, but I'm just not weird about it. I've since learned that if you're not "weird" about it, you probably aren't saved at all.

Some may throw out the old "No True Scottsman Fallacy" on this, but it simply shows the utter lack of understanding the basics of Christianity in the first place. It's not about trying to look good, or presenting some kind of superiority over other people.

The Bible never hides the shortcomings of the people written about, but records the mistakes these men have made. To me, that really lends to the credibility of Scripture. Why would anyone write down the mistakes and problems of their heroes if it weren't true? David, a man after God's own heart, was an adulterer and murderer, Jacob was a deceiver, and Solomon fell into idolatry. Thomas, one of the twelve disciples doubted, Peter denied Christ when it was convenient, Paul persecuted believers.

None of us are perfect, not one. That is what needs to be understood about Christianity - our NEED of a Savior. And God has provided. When one is truly converted, their lives will show a difference. If guess you can call it a fallacy if you want, and maybe there are some who use it in that way. But a true Christian is a new creation (2 Cor 5:17) and all will be revealed when we stand before Christ to give account for the lives we lived on this earth (Matt 7:21-23), regardless of what you choose to call it.

I'd even have to say that professed Christians in this country don't even have a decent knowledge of the Biblical doctrine. Here is part of a praise report from my church: This person had recently had a family member die, and had went to the fire station in order to thank the men that helped get her to the hospital. She also shared with them that this family member was saved before she died. Afterward, one of the men asked what she meant by "saved". She got to tell him about the Gospel and has since given him a Bible. Praise God!

You'd be surprised how many people don't have any idea about the very basics of Christianity. And of those who do, they often have a skewed version, never even having read the Bible for themselves.

As one who shares the Gospel with people on a regular basis, I know this fact from personal experience, and it actually surprised me at first, because I also thought that everyone knew what Christianity was all about. I guess it shouldn't have been all that surprising, though, as we see look around at how far our country has turned from basic Biblical teachings to where we are now.

"The chief danger of the 20th century will be religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell." - William Booth
...And here we are.

They listen to prosperity preachers like Joel Osteen who are nothing more than secular motivational speakers. Some of them watch the antics of Benny Hinn and think that is what Christianity is about. Others think that the Westboro Baptists are Christian. There are heretics in the pulpit, false teachings abound, and Biblical belief is mocked and ridiculed.

There is more need of true Bible-based street preaching than ever before, but it must be in love while never compromising truth. That will offend some, but it should not be our intent.

Soli Deo Gloria

Saturday 12-01-12

The art festival was going on at Mill Ave during the daytime this past weekend. There are tents set up all through the streets. Everything is closed by the time we get out there, but the tents remain for the next day, and it’s awesome to be out sharing the Gospel in the middle of the street with no vehicle traffic.
So, I set up the Einstein Illusion in the dead center of the intersection of Mill and 5th.

I went over to talk with Dan, who was already set up near the post office. As I was waiting for him to finish speaking with some people, a couple named Dessa and Brian stopped to see what we were doing. Brian took a phone call and missed the entire conversation, but I took Dessa through the Good Person Test (GPT) and gave them each an “Are You Good Enough To Get Into Heaven?” tract to take with them.

Another couple stopped to look at the Illusion board. I asked them to go through some of the "genius" questions, like “spell the word ‘shop’ out loud...” but she said she didn’t want to. They read them quietly to themselves, but then had to leave, as she was going to work. Maybe we'll catch them out there another time.

A man and two kids stopped next. The guy wasn’t too interested, but let the kids go through some of the GPT. Tony talked with him, while I talked with the boys. However, Tony quickly learned that the guy hated the Bible and took the kids and left before we got through it all. What else could you expect on a Saturday night on Mill Ave? That's why we go there, the Word is needed - a Light in the darkness.

After that, a couple of drunk girls stopped by and went through the genius questions, but didn’t hang around for the GPT.

Two Jehovah’s Witnesses stopped to talk with us for a while. Marcus spoke with them for a long time, I saw another couple looking at the Illusion board, so I went over to engage with them. Their names were Tom and Monica, and they said that she was a missionary who had been to Africa. Tom had seen an episode of WOTM on TV, but didn’t know much about it. I gave them each a card so they could keep in touch and maybe go through some training the next time we offer a class (sometime in January or February).

We met Fernando and Conchetta, who went through the GPT. She seemed to be a Christian, while he wasn't, but they listened and it seemed to make sense to both of them.

I talked with a guy named Trenton, who held to reincarnation and a lot of New Age beliefs, yet he claims to read a 19th Century Bible every night. I explained that the Bible flat out denies reincarnation with,"...it is appointed man once to die and then the Judgment." I also told him that the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the only way we can get into heaven, but he still held to his New Age beliefs. He did take an “Are You Good Enough To Get Into Heaven?” tract with him when he left. Please pray that the Lord would work within him, convicting him of his sins and idolatry and show him the true way to salvation.

Pray for more workers in the harvest field (Luke 10:2). ><((('>
Soli Deo Gloria

Read God's Word Daily

Satan works in subtle ways. One very effective way I have discovered is "busyness." If he can keep you busy with trivial things in this life, it will keep you from the more important things - Bible reading and prayer are at the top of the list. Every high profile preacher that has publically fallen from grace has stopped those two things prior to their fall. Another attack related to this is to convince people that they have "all kinds of time," yet we have no idea when our end will come.

We need to be reading our Bibles and obeying what we read, and praying continually. When are you going to talk to that neighbor or friend or coworker about their eternal salvation as we are instructed to do by the Great Commission? Don't wait around for God to tell you who to witness to, He has already given us the command. It should really be the opposite, you should speak to everyone you meet unless God specifically tells you NOT to.

Back to the devil's subtle ways. Satan doesn't care who or what you worship - as long as it's not the one true God of the Bible - and he doesn't want you obeying what you read, either, especially when it comes to evangelism. He doesn't want this Message to get out. There are methods that he uses in an attempt to prevent it. If he can keep you from even reading your Bible, it will effect your life in many areas.

Keeping you from God's Word leaves you more susceptible to the influence of sin. And it keeps you from obeying what is written in it, namely witnessing to others about the Gospel. This is because you feel like a hypocrite for not even knowing the Bible. You cannot answer any questions skeptics might have and this hurts your own faith even more. Pride sneaks in under the guise of fear, but what you're really afraid of is of looking foolish, because there is no serious, life threatening persecution going on in America at this time. We're also lazy, so instead of studying and learning more, we just shy away from even talking about it.

But there are some who are more passionate and don't give in that easily. There are not many of those, but the devil must do something about them anyway, because they can be very effective.

If Satan can tie Christians up in silly arguments amongst themselves, they will not be using their time wisely in reaching out to the unsaved. Debating which day to worship on, what we can eat or drink, or conspiracy theories, which brings us to the subject at hand. If he cannot keep you out of the battle through busyness, fear or pride, then he will create useless arguments to keep you on the sidelines. Unimportant conspiracies such as the KJOnly movement. This has no basis to it at all, and if a person would seriously look into it, it becomes painfully obvious that the allegations made against all the "modern" translations are simply irrelevant.

KJOnlyists claim that the deity of Christ is taken out, the virgin birth is down played, the doctrine of the Trinity is hindered and some verses are removed completely. However, I find no one adhering to heretical doctrine solely due to using a version other than the KJV. Quite the opposite, I find many theologically sound Bible teachers, many who have studied the original languages even, that use a wide variety of versions. Why aren't they KJOnly?

The supposed results of these "dangerous translations" simply do not hold up, which in itself proves the allegations unfounded. But when confronted with this fact, the typical KJOnlyist will ignore the evidence, maybe give some lame excuse that you must have somehow been influenced by the KJV, and continue to tell you about all the problems with your particular version of the Bible. All this while they overlook many of the same issues in their own favored version. This kind of reminds me of the speck in your neighbor's eye contrasted with the plank in your own in Matt 7.
In the end, I am convinced that this entire argument is just another tool of Satan to keep believers busy arguing among themselves, and possibly even preventing them from reading the Bible at all.

So, pick a major translation that you will read - it's all God's Word, except for a few minor versions such as the New World Translation used by the Jehovah's Witnesses, or the "gender neutral" version which is simply political correctness run amuck. Choose the NIV, NASB, ESV, HCSB, NLT, NKJV, or the KJ version, if you prefer. Just choose one that you will read daily and can understand. Then obey what you read.