Thursday, December 10, 2015

He was called Jesus - December 5th, 2015

Saturday Outreach
Burbank
12/05/2015



For being just a few weeks away from Christmas, it was a peaceful, even drowsy evening down by the mall last Saturday.  We had two boxes (across the street from one-another) as the men took turns proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to the few people passing by.

This week, instead of a normal update and in celebration of our glorious Savior and His birth, we are instead "re-printing" a part of a letter written nearly 2,000 years ago...




Luke 2

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.




And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.




And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”

And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.




And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.




Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.





Come Join Us - 6-9 pm
See the calendar on the upper, right-side of this page for our location each week...

Tracts and Bibles supplied!



Abortion Clinic
Mission Hills
12/05/2015


Don waiting while the abortionist parks underground before pleading with him to repent while there is still time.


This was an interesting case where this man was wandering around outside with his kids.  Joe spoke with him and found out that he had brought his ex-wife for what she had told him was just an “appointment”.  He didn’t know this was an abortion clinic.

While we don’t know what all transpired between this man and his ex-wife, but about 30 minutes later he had pulled her out of the clinic and they drove away!


That was just 1 of 4 couples that came and then left.  Most didn't stop to talk with us when they left, and we don't know the complete reason why they left, but it’s always exciting when people don’t go through with the abortion!


Another interesting event was the arrival of the police.  This happens once in awhile (they have to come whenever a complaint is made), but what made this interesting was that at first the police asked us to not say anything because someone might be offended.  He quickly backed off that, though, when Don pushed back, reminding them that free speech doesn’t end at the point someone is offended (he also took the opportunity to throw in 1 Corinthians 1:18 to speak some Scripture since he had the police’s attention).

The police officer then clarified that whoever had called had said that someone in our group had brought up the recent event in Colorado, and that bringing that up was the type of speech he was asking us to stop.

Of course even talking about that, as distasteful as we agree it would be, would have still been protected speech (presuming it is not used to threaten).  However, no one on the team had said anything about it, whether among ourselves or to people passing by, so we were as confused as the officer seemed as he looked around our group before admitting that the person who was accused of saying it wasn’t there anymore.

We were pretty much the only ones who had been there, though, so that comment just added to an already odd encounter.

We have no proof, but it feels very much like a false complaint was made for the purpose of harassment or distraction, using the recent events as the trigger.  Whatever the reason, the police were polite and professional, and the encounter lasted no more than a couple minutes.


Every Wednesday and Saturday at 8-10 am
10200 Sepulveda Blvd
Mission Hills, CA  91345

No Experience Needed and no need to say anything if you are not ready - come hold a sign, pray, and bring encouragement to those who are standing for the innocent.



Articles and Media

Several links provided this week.  Scroll down for topics such as Morality, Abortion, Apologetics, and even a little peek into man-kind's growing hope of eternal life outside of Christ in Trans-Humanism.



Morality

Arlene of Arlene's Flowers, a story of workers fired for refusing to call a 6-yo girl a boy, then some general thoughts by Albert Mohler.


The Seattle Times
Why a friend is suing me: the Arlene’s Flowers story
MOST people, seeing that headline, might think: “Shouldn’t it be ‘My Ex-Friend Is Suing Me?’ ” But Rob Ingersoll will always be my friend.

FOX26
Workers fired for raising concerns about transgender student
Two school staff members say they were fired for voicing concern after being told to begin calling a 6-year-old girl by a new name and referring to her as a boy.

Albert Mohler
Why Can’t Christians Just Join the Revolution?
Why not just join the revolution? This question seems obvious to many people who look at conservative Christians and honestly wonder why we cannot just change our views on homosexuality, same-sex marriage and the entire LGBT constellation of issues.



Abortion

There are times when there's some very good, hopeful news about abortion.  This is one of those times.


WRETCHED


BTW: If you haven't yet seen the various previews, this new series by WRETCHED equipping viewers to stand up for unborn babies looks to be excellent: Life is Best.


Albert Mohler
Effectiveness of crisis pregnancy centers alarming abortion supporters
(Daily Briefing 11/13/2015 - 3rd audio link)




Apologetics

Another look at Seventh-Day Adventism as a couple of authors first wrestle with the topic, then find themselves wrestling with commenters.

After that is an article on Biblical transmission and the false idea out there that modern Bibles are merely translations of translations of translations...


Seventh Day Adventism
A few weeks ago we briefly referenced confusion found even within our local church as to whether or not Seventh Day Adventism is a cult.

Recently Nathan Busenitz stepped into this touchy topic with a blog post on TMI.  After more than a little furor over the article, he posted a clarification on Cripplegate.

Tim Challies summarized those articles: "Nathan Busenitz is finding out what I learned a little while ago: That critiquing Seventh Day Adventism brings about some harsh responses."

Here is the SECOND article (he links to his first at the beginning): 10 Questions about Adventism
While unfounded name-calling doesn’t bother me, especially on Facebook, a few of the critics complained that I had misrepresented Seventh-day Adventist beliefs. Some accused me of violating the ninth commandment, and intentionally bearing false witness about what Seventh-day Adventists believe.
Since my desire is not to bear false witness, I decided to write one more article regarding SDA doctrine. While I doubt it will appease my critics, I hope it will bring additional clarity to my previous post. 

The first article on TMI had an excellent comment by Mike Riccardi in reply to another comment saying that SDAs merely have a bad understanding of Biblical doctrine and that we need to be a bit more inclusive.  At the prompting of other posters, Mike turned his comment into an article that is highly recommended reading:

Bad Doctrine vs. Heresy: An Exercise in Theological Triage
All biblical doctrine is important. I would go so far as to say all biblical doctrine is essential. It’s difficult to put any doctrine into a second or third tier, because it somehow feels as if to do so is to say it’s not important. But employing theological triage doesn’t mean that everything that’s not first-order is unimportant, any more than a doctor’s prioritizing a gunshot wound necessarily thinks a sprained ankle is unimportant. But the fact remains: genuine Christians can disagree on things like the mode and recipients of baptism; but if two people disagree on the triunity of God, one is a Christian and the other isn’t.

9-Marks
Debunking Stupid Statements about the Bible: An Exercise in Biblical Transmission
Let’s think for a moment about the question of transmission—that is, can we be confident that the original text of the Bible was transmitted accurately to us through the centuries? As we begin to consider that question, we should just right off the bat acknowledge the gigantic glittering elephant standing here in the room: We don’t have the originals.



Trans-Humanism

and Genetic Manipulation

The sad, dark area outside of Christ where the world struggles to be like God.


Serious Wonder
Humai, a company founded in Los Angeles, California by entrepreneur Josh Bocanegra, doesn’t just want to help engineer strong A.I., but wishes to use their developments in the technology to someday bring people back from the dead

WIRED
You’re Only Human, But Your Kids Could Be So Much More
While you might not be able to fundamentally transform yourself or your existing children, in the near future, you just might be able to play God with your own new, little creations. Think of it as a very personal kind of experiment. Technology that is already available today may well make this experimentation possible for anyone who can pay the price to make a new person, only one that is hoped to be “better.”






* All Scriptures from the ESV unless otherwise noted

Friday, December 4, 2015

Outreach Review 11/2015

The Heavenly Hope

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16 NKJV)
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV)

=========================

Burbank Outreach  11/7/2015

Our brother, Deacon Mark, was spotted studying the Word of God, as usual, in one of his few spare moments of the week, prior to the team gathering at the Burbank Police Department parking lot.

Not long afterwards the team was blessed to witness a regional anomaly. This mysterious looking object in the evening sky caught our attention and was photographed by Jeremy. It was the source of much speculation throughout the Southern California area. Brother Mark was the first to suggest the true cause: a rocket launched by the U.S. Navy performing maneuvers off the Coast.

Making it's politically incorrect appearance, for perhaps one last time, was the Burbank Christmas Tree. By God's grace, we were blessed to find a spot near the intersection from which to proclaim the Gospel.

As always happens, brother Mark was greatly used by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the gospel to several listeners.

We were blessed to be joined by our friends Gor & his wife Arpi, who we know from the Mission Hills Abortion Clinic outreach. Here Gor witnesses to an Armenian speaking woman as Arpi hands out tracts.

Another evangelist friend, Arnold, whom we met through the Mission Hills outreach, stopped by to offer encouragement. Arnold has been very helpful in explaining the process for obtaining an amplification permit in the City of Glendale. We are presently waiting for our permit to be approved there.

By God's grace we were allowed the opportunity, once again, to proclaim the gospel openly, with no substantial competition.

Steve was proclaiming the gospel when this man approached and quietly made some obtuse, yet disturbing comments implying that Jesus was inappropriately attracted to young children. His smirk conveyed that he was quite amused to express such a blasphemous thought. 

As if that was not unseemly enough, he proceeded to take a picture of the young girl that was accompanying him as she posed beneath the Christmas tree.

As Dean was calmly but passionately proclaiming the Truth and pleading with people to repent and believe the gospel, this man approached and began heckling. He seemed to be making the common argument made by those who claim to be born-again, bible-reading, church-going Christians, and yet who can't bear to hear the Gospel preached publicly when our sin is proclaimed to be what separates us from a Holy God. 

"Why don't you preach the love of God instead of talking about judgement? No wonder people hate Christians when they are always telling people that they are sinners who are going to hell, rather than sharing the love of God!" 

After his demands for us to stop went unheeded he stormed off in frustration. Brother Jack attempted to dialog with him. Jack reports that, to his credit, the man apologized before he left.

===========================

Burbank  11/14/2015

On the day after the Paris attacks by ISIS operatives there was an urgent tone to our gospel presentations. Sleepwalking unbelievers, willingly estranged from the God of heaven (Romans 1:21), are perhaps finding it increasingly difficult to deny the growing depravity and lawlessness in the world. 

Perhaps it is wishful thinking on our part, but it seems that people are increasingly willing to engage in discussions about the Living God, even if they are still holding on to their rebelliousness. The Lord is drawing some and hardening others.

Mark shared a new "Evolutionary" theory: A scientist has suggested a new theory that "Dark Matter" was to blame for the demise of the dinosaurs and the formation of the first human beings.

No one should worry about “dark”'s needlessly negative connotations or dark matter’s superior powers. The influence of a dark matter particle—or even billions of them—can be ignored. But the gravitational influence of a sufficiently large amount of dark matter aggregated into a concentrated region has had a substantial influence—one that has been critical to the Universe’s development. As with the other unnoticed populations in our midst, dark matter was essential to our world, and according to our recent research, might possibly have been essential to the emergence of human life.
(Lisa Randall, New Republic)

Meanwhile, wiser heads suggest that "Dark Matter" is simply nothing.

The worldview that underlies modern cosmology, and cosmogony (on the origin of the universe) is an atheistic one. It has no place for a Creator, and only relies on what man can discover for himself. As a result he has had to resort to all sorts of fudge factors to make his model fit the observational data, the evidence from the cosmos. Dark matter has arisen from this. But even when assumed to fix such problems the supposed dark matter does not behave like normal matter under the influence of gravity. It is stranger than fiction and I am afraid it is no more real than the ‘Emperors’ new clothes’."
(John G. Hartnett, CMI)

But Mark went on to set the record straight, saying, "They will not give God glory." 

We were blessed to be joined once again by brother Tom from CBC. Tom has boldly taken tracts to a new level with his direct questions to passersby. Several stopped to talk, including this man.

===========================

Morning Shift - NoHo Metro Station  11/11/2015



Please stand with us on Wednesdays at 6:00 AM at the North Hollywood Metro Station on Lankershim Blvd. It's a great opportunity to share the truth with the thousands of commuters who pass through this area. Please watch for text announcements on Tuesday evenings. Please always RSVP if you plan to join us on Wednesday mornings.

===========================

Abortuary Duty - Mission Hills  

11/7/2015




Mission Hills  11/11/2015


11/14/2015




You can join the effort at the Mission Hills clinic, 10200 Sepulveda Blvd., 91345, every Saturday and Wednesday morning from 8 to 10 am. No experience necessary.

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News



=============================

Apologetics Corner

Ray Comfort: Keys to Zeal


Wretched: One Simple Way to Undermine Someone's Worldview


Dr. James White Speaks On the State of Our Culture



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Join Us!

Please join us as we proclaim the glorious Gospel to a lost and dying world on the streets of Burbank, Glendale, Hollywood and beyond.

Maranatha!!

Monday, November 9, 2015

Hollywood Halloween - October 31, 2015

When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this.
(Deuteronomy 18:9-14 *)

Saturday Outreach
Hollywood
10/31/2015



Another Halloween has come and gone, and with it another opportunity to preach the gospel of our Lord in Hollywood.  While we don’t take joy in the holiday’s celebration of death and immorality, we are grateful for these opportunities because people are in a generally celebratory mood, allowing for more tracts to go out.

It's been noted that, as dark as the holiday and area is, more people tend to get angry with us on a normal night in Burbank than on a Halloween night in Hollywood!  Of course we thank the Lord for that, as we were in a very tight area along the curb, nearly standing in the midst of the throngs as the evening progressed.

The Lord was pleased to allow us a very small team this week - a drop in a sea of dead people - but we serve a great God who also allowed us to give out over 1,000 of the giant $100 bill tracts we had brought!  He also provided two men for the box so that the proclamation could continue non-stop for the evening, with them taking turns.



The last few years we’ve been able to set up a box right in front of the Chinese theater.  This is really prime “real estate” when it comes to the gospel and tracts going out and, once again, we had that key location.


While we only go down to Hollywood a couple times a year, there are plenty of men from other churches who regularly visit this area.  Steve met this young man from a church in West San Gabriel Valley on a Wednesday morning a few weeks ago at the North Hollywood station, where they graciously refrained from preaching to allow the CBC evangelism team's normal outreach to continue.  At Hollywood they were equally supportive, providing encouragement and standing nearby, holding illuminated "verse signs" while our team preached.


There was also another preacher walking around.  His message was a little hard-edged, though there was nothing that really stood out as theologically wrong about it (though this author doesn't remember hearing anything about the atoning work of Christ).  The problem was that he had a giant amp and was walking on the sidewalks, between the people.  It was so loud that it hurt the ears whenever he was near!  This is a good reminder that it is to be the gospel, not the amp, which should be the offense!



In all, we were there for about 2 hours.  Near the 8:30 point, the police kindly asked us (along with several others in the area) to move on because traffic was starting to jam up.



Because the Halloween atmosphere tends to change from "family fun" to "adult playtime" around 9 pm, we decided this was as good of a time as any to leave.  As we were leaving, a lady ran up to ask for a Bible, which was an exciting cap to the evening!




Lord willing, next week we'll be back in Burbank.  Consider joining us as Christmas approaches and an anticipated increase of shoppers!




Come Join Us - 6-9 pm
See the calendar on the upper, right-side of this page for our location each week...

Tracts and Bibles supplied!



Abortion Clinic
Mission Hills
10/31/2015


There is never a great outreach when it comes to the abortion clinic (except, perhaps, those extremely rare times when no one comes for an abortion), but this weekend was a particularly bad one with a new record of 16 couples going into the clinic during the 2 hour outreach.



Sadly this record would be broken just a few days later on Wednesday with 21 couples.  In some ways, we should be surprised that the record is only 21 and grateful that the Lord has restrained as much death as he has at the clinic.  However, anything over none is heartbreaking, and 16 and 21 is just too horrible to think about.

Please pray for the Wednesday and Saturday teams that they would be encouraged and take comfort in the knowledge that these deaths have not gone unnoticed by our Lord.  The abortions numbers have actually been quite low over the last few months, and this unexpectedly high turn out was discouraging.  Pray also that the Lord would work this for good among the regular team members through growth in humility and in their reliance and trust in Him.


Every Wednesday and Saturday at 8-10 am
10200 Sepulveda Blvd
Mission Hills, CA  91345

No Experience Needed and no need to say anything if you are not ready - come hold a sign, pray, and bring encouragement to those who are standing for the innocent.



Articles and Media

Voddie Baucham
The Supremacy of Christ and Truth in a Postmodern World




James White
October 27, 2015 Dividing Line (bi-weekly, live show)

Reviewed comments by Dr. Peter J. Williams on the subject of evidentialism and presuppositionalism, and then moved to a review of key verses you might want to be familiar with in sharing with various groups, including Roman Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Oneness Pentecostals, Secular Humanists, "Gay" Affirming "Christians," and finally…with our dear beloved Arminian friends. Hope it is useful!


Quartz
Philosophers have been debating a similar moral conundrum for years, but the discussion has a new practical application with the advent of self-driving cars, which are expected to be commonplace on the road in the coming years.


MIT Technology Review
CRISPR Gene Editing to Be Tested on People by 2017
...Editas CEO Katrine Bosley said the company hopes to start a clinical trial in 2017 to treat a rare form of blindness using CRISPR, a groundbreaking gene-editing technology.
If Editas’s plans move forward, the study would likely be the first to use CRISPR to edit the DNA of a person.





* All Scriptures from the ESV unless otherwise noted