CBC Evangelism

Burbank Media Center Follow-up 1-21-12

2012-01-23T07:06:00.001-08:00

Here is a Follow-Up report from Steve who is leading the team while I'm out of town...

Mark, Sharon, Debbie, Forrest, and Steve met at CBC for prayer before heading to the mall at Burbank. Fervent prayers were offered for our absent leader Dave, his family, and for God's saving grace toward his mother who he is visiting back east. It was an unexpectedly balmy night and there were lots of passersby. Steve and Mark proclaimed the Gospel, and Mark was blessed to get lots of heckling from several people. Topics raised included: What does God think about Marijuana? What about homosexuality? How can you believe the Bible after all the terrible death and destruction that Christians have caused in the world? (This last one was a drive by from a impassioned teenager who was in too much of a hurry to wait for an answer.) Several Bibles were taken and Forest faithfully distributed many tracts. Sharon and Debbie had several one to one discussions with young men and women.

Later the Burbank Ambassadors showed up and after lengthy discussions over the PA equipment we decided to pursue the matter further with yet another office of the City of Burbank. Sharon used this opportunity to share the Gospel and Bibles with the two Ambassadors, and as Mark and Steve were leaving Sharon was still engaged in witnessing to them. It is a blessing beyond measure to be a part of such a dedicated and faithful "cloud" of witnesses who love the Lord and seek to cheerfully and humbly obey His call to share the Truth.

Next week, Lord willing, we will be back in Burbank with a fresh new look called, "GOING MOBILE"! See you there!

Convicting Evangelism Quotes

2012-01-19T12:31:00.000-08:00

The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed -- Hudson Taylor

If your Gospel isn't touching others, it hasn't touched you!
--Curry R. Blake

I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light-- John Keith Falconer

Someone asked Will the heathen who have never heard the Gospel be saved? It is more a question with me whether we -- who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not -- can be saved. -- Charles Spurgeon

Missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual beliefs, nor out of theological arguments, but out of love -- Roland Allen

Burbank Media Center Follow-up 1-7-12

2012-01-14T13:22:00.000-08:00

Dean, Sai, Sharon, Mark, Debbie, Steve and I all had a great time last weekend.

I was blessed to share the gospel with a young Hindu guy who came up to get a bible for his Catholic fiance.

Dean used some trivia to get several people to interact with him.

Dean spotted me $5 for a "Good Person Test" which drew several people to start a hecklers frenzy!

I must have had about a dozen people ask questions for an hour! The Lord draws who He wants to hear the good news! Afterwards Dean told me "It was the best five bucks he had ever spent... what an eternal investment. " :)

Please pray that the Lord draws more tonight for us!

"Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel themto come in, that my house may be filled. - Luke 14:23 NKJV

Spurgeon quote for the day! 1-7-12

2012-01-07T11:52:00.000-08:00

"And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. " Rev. 19:15

And now we must close, for the bell has tolled just now to show that the hour is up, but we cannot end till we have spoken of THE WARFARE. What is this warfare? There cannot be war without a sword, yet if you look all along the ranks of the white-robed armies there is not a sword among them! Who carries the sword? There is One who bears it for them all! It is He, the King, who comes to marshal us! He bears a sword. But where? It is in His mouth! Strange place! A sword in His mouth! Yet this is the only sword my Lord and Master wields. Mohammed subdued men with the scimitar, but Christ subdues men with the Gospel! We have but to tell out the glad tidings of the love of God, for this is the sword of Christ with which He smites the nations! Be His mouths, my Brothers! Be His mouths, my Sisters! Tell the children in your Sunday school classes! Tell the poor in the corners of the streets! Tell by your little printed pamphlets if you cannot by your voices, all the story of how He loved us and gave Himself for us—for this is the sword of our warfare—it goes forth from the mouth of Christ! Let us be content to fight with this and nothing else! And for those who will not yield to it, our Leader has a hand as well as a tongue and He says that He will rule the nations with a rod of iron!

Man tried to use $1M bill at NC Walmart

2011-12-31T16:02:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you gotta laugh...

LEXINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Do you have change for a million-dollar bill?

Police say a North Carolina man insisted his million-dollar note was real when he was buying $476 worth of items at a Walmart.

Investigators told the Winston-Salem Journal(http://bit.ly/u7ZrEN ) that 53-year-old Michael Fuller tried to buy a vacuum cleaner, a microwave oven and other items. Store employees called police after his insistence that the bill was legit, and Fuller was arrested.

The largest bill in circulation is $100. The government stopped making bills of up to $10,000 in 1969.

Fuller was charged with attempting to obtain property by false pretense and uttering a forged instrument. He is in jail on a $17,500 bond, and it isn't clear if he has an attorney. He is scheduled to be in court Tuesday.

John Piper - Ultimate self denial isn't biblical

2011-12-31T11:38:00.000-08:00

I just read this post about R.C. Sproul Jr's wife who just died of cancer. It was appropriate.

Time is short and eternity is REALLY long ;)... share the GOSPEL!

SPUR OF THE MOMENT!

2011-12-28T11:42:00.000-08:00

I recently updated my old phone to a Smart phone. A couple of guys who would normally get my texts are not able to now so I decided to add a new widget on the side bar ----> ----> ---->

"SPUR" of the Moment is to let evangelists know of any last minute evangelism opportunities that are not part of CBC's regular Saturday night outings. You are welcome to join me if you are able and if not please pray for me. Blessings!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T20:41:00.000-08:00

May all the saints rejoice in the Savior who rejoices over those who trust in Him!

"Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:10

True Repentance

2011-12-21T13:59:00.001-08:00

A MUST for all street preachers to watch!

Dahmer

2011-12-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

I've been telling people about this video that I saw over at Iana Ministries. This is such an AMAZING video for two reasons: It exposes the darkness of Evolution and it beams the light of the Glorious Gospel!

If there is hope for Dahmer there is hope for me... and you.

Burbank Media Center Follow-up 11-12-11

2011-11-17T19:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a follow-up from Steve for last Saturday night evangelism in Burbank: The Gospel was proclaimed, and many took tracts and Bibles. There were no serious hecklers, although there were several people who asked questions and engaged in one to one conversations. Dean, Mark and I all preached. Dean was under the weather and Sai was at home sick with the flu. Sharon and Debbie faithfully handed out many tracts and witnessed one to one.

Our friend Roger showed up and all three of us had long discussions with him. It is fascinating to see the Holy Spirit at work. Why does this man, who rejects the Bible as the Word of God, and who rejects the JudeoChristian God of the Bible, take the time, and the energy to regularly seek us out and contend with us? I asked him what gospel he is seeking to share with us. He humbly confessed that he did not know. He tried to trot out the old objection from time immemorial, "If God is good, why is there evil?", as if that were some intractable problem for Christians to deal with. I frankly raised my voice, and replied "Roger! Surely you have been studying long enough to know the answer to that one! That's grade school stuff! Roger, it is our sin that is responsible for evil! God created things perfect. We came along and messed it up!" My tone seemed to shake him up a bit, and just then Dean came up and tapped me to get back up on the box.

Mark stepped in and picked up with Roger, contending with him for another 20 minutes, finally telling him, "So if we are indeed wrong, and I've spent my life loving my neighbor, and doing good to others, and not coveting or stealing or committing adultery, haven't I at least lived a good life? If you are wrong, imagine the despair you will feel as you find yourself in hell facing an eternity of torment." That seemed to shake him up also. It was then that I tapped Mark to get back on the box. We need to continue to pray for Roger. I feel, as I'm sure you do, that God is not through with him yet.

Hollywood Halloween Follow-Up 2011

2011-11-06T09:25:00.000-08:00

Thank you for all those who were faithful to reflect "the Light of the world" on a dark night.

Evangelism Humor

2011-10-30T17:32:00.000-07:00

Heckler Mic Setup

2011-10-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

180 Distribution Follow-Up

2011-10-25T21:57:00.000-07:00

Burbank Media Center Follow-up 10-22-11

2011-10-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

It was a LIVELY night at the Burbank Media Center. As far as I'm concerned Burbank went from one of the lamest places to go to one of my favorite places to go! One of our Elders told me they were praying for Burbank so this may be an answer to prayer.

THEY'RE BAAAACK! Our friends the Down Town Ambassadors have returned. We were told (very nicely) that if we don't pack it up they would report us to the police and be ticketed. I opted to meet them half way and took down the heckler mic and continued with the AMP. We had no further problems.

We have a great time out there. Even when we get hassled by people we help and encourage one another to keep pressing forward!

Dan came out in response to what was apparently a very motivational sermon at the Men's Conference. There was also another brother who came out and brought his two little boys to hand out tracts!

Debbie and Joanne having a good time serving the Lord.

Taking down the heckler mic didn't stop us from using a wirless mic to get hecklers to engage us. Jason stepped up and I was blessed to share the Gospel with him.

Roger came by again and here he is using his skills with the "Dark Side" to choke me. ;) Just kidding. I was happy to see him again and we had a nice conversation. Lord willing I will get to have breakfast with him soon! Keep praying for him as he needs the Lord.

Once again Steve was the recepient of God's grace to DRAW A CROWD! What a praise! Steve engaged hecklers for about 45 minutes while I held the mic.

What a great time! I've been encouraged to see what the Lord has done at our church in the hearts of the saints, but honetly we need more laborers! Please pray for us and that His church everywhere takes advantage of the freedoms we have while we have them.

"But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." - Acts 20:24

HOLLYWOOD HALLOWEEN OUTING 2011

2011-10-16T14:54:00.000-07:00

Please RSVP with what you are bringing:

David & Nichole:

ALL paper products /eatin' utensils, cups & BBQ Pork Sandwiches w/ cole slaw

Sharon: Chips

Mark: Veggie Platter with Ranch Dip

Debbie: Cookies

Dean and Sai: Thai Main Dish

Mike & Joanne:

Noho Follow-Up 10-8-11

2011-10-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a Follow-up from Steve who faithfully lead the team this weekend at Noho Subway Station:

Great night at Noho! Everybody got heckled, some got heckled twice. By the end of the evening Dave, Dean, Sai, Mark, Forrest, Sharon, (and a new person from Sharon's bible study), and Steve had been giving out tracts and witnessing in 1 to 1's or on the box. Many bibles went out thanks to plenty of outspoken hecklers.

Mark was heckled by two young men before he could even get started preaching. Both were in various states of inebriation and acted out inappropriately, to which Mark faithfully responded with the gospel.

Dave stopped by for a guest appearance, (on loan from his daughter's birthday weekend) eloquently proclaiming the gospel for a full thirty minutes before being heckled by two seperate people, Fernanda, a very skeptical young woman...

...and a loud fellow who spouted profanity and angrily denied the inspiration of the Word of God, claiming it was written by "a man". When he was told that he needed to repent he threatened to attack David, but ran to catch a bus instead.

Later, Mark was on the box again, only to be hit by a verbal barrage from a Hebrew Israelite who gradually worked around to his main issue, "What color was Jesus?" The strategy of these individuals appears to be:
1.) Attack with incessant questions and demands for specific Bible passages to be read.
2.) Deny the new testament message of atonement through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
3.) Deny that salvation is for any but the "Black Hebrew Israelites"
4.) Condemn the depiction of Jesus as having "blonde hair and blue eyes."
(Nowhere, at any time or place, in any way, does the CBC Evangelism ministry display, describe, preach, or even possess an image of our Lord, let alone such an absurdly inaccurate one. Worshiping or venerating such images of God is a violation of the second commandment.)

There is much anger in this cult-like worldview, and we ought to pray for these men to be saved. They adamantly claim many unprovable statements about the ethnic history of the Israelites, and apparently maintain that salvation is by means of keeping the law and having the proper skin pigmentation. The young man's anger seemed to escalate minute by minute, finally resorting to name-calling and endlessly repeated statements denying whatever Mark shared. "No it's not! That's wrong! That's a lie!" As he left he stated "I win, you lose!" and implied that Mark's infirmity was probably the result of God's judgement upon him. Mark endured graciously through this attack which lasted at least 30 or 40 minutes.

Even after this, Dean was preaching clean-up, not wanting for us to leave the scene on a negative note. No sooner had he started, when a long-time heckler, a woman who has contended with us many times, rushed over and started screaming at Dean and blaspheming God. No sooner had she arrived, then she was gone.

Due to all this activity, many paid attention and heard the glorious Gospel! Almost all of the Bibles were eagerly snatched up throughout the evening.

Thanks to all the faithful saints who obediently shared in this evenings effort to proclaim the truth.

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."- John 3:18

180

2011-10-11T07:43:00.001-07:00

Spurgeon quote for the day! 10-7-11

2011-10-07T06:59:00.000-07:00

"That I may know Him.” Philippians 3:10

"When the Laodicean Church was neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm, how did Christ seek her revival? Did He send her precious doctrines? Did He send her excellent precepts? Mark you, He came Himself, for thus it is said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and will sup with him, and he with Me.” That is a cure for it all, you see. No matter how lukewarm, though God may say, “I will spew you out of My mouth,” yet, if Christ comes, that is the cure! The Presence of Christ with His Church puts away all her sicknesses. When the disciples of Christ were at sea in a storm, do you remember how He comforted them? Did He send them an angel? No. “It is I, do not be afraid.” And when they knew Him they had no more fears. They were assembled one night, “the doors being shut for fear of the Jews.” How did He comfort them? Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them and said, “Peace be unto you.” There was Thomas, full of doubts and fears. How did Jesus Christ take away his doubts? “Reach here your finger and behold My hands. And reach here your hand and thrust it into My side.” Oh, it is Christ, it is Christ who cures all! The company of Christ is the only thing which a Christian wants. I will undertake that if his heart is like an iceberg, as soon as Jesus comes, it shall flame like Vesuvius. His spirit shall be dead and like a rotten corpse. But if Jesus comes he shall leap like a hart and become strong as a young unicorn. Your Presence makes me like the chariots of Amminadib! Now do not think I am talking what I do not know. Do not imagine that I am talking mere fanatical slip-slop which I cannot prove. I do assert (and God who searches all hearts knows how true this is)—I do assert that from the depths of doubt, of dullness, of worldliness—I have leaped in one moment into love and life and holy enthusiasm when Jesus Christ has manifested Himself to me. I cannot describe the difference between my spirit, water-logged, worm-eaten, ready to sink to the bottom without Christ—and that same spirit like a strong staunch ship, with sails full, with favorable wind, speeding into harbor with a golden freight. Like yon poor little bird which some cruel boy has torn from the nest and almost killed—it is not fledged yet and cannot fly—and it lies down to die. It is soon trampled in the mire in the streets—that is my heart without Christ. But see that other bird! The cage door is opened, its wings vibrate, it sings with all its might and flies up to talk with the sun—that is my heart when I have the conscious Presence of my Lord Jesus Christ! I only bring in my own consciousness because I do not know yours. But I think I will now venture to say that every Believer here will admit it is the same with him—

“Midst darkest shades if He appears

My dawning is begun!

He is my soul’s bright morning star,

And He my rising sun.”

-C.H. Spurgeon "Do You Know Him"

Video Games Are Stupid

2011-10-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

Does anyone over the age of 15 really want to argue that video games are NOT stupid?

Burbank Media Center Follow-up 10-1-11

2011-10-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

Had a great turnout of evangelists this past Saturday night!

When we first got there it was pretty dead for most of the night.

Many guys preached and we were basically neglected. Not even heckled.

Bibles were going out while we preached. This gentlman here took one then started to asked "sneaky" questions about the Trinity and the Deity of Christ. I asked if he was a JW and shared John 1:1, we talked for a little bit then he gave the bible back and left.

Andrew preached...

Dean preached...

And then Steve preached for his forth time. I asked if anyone who was an Atheist or Evolutionist wanted to come up to the mic to talk with him. This young lady named Milo was willing. She was a little "contentious" and before we knew it...

... there was a big crowd!

Steve debated and shared the Gospel for over an hour!

There were even 3 other people who came up to the mic after Milo. GOD is AWESOME and gave Steve the grace to hang in there!

... at the end I even had an opportunity to ride the small "wake" Steve left.

Something I learned by watching Ray Comfort and Scotty at Living Waters is when a guy draws a crowd after he finishes preaching have another preacher waiting in the wings to immediately get on the box to take advantage of the crowd that was drawn.

Thank you guys for your faithful service and PRAISE the LORD for His grace to draw people to hear His word!

Please pray for: Milo, Jim (who talked with me after I preached needing some counsel), Gilbert who came up to the mic to talk with Steve and all those who took Bibles, Tracts and heard the Gospel.

Courageous

2011-10-01T13:38:00.001-07:00

My wife and I just saw "Courageous" the movie. Most Christian movies either struggle because of poor acting or low budgetness... not in this case. THIS MOVIE IS SO POWERFUL! It is imperative that ALL fathers and men see this movie right away! You will not leave the theater the same.

PS- Bring a BOX of tissues because you will not escape without crying.

Spurgeon quote for the day! 10-1-11

2011-10-01T06:30:00.000-07:00

"He will beautify the meek with salvation.”

Psalm 149:4.

"Now, my Brothers and Sisters, I have shown you who the meek are towards God, and towards men. Will you judge whether you deserve that title? Such people are also lowly in themselves. “Oh!” says one, “I will try to be meek.” No, my Friend, do not try to be meek, because he who is meek is meek without trying! I do not know anything that is more nauseous than the attempt some people make to be amiable, Their pride pokes out at every corner and though they try to be very gentle, there is no real gentleness in them and, consequently, it cannot come out of them! Dear Friend, will you learn this lesson? You are a poor sinner—therefore, be meek. You may well forgive others, for you have good cause to ask others to forgive you. You may well be patient with those who provoke you, for you have often provoked your God, yet He has been wondrously patient with you. You may well put up with affronts from your fellows, for who are you, after all? If you have a right idea of yourself, you are so little and so inconsiderable, that whoever affronts you, affronts a mere nobody—so it does not matter! Whoever treads on you does but tread upon the dust, for you are dust—so who shall blame him? “You are setting us hard lessons,” says one. I know that I am! And unless the Lord shall teach you, you will never learn them! It takes a long time to put out the fierce fires of pride—and when you think you have really become meek and lowly in heart, it is sadly surprising how, with a little breath, the ashes begin to glow—and soon the old fires are burning up again! Some people say, “You know, it is a natural pride,” as if its being a natural pride made it any better! Oh, that God would tread out the last spark of it, so that we might obey that blessed command of our Lord, “Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls.”

C.H. Spurgeon- "Beautiful Forever"

This is important to remember when sharing the Gospel with people on the streets... "
You are a poor sinner—therefore, be meek."

To My Evangelism Family...

2011-09-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

"Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved." - Philippians 4:1

To all those who I have had the great privilege to serve with out on the streets to reach the lost; you have been and continue to be a source of great JOY in my life! I used to think it was the saints of the bible I couldn't wait to meet in heaven... now I rejoice in the thought of seeing you all in Glory to share in what the Lord has done through this ministry!

Thank you all for your faithful service, love for Jesus Christ and love for people.

You are all very dear to me.

Iranian Pastor

2011-09-27T06:27:00.000-07:00

Please pray for this brother.

Abortion

2011-09-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

This is a perfect example of the "agility" of the reprobate mind to justify sin.

Noho Follow-Up 9-24-11

2011-09-25T15:39:00.001-07:00

Steve, Dean, Sai, Debbie, Forest, Mark, Sharon and I went to the Noho Subway station to share the Good News with people in our community.

Debbie faithfully hands out tracts to the locals.

Steve started us off. He has continued to grow in his open-air preaching.

Tim (CBC's music director) swung by to check out our street evangelism ministry and the Lord opened the door for him to share the Gospel with someone.

Sharon is probably one of the best at getting conversations with people. There are very few times when I don't see her talking with someone.

MANY bibles went out last night as well. Dean and Mark had to dip into their own supplies to meet the demands.

The heckler mic was pretty empty all night except for this lady Chris who came up a few times to ask question. She seemed to be receptive to the Word.

Mark preaching the Gospel. If anyone has an ability to project his voice its Mark... made for the open-air!

The highlight of the night was actually when we went to get something to eat at Panda Express and to fellowship. While walking there we passed a sports bar and handed out tracts to people watching a UFC fight. A guy who got a Million asked us, "Is this about the Lord?"... "Yes" was my reply... as I was walking into the Panda he responded in anger something to the effect that he didn't want this... "You need to Repent" was my response... "Man (BLEEP) you!"

Next thing I know I turn around in the Panda and He is talking with Sharon!!! I guess he came back to give her the tract and it turned into a conversation where Sharon got to share the Gospel with him! I invited him to eat with us several time and he declined but appreciated the gesture.

THE LORD TRULY DRAWS PEOPLE TO HEAR THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE!!

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. - John 6:44

Creation Declares the Glory of God!

2011-09-25T15:02:00.000-07:00

God is AWESOME!

"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." - 1 Corinthians 2:9

HOLLYWOOD FOLLOW-UP 9-17-11

2011-09-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

Seven faithful evangelists assembled to give God Glory in a dying world and offer LIFE through the Savior!

Steve was DRAFTED to preach first and boldly did it inspite of having 4 police officers behind him. Actually they are Deputy Sherrifs and I learned from Lawman they have no jurisdiction on the Blvd.... MUHAHAHA!

Sai the "Tract Machine" hands out the good news. Last night we handed out over 1000 tracts.

Here Mark and Debbie hand out tracts while Sharon witnesses to two ladies.

Mark here had some kids on bikes stop for a moment to listen.

Speaking of bikes... Larry builds custom bikes and rolled up to hear what we were doing.

The Lord presented a golden opportunity to witness to him. He had never really heard the Gospel and took a bible as well. God is Good.

It was a very busy night. We had to battle volume of the 50 person choir from the Church of God but the Gospel still went forth.

This was a great end to the evening when Dean passionately preached the Gospel. He has truly grown in his ability to preach the word. This picture is great also because it captures Sai handing out tracts, people listening to Dean preach, a guy coming up to get a free bible and Steve talking with a guy 1-2-1.

PRAISE THE LORD!

"But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing," - 2 Corinthians 4:3

Christian Hipster How To

2011-09-16T08:16:00.001-07:00

The "Bible App" part is funny. Call me old fashioned but I like to use a bible when preaching or witnessing. Where else am I supposed to tape my Cheat Sheets?

Spurgeon quote for the day! 9-15-11

2011-09-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

The other night Steve and I spoke with a guy named "Roger" who I've been blessed to share the Gospel with several times. He has opposed the Gospel both in 1-2-1 conversation and has heckled me several times. Our conversations seem to have become more civil over time and and after our last conversation it even ended with a hug and offer of getting together with him for coffee. When Steve and I walked away we both noticed something about Roger... he is willing to believe ANYTHING he reads except the BIBLE!

Maybe you know someone like this as well. The following Spurgeon quote addresses these kinds of people:

"The persons here spoken of were as evil in their hearts as in their lives, for they, “despised the counsel of the Most High.” Perhaps they intellectually rejected the teaching of Holy Scripture and scorned to receive what the Lord revealed. They refused to yield their understandings to Infallible teaching and judged their own thoughts to be better than the thoughts of God. The counsel of the Most High, though marked by the sublimity of Him from whom it came, appeared to them to be less high than their own soaring theories and, therefore, they despised it. To some men, any doctrine is more acceptable than that of Scripture. They gladly hear what doubters say, but they will not hear what God the Lord shall speak. His counsel of instruction, His counsel of command, His counsel of promise—His whole counsel they cast away from them—and they take counsel of their own conceit!" C.H Spurgeon

PROBLEMS WITH BLOG

2011-09-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys for not keeping the CALANDER up to date or posting much... there are problems with the BLOG when I try to edit AND I've been super busy with work.

We are meeting this Saturday September 17th directly @ Noho subway station in the parking lot 5:30 pm for prayer then going to Hollywood Blvd. from 6-9 pm.

Spurgeon quote for the day! 9-3-11

2011-09-03T07:05:00.000-07:00

“He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chains in pieces.

Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

For He has broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron in two.” Psalm 107:14-16.

"The deliverance here intended is one which is brought to us by redemption—and comes by the way of the great Sacrifice on Calvary. We are redeemed with the precious blood of Him who surrendered His own liberty for our sakes and consented to be bound and crucified that He might set us free. My grateful heart seems to hear Him saying again, as He did in the Garden of Gethsemane, “If you seek Me, let these go their way.” His consenting to be bound brought freedom to all those who put their trust in Him." - C.H. Spurgeon

HOLLYWOOD FOLLOW-UP 8-27-11

2011-08-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

It was a CRAZY night in Hollywood. Lots of people were out. Dean, Sai, Forest, Steve, Sharon, Richard & I were out on the Blvd and also... (drum roll)...

...Pastor Jack joined us! He is the THIRD Pastor to come out on the streets with us to witness to the lost. Richard is working on a project for CBC and needed to take some pictures of Pastor Jack. They decided that Hollywood would be a perfect "backdrop" and joined us to do some witnessing as well!

The Pastor is going to do a series on Genesis and they wanted to get some footage of him debating atheists or evolutionists. I tried desperately to draw a crowd using trivia... to no avail.

Pastor Jack still got to share the good news with a guy who said he was a Christian. Many others were listening, you never know how the Lord will use it.

We all handed out a BUNCH of Giant Hundreds and Million Dollar Bills.

Here the Pastor was talking with one of the Church of God folks who beleives in "Sinless Perfectionism." He actually brought his wife back to meet the Pastor and said that he wanted to visit CBC.

Dean had the highlight of the night when he was heckled by a guy with his own BULLHORN.

I thought this picture captured how effective this kind of ministry is in getting out the Gospel. Within a very small area several evangelists can reach people with various methods. This is such a great team of saints to serve with they are all becoming seasoned veterans!

What a great time down on the Boulevard! We are so blessed to have a church and leadership that supports this ministry by funding tracts but also by praying for us and joining us as we GO. Please pray for all those who heard or read the good news!

"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." - Mark 16:15

Noho Follow-Up 8-20-11

2011-08-21T13:54:00.001-07:00

Great turn out for evangelism last night! (Sorry for the poor quality cell phone pics) Elder Bob & his son Daniel, Elder Mike and his wife Joanne, Dean & Sai, Mark, Sharon, Forest and myself. The Lord is good to raise up laborers. This has been one of my prayers for CBC and He has been faithful to answer that prayer.

Elder Bob did a great job explaining the Gospel.

Daniel handing out tracts.

It was great to see Sharon again though it was not for long because she had so many great conversations with people that night.

There was a moment last night when at one point I stepped back and looked a the whole scene... guys preaching the Gospel, people handing out tracts, 1-2-1 conversations, bibles going out and fellowship one among another. It has been humbling to be part of this ministry. I have been amazed at the Lord's work.

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise - Proverbs 11:30

Robert Gray

2011-08-16T19:08:00.000-07:00

Robert is a dear brother who I was blessed to meet and serve with when my family and I took our trip to Colorado. You can watch more about him below and pray for this brother as he is a FULL TIME Evangelist!

HOLLYWOOD- FOLLOW UP 8/11/09

2011-08-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

Steve and I had a great time preaching out on Hollywood Blvd. While we preach we have a small "Free Bibles" display next to us. Usually between 20-30 bible go out while we preach.

This photo (which I had to blur out not to cause any body to stumble) is a sad commentary on our culture. In broad daylight with children around there are "immodestly" dressed costume characters for you to have your picture taken with. We have become a perverted, shameless nation.

We were there about 2 hours till the break-dancers showed up to do their thang. We headed back to Noho praising the Lord.

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." Matthew 24:14

How to Make a: "Million Dollar Bill" Display

2011-08-09T14:11:00.000-07:00

Hollywood Follow-Up 8-6-11

2011-08-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

There were 6 of us this night (left to right) Steve, Clint, Chris, Elder Mike and his wife Joanne & myself.

It was a busy night at Hollywood Blvd. Trying to take advantage of the final summer vacation weeks of big crowds.

Right out of the gate Joanne was confronted with one of the "Black Hebrew Israelites." They are an angry bunch sent by satan who like to argue and distract evangelists from sharing the gospel. Best to be avoided.

Nicholas was a heckler that seemed familiar to me then I remembered that he was one of the bunch that heckled Tony at Noho almost 2 years ago TO THE DAY... weird!

Nicholas was pretty calm this time around while asking questions and he helped to draw a decent size crowd. I was blessed to get to talk with him 1-2-1 afterwards and he even shook my hand and took a copy of "The Big Question."

Steve was faithful to preach several times.

He gets more and more concise in his gospel presentation.

Young Chris (who is only 15 yrs. old) got up on the box a couple of times and open-aired "ala Whitfield"... PRAISE THE LORD!

This guy wanted a picture of the "Famous" Million Dollar bill. Of course he got to take one ;)

Over all it was a great night out. Tracts were flying out and the team was faithful to hand out about 1500 tracts. Getting to serve in this ministry with these excellent saints is such a blessing!

GOD IS GOOD!

"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it." Mark 8:35

Birthday Quote

2011-08-08T21:35:00.000-07:00

My Son said this to me today on his 5th birthday:

"Daddy, you go witnessing a lot... I bet everyone knows the Lord now."

I wish it were so Son.

Burbank Media Center Follow-up 7-30-11

2011-08-01T20:16:00.001-07:00

Here is a brief follow-up from Steve V. for this past Saturday night:

"Our fearless team leader (yeah right Steve ;) David S. was out in the trenches with the Ambassador's Academy team in Oceanside this weekend, so Steve M. ably served as point man for our outreach at the Media Center Mall in Burbank. He brought a case of (100) Bibles that was completely distributed by the end of the evening. Mark, Dean, Sai, Forrest, and Steve took turns with tracts, Bible distribution and preaching duties. We were joined by Chris V. who happened to be in the area and who served diligently giving out many tracts and engaging many in 1 to 1 conversations. Mark prayed for Jesus to be glorified and the Lord blessed us with an unusually peaceful environment and many who were receptive to the gospel. Several believers stopped to encourage us including these friends of Steve's from another church. (See pic of Steve with couple). Praise the Lord for another wonderful opportunity to serve Him in this exciting way."

Thank you guys for your obedience to the Great Commission! The Lord has been faithful to raise up faithful laborers for the harvest.

How to Make an: "Are You Ready" Cross

2011-07-26T15:33:00.000-07:00

1/2" FOAM CORE

C- THRU Stencils (Brush Script 3")

HOLLYWOOD FOLLOW-UP 7-23-11

2011-07-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

Dean, Sai, Forest, Clint, Steve and I all met at the Noho station for a great time of prayer before heading out to Hollywood.

Hollywood was PACKED! We camped out at one of our favorite spots "The Nook" which is an enclosed entrance way into a building at the corner of Highland and Hollywood. Perfect for handing out tracts and Stoplight preaching!

We set up the heckler mic and at one point the heckling started...

... and kept going.

Here Mondevan (who was clearly intoxicated) came up to ask me several questions.

Then his friend David (who was also clearly intoxicated) asked me why we were here and what we were sharing... which was a perfect opportunity to share the gospel with him. He said he was Jewish so I tried to quote a couple Messianic verses from Pslam 22 and Isaiah 53.

Then Tracy came up to tell me that I needed to make sure people understand that "God loves the sinner but hates the sin." I shared with her that "God is angry with the wicked every day" Psalm 7:11 AND that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." - Jhn 3:16

That first verse didn't seem to settle well with her. After I thought about this commonly used quote (which I'm sure I've said myself) I realized that there are several issues with this over simplified cliche that conflict with the bible:

1) "God loves the sinner but hates the sin" is not a biblical expression... it is however a quote from Ghandi "Hate the sin and not the sinner" (Mohandas Gandhi's 1929 autobiography)

2) If God ONLY hated the sin... then why does He send unrepentant SINNERS to hell? He doesn't send sins to hell but those who sin against Him.

3) You can't seperate a criminal from the crime. Try that one in court.

4) It seems that scripture has verses for BOTH the love and hatred of God towards sinners.

"The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. "- Psalm 5:5 & 6

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Rom 5:8 NKJV

BOTH of these attributes are exemplified in the CROSS which displayed God's HATRED of the sinner and LOVE for the sinner at the same time. I read this helpful article by John Gerstner on this subject.

We had an AMAZING time! The team was faithful to hand out about 1500 tracts & 40 bibles in both English and Spanish! I love serving with these dear brothers and sisters.

God is AWESOME and gets all the Glory!

New Tract Display!

2011-07-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

There is a NEW tract & DVD display in the foyer of CBC to provide a one stop place to get resources to distribute to those who don't know Jesus Christ.

I encourage all our regular evangelists to help "guide and encourage" our church to OBEY Jesus and pick up some tracts to give out to others.

"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works," - Hbr 10:24 NKJV

Glendale Cruise Nights 7-16-11 Follow-Up

2011-07-18T21:12:00.001-07:00

Forest, Steve, Mark, Elder Bob, Dean & Sai and myself all went out to Glendale Cruise Nights!

There were lots of people out that night and to be honest the "mood" of the crowd seemed more somber this year than the usually joyful environment from years past. Maybe the poor economy is taking its toll.

People are mainly walking thorough this event so its amazing to get a conversation with anyone.

We also got to enjoy seeing some cool cars and eating hamburgers!

We were by God's grace able to distribute about 5000 tracts in a little over 2 hours! We ran out before it even got dark.

This event was Steves ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of joining the CBC Evangelism team!

Please pray for all those who got tracts. God is good!

The Big Question

2011-07-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

We just got the "Evangel Pack" of 100 of these DVD's for our outreach. Its a very thorough, clear, gospel presentation and will make for a great resource to give people who you get to talk with on the street. I also plan to offer these out while open air preaching.

Burbank Centennial Follow-up

2011-07-09T10:11:00.001-07:00

I went with my family to the Burbank Centennial and to give tracts to those who wanted to hand them out... WHAT a SURPRISE!! There we thousands of people at this event. I was not expecting this kind of turn out.

There were so many people that it was hard to navigate through some places. Steve, Kareem, Dean and Sai handed out tracts while I spent time with the family. They ran out in no time!

"Do you not say, 'There are still four months and [then] comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest - Jhn 4:35 NKJV

My family joined up with the group, gave out more tracts to everyone and joined in the laboring!

My son boldly handed out tracts. How could you resist that cuteness.

Kareem had several conversations.

My son handing out the Millions.

Dean and Sai being swarmed.

My family went home while I stayed with everyone till we ran out of tracts. Steve drove me home to get more then hebrought in the reinforcements to Dean and Sai. They stayed for round two hanging them out till they were totally GONE! Below is a short video of how effective these tracts are especially at events:

Burbank Centennial Celebration

2011-07-07T09:17:00.001-07:00

This is great opportunity for evangelists. All of Burbank will probably be out in the Down Town Area to Celebrate Burbank's 100 year-ness. THIS FRIDAY between 5-10 p.m. I plan to go out an hand out tracts and witness.

4th of July in Hollywood!

2011-07-05T18:12:00.000-07:00

I can't think of a better day to take advantage of the FREEDOM we have to proclaim the Gospel than the 4th of July! Well except for maybe every day!

Two dear brothers braved the heat with me to go to Hollywood Blvd. I had 1000 "4th of July Millions" that I inherited and wanted to move them out of my garage. :) What better way then to actually USE them.

It was a CROWDED day on the Blvd.

Steve has really been growing in his open-air. You can hear the Lords work in him. The bible display has been such a great way to let people take a bible while a guy is preaching.

Mark (who has MS) faithfully comes out sometimes needing his cane but still goes...

... and reguarly preaches the Good News! This day we had more people encourage us than heckle us. There was even a group of guys from a Baptist Bible College who prayed for us.

Later I did a little trivia to try and draw a crowd.

Had a professing Christian take the "Good Person Test", he went through it for the sake of the crowd, hugged me and thanked me afterwards. We handed out the lat of our Millions and headed home.

Please pray for Paul. He listened to me preach for a while then came up to share his testimony of how the Lord had delivered him from homosexuality & his heavy involved in satanism! He has been walking with the Lord for two years, sounded like he's getting good teaching and shares his faith regularly. May the Lord use Paul in a mighty way!

The Lord saves the VILEST sinners to display His GRACE!! I know because He saved a wretch like me!

Burbank Media Center Follow-up 7-2-11

2011-07-03T19:40:00.001-07:00

It was a SUPER BUSY NIGHT at Burbank Media Center!

We had an AMAZING turn out of High Schoolers, Pastors, church family and our regular evangelists! The Lord raised up many laborers to reach many people in Burbank. We were basically a SWARM of locusts that took over the area. My apologies for anyone who did not make it into a picture... there were just too many of you! Not a bad problem to have. :)

Pastor Tim brought out his whole family. Its always an encouragement to see Brea handing out tracts.

There were so many people handing out tracts that we kept the preaching going pretty solid all night. Had a few people stop while Mark explained the Gospel.

Steve preaching the good news. I like this picture because you see by the smile on Steves face it is GOOD news!

Dean preaching while people came up to take bibles from Steve. About 40 Bibles went out last night!

Earlier in the day Sai had a near death accident when she was crossing the street someone barreled through an intersection in their car and at the last minute slammed on the brakes coming within literally an "inch of her life". By God's grace and protection she was unscathed and out witnessing that night!

Many of the high schoolers had never done street witnessing. They all did GREAT!

This young brother even preached in the open-air for the first time and did a GREAT job sharing the Gospel.

At one point this kid Chris came up and fell to his knees in "mock worship" asking for a bible. I invited him to the mic where I took him through the Law and the Gospel.

Nathan passionately preached the Gospel even through tears at one point.

Thank you to all those who were faithful to come out and witness. To God be the GLORY!

Please pray for the guys who came up to the heckler mic: Dan (totally intoxicated), Robert (beleived some new age stuff), Evan (asked some interesting questions) also everyone who took tracts, bibles & heard the gospel this night.

Give Yourself a Lift!

2011-07-03T05:56:00.000-07:00

Last night we had an AMAZING turn out of High schoolers and CBC members plus our regulars to reach the lost. While guys were preaching I talked with a Youth Pastor from a local church who had some encouraging words about what we were doing BUT (and that is always the word that lets you know there is something they don't like about what you're doing) he took issue with the fact that we were standing on a BOX to preach the Gospel... (sigh)... people will always find something they don't like about this ministry. Nevermind that when I asked him "if I was your friend who had three minutes to live what would you say to me?" he gave me an abismal presentation of "God has a purpose for your life" and I had to basically BAIT him into sharing anything from the Gospel... but I digress.

He felt we should be on the ground to "connect" with the people. That we may appear that we think we're "better than everyone else". I let him know that people hate us and the Gospel whether we are on the ground or on a box, they will always look for an excuse NOT to believe. Personally, sometimes I like to preach on the ground and enjoy it because you can get more animated, however I still like to keep a box close to me for many of the reasons mentioned in the following piece of advice from Ray Comfort.

Give Yourself a Lift

"If you are going to preach in the open-air, elevate yourself. For eighteen months, I preached without any elevation and hardly attracted any listeners. As soon as I did it “soapbox” style, people stopped to listen. Their attitude was “What has this guy got to say?” They had an excuse to stop. Also, elevation will give you protection. I was once almost eaten by an angry 6'6" gentleman who kept fuming, “God is love!” We were eye to eye...while I was elevated. On another occasion, a very heavy gentleman who had a mean countenance placed it about 6" from mine and whispered, “Jesus said to love your enemies.” I nodded in agreement. Then he asked in a deep voice, “Who is your enemy?” I shrugged. His voice deepened and spilled forth in a chilling tone, “Lucifer!” I was standing beside my stepladder at the time so he pushed me backwards with his stomach. He kept doing so until I was moved back about 20 feet. I prayed, “Wisdom, Lord,” then said, “You are either going to hit me or hug me.” He hugged me and walked off. That wouldn’t have happened if I had been elevated. Elevation will also give you added authority. Often hecklers will walk right up to you and ask questions quietly. This is an attempt to stifle the preaching, and it will work if you are not higher than your heckler. If they come too close to me, I talk over their heads and tell them to go back to the heckler’s gallery. They actually obey me because they get the impression I am bigger than they are. When Ezra preached the Law, he was elevated (Nehemiah 8:4,5). John Wesley used elevation to preach. Jesus preached the greatest sermon ever on a mount (Matthew 5–7), and Paul went up Mars’ Hill to preach (Acts 17:22). So if you can’t find a hilltop to preach from, use a soapbox or a stepladder."

GET TO THE POINT!

2011-07-01T18:28:00.000-07:00

All Open-Air preachers should learn to give various lengths of presentations from 2-20 minutes. Hecklers can understandably change this time from 2 minutes to an hour in a good open air setting. In the video below Ray Comfort does a great job of sharing a quick Gospel presentation without sounding like a human Gospel tract.

I beleive its better to do a shorter presentation that is CLEAR, CONCISE and HITS THE MARK then to ramble for 30 minutes to an hour (which I'm guiltry of doing) where the listeners have no idea what you're talking about. Once you get a solid "structure" you can add meat to the bones over time.

Here are some great guidelines from R.A Torrey on this topic:

"Don't be dull. Dullness will kill an open-air meeting at once. Prosiness will drive the whole audience away. In order to avoid being dull, do not preach long sermons. Use a great many striking illustrations. Keep wide awake yourself, and you will keep the audience awake. Be energetic in your manner. Talk so people can bear you. Don't preach, but simply talk to people."

"Dont read a sermon. Whatever may be said in defence of reading essays in the pulpit, it will never do in the open air. It is possible to have no notes whatever. If you cannot talk long without notes, so much the better; you can talk as long as you ought to. If you read, you will talk longer than you ought to."

"Don't talk too long. You may have a number of talks in an open-air meeting, but do not have any of them over ten or fifteen minutes long. As a rule do not have them as long as that. Of course there are exceptions to this, when a great crowd is gathered to bear some person in the open air. Under such circumstances I have beard a sermon an hour long that held the interest of the people, but this is not true in the ordinary open-air meeting."

"Don't be soft. One of these nice, namby-pamby, sentimental sort of fellows in an open-air meeting the crowd cannot and will not stand. The temptation to throw a brick or a rotten apple at him is perfectly irresistible, and one can hardly blame the crowd."

Remember guys: Eye of the Tiger!

Spurgeon quote for the day! 7-1-11

2011-07-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29.

"Then, lastly, the proof which these people, who had seen Christ and followed Him, gave that they had really found Him was that they went and tried to bring others to Him. They said to their kinsfolk and acquaintances, “We have found the Messiah!” “We have found Jesus!” Ah, you have never truly found Jesus if you do not tell others about Him! You know how children act—we ought to be children in all things before God. If a little child, in its rambles, were to find honey and its brothers and sisters were all around, I feel certain that it would give such a cry after it had first sucked its own fingers, that all of them would soon be plunging their hands into the honey, too! You have never tasted its sweetness if it has not made you cry, “Come here! Was there ever such joy as this? Was there ever such delight, such rapture as this?” It is the instinct of true children of God to desire to fetch others in to taste and see that the Lord is good—to share the unspeakable bliss which is already their own!"

C.H. Spurgeon - "The Baptists Message"

The Thorn

2011-06-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

I stood a mendicant of God before His royal throne
And begged him for one priceless gift, which I could call my own.
I took the gift from out His hand, but as I would depart
I cried, “But Lord this is a thorn and it has pierced my heart.
This is a strange, a hurtful gift, which Thou hast given me.”
He said, “My child, I give good gifts and gave My best to thee.”
I took it home and though at first the cruel thorn hurt sore,
As long years passed I learned at last to love it more and more.
I learned He never gives a thorn without this added grace,
He takes the thorn to pin aside the veil which hides His face.

Martha Snell Nicholson

HOLLYWOOD FOLLOW-UP 6-27-11

2011-06-28T09:08:00.000-07:00

Steve and I were blessed to go out to Hollywood yesterday for a couple of hours. IT WAS HOT!! But its always worth it.

Several people took bibles. About 20 went out yesterday.

We had the heckler mic out which has been getting a lot if action lately. This young man didn't want to come to the mic but still took the "Good Person Test" and heard the Gospel. I believe he took a bible as well. I've noticed that once ONE person stops and interacts with you...

... MORE people stop to listen. Jack (who is Catholic) came up to the mic while his friends all listened to the good news.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Ray Comfort - New York

2011-06-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite videos of Ray Comfort preaching in the Open-Air. He is FIREY, INTENSE, FUNNY and BLUNT. I want to go out and preach after I watch this!

Noho Follow-Up 6-26-11

2011-06-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

And the Award for the "Coolest Elder of the Year" goes to.... (drum roll)... Elder Bob! He rode out on his motorcycle to witness with his daughter Kayleen. We had a short night out but a GREAT night out at Noho. Just a heads up for any other evangelists that by about 7:30 pm on Saturdays Noho becomes a graveyeard. Prior to that there were several streams of people going to and fro.

Several of our regulars were MIA this night but the Lord still raised up laborers.

Here Elder Bob tried to reason with a guy who I've seen before heckle another preacher and try to stop the Gospel from going forth.

Beleive it or not the heckler mic got some great interaction from several teens who came up to ask questions. Amani (who claimed to be a satanist), Sam and Michael. There was a small crowd for about 45 minutes asking questions and listening to the Gospel. Several bibles went out.

Please pray for Elgin (he is a boxing trainer) who has been going through a lot in life and needs the Lord. While I talked with him it was touching to see this tough boxer begin to tear up while telling me of his trials. Pray the Lord uses it to soften his heart to the Gospel. He took a bible.

God is good!!

Convicting Quotes

2011-06-23T16:07:00.000-07:00

"If your heart takes more pleasure in reading novels, or watching TV, or going to the movies, or talking to friends, rather than just sitting alone with God and embracing Him, sharing His cares and His burdens, weeping and rejoicing with Him, then how are you going to handle forever and ever in His presence? You’d be bored to tears in heaven, if you’re not ecstatic about God now!!" — Keith Green

Burbank Media Center Follow-up 6-20-11

2011-06-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

We had a great turn out for evangelism this past Saturday night! I was really encouraged by our Elder of Evangelism coming out to witness with his wife and two of his kids. Forest, Dean, Sai, Mark, Steve and I were also out on a BUSY night at the Media Center.

Here while I was preaching two girls stopped to listen. Sierra took the good person test and I shared the Gospel with them. They both attend church but when I asked her if she had been BORN AGAIN she admitted probably not. They both took bibles!

Elder Bob teaching his kids "the ropes" of sharing the Gospel. Leading by example is something Jesus did and we should do as well.

There were MANY conversations with people. The Lord was faithful to open doors. Lately we have been meeting for a time of focused prayer before we go out and I believe we have been seeing the effects both in opportunities & our own attitudes being lined up with the Lord.

Dean testing out the hecklers mic.

We were very blessed to have Tony the Lawman and his daughter Marissa out that night. Here Tony is calling out to a group of young guys...

... which later turned out to be a great conversation.

Elder Bob sharing the truth of scripture and giving some of his testimoy as well.

Dean finished the evening with an empassioned plea for people to REPENT and BELIEVE in the Gospel.

Please pray for: James (a Hungarian gentlman who I shared The Prodigal Son story with. He said "That is me." and took a bible), KC (a local teen who goes to church but had NOT heard the gospel explained to him, he took a bible and DVD) all those who heard the good news and took bibles.

To God be the glory!

Sad but True

2011-06-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

The Supremacy of Christ-Voddie Baucham

2011-06-14T06:24:00.000-07:00

I've posted this before but its a great reminder that when we preach the Gospel we need to be men of GRAVITY. This is not a light message we proclaim and should not be treated lightly.

The Supremacy of Christ and Truth from Josh Gunter on Vimeo.

HOLLYWOOD FOLLOW-UP 6-11-11

2011-06-12T21:04:00.000-07:00

What a great night in Hollywood! LOTS of people were out. Tracts were FLYING out of our hands last night and we probably handed out about 1200 of them! Several bibles went out as well. God is AWESOME!

Dean,Sai, Steve, Mark, Nathan and I were planted at one of our favorite corners where theres lots of foot traffic while people wait to cross the street. We set up in a little "nook" which helps amplify the sound as we preach the Gospel.

Here while Steve was preaching he had some guys stay to heckle him.

Steve tries to answer some of their objections. Mike (guy in the leather jacket) and a few of his buddies stayed long enough to hear the Gospel.

These two ladies definately stood out in their beautiful kimonoes.

"And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, - Rev 5:9

Paul Washer said "Remember if you preach long enough and hard enough somewhere... SOMEONES getting saved!"

Thank you guys for all your faithfulness to come out regularly and keep plowing the field and reaping the harvest. It will NOT return void!

Spurgeon writes:

“beloved brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” It might be in vain here, but forasmuch as there is a resurrection, your labor is not in vain in the Lord! If we win souls for Christ, it often happens that some of those whom we thought were saved, go back into perdition—many of those who are really saved walk disorderly—others are ungrateful to their spiritual parents and turn aside to crooked ways. But if our record is on high and we do not look to our success for our reward, but to our Master—then we may be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in work! You who are doing some- thing for Jesus Christ in the school, or in any other department of labor, if you look upon your rewards as the result, you may, perhaps, have very few conversions and you may go toiling on very heavily. But if you will look beyond all present results to the great Taskmaster’s blessed smile and think you hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”— when you see Him reward you not according to your success, but according to the measure of Grace which you use faithfully in His service—when you see that, you will pluck up courage, you will not be of heavy heart, you will be instant in season, out of season!"

On the Box- Sye TenBruggencate

2011-06-11T14:13:00.000-07:00

This is a great episode with Sye TenBruggencate on pre-suppositional apologetics! His ministry is HERE.

Spurgeon quote for the day! 6-10-11

2011-06-10T06:57:00.000-07:00

“That, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”

Romans 13:11

There are those, again, who fall into a kind of somnambulistic state (sleepwalking). They are doing a good deal for their Lord and Master, but they are asleep. If judged by their outward actions, we should think they were wide awake and they do what they do very well. But have you ever seen a person who has a habit of walking in his sleep? It is a strange sight! Persons have been known to walk along giddy heights safely enough when they have been fast asleep where they would not have thought of venturing if they had been wide awake! And we have known, sometimes, professors going on very safely, carefully, exactly in positions where others have fallen—and we have admired their prudence and discretion and attributed it to the Grace of God—whereas in part it has been attributable to the fact that they were spiritually asleep all the time! It is very possible to walk long and far and yet remain asleep! It is very possible to appear very devout when, indeed, you are very sleepy! It is very possible to sing hymns when you are not awake to the sense! Yes, and it is very probable that you will betray your absence of mind by sitting down at the last verse, although there is going to be a chorus afterwards. You know it is coming, but your part of the worship is performed so mechanically that you dropped down in your pews as a mere matter of habit—and then were all in a flurry to be up again! I have detected many of you doing it. I have felt convinced that you were virtually asleep at the time—not really drinking in the spirit of the hymn, or else it would not have happened. It is very easy to hear sermons and to be asleep all the while—at least with one ear open and one eye—but the major part of the faculties of the soul still steeped in slumber. And you can keep on teaching in the Sunday school, pay your religious contributions punctually, maintain the habit of family prayer and even your private devotions may not be wholly neglected, and yet you may be walking in your sleep! All these duties may be done with a sort of sleep-walking life and action and not at all with the life of a thoroughly wakeful man. Oh, I would like to hear a man speak about Heaven who was altogether awake to it! I would like to hear a man preach about Hell who was awakened to the true pitch! It would make your very hair stand on end as you should hear how he told of the terrors of the wrath to come! It would make every drop of blood dance in your veins to hear a man speak of Christ who is all on fire with Divine love and all awake with Divine delight in Him! But that slumber is apt to come over the most lively minister. Who will not confess it? Oh, if you have ever read a chapter of the Bible when your soul has been all awake, how the promises have glowed and burned! How bright have they been like “the terrible crystal.” But too often we have nodded over the Bible; nodded over the promises; nodded over the precepts till there seemed neither life nor power in them. The life was there, but we were asleep! Well, dear Friends, I must add and then I shall have said enough about sleep, that a very large number of us are half asleep. Whether there is one man alive that is spiritually awake all over, I do not know. Such a man as Rutherford, who loved his Lord so that he scarcely ever thought of anything but Jesus—that was a man all awake! Such a man as Mr. Whitefield—preaching his very heart out morning, noon and night with a seraphic eloquence—that was a man wide awake! There have been many such; I trust there is a remnant of such now. But the most of us are painfully conscious that we are waking and need greatly to be more awake still. O God, make us feel the solemn weight of those eternal things in which we believe! You have saved us—make us awake to feel from what You have saved us and by Whom You have saved us! Awaken us to realize to what you have saved us and what the privileges are which belong to us now that we are saved! Oh, when I think how trivial are the things of time and how all-important are the unseen realities of eternity, I cannot but again conclude that most of us are nothing more than about half awake as to the things of God! And if it is so, it is high time that we awake out of sleep!

C.H. Spurgeon-"Wake Up Wake Up"

Noho Follow-Up 6-7-11

2011-06-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

Had a GREAT TIME today at Noho! Will admit it didn;t really feel up to going because I thought I was going to be there by myself... went anyway. Started off preaching by reading:

"Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are]the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?" - 2Cr 2:14-16

Shortly afterwards I was approached by a heckler who was angry with me that I wasn't "ordained"... As I told you folks "stench of death." He got super angry with me and let me know it. God gave me the ability to hold my ground and warn him "Unless you repent you will perish."

To my pleasant suprise Harrison showed up for a little while...

... and Alvin showed up again!! Wished he still lived here. He was only up here for vacation. Emboldened by my brothers there I did two more quick open-airs. Over 200 tracts were handed out as well!! The Lord also opened the door to a great conversation with an openly homosexual guy named Norm. He had the classic smoke screens to try to deviate the conversation away from the Gospel. The Jesus/Horus myth, the bible was written by back woods hillbillies with an agenda to control people, Constantine, Council of Nicea etc. etc... STILL DROPPED THE GOSPEL BOMB ON HIM! ;) God is good! Please pray for all these folks.

Eric Ludy - Intercession

2011-06-07T14:24:00.001-07:00

Sharpen the Sword

2011-06-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

Going to try to make it a habit to post some great verses that you may consider memorizing for the open-air.

…"when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,

in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,

when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed."

2Th 1:7-10

World View FAIL

2011-06-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes its hard to have a consistent world view.

Burbank Media Center Follow-up 6-4-11

2011-06-05T15:46:00.000-07:00

We had such a great turnout last night. I'm really thankful for Elder Mike who gives an opportunity for our high schoolers to come out to reach the lost with us each month. Scott, Andrew and Daniel have come out several times. We all need to step OUT of our "Christian Bubble" and obey the command to GO!

Dean, Sai & Forest were among the other faithful saints handing out tracts.

Steve, Mark, Dean and myself all preached.

Here I was giving the "picture lesson" of God's arrow of judgement pointed at us... which He then turned to His Son on the cross who took our punishment!

Andrew open-air preached for the FIRST TIME last night! Here Mark is praying for him.

Andrew did a great job reading from Romans 1 and sharing what was on his heart.

About 30+ bibles went out also many tracts and great conversations. Later on in the evening we broke out the heckler mic and Steve and I both had some people come up to ask questions. Over all a great night. What a blessing it is to be part of this ministry. Glory to God!

Please pray for: Reuben (young Buddist who took a bible and heard the gospel), those who heckled us & those who took bibles as well.

Spurgeon quote for the day! 6-4-11

2011-06-04T06:57:00.000-07:00

“That through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil.” Hebrews 2:14

"Let us just picture a scene. When the Lord Jesus came down to earth, Satan knew His errand. He knew that the Lord Jesus was the Son of God and when he saw Him an Infant in the manger, he thought if he could kill Him and get Him in the bonds of death, what a fine thing it would be! So He stirred up the spirit of Herod to slay Him. But Herod missed his mark. And many a time did Satan strive to put the personal existence of Christ in danger so that he might get Christ to die. Poor fool as he was, he did not know that when Christ died, He would bruise the devil’s head. Once, you remember, when Christ was in the synagogue, the devil stirred up the people and made them angry. And he thought, “Oh, what a glorious thing it would be if I could kill this Man. Then there would be an end of Him and I should reign supreme forever.” So he got the people to take Him to the brow of the hill and he gloated over the thought that now surely He would be cast down headlong! But Christ escaped. He tried to starve Him, he tried to drown Him. He was in the desert without food and He was on the sea in a storm. But there was no starving or drowning Him and Satan, no doubt, panted for His blood and longed that He should die. At last the day arrived. It was telegraphed to the court of Hell that at last Christ would die. They rung their bells with hellish mirth and joy. “He will die now,” said Satan, “Judas has taken the 30 pieces of silver! Let those Scribes and Pharisees get Him, they will no more let Him go than the spider will a poor unfortunate fly! He is safe enough now.” And the devil laughed for very glee when he saw the Savior stand before Pilate’s bar. And when it was said, “Let Him be crucified,” his joy scarcely knew bounds—except that bound which his own misery must ever set to it. As far as he could, he reveled in what was to him a delightful thought—that the Lord of Glory was about to die! In death, as Christ was seen of angels, He was seen of devils, too. And that dreary march from Pilate’s palace to the Cross was one which devils saw with extraordinary interest. And when they saw Him on the Cross, there stood the exulting Fiend, smiling to himself. “Ah, I have the King of Glory now in my dominions! I have the power of death and I have the power over the Lord Jesus.” He exerted that power till the Lord Jesus had to cry out in bitter anguish, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” But ah, how short-lived was hellish victory! How brief was the Satanic triumph! He died and, “It is finished!” shook the gates of Hell. Down from the Cross the Conqueror leaped, pursued the Fiend with thunderbolts of wrath! Swift to the shades of Hell the Fiend did fly and swift descending went the Conqueror after him. And we may conceive Him exclaiming—

“Traitor! This bolt shall find and pierce you through, Though under Hell’s profoundest wave you dive, To find a sheltering grave.”

And seize him He did—chained him to His chariot wheel—dragged him up the steps of Glory. Angels shouting all the while, “He has led captivity captive and received gifts for men.” Now, Satan, you said you would overcome me when I came to die. Satan I defy you and laugh you to scorn! My Master overcame you and I shall overcome you! You say you will overcome the saint, do you? You could not overcome the saint’s Master and you will not overcome him! You once thought you had conquered Jesus—you were bitterly deceived! Ah, Satan, you may think you shall overcome the Little-Faith and the Faint-Heart, but you are wondrously mistaken—for we shall shortly assuredly tread you under our feet. And even in our last extremity, with fearful odds against us, we shall be “more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” C.H. Spurgeon-"The Destroyer Destroyed"

Visit to the Ambassadors Academy

2011-06-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

Steve and I went to visit the Ambassador's Academy at 3rd Street Promenade on a beautiful day. Its encouraging to see how the Lord raises up new preachers and evangelists. This is a great resource for getting over your fears through a three day intensive training. They will be at 3rd Street until 10 pm tonight! Thats like watching all three Lord of the Rings movies in a row... and they will still be there!

Got to see Tony the Lawman, who is like my "open-air dad" and a dear brother.

Caught a glimpse of the open-air mystro himself... Ray Comfort.

And Steve and I got to witness and hand out a few tracts. Good times!

Shame on Harold Camping!

2011-06-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

This is a sad story from the fallout of the FALSE PROPHET Harold Camping. There is an open-air illustration in this some where.

"Doomsday Believer Donates Entire Inheritance to Family Radio"

Memorial Day in Hollywood!!

2011-05-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day in Hollywood was one of those days where you have so much JOY going to share the gospel that you feel almost guilty having such a good time. Dean, Sai, steve and I had a great time!! It was sunny and breezy and there were TONS of people out there.

Over 1000 tracts were handed out!!

Many people came up to THANK us for what we were doing... they must have been tourists. ;)

We had some CBC branded Giant Hundreds printed up just in time to hand out.

Sai is a "tract handing machine".

For a "walking lunch" Dean and I each had the largest slice of pizza I've ever seen.

About 30 bibles went out during the preaching.

This was a great way to end the day. I handed a tract to a guy sitting in a cab... turned around and he was talking with Dean. He said the man was open to hear the gospel and had many great questions.

We serve a Great KING!

Burbank Media Center Follow-up 5-28-11

2011-05-30T20:12:00.001-07:00

It was a busy night at Burbank due to the three day weekend. Mark, Dean, Sai, Clint, Steve & I were the regulars in attendance...

... and we were joined by our dear brother Alvin! He is now a family Pastor at a church down in Bellflower.

We were also joined by Chad who was out for the first time with us. It's great to see the Lord working on people's hearts to get out there and SHARE THE GOSPEL!

This guy was there to try to distract & discourage many on our team. Kept twisting scripture and condemning us for what we were doing. At one point I heard him repromand Steve because he was "handing out false bibles... because they weren't the red letter version." Many guys on the team knew this guy and kept trying to reach out to him with the Gospel.

It was great to see Clint again. Like Clint several of us have little ones. Our dear wives are our co-laborers by taking care of the kiddos so that we can "GO"!!

I did a little triva to TRY to draw a crowd so that Alvin could then give the "Good Person Test."

Over all it was a great night, lots of tracts went out. God is good!

Spurgeon quote for the day! 5-26-11

2011-05-26T15:31:00.000-07:00

“O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 7:24, 25.

"The wretchedness of Paul, I think, lay in two things which are enough to make any man wretched. Paul believed the Doctrine of Human Responsibility and yet he felt the Doctrine of Human Inability. I have heard people ask sometimes— “You tell the sinner that he cannot believe and repent without the help of the Holy Spirit. And yet you tell him that it is his duty to believe and repent! How are these two to be reconciled?” We reply that they do not need any reconciliation. They are two Truths of Holy Scripture and we leave them to reconcile themselves—they are friends and friends do not need any reconciliation!"

C. H Spurgeon-THE FAINTING WARRIOR NO. 235

HOLLYWOOD FOLLOW-UP 5-21-11

2011-05-22T19:48:00.000-07:00

Well Harold Camping was wrong because here is the team at 6:15pm! However he did prove the bible right when it says, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only." - Matthew 24:36 These dear saints were faithful to go out witnessing at Hollwood Blvd. inspite of how many times we would probably be associated with the "Camping Cult".

It was crowded and CRAZY out on the Blvd. last night.

I was blessed with a great opportunity to share the Gospel with these Atheists.

They asked many good questions. This young girl named Izzy had shared some of her HORRIBLE experiences with what sounded to be false converts. At some points she did listened intently when I shared the gospel. Below is a quick clip of our interaction.

Ryan believed in evolution and sadly admitted that "everything came out on nothing." He did take a bible.

Steve preached and was abruptly interrupted by the "Plastic 5 Gallon Drummer" who claimed we were in his spot. Steve finished preaching and gave the guy a tip.

Dean did some stoplight preaching while Mike handed out bibles. About 60 bibles were handed out.

And the cult of the night was... (drum roll)... The Scientologists...

... so it was only fitting for Mike who was saved out of Scientology to preach next to them. We had a great night and afterwards enjoyed some fellowship at the local In & Out Burger. God is good! What a great ministry to have & what a great King we serve!

Is this America? Part 1

2011-05-20T08:11:00.000-07:00

"I fear the world can seldom charge the Church with being too violent in its appeals. Look at what the ungodly will do to us. Where can you live in a street of London, especially in this part of town, without having night made hideous with their loud licentious songs and shouts? They force upon us their irreligion—may we not introduce our religion in return? If we go up to a man straight away and speak to him in the name of Christ, perhaps he will say, “You intrude.” Well, we are not the only people that intrude, for many intrude their filthy tongues upon us as we go down the streets! And they force their infidelity upon us in the daily prints. The world sets the fashion and if we follow its customs, it has no right to complain. When the wicked grow so delicate that they are afraid of hurting our feelings by their unbelieving speeches, we may take into consideration how we can go delicately, also."- C.H. Spurgeon

Eric Ludy - The Gospel

2011-05-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

HOLLYWOOD FOLLOW-UP 5-14-11

2011-05-15T16:10:00.001-07:00

What a great turn out for witnessing in Hollywood. This picture reminded me of the Second Coming of the Lord... I hope He returns while we're witnessing!

Steve, Dean, Mike, Forest, Mark and I were blessed to have a new brother join us: Brian who was saved out of Mormonism came out to faithfully share the Good News of the true Jesus Christ of the Bible with a lost world.

Steve preached three times out in Hollywood. He's been such a blessing to the team & is really growing in his open-air preaching.

Brian said he was just going to "observe" which lasted about 60 seconds then he jumped right into handing out tracts.

"Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? - 2Cr 2:14-16

We were expecting to see the "Black Hebrew Israelites" & "Harold Campings" crew out in Hollywood and thankfully didn't see either of them. We did however wrangle with some of the Church of God folks who beleive in Sinless Perfectionism.

Here Brian learns what its like to "bang his head against a concrete wall" for about 30 minutes... which is what it feels like after talking with a sinless perfectionist. Its amazing how deceptive sin is.

Dean did a FANTASTIC job preaching here. Both "Buzz & Woody" took bibles.

Here is a portion of Dean's Open-Air

Forest trying to reason with some "sinless" people.

I tried to reason with these young kids ages 11-15 years old... so deceived they claimed that they have perfectly obeyed their parents since becoming "Chrisitians", always loved God with ALL their heart, soul, mind and strenght... wow.

Another great night with many tracts and bibles given out. Please pray for: Jake (26 yr old Jewish guy who let me share many OT passages with him about the Messiah), ALL the Church of God folks we witnessed to all those who heard the preaching of the Gospel.

GLORY TO THE KING OF KINGS!!

Spurgeon quote for the day! 5-13-11

2011-05-13T23:26:00.001-07:00

"Do you hear this man as he speaks to himself? “Oh! if I could ever escape from this dreadful dungeon, it would be a heaven to me. If these awful fires could be quenched, if this gnawing worm would but die, then I would be content. If, after ten thousand, thousand, thousand years, I could hope to make my escape from this pit of woe, I would set all the bells of my heart a-ringing for very joy at the bare possibility that, at last, I might escape. But what is it that I see written before me? Forever! Forever on my chains; forever, branded on my limbs of pain; forever, on yon waves of fire; forever in the angry gaze of an incensed Deity; forever in those hungry depths, which seem to yawn to suck me into deeper woe; forever, forever, forever, forever!” - C.H. Spurgeon

Team 1 Follow-up- Burbank Media Center 5-7-11

2011-05-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

"STEP RIGHT UP to the microphone!"

This picture (which was taken with my phone... because my battery was DEAD on my camera) this captures what happened later on in the evening.

We were blessed to have Elder Mike & Joanne bring out a few High Schoolers also Pastor Tim bring four of his kids as well. I've been so encouraged by the leadership of our church leading others and their own family out witnessing!! Sadly it was pretty slow when they were out but RIGHT AFTER they left the mic was on and LOTS of people came up to ask questions. I even got the classic... "Where did Cain get his wife?"

There was a small crowd for about an hour and a half. Steve and I were there until 10 pm! That is late for me being an old timer. ;) You know you got saved when you used to go out Saturday nights "clubbin" till 3am and NOW you're "witnessin"till 10pm... andit was a GREAT NIGHT!!

Please pray for: Kathline (Catholic- but asked lots of questions for at least 20 minutes, she listened intently) Kevin (asked about Cain), Hussain (He is a Muslim... non to happy with what I shared with him) and many others who heckled and heard the good news!

Spurgeon quote for the day! 5-9-11

2011-05-09T06:13:00.000-07:00

"I fear the world can seldom charge the Church with being too violent in its appeals. Look at what the ungodly will do to us. Where can you live in a street of London, especially in this part of town, without having night made hideous with their loud licentious songs and shouts? They force upon us their irreligion—may we not introduce our religion in return? If we go up to a man straight away and speak to him in the name of Christ, perhaps he will say, “You intrude.” Well, we are not the only people that intrude, for many intrude their filthy tongues upon us as we go down the streets! And they force their infidelity upon us in the daily prints. The world sets the fashion and if we follow its customs, it has no right to complain. When the wicked grow so delicate that they are afraid of hurting our feelings by their unbelieving speeches, we may take into consideration how we can go delicately, also."

C.H. Spurgeon-"Do You Understand What You are Reading?"

All I Have is Christ - An Animation

2011-05-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

This was sent from Clint... this animation is GREAT!

Clint is no stranger to animation. He even has a cameo appearance in the dated, but accurate movie about what Jehovah's Witnesses believe.

Here is the animation itself.

Back from Colorado!

2011-05-05T06:49:00.000-07:00

As many of you know my family and I had just taken a trip to Colorado and we've been back home in LA for about a week. What a wonderful time of enjoying the Lord's creation!! Thank you to our family in the Lord for all your prayers for us. Many prayers of protection and opportunity were answered. About 150 Bibles had been ditributed while I was out in Colorado & several hundred tracts. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to witness to the lost in Colorado with Steve & Robert from IANA Ministries... what a true blessing!

The last day of witnessing we went to Acacia Park & Manitou Springs. Here Robert was trying to reason with a heckler who said "Jesus stole his birthday."

This young lady came up, heard Steve preaching and immediately broke down in tears. I had the opportunity later to share some scripture with her and give her a bible.

Even Colorado Springs had its share of "characters". They will be missed as well.

Please pray for more laborers to be raised up at Steve's church. He is currently teaching an evangelism class and had a great turn out for it. Also Robert is a full-time evangelist who travels. Please pray the Lord opens doors for the Gospel and protects him. More and more I've come to realize how rare and precious people are who make it their business to be soul winners!

It was an honor to serve with you brothers.

Prodigal: An Animation

2011-05-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

This is beautiful.

A Richard Dawkins Smack Down!

2011-05-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

Hitler, Religion, and the Holocaust - The Power of Deception

2011-05-03T18:23:00.001-07:00

HOLLYWOOD FOLLOW-UP 4-30-11

2011-05-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick follow-up from Steve from last night which sounded like an exciting evening:

"Tonight was a real battleground in Hollywood. Mike, Mark, Dean, Sai and I went. First Harold Camping's people were out trying to shut us down by counter preaching in front of Mike and Dean. I got some stills and about 10 minutes of video. The stills are attached and the videos will be posted to Youtube. I'll send you the link. After this the Black Hebrew Israelites showed up and got into a big discussion with Mike and Dean. It was very exciting. Several believers came up to give encouragement. Mike or Dean could give you more details."

Here is some of that video Steve mentioned. Mike let me know he was able to talk 1-on-1 with the guy and his wife afterwards and she was brought to tears. What a sad group this is. HERE is a link from Steve about Harold Camping.

After watching these videos this scripture came to mind:

"And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour." - Act 16:16-18 KJV

Here is a spoof on talking with a "Black Hebrew Israelite":

Man arrested for reading Bible in public!

2011-04-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

Personally (and this is a preference) I would have asked the officer "what law was I breaking?" Then quietly accepted the officers UNLAWFUL arrest. It could come across as you being belligerent if you keep shouting AFTER you have been arrested. HOWEVER there is so much wrong with this. Praise the Lord these brothers were willing to go to jail for what was not only legal but RIGHT for them to do!!

Break It Down!

2011-04-26T05:52:00.000-07:00

Acacia Park - Colorado Springs 4-25-11

2011-04-25T19:08:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had a blessed Resurrection Sunday. Today I was blessed to go out to Acacia Park and preach. By God's grace I was able to weather some major heckling. I barely could keep any order to it and get the gospel out. People are SO opposed to it in this area. Had the heckler Elliot come back and try to distract a young girl named Cat who was challenging me. His "big" argument is that Jesus did not meet the requirements of the Messiah which was that "he had to be in the line of Solomon!" I'll let you guys respond to that if you would like. ;)

Another guy tried to pull the Zeitgeist non-sense; with Jesus being the SON & the SUN god... I learned (besides all the other inaccuracies of Zeitgeist) that "PUN" doesn't work in Egyptian, Hebrew or Greek... only in English. He then said the bible was written in English... "read a history book" was my response.

Overall about 15 bibles went out, some while I preached and some while I stood with the Cross. Glory to God for these wonderful opportunities.

If anyone tries to pull that dopey Zeitgeist non-sense on you I've attached a page of notes I put together from a couple of critiques of that movie.

Burbank Media Center-FOLLOW-UP-4/24/11

2011-04-24T11:50:00.001-07:00

Here's a great report from Mike about Saturday nights evangelism in Burbank:

"Tonight we were privledged to proclaim the gospel at the media center -in attendance were Mark, Dean, Sai, myself, and Tom, along with Justin Leblanc, and son Luther (it is Luthers birthday). dean, mark and me preached and invited folks to the easter sonrise service.

Many people herd the gospel and many tracts went out along with about 25 bibles (new testaments)

Praise the Lord!"

I look forward to witnessing with my brothers and sisters again!!

ARISE MY LOVE!!

2011-04-23T22:07:00.000-07:00

HE IS RISEN INDEED!!

Christ Preached!!

2011-04-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison," 1 Peter 3:18 &19

Christ crucified, risen and glorified... DECLARED to those in HELL itself!!!

Wonderful Opportunities in Colorado

2011-04-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on some wonderful opportunities to share the Gospel over meals in Colorado.

The other day I was contacted by Alex, she's been on her own since she was twelve. She was one of my hecklers at Acacia Park featured at the beginning of THIS VIDEO. She had many good questions about the bible etc. Her and her friend Laura were willing to meet me at the food court of a local mall. I treated them to dinner for their willingness to meet me. Laura was from a Christian background but is now a Lesbian. I shared the Prodigal son story and realized later it was the perfect thing to share (thank you Lord). Here I was with Alex being the prodigal and Laura being the "religious brother". Laura asked me "what is the greatest sin"? I let her know it was the violation of the greatest commandment... NOT loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Of course she asked about homosexuality and I was able to take her to Romans 1 and shared the Gospel. I let her know there is forgiveness and freedom in Christ! They both took bibles.

Also the other day I went to Acacia and handed out tracts. I was blessed to speak with a young guy named Michael. While talking with him a friend of his walked up named Joseph, who is currently dealing drugs. Long story short Michael left (taking bible) and I was blessed to talk with Joseph for 2 hours!! I bought him lunch and we sat together while I explained his condition before God and the person of Christ; who He is and what He did for us. We read the story of Lazarus and Joseph intently listened and was fully engaged. Even while talking with Joseph a friend of his named Matthew came up and listened and took a bible as well!

I hope you will pray for them. Honestly, it is the GRACE of God that makes me step out of my selfish world and give up time, money & energy to reach people for Christ. The Lord gave up EVERYTHING to ransom us, the least we can do is step out in faith to reach the lost. He is faithful to meet us there and be with us as we witness! What a kind Father!!

Good Friday

2011-04-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

Are you like the thief or the centurion? There is hope for you.

REPENT and BELIEVE in the Gospel and He will take pity on you!

David Platt On The Gospel & God's Election

2011-04-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

David Platt On The Gospel & God's Election from Bowen Blog on Vimeo.

Hells Best Kept Secret to Mormons

2011-04-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

There are so many good points Joshua Willamson makes with these Mormons. Please listen carefully.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? - Jeremiah 17:9 ... Excellent job!!

Joshua also does a great job of NOT getting tangles up into a one hour conversation. This is something to remember. You can share the Gospel, confront false teaching and point them to the scriptures without getting tied up into a long, drawn out, theological debate. False teachers want to feed their pride and are TRYING to distract you from sharing the truth with others. Avoid arguments!!

Manitou Springs - Colorado Follow-up 4-16-11

2011-04-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

On Saturday my family and I went down to visit Robert, Steve & Connie from IANAministries as they reached out to the folks in Manitou Springs. I got hit with some high-altitude sickness so I was not myself. They definatley took the lions share of evangelism but I had to try to do a little witnessing while my peeps milled around.

Robert and Steve preached several times.

I tried again to do some dollar trivia AGAIN which is almost impossible but

managed to get a few people to listen and Josh (the young man in the green cap)

took the "Good Person Test" for five bucks.

I felt like passing out after I got off the box. Its always worth it!

I even got a stack of $1's and $5's from the bank yesterday for my stay out here.

Steve got to give some tracts to these ladies who were out here for a "Christian Women's Conference"...? God is good and there are opportunities in every community to share the Gospel.