Telemachus

This was a short Article copied from Voice of the Martyrs:

Telemachus, January 1 - 404 A.D.

The brave actions of one man ended the gruesome Coliseum games in ancient Rome for good. For his peaceful protest against barbarianism, Telemachus paid with his life. During the reign of the Roman Empire, Romans attended gladiatorial games at the Coliseum for entertainment. There gladiators would fight criminals, prisoners and vicious animals until death.

A hermit monk named Telemachus traveled to Rome just in time to attend games celebrating a Roman army victory. Telemachus watched in horror as gladiators struck down fighter after fighter. He could stand it no longer. He leapt into the arena. "Do not requite God's mercy," Telemachus screamed, "in turning away the swords of your enemies by murdering each other!" Neither the crowd nor the combatants paid any attention. Desperate, he ran from gladiator to gladiator, imploring them to stop. The crowd mocked him, shouting, "Sedition! Sedition! Down with him! This is no place for preaching! The old customs of Rome must be observed! On gladiators!"

Some accounts say Telemachus was struck down by those fighting in the arena. Others say the indignant spectators stoned the peacemaker to death. In either case, his actions and his death had a far reaching impact on Rome. Telemachus made others aware that the gory killing contests had no place among true Christians. Upon hearing that the peaceful man had been slain, the Christian Emperor Honorarius issued an edict banning gladiatorial combats. Telemachus saved countless others with his passionate, selfless act.

Have you ever seen an open air preacher passionately sharing the gospel in front of a strip club, mall, bar district or park bench? Maybe you too have thought "This isn't the place for preaching." My dear friends has the culture influenced you so much that you don't realize the preacher isn't the problem?

Telemachus was one man. God can use one man to change a culture... now imagine if it was an army of evangelists!

Ambassadors in Hollywood

Several of us went down to Hollywood on Friday for a few hours to see the Ambassadors Alliance SWARM the Boulevard like locusts! I was blessed to meet some of the "Super Stars" of evangelism on the Walk of Stars. (We all know we are nobodies saved by grace, its amazing that God uses us for anything!)

Click these links to find out about Ephraim, Deborah or Steve.

Spurgeon quote for the day! 8/28

"He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him."—Ezekiel 33:5

"But," cries another, "I did not like the trumpet. I did not like the Gospel that was preached." Says one, "I did not like certain doctrines in the Bible. I thought the minister preached too harsh doctrines sometimes, I did not agree with the Gospel; I thought the Gospel ought to have been altered, and not to have been just what it was." You did not like the trumpet, did you? Well, but God made the trumpet, God made the Gospel; and inasmuch as ye did not like what God made, it is an idle excuse. What was that to you what the trumpet was, so long as it warned you? And surely, if it had been time of war, and you had heard a trumpet sounded to warn you of the coming of the enemy, you would not have sat still, and said, "now I believe that is a brass trumpet, I would like to have had it made of silver." No, but the sound would have been enough for you, and up you would have been to escape from the danger. And so it must be now with you. It is an idle presence that you did not like it. You ought to have liked it, for God made the Gospel what it is.
But you say, "I did not like the man that blew it." Well, if you did not like one messenger of God, there are many in this city. Could you not find one you did like? You did not like one man's manner; it was too theatrical; you did not like another's: it was too doctrinal; you did not like another's: it was too practical—there are plenty of them, you may take which you do like, but if God has sent the men, and told them how to blow, and if they blow to the best of their ability, it is all in vain for you to reject their warnings, because they do not blow the way you like. Ah, my brethren, we do not find fault with the way a man speaks, if we are in a house that is on fire. If the man calls, "Fire! Fire!" we are not particular what note he takes, we do not think what a harsh voice he has got. You would think any one a fool, who should lie in his bed, to be burned, because he said he did not like the way the man cried, "Fire." Why his business was to have been out of bed and down the stairs at once, as soon as he heard it.
But another says, "I did not like the man himself; I did not like the minister; I did not like the man that blew the trumpet; I could hear him preach very well, but I had a personal dislike to him, and so I did not take any notice of what the trumpet said." Verily, God will say to thee at last, "Thou fool, what hadst thou to do with that man; to his own master he stands or falls; thy business was with thyself." What would you think of a man? A man has fallen overboard from a ship, and when he is drowning, some sailor throws him a rope, and there it is. Well, he says, in the first place, "I do not like that rope; I don't think that rope was made at the best manufactory; there is some tar on it too, I do not like it; and in the next place, I do not like that sailor that threw the rope over, I am sure he is not a kind-hearted man, I do not like the look of him at all;" and then comes a gurgle and a groan, and down he is in the bottom of the sea; and when he was drowned, they said, that it served him right, if he would not lay hold of the rope, but would be making such foolish and absurd objections, when it was a matter of life and death. Then on his own head be his blood. And so shall it be with you at last. You are so busy with criticising the minister, and his style, and his doctrine, that your own soul perishes. Remember you may get into hell by criticism, but you will never criticise your soul out of it. You may there make the most you can of. it. You may be there and say, "I did not like the minister, I did not like his manner, I did not like his matter;" but all your dislikings will not get one drop of water to cool your burning tongue, nor serve to mitigate the unalleviated torments of that world of agony."

C.H. Spurgeon - "The Warning Neglected"

I'm guilty of doing this and learned from this sermon not to be too critical of God's preachers of the Gospel. We may not always agree with what is being said or how it is being said, and there is always room for improvement... but we need to remember that God has ordained the preacher to "blow the trumpet" the way He has ordained! His word doesn't return void.

A sad encounter with Tia.

We were in a difficult spot to preach here, it was at a busy street corner in a building overhang... our audience was moving quickly. I was surprised that Tia even stopped, please pray for her.

Spurgeon quote for the day! 8/26

"He shewed them his hands and his feet."—Luke 24:40

"Christ wears these wounds to show that suffering is an honorable thing. To suffer for Christ is glory. Men will say, "It is glorious to make others suffer." When Alexander rides over the necks of princes, and treads nations beneath his feet, that is glorious. The Christian religion teaches us it is glorious to be trodden on, glorious to be crushed, glorious to suffer. This is hard to learn. There we see it in our glorified Master. He makes his wounds his glory, and his sufferings are part of the drapery of his regal attire in Paradise Now, then, it is an honorable thing to suffer. Oh, Christian, when you are overtaken by strange troubles, be not afraid. God is near you. It was Christ's honor to suffer, and it is yours too. The only degree that God gives to his people is the degree of "Masters in tribulation." If you would be one of God's nobles you must be knighted. Men are knighted with A blow of the sword. The Lord knights us with the sword of affliction; and when we fight hard in many a battle, he makes us barons of the kingdom of heaven, he makes us dukes and lords in the kingdom of sorrowful honor, not through honor of man, but through dishonor of man, not through joy, but through suffering, and grief, and agony, and death. The highest honor that God can confer upon his children is the blood-red crown of martyrdom. When I read, as I have been reading lately, the story of the catacombs of Rome, and those short but very pithy inscriptions that are written over the graves of the martyrs, I felt sometimes as it I could envy them. I do not envy them their racks, their hot irons, their being dragged at the heels of horses; but I do envy them when I see them arrayed in the blood-red robe of martyrdom. Who are they that stand nearest to the eternal throne, foremost of the saints in light? Why, the noble army of martyrs. And just as God shall give us grace to sufferfor Christ, to suffer with Christ, and to suffer as Christ, just so much does he honor us. The jewels of a Christian are his afflictions. The regalia of the kings, that God hath made, are their troubles, their sorrows, and their griefs Let us not, therefore, shun being honored. Let us not turn aside from being exalted. Griefs exalt us, and troubles lift us."

C.H. Spurgeon - "The Wounds of Jesus"

If you haven't please consider reading about today's martyrs at Voice of the Martyr. Pray for their boldness to proclaim the word of life even in the face of death.

Noho Follow Up 8-25-09

Bee-Boppin Follow-Up

Spurgeon quote for the day! 8/21

"Then did they spit in his face."—Matthew 26:67.

"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away."—Revelation 20:11.

"Behold the terror of Christ's majesty. And what will you do in that day,—you who did spit in his face, you who did despise him? What will you do in that day? Suppose the great judgment day had already come, suppose that the great white throne was just over yonder, and that when this service was over, you must appear with all the risen dead before your Judge. One would have to say, "I have refused him; how shall I dare to look in his face?" Another would cry, "He drew me once, I felt the tugging of his love, the drawings of his spirit but I resisted, and would not yield. How can I meet him now? How can I look him in the face?" Another will have to say, "I had to strive hard to escape from the grasp of his hand of mercy; I stifled conscience, and I went back into the world." You will all have to look into that face, and that face will look at all of you. One will have to say, "I gave up Christ for the world." "I gave him up for the theater," another must say. "I gave him up for the dancing saloon," another will say. "I gave him up for the love of women," another will say. "I gave him up that I might carry on my business as I could not carry it on if I was a true Christian; I gave up Christ for what I could get." You will have to say all this, and that very soon. As surely as you see me upon this platform now, you shall see the King upon the great white throne then, that King who was once despised and rejected of men.
O sirs, I would that ye would think of all this! It is not one hundredth part so much my concern as it is yours; I am not afraid to see Christ's face, for he hath looked on me in love, and blotted out all my sin, and I love him, and long to be with him for ever and ever. But if you have never had that look of love, if you have never been reconciled to him, I ask you; by the love you bear yourselves, to begin to think about this matter. Begin to prepare to meet this King of men, this Lord of love, who, as surely as he is the Lord of love, will be the King of wrath, for there is no anger like the anger of love. There is no indignation like "the wrath of the Lamb," of which we read a few minutes ago. Divine love, when it has become righteous indignation, burns like coals of juniper, and is quenchless as hell. Wherefore,—

"Ye sinners, seek his grace,
Whose wrath ye cannot bear;
Fly to the shelter of his cross,
And find salvation there;"
and ere heaven and earth begin to flee away from the face of him who sits upon the throne, and ere ye yourselves begin to cry to the rocks to cover you and the mountains to hide you from that face,—seek ye his face with humble penitence and faith, that you may be prepared to meet him with joy in that last tremendous day.
If what I have been saying be all a dream, dismiss it, and go your ways to your sins; but if these things be the very truth of God,—and verily they are,—do act as sane men should, think them over, and prepare to meet your Judge. God help you to do so, for Christ's sake! Amen."

C.H. Spurgeon - "An Awful Contrast"

This sermon messed me up.

Rage Against the Machines!

* You are welcome to copy these and distribute them but please DO NOT change the content.

WAR TO THE KNIFE... with yourself!

We are your own worst enemy! Anyone who has done evangelism and been met with anger or false doctrine, or people who just hate the Lord... you realize it isn't so much about the people who are blinded by sin that are the problem... YOU are the problem and how you respond to them. Our flesh is our enemy.

Today's Spurgeon quote gives us the remedy:

"Our warfare is not child's play: we mean business. We have to deal with fierce foes, who are only to be met with keen weapons. Buffets will not suffice in this contest; we must come to sword-cuts. You may be of a very quiet spirit, but your adversaries are not so. If you attempt to play at Christian warfare, they will not. To meet the powers of darkness is no sham battle. They mean mischief. Nothing but your eternal damnation will satisfy the fiendish hearts of Satan and his crew. You must take not so much a flag to unfurl, or a drum to beat, as a sword to use, and a specially sharp sword too. In this combat you will have to use a sword such as even evil spirits can feel, capable of dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow. If you are to live through this fight, and come off victorious, no form of conflict will suffice less sharp and cutting than sword-work. Depend upon it that in this struggle you will be forced to come to close quarters. The foe aims at your heart, and pushes home. A spear will not do, nor bow and arrow; the enemy is too near for anything but hand-to-hand fighting. Brethren, our foes are not only of our house, but of our heart. I find an enemy within which is always near, and I cannot get away from him. I find that my antagonist will get his hand on my throat if he can. If our foes were far away, and we could play upon them with artillery which would kill at six or seven miles' distance, we might lead a pretty easy life. But no; they are here! At our doors! Yea, within us; nearer than hands and feet. Now for the short sword: the claymore of Holy Scripture, to stab and cut, near and now. No sling and stone will avail us here, but we must take the sword. You have to slay your foe, or your foe will slay you. It is with us Christians as it was with the Highlanders in battle, when their leader called out to them, "Lads, there they are! If you dinna kill them they will kill you." There is no room for peace: it is war to the knife, not only now, but to life's end."

C.H. Spurgeon - "The Sword of the Spirit"

I'm not even through this sermon yet and its one of my favorites already!

DID YOU GET ONE OF THESE?

2017-05-06: This post has been updated to fix outdated links!

If you got a gospel tract from us, we are so blessed that you are visiting this blog.

Do you think you are a GOOD PERSON?

Take "The Exam" to find out your spiritual condition.

HOLLYWOOD-8/15/09 - FOLLOW UP

Please pray for:

• The "Sinless Perfection" guys from Church of God - Brent & Daniel
• Tia and her friends
• Horus who needed a shelter, we were blessed to direct to Hope Again.
• The guy angry at us for using Million Dollar Bills

Spurgeon quote for the day! 8/15

"Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."—Ephesians 6:17.

"TO BE A CHRISTIAN IS TO BE A WARRIOR. The good soldier of Jesus Christ must not expect to find ease in this world: it is a battle-field. Neither must he reckon upon the friendship of the world; for that would be enmity against God. His occupation is war. As he puts on piece by piece of the panoply provided for him, he may wisely say to himself, "This warns me of danger; this prepares me for warfare; this prophesies opposition."
Difficulties meet us even in standing our ground; for the apostle, two or three times, bids us—"Stand." In the rush of the fight, men are apt to be carried off their legs. If they can keep their footing, they will be victorious; but if they are borne down by the rush of their adversaries, everything is lost. You are to put on the heavenly armor in order that you may stand; and you will need it to maintain the position in which your Captain has placed you. If even to stand requires all this care, judge ye what the warfare must be! The apostle also speaks of withstanding as well as standing. We are not merely to defend, but also to assail. It is not enough that you are not conquered; you have to conquer: and hence we find, that we are to take, not only a helmet to protect the head, but also a sword, with which to annoy the foe. Ours, therefore, is a stern conflict, standing and withstanding; and we shall want all the armor from the divine magazine, all the strength from the mighty God of Jacob."

C.H. SPURGEON - "The Sword of the Spirit"

CHARGE!!

This is just a quick note to encourage my brothers and sisters who have been faithfully handing out tracts. Starting from the month of July until now we have distributed about 14,ooo tracts! GLORY TO GOD!

Please pray that the Lord uses His tracts to sow the seed of His word in the hearts of those who received them. To punch a hole in the kingdom of darkness and rescue many by "pulling them out of the fire."

Form a column and charge!

PS- If anyone things we're out of "ammo" we just got a shipment in of 6500 more... MU-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

PROTOCOL

2017-06-05: This page has been updated to fix external links.  Please note that David ("Soul Winner") moved a few years ago to Colorado and is actively serving on the streets out there.  While this video is dated, it remains a great resource for all new people who desire to go out and join us!


If you plan on joining us, please watch this short video:

Here is Calvary Bible Church's STATEMENT OF FAITH. You must read and agree with this basic doctrine in order to join CBC Evangelism as we fulfill the great commission.

You may be wondering why we are asking you to "jump through these hoops"? Its because we are in a WAR for the souls of men... this is no game. We are blessed that you want to join us in this great commission but as we are representing Jesus Christ and Calvary Bible Church to our community we are taking precautions to maintain the integrity of the Glorious Gospel and our local body.

WATCH: A great resource for learning to share the Gospel:

Way of the Master

READ: A thorough presentation of the Gospel from CBC:

What is the Gospel?

LISTEN: To John MacArthurs:

The Gospel According to Jesus

Noho Follow Up for 8-7-09 Evangelism

Wow... Clint rated that outing as a "10" in intensity... so far in my limited experiences it was.

Spurgeon quote for the day! 8/6

This is to answer those who would say "We are adding works to tell me to repent"...

"As I look upon a multitude of unconverted men and women, I am reminded of Ezekiel's vision. He saw lying in the valley of Hinnom multitudes of bones, the flesh of which had been consumed by fire, and the bones themselves were dried as in a furnace, scattered hither and thither. There with other bones in other charnel-houses, lying scattered at the mouths of other graves; but Ezekiel was not sent to them; to the valley of Hinnom was he sent, and there alone. And he stood by faith, and began to practice the foolishness of preaching, "Ye dry bones hear the word of the Lord; thus saith the Lord, ye dry bones live." And as be spoke there was a rustling, each bone sought its fellow; and as he spake again, these bones united and stood erect, as he continued his discourse the flesh clothed the skeleton; when he concluded by crying, "Come from the winds, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live," they stood upon their feet an exceeding great army. The preached Word is like Ezekiel's prophecy; life goes forth with the word of the faithful minister, when we say, "Repent!" We know that sinners cannot repent of themselves, but God's grace sweetly constrains them to repent. When we bid them believe, it is not because of any natural capacity for faith that lies within them, but because the command "Believe and live," when given by the faithful minister of God, hath in it a quickening power; as much as when Peter and John said to the man with the withered hand, "In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, stretch out thy hand," and it was done. So do we say to the dead in sin—"Sinner, live; repent and be converted; repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus." Owned of God the Spirit, it becomes a quickening cry, and you are made to live. Blessed are the dry bones that lay in a valley where Ezekiel prophecies; and blessed are ye that are found where Jesus Christ's name is preached, where his power is invoked by a heart which believes in its energy; where his truth is preached to you by one, who despite of many mistakes knows this one thing—that Christ is both the power of God and the wisdom of God unto every one that believeth. This consideration alone then—the peculiar power of the Word of God, might compel us to say, "That indeed there is a blessedness in hearing it."

C.H. Spurgeon - "Preaching! Man's Privilege and God's Power"

Our dear Pastor has greatly helped me to understand that it is not the knowledge of grace that saves... its GRACE that saves sinners. Therefore we are to say what God tells us to say to "dead bones" and trust God that His grace will give them the means to meet His requirements.

Spurgeon quote for the day! 8/4

" For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor. 12:10

"Next, he will be strong because he will only go with a commission to support him. He will not be eager to run without being sent. He says within himself, when he proposes a service to himself, "No, I am too weak to undertake anything of my own head." He will wait for a call. This is not the kind of man that will climb up into a pulpit, and from a dizzy brain pour out nonsense. He will not crave to lead, for he feels that he needs much help even to follow. He feels himself too weak to set up for a master in Israel. This is not the kind of man that will venture into argument with sceptics for the fun or for the glory of the thing. Oh, no; he is too weak for that. He says, "If I am called to defend the faith, I will do it in God's strength, hoping that it will be given me in the same hour what I shall speak. If I am called to preach, I will preach, and nobody shall stop me; for the Lord will be with my mouth. But, you see, until the man is conscious of his own weakness, he will run without being sent; and there is nobody so weak as that man. No one so weak as the man who has no commission from God, and no promise of help from him. Such a man will be thinking of this, and thinking of that, and running for this, that, and the other, because he has a lot of waste energy which he wants to use somewhere or somehow. Could we once see him consciously weak we should hear him say, "Here am I, send me!" in answer to the question, "Whom shall I send?" Then he would not go a warfare at his own charges, but he would draw upon the all-sufficiency of God, and find himself equal to every emergency."

C.H. Spurgeon - "A Paradox"

SPUR OF THE MOMENT!! NOHO Subway

I'll be at Noho Subway today from 4-6:00 pm... Lord willing.

Follow-Up:

PLEASE PRAY FOR: Jose, "Jessica" & Jaylene

Burbank Media Center - 8/1/09 - FOLLOW UP

It seemed to be a bit slow last night in Burbank, but not unfruitful. Still handed out several hundred tracts. It was nice to have Faith out again with us. Dean brought out his camera and mic which seemed to attract some peoples attention. Dean had one guy really heckle him when he preached. The guy was a JW and furious that we were handing out tracts to kids that talk about HELL (which is a totally offensive thought to a JW, since they believe you are annihilated when you die). I was blessed to talk with 3 girls who came up to get a Gospel of John. They didn't even hear me preach they just saw me holding them up and that started the conversation.

God is good and I pray He uses these earthen vessels for His Glory!

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." 2 Cor. 4:7