Wake Up!!

Every freedom-loving person should be extremely alarmed at the dreadful trend of silencing Christians from the streets of London to the streets of Dearborn, Michigan. In both places, Christians were arrested and imprisoned for preaching the gospel on public streets...in what Muslims considered to be Islamic territories.

When four young Christian men were recently arrested and imprisoned in Dearborn, Michigan, for witnessing to their faith at an Islamic festival, it was hailed as a victory in some Islamic circles -- sharia law has come to America.

Never mind the First Amendment...this is the beginning of its demise by overwhelming Islamic ideology that is hell-bent on silencing Christians and Jews from speaking of their faith.

In Arab countries where Christians make up a sizeable minority, Christians are not allowed to speak of their faith outside of the church walls. Now it is happening in America's heartland.

The silencing, humiliation, and reduction of Christians and Jews to second class citizens is as old as Islam itself. This Islamic doctrine is known as the "Dhimmis". It was articulated and implemented by "Omar," the second successor of their prophet Mohammad. He articulated this doctrine when he invaded Christian lands in an effort to subjugate Christian residents who were captured by the sword.

This is the third wave of Jihad. The first wave was in the middle 600s. The second wave was by the Turks in the 1700s. In this third wave, Muslims believe they can advance by taking advantage of Western ignorance of their ideology coupled with Western sympathies and a penchant for fairness.

To add insult to injury, the Counsel of Islamic Nations is pushing hard in the United Nations to implement an international law that would outlaw the preaching of the gospel anywhere in the world. As if this is not chilling enough, the Dearborn incident is now considered to be a good omen for Islamic take over.

Unless freedom-loving people wake up now, their children will wake up to discover that they are living under sharia law.

Are You Living Radical?

Are you a Spectator or Gladiator?

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strongman stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who was actually in the arena. Whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly. Who errs, who comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deeds. Who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory or defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt- "Citizenship in a Republic"

Ambassador's Academy

Urgent Prayer Request

Please be in prayer for Joni Eareckson Tada. This morning she announced they have discovered she has breast cancer. She is scheduled for a mastectomy at 3 PM, Monday, atLos Robles Hospital.

Additionally, please keep her husband, Ken, in prayer. Sometimes it can be emotionally much harder for the spouse, than it is for the person actually enduring it.

People in her ministry tell us she is in great spirits, and believes God is going to use this to give her a new platform for ministering to those struck by cancer.

For more information please visit her website at joniandfriends.org.

Magnet Evangelism Follow-up 6-23-10

Had a great time last night at Mike and Dean's Magnet Evangelism!! I needed it. I had not been out for almost 2 weeks and was feeling cold. Nothing wakes up a sleepy soul more than sharing the Gospel! Dean is a very generous evangelist. He does trivia for cash in his open air to draw a crowd (which works well), gives out pizza's to "punk kids" who hang out and hear the gospel, and buys Empanadas for people who are hungry. I could learn from him. Mike handed out a bunch of bibles and preached.

I can't encourage you enough to join this group on Wednesday nights or to begin your own group that regularly goes out. This group reminds me of when I first started to go out witnessing. It was a small group headed up by Tony the Lawman who would meet in Glendale on Saturday nights. There were people from many different churches who just loved the Lord and lost people, they went because they were Spirit driven. It was a great time!

Glory to God! We serve a great King who is worthy. We should "GO" to bring our Lord JOY, but in doing that we receive joy in serving Him!

"These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." John15:11

Bless The Lord (Son Of Man) - Tye Tribbett & G.A.

If you are not moved by this song... check your pulse.

Living Waters University, Johan

Go, Stand & Speak

Morning devotion - C.H. Spurgeon June 18th

"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." — Acts 2:4

"Rich were the blessings of this day if all of us were filled with the Holy Ghost. The consequences of this sacred filling of the soul it would be impossible to overestimate. Life, comfort, light, purity, power, peace; and many other precious blessings are inseparable from the Spirit's benign presence. As sacred oil, He anoints the head of the believer, sets him apart to the priesthood of saints, and gives him grace to execute his office aright. As the only truly purifying water He cleanses us from the power of sin and sanctifies us unto holiness, working in us to will and to do of the Lord's good pleasure. As the light, He manifested to us at first our lost estate, and now He reveals the Lord Jesus to us and in us, and guides us in the way of righteousness. Enlightened by His pure celestial ray, we are no more darkness but light in the Lord. As fire, He both purges us from dross, and sets our consecrated nature on a blaze. He is the sacrificial flame by which we are enabled to offer our whole souls as a living sacrifice unto God. As heavenly dew, He removes our barrenness and fertilizes our lives. O that He would drop from above upon us at this early hour! Such morning dew would be a sweet commencement for the day. As the dove, with wings of peaceful love He broods over His Church and over the souls of believers, and as a Comforter He dispels the cares and doubts which mar the peace of His beloved. He descends upon the chosen as upon the Lord in Jordan, and bears witness to their sonship by working in them a filial spirit by which they cry Abba, Father. As the wind, He brings the breath of life to men; blowing where He listeth He performs the quickening operations by which the spiritual creation is animated and sustained. Would to God, that we might feel His presence this day and every day."

Live for ETERNITY!!

CJ Mahaney - The Cup of Christ

SUBWAY ADVENTURE Follow-Up 6-12-10

Saturday night we had three teams go out on the subway to various locations: Pershing Square, MacArthur Park, Hollywood and Western. Had some great opportunities to preach and hand out bibles. The reason we are branching out is to see if we can find new areas where the Gospel can be proclaimed. Our team was the same people from last week: Sharon, Kay & Rebecca. We all agree that Pershing Square is ripe for the harvest... people are open to talk about spiritual things and listen to the Gospel.

Below is a wonderful opportunity the Lord gave me to share the good news with Michael, who is a homeless guy by choice. I would like to go back and bring some food for people there and have a bible study... Lord willing.

Morning devotion - C.H. Spurgeon June 14th

"Delight thyself also in the Lord." — Psalm 37:4

The teaching of these words must seem very surprising to those who are strangers to vital godliness, but to the sincere believer it is only the inculcation of a recognized truth. The life of the believer is here described as a delight in God, and we are thus certified of the great fact that true religion overflows with happiness and joy. Ungodly persons and mere professors never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. If they attend to religion at all, it is either that they may gain thereby, or else because they dare not do otherwise. The thought of delight in religion is so strange to most men, that no two words in their language stand further apart than "holiness" and "delight." But believers who know Christ, understand that delight and faith are so blessedly united, that the gates of hell cannot prevail to separate them. They who love God with all their hearts, find that His ways are ways of pleasantness, and all His paths are peace. Such joys, such brimful delights, such overflowing blessednesses, do the saints discover in their Lord, that so far from serving Him from custom, they would follow Him though all the world cast out His name as evil. We fear not God because of any compulsion; our faith is no fetter, our profession is no bondage, we are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight. Delight and true religion are as allied as root and flower; as indivisible as truth and certainty; they are, in fact, two precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold.

"'Tis when we taste Thy love,

Our joys divinely grow,

Unspeakable like those above,

And heaven begins below."

Handel Messiah: Lift Up Your Heads

The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein.
For He has founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the waters.

Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive blessing from the LORD,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face. Selah

Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
The LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts,
He is the King of glory. Selah

Psalm 24

Handel's Messiah And the Glory of the Lord

I love it when conductors are passionate, you can tell this guy is! How could you not be moved by the finest piece of music ever written? Handle's Messiah my favorite.

Subway Recon

Mike and I went out for about 4 hours of evangelism & to scout out possible places we could go in the future (Lord willing). It was BEAUTIFUL weather today for just such an outing. We went to Union Station & Olivera St. Market. A couple of guys were doing a live "Mayan dance" with drums which drew a crowd and presented us with a great opportunity to hand out tracts and witness to some teens. Several of which took bibles.

We "horked" down a hotdog and churro then went to MacArthur Park Subway station and I preached there. Finished up at Noho where Mike open-aired. The Lord gave us several opportunites to witness and hand out tracts. Praise the Lord!

Spurgeon quote for the day! 6/11

“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

2 Corinthians 4:6.

"So I finish by mentioning, in the fourth place, THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THIS KNOWLEDGE.There have been considerable debates among the interpreters as to the precise meaning of this text and some of them think it means that Paul is giving a reason why he preached the Gospel. This makes the verse run thus—“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, that we might give out, again, the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” God gave light to the Apostles that they might show forth the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ to the nations. I do not know whether this is the exact run of the text, but I know it is true. Never is a gleam of light given to any man to hide away—and to spiritual men the great object of their lives, after they have received light—is to reflect that light in all its purity. You must not hoard up the light within yourself—it will not be light to you if you do. Only think of a person when his room is full of sunlight saying to his servant, “Quick, now! Close the shutters and let us keep this precious light to ourselves.” Your room will be in the dark, my Friend! So, when a child of God gets the light from Christ’s face, he must not say, “I shall keep this to myself,” for that very desire would shut it out. No, let the light shine through you! Let it shine everywhere! You have the light that you may reflect it. An object which absorbs light is dark and we call it black. But hang up a reflector in its place when the sun is shining and it will not appear black—it will be so bright that you will hardly be able to look at it! An object is, itself, bright in proportion as it sends back the light which it receives. So you shall find, as a Christian, that if you absorb light into yourself, you will be black, but if you scatter it abroad you shall be brilliant— you shall be changed into the very image of the light which you have received—you shall become a second sun! I noticed last Sabbath evening, when I came into this pulpit, that, at the angle of the building before me, on the left hand the sun seemed to be setting. And I saw the brightness of his round face and yet I knew it to be the wrong quarter of the heavens for the sun to be setting there. Perhaps you will observe that there is a peculiar window on the other side of the street and it was reflecting the sun so well that I thought it was the sun himself and I could hardly bear the light! It was not the sun, it was only a window, and yet the radiance was dazzling. And so a man of God, when he receives the light of Christ, can become so perfect a reflector that to common eyes, at any rate, he is brightness itself! He has become transformed from glory to glory as by the image of the Lord!

Brothers and Sisters, if you have learned the Truth of God, manifest it and make it plain to others! Proclaim the Gospel, not your own thoughts, for it is Christ that you are to make manifest! Teach not your own judgments, conclusions and opinions, but the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ! Let Jesus manifest Himself in His own light. Do not cast a light on Him, or attempt to show the sun with a candle. Do not aim at converting men to your views, but let the light shine for itself and work its own way. Do not color it by being like a painted window to it, but let the clear white light shine through you that others may behold your Lord. Scatter your light in all unselfishness. Wish to shine, not that others may say, “How bright he is,” but that they, getting the light, may rejoice in the Source from which it came to you and to them. Be willing to make every sacrifice to spread this light which you have received! Consecrate your entire being to the making known among the sons of men the Glory of Christ. Oh, I wish we had swift messengers to run the world over to tell the story that God has come down among us! I wish we had fluent tongues to tell in every language the story that, coming down among us, God was arrayed in flesh like our own and that He took our sins and carried our sorrows. Oh, that we had trumpet tongues to make the message peal through Heaven and earth that God has come among men, and cries, “Come unto Me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”! Oh for a voice of thunder to speak it, or a lightning pen to write it across the heavens—that God has reconciled the world unto Himself by the death of His Son, not imputing their trespasses unto them—and that whoever believes in Christ Jesus has everlasting life! I cannot command thunder or lightning, but here are your tongues, go and tell it this afternoon! Here is my tongue and I have tried to tell it, and may it be silent in the dust of death before it ceases to declare that one blessed message—that God in Christ Jesus receives the sons of men in boundless love!

Tell it, Brothers, with broken accents, if you cannot speak it more powerfully. Whisper it, Sisters, gently whisper, if to none other, yet to your little children and make the name of, “Emmanuel, God with us,” to be sweet in your infant’s ears. You are growing in strength and talent, young man—come, consecrate yourself to this. And you, gray-beard,before you lie down on your last bed to breathe out your spirit, tell the love of Jesus to your sons that they may tell it to their sons and hand it down to coming generations, that mankind may never forget that the “Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of Grace and truth.” God bless you. Amen.

C.H. Spurgeon- "The Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ"

Magnet Evangelism Follow-up

Good times at the Wednesday night Magnet Evangelism. Please come and join Dean & Mike if you haven't already.

We Have The Gospel - Art Azurdia

"I don't want my children to grow up in a defensive posture. I want my children to grow up in an offensive posture." AMEN!!

"Like arrows in the hands of the warrior so are the children of one's youth." Psalm 127:4

Parents are you teaching your children how to share the gospel? Are YOU sharing the gospel?

Spurgeon quote for the day! 6/8

"There is a story told by Toplady of a Doctor Guyse, a very learned man. He was in the habit of preparing his sermons very carefully, and he used to read them very accurately. He did so for years, but there was never known to be a sinner saved under him—never such a wonder! The poor good man—for he was an earnest man and wished to do good—was one day at prayer in the pulpit, praying to God that he would make him a useful minister. When he had finished his prayer he was stone blind. He had sufficient self-possession to preach the sermon extemporaneously, which he had prepared with notes. People did not notice his blindness, but they never heard the doctor preach such a sermon as that before! There was deep attention, there were souls saved. He found his way from the pulpit and began to express his deep sorrow that he had lost his eyesight, when some good old woman who was present, said, perhaps a little unkindly, but still very truthfully—“Doctor, we have never heard you preach like this before and if that is the result of your being blind, it is a pity you were not blind twenty years ago, for you have done more good today than you have done in twenty years.”

So I do not know whether it would not be a good thing if some of our fine sermon readers were struck blind—if they were compelled to be less elaborate in the preparation of their sermons. Then they might loose some half-dozen hard words, which they always write down as soon as they meet with them and use them as stones in the middle of the sermon. And then, perhaps, when they came up into the pulpit, though condemned by critics as speaking vulgar language, they might talk of commonplace things such as poor people could appreciate. If they would only do this, God being with them, the absence of their mental power would be the means of more spiritual power and they would have reason to thank God—that the man had become less—and that God did shine out with greater resplendence. For what are many learned men, after all, but stained glass windows to keep out the light? Oh that we had more men who were as the plain glass of the poor man’s cottage, to let the light of God shine through them! Let the Church feel that her power is not mental power, but spiritual power. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord.” She might then use all her learning, all her education and all her eloquence. She would use them well, too, if she did but feel that these were but her weapons in the hand of God for the pulling down of strongholds.

May God add His blessing for Jesus Christ’s sake."

C.H. Spurgeon- "Self Sufficiency Slain"

Pershing Square Follow-Up 6-6-10

Last night we had two teams out. One at Noho headed up by Mike S. and one by myself to Pershing Square. It was great! I went with three BOLD sisters; Sharon, Kay and Rebecca fearlessly shared Christ with whoever the Lord put in their path. I expected it to be a little "rough around the edges" but people need the Lord. There were many homeless people. It felt like those we spoke with were open to talk and more open to spiritual things given their lives were bearing the consequences of sin. The Lord blessed me with the grace to open air preach twice and at one point 5 people took bibles. One girl came up to take one told me she has just prayed for God to give her a bible! We plan to go back there again soon, Lord willing.

John Piper - What made it OK for God to kill women and children in the Old Testament?

Matt Chandler update

Praise the Lord... he even has hair!! You can watch his latest update HERE.

Make It Your Aim To Fear God

God Loves to Save Bad People - Art Azurdia

Spurgeon quote for the day! 6/2

"It is a remarkable fact that all the heresies which have arisen in the Christian Church have had a decided tendency to dishonor God and to flatter man. They have always had for their covert, if not for their open aim, the exaltation of human nature and the casting down of the sovereignty of Divine Grace. Robbing God of the glory which is due unto His name, these false Prophets would shed a counterfeit luster upon the head of the rebellious and depraved creature. On the other hand, the doctrines of the Gospel, commonly known as the Doctrines of Grace, are distinguished for this peculiarity above every other, namely, that they sink the creature very low and present the Lord Jehovah before us as sitting upon a Throne, high and lifted up. So true is this, that the most uneducated Christian may, even if he is incapable of refuting an erroneous discourse, always be able to discover its untruthfulness, if it glorifies man at the expense of God. The merest babe in grace may carry this test with him—in the midst of the diversities of opinion with which he is surrounded, he may always judge and judge infallibly too, of the truth or falsehood of a doctrine by testing it thus— “Does it glorify God?” If it is so it is true. “Does it exalt man?” Then it must be false. On the other hand, does it lay man very low and speak of him in terms which tend to make him feel his degradation? Then doubtless it is full of the Truth of God. And does it put the crown upon the head of God and not upon the head of man’s free will, or free agency, or good works? Then assuredly it is a doctrine according to godliness for it is the very Truth of the Lord our God. "

C.H. Spurgeon- "Self Sufficiency Slain"

Milk Jug

“If the solar system was brought about by an accidental collision, then the appearance of organic life on this planet was also an accident, and the whole evolution of Man was an accident too. If so, then all our present thoughts are mere accidents–the accidental by-product of the movement of atoms. And this holds for the thoughts of the materialists and astronomers as well as for anyone else’s. But if their thoughts–i.e. of materialism and astronomy–are merely accidental by-products, why should we believe them to be true? I see no reason for believing that one accident should be able to give me a correct account of all the other accidents. It’s like expecting that the accidental shape taken by the splash when you upset a milkjug should give you a correct account of how the jug was made and why it was upset.”

C.S. Lewis

This was "boosted" from Truth Matters