Spurgeon quote for the day! 1-28-11

"LET US EXERCISE THE NEW LIFE IN SUITABLE PURSUITS. “If you then are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above.” Let your actions be agreeable to your new life. First, then, let us leave the sepulcher. If we are quickened, our first act should be to leave the region of death. Let us quit the vault of a merely outward religion and let us worship God in spirit and in truth. Let us have done with priestcraft and all the black business of spiritual undertaking and let the dead bury their dead— we will have none of it! Let us have done with outward forms and rites and ceremonies, which are not of Christ’s ordain- ing and let us know nothing except Christ Crucified, for that which is not of the living Lord is a mere piece of funeral pomp, fit for the cemeteries of formalists whose whole religion is a shoveling in of dust on coffin lids. “Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” Let us also quit the vault of carnal enjoyments where men seek to satisfy themselves with provision for the flesh. Let us not live by the sight of the eyes, nor by the hearing of the ears. Let us not live for the amassing of wealth, or the gaining of fame, for these ought to be as dead things to the man who is risen in Christ. Let us not live for the world which we see, nor after the fashion of men to whom this life is everything. Let us live as those that have come out of the world and who, though they are in it, are no more of it. Let us be unmindful of the country from where we came out and leave it, as Abraham did, as though there were no such country, henceforth dwelling with our God, sojourners with Him, seeking “a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” As Jesus Christ left behind Him all the abodes of death, let us do the same. And, then, let us hasten to forget every evil, even as our Lord hastened to leave the tomb. How little a time, after all, did He sojourn among the dead! He must lie in the heart of the earth three days, but He made them as short as possible, so that it is difficult to make out the three days at all. They were there, for there were fragments of each period, but surely never were three days so short as Jesus made them! He cut them short in righteousness and being loosed from the pains of death, He rose early, at the very break of day! At the first instant that it was possible for Him to get away from the sepulcher, consistent with the Scriptures, He left the napkin and the grave clothes and stood in the garden, waiting to salute His disciples!

So let it be with us! There should be no lingering, no loitering, no hankering after the world—no clinging to its vanities, no making provision for the flesh. Up in the morning early, oh you who are spiritually quickened! Up in the morning early from your ease, your carnal pleasure, your love of wealth and self and away out from the dark vault into a congenial sphere of action—“If you then are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above.”

C.H. Spurgeon- "Following the Risen Christ"

God can be Trusted!

"Boosted" from Aaron's blog... VERY encouraging!

God's Extraordinary Provision for HeartCry - Paul Washer from HeartCry Missionary Society on Vimeo.

Let it Rise

This will get you movin'! Live for Him and by Him as if it was your last day!!

Spurgeon quote for the day! 1-23-11

"Now let us see how we were delivered. And as we lay our hands on our hearts and think of what God has done for us, let us prepare to bless and magnify His name. “You, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, has He quickened”—He has made you to live—“you has He quickened together with Him.” God, by His Grace, has made you to live in Christ. Do you not feel the difference between what you were and what you now are? Can you imagine what a change there would be if a dead man who had been lying in his grave clothes could suddenly sit upright, or rise out of the shell in which the undertaker had placed him? What a contrast between the state of death and the state of life! That is a very faint figure of the difference between what we now are and what we used to be. Do you not realize it, Brothers and Sisters? The things you once despised, you now value. And the things you then passed by with a sneer, you would now live for and die for! You used to hear about these things and it often seemed dull work to listen to a sermon. But now there is music in it from the first word to the last. That Bible of yours used to be like an old will to you, and old wills are very dry reading, but now you have found the record of a great legacy left to yourself and, oh, it is blessed work to read the will now—you could sit and study it all day long! Praying, also, used to be hard work. You managed to mutter, in a dead way, a few dead words, but prayer is now quite another thing with you—your whole spirit is alive when you draw near to God in supplication. In fact, you are a changed man altogether! I suppose that if you were to meet your old self, he would hardly know you, for you are so greatly altered. I daresay he would say to you, “Come, old fellow, let us go to the theater, or turn into this beer-shop, or let us go home and find some way of amusing ourselves.” You would reply, “No, Sir. I cut your acquaintance a long time ago and I do not mean to have anything to do with you, so you may go about your business as soon as you like. I am not what I was, for I have been crucified with Christ—and I am dead, and my life is hid with Christ in God.” There was one of the old saints who used to keep company with a woman in his ungodly days, and when he was converted, she met him in the street, and said to him, “Austin, you know me.” “Well,” he said, “yes, I do. But I am not Austin any longer. At least I am not the person that I used to be.” Oh, it is a blessed thing when we can feel that we are not what we once were! True, we are not yet what we want to be and we are not what we shall be, but we are not what we used to be—and we shall never again be what we used to be! The Grace of God will prevent that, now that we have been quickened. But how are we quickened? Paul says that God has quickened us together with Christ. And by this he means, first, that we have been quickened mystically by Christ’s Resurrection. That morning when Christ Jesus rose from the dead, all His people rose in Him! The sun was not yet up, but the Prince of Life and Glory had lingered long enough in the sepulcher, so, awaking into life through Divine power, He began to unwrap Himself from the cerements of the tomb. He laid the napkin by itself for your use and mine, that we may wipe our eyes when our dear friends are taken away. But He took the grave clothes and put them together, that He might leave the house ready furnished against the time when we should be carried there—our last bed being thus supplied by Him with all the furniture we shall need when our time comes to sleep in it. Then He waited a while till the sheriff’s officer came down to set the hostage free, for the angel descended from Heaven, the stone was rolled away and Jesus breathed the sweet morning air again. He that had been dead arose and left the tomb, no more to die! And, in that hour, everyone who is in Him was virtually made to rise. The resurrection of all whom He represented was guaranteed by His Resurrection, as He said to His disciples, “Because I live, you shall live also.” That is the result of the mystical union between Christ and His people."

C.H. Spurgeon- "Death and Its Sentence Abolished"

What Mormons Believe

:|- This is a perfect example of when you are witnessing to a Mormon or anyone that you must DEFINE TERMS. Mormons believe in "Jesus", "grace", "salvation" & "God". Its just that Mormons define all of these terms completely differently than what the bible teaches.

So IF you talk to a Mormon ask them "When you say Jesus, what do you mean?"

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ." - Mar 8:29 NKJV

Art Azurdia Fixing Our Eyes on the Cross

Kirk Cameron Talks with Gang Members

By Your Side

These lyrics are GREAT! Christ is all we need. IF you are going through a time of trouble, trials or pain.... TURN to HIM!! Our entire life as Christians are a constant TURNING to Christ!

Flat Tire For Leonard

Today my family and I took my nephew up to Crestline and on the way we had a BLOW OUT on the freeway. Thank the Lord we didn't wreck and that we had Triple A service. I said to my wife, "The Lord must want the guy who changes out tire to get a tract." He was a very nice guy named Leonard. We small talked while he changed the tire. I asked about his job, family etc. then I asked him if he went to church. He is a Catholic and NEVER heard the Gospel. The Lord opened the door for me to share the Good News with him and at the end I asked him if he thinks he has been born again to which he replied , "No". I encouraged him to get right with the Lord and gave him a Trillion Dollar Bill tract. I've learned if you keep your eyes on evangelism then you'll see the Lord uses what we think is bad for the advancement of His Kingdom. It actually make me glad that we got a flat tire... it all happened for Leonard.

Spurgeon quote for the day! 1-12-11

This Spurgeon quote sums up the atmosphere of preaching in Burbank.

"What is “the power” of darkness? I suppose everyone will admit that it is a power which tends towards slumber. It is a composing power. God has given us the night in which to sleep. Whether or not there is any absolute power in darkness to engender sleep, I do not know. But I do know this, that it is much easier, when reclining on your bed, to sleep in the dark than it is to sleep in the full glare of the sun. There seems to be some sedative influence about darkness, something which assists a man to fall into a state of inaction which we call, “sleep.” Now, Beloved, look upon the race of men. They are under the power of darkness and, in consequence, they sleep. Does not the Apostle say to us who are delivered from that power, “Let us not sleep as do others”? “They that sleep,” he says, “sleep in the night,” that being the proper time sleep—the night with its raven wing seeming to engender sleep—“but let us that are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of love.” If you look abroad in the world, I say, you will see men under the soporific influence of sin given to slumber. Do you believe that men would go on to sin as they do if it were not that sin stupefies them, prevents their using their reason, drowns their conscience and will not permit them to judge accurately concerning things that differ? Why, can you imagine that a man would run the risk of everlasting misery for the sake of a few days of carnal delight if he were not, by some means or other, besotted and made a fool of by sin? Can you conceive that a man would hear the tidings of pardoning mercy through Jesus Christ and be solemnly assured that if he turned from the error of his ways, God would accept and receive him—and that then he would treat that message with levity and go his way, even to ridicule it, if it were not that sin has made him so unreasonable, even in these matters, and made him, if not an idiot, a madman, so that he will not think? He willfully chooses his own mischief, ruins himself and that with a sort of Satanic malice against himself as well as against God—choosing rather to inherit eternal misery than to give up the poor delights of time— choosing rather to feast upon the empty husks of this world than to come and sit down at the table of mercy and eat and drink of the Grace which God has provided! So, then, it is very clear—observation shows it to us and we also have felt it in ourselves—that sin has a soporific, a drowsing, a sleep-giving power! It makes men careless and indifferent. Makes them say, “I’ll chance it! I do not care what the future may bring!” It makes a man go right to the very edge of Hell with his eyes blindfolded and his heart like Nabal’s heart—which was turned to stone—careless even of the “terrors of the Lord” and of “the wrath to come”!

C.H. Spurgeon - "Deliverance from the Power of Darkness"

Burbank Media Center Follow-up 1-8-11

Had an okay time last night.... not great just okay. We did have a great turn out of faithful evangelists! Mark, Sharon, Clint, Jorge, Debbie, Mike S, Steve, Dean, Sai and myself. Sadly the crowd below is not for us but for "Club Burbank". A group of teens came out blasting techno music the whole time we were there and turned the area where we normally preach into a dance floor. Amazingly NO police came out! They've come out for us preaching on an amp before... but not for this.

"Club Burbank"

I ended up standing with Dean's cross and offering out bibles. Had a great conversation with a guy named Dominique who seemed very sincere in his desire to know how to be saved. He has actually been to CBC about 4 times and stopped going. I've had an opportunity to witness to him about 3 times now.
Dean moved up near the street to preach the good news. Dean had a great quote that summed up preaching in Burbank, "If you ever want to learn humility... preach in Burbank." The reason being that the apathy and materialism is so thick you can cut it with a knife! We did what we could given the environment. Jorge had a great witnessing opportunity and wrote:

Prayer request for Jerry a man who sat down and let me share the Gospel with him. He is currently involved in "Scientology" they comforted him when he was at down point in his life, he was very open to the truth, it was noticeable he has heard some of the Gospel before some of it very distorted. I invited him to come to CBC I pray the Holy Spirit guides him to saving grace. Amen! Apparently Mike S and Jorge talked with a guy last night who was in church TODAY, sat through the whole service and then went to a bible study after! I wonder if it was Jerry?

O Praise Him!!

I'm totally ripping off stuff from Tony's blog! HERE is his encouragement to the body!

I Pity Myself...

Kimyal New Testament launch in Indonesia from United Bible Societies on Vimeo.

On the Box: Episode 1

HOLLYWOOD 1-1-11

Starting the New Year off right we went to Hollywood! It seems to be business as usual at the boulevard. The police have seemed to "cool it" when it come to trying to get people to move along.

The Hare Krishnas were out, costume people etc.

We were even able to use amps and a box the whole night. Here Dean had drawn a nice size crowd using some trivia. About 15 people came and took bibles as this was going on and after.

I was blessed to share the good news with several people using the Cross as a magnet. God is good.