God Wins, Paganism Loses 12/22/2012

In a stunning rebuke to the enemies of God, the apocalyptic predictions of the world's demise, based upon an ancient Mayan calendar, were proven false. The Bible shows mankind that life on planet earth has not yet reached the fullness of time. 12/21/12 came and went without cataclysm, proving once again that man's wisdom, no matter how precisely measured, is foolishness compared to the wisdom of God.



Team members Mark, Jack, David, Elder Bob, and the two Steves hit the quiet streets of Burbank to share the Good News of the Lord's birth, His provision for our sin on the Cross, and His soon glorious return. The Lord promises that "whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." (Romans 8:29) Indeed, there were several who, having heard the proclamation of the Truth, engaged team members in extended conversations in which they gladly heard the testimonies of lives redeemed by the shed blood of Christ.



"Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed." (Acts 13:48)

Several believers also stopped by to encourage the team.

The CBC Evangelism Team wishes you a blessed New Year.

L'Chaim (To Life) 12/15/2012

"I am the way, the truth, and the life . . ." Jesus said (John 14:6). And it was a lively time at Burbank Media Center as team members, Mark, Dave, Sharon, Dean, Sai, Nathan, Jack, and Steve, as well as some friends from Grace Community Church shared the Way and the Truth.

 

The raw shock of the tragic Connecticut shooting incident was still fresh in everyone's mind from the day before. Several observed the sad irony of the even larger tragedy of 2,000 innocent children having perished in the same 24 hour period, due to abortion, and yet going unnoticed by the press.

In addition to the "Are You Ready" Cross, carried by Sai and Dean, Dave introduced the new Prayer Stand (www.prayerstand.com). This will be a great way for team members to minister to those whom the Holy Spirit draws to be blessed with saving faith and spiritual provision. At least 40 or 50 Bibles were requested and provided, as well as countless tracts.

 

The Burbank chapter of Chabad conducted a menorah lighting ceremony, which presented an interesting contrast to the "fire and brimstone" of the Gospel preaching. Curiously, the Rabbi spoke of the goodness of people, and wished those assembled "lots of luck" in the coming year. As it was in the days when Jesus walked the earth, the Jewish leaders still teach a system of salvation by good works and self-righteousness.

In a gesture of good will to our Jewish friends, Dave decided to pause our proclamation from the box for the duration of the menorah candle-lighting service. As the Rabbi was assembling the giant menorah, one of the glass shields for the flames, fell and shattered. Dean rushed to sweep up the broken glass using the empty cardboard box which had held the New Testaments which we were handing out. Later the Rabbi brought a plate of glazed doughnuts to our team as a gesture of thanks.

 

After the ceremony, Dave resumed the preaching, drawing several hecklers and a sizable crowd. Heckler Nick, who professed a self-styled "Judeo-Christian" system of belief, contended with David for at least 20 minutes. He claimed that the Bible was a distortion of the truth, which, Nick went on to say, was something that God had revealed to him directly. Nick then attempted to rhetorically paint David into a corner by repeatedly asking the deliberately provocative question: "Doesn't the Bible say that it was the Jews who murdered Christ?" He posed this question loudly and repeatedly, not listening to the answer, in an attempt to incite a hostile reaction from the mostly Jewish crowd who were enjoying the post-ceremony refreshments. David explained that it was the Jews, and the Romans, and by extension all evil men, because we all have sinned against God. It was for our sins that He was placed upon that Cross.

After this a young woman, claiming to be a Christian, challenged David with questions which cast doubt upon the fairness and justice of God for not saving everyone except for those who have heard the Gospel. David's response covered many issues such as the sovereignty of God, the sinfulness of all men, the pride of men who hear the Gospel and yet refuse to believe. As often happens, the heckler did much more proclaiming than listening, as evidenced by the same question asked and then answered numerous times. David concluded by cautioning her to examine her faith and be sure she has indeed repented and placed her trust in the Savior.

 

Several lively discussions took place. It was a special evening, alive with the presence of the Holy Spirit. If you are feeling the tug of the Spirit urging you to get involved with the proclamation of His word, or prayer, or giving out tracts, please join us.

Merry Christmas from the entire CBC Evangelism team!

Connecticut Shootings

Praying for the families and friends who lost loved ones.

Al Mohler had a great article he wrote about the shootings in Connecticut HERE.

Meditate on what the Word says about our sovereign God:


"But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases." - Psa 115:3 

"A man's heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps." - Pro 16:9

"The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up." - 1Sa 2:6

"Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,'" - Isa 46:9-10

BAM!

The Christmas Gospel 12/8/2012

The Holy Spirit was abundant in blessing the proclamation of the glorious Gospel. Debby, Sai and Sharon were joined by Ruth, David, Mark, Elder Bob, the two Deans, and the two Steves.

"The Reason for the Season" was the recurrent theme as the Word was preached with passion and clarity as shoppers and moviegoers passed by the "Holiday" tree.

 Back in full voice, Mark emphasized the "happy holiday" known as Christmas, and told of how Jesus' birth provided the ultimate gift of a Savior to reconcile sinful men with the perfectly righteous God.

The Lord provided many witnessing opportunities. Sharon and Steve always seem to excel at sharing the Gospel with complete strangers in lengthy conversations. Many Bibles and tracts were given out, as well as invitations to the Christmas Concerts at CBC.

 Elder Bob boldly preached from Romans chapter one, while it is still legally permitted.

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. . . because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools." (Romans 1:18-22)

 Dave joined up later, proclaiming the Gospel straight-forwardly, and engaging in several one-to-one sessions.

Elder Bob took his turn contending with our friend Roger "The Nemesis." One of many who embrace the spirit of the age, Roger asserts that one can only know God through intellectual pursuit of esoteric wisdom. He rejects the plain meaning of scripture, choosing to re-interpret the Bible according to the insights of "enlightened" men who put their faith in personal experience rather than the inspired and inerrant Word of God.

The Apostle Paul said of these men, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.' Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." (1 Corinthians 18-21)

Genius the Movie

Burbank Aglow 12/1/2012

This evening's team included: Mark, Sharon, Dave, Dean, Sai, Ruth, Jack & Steve. Setting out to Burbank in the rain expecting it to be a slow night we were pleasantly surprised to arrive seeing Downtown Burbank aglow with the Christmas spirit as the city celebrated its annual Tree Lighting Ceremony!

Thousands crowded the outdoor mall enjoying the costumed entertainers and artificial snow.

Ice Sculptor w/ Chain Saw

Brave kid trusts these jugglers

Santa's Accountant presenting an object lesson on the state of the economy

Twinkle and Twinkle

In a festive environment people clamored for the Million Dollar Bill tracts!

Our friend, Roger "The Nemesis", has practically become a member of the team. Indeed, he is a model of faithful attendance and passionate evangelism (of his own brand of idolatry). Would there were more BELIEVERS who were so eager to share the GOSPEL. We continue to pray for his salvation. Clearly though, God has used his antagonism to the Gospel to encourage and challenge us to continually study the Word of God to be equipped to give an answer for our hope.

Indeed, the glorious Gospel was proclaimed!  Not without resistance, of course. This season includes our annual "hasseling" from Burbank Ambassadors who requesed that we turn off our small P.A. David politely declined to do so, citing the long history of such requests by the City, and the equally long history of the Burbank P.D. telling us that it is O.K. for us to continue doing what we are doing.  Predictably, after the Ambassadors left, a Burbank P.D. Officer stopped by. Dave met with him, as the preaching continued. The officer left after confirming that we were doing nothing wrong.

Is there "no room at the inn" for the proclaiming of the Gospel amongst the celebration of the Lord's birth?  For the time being, at least, the answer is still yes.

As always happens, the team experienced the joy and presence of the Holy Spirit in countless moments of God's gracious provision.

It was a divine appointment to pass out over 1,000 tracts and several dozen Bibles.

Spurgeon Quote of the Day 11-28-12

“When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said,

‘What have I to do with You, Jesus, You Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.’ ” Luke 8:28.

IF we understand these words to be the exclamation of the evil spirit which tormented this poor demonian, they are very natural words and one can very readily understand them, for the Presence of Christ is such a great torment to the Prince of Evil, that he might well cry out, “Are you come to torment us before our time?” If we would put Satan to rout we have only to preach the Lord Jesus in the power of the Spirit, for this is the Hell of devils. Hence it is that he roars so much against Gospel preachers—

he roars because the Gospel makes him hurt.

But if these words are looked upon as the language of the man himself, they are most extraordinary. In fact, they are so singularly mad and foolish that we can only account for them by the fact that though it was a man who spoke, yet the devil was in him—for surely none but a man possessed with a devil would say to Jesus, who alone could bless him, “De- part from me!” or say, “Torment me not!” And yet there are tens of thousands of men in this world who are saying just the same thing! Thousands of persons appear to be far more anxious to escape from salvation than to escape from eternal wrath! They avoid Heaven’s love with scrupulous diligence and the prayer of their life seems to be, “Keep me, Lord, from Heaven! Prevent me ever being saved! Give me the full swing of my sins and let me live so as to ruin my soul!” 

C.H. Spurgeon- "Plain Words with the Careless"

Evangelism Humor

Preachin' In The Rain 11/17/2012

 

David led the team of Deans 1 & 2,  Mark (recovering, by God's mercy, after his heart procedure), Jack (the new guy, arrived later), and Old Steve.

 It was a great night for movie references as the teen cult vampire film "Breaking Dawn" opened at the Burbank Media Center Mall. Many who are new to the area heard the Gospel being proclaimed for the first time.  Some were so offended by the Good News that they couldn't resist shouting at the Brother on the Box. One man could hardly contain his umbrage as he returned many times to confront the preacher. Sometimes people react with intense hostility to a presentation of the Law.

 Two women stopped to condemn David for being "judgmental." His response, "I am only sharing what the Bible says. Are you not judging me?"

Later, a woman named Nikki, who professed to having led many to Christ, was angry with David for preaching "doom and gloom," (i.e. the Law), and not the "goodness of God."
"How many salvations have you had?" she said. Nikki is not the first to challange us with this question. However, since God is sovereign in salvation, then perhaps a better question might be, "Are you being faithful to preach the word delivered once for all to the saints?" Nikki's question implied that it is the anger of preachers, not the pridefulness of men, that keeps them out of heaven. Yet the Apostle Paul said that the Law is the schoolmaster that leads us to a knowledge of sin, and thus to salvation.

We do see fruit in the form of many Bibles received, and countless opportunities, both on the box and one-to-one, to sow the seed of the gospel, knowing that His word does not return void.

Chillin' In Burbank 11/10/2012

It was a surprisingly chilly night in Burbank as Mark, Steve, David, Jack (a new guy, sent by Tony the Lawman!), Ruth, Dean, Sai, Clint and Steve hit the streets to proclaim the glorious Gospel. Mark was so cold his teeth were chattering, partly due to some new medication. (Please pray for this brother's heart procedure this Friday.) It was so cold that none of the hecklers would stand still, blurting out something in a mocking tone, before disappearing into the night. We call these "Drive-By" Hecklers.

Ruth and Sai, faithfully witnessing with tracts. Several people stopped by to encourage the team, including a man named Matt, who kept affirming statements, made by Dean, with a hearty "That's right!" and "He's correct!" He said that he attends a large Baptist congregation in Los Angeles.

We took turns holding up Bibles. It provides a subtle affirmation of the message coming from the box, and offers greater opportunity for one-to-one interaction with people who may be too shy to approach the heckler mic.

As always, the evening ended with a consensus, among the team, of having witnessed the hand of the Lord at work in countless small interactions, conversations and providential moments. The joy received greatly warmed the cold night air.

"If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified."  1 Peter 4:14

Post Election JMAC!

Everyone needs to hear this post election BAMM!! from John MacArthur: 

http://www.gty.org/Blog/AB121113

For all those who are faithfully going out on the streets to share the Gospel... KEEP GOING!

Halloween Hollywood 2012 Follow-Up

Spurgeon Quote of the Day 11-5-12

“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” 1 Corinthians 15:26.

"When Christ died He suffered the penalty of death on the behalf of all His people and, therefore, no Believer now dies by way of punishment for sin, since we cannot dream that a righteous God would twice exact the penalty for one offense! Death, since Jesus died, is not a penal infliction upon the children of God! As such He has abolished it and it can never be enforced.

Why do the saints die, then? Why, because their bodies must be changed before they can enter Heaven. “Flesh and blood,” as they are, “cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” A Divine change must take place upon the body before it will be fit for incorruption and Glory! And death and the grave are, as it were, the refining pot and the furnace by means of which the body is made ready for its future bliss. Death, it is true you are not yet destroyed, but our living Redeemer has so changed you that you are no longer Death, but something other them your name! Saints do not die now, but they are dissolved and depart.

Death is the loosing of the cable that the boat may freely sail to the fair havens! Death is the fiery chariot in which we ascend to God! It is the gentle voice of the Great King who comes into His banqueting hall, and says, “Friend, come up higher.” Behold, on eagle’s wings we mount! We fly, far from this land of mist and clouds, into the eternal serenity and brilliance of God’s own house above! Yes, our Lord has abolished death! The sting of death is sin and our great Substitute has taken that sting away by His great Sacrifice! Death without a sting abides among the people of God, and it so little harms them, that to them, “it is not death to die.”

C.H. Spurgeon- "Christ the Destroy of Death"


But someone will say, "How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?"
Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain--perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. - 1 Cor. 15:35-38


"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain." - Jhn 12:24

Hollywood Halloween Outing

Burbank Media Center Follow-up 10-20-12

 We had an AMAZING night in Burbank the past Saturday. Its funny because sometimes when you think "well its kind of rainy out, I'm tired..."

or whatever excuse you might have for thinking nothing will happen

the Lord draws many to hear the words of eternal life.

Mark started off the night doing a great job preaching. He only managed to offend one lady who walked by and cursed Mark under her breath asking "Is this legal?"  Also a street performer who was a talented violinist and upset that we didn't let him know we were going to start preaching. We graciously let him know thats the way it is ON THE STREET!

 Elder Bob always does a great job explaining the gospel.

 I had a LONG conversation with Dustin, who was following the teachings of a swami from India. He denied almost every doctrine of scripture while claiming he was a Christian. He also lead worship in a church for 15 years. I shared the gospel and gently confronted him on the fact that he has created a "Jesus in his own mind."

Want to hear something WEIRD? The next day my son and I went on a hike to a place we have never been before and as we were walking up the trail guess who was walking down it? You got it... DUSTIN! Even he was shocked. Whats also weird is that he had never been there as well! Its as if a sovereign God is controlling all things for His good pleasure and our good. I gave Dustin my contact info and invited him to church. 

 Sharon faithfully pleading with someone.

 While I started to preach a young guy named Jack came up to the heckler mic. He was a new Christian and thought that "Jesus would have never used this approach." Also that Jesus didn't talk about judgment and hell that much.

 I tried to explain to him that when you go to a jewelry store, the jeweler puts down piece of black velvet before displaying the brilliance of the diamond. Until men understand their own BLACK HEART they will never appreciate the DIAMOND of the person of JESUS CHRIST!

 James was walking by and I pointed to him and said that he needs to be born again. Which started great interaction which lead to him coming up to the heckler mic. He was a sceptic with many miss understandings about why we need a Savior, Hell and the judgment of God.

 After about 15 minutes the crowd started getting bigger.

 There was a point while we debated that I was getting sidetracked and I heard Steve yell "PREACH THE WORD BROTHER!" This is something we all agreed upon as a team. If we hear someone on the box start "wrangling" and NOT getting the gospel out we'll yell something like Steve did to keep the focus on GOSPEL PROCLAMATION.

James didn't understand why hell was forever because "we send people to jail to punish them and REHABILITATE them." 

In hindsight what came to my mind is that the legal system should be designed to REFLECT the holiness and justice of God. Prison shouldn't be designed to rehabilitate criminals but to PUNISH criminals. Because we think we can rehabilitate unregenerate hearts we prefer criminals over law abiding citizens and thus we send a perverted message to the culture about GOD's justice and punishments. This is why the Lord would rebuke unjust judges in the Old Testament. INJUSTICE or NON-JUSTICE perverts our perception of God. We think we can sin and get away with it or that God is being "harsh" by damning men.

No wonder James doesn't understand why hell is forever or why wee need a Savior.

What I've learned through many conversations with people is that ultimately we have a LOW view of God and a HIGH view of ourselves. This is corrected with scripture.

 It ended well; he heard the good news and shook my hand.

Steve got up right after me and LAID DOWN the gospel with clarity. Several people stayed through his whole presentation. We left rejoicing in the opportunity the Lord presented!!