The Cross

This quote was ripped off from Pyromaniacs and I believe applies well to open air preaching:

"The pulpit (or the box :) is intended to be a pedestal for the cross, though, alas! even the cross itself, it is to be feared, is sometimes used as a mere pedestal for the preacher's fame.

We may roll the thunders of eloquence, we may dart the coruscations of genius, we may scatter the flowers of poetry, we may diffuse the light of science, we may enforce the precepts of morality, from the pulpit; but if we do not make Christ the great subject of our preaching, we have forgotten our errand, and shall do no good.

Satan trembles at nothing but the cross: at this he does tremble; and if we would destroy his power, and extend that holy and benevolent kingdom, which is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, it must be by means of the cross."

—John Angell James, quoted in Spurgeon'sFeathers for Arrows

Ray Comfort Open Air Preaching

Ray is so confrontational... we could all learn to be more "aggressive" to get people to SNAP OUT OF IT!

Hollywood Follow-Up 4-21-12

 Its been quite a while since we've been to Hollywood and it was lively to say the least! 

 Dean did some trivia to try and draw a crowd. 

 There were lots of tracts that went out and about 30 bibles as well.

 Steve suggested trying a new technique of using a "mobile heckler mic" which seems to work well. It may be that it draws attention having a guy standing there holding a mic. Also this way there are no issues with someone tripping over any cords etc.

Here is probably one of the worst hecklers I've had yet. This picture sums it up.

This guy came up asking for a KJV bible and rejected our NKJV of the bible, claiming that its satanic. I confronted him on his "KJV onlyism" which turned into him cursing me out. When confronted on the condition of his heart and that he was obviously drunk I let him know that "no drunkard will inherit the kingdom of God and that he needed a NEW HEART." This sparked more anger and his primary goal became to silence me. My response was to stand on the box and preach... which made him MORE mad. He then proceeded to push me off the box several times (to say it was difficult to restrain myself would be an understatment) it didn't disuade me from continuing to proclaim the gospel and confront him on his sin. I'll admit I probably didn't say or handle everything perfectly but I was glad that it didn't get worse by God's GRACE!


Interestingly enough he later came up to Dean and admitted that he knows he has a drinking problem and that if he died today he would probably go to hell. Also that he knew for sure he didn't like me either! Something I've learned is that proclaiming Christ and advancing His Kingdom are more important than men's feelings.


"It is not our business to make the message acceptable, but to make it available. We are not to see that they like it, but that they get it." Dr. Vance Havner

Burbank Media Center Follow-up 4-14-12

CBC Evangelism was bringing true HOPE through Jesus Christ on a busy Burbank saturday night! We had an amazing turnout of faithful saints to share the good news.

Here John the agnostic was willing to engage with me. I've been learning that its not about winning a debate but winning the person to Christ. Learn to avoid "rabbit trails" and stick to going after the conscience and proclaiming the Gospel. He heard the Gospel and so did many others that night.

It seemed to be one of those nights where there were lots of good opportunites.

Sharon faithfully witnessing.

Steve preaching the Gospel. One of 6 brothers who preached that night.

The evening ended on a great note when two Mormon guys were willing to talk with me. The Lord had answered our prayer by drawing hecklers that night.

"There's no better book with which to defend the Bible than the Bible itself." Dwight L. Moody

KING OF KINGS!

Wish I had this voice for preaching!

Spurgeon Quote of the Day! 4-11-12

“Is not My Word like as a fire? says the LORD; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Jeremiah 23:29.

God’s Word is like a hammer—“and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces.” So that, whenever a minister has the Gospel to use, this simile should teach him how he ought to use it—with all his might, let him strike with it mighty blows for his Lord! I should think that it does not require any great education to learn how to use a hammer. I do not know, it may, but it seems that to use a hammer aright, one has nothing to do but to strike with it. A stone-breaker, for instance, gets a good strong hammer and a heap of stones to strike at—and he has but to hit them as hard as he can and to keep on hitting till all are broken. Brothers, when you preach, take the Gospel hammer and strike as hard as you can with it!

“Oh, but I must try to improve the look of my hammer! It must have a mahogany handle!” Never mind about the mahogany handle! Use your hammer for striking—hammers are not for ornament—they are meant to be used for real hard work! And when you come to use the Gospel as it ought to be used, the result is wonderful! It is a rock-breaking thing. “Oh,” you cry, “there is a very obdurate man there!” Strike at him with the Gospel! “Oh, but he ridicules and scoffs at the Truth of God!” Never mind if he does—keep on smiting him with the Gospel. “Oh, but, in a certain district, I have wielded this hammer against the rock for years and nothing has come of it!” Still go on wielding it, for this is a hammer that never failed! Only continue to use it! Everything is not accomplished with one stroke, nor, perhaps, with 20 strokes. The rock that does not yield the first time, nor the second time, nor the third time, nor the 20th time, will yield at last! There is a process of disintegration taking place at every stroke—the great mass is inwardly moving even when you cannot see that it is doing so. And there will come, at last, one blow of the hammer which will seem to do the deed. But all the previous strokes contributed to it and brought the rock into the right state for breaking it up at last. Hammer away, then, Brothers—hammer away with nothing but the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The heart that is struck may not yield even year after year, but it will yield at last!

C.H. Spurgeon - "Gods Fire and Hammer"

He Is RISEN!!

"Then said he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing."—John 20:27.

The wounds of Jesus, next, are the marks of identity. By these we identify his blessed person after his resurrection. The very Christ that died has risen again. There is no illusion: there could be no mistake. It is not somebody else foisted upon us in his place; but Jesus who died has left the dead, for there are the marks of the crucifixion in his hands and in his feet, and there is the spear-thrust still. It is Jesus: this same Jesus. This is a matter of great comfort to a Christian—this indisputably proven doctrine of the resurrection of our Lord. It is the keystone of the gospel arch. Take that away, or doubt it, and there remains nothing to console you. But because Jesus died and in the selfsame person rose again, and ever lives, therefore does our heart sweetly rest, believing that "them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him"; and also that the whole of the work of Jesus is true, is completed, and is accepted of God.
Again, those wounds, those scars of our Lord, were the memorials of his love to his people. They set forth his love so that his chosen can see the tokens; but they are also memorials to himself. He condescendingly bears these as his reminders. In heaven, at this moment, upon the person of our blessed Lord, there are the scars of his crucifixion. Centuries have gone by, and yet he looks like a Lamb that has been slain. Our first glance will assure us that this is he of whom they said, "Crucify him; crucify him." Steadily look with the eyes of your faith into the glory, and see your Master's wounds, and say within yourself, "He has compassion upon us still: he bears the marks of his passion." Look up, poor sufferer! Jesus knows what physical pain means. Look up, poor depressed one! he knows what a broken heart means. Canst thou not perceive this? Those prints upon his hands, these sacred stigmata, declare that he has not forgotten what he underwent for us, but still has a fellow-feeling for us.
Once again, these wounds may comfort us because in heaven they are, before God and the holy angels, the perpetual ensigns of his finished work.That passion of his can never be repeated, and never needs to be: "After he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, he sat down on the right hand of God." But the memorials are always being presented before the infinite mind of God. Those memorials are, in part, the wounds in our Lord's blessed person. Glorified spirits can never cease to sing, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain"; for every time they gaze upon him they perceive his scars. How resplendent shine the nail-prints! No jewels that ever gemmed a king can look one-half so lustrous as these. Though he be God over all blessed for ever, yet to us, at least, his brightest splendour comes from his death.
My hearer, whensoever thy soul is clouded, turn thou to these wounds which shine like a constellation of five bright stars. Look not to thine own wounds, nor to thine own pains, or sins, or prayers, or tears, but remember that "with his stripes we are healed." Gaze, then; intently gaze, upon thy Redeemer's wounds if thou wouldest find comfort.

"The Evidence of Our Lords Wounds"- Spurgeon

Jesus Died! Paul Washer

REMEMBER what HE has done! IT IS FINISHED!

Spurgeon quote for the day! 4-2-12

“Is not My Word like as a fire? says the LORD; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Jeremiah 23:29.

As we noticed while reading the chapter, there were a great many pretenders in the times of Jeremiah, so that when the true Prophet of God came forth and declared, “Thus says the Lord,” he was met by false prophets who contradicted him and said something the very reverse of what he had to say and yet prefaced their utterance with the same declaration, “Thus says the Lord.” This, of course, tended very much to harden the hearts of the people against the Divine message, and it also grievously embarrassed Jeremiah. He hardly knew how to meet it—it seemed to checkmate him.

This evil also greatly grieved the Lord, for it was not according to His mind that these men should pretend to speak under His Inspiration and to speak as if they felt the burden of the Lord, when He had never sent them and they had not delivered His message. He therefore gave a test by which the true could be distinguished from the false. In the verse before our text, the Lord asks, “What is the chaff to the wheat?” That which these false prophets said was but chaff compared with the Divine message delivered by Jeremiah, which was as wheat—so the Lord puts the matter thus, “You hear these men speak and you are interested and pleased, and you say to yourselves, ‘This is fine oratory, this man has a grand way of speaking.’ You admire his style, his eloquence, his depth of thought and all that, but I say to you, ‘Is not My Word like as a fire?’ It comes not as a thing of beauty, but with force, with energy. It comes to you, not that you may stand and look at it, but it has within itself a burning and consuming force. And by this shall My Word be known from the word of man—that it has a mystic power about it which cannot be found in the words of men. And it is a breaking force, as when a mighty hammer strikes the rock, and strikes it again and again till even the solid granite is compelled to yield.”