Romans One - A Message For Our Time 6/8/2013

Tonight's team: Mark, Dave, Dean S., Dean C, Sai, Sharon, Debbie, Nathan, Elder Bob, and Steven V.

Also we were encouraged by CBCers, Jeremy and Spencer, seen here talking to Dean.

Romans, chapter one, was the inspiration for several who preached from the box. Elder Bob said: "Each of us knows that there is a God. And each of us knows, deep in our heart, that we are responsible to our Creator, and that when we die we will go before Him. He says in Romans chapter one: 'For since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.' The creation tells us that we know there is a God. You look at the world and you see how well it's put together. That lamppost tells me that there was a person who designed it. In the same way, look at these palm trees, and their amazing symmetry. That palm tree had a designer. The most complex thing in this mall today is us! Human beings. For us to say that we know that lamp was designed by somebody, but we just evolved . . .that's foolishness. We have no excuse for saying there is no God or for saying that we are not responsible to Him."

Elder Bob, who is recovering from surgery, was blessed to get the only heckler of the evening, an affable fellow who called himself "Dude." He began by making a vague indictment of various sinful behaviors of evil men referenced in the Bible, as if these behaviors were hypocritically being condoned. Elder Bob responded that the Bible clearly shows those things as sin, things that are odious before God, and that such behavior leads to an eternity in Hell. When asked if he was afraid to die, Dude replied that he was not, because he has led a "legit" life. In other words he was proclaiming his own goodness. Elder Bod then led Dude through the "good person test." When asked if he had ever told a lie or stolen anything, Dude denied it, saying, "Why would I do anything like that, that's bad karma!"

But Bob reminded him of 1 John 1:8: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Dude responded by asking: "Hey, man, did you ever see, like, the light of God coming down and surrounding you?" When Bob said, "No, God reveals Himself in scripture," and spoke about his need for repentance, then the Dude just walked away. Let's pray for the Dude to come to repentance and faith in the Son, Jesus Christ.

As always, many opportunities for 1-2-1 witnessing were providentially arranged.

One of these was a lengthy discussion with this nice couple who identified themselves as Jehovah's Witnesses. Curiously, the discussion began when the husband asked about the version of the Bible we were distributing. He called our attention to Psalm 83:18: "That they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth." (NKJV) He objected to the use of the word "LORD" instead of the word "Jehovah." Here is an interesting article on the different renderings of God's name in the Old Testament. However, the real issue underlying the man's objection is the issue of the New World "translation" of the scriptures. This article briefly, but effectively, summarizes the major issues with this heretical, blasphemous corruption of the Word of God, perpetrated by the Watchtower cult.

Dave shared this observation of the account of Lot fleeing the wicked city: "Lot took his wife and his two daughters, who were willing to listen, and ran. But even his wife, she turned and looked back to Sodom and Gomorrah, and she turned into a pillar of salt. No man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God. You need to forsake your sin and trust in Christ. It will cost you everything to follow Jesus. People will hate you. You may have to give up work, family, friends. But the end is eternal life. And it's a walk that's worthy because Christ is worthy of it. It's a walk that leads to joy, paradise, and forgiveness of sins. Give up this life! It is fading away. The whole world and it's system is rigged, so that you will never find satisfaction in it, until you let go of it, and trust in Christ."

Join us:  Saturday, June 15, 2013 @ 6:00pm at BPD parking lot!