Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. (Matthew 24:44-46 NKJV)
As often happens, on a Saturday night, the enemy was impatiently driving his workers to create as much noise and conflict as they could to confound the proclamation of the glorious Gospel of God.
At such times we must preach as unto the Lord.
Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. (Psalm 63:3-5 NKJV)
Jack the Contender
Dr. Jack was blessed to be tested by our favorite opponent, Roger. As he approached the heckler mic, Roger was locked and loaded. "If we are to follow the Bible, and the teachings of said Bible, why don't we bring back slavery? That's a good Biblical thing to have."
Jack explained that what is referred to in the Bible as slavery would today be called indentured servitude. Thanks to brother Jeremy for sending this excellent article which goes a long way toward unpacking the issue from a Biblical perspective. One quick correction to make when confronted with the loaded question claiming that the Bible "endorses" slavery, is to point out that the Bible "regulated" slavery in the same way that Moses "allowed" divorce. God hates divorce, but he allows it due to the hardness of men's hearts. In the same way, slavery was provided as a mercy to those nations who were enemies of God whom He had judged to be worthy of death due to their pagan practices of sacrificing children to their false gods, among other transgressions.
After many allegations of lying and cowardice, hurled expletives, and having his mic shut off more than once, Roger went on to tackle the issue of homosexuality.
Jack corrected Roger's assertion that Christians are homophobic by pointing out that the word literally means "fear of man" and that the Bible says we are not to fear men, but rather to fear God.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord . . .(2 Timothy 1:7)
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)
After Jack gave him the Gospel, Roger's reply was: "You really wormed your way out of this one!"
Police Presence
Due to the high volume sound stylings of the rapper/beat boxer, Burbank PD were summoned to deal with the problem. As often occurs, the rapper reduced his volume level as soon as the officers appeared. For a while we took a break from the box so that our meager output would not be confused with the barrage of noise coming from the rapper. Instead we focused on tracts and one-to-ones, which are actually made easier by the slowed traffic flow due to the crowd. Finally, the rapper wrapped it up, and we resumed our preaching, grateful for the restored peace and quiet.
Brother Richard gave the "Good Person Test" to this young man. Here is a classic video by Living Waters that presents a concise version of the GPT:
Razmik & Living Waters Provide New Armenian Tract
Our brother Razmik has updated us on the progress of the Armenian language Million Dollar Bill tract. After submitting the translation text to Living Waters many weeks ago, Razmik was thrilled to receive a downloadable version of the back of the bill with the Armenian message. However, when he studied the image he realized that the typeface would be almost unreadably small. After contacting them again, Living Waters agreed that it should be changed, and they promised to make another version. However, they said that will probably take a few more months. Meanwhile, we plan to discuss the project with our printing sources and see what the costs will be. Although we may not be able to print in great quantities, we hope to be able to afford enough copies to be able to offer them on our Saturday outreaches. Stay tuned for further developments in this crucial effort.
YembiYembi Video
Here is a link to a wonderful video called, YembiYembi: Unto the Nations, about a missionary couple in New Guinea. Thanks to Razmik for bringing it to our attention. Jeremy made these comments about it:
It helps to see evangelism outside the scope of streets and the "good person test" :) I think what struck me the most was the reminder that it's (the) power of God's Word to transform people's life and that everything else we do should be about hacking away any barriers to the plain hearing of God's Word.
Well illustrated in the video was that they weren't just randomly hacking away. Everything they did, whether clearing a landing strip or getting the audio-only language into written form, was always done with a clear focus of the end goal of getting God's Word directly and clearly to the individuals. Getting everything out of the way so God's Word could do the work.
Reminds me of Paul in 1 Cor 9:16-17,26:
For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship.
So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.
Let us always remind ourselves that we run a race not for the sake of simply running it nor for the sake of making lots of "noise" saying lots of fine (even true, important) things - but that we are there to clear the air (open up space) to make known Jesus Christ and Him crucified!
Apologetics Corner
Yes, brothers and sisters, at times it does seem to be a boxing match in the public marketplace of ideas. Many who hate God and His Word are willing to throw anything and everything, including the kitchen sink, at the "fools" who dare to stand for the truth of the Gospel. In the area of Creation vs. Evolution we need to be as "wise as serpents and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16 NKJV) In a humble attempt to offer information which may inform our responses to these challenges we will from time to time offer links to resources that may help us navigate these waters. The bottom line of all such discussions is not to try to "win" an argument but to win souls. The Holy Spirit is best served by the man or woman who walks in love, not returning reviling or anger for the same.
CMI has an important article called: Arguments Creationists Should Not Use.
They also have a corresponding article which can be very useful in quickly countering straw-man arguments by evolutionists: Arguments Evolutionists Should Not Use.
Indeed, here is a list of 15 Questions For Evolutionists. There is a corresponding tract based on this article. You can download it for free at this link: A Great Way To Spread The News.
Here is a quick analogy that confronts the evolutionary argument that random mutations in the genome can create "new information" and thus new organisms:
"To use a modern analogy, this would be akin to saying that small, random changes in a complex computer program can create radical new software modules, without crashing the system." This comes from a lengthy and valuable article: Can Mutations Create New Information by Dr. Robert W. Carter.
Having cited these resources, let us not get lost on a rabbit-trail of our own making. The purpose for the heckler mic is NOT to provide long answers to big questions, but to reframe skeptical questions from within a biblical worldview and SHARE THE GOSPEL. These "answers" are best presented in the form of a printed article, or a link shared, that presents a reasoned response, followed by an unyielding adherence to a Gospel presentation. Pastor Jack Hughes used a politically incorrect and metaphorical term (which is IMHO unusable in public discourse from the box for obvious reasons). But it is fitting for the effect that it has in the life of the unbeliever. He simply referred to the sharing of the Gospel Truth with the phrase "dropping the bomb." That is, we need to use every response as a delivery package to present the GOSPEL MESSAGE (i.e. "the Bomb"), which is, by the way, that because of man's sinful rebellion against a holy and perfectly righteous God due to our sins against Him, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to live the perfect life on our behalf and to die on a cross as the perfect sinless sacrifice so that we may be reconciled with Him for all eternity. And so the Bible says that we must repent of our sin and turn to follow Christ, and when we trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, He will bless us with a new heart that loves God and hates our sin. Jesus called this being "Born again." (John 3:3)
Here are a few nuggets from The Evidence Bible, (p. 1435, 1768)
Scientific Facts in the Bible - Luke 4:40
For ages, scientists believed in a geocentric view of the universe. The differences between night and day were believed to be caused by the sun revolving around the earth. Today, we know that the earth's rotation on its axis is responsible for the sun's rising and setting. But 4,000 or more years ago, it was written, "Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place. . . ? It (the earth) takes on form like clay under a seal" (Job 38:12,14) The Hebrew word for "takes on form" means "to turn," and alludes to the rolling cylindrical seal used to stamp an impression on clay--an accurate analogy of the earth's rotation.
Hebrews 11:3
Only in recent years has science discovered that everything we see is composed of invisible atoms. Here, Scripture tells us that the "things which are seen were not made of things which are visible."
Job 26:7
At a time when it was believed that the earth sat on a large animal or a giant (1500 B.C.), the Bible spoke of the earth's free float in space: "He hangs the earth on nothing."
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Please prayerfully consider joining in this important effort to share the Gospel with a deceived and perishing generation. See the updated schedule in the right-hand column.
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