CBC Evangelism: The Wheat and the Chaff 1/10/2015

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:7-12 ESV)

Burbank Outreach

1/3/2015

Several team members were absent and/or sick, so a core team, including Steve M., Dean, Sai, Richard and Steven V., took to the streets of Burbank.

Steve M.: When we look at the book of the Revelation we see a very sobering verse: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts." (Revelation 21:6 NKJV) Do you thirst for the Living God tonight? Do you know if you died tonight whether you would go to heaven? That your name is written in the Lamb's book of life? If you don't know, then you need to come to God on His terms. You see, 2,000 years ago God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross for your sins, because God loved you so much, that He did not want you to have to go to hell to pay for your own sins for all of eternity. He took upon Himself our sins. The bible says that He became sin. Jesus Christ became our substitute, our sacrifice for sin. The one that knew no sin, became sin for us, that we might become God's righteousness in Him. So if you place your faith in Jesus Christ, what you are doing is you are saying: 'God I am accepting your payment on the cross for my sins. You don't have to look very far to see that you are a sinner. If you obey all of the laws and break just one of the commandments, you are guilty of breaking them all. And so God commends His love for us in this, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Roger, our favorite nemesis, tried to talk Dean into embracing his gnostic worldview, and received nothing in return but a patient proclamation of the glorious Gospel. Clearly the Lord has a purpose in Roger's obsession with our ministry. Our prayer is that the Lord will one day remove the scales from his eyes and grant him a heart of repentance.

Richard and Dean both took turns on the box.

Richard: Jesus is the one who is the giver of life. He holds eternal life within His hands. He heals those whom He chooses. He raised the dead to life. He raised Lazerus from the dead. He told them, "destroy this temple and I will raise myself up in three days." And He can raise you from the grave that you are in today. He says that He is the truth, so that means that all other religions do not have the truth.

Dean: I just had one of our regular hecklers stop by and he asked me, "Don't you guys get tired of saying the same thing over and over?" I said, "Are you kidding?" The God of eternity is forgiving all my sins, He's not going to give me the justice and punishment I deserve. He gave me a new heart, and He's adopted me into His family, and He's granting me everlasting life. No! The answer is NO! We're never going to get tired of proclaiming the good news of the Gospel. But the problem in America, especially, is that everybody knows about the God of Love. Yes, God is love, He is perfect love. We all know John 3:16, but folks if all you think about God is His love and forgiveness and His mercy and you don't read the Bible for yourself and see also that God is a God of perfect righteousness and holiness, and by His very nature he cannot forgive sin without it being punished perfectly. In America today we have a warped idea of who God is. There is no fear of God. We treat God as if He is a big cosmic Santa Claus in the sky, a giant forgiving mushball who says, "I love you just the way you are!" Without any question about sin, or judgment or righteousness. But friends, that God does not exist!

Go, Team, Go! 1/10/2015

Brother Mark shared this regarding this evening's outreach:

After we finished prayer the rain let up just a little bit and both Deans wanted to proclaim the gospel. Sharon was desiring to share her hope in Jesus Christ too.
We grabbed Dean S.'s mic, box, and bibles with an umbrella and headed down to the theaters. We set up just north of Panera Bread at the boarder of the public and private property line.
We faced the many people standing in line to buy tickets to the movies. Due to the lack of external noise and absence of street performers our voices carried a great distance to be clearly heard by all in the theater area. That was a blessing from God. Sharon & Chris passed out tracts while Dean S., Dean C., Jack, & myself took turns on the box.
We had a few hecklers shout at us in drive by fashion but no one stopped to talk. The rain continued the entire time I was there. I left after 8 pm. and Jack told me they each proclaimed the gospel twice after that.
Tim Carns sermon was a wonderful contrast to our evangelism. In Haggai they were saying "the time has not yet come..." and they stopped the work of the temple; the evangelists said "what better time than now" to proclaim the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ! So despite the rain and those who thought we were crazy for standing in the rain to share our hope them ... the gospel was proclaimed because Jesus Christ is worthy to be proclaimed and we needed to love our neighbors by sharing the good news of salvation through repentance of sins and belief in our risen Lord.

Amen! Thanks Mark!

The Morning Shift - NoHo Station

1/7/2015

Paul and Richard joined Steve at the NoHo Station to bless the busy commuters with a gospel message.

Paul: God Himself is perfect holiness. He will not tolerate the presence of sin. He hates sin. It is axiomatically against His own nature for sin to be in His presence. He is a consuming fire, the scriptures say. To commit sin is to pour gasoline upon yourself. When you go into the presence of that fire you will combust! But it doesn't have to be that way. In the person of Jesus Christ you will be clothed in a fireproof suit. You put on perfect holiness. You put on a like nature with God, when you believe in Him. God accepts you and will say to you, "Welcome home, my good and faithful servant." For the bible says that in God's presence is fullness of joy. and at His right hand are pleasures forever. For with the heart a person believes and it results in righteousness. That's how you know if it is genuine or not. There are a lot of people who say, "oh yeah, I believe in Jesus!" But if there is no righteousness there, there is no true belief. You can't just pray a prayer and then live any old way you want to, in disobedience to God. You can't do that. It's not real. If you believe in your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead, and that He was the true substitute for you, then it's going to change your life. It's going to rock your world. It's going to cause you to make different decisions than you are making today. It's going to cause you to do things for the sake of God rather than yourself.

Please stand with us on Wednesday mornings at 6:00 AM at the North Hollywood Metro Station on Lankershim Blvd. it's a great opportunity to share the truth with the thousands of commuters who pass through this area. Please watch for text announcements on Tuesday evenings. Please always RSVP if you plan to join us on Wednesday mornings.

Abortuary Duty 1/3/2015

This empty can of caffeinated energy drink was hurled at the team members by a woman who was escorting her friend into the Abortuary for the purpose of murdering her child. The can only traveled half way to the team before it hit the pavement. As missionaries we were not permitted to trespass into the parking lot area, and so the can sat there on the floor until the security guard picked it up later in the morning. It rested there as an absurd and silent testimony to the irrational and depraved mind of man who can suppress the truth in unrighteous denial, and then strike out foolishly, impulsively, and impotently against the God who sovereignly, by His Spirit, sends witnesses to clearly warn of His impending judgment.

Article: 10 Quotes From Margaret Sanger

Article: Planned Parenthood Report

You can join the effort at the Mission Hills clinic, 10200 Sepulveda Blvd., 91345, every Saturday and Tuesday morning from 8 to 10 am. No experience necessary.

News Items

Excerpt: Jan Markell, "Falling Into Place"

(The following excerpt from this speculative article is shared merely as an encouragement and not as prophecy.)

As I've previously written, today's news and information is causing some to become disengaged, discouraged, downhearted, and disconnected. But many more tell me they are now watching with an eye on the sky like never before. They are experiencing not dread, but great expectation, straining to hear a trumpet sound. Surely our troubled times are heralding such an event.
I encourage you to keep your eyes on the following stories in 2015. Most were prominent in 2014 and we will watch them blossom in 2015 and be game-changers.

The "epicenter" -- the Middle East -- will become more inflamed and out of control.
Watch the lawlessness increase, both in the streets and in the highest offices of the land.
The coalition of forces that will participate in the Russian invasion of Israel, also known as the Gog-Magog War, will continue to unite. Some of them are experiencing economic turn-down due to the falling oil prices. This will further inspire them to seize a spoil (wealth) in Israel.
Ecumenical efforts in 2014 were stunning. It was often led by Pope Francis but evangelicals had no problem joining in. Watch for this to intensify in this new year. Men and women who should know better locked arms and will continue to do the same. They suggested we could all get along in spite of great theological divides.
There will be a further decline in the character of man. It was shocking in 2014. Calling evil good (Isaiah 5:20) was rampant. Praying to false gods took place everywhere including our U.S. House of Representatives. Is it any wonder our leaders are blind?
What pestilences and plagues will appear in 2015? The past year was dominated by news about Ebola, although more suffer from Malaria. Yet Ebola has killed 8,000 in Africa and the threat to the West shouldn't be downplayed as our current Administration is doing.
Technology always marches on as it prepares for "Mark of the Beast" technology.
The nations lining of up against Israel are staggering. Sadly, America's White House is in the forefront and this will worsen now that all elections are off the table.
The rise in anti-semitism should startle everyone. Jews are fleeing from France and heading to Israel. This will escalate. There will be few safe havens. As Gary Kah reported on our radio program, an Argentina utilities company had a stamp on it saying, "Be a patriot: Kill a Jew." This may escalate to levels not seen since WWII.
The shame of 2014 was the silence in the pulpits and pews to the slaughter of Christians in the Mideast, Africa and parts of Asia. Western Christians remain very comfortable, although all that could change.
American Christians were insulted endlessly in 2014. Even Newsweek magazine called evangelicals "God's frauds". Consider the source but be aware this could worsen and likely will.
The ordeal in Paris is likely to be repeated around the world. Why do you suppose the last days are called "perilous times"?
How about the economy? There is only one other time in history when the price of oil has declined by more than 50 dollars a barrel in such a short time frame as it did in 2014. That was back in the middle of 2008, shortly before the worst stock market decline in decades. I am told some economic analysts are "freaked out" at what is going on. Those are their words, not mine.

Israel could strike Iran in 2015. That would be the major story of the year. They would use every tactical device known to modern warfare. It will not be a pretty picture. The entire world could be destabilized. And Israel could become the goat of the world, further fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy that she will be all alone.

And in the meantime, a deluded U.S. President is cozying up to Iran, talking about normalizing diplomatic relationships with this rogue, despotic nation.

We must spread good news amidst the bad. We can't grow weary in well doing. We must love when we are hated. And we must look up much more than we look around or we won't be able to handle things.

Things aren't falling apart -- they are falling into place.

The Bible says that these things must happen. We can't escape them. We're in the times of the signs.

Look up and know that your redemption draws nigh!

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This month a film will be released that we should be aware of:

Although the topic of this documentary appears very intriguing, there are issues relating to the producers of the film that suggest a cautious regard for veracity. We will seek to post an authoritative review when one becomes available. The film premieres in Burbank, at the AMC 6 Theaters, on Friday, January 23rd.

Meanwhile, here is an interesting article about the film in WND: 'Science Shattered': Hand of God Suddenly Revealed?

Apologetics Corner

Video: Louis Zamperini Captured by Grace This, as they say, is the rest of the story. Although the feature film "Unbroken" leaves out the most important part, this short documentary by Billy Graham Television shows how Louis Zamperini came to faith in Jesus Christ after the war.

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Paul Washer: Die to Self, Surrender to Christ