Knowing Is Not Enough

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Knowing Is Not Enough

Springfield Missouri is in the Bible Belt. A lot of people around here have grown up in church. Most people in our area know the Gospel. They know the facts about Jesus, how he came to this earth 2,000 years ago. How Jesus is the Son of God and how He took the punishment that guilty people deserve. Yes, many people know how Jesus suffer, bled and died on the cross, was buried and rose again the third day. A lot of people know this, but knowing is not enough.

Just knowing the facts about salvation is not the same thing as salvation itself. Yes, everything I just said is true. Jesus did suffer, bleed and die on the cruel cross and He rose victoriously from the grave three days later. Jesus defeated sin, death, Hell and Satan. This is all true. But knowing these facts do not save you. Again, knowing is not enough.

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I Hate You

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I Hate You Mocker

I Hate You!

Ministry Update July 10, 2022

Praise God there were nine of us witnessing downtown Friday night. It was really hot out, but it wasn’t too bad in the shade. Trevor and his family brought new witnessing signs that had just arrived the night before and they are great signs. Trevor started off open air preaching after we all prayed and right off the bat he had a mocker that said something before ducking into a store. A little while later the mocker walked by with a group of his friends and yelled at Trevor, “I hate you. I hate someone telling me what to do.” This didn’t shock us because non-believers don’t want to submit to the authority of God. They don’t want anyone telling them what to do. Nevertheless, as Christians, it is our duty to share the Gospel with this lost and dying world. Hell awaits all who die in their sins; who die without Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Elly And Trevor With Their New Signs

Uptight About Drinking

Keven ended up talking to two different guys that needed prayer. So he brought them over (at different times) to where Elly and I were standing. The first guy wouldn’t give us his name. Keven prayed for his prayer needs. Before I could pray the guy prayed for us. After he finished praying, I asked him if he was a Christian. He proceeded to say yeah f-ing aye. I told him that I wouldn’t have put it quite like that and that as Christians we aren’t supposed to let any corrupt communication proceed from our mouth (Ephesians 4:29). Then he said curse words in the bible didn’t mean cuss words today. I didn’t go down that rabbit hole.

Keven Talking To A Guy Before He Asked For Prayer. Reed, Trevor And Elly’s Youngest Daughter Holding Signs, Tyail Holding Her Jesus Sign and Trevor And Ellly’s Oldest Daughter.

We talked some more and Elly quoted him Scripture about how we aren’t to be sexually immoral, drunkards, etc. He got a little uptight about the drinking part, but she explained that the Bible doesn’t say you can’t drink, you aren’t supposed to get drunk. Keven had given him a tract before we all talked and Elly was able to get a tract into the woman’s hand that was with him. I just kept circling back to repentance and faith in Jesus and talked to the man about Psalm 51, where David writes about true repentance. But instead of receiving this, the man goes off on what a sinner David was. Yes David sinned, but he greatly repented. David was a man after God’s own heart. But instead of understanding that part, the man just wanted to justify himself by saying David sinned. We pray that the man and the woman will read the tracts and that God will open their eyes to their need of Jesus.

Keven Talking To Christian

Christian In Name Only?

Then shortly thereafter, Keven brought Christian over for prayer. Keven prayed for his prayer needs, better housing, a better job and some sort of transportation. I prayed that God would save Christian if he isn’t really saved. After we prayed, I asked him if he was a Christian, not in name, but truly a follower of Christ. He said that he had been closer to God in the past, but when life is tough, he drifts away from God. I pointed out that we live in a fallen world and we aren’t promised an easy path. That our salvation doesn’t depend on our physical circumstances. We talked about repentance and surrendering our lives to Jesus. Keven had also given him a tract already and I encouraged him to read his Bible daily.

Trevor Talking To Guy That Says Christians Twist Scriptures

Trevor got into a long conversation with a man. The guy said that he believed in the Bible, but then tried to twist everything that he said was from the Bible. Joshua was there with them at first and heard the guy say that the problem with Christians is they twist Scripture to say what they want. As the guy started doing that, Joshua called him out on it he was doing exactly what he accused Christians of doing. But Trevor patiently shared truth with the guy. At the end of the night, Joshua got into a good conversation with another man toward the end of the night.

Joshua In A Conversation With A Man At The End Of The Night

Mockers And Encouragers

We had some drive by mockers as well as one drive by encourager. One passenger yelled from the back of the car and even got half way out of the vehicle to keep yelling as the car drove away from us. I gave a tract to a guy on a bicycle. He stopped and I asked him if he knew Jesus. He said he was from Afghanistan. So again I asked him if he knew Jesus and replied that he knows a little English. I just encouraged him to read the back of the tract. But while I was asking him if he knew Jesus, a guy walking by spoke up, “Jesus is Lord.!” I said Amen to that. The same guy that said Jesus is Lord came back by later on and had a conversation with Elly. The guy appeared to be a fellow believer.

At one point, I was holding one of Trevor’s signs and a guy was walking in my direction. Before I could hold out my arm to give him a tract, he walked toward me and reached his hand out for one. That rarely happens. Elly offered tracts to several women and they all refused. Following them was a little girl and Elly asked her mom if she could give the girl a tract and the mom said she could. Praise God for that. As usual, the fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ was as sweet as the evangelizing. Thank God for Trevor, Elly, their girls, Keven, Joshua, Tyail and Reed for coming out to share the Gospel Friday night.

(These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share the glorious Gospel with others)

 

 

Unloving?

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Unloving?

While out street witnessing, sometimes we get accused of being unloving. We are accused of being unloving because we talk about the exclusivity of Jesus. That Jesus Christ is the only Savior. So I ask you, is it unloving to say that Jesus is the only way of salvation? Is it unloving to not be more inclusive?

Actually, it would be more unloving to pretend to be inclusive, to put inclusivity above all else. That would be unloving. Just trying to make people feel better about themselves is unloving. Withholding the truth would be more unloving. If there was eminent danger for you walking down the street right now and I didn’t tell you when I knew about it, that would be unloving. [Read more…]

Jesus Never Said That

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Jesus Never Said That

Jesus Never Said That

Ministry Update July 3, 2022

Friday night was such a blessing. Praise God, there were 11 of us out witnessing Friday night. Trevor, Elly, their two girls, Joshua, Tyail, Chase and his wife Myeisha (and their baby), Reed, Matthew and myself. There was open-air preaching, conversations and tracts handed out as well as great fellowship. But the thing that stood out the most to me were the things that were said, including the woman who yelled, “Jesus never said that.”

Trevor, Joshua, Reed and I were standing on one corner when the pedal pub (trolley) peddled past us. Trevor spoke up to the people at the pedal bar, “Repent of your sins, turn to Christ and you will be saved.” As they peddled around the corner a woman yelled back, “Jesus never said that.” So I yelled back, “Yes He did. Jesus said unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. That’s Luke 13:3.” I encouraged her to read the Bible for herself so she’ll know what it really says. They were moving away from us or I would have also added the very first message Jesus preached was repent and believe the Gospel (Mark 1:14-15).

Guy That Says Jesus Will Never Find Him

I Will Never Find Jesus

Before this, I tried to hand a tract to a guy and he shook his head no and said, “I will never find Jesus.” It was a very sad comment. But he kept walking, so I couldn’t really talk to him. I just replied that unfortunately that means that Hell awaits him. He just shrugged his shoulders and kept walking. If people really understood how horrible Hell really is, they would not be so nonchalant about it. Then later a man and woman refused a tract and he just shook his head no. When they walked back by, Joshua tried to hand a tract to him, but he shook his head no again and put his fingers in the shape of an X and held his fingers near the tracts Joshua was holding.

Chase In A Conversation With An Atheist As His Wife Watches

Guy Flipped Me Off And Yelled At Me

Matthew In Long Conversation With The Guy That Flipped Me Off. Trevor’s Youngest Daughter Handing Out Tracts While Trevor And Joshua Stand Nearby Matthew. Tyail Holding Her Jesus Sign.

Before all of us got to the witnessing spot, Chase got into a conversation with an atheist. She took a tract and they talked for quite a while. I think he got her to understand that she really doesn’t know right from wrong without taking it from a Christian world view. While I was bringing a message, a guy stopped across the street, flipped me off and yelled something. I just kept on with the message. But Matthew was nearby and he got into a conversation with the guy and they talked for 20 or 30 minutes. Reed also got into a long conversation with a different guy. Trevor and Chase also brought messages. One driver slowed down and encouraged Elly as she was handing out tracts. All in all, it was a good night and may God bless the conversations, the messages and the tracts that were handed out.

Trevor and Matthew And Trevors Youngest Daughter Handing Out Tracts and Tyail Holding Her Jesus Sign

Reed and Joshua Handing Out Tracts

Elly And Her Oldest Daughter Handing Out Tracts While Chase Open-air Preaches

Trevor Open-air Preaching

Driver Slowed Down To Encourage Elly And Her Daughter While We Were Out Witnessing

(These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share their faith in our Lord Jesus with this lost and dying world)

Few Versus Many

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Pro Abortion Marchers

Few Versus Many

Ministry Update June 26, 2022

I love the stories in the Old Testament how God saves the Israelites by using few versus many. Now I’m not comparing my friends and I to the Israelite warriors in the Old Testament, but we did witness first-hand Friday night how God uses few versus many in a spiritual battle. Praise God that there were 10 of us evangelists out Friday night. Truly amazing, ten of us. But only one in our group knew about the pro-abortion rally being held in downtown Springfield, MO Friday night. The other nine of us were quite surprised when there were 500 pro-abortion protestors marching right past us Friday night. [Read more…]

No Neutrality

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No Neutrality

There’s no neutrality with the war in Ukraine. People and leaders of some countries say they aren’t for either side. But if you say this and really believe this, then you are really for Russia and against Ukraine. You can’t be neutral during an unjust war. Russia attacked and keeps attacking Ukraine without provocation. If you say you are neutral, then you really are pro-Putin. You are for Russia. An example of this is the country Israel. They keep saying they are neutral, but they really aren’t. They have actually hindered Ukraine in getting some equipment that they need. There is no neutrality. You are for Ukraine and democracy or you are for Russia and Putin’s unjust war and autocracy.

Another example of no neutrality is the very serious topic of abortion. There is no way to be neutral about killing babies in the womb. You are either for life – all life from conception to the grave or you are pro-abortion, pro-murder, pro-death. There is no such thing as being neutral. By the way, there are no safe abortions. A baby loses its life each and every time an abortion is “successful”. [Read more…]

Surrounded By Encouragers

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Surrounded By Encouragers

Ministry Update June 19, 2022

Brad, Keven and I started out witnessing Friday night. Keven handed out tracts, Brad held his large banner sign that says Trust Jesus and Jesus Saves From Hell on the other side and I brought a message. We think it was a combination of Brad’s banner and my message, but we had several encouragers as well as several mockers. But at the end of the night, Brad was surrounded by encouragers.

Pro Abortion Woman Cussing As She Drove By.

I started off with a message about no neutrality. The central theme of the message was about how people cannot be neutral when it comes to Jesus. But before that, I used abortion as an example. You cannot be neutral about killing a baby in the womb. You are either for life or pro-death, but you cannot be neutral. One woman drove by and cussed as she passed when I was discussing abortion. But a lady crossed the street after taking a tract from Keven and she agreed when I said abortion is murder. I further said that being pro-life included from conception to death and she agreed with that too. Then a woman drove by and yelled “Jesus is a punk”. Brad had several other mockers as well as encouragers while he held his sign.

Woman Yelled Jesus Is A Punk As She Drove By Us.

Pro-life Lady Encourages Us As She Crosses The Street.

Can I Hold My Jesus Sign Next To You?

While bringing the message, a young lady named Tyail walked up and asked if she could hold her Jesus sign next to us. I told her she could. My thought was that if her sign wasn’t a good one, I’d have to explain why she couldn’t hold it near us, but it turned out that the sign read Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).So it  was a great sign. She ended up holding the sign near Keven across the street from us. After my message, I walked over and asked her where she got the sign from and she said from Joshua. I told her we know Joshua. Well, it turns out that while I’ve had health issues off and on the past two years, she was coming out witnessing with Keven and Joshua. I had no idea, but I was glad  to hear it.

Keven Handing Out Tracts, Tyail Holding Her Jesus Sign and Brad Holding His Banner.

Then I went back across the street and Brad said something about bringing a message, but he didn’t have one prepared. I told him that he should give the good person test. Instead, he got up and talked about several Way of the Master (Ray Comfort) examples such as jumping out an airplane with no parachute and the court room example of how Jesus paid our sin debt. Thank God that Brad did so, he ended up having five people come over and encourage him. Five people! At the end, four of them were there at the same time and he was surrounded by encourgers. Praise God! You expect to have some mockers when you share the truth, but you don’t always get encouragers and to be completely surrounded by them is really unusual.

Great Time Of Fellowship

Not only did we have a great time evangelizing, but we also had a great time of fellowship together. Joshua ended up joining us about half way through, so we had a great time visiting with each other as well as handing out tracts and New Testaments. One of Brad’s encouragers came over and asked me what we expected to accomplish while out witnessing. I was holding Brad’s banner sign while Brad was open-air preaching. I told the gentleman that our goal is to share the Gospel through open-air preaching, holding signs, handing out Gospel tracts and Bibles. Then he said, “so you are planting seeds.” Yes, we are planting seeds. May God send someone else to water and May God give the increase, all for His honor and glory.

Joshua Ready To Hand Out Tracts.

 

(These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share the Gospel with others)

Do You Know Jesus?

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Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Do You Know Jesus?

Do you know Jesus? Have you repented and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? The question isn’t do you go church or were you raised in church? The question isn’t do you know about Jesus? Do you know how He fed the 5,000, walked on water, calmed the storm or healed the sick or raised the dead? No the question isn’t do you know about Jesus or know about the things that He has done, but do you know Jesus? Is He Lord of your life?

John 1:1-10 states: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. [Read more…]

Praise God For The Conversations

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Elly Talking To Two Young Men

Praise God For The Conversations!

Ministry Update June 5, 2022

We were blessed to have Trevor, Elly, their two girls, Keven, Joshua and I all out witnessing Friday night. I started out with a short message and had a drive by mocker or two. But before Trevor could bring his message, Elly was nearby having a discussion with a couple of guys. So he respectfully held off so he didn’t interfere with their conversation. While that was going on Joshua spoke to a young lady that’s a college student and said that she’s a believer. Also before Trevor could preach, a young man approached him and they had a long conversation. So we praise God for the conversations! [Read more…]

Heaven or Hell?

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Photo by Danist Soh on Unsplash               Photo by Chris Barbalis on Unsplash

Heaven or Hell?

Recently Keven, Joshua and I were out witnessing. We were handing out tracts and a lot of times Joshua would say, “Are you going to Heaven or Hell?” Most people replied that they were going to Heaven. This reminded me of Frank Jenner in Sydney Australia who for 28 years would hand people a tract and ask them if they died today, would they go to Heaven or Hell? Many people were saved by the grace of God by this one man asking this question. It made some people think of their eternity who never really thought about it before. Yes, it really is that simple: Heaven or Hell? [Read more…]