abortion

Am I Welcome At Your Church?

Leave a Comment
Am I welcome at your church?

Photo by Katherine Hood on Unsplash

Am I Welcome At Your Church?

Ministry Updates for March 22, 2024 and March 15, 2024

Conner, Joshua, Michael and I witnessed downtown on Friday March 15, 2024. We were out there for about two and a half hours and mainly handed out tracts. Joshua got into a couple of conversations and I had a short one with one young man. But we spent most of the night talking to one guy. He was out trying to get signatures for a petition, but none of us wanted to sign it. He got into a conversation first off with Joshua, then Conner and myself and then kept bouncing back and forth between us. His main contention was that the Bible was written by men and his other burning question was, “Am I welcome at your church?”

Joshua engaged him first in a conversation. The young man wanted to know how the God of the Bible was the real one when there are so many gods out there. I think he said that he worships the Norse gods. He kept going down one rabbit hole after another. Conner also engaged him in a conversation, but he kept going back to these same things. Finally, I told him that I’m really out here talking about Jesus Christ and I started witnessing to him. That’s when he told us that he’s bisexual and lives with a man. He wanted to know if he’d be welcome to come to my church. I told him that he is welcome to come there. I will call the young man C. He said that he’d be there Sunday morning. Sadly, he didn’t show up.

I wanted to make sure that he didn’t misunderstand me, so I pointed out that God doesn’t approve of his lifestyle. The Bible doesn’t, I don’t and my church doesn’t. But everyone is welcome to worship at church.  Then he wanted to know where the Bible condemns homosexuality (not counting Leviticus). So I read to him Mark 10:6-9 where Jesus says that marriage is between a man and a woman. Conner directed him to Romans 1:18-32. Later on, we also had him read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.

Written By Men

He kept going back to the Bible was just written by men. But the Bible was written by men that were inspired through the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21, 2 Timothy 3:16). I point out that we know the Bible is true because we see it time and time again when we are street witnessing. He kept denying God and the Bible, so I kept pointing him back to Romans 1:18 where he suppresses the truth in unrighteousness. At one point he said that he lost someone really close to him and that he begged God to show him a sign. He said even if the wind had blown, he would have counted it. But nothing. Then he brought up how God gave Gideon a sign three times. I gently reminded C that Jesus said an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign (Matthew 12:39).

I told him that I was sorry that he lost someone close to him and that God didn’t comfort him through that time. I told C that I also lost someone close to me and I know it isn’t easy to go through. Then I asked him if I could pray for him and he said yes. We all gathered around him and I prayed for him and for his salvation. C told us that he grew up in a Christian home but was no longer a Christian. We pointed out to him that we don’t believe that he was ever truly a Christian because you can’t walk away from Jesus if you are truly saved because Jesus never leaves or forsakes us (Hebrews 13:5). Then I asked him if he had a Bible at home and he said no. I asked if he’d read it if we gave him one and he said yes. Michael quickly handed him a Bible.

We had C read Scripture several times after that. I told C that I was praying that he’d start reading the Bible that very night. He replied that I would have an unanswered prayer then if he didn’t read it. I pointed out to him that he was correct. That I would have an unanswered prayer, but that if he continues  rebelling against God, that he’d be the one who dies in his sins and would spend eternity in Hell. I pleaded with him to read Romans since we had quoted from there and then I encouraged him to go back and read the Gospels starting with Matthew. We hope and pray that he will read the Bible and that God will save him and his friend.

Hope I Go To Heaven

Friday the 22nd of March was quite windy and cold. Anand, Michael, Conner, one of his daughters and I witnessed downtown. We were handing out tracts and I handed them to a couple of Hispanic guys who said they live in Carthage. They wanted to know what I handed them and I told them, “They are Gospel tracts. They tell you about Jesus.” I asked if they know Jesus and the one wearing a cross said yes, they know Him. So then I asked them if they are saved and they both said yes. Then I asked if they are going to Heaven and one said yes, but the other one said, “I hope I go to Heaven.”

I told him that I wasn’t picking on him, but I wanted to know how hope gets you to Heaven. He shrugged his shoulders. His friend said that you get there by going to church. So I gently said, “I’m not picking on you either, but how does going to church get you to Heaven?” Then he replied that we get there by doing good. At that point, I asked them if they had kept the 10 Commandments. They both acknowledged that they had broken them. So you really can’t go to Heaven by being good since we’ve all sinned against God and we’ve all broken the 10 Commandments. At that point I shared the Gospel with them. I asked them both to read the tracts. They shook our hands and headed on their way.

Not long after that, Conner got into a conversation with another guy out trying to get petition signatures. This time it was for “Women’s Reproductive Healthcare”. Conner engaged him in a conversation. The young man kept talking about rape and abortion being necessary sometimes to save the life of a mother. Conner was the only one he talked to, so I didn’t interrupt. But I’ve heard several doctors say that they never once had to kill a baby in order to save the mother’s life. I would also point people to the Bible where Joseph’s wife Rachel, died during child birth (Genesis 35:16-19). God didn’t tell Joseph to kill Benjamin in order to save Rachel’s life. It’s very sad when a woman dies during childbirth, but murdering a child is never right. Michael got into a long conversation with an older gentleman. I didn’t get an update on that conversation, but we pray that God will save both men as well as others who received tracts.

(These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share their faith in Jesus with others)

Can I Get A Hallelujah?

Leave a Comment

Guy On The Right Says Can I Get A Hallelujah?

Can I Get A Hallelujah?

Ministry Update July 24, 2022

Friday night was full of mockers from beginning to End. A couple walked by while I was open air preaching. The woman stopped and yelled, “Get a life” at the exact moment when I was saying that Satan is the little g god of this world who has blinded unrepentant sinners to the Gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). I explained that she is one of those people and pleaded with her to repent and trust Jesus. Then another mocker yelled out after that. We even had mockers while we handed out tracts. While Trevor was open air preaching, I was caddie corner from him and three guys walked by. One of them mockingly put his hands together like he was praying and asked, “Can I get a hallelujah?” I replied, “You can get a repent and trust Jesus.” I continued pleading with him to repent as he walked away laughing.

Woman Yells Get A Life

Jesus Never Had A Megaphone

Trevor had several mockers too. One man yelled for Trevor to shut the f up and another woman yelled “Abortion” as her car went past us. During this time a couple walked by and they both refused tracts and the guy said that he’s covered by the blood of Jesus. He asked if I was too? I told him yes, that’s why we are out here. They kept walking away, but he turned around and said, “You need to live it instead of saying it. Jesus never had a megaphone.” So I reminded him that Jesus said go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). Jesus also said that what we hear whispered in the ear, we are to proclaim from the rooftops (Matthew 10:27). I asked him if he reads his Bible every day. By that time, I couldn’t hear his reply, so I encouraged him to read the Bible and obey it.

Maybe you are reading this and thinking like the guy that said we shouldn’t use amplifiers. That’s ok if you don’t agree with us, but I ask you: how do you share the Gospel? What I’ve found most of the time is that professing Christians that don’t agree with open air preaching do absolutely no evangelism at all. So if this is you, I also ask you, are you being obedient to our Lord Jesus Christ? He says to share the Gospel with every creature so how is no evangelism accomplishing that?

No Way And Plenty To Read At Home

One woman refused a tract from Elly and said, “No way.” Another woman took a tract from Trevor then promptly handed it right back, saying that she had plenty to read at home. One driver went the wrong way down the one-way street in front of us. This always reminds me of lost souls going the wrong way in life and how badly they need the Good News of Jesus Christ so they can repent and believe the Gospel.

Matthew And Cindy Witnessing To Jason

Matthew and his mother Cindy spent most of the night talking to a homeless guy named Jason. Sadly, Jason thinks that he keeps most of the 10 Commandments and that his efforts will be good enough for God. None of us are good enough. That’s why we need Jesus to save us. Only the sinless One can save you. At the end of the night three people helped their extremely drunk friend to the car. She was so drunk that they literally were holding her up and halfway carrying her to the car. It was heartbreaking to see. Trevor started preaching to the group. He kept preaching even after they got to their car. At that time, a drive by mocker yelled “Yeah boy” out of the passenger window. Then Trevor had one last walk by mocker to end the night. I thank and praise God for Trevor, Elly, their girls, Tyail who held her Jesus sign as well as Matthew and Cindy for coming out witnessing.

Three People Helping Their Extremely Drunk Friend To Their Car

(These updates are given to encourage Christians to share the Gospel with others. You may never go street witnessing and that’s ok. But if you are truly a follower of Christ, please tell others about our Lord and Savior and how He’s the only way of salvation. You don’t just live it, you also share it. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God – Romans 10:17.)

Guy Mocking Trevor At The End Of The Night

Elly Handing Out A Tract

Driver Messing With Trevor Open Air Preaching

Drive By Mocker

Car Going The Wrong Way

Few Versus Many

2 Comments

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

2 Comments

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

2 Comments

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)

Atrocious Act

Leave a Comment

Atrocious Act

On New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2020, a 29 year-old killed his girlfriend and her 13 year-old son. The man also tried to kill the woman’s two daughters, ages 7 and 14, but they both survived the attack. This happened right here in Springfield, Missouri. This was a shocking crime in Southwest Missouri. But this horrendous crime pales in comparison to King Herod killing 2,000 boys that were 2 years old and younger in Bethlehem. Herod ordered the killings because he was trying to kill baby Jesus. Obviously, King Herod failed in his attempt, but he did succeed in his atrocious act of killing 2,000 precious little boys. [Read more…]

Why The Message – Outrageous Puppy Killer?

Leave a Comment

Sean Branch Outrageous Puppy Killer

Why The Message Outrageous Puppy Killer?

This message was posted in January 2013 because it truly was horrific. A young man in Washington, D.C. was sentenced to four months in jail for killing a little puppy. Why did he do it? He was mad at the dog’s owner, so he viciously killed the poor, little, defenseless puppy. This is truly awful. People should be outraged over such behavior. We must stand up for the rights of animals! As horrible as this story is, there’s something even worse. Much worse. Three thousand little babies are killed every day in America! Little babies, poor, little, defenseless babies are viciously murdered every day. This is horrific. But where’s the outcry? Why aren’t people hopping mad about this? Why does this travesty, this injustice continue unabated? It does so because of choice, because of a woman’s “choice” to kill her unborn child. [Read more…]

Killing Babies Is Essential!

Leave a Comment

?

Killing Babies Is Essential!

Like much of the rest of the country, Springfield Missouri is under a shelter in place order. Our order started a few days ago and is in effect for 30 days. Basically, everyone is supposed to stay at home unless their job is deemed essential. Examples of essential businesses includes doctors, grocery stores, hotels, financial services and evidently Planned Parenthood. Yes, killing babies is essential in America. We live in an upside-down world. In the United States of America, we are rightly concerned about the more than 3,000 deaths so far from the coronavirus. Yet, at the same time, most Americans are unconcerned about the 3,000 precious babies that are murdered each and every day. They are violently pulled apart, limb by limb in the womb. Over 3,000 deaths from Covid-19 is horrible, but how much more horrendous is the killing of 3,000 babies each and every day?  [Read more…]

Too Much

Leave a Comment

Too Much

Ministry Update March 7, 2020

Conner talked to one of the sign guys on the square before we both did open-air preaching. The sign guys believe that God does most of the work in salvation, but then we have to our part. They also believe in sinless perfectionism and they believe that you have to be good enough after salvation before you die, to go to Heaven. Typically, you can’t get anywhere with these guys, but Conner said that he had good conversation with one of them and the guy was at least thinking about what he said. While that was going on at the square, I was at our usual spot handing out New Testaments and Gospel tracts. My favorite encounter was with a guy who replied, “Too much.” [Read more…]

No Warning

Leave a Comment

No Warning

Recently I drove my wife to a convenience store to buy some milk. While I was waiting in the van, a very large cigarette sign caught my eye. It was for Marlborough Gold and it stated that they were $6.37 a pack. My first thought was wow, smoking is really expensive. Then, my eyes dropped down to the Surgeon General warning. Then my next thought was how sad, there is a warning on cigarette packages and advertisements, but no warning for abortions. [Read more…]