repentance

Is Jesus In All Of Us?

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Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash

Is Jesus In All Of Us?

Ministry Updates for June 14, 2024 and June 7, 2024

Doug, Michael, Justin and I witnessed downtown Springfield, MO on Friday night June 14, 2024. The weather was great and there was a good breeze. The statement of the night was from a non-believer that said, “Jesus is in all of us.” But prior to that, Doug and I walked around downtown handing out tracts. We handed out several of them on the square. We walked down South Street, but it was really quiet, so we went back to the corner where we started. Doug and I both ran into professing Christians that said they were believers, yet didn’t attend church. We explained to them that attending church doesn’t save you, but as believers, we want to fellowship with other believers. I love evangelizing downtown, but I enjoy the fellowship with my brothers in Christ just as much as I enjoy sharing the Gospel with unbelievers. It’s so important to be connected to a local (biblical) church. [Read more…]

Rejoice

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Rejoice

Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash

Rejoice

Rejoice. Now this is a word that the average person doesn’t use very often. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of rejoice is: 1. To give joy to or 2. To feel joy or great delight. Again, I’d say this is a word the average person probably doesn’t use or doesn’t use very often. But my friends and I are Christians, so chances are we probably use this word more often than non-believers. [Read more…]

True Repentance

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Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

True Repentance

While street witnessing, my friends and I plead with people to repent and surrender their lives to Jesus. Our Lord and Savior called people to repent. Jesus said unless you repent, you will all likewise perish (Luke 3:13). It was also the very first message Jesus preached when he walked this earth. The Lord said that we are to repent and believe the Gospel (Mark 1:14-15). But what is true repentance? What does it mean to repent?

True repentance is not merely being sorry for doing something wrong. Whenever our kids did something wrong when they were little, a lot of times they would say that they were sorry, but you could hear in the tone of their voice that they really didn’t mean it. No, they were sorry that they got caught, but not truly repentant. Judas who betrayed Jesus was sorry afterwards, but he did not have godly sorrow over his sin. Judas went out and hung himself, but he did not repent. So repentance is more than being sorry. [Read more…]

Went Around The Block And Came Back

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Went Around The Block And Came Back

Ministry Update December 6, 2020

It was cold Friday night, so Keven and I discussed walking around and handing out tracts after the message. So as soon as I finished open-air preaching, I grabbed my witnessing bag and off we went. To our surprise, a man chased us half a block away. When he caught up with us, he thanked me for open-air preaching. He said he was driving by and heard the message, went around the block and came back to listen to the rest of it. The guy said we need more preaching on the streets. Keven told him some other guys were going to do the same thing in about 30 minutes. Keven asked him if we could pray for him and he said yes. As they talked a little bit, the man said that he hoped he was a Christian. [Read more…]

Do You Really Want God To Judge You?

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Do You Really Want God To Judge You?

The bible verse that’s thrown in an open-air preacher’s face more than any other is Matthew 7:1 – Judge not that ye be not judged. This may very well be the most overused and misquoted verse in the Bible. If you read further past verse one, you will see that Jesus is saying don’t be a hypocrite. I shouldn’t preach against adultery if I’m an adulterer. Jesus isn’t saying we shouldn’t judge (in fact He tells us to judge with righteous judgment – John 7:24). Along these same lines, we frequently hear people shout “Only God can judge me.” [Read more…]

The Lord Says Turn To Me And Be Saved

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The Lord Says Turn To Me And Be Saved

You are walking down the sidewalk tonight and you walk past me. If I said, “Turn to me” you literally would have to turn around and go the opposite direction; the opposite way you are going. This is a picture of repentance. Repentance is a change of mind and a change of heart that leads to a change of actions. You don’t clean yourself up for God to save you. No, when God convicts you over your sins, you repent and trust Jesus to save you. So tonight, I want to share with you that the Lord says “Turn to Me and be saved.” [Read more…]

Why The Update – I Know It’s A Sin

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Why The Update – I Know It’s a Sin

Why the update I know it’s a sin? Because that’s what the young man admitted to me. Several of us were witnessing downtown on a Friday night in November 2016. I started talking to a young man named Cody while he waited on his friend who was talking to Erica. Cody appeared to be very intoxicated, so I asked him if he’d been drinking and he said that he had been. When I asked him if he realized that getting drunk was sinning against God, he admitted, “I know it’s a sin.” You need to realize that most people won’t admit their sinning when confronted with their sins. Typically, people come back with comments like “everybody does it” or “it’s no big deal” or “it’s human nature or just being human.” So it’s actually refreshing when someone actually admits their sin. [Read more…]

Heck Yeah!

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Heck Yeah!

Ministry Update February 16, 2020

Unlike last week where there were so many encouragers, there weren’t any this Friday night. But just like last Friday, I had another person mocking about Hell and he was proud that he is headed for Hell. The message this Friday was positive. It was about joy, real joy, the joy that is found in Christ Jesus alone. The only mention of Hell was toward the end when I pleaded with people to repent and trust Jesus for salvation instead of dying in their sins and going to Hell. I was basically asking the question: Why would you die and go to Hell when the young man yelled Heck Yeah! [Read more…]

You Know You Look At Porn

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You Know You Look At Porn

Ministry Update October 20, 2019

A guy mocked me the whole time I brought a message downtown Friday night. He was in the apartment building across the street. The mocker spoke in a monotone voice. He must have been funny, because several people laughed as they walked by. All that I really heard him say was something to the effect that I’m out there every Friday night and that he wasn’t happy about it. After open-air preaching, I handed out Gospel tracts. While standing on the corner, the mocker kept yelling, “No one wants your little cards.” Then he also yelled, “You know you look at porn.” [Read more…]

Still Had Mockers On A Slow Night

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Mocking Woman In Red Car

Still Had Mockers On A Slow Night

Ministry Update December 23, 2018

Pastor Joshua, Conner and I witnessed downtown Friday night and it was a really slow night. We suspected it would be when we pulled up and the parking lot we normally park in (or at least try to park in most Friday nights) was nearly empty. It turned out to be a slow as we suspected. In fact it was so slow, that Conner walked around the block by the square just to see if anything else was going on. Since there wasn’t, he came back to our normal spot. But we still had mockers on a slow night.  [Read more…]