Let's Learn - Hidden In Plain View - The Rapture

I was just thinking about the rapture this morning.   Listening to Chuck Missler, a teacher who some may have hesitation about, because he's probed the boundaries of Biblical truth and its intersection with myth, non-biblical metaphysics, and science.   All that as a caveat, here was what I found interesting.   The Biblical doctrine of the rapture is a much maligned doctrine in this day and age, not only by non-believing skeptics, but by some in the Reformed believer's camp as well. 

I understand the word for 'rapture' is not in the English language Bible, but the doctrine comes from First Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 17, where it says in the King James, 'caught up', and it talks about meeting the Lord in the air.

The concept of the rapture is where all Christians, from all over the world, will be snatched or taken up to heaven, some time prior to a period of time on the earth commonly known as the 'tribulation'.   The tribulation is a seven year period of time, when God pours out His judgement on planet earth.  In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus compares the time prior to the tribulation with the time prior to the flood of Noah's day, [Mat 24:37 KJV] 37 But as the days of Noe [were], so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.   At a later time, I'll talk about why God would pour out His wrath (anger) on the people of planet earth, but for now, I'll let it suffice that He did it in the past, and He'll do it again in the future.   So the rapture is described as a future event, where God moves His people out of the way, so He can execute His fury, and vengeance on people who haven't humbled themselves and received forgiveness for sins by trusting in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

One complaint I hear against the teaching of and the adherents to the doctrine of the rapture is that the rapture is a 'hidden' doctrine.   In other words, the rapture is not an explicit doctrine; it must be inferred from various Bible verses.   I don't think this is a valid objection, because so many doctrines in the Bible are inferred, i.e. compiled together from many different Biblical texts.

All that said, the most direct verse, used to conclude the rapture is indeed an expected future event is found in First Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 17; [1Th 4:17 KJV] 17 Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

There are other places in the new testament where the word for 'caught up', in Greek it's harpazō ( ἁρπάζω) occurs.   Namely, in Second Corinthians chapter 12, verses 2 and 4; [2Co 12:2, 4 KJV] 2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. ...    4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

Again, the words 'caught up' appear in Revelation chapter 12 verse 5; [Rev 12:5 KJV] 5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and [to] his throne.

Lastly, we have a sort of 'rapture' described in Revelation chapter 4 verse 1; [Rev 4:1 KJV] 1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door [was] opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard [was] as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

Think about it.

God bless...

Let's Learn - Scribe vs Recorder... 1 Kings 4

1 Kings 4:3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder; 

First Kings, chapter 4 describes Solomon's 'officials'; the cabinet of his administration.   Just as Trump (like him or not) has surrounded himself with men and women to help him accomplish his agenda, so Solomon did the same thing, some 3000 years ago   Lets look at the office of 'scribe' versus the office of 'recorder', as detailed in verse three.

Scribe

What is a 'scribe'?   Someone who keeps a detailed account of conversations.   At work or at church, a scribe is someone who keeps the meeting minutes.   A good scribe would be someone who could take shorthand, to be able capture every single word that everyone said.  My mom was a legal secretary; when I was little, I remember seeing what amounted to hieroglyphics, in her steno pads.   They were meaningless to me, but they were a word-for-word transcription of a dictated memorandum, or meeting she had with the lawyer.   The modern-day version of a scribe could be called a stenographer, or the fancy shmancy word for it is amanuenses.
To dig a little deeper, the Hebrew word for scribe is caphar ( סָפַר).  The Hebrew word caphar begins with the letter Samech(remember, Hebrew reads right to left).   So, although caphar is transliterated with a 'c', it starts with the 's' sound.   The ancient, pictorial form of the letter Samech, was a thorn, and carried the meaning to 'grab' or 'protect'.   Thereby, we come to understand that a caphar , 'grabs and protects', words.

Recorder

What's difference between a scribe and a 'recorder'?   Interestingly, the word for recorder rhymes with the word for scribe, in Hebrew.   It is zakar ( זָכַר ), and it carries the meaning to remember, or to memorialize.   Here is my own commentary on what a recorder is, as opposed to a scribe; a recorder s a historian.   A historian, weaves a narrative, providing background, and 'connecting the dots', so-to-speak, between seemingly unrelated events.   Where a scribe would be a very technical profession, a recorder would be more academic.   A recorder would have to see the 'big-picture', and be able to relate it in a comprehensive way.

So What?

So there were two separate offices of scribe and recorder in Solomon's administration.   Each had their own distinct role, but why should we care?   Well for one, that we have a Bible at all, owes to the fact that down through the ages, God appointed scribes and recorders to capture His word in an orderly, accurate fashion.

Psalm 45:1 says, [KJV]  To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves. My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
That term, 'ready writer' is the word caphar in Hebrew.

In the New Testament, Matthew was a government employed, tax collector.   He would have had transcription skills.   And Luke, as a physician would also likely have received that type of training.

All that to say, this is just more evidence that God superintended the writing and the transmission of His word in the Bible, and you can trust it.

Personal Application

How can we apply this to our lives?   We can be diligent to write things down.   Keep good notes in meetings at work...  It'll help us to remember our TODOs.   Also, take some time and reflect on the details, to try to assemble a comprehensive picture of where we were, where we are, and where we're going.   As God's people, we ought to try to remember what went well to give God the glory.   As well, we ought to reflect on our failures, so we don't make the same mistakes again.

God bless...

Sister Amy and Brother Michael W.

Tonight was 75% great, and 25% grief.

I received encouragement from several people I didn't know, as well as several I do know; Caroline, John, Randy and Connie, Bob and teacher Mickey, while I preached the Gospel at the Xfinity Arena, in Everett.

I spoke from the heart, no notes in hand as I pleaded with the Amy Grant/Michael W. Smith concert goers, to soften their hearts and examine the fruit of their lives, but they just laughed.   The just kept mocking and resisting the Gospel. One gal said turn off the bull horn. I said "OK but the God has given me a loud voice." Even after I did what they asked, they still scoffed and murmured and complained. Another lady came up and started scream her head off at me. I just ignored her and kept preaching. Lastly, another lady came of and tried very sternly, but politely to tell me to preach something encouraging. I detected a hint of alcohol on her breath, and asked her if she'd had a few drinks before coming tonight. She went off in a huff. Very saddening.

Here's what I said...

Friends, respectfully, very respectfully I come to you this evening.   My name is Keith, and I’m a born-again christian, and I’d like to share a few thoughts with you and then the Gospel.   The Gospel is the good-news of our reconciliation with God.   In other words, the Gospel is the greatest breakup and get back together again story ever.   We all start out alienated from God.   Estranged from God.   Even to the point of being enemies with God because of wicked works in our minds, the Bible says.   But, the Gospel changes everything.   God brings peace through the message of the Gospel.  

Now I know many of you are Christians.   You’ve put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, but I can’t assume that for all of you.   So I’m going to share a few thoughts that hopefully cause you to examine yourself, and see if you’re in the faith.   So you can prove to your own self whether or not Christ is in you.   The fruit of your life will indicate what’s going on behind closed doors.   I.e. what your life produces, in terms of fruit, indicates what’s going on in your heart.   Remember, we look on the outward appearance, but God sees the heart.   The bible says the heart of man is deceitful above all things, it’s desperately wicked, who can know it.   But God does.   Now, a story as an illustration.   A story about what you see is what you get.

The story is of Sister Amy; yes I’m talking about Amy Grant being on TV… Back in the 1990s, my wife and I were watching tv, and I was probably channel surfing. I came across Amy Grant, and she was on her husband’s TV show on the TNN network… Her husband’s name was Gary Chapman; he had his own show called Prime Time Country, and he was interviewing her, trying to talk to her and he seemed like he was being nice, very personable, trying to interview her, but she was being so snarky, stinky, withdrawn and aloof from this guy... My wife and I were watching this supposed ‘christian’ music artist, sister Amy in shock and disbelief. Well later on, she divorced that guy. I could have predicted it, by the way sister Amy treated her husband, her very own husband, on national TV no less.

God hates divorce, but it isn’t the unforgivable sin…  It doesn’t say God hates divorcees, but God does hate divorce. Let me ask you, you who name the name of Christ; If you were being interviewed on TV, could the audience tell you are a christian?   Let me put it another way,  If it were illegal to be a christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?   Does your lifestyle; how you talk and act agree with your profession of faith?

Here are a few questions, so you can examine yourself, based on the Ten Commandments:

1. You shall have no other Gods before Me, In other words, is God the top priority in your life?   Not only that, but is God #1 on a list of 1; nothing else even compares to your love and devotion to God.   Let me ask it another way, I know many of you have multiple Bibles, but do you read even one of them every day, without fail?
2. You shall make no idols for yourself, in other words, have you ever said “My god would never ________”, you fill in the blank.   Do you make for yourself a god to suite your own agenda?   We are warned over and over again in the New Testament to flee from idols, so we’re susceptible to it.
3. You shall not use the Lord’s Name in vain:  How ‘bout the movies you watch, the tv shows, the internet sites, the video games?   Are you ok with blasphemy.
4. Honor the Sabbath:  We’re Christians, so we are not under a Sabbath law, but in principle, do you devote one day in seven for rest and worship of the LORD.  Do you forsake the assembling together of the saints as is the custom of some?
5. Honor your parents: Do you trash talk your parent?   Do you cherish them and take care of them?   Also, this parent-child relationship goes both ways; Do you show patience to your kids?   This was where I failed big time.  Do you train your kids up in the LORD?   Do you read the Bible to your kids?
6. Don’t murder: now I hope none of you have literally murdered, but Jesus raised the bar on this one.  He said if you even so much as call someone an idiot, or a fool, or a moron, you’re in danger of the judgement of hellfire for being a murder.  So do you gossip, or backbite?   Do you have outbursts of anger?  Jesus said if you are angry with your brother without cause, you are guilty as a murderer-at-heart.
7. The seventh commandment is don’t commit adultery:   Men; do you look with lust?   Men, do you gaze upon young ladies?  Job made a covenant with his eyes that he wouldn’t do that.   Do you look at porn?  Women do you watch some of this trashy reality TV or read steamy novels?
8. Don’t steal: Do you steal from your employer, your neighbor, the IRS, the internet?
9. Don’t lie: Are you always truthful, even when it hurts?
10. Don’t covet: Do you strongly desire other people's stuff? Do you put more time and money into your hobbies, than your relationship with God?   In other words, do you care to see God’s will be done on earth?   Do you desire to see His Kingdom grow here on earth, by telling others about Him? When you pray, do you pray more than just gimme, gimme, gimme prayers? Do you place your will over God's?

These days are evil.   These are dark times, but do you redeem the time for His glory?

Evangelist

What's my reason for investing time, and effort to bring the Gospel message to people? Why do I evangelize?
1. Mainly  gratitude to God for what He's has done for me.   I am so thankful that God saw fit to reach down and save me, the wretched sinner that I am.
2. Simply to be obedient to God's calling and direction on my life.   Although every Christian has the same Great Commission we're all obliged to, not everyone is called to go out and intentionally, purposefully reach out to strangers on the street.   I understand that.

What's my motivation for evangelizing?   What drives me to go outdoors in the sun, sometimes the rain, even snow to bring the Gospel message to people?
- The ultimate statistic.

How do I evangelize?
I try and use every tool, method and opportunity at my disposal.   I've read books, I've gone through Evangelism Explosion “, I've gone through “The Way of the Master” series of courses.
1. Sometimes i witness one-to-one with a coworker at lunch.
2. Sometimes I use Gospel tracts to try to break the ice and get in a conversation.
3. Sometimes I use friendship evangelism, and mow my neighbor's yard, just so I can give him a Gospel tract when I finish.
4. Sometimes I make up a bunch of sack lunches and put in a Pocket Testament Gospel of John, and hand them out to homeless people.
5. Sometimes I "Go, stand and speak to people all the words of this life." as it says in Acts 5:20 .  Sometimes I "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up my voice like a trumpet, and show the people their transgression.", as it says in Isaiah 58:1.
6.  Almost always, I try to go with a partner.   Like they said in Top Gun, "never, never leave your wingman".
7. And always, always, always I use the Law of God (the Ten Commandments) like a spotlight, to expose people's sin to them.   Then I bring in the Gospel, the good news of the grace of God, reconciliation to God through the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.   As far as using the ten commandments in evangelism, Jesus used an interesting metaphor in Luke 9:62 " He said, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and then looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God"   Those Ten Commandments are also kind of like a plow; they break the hard heart, so Jesus can come in and heal the broken heart.

Who do I target for evangelizing?
-  Just everyone.
Interestingly, churched kids can be fertile soil.   They don't mind talking about spiritual things while they're smoking whatever they smoke down on the green-belt trail just behind my house.

God bless...

Loverboy and Survivor

Loverboy and Survivor concert at Xfinity arena Everett, on Friday September 22nd, 2017.

The 80's called and they want their music back.

It is interesting how people jump to conclusions about what I'm preaching without even hearing what I've said.   I had a slightly drunk gal yell at me, "you are not going to judge me about the music I listen to."

I had Joel J. with me.

It was a great night.  I had a conversation with Eric and Adelinda.   As well, with Taya.

Here's what I preached...

Loverboy fans, Survivor fans.  Hi friends, can I call you friends?   I'm your friend.   We're neighbors, and Jesus said for me to love my neighbor, so I'm here to do just that.  I'd like to share the Gospel with you.   That word 'Gospel' is a bible word that means "good news".  It's good news about how to survive death.   Yeah, that's what I said, it's the good news about how to live after you die.

Jesus own words, He said, "I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die, do you believe this?"

I mean it.  But it is a sad fact that we will all die someday.  Ten out of ten people die.  One hundred percent of the human race will experience death sometime during their life. We all have an expiration date.   We don't know the day of our death, but we will all die.

Why do we die?  The bible says the reason we die is because of sin.  It says "the soul that sins shall surely die", and "the wages of sin is death", and Romans 5:12 say, "just as sin entered the world through one man, and death came through sin, so death has spread to all men, for all have sinned."   All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

So what is sin?  Well, the bible says in first John 3:4 that sin is transgression of God's law.  So if you've broken God's law, the Ten Commandments, you'd be a law breaker.   You'd be a criminal in God's eyes.   Now that might be a little offensive to you, me saying you're a law breaker.   Me basically calling you a criminal in God's eyes.  That probably offends you and I understand if you're offended.  It's not my intent to offend you, but I want to be straight up with you.   I must tell you the truth.

Now I presume that most of you would consider yourself to be a pretty good person.   I'm sure you are, if you compare yourself to other people.   But when you face God on judgement day you won't be compared to other people, you'll be judged based on the standard of righteousness.   You'll be compared to God Himself, and he is righteous.   He is absolutely pure, innocent, sinless, holy.   And he will execute justice.   His nature is just.

We hear the outcry for justice on our streets.   We have this sense that the bad guy should get what he deserves.  The reason we have this built-in sense of justice is because we are created in God's image.   But let's see how you feel if I put you in the bad guys shoes.   I'm going to interrogate you under the spotlight (so-to-speak) of God's law the ten commandments.   I'm going to ask you a few questions based on the ten commandments.   You don't have to answer to me (you can take the fifth), but remember God himself has seen everything you've ever done or said and even every thought that's ever gone through your head.   The Bible says the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.   And it says "everything will be laid open and bare before Him with we have to give an account."

[then I went on to go through the good person test, and present the Gospel message of how Jesus took the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross]

God bless...

Planned *hood

Don’t go wandering aimlessly through life filled with sin, take the direct path for eternal life to Jesus Christ.   He not only offers forgiveness of sins, but a new whole life for the here-and-now.   Trust and obey Him as your Lord.   Enter at the strait gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the path that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in that way.  But strait is the gate and narrow is the path that leads to life and few there are who find it.

God is the “Just Judge” of the universe.  He judges based on a standard of righteousness. That means he judges the heart.   He sees your thoughts, your motives, your intentions.   If you think earthly judges are strict, get ready to stand before the Righteous Judge, the Lord God.

The Formula for eternal life is simply to humble yourself before God, and turn to him for mercy and trust in Jesus Christ (His life as a perfect substitute for your sinful life, and His death as a perfect substitute for your death) as your savior.   The Bible says the wages of sin, is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus said I am the Way the truth and the life and no one comes to God except through Him.   There is no other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved.  His name is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus Christ, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus said, not everyone who says to me “Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, only those who do the will of my father which is in heaven.   Jesus said, “many will say to me, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and have we not cast out demons in your name, and have we not done many wonderful works in your name?” and Jesus said, “I will say to you, depart from me you worker of iniquity, I never knew you”.

Prepare the way to your hearts for the Lord make the path straight and clear.   Remove every hindrance of sin and obstacle of impurity by falling to your knees and crying to God, for mercy.   God is rich in mercy.

Once again, God’s goodness and mercy is expressed to you.   God’s kindness comes to you, by the preaching of His word.   It is God’s goodness and kindness that should lead you to repentance.   Godly sorrow over your darkened, sinful condition should lead you to repentance.   This is a repentance that'll stick. Repentance is when you turn away from your sin, and turn to God for mercy.   God stretches out His arm of salvation to you in the message of Jesus Christ.   Oh I know this isn’t somewhere you’d ordinarily come to here the message of the Gospel, but God sends a street preacher to you.

Life is valuable, even precious.   You may not think of it this way, but you put your life on the line just to come here to this location.   Just driving in your car, could mean your life.  They put seat belts in cars for a reason; accidents happen.   At any moment, the Lord could require your life, are you prepared to meet your Maker?

Hebrews 9:6 says it is appointed for man once to die, and after that comes the judgement.

Acts 17 says God commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness, by the man Christ Jesus, having furnished proof of His qualification to judge by raising Him from the dead.

Titus 3:5 It is not by works of righteousness that we have done, but is is according to His mercy that he has saved us, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of His Holy Spirit.

Romans 13:14 directs us to clothe ourselves in the righteousness of Christ.

Jesus Christ came to earth 2017 years ago as the ‘Lamb of God’.   He was the sacrificial lamb upon whom the sin of the world was laid.  He willingly gave His life as a ransom for His us.

Jesus said you must be born again.   He said unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.   That’s good news.   Why is that good news?   Well it’s good news because Jesus didn’t say, unless you’re a good person, you cannot see the kingdom of God, because if he’d of said that we would’ve all been disqualified.   There is none righteous no not one.   There’s no one who understands God, there’s no one who seeks after God.   They have all gone astray, each to his own way.  We are all unprofitable to God.   All of your mouths have become like open graves (and I’m not talking about your breath, although you might consider a tic tac.)   Just kidding.  Seriously though, you have death coming out your mouth (as if it were a grave), you strengthen the hands of sinners in their sin.   You cheer ‘em on like they’re the seahawks in the super bowl.

Back to Jesus statement, you must be born again.   The reason we must be born again, is because our first birth was a failure.  Yup, each and every one of us is stillborn spiritually.   Spiritually, each and every one of us was an abortion.  The bible says we are all initially dead in our trespasses and sins.   We’re born alive physically, but dead spiritually, that’s why we must be born again.   This concept of the new birth or second birth or being born-again is so appropriate and it is indeed such good news, because think of it this way… Think about when your mom gave birth to you.   You didn’t have anything to do with it you were just there and you were ready to come out.   Your mom did all the work.    It’s the same with being born again, God did all the work 2017 years ago by bleeding and dying on the cross and coming back to life three days later.

I want to talk for a moment about the sovereignty of God.   This means God rules and reigns over all.   He is sovereign; in other words, there’s nothing that happens outside of his will.

He has complete authority over us.  We will all answer to Him.   He makes the rules, we follow the rules (or we break the rules).  Just as in life, you break the rules there are consequences.   God will mete out justice.  There will be a judgement day.   God exercises dominion over all, and even if you think you can get away with doing your own thing, your own way, God will be just.   Justice will be served.   There will come a day when you bow the knee to him.   I pray you do that now, willingly.   Do it before it's too late.   Now is the acceptable time, today is the day of salvation.   Get right with God.  Be reconciled to God.  Submit your will to His.

I’m no threat to you.  I’m not dangerous.   When I hear you breath out these threats against me, I can only surmise that you must have been mistreated sometime in your life.   For you to speak with such vicious words to me that way, I can only deduce that you must have been spoken to harshly sometime earlier in your life.  It’s obvious you must have been abused for you to lash out so abusively.   FYI, I will not let you physically abuse me, but I’m not here to incite you or pull you into any kind of an altercation.

Hindu Temple

One of the ways I had hoped and prayed about reaching out in the name of Jesus this summer was to hit the street in the local community near my work.  There's a large Hindu population in the surrounding vicinity with a Hindu temple right here in Bothell. So I stopped by at lunchtime today.  I offered a hand of outreach and mentioned how Jesus told us to be servants of all, so if there was any way I could serve them I would.  I spoke with a gal who said come by this evening to speak with their board members.

Update: went back in the evening. Spoke to one of their priests. Extended the hand of Christian service in love and explained some examples of what that would mean tangibly.   He said you can give your name and number. I said I already did.  He explained they were in the middle of prayers and rituals in worship to Krishna. He said I could go in and observe, but I was uncomfortable doing so. I gave him a Gospel of John and left. I also gave a girl a Gospel tract as I was leaving.

God bless...

Salvation is of the LORD

Salvation is a past/present/future reality.

We are saved "by the Father" when we repent and trust in Christ.
We are sanctified "by the Holy Spirit", as we are led and filled with Him.
we are glorified to live "with Christ" in heaven.

Formula Drift

I was just handing out Gospel tracts and 1-to-1 witnessing at Formula Drift Monroe fairgrounds

I'm not sure why I go *weak* in the knees just handing someone a Gospel tract

Daniel

Met a young man named Daniel this evening while on a walk in the neighborhood. Just introduced myself and made a new friend and asked if he was a neighbor. He was just visiting. I asked if he was familiar with the Gospel, and he said he went to church with his dad sometimes, and I was able to share the Gospel with him.

God bless...

Shankar Mahadevan

Many beautifully garbed people heard the Gospel, from my heart this evening.

Most blithely ignored me, but I did hand out 150 Gospel tracts.

I preached through the World Missionary Press Gospel booklet, "How To Know God".


God bless...

Mercy Me

The Lord is gracious, patient and full of truth. He showed himself strong on our behalf Friday evening at the Xfinity arena as we preached the gospel and gave out hundreds of tracts to both the converted and the false converts.

Brother Ronnie appeared as I was preaching.

A couple of interesting things:
1. A gal associated with the band came up to me and said can you move, you're blowing the people away. I said, "I'm going to move, but not right now."
2. Later, another gal said to me, "you're going too deep with this", I answered, "by your response, I know I'm going just the right depth."

Saw Bill, Fritzi, David and Leila, as well as Jerry and Karen.

God bless...

Kingston Ferry Dock

Glory to God, I found a new place to open air preach...   At the Kingston-to-Edmonds ferry dock.   I was coming back from the calvary chapel men's retreat yesterday, I lifted up my voice to all the people waiting in their cars.  The guys in the church group all had their jaws drop when I opened up.

A bystander said "I'm outta here". Sadly it's as if he was talking about heaven.

God bless...

Silver Tips Playoff Fans Hear The Truth In Love

I was glad at one, but after I handed out a dozen or more Gospel tracts, I rejoiced at the Lord's goodness.

I had one seriously angry atheist walk by as I was preaching. He cursed me, flipped me off, and said, "you pray for me and I'll think for you." I just said God bless you man.  It was interesting how my message spoke right to that guy, The Truth in Love

Later, a young adult guy walked by while I was still preaching, and said, "turn it down, you’re too loud."   I said, I want everyone to hear. He said, "no one is Listening". I said, "you are, you're the one. You are the man God is after." He laughed, and tried to say, "no I'm not", but he saw the irony.

I received encouragement from Ken.

God bless...

The Truth in Love

Hi friends, my name is Keith and I’m a born-again christian.   I’m here to share the Gospel message with you because I care about you.  I don’t know you, but we’re neighbors, and Jesus said for me to love my neighbor, so I’m here to do just that.   This Gospel, is bible talk for “good news”.   It’s incredibly important, vital good news; it’s life and death stuff, and I’m not even exaggerating.    The Bible calls this the “the gospel of God”, “the gospel of the kingdom”, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ”, “the everlasting Gospel”, “the word of truth”.  I know many, if not most of you are already familiar with the Gospel message, but if you'd indulge me for just a few minutes, maybe something I say will shed new light on the Gospel.  Or, maybe something I say will encourage you to be more proactive in sharing the Gospel with your neighbors.  Or maybe I'll just be a spectacle to keep you occupied for a while.  In any case, I’m going to tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.   I won't pull any punches.   I’m not going to hold anything back.   I’m going to give you everything I’ve got.   If what I’m about to say sounds harsh; I’m not angry.   If it sounds like I’m angry, I apologize, I am not.   I am trying to project, so I have to lift my voice to be heard.   I’m not here to scold you, brow beat you, berate you or call you names.

Think of me like your alarm clock.   No one really likes their alarm clock, do they? In fact, there might be mornings when you’d like to heave your alarm clock against the wall.   But you don't because you rely on it, you depend on it, you want it to work, and be accurate.   So, I’m not here to abuse you or even be abrasive toward you, because I know that except for God’s direct intervention, every word I say will sound like nothing but blah, blah, blah.   Unless and until God turns on the light you won’t be able see what I’m saying.   Only God Himself can flip on that switch.  1 Corinthians 2:14 says, The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned”.  My prayer is that God would reveal Himself to you; that He would make the truth known to you that you would know the truth and the truth would set you free.

The bible says God demonstrated his love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.   It says, for by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of your own selves, it’s the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.  So our salvation is a gift from God, you can’t earn it and you can’t deserve it, but you can receive it by faith, and faith itself is a gift from God;  it comes by hearing the Word of God.  So your only responsibility is to listen.   Your only obligation is to listen, humbly.   Because God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.   Matt 11:15 Anyone who has ears to hear should listen.   That said, don't take anything I say at face value, “search the scriptures and see if what I say is true”.

What’s my reason for coming here?   Why would I want to come out here to bring this gospel message to you, when I could be home having a cup of coffee with my wife, which I’d much rather be doing.   So what do I get for coming out here?   To be blunt, nothing.   I don’t see this as any religious activity, or good deed to get brownie points with God.   I simply bring this gospel message to you to be obedient to God’s calling and direction on my life.   This task of preaching the Gospel in the open air is not for every Christian, but for me, not to do it would be disobedience.   I’m not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation, to everyone who believes, so I’m just called to be true to that message.

But what's my motivation for coming out here, what drives me to bring this gospel message to you? Well in a word, it's the ultimate statistic; That statistic that 10 out of 10 people die.   100% of the human race will experience death sometime during their life.   Death is the only sure thing for each and every one of us.    We all have a expiration date.   One person on planet earth dies every couple of seconds.   Someday, one of those seconds is going to have your name on it.   That motivates me to reach out to you, as if God Himself was reaching out to you, through me.

Each and every one of us is in a line.   We’re all in line, headed single file toward the edge of a cliff.   That precipice is called death.   I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being in that line.   I love life.   I have a will to live and I know you do too.   Life is short.  Our days are numbered.   The bible says that life is like a vapor, it appears for a little while and then in vanishes away.   Everything you see around you; everything you own; it's all temporary.   It’s all passing away.   We all will face our own mortality. That should motivate you to listen intently to this Gospel message.

Here’s a weird question; it’s an important one but weird; Why do we die?  Medical science defines death as when your brain stops waving, and your heart stops beating and your lungs stop breathing.  They say we die because of accident, illness, injury, disease, or cellular degeneration due to old age.   But the short answer is, they don’t know.   The Bible gives the answer, it's because of sin.   It says the wages of sin is death.  It says, the soul that sins shall surely die.   Romans 5:12 says, Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all [have] sinned.   We’re all in that same line headed toward our demise.   All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.   NEWS FLASH: I’m no better than any of you; Oh I’m better off than some of you, because I’ve been washed, cleansed, transformed; I’ve been forgiven; I’ve been born again by God’s Spirit, but I’m no better than any of you.

Here's another question: What happens after we die?   Some people believe that when you die, you just cease to exist.  They believe after you die they bury your body in the ground and become worm bait.   They believe it's as if you’re unconscious (if you’ve ever been unconscious).  You just fade to black; you don’t see anything, hear anything, feel anything, or THINK anything.   If it’s true that we cease to exist when we die, then none of this matters; in fact nothing matters, because if you cease to exist after you die then you won’t even know you ever existed.   But that’s not what happens, and you know that’s not what happens, because the bible says God has set eternity in our hearts [Ecc 3:11]   Here’s what happens, the Bible says, when we die we’re absent from the body and present with the Lord.   The Bible says that it is appointed for man once to die, and after that comes the judgement.  The bible says we will be judged by God’s word.   We will be judged by the words in this book, the Bible, and it says God will render to every man according to his deeds.   So, how do your deeds, (your actions) line up with the words in this book?

God gave us the Ten Commandments to show us where we’ve gone wrong.

They’re like a spotlight.   The Ten Commandments highlight our failure to live up to God’s standard.   Let me show you, I’ll ask you a few of the Ten Commandments, and you can see where you stand before God.

The 9th commandment is “You shall not lie”

The 8th commandment is “You shall not steal”

The 3rd commandment is “You shall not use the Lord’s name in vain”

The 7th commandment is “You shall not commit adultery”.

If you’ve admitted to having broken any of those 4 of the Ten Commandments, then you’d be guilty as a lying thief, and a blasphemous adulterer at heart, (and that just 4 of the Ten Commandments, there’s six more where those came from)

Being guilty before a Holy and Righteous, Eternal God deserves an awful and horrible, eternal punishment, and that’s called Hell, and I don’t want that for you and God certainly doesn’t want that for you.

But listen, here’s the Good News; this is what God did for us guilty sinners so that we could avoid the punishment we justly deserve for the the sins we’ve committed.

2016 years ago, God Himself became a man in the person of Jesus Christ.

He was born of a virgin.  [Matthew 1:18, 23]

He lived a perfectly sinless life.  He never even so much as told a lie. [1 Peter 2:22]

But they took Him away on trumped up charges. [Mark 14:56]

And they mocked him, and spit on Him and ripped his back to bloody shreds. [Matthew 26:67]

They ripped out his beard [isaiah 50:6]

They punched him in the face so hard and so many times that he was literally unrecognizable as a man. [Luke 22:64, Isaiah 52:14]

They shoved a crown of thorns down on his head [John 19:2]

They made Jesus carry his own cross to the mount called Calvary, but when he fell because he was so weakened, they compelled a man named Simon from Cyrene to carry it for him. [Matthew 27:32]

They nailed his hands and feet to a wooden, Roman cross, where he bled and died a horrible death.

But you know what, Jesus was in control of this whole process.  Jesus said no man takes my life, I lay it down of my own accord.

But He didn’t die for anything he’d done, He died to take the punishment that you and I deserved, upon Himself.

It’s like this, you and I did the crime and Jesus paid our fine.   All of the justice and judgement and punishment that you and I deserved, fell upon Jesus on the cross.

One of the last things Jesus said when he was on the cross was “it is finished”, in Greek that word is “Tetelestai”, which means paid in full.   The debt that you and I owed to for our sin against God was paid for in Jesus precious, life’s blood.

After He died, they took his body down off the cross and buried him in a tomb, and rolled a huge stone over the entrance to the tomb.

But three days later, Jesus rose from the dead.   He came back to life, He took the same body again, and walked out of that tomb alive, proving that God was satisfied.

I serve a living Savior; Jesus is the risen King.

Now, you can receive forgiveness and eternal life by humbly turning to God for mercy and putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and King.

You can't save yourself, Jesus said, In Matthew 16:24 “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.”

Religion can’t save you, Jesus said in Matthew 7:22 “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

It is not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy that he has saved us, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.

Only Jesus can save you, there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Jesus said I am the Way the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except by me.

Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved.

Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out and times of refreshing would come from the presence of the Lord.

I urge you, flee from the wrath that's to come and take refuge in Jesus Christ.

I warned you. Your blood is on your own head now.

Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

Lamentations 3:22-23  It is because of the Lord's mercy that we’re not consumed, because his compassion never fails.  23 His mercy is new every morning: Great is His faithfulness.

I want to finish up with one last question: Why is it that we Christians (Especially us Christian street preachers) SEEM so bossy, nosey,  even judgey… telling everybody what to do; what to believe; how to live?  First of all, I am not here to tell you how to live your life; I have a hard enough time living my own, but I am here to point you to the One who can give you eternal life, and new life for the here-and-now (abundant life).    I do agree there are some angry, militant, mean people, who in the name of Jesus Christ receive lots of publicity, because they preach some very hateful things.   They make me want to puke.   Then there are some very passionate people, who speak the truth, but with little to no love.   I’m glad that the Gospel message is preached, but sometimes I have to chuckle about the way they preach it.    

So why is it we Christians seem like we’re so intolerant (that’s called xenophobic)? Reason number one, is because Jesus was.   He was absolutely intolerant of sin.   He had compassion on people, but hated their sin.   The second reason is because every true, born-again Christian has God the Holy Spirit residing in our life.  Because of that we’ve been sensitized to sin.     We know that sin is not just harmful to you, it is literally a death sentence for you.   So I'm not here to tell you “just stop sinning”, because even if you could, that wouldn’t take away the sins you’ve already committed.   I want you to come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior because in Him is life; not only eternal life, but a transformed/changed life where you can have victory over sin. That you might begin to love the things God loves and hate the things that God hates.    But if you die in your sin, you will not only experience death, you’ll experience God’s eternal justice, judgment, punishment in Hell.   That thought horrifies me.   I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy, let alone my neighbor; who I care about.   So if we Christians seem nosey, intolerant, bigoted or dogmatic; it’s because we care.  Some may get off track in what they say or how they say it, but for me, I want you to experience forgiveness of sins.   I want you to experience God’s goodness, and be reconciled to God.   I want you to receive mercy, not justice.   I want you to know my King, my Savior, my Friend, Jesus Christ.   The Bible says “mercy triumphs over judgement”.   Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.

Exodus 34:6,7 The Lord, The Lord God, [He is] merciful and gracious, longsuffering [patient], and abundant in goodness and truth,   7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but He will by no means clear the guilty;

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Romans 4:25 Jesus was condemned and died on the cross for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription, The Lord knows those who are his. And, every one that names the name of Christ must depart from iniquity.

John 11:25 Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”