Five Finger Death Punch

Here are some of the responses I got from my preaching:

• "Can you stop, I have a migraine?", and when I told him no, and started preaching again, he started screaming at me at the top of his lungs.  I guess he didn't really have a migraine.
• "You're god is a myth, your book is a myth"
• "You're doing it wrong, this isn't the way to reach these people, I'm going to pray for you"
• "We didn't come here to listen to *&# Sunday School stories"
• "Shut the $%* up"

Good evening Five Finger Death Punch fans… Hi friends, my name is Keith.  I’m a born again Christian and I'd like to share the Gospel message with you.    "Gospel", it's an old Bible word that means "Good News".   My goal here is to make the Good News make good sense to you.   

I did a little research on the bands playing here tonight, and I found out some really interesting information.  So I looked up the discography of Five Finger Death Punch albums and their songs. I read the lyrics of a couple of their songs and I listened to one or two of their songs on YouTube.  It's probably obvious these bands aren't my cup of tea, but believe it or not, the music I listened to when I was growing up on, back in the mid-to-late '70s was pretty in much the same genre as this; in fact some of the bands I used to listen to back then directly influenced these bands playing here tonight.  Back then we listened to music recorded on a 12 inch black vinyl disk or an 8 track tape in our car, but I have to tell you, FFDP (just like the music I listened to back then) does not have any good news. They don't have any good news to offer you.  Their vocalist is just going to scream obscenities at you and growl in that cartoonish voice that's supposed to sound like a demon who smoked 6 packs of cigarettes a day for the last thousand years.   

I found it interesting though, that even as dark and violent as this music is, (and it is dark and violent) it’s easy to find the Gospel message in it, especially since these guys are trying to mock the Bible and turn message of the Gospel backwards, upside-down.  Woe to them (the Bible says)  Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!   

I trust what the Bible says.  I believe the message of the Bible.  Now I know, so many times, down through the years people have twisted what’s written in the Bible to make it suit their own agenda, even through the Bible explicitly warns against that very thing in 2 Peter 1:20-21, where it says, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."  One of the primary objections I hear against the Bible all the time is, "well the Bible was written by men, it's been changed so many times down through the years, you can't trust it."  But that isn't how history attests to the Bible or how the Bible attests to itself; in 2nd Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly equipped for every good work." Psalm 30 says, every word from God is pure. Jesus said in John 17:17 sanctify your people in the truth; your word (oh God) is the truth.

So what I'm going to do is use the first FFDP album title and it's song titles, and kinda re-purpose them.  I'm going to use the song titles from the first FFDP album, "The Way of the Fist" as my sermon outline and I always like to start my sermons with a reminder of our mortality, and the song title "A Place to Die" gets right to the point.   So, I want you to think about your death, but it's not your friend, and it was never your intended destiny. You were created for life, not death.  But Death will have no sympathy on you; When it's your time, death will come. So it is true, we will all die.   We all have an expiration date.   Ten out of ten die.   Every day, one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty thousand people on planet earth die.   They exit time and enter eternity.   That’s about 2 people every second.   Some day, one of those seconds is going to have your name on it.  The Bible says, it’s appointed for a man once to die, and after that comes the judgement.  When you you die, you have an appointment with your Maker to give an account of your life.   The Bible says God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness.  So that’s the standard, righteousness.   It says God will judge the secrets of men’s hearts.    And he will render to every man according to his deeds.   Even every idle word that a man speaks, he will be made to give an account of on the day of Judgement; Every worthless profanity, vulgarity, obscenity and blasphemy will be brought into judgement.   So every thought, word and deed will be laid out as evidence against you on judgement day.  The reason we die is because of sin; it says, the soul that sins shall surely die, and the wages of sin is death.   

The next song title in my sermon outline uses the song title "Meet the Monster”, so I’d like you to meet the monster, and the monster is you!   Now I don't normally call names, I’m really not here to call names; but I would have you look in the mirror so-to-speak and judge yourself.   The mirror I’m going to hold up and shine in your direction is the mirror of God’s Law, the Ten Commandments...

Exodus 20:7
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.    

13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

This leaves us all guilty before a Holy and Righteous God.   Think for a moment about the song title "Can't Heal You". Your disbelief and rejection of God will not help you and "Can't Heal You" on the Day of Judgement.   You will be without excuse when you stand before your Creator to give an account of your life.   But God Himself provided the solution to our problem, herein is found the Good News, and the good news is that God Himself became a man in the person of Jesus Christ.   He was born of a virgin, and lived a perfectly sinless life.   But they took Him away on trumped up charges.   Make no mistake though, Jesus was completely in charge.   He was completely in control of the whole situation.   He willingly gave his life as a ransom for many.   He said, in John 10:18 No one takes my life from me; I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.”

Next song title I'm going to use at is "The Way of the Fist".   So they lead Jesus away to mount Calvary to be crucified, and he came to His crucifixion by "The Way of the Fist".  In Matthew 26:67 it says Then they spit in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him.  In Luke 22:63 it says that the men that held Jesus mocked him, and struck him. And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him in the face, and told him, Prophesy to us Jesus, tell us who struck you? And many other blasphemous things did they speak against him.   All this happened to Jesus to fulfill what Isaiah the prophet foretold some 700 years before Christ; Isaiah said, those who saw Jesus were astonished; because his face was so marred (disfigured) that he no longer looked like a man.   

The next song title in my outline is “The Bleeding”, which fits right in with the Gospel message, because they took Jesus and nailed Him hand-and-foot, to a wooden Roman cross, where  "The Bleeding" took place.  The Bible says, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission (or removal) of sins. There is redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Jesus bore our sins upon that tree. He who knew no sin, became sin for us so we might become the righteousness of God in him.  The handwriting of ordinances that was against us that was contrary to us have been taken out of the way, having been nailed to the cross there with Jesus.

Consider the song title, "Death Before Dishonor".   Jesus was willing to accept "Death Before Dishonor", so that He could bring life and immortality to light through the Gospel.   So, that whoever trusts in Him would not be ashamed.  Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but three days later He rose from the dead. They had buried him in a tomb and rolled a huge stone over the entrance to the tomb, but three days after his burial, Jesus took up the same body again and walked out of that tomb alive.  So unless you repent, you will perish in your sins.   Repent is an old Bible word that means “change your mind”.   You must change your mind about sin and turn away from it, and turn to God for mercy. But, if you die in your sins, without calling on Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will received a just recompense of reward for every transgression and disobedience;  Are you committed to your sin?   Are you that devoted to that sin?   Is it worth your life, even your eternity?   Come to your senses, for heaven’s sake.  Think about it; what is your sin good for; just DEATH.   Ditch your sin.  Drop it.  Let go of it.  Renounce it. Don’t make sin your pet; it’s your enemy; in fact it’s your worst enemy.   It'll turn on you and bite you.  It will be the death of you.    

The next song title “Salvation” says it all.   Jesus made the way of "Salvation" for all who would repent and trust Him, He provided not only eternal life, but new life for the here-and-now.   It says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.   It says, by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.   It says, it’s not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy has he saved us.  By the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.   Jesus said, you must be born again.   He said unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.  So what does it mean to be born again.  Well, think about when you were born.  Your mom gave birth to you and you were born alive physically, but you were born dead spiritually.  You were born alienated and estranged from God, so you needed to be born spiritually.  When you repent and trust in Christ as your savior, God Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit comes and takes residence in your heart and life. So that’s what it means to be born again; you’re born by the Spirit; born from above.    It says, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.

So, if your life is messed up; shattered to pieces; if you suffer from depression, or have suicidal thoughts, you might identify with the song title Ashes.   Maybe the song Ashes represents your life.   But I'm here to tell you Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the meek (humble); he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison doors to those that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord , and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To give you who mourn... beauty for “Ashes”, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of depression;, that the LORD would be glorified.   Humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God and he will lift you up in due time.   You must come to God low, sorry, contrite.  Recognize God is holy, holy, holy.  He’s righteous.  He’s pure, without spot or blemish.   He is light and in Him is no darkness at all.   Without Him we’re all guilty, condemned.   

Next song title is “White Knuckles”... Stop resisting God with your heels dug in and your five fingers in a death grip around your sins, with "White Knuckles".  Don’t be stiff-necked, and hard-hearted. You must surrender to God.  Unless you’re willing to deny yourself; even die to yourself and follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are none of His.   Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him" Romans 8:9.   You must accept His will for your life; submit to it.  Do you see yourself as the master of your own destiny and the captain of your own soul?   If you do, you refuse your only hope of salvation, eternal life and forgiveness of sins.

My last bullet point is the song title "The Devil's Own".   The Devil is a loser.   Make no mistake about it, Satan is a fallen angel, and he is your enemy and he has nothing new up his sleeve.   He uses the same tactics he's used since the dawn of time. He'll get you to question God's Word, and twist what God has said. We are not ignorant of Satan's evil devices, he'll play you like any con man would. He'll use the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh,  and the boastful pride of life to draw you away from God.

Zechariah 3:1-2...   Rest assured, Satan will resist you if you decide to stand for the Lord.

1 John 3:10  By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

John 8:44   Is your your father the devil?  Do you carry out his desires?  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Let me just give you a promise from the Bible.   You can take this one to the bank.   Romans 16:19-20... Satan will be crushed by God under our feet shortly.

Jesus called the devil a thief, and he says the thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that you may have life, and that more abundantly.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, friends, whatever is true, honest, fair and just, whatever is pure, lovely, and of a good report; if there’s anything of virtue, and anything praiseworthy, think on these things.

Set your minds on things above, come to Jesus Christ for life, forgiveness, mercy, and grace. Place your hope and trust in Jesus Christ instead the temporary pleasures of sin.

Planned Murderhood

Today was a very good day. The Lynnwood Planned Parenthood location was closed so I was alone but I got the message out to lots of people in cars. 

God bless...

Greenbelt Trail Activity

As I have mentioned in so many previous posts, I have a greenbelt trail behind my house that is used by high school and older kids as a place to go hang out and engage in unseemly activities.

Yesterday, I heard a car's doors slam and I saw a bunch of young men walk onto the trail.   I was in the middle of some chore (besides I'm in the middle of a gout flare up.so I can't walk very well or very far), so I decided not to go down to try to talk to the 4 young men who got out of the dark blue Toyota Highlander.   But, I decided if I heard another group show up later, I'd put on my shoes and go down there.

Well later on, I saw the same Highlander show up and a group of young men exit the vehicle and head onto the trail.   So I grabbed some tracts and went down to greet them.

They saw me coming and went to a difficult to access area, that I would have had to climb over a downed tree and tread through some brush to get to.   So I called out and a young man named James came and talked with me.   He did not have a Christian upbringing, and I was able to share the Gospel with him.  He also accepted not only a Gospel tract for himself, but he took tracts with him to give to his buddies.

Please pray for James and his buddies...

Don't Harden Your Heart Lake Stevens

Lots of conversations were had this weekend at the Lake Stevens Aqua Fest.

Calvary Chapel Lake Stevens sponsored the FGBA God Mobile booth, ("Are You Going To Heaven, Two Question Test").   I was SO impressed by my brothers and sisters from church who spent time in the booth, speaking with people.   God gets all the glory!

There are obviously, tons of details I'm leaving out; having spent over eight hours a day, for two full days out at the festival.   Out of the dozens of conversations, I only saw a couple people who displayed any kind of contrition for their sin, and one person who displayed genuine glee at hearing the Good News, but there were lots of people who heard the Gospel.

God bless...

The Lord is Astounding

Kla ha ya days were this past weekend.

I was astounded (in a good way), by what God had in store for us.

The main event so-to-speak was when a mom asked me to tell her and her little son Liam what they needed to know. At first I thought she was joking,  but she wasn't.  She gave me as much time as I needed to share the Gospel with her and Liam.  I left the onus on the mom to read the Bible and pray with her son to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

God bless...

Mill Creek Festival

Ron, Thomas and I went to the Mill Creek Festival today.   we handed out several hundred Gospel tracts between the three of us.  I preach walked the entire length of the festival. I felt the victory was that even though a festival official told me to stop preaching, I told her I  would not stop preaching, but I was going to walk out of the festival.

Then we found a spot at the outskirts of the festival and handed out tracts and preached the Gospel many times each.

Many people were encouraging but there were a few hecklers.

.

Here is my message...

Hi Friends, my name is Keith and I’d like to share the Gospel message.   The Gospel is good news, but before I get to the good news, I have a stern, but caring warning. I am absolutely terrified for your life. Your life is in serious jeopardy because of your sin. The Bible says the soul that sins shall surely die, and the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.   If you die with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will receive eternal life, paradise, the kingdom of heaven.   But, if you die without Christ, you will received a just recompense of reward for every transgression and disobedience;    Are you committed to your sin?   Are you that devoted to your sin?   Is it worth your very life, even your eternity?   Come to your senses, for heaven’s sake.  Think about; what your sin is good for; NOTHING.   Ditch it.  Get away from it.  Renounce it. Don’t make sin your pet; it’s your enemy; in fact it’s your worst enemy.   Your sin will turn on you.  It will be the death of you.  I urge you to deny yourself the pleasure of your sin… Yes, sin is pleasurable for a season, that’s what the Bible says, but what will it profit you if you have a whole lifetime of pleasure from sin, but you lose your own soul.   Do you really want to sell your eternal soul, for the pleasures of a temporary sin?   It’s not worth it.   The punishment for sin is hell and that’s forever.   I don’t want you to go there; I don’t wish that on my worst enemy, let alone my friends.   For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.   For God sent not His son into the world to condemn the world, but that that the world, through him might be saved.   I'm not here to accuse you. Where are your accusers?   Well we all do have Ten accusers standing over us, glaring at us. Shouting guilty, guilty, guilty.  They are the Ten Commandments.  They show us what we’ve done wrong; where we’ve fallen short.   Oh you may be able to say you haven’t broken all of them in deed, but the bible says whoever keeps the whole law, and yet fails in one point, is guilty of breaking all.   Here they are; listen to them:

1. You shall have no other gods before Me, says the LORD. - has God always been your utmost priority in your life?   God doesn’t want to just be on the top of your list, He wants to be number 1 on a list of 1, nothing else should even compare to your love and devotion for God.
2. You shall not make a graven image (an idol) to worship it. - you know what?  You don’t have to make an idol with your hands, it’s much easier to just make an idol up in your mind. If your God is not the God of the Bible, you've made an idol.
3. You shall not use God’s name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not lie.
10. You shall not covet (desire) your neighbor's stuff.

I’m not here to condemn you.  If I were to say, “You’re going to hell because you committed a lie, or you fornicated or a you stole or you hated or you disrespected your parents”, I’d be wrong in doing that; why?  Not because those sins don’t deserve hell, they do, but it's wrong for me to condemn you because I don’t have knowledge of whether you will repent of those sins and trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation ultimately.  I don’t know whether or not you’ll receive forgiveness.   I just don’t know your future.  Of course, if you reject Jesus and refuse the only salvation that God offers, and die in your sins, God will measure out justice.   But it's wrong for me to condemn, because I don’t have knowledge of the future.   It's also wrong to judge (in the sense of condemning) because I have no power to cast anyone into hell.  Matthew 10:28 says, “Do not fear men who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him (God) who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”  So, don't fear me, I don’t have any power to send anyone to hell, but it  isn’t even my intention that anyone end up in hell.   The Bible says God himself is patient, longsuffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.   Since God who is Holy and Righteous and Just is patient, long suffering and not willing that any should perish, shouldn’t I be also?   Flee for safety from the judgement to come.  Run for the shelter, to Jesus Christ for salvation. 

God bless

Seattle Pride

The Lord was glorious today!  Over 400 gospel tracts distributed by me and 600 by Thomas. I had to avert my eyes a LOT.  At least not during the following encounter.

I was sharing the Gospel with a self-described lesbian at Seattle pride. She wanted me to tell her she was going to hell because of her sexual orientation. I said we could take that off the table for a moment and asked her if she'd ever lied, stolen or used God's name in vain, which she admitted to all 3 and blasphemed God's Name to me to prove it. I explained she was guilty in God's eyes just like the rest of us. She still wanted me to tell her she was going tell hell (which I wouldn't), I'll let her conscience do its job.

God bless...

Graduation Day

Congratulations graduates! You may (or may not) have been given good advice in all the speeches that you listened to this afternoon, but in the interest of giving you one bit of sound advice; here's one priceless bit of advice I've found to be invaluable and indispensable in my own life.  We all need wisdom and knowledge and understanding to be able to make the right decisions in life. The Bible says The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, knowledge and understanding.  And it says all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ Jesus.  So my advice to you is Fear God. That's right, fear God, and you'll have all the wisdom, knowledge and understanding you need for life. I do want to say that graduation is a huge milestone in your life. It's a BIG STEP.  And to that point Psalm 37:23-24 says, The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord : and He delights in his way.  Though he fall, he will not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholds him with his hand. Please don’t mark this night by going out and getting drunk. One third of the total number of alcohol related traffic accidents, occur during the graduation season. Your life is so much more valuable than a graduation night drinking party.  In fact, your life is incredibly valuable, even more valuable than all the money in the world.  To that, the Bible says what would it profit a man if he were to gain the whole world yet lose his own soul or what would a man give in exchange for his soul. Sadly though, many sell their soul for much less; a moment of illegitimate sexual pleasure, selfish ambition, a petty theft, a short lived high, a graduation night drinking party.  Your life is incredibly valuable that is true, but it's also true that we will all die. So the BIG question I have to ask you is, what will be your destiny on that day when you die?   When it's time for you exit time and enter into eternity, will you enter into eternal life?  Will you inherit the kingdom of heaven or will you suffer loss and end up in a place called hell?  The Bible says it is appointed unto man once to die and then comes the judgement. In school you took lots of exams and quizzes.  You were graded based on the answers you gave to the questions. We can examine ourselves using God’s law the Ten Commandments as a pre-test and we can see how we'll do on judgement day. I'll ask you four questions based on the Ten Commandments.  You don’t have to answer out loud, and you certainly don’t have to answer to me, but answer to yourself and listen to your conscience, and you can judge for yourself how you’ll do on that day when you have to stand before God and give an account for your life.

The Ten Commandments...

The Law leaves us all guilty and condemned before God.

Romans 3:20

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in God’s sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Romans 3:23
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

How then can we receive eternal life, since no one deserves heaven?   Does everyone then go to hell?

Matt 19:26

Jesus said, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Then the Gospel is the power of God for salvation.

1 Corinthians 15:1

...the gospel ... by which you are saved, if you hold fast to it… is that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day  according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then to more than five hundred people at one time….

You must repent, for the Bible says in

Proverbs 28:13

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,  but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

As important and valuable as it is to get a college education and a career where you can support yourself and your future family, remember, you can't take any of it with you when you go.

Job 1:21

“Naked you came from your mother’s womb, and naked shall you return. The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”.

1 Timothy 6:7

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

The Bible gives some strong warnings about the whole matter of indulging in alcohol :

Isaiah 5:20-22

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink,

Proverbs 20:1

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

You can either judge yourself now and agree with God that you lack righteousness,  that you are deficient in God's eyes,  that have fallen short of God's glory

Or

You will be judged by God:

Hebrews 10:26-31 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,  but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.  Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.  How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?  For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Acts 17:30-31
God commands all men every where to repent:  Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”.

Romans 2:16
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-10
...the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:  Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; ] When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

1 Peter 4:1-6 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,  so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.  The time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.  With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you;  but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.  For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

Isaiah 55:6-7

Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Go up Baldhead

I was walking to the grocery store one morning last week. I walked by a group of high school kids on a corner waiting for the bus, and and I was thinking to myself,  I wish I had some Gospel tracts to give these kids. As I passed them, one boy called out, and said something about "bald".

I turned and said yeah, I'm bald and its a bummer,  but what are you going to do,  wear a toupee?

They laughed, and I began to preach the Gospel to them. I walked back toward them, and a gal tried to shew me away and told me to just leave. The boy who had piped up about me being bald, feigned like he was calling for the neighborhood watch because of the "strange man".

Finally the kids school bus came and I left, but I was left pondering the eternal destinies of these specific young people who were mocking and resistant to the Gospel. I feared that the dreaded bears of cynicism, unbelief and rebellion had devoured these young people, except for the one young lady I haven't mentioned yet. There was a young gal who was focused in on what I was saying and she seemed to be receptive and even responded positively while I spoke to the others. That was encouraging!

God bless...

Damen and Jake

I saw a couple of shifty characters pull up next to the side of the neighbors house, in a green Chevy pickup. I grabbed some Lincoln trillion dollar bill Gospel tracts and headed around the block, so I could come up from behind them.

But, while on the greenbelt trail, I saw a couple of teenage boys hanging out and talking. So I took the opportunity to stop and chat with them.   Their names were Damen and Jake.  Damen was a nominal Mormon and said he went to church every Sunday, but it didnt affect the way he lived or spoke (as evidenced by some vulgar language). They were both 17 years old.

I gave them Gospel tracts and asked them what they thought someone needed to do to go to heaven. "Be a good person, keep the commandments ", they said, so I was able to go through the good person test with them, and they listened and were genuinely engaged.  Then I got to share the Gospel with them and encouraged them to read their Bible.

I was very nervous at the beginning of the conversation but calmed down toward the end. By the time I walked back home, the shifty characters were gone.

Please pray for these young men.

God bless...

Chick-Fil-A

Here's the springboard I bounced off as I spoke to the tens of customers lined up at the Grand opening of Chick-fil-A in Bellevue.
Psalm 145:8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is good to all,
    and his mercy is over all that he has made.

We went to the transit center and spoke with Samuel and his friend who were two Russian Jewish young men.

1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

James 4:4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.

Matt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Luke 9:23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

Romans 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Pro Bull Riding - Key Arena

There was a big crew on hand to share the Gospel with banners, tracts and megaphones.

Lots of good conversations were had, but the standout out moment was when man in black hat and wife refused a tract. I said, "trust in Jesus as your savior", as they passed by. I heard the man say something under his breath. As they went further, I could see he had Jack Daniels embroidered on the back of his jacket. I said "Jack Daniels wont save you."  He turned around,  gritted his teeth and came back toward me, as I cowered and put up my hands. He pointed his finger at and said something I dont remember,  but I couldn't quote if I did.

Here's my message.

Hi Friends, my name is Keith and I’m a born again Christian.  I’d like to share the Gospel message with you this evening while you wait.  

First, I'd like to throw out a few rodeo trivia questions, to warm things up.   About how much, do you think a bull in this competition weighs?  Anyone know the average weight of a bull in this competition?   A Pro Bull Riding bull can weigh anywhere from 1,600 all the way up to 2,200 pounds.   

Next question: when a cowboy throws his leg over one of those bulls and sinches one hand into the bull rope, how long does he want to stay on that bull?    The rider must stay on the bull for 8 seconds.   

Last question: What does the bull want to do to the cowboy?   He wants to buck the rider off his back and stomp that cowboy into the ground.   

Now I’d like to ask you one question just for you to consider.  I just want you to think about this question; you don’t have to answer.  How much control does a Pro Bull Rider have over one of those bulls?   The answer, obviously is NONE.   The cowboy can say WOE, all day long, but that isn’t going to stop the bull from bucking until it’s good and finished; in fact, the bull could still be bucking long after the cowboy has dismounted.   And the cowboy can tug the rope and pull to the in  any direction as hard as he wants, but that bull is going to go wherever he wants; you cannot steer a steer.   The bull is bigger and stronger than the cowboy; and the cowboy can try his best to control the bull, but that bull is going to go wherever he wants and the cowboy is just going along for the ride.  Think about that.   Keep that picture in your mind.   Even in your and my lives there are some things that are just outside of our control.  Now I want to talk to you about something. This is a really heavy subject.  It’s a very serious topic.  It’s something that we probably rarely think about, but it’s inevitable for each and every one of us. It's a sure thing for all us, yet very few of us plan for it; but we need to be ready for it.   I’m talking about death. The Bible says we all have one appointment with death.   You won’t die multiple times.   Talk about cruel, that would be cruel.   To live multiple lives and have to die multiple deaths.   We all will experience death once, and then after that we have an appointment with Almighty God.   You will be made to give an account of your life.  Everything will be laid open and bare before God.   He see’s every moment of your life, even things done in darkness; even things you thought were hidden from God, He sees as though they were done is the light of day.

It’s my sincere prayer and hope that you will be sensitive to the conviction of God the Holy Spirit.   Jesus said, in John 16:8 that when He [the Holy Spirit] comes, He will convict the world of sin, righteousness and the judgement to come. 9 Of sin, because they don’t believe on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and you will no longer see me; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. Jesus is coming on strong here.   He says the world will be convicted of sin, because they don’t believe Me.  We see that in large part today.   The sin of unbelief.  The Bible says in proverbs 30:5, every word of God is pure and He is a shield to those who trust in Him.   How can you say you trust God, if you don’t believe His word is pure?  The Holy Spirit uses the words in the Bible to bring conviction.   Nobody enjoys conviction; a sense of guilt, shame.  Romans 2:5 But because of the hardness of your remorseless heart you are storing up God's wrath that will come in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; unbelief is a sin, but it never comes alone.  The sin of unbelief never sits all by itself.  It always comes with close companion sins.   Think about it.   Let me ask you this, would you consider yourself to be a good person.   Let’s check and see if you are.   Lying is a sin.   Have you ever told a lie?   You’d be guilty as a liar.   Stealing is a sin.   Have you ever taken anything that didn’t belong to you?   You might say, well that was a long time ago, and I never took anything big.   But you have to recognize that time doesn’t forgive sin, and everything we’ve ever done was in the past, so just because your sin isn’t fresh in your mind, doesn’t mean it has been done away with.   The 3rd commandment is don’t use God’s name in vain.   Have you ever said OMG or GD or used the name of my Lord Jesus Christ irreverently or disrespectfully?   If you have, you’d be guilt as a blasphemer.   Lastly, the 7th commandment is don’t commit adultery.   You know, cheat on your spouse.   But, according to Jesus, you don’t even have to be married to be guilty of that one.   Jesus said, “you have heard it said by them of old, you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that whoever looks at another person to lust after them, has committed adultery already with that person, in their heart.  Because God sees the heart.   Jeremiah 19:7 says, “the heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?”   Don’t trust your heart, trust the Word of God, the Bible.

Sparta Combat League

It was pretty chilly, but the Word of God was shouted out (even screamed) this evening.  Every outing is a learning, growing, worshipful experience.  I made a few connections, even got a fist bump tonight.  I saw Monty and her husband from Calvary.

My plan (which I stuck to, although I wavered for a moment),  was to read through the book of Ephesians.  Then I read through over a hundred Gospel related or convicting verses on my memorization list. Near the end of my preaching directly from God's Word, a drunk guy came up and stood in front of me. So I paused and asked him how I could help him. He said give me your email address. So I thought about it and I felt the Lord lead me to give it to him. While he was typing, I thought I'd never receive an email from him because he was too drunk to type accurately. But sure enough, I got an email from him; here is the exchange:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hey ,

It was good to speak with you last night. 

I encourage you to commit your life to Jesus Christ as your Lord (boss) and savior (from sin).

I urge you to read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.

Here's what we're studying  in church right now:

1 Thesalonians 1:9-10

 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

God bless...

Keith

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Amen, thanks Keith.  It was great to meet you too.  I know I have been living luke warm for far too long and I want to return to my Lord and Savior.  Time to be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

God bless...

R.Kelly

Hi friends, my name is Keith. I'm a born-again Christian. I’m here to bring the Gospel message to you this evening, while you wait for the doors to open? Consider these Bible verses; Psalm 32:1-2 Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.  I've been blessed that way. I've had my transgressions forgiven and my sins covered. Everything that the Lord had against me has been washed away.

But does that verse describe you? Can you say, without question, your transgressions have been forgiven and your sins covered? I've got some good news for you. I'm here to tell you that you can be truly blessed in that way. You can have your transgressions forgiven and your sins covered.

Now I know, there are preachers who say God wants to bless you with health and wealth. Sadly, there are a couple of things wrong with that. First, the Bible makes no across the board guarantees (no 100% promises) that everyone would be blessed with health and wealth, because those things are temporary. God is eternal and He’s concerned about eternal things for you. Secondly, people who say that kinda thing, portray God as if he's some kind of a genie. Like God is our divine butler, just waiting around to fulfill our every wish. If you've heard God has a wonderful plan for your life and He wants fill your life with love, joy, peace and lasting happiness; you've only been given part of the story; they're putting the cart, before the horse. The Bible says "riches are of no profit on the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. In other words, your health and wealth is not going to matter one bit on Judgement Day. But, here's one thing I know for sure that God wants for you; 1 Timothy 2:4 says, God desires for all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. So, I can say for certain that God wants you to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

But you might say, how do you know I'm not saved? I don't. I don't claim to know whether or not you're saved or anything about your life. I'm certainly not here to tell you how to run your life, but I am here to point you to the one who will give you eternal life, not only that but new life for the here and now. I have to ask you, if you're someone who says you believe in God, or you go to church, I have to ask you: what are you doing at this concert? As your neighbor, I have to tell you the truth in love; either you've been deceived or you're deceiving yourself. All I had to do was open up my web browser and type in R. Kelly, and twenty-two words into the first review I read about his show, the author used the word, "salacious". Do you know what salacious means? It means pornographic, sexually explicit? I looked at the names of his albums and a few of his songs; I didn’t even have to look at the lyrics and I got a pretty good idea of what this guy is all about. Yes, I found out he's an R&B artist, and I found out he just celebrated his 48th birthday, but I didn’t read the article about his birthday celebration, because of the unseemly activities they described in the headline. But believe me, I can understand the attraction. 30 plus years ago, the music I listened to would have been considered the R.Kelly of its day.   The stuff I was involved with, back in the day, was no different than R.Kelly.

All that to say, don't be fooled. Don't be deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap. If you sow to the flesh, you will of the flesh reap corruption. But if you sow to the Spirit, you will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. In other words, whatever you invest into your life, that's what your life will produce. If you invest in fleshly, earthly, sensual things, your life will produce corruption (death). The Bible says, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I know, I know… All the time I hear people say, “don’t judge me”, "judge not lest you be judged". That's right, I agree with that. That’s Matthew chapter 7. Believe me, I don't think more highly of myself than any of you. I'm no better than you. In fact, I've probably committed far worse sins than most of you. But I'm here to call your conscience to the witness stand so you can judge yourself. Would your conscience testify for or against you? If you feel judged by anything I say, that's actually a good thing. It means your conscience is alive and well.  It hasn’t been seared like a steak on a hot iron, beyond all repair. So, let me ask you a few questions based on the Ten Commandments. You don’t have to answer to me but answer to yourself and listen to your conscience. The 9th commandment is you shall not lie. Have you ever told lie? If you have you’d be guilty as a liar. The 8th commandment is you shall not steal. Have you ever taken anything that didn’t belong to you? If you have, you’d be guilty as a thief. The 3rd commandment is don’t use God’s name in vain. Have you ever said OMG, GD or used the name of my Lord Jesus Christ irreverently or disrespectfully? If you have, you’d be guilty as a blasphemer.  Lastly, the 7th commandment is you shall not commit adultery. We know what adultery is, but Jesus raised the bar. He said if you’ve even looked at someone who wasn’t your husband or wife, to lust after them, that you’d be guilty of adultery with that person, in your heart; because God sees our hearts. If you admitted to having broken these 4 of the Ten Commandments, you'd be guilty as a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart. Because you'd be guilty of crimes and offences against a holy and righteous, eternal God, the punishment is an awful and horrible eternal punishment. That's called Hell and I don't want that for you and God certainly doesn't want that for you.

Listen, here’s the Good News.  This is what God did for us so we wouldn't have to suffer the punishment for our sin. When I realized that the infinite, eternal God stepped into time, and became a man in Jesus; that He lived a perfectly sinless life, he was completely innocent and he willingly gave his life on that cross for my sins, it completely broke me. I acknowledged my sin, I admitted I was wrong. I turned away from my sin and turned to God for mercy. Thats what repentance is. Then I put my faith and trust in Jesus; His life, death, burial and resurrection from the dead for the removal and cleansing of my sins.  

What great things the Lord Jesus has done for us.  Here's are some of the things the Bible says that Jesus did for us, “He who knew no sin, became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.  God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.  Jesus suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit.” It says that everything that God had against us, the ordinances that we had broken that were contrary to us, have been taken out of the way, having been nailed to the cross. It says that God loved the world in this way that he gave His one and only Son that whoever puts faith in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

I urge you to repent; that’s to change your mind; turn from sin to God for mercy before it’s too late.  Its appointed unto man once to die, and then comes the judgement. The Bible says "prepare to meet your God". You make preparations for your education, your career, your retirement, you make preparations for your vacation and your Saturday evening entertainment. All those things are temporary. Think about your soul; the very life within you. Think about eternity, that's permanent. This life is short. The Bible says this life is short; it puts it this way, it says "life is a vapor, it appears for a little while and vanishes away." We may not know how or when, but we will all die. 10 out of 10 die. Gravity will have the final say against us all. The Bible says we brought nothing with us into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; it says whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  Isaiah 55:6 says, “Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near”.  Now is the acceptable time, today is the day of salvation.

When you trust Jesus as your Savior, you will not only receive the gift of eternal life, but you will receive new life for the here and now.  You will be born again. God Himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit will take up residence in your life, and that’s what it means to be born again.  God will remove your cold, dead, heart of stone, and replace it with a living, tender heart of flesh, that beats to the rhythm of God’s heart.  You will begin to love the things that God loves and hate the things that God hates. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things have passed away and behold, all things have become new.”

You can't do anything to save yourself.  Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For its by grace you're saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”  and Titus 3:5 says, 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". You can't offer good works or charitable deeds to God to try to earn God's favor or merit heaven. If you try that, it will be like trying to bribe the just judge of the universe to turn a blind eye to your sins. The Bible says the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Be sure, your sin will find you out. There is no other way to receive eternal life. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Jesus said "enter by the strait gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the path that leads to destruction and many there be which go in thereat , but strait is the gate and narrow is the path that leads to life and few there be that find it . Jesus said I am the Way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by Me.

Count the cost though, Count the cost; although salvation is free to you and me, it was extremely costly to God. It cost Him the life of His own dear Son. So, God does not want to just be on your checklist.  He doesn't even want to be on the top of your list; God wants to be number one on a list of one; nothing else should even compare. So, Jesus said in Luke 9:23-26, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life shall lose it: (if you try to hold on for dear life, to this life, you'll lose it) but whoever loses his life for my sake, will save it. For what would it profit a man, if he were to gain the whole world, but lose his own soul? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.

Titus 2:11-12 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 this present world; In fact, the Lord would take it to the extreme, when he says, “Put to death therefore what is earthly [fleshly, sensual] in you: all sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry”, in Colossians 3:5

Jesus goes so far as to say, in Matthew 5:27-30 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose an eye than to be thrown into hell with both eyes. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose a hand than to be thrown into hell with both hands.  That’s how serious sin is.  It will be the death of you.

Jesus said, “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 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. Jesus said, “But I will say to you, depart from me, you worker of iniquity, I never knew you.” Because just believing in God is not good enough. You must trust Him, that means rely upon Him, depend on Him, follow Him, as your savior. The Bible says even the demons believe in God, and they tremble, but that doesn't save them.

Here’s the most difficult thing you'll ever have to do.  This is the truth according to Jesus, from Matthew 18:3-4 Jesus said, “Unless you’re converted, and become as a little child, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whoever therefore humbles himself as a little child, is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” You must come to God on His terms. The Bible says God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. So humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and he will lift you up in due time. I urge you to repent and be converted, that your sins would be blotted out and times of refreshing would come from the presence of the Lord.

Psalms 40:4. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, or go astray after a lie!