For Whom the Bell Tolls

This morning, Thomas and I went to the Everett train station, and handed out Gospel tracts and spoke the Gospel message to many commuters.   In every encounter, and every time we proclaimed the Gospel message, God was glorified and we were blessed.   It was humorous that almost every time I began to speak, a train arrived or departed, with bells clanging and brakes squealing.

We had the privilege of proclaiming the Gospel message about four or five times each.

Thomas had the opportunity to share with 'Destiny', who was a believing lesbian.   She recognized it was wrong for a girl to be with a girl, but she wasn't willing to repent and trust Christ (at least not yet).

After the train station, we went to the Health Center on Broadway where so many mentally and emotionally ill people wait outside before they get in to get their 'meds'.   We gave out Gospel tracts and proclaimed and message of freedom and healing through Jesus Christ.   Only one guy got upset; the rest seemed pleased to hear the Gospel message.

Thank you LORD for your enduring mercy and allowing us weak vessels to shine the light of your truth in the midst of a dark and depraved generation.

God bless...

Read The Bible Its the Truth

Here we are again, on a Friday evening.   The greenbelt trail is the fishing hole outside my back fence.

First, a red Volkswagen jetta was parked down there, so I grabbed my jacket and tracts and headed down there, but before I even got there, when the occupants of the jetta saw me walking toward them, they high-tailed it out of there.

Then, I heard car doors slamming, and looked out and saw people getting out of a car and walking onto the trail.   I headed back down there, and a group of young people were standing around a taller, bigger guy [Billy] who was telling them about his business.   I came up and handed them Gospel tracts and the big guy told me how he had just found his spirituality.  He said he had read the Torah, and the Bible and the Koran and that he was getting into Eastern Religion.

I said, "I encourage you to read the Bible, its the truth." and he looked at me and just started walking away.  I asked him his name, and he kept going and said, "it doesn't matter".

I tried to engage the rest of the youth, and they kind of just shrugged and turned and walked away.

God bless...

I Lifted My Voice at the Rhianna Concert at the Key Arena

My brother Charlie (the chaplain) accompanied me to the Key Arena yesterday evening.   We arrived at the Key Arena by around 5:30 which gave us a great deal of time for working into conversations, handing out tracts and sharing the Gospel of Jesus with concert goers until the 7:30 concert start time.

When the line at the East entrance began to build we could tell it was time to step up on the box, and so I did.   I lifted my voice like a trumpet (as Isaiah 58:1 says.)   I proclaimed the Gospel, preceded by the warnings about death, the Law, Judgement and Righteousness.

Then we walked around to the West entrance where all the local radio stations had set up booths, and they had music blaring.   I asked the people from one of the radio stations if they could turn down the music for a little while so I could share the Gospel with those waiting in line, but was denied.   I asked if I might use their microphone to proclaim the Gospel but again, I was denied.   Ha ha ha, it was worth asking anyways.   So we handed Gospel tracts to those waiting in line.

Then we walked back around to the other entrance on the East side of the Key Arena, and the line had grown again, so I preached the Gospel another three or four times.

Then we handed a bunch more Gospel tracts out and some Gideon New Testaments and some Pocket Testament League Gospels of John.

I had the privilege of engaging several atheists in conversation, and showed them that they were suppressing the truth in unrighteousness because creation testifies of a Creator.   I gave them "Proof That God Exists" Gospel tracts, of which I ended up passing out a full pack of 100.

Praise the Lord for His awesome goodness and kindness and patience.

God bless...

A Long Knife and a Sword

Almost concurrently with the weather warming up, kids begin pulling up and parking at the entrance to the green-belt trail, and going on to the trail at all hours of the evening, doing all sorts of things.

Earlier, a BMW was parked there and four guys went onto the trail to do their 'thing'.   Their car doors closing woke me up, and I was hesitant to go down there and talk with them, so I waited and watched, until they returned to their car and left.

Then again a few minutes later, I heard doors slam and looked out and saw an early 80's  El Camino parked down by the trail head, so I slipped on my tennis shoes and walked down there.   Two guys and a girl were walking onto the trail as I walked up.   I called to them and they stopped the play-acting sword fight they were having.   I spoke with them for a while until they finally said we have to go.   I had the chance to talk to them about eternity and the solution to their sin, although they said they didn't believe in God.

God bless...

Multicultural Night at Highland Christian School

I spent the evening with the Indian Christian Fellowship folks, who had a table set up at the multicultural night at Highland Christian school.

I engaged the kids in coloring, while Richard shared the Gospel with parent after parent.   I learned much tonight on how to communicate the Gospel.




I got to share the Gospel with some of the kids and one adult Indian woman.   I was so pleased to offer and have her accept a Bible.   It's all about Jesus, from cover to cover.

God bless...

A Gray Day For the Gospel

I heard car doors slam outside my back fence. I looked out the back window and peered through the fence slats and saw a silver Ford Ranger and a couple of guys heading onto the green-belt trail.   I went and put on my jacket, grabbed a couple tracts and put on a warm beanie.   I walked out the door, and down to the trail, after having asked the LORD for protection and guidance, and more protection.

I walked onto the trail, and the two guys saw me and started walking the other direction.   They stopped halfway onto the trail, and I walked up to them and gave them the Gospel tracts.   They asked what they were, and I had the opportunity to explain what the word 'Gospel' meant.   Neither of them had much of a Christian upbringing.   I asked them their names, but had a hard time really understanding what they said.

They patiently listened to me as I shared the Gospel with them.   I chattered along and they smirked and rolled their eyes, and I warned them of the seriousness of life, and death and judgement.   I explained repentance and faith, and that God had become a man in Jesus Christ, who died for their sins and rose again from the dead.   As I was speaking with them, another young man, dressed similarly to these two walked by on the trail, which made me think maybe I had interrupted a liaison.

I asked them if they had any questions or objections but they just said, "its a lot to think about".   I asked for their names again, and they said, Carson and Nate.

Then I asked them if I could pray for them, which they consented.

After I prayed, I thanked them for letting me preach at them, and shook their hands and left.

God bless...

The Gospel Goes to Maroon 5 Goers

This evening we had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with (maybe) several hundred Maroon 5 concert goers at the Key Arena.

[I was reminded today (3/24/2013) of another funny thing that happened while we were walking toward the Key Arena.   We were walking along and I smelled marijuana smoke.   I said to Thomas, "someone around here is smoking some hoochijuana."  And the guy right in front of us turned around and said yeah, you guys want some.   No, we responded, but here's a Gospel tract. And he accepted a Gospel tract, and we explained very quickly what it meant.]

God overcame our fear with compassion for the lost.   We stood up and spoke as people lined up and went into the concert.

We gave out hundreds of Gospel tracts, and our presentation of the Gospel became very short and concise as the night wore on.

Praise God for His mercy, compassion and love for the lost, and praise God that he would use a foolish method such as preaching, to share the Gospel with people.

God bless...

God's Favor

Yesterday was a fun day in the LORD.   I went with the Calvary Everett Street Team, and we evangelized on the streets of Everett.   We had some really wonderful encounters.

I spoke with a Catholic Apologist... yes, that's what I said, a Catholic Apologist.   He was a young (college aged) man, who although he commended us for our work, definitely differed from us on some doctrines, like "Salvation by grace through faith".   It was a good conversation, reasoning with Andrew.

Second, I spoke with Zach, who was a soccer playing, high school aged young man.   He said he had no Christian upbringing or background.   He listened to everything I shared with him.

We found a new fishing hole.   The Village Theater in Everett WA.   We handed out tracts to the busloads of people as they were entering into the theater.   Then we called and found out when intermission would be, so we could preach the Gospel to those show-goers who would come outside during intermission.  As we waited for intermission, an Everett Police Officer came by on his bicycle.   We asked him where we would be permitted to preach the Gospel, and he explained we were on public property, so we could preach anywhere.  We just needed to be careful not to offend anyone (that's hard to do, since the Gospel message is offensive, in and of itself).   Well, when the time for intermission came, a few people came outside (the hard-core smokers), but the clouds got blacker and blacker and just as we began to preach the Gospel, it started pouring.   It was kind of humorous as we preached, we got soaking wet.   It was a sweet time preaching the Gospel in the rain though.

Then today, we repeated, and Whitney and the kids got involved in handing out tracts.  Wow, what sweet children!

Lastly, we went over to the Comcast Arena where a professional Lacrosse game was going on.   We preached the message of  'The Cross'.

God bless...

Sewing The Good Seed at The Roller Derby

We spent this afternoon planting the seed of the Gospel into peoples hearts as they were going to the Comcast Arena in Everett to be spectators at Roller Derby.

We had a team of eight guys who assembled to take the Gospel to the people of Everett.

It was such a pleasure seeing Dennis and Nick break the sound barrier for the first time.

We handed out tons of tracts and many one-on-one conversations were spawned from the open-air proclamation of the Gospel.

It was a very cold day, and crowd size was a little less than expected, but it was a powerful day in the Holy Spirit.   God gave us the privilege of sharing the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ to probably a couple hundred people.   One young man got in my face as I was preaching, and started saying some vile things, so I preached around him.  Pastor Billy stepped up and engaged the man, and when the smoke-screen came down, the man listened to what Pastor Bill had to say.   I had one woman come up and thank me for preaching the Gospel.

May the Lord cause His seed to sprout in the hearts of those who heard the Gospel message this afternoon.

Here is the message I shared:

Good afternoon, my name is Keith and I’m a born-again christian, and I’d like to share a few thoughts with you, so if I could have your attention for a few moments.
Here are a few things to think about...
You could fill every night with good entertainment. And attend professional sporting events every weekend. You could go on fun vacations every summer. And have the most rewarding career and make tons of money. You could have a lovely family and spend quality time with them. All these things are really good, enjoyable, fun, rewarding, lovely things. And all these things were given to you.   They were all gifts to you from God. The Bible says, “Every good and perfect Gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of changing.”

But sadly, someday, everything you have will be taken from you.   Everything we have or do is temporary.   Everything was given to us with a limited time offer. Death will separate us from these things. The heart stops, the lungs quit, the brain ceases to function, And the hands will release whatever they’re holding onto. So what is more important to you, The gift, that is temporary, Or the Giver who is eternal?

At some point we all need to face our own mortality.   We’re all going to die.  
We don’t like to think about death, but as painful as the thought of it is, we must. The split second after we die we will be immediately in the presence of God. We all have an appointment with death, and after that comes the judgement. We’re all going stand before God and give an account of our lives. Everything will be laid open and bare before Him with whom we have to give an account. God knows everything we have ever done, said or even thought.

The reason we die is because of sin. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death...”, and “The soul that sins shall surely die”. It is our sin that separates us from God. And we’re all in the same boat together. The Bible says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. So, if you would admit you’ve ever lied, you would be guilty as a liar. If you’ve stolen, you’d be guilty as a thief. If you’ve used God’s Name in vain, you’d be guilty as a blasphemer. And if you’ve even so much as looked lustfully at someone who isn’t your husband or wife, you’d be guilty as an adulterer at heart, according to Jesus. So when you die and stand before your Maker, you’d be guilty, just like the rest of us. If you die in your sin, it won't be good, you will suffer eternal death. You would get what you deserve, and it wouldn’t be heaven.

The Bible says, “The guilty will by no means go unpunished.” And that punishment is Hell, and I don’t want that for you and God certainly doesn’t want that for anyone. Here is the message of God’s GOODNESS! It is because of God’s goodness that he will require justice for every last sin. And, its also because of God’s goodness He bore the justice for our sins on the cross. God himself became a man in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus was born of a virgin, and  lived 33 innocent years here on planet earth. He suffered the death of the cross, where He bled and died for your sins. It’s because of God’s goodness that three days later Jesus rose from the dead. And, it is God’s goodness that leads us to repentance.   Did you know that God commands everyone, everywhere to repent, because he has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in Righteousness? Repent means to let go of your sins! If you hold onto your sins, they will be the death of you.
You will receive the judgement of God. Confess and forsake your sins.   
Agree with God about your sins; they are wrong, wicked, evil, sinful, dirty, stinky, nasty.   

Your sin problem is a serious problem. Even what we would consider the least, little sin, will result in Hell, “the lake of fire”, if you don’t repent.    So repent of going your own way. Repent of your unbelief. Repent of our selfishness, your pride, your arrogance, your gossip. Turn to Jesus as your Savior. Trust in Jesus as your Savior.   Put your faith in Jesus Christ alone as your Savior. Rely and depend upon Jesus as your Savior.

God bless...

My Conviction For Open-Air Preaching

Is open-air preaching a valid method for proclaiming the Gospel?

Objections Stated:

1. Open-air preaching is not relevant to today’s culture.

2. Open-air preaching associates the Gospel message with homeless people who put ‘God Bless’ on their signs.

3. Open-air preaching is not Biblically justified (i.e. not a New Testament practice).

4. Open-air preaching is offensive to those standing in a line (i.e. not fair to a captive audience).

Answers:

Not relevant to today’s culture?

The objection being asserted is that the mechanism of open-air preaching is out-of-date or even offensive to 21st century Americans, and therefore, open-air preaching is not a valid method of reaching the people of this culture with the Gospel message.   The following statement was made; "a better way to reach people with the Gospel message would be to ask them if they needed prayer." Then, offer to pray for them and use that as an opening for the Gospel. Or another suggestion was; "use tracts as a way to get the Gospel message out."  
My response would be; it should not be a case of either/or, but rather of both/and.   We should use all available mediums, modes and mechanisms for disseminating the Gospel message. 

At the outset, I would agree that preaching the Gospel outside the walls of the ‘church’ building, to more than one person at a time is definitely not ‘the norm’ in the culture of the 21st century United States of America.   So, although I understand the concern, I don't see the objection as holding weight, so as to invalidate open-air preaching.

• It is a scriptural truth that not all Christians are gifted or called to perform the same tasks and functions within the body of Christ (Romans 12:4).  
• In terms of relevance, (1 Corinthians 9:20-22) would seem to imply that the burden is on the preacher to make the message of the Gospel relevant to his hearers.  
• The outcome is to be left to the Lord, but the responsibility of obeying the Lord’s call is our’s: God commanded Ezekiel to “speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.” (Ezekiel 2:7)
• Preaching may not be the preferred method (culturally speaking) of proclaiming the Gospel, but it is indeed the scriptural method.  

Proclaiming the Gospel message in the open-air associates it with homeless people who put ‘God Bless’ on their signs?

You could say the same thing about the tel-evangelists on TV. Just because there may be corrupt people who would associate themselves with God, the Bible and the Gospel, should that deter us from proclaiming the truth in love?

The answer here is multifaceted:

• We, as open-air preachers must make a point of communicating to our audience that we desire nothing from them.   As it is spoken of in 2 Corinthians 11:7, we must communicate only that we only desire something for them: (eternal life and a relationship with God, through Jesus Christ.)
• We as open-air preachers must proclaim Gospel message in as lucid and coherent way as possible.  1 Peter 3:15-16 says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.”
• We must set ourselves apart from any appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22)

Not Biblically justified (i.e. not a New Testament practice)

The word 'preach' or 'preaching' occurs 141 times in 134 verses in 'The New Testament' of the King James Version of the Bible.   We can cite many examples here:

• John The Baptist (Luke 3:1-20)
• Jesus “The Sermon On The Mount” (Matthew 5-7)
• Peter (Acts 2)
• Paul (Acts 7, 17)

Offensive to those standing in a line (i.e. not fair to a captive audience)

This is a valid concern.   I can only speak for myself; when I preach to an audience I make an effort to be considerate and appreciative of their time and attention.   I do not continue my message indefinitely and as best as possible, I try to keep to the topic at hand (the Gospel).   It has never been my intention to incite or provoke my audience.   I avoid berating, belittling or browbeating my audience.  I always preach on public property and if I am informed (as I have been) that I am indeed on private property, I am quick to apologize and leave.   That being said, I feel, that opportunities to preach to a captive audience are well within my prerogative as a Christian, Biblically, socially and legally.

I would solicit your comments, questions and suggestions regarding this response to objections to open-air preaching.

Thanks and God bless...

My Neighborhood

There are some very disappointing things about my neighborhood.  I'm sure my neighborhood is like many across the state, even the nation.

People drive way too fast on my street, and use it as a cut-through.  That is very sad and scary.

All too often, kids hang out way past any decent hour.

The house behind us is empty, due to the fact that the old man that had lived there passed away almost two years ago.   Cops showed up there tonight.   This time, I wasn't the neighborhood commando who called the cops.

We have very nice drunken neighbors on the other side.

We have some more drunken neighbors across the way.

We have some pro-homosexual marriage neighbors directly across from us.

Sounds like my neighborhood is a mission field.

And so it is!

God bless...

My Shortest, Coldest Open Air

I was in Chicago for business, but I had all of Saturday to walk around the city and enjoy the sites.   It was snowing though, and 15 degrees Farenheit.

I walked past Millennium Park toward the Art Institute of Chicago and I saw a line of people waiting to get into the Art institute.   I though, Oh Lord, you have provided an audience... My heart started pounding, and my respiration sped up, and I thought to myself, I can't do this.   But I walked up near the line, that had formed from the doors of the building, down the steps and onto the sidewalk.  I stopped, and prayed, "Lord, give me something to say..."

I started out by saying, "Good morning, my name is Keith, and I'm a Christian, and I have a brief message I'd like to share with you.  That is, if I can get my mouth warmed up..."

It was so cold, and my face was so frozen, I could barely talk, but the Lord graciously helped my infirmity, and the Gospel went forth.   The people smiled at me and listened to my very brief Gospel message, based on the Mirror Analogy.

Praise God for His Grace and His Warmth!

God bless

Just To Do A Little Preaching

What would you expect from seven high school aged guys?   Guys who purportedly have been influenced by Christianity, who go to church and went to Christian school.

You would hope they had some understanding of the Bible... Some of them did.
You would hope they would be respectful... They were.   (there were a few eye rolls)
You would hope they would be born-again...  They were not.

My own 'backyard' so-to-speak, provides my fishing hole very often, and it did again tonight as a group of high school aged guys parked on our hill and were hanging out talking out in the street.

Lord, please reach the hearts of those young men.   Help them to be excited about you.  Help them to come to know you.   Help them to be excited about your Word.   Dear God, please grant them repentance and faith.

Dear God, please reach Alex's heart, and help him to put his faith in you.

God bless...

Please Pray for These

I just want to mention the names and stories of a few witnessing encounters I've had over the past couple of weeks, with the intent of soliciting prayer for these dear souls.

Malachi was at the Everett Gospel Mission last weekend.   He was a very bright-eyed young man, who was open to the Gospel message.   He had a 'Christian' upbringing, but was presently a Taoist.

Carlos (and his girlfriend) were at the Everett Train Station today.  They were very open to the Gospel.

Brian, at the Everett Train Station today.   Brian had a VERY HARSH hypocritical father who claimed to be a Christian.  Brian professed to be a Christian, and he had gone through several years in deep darkness addicted to heroin, but was sober now.  He had a job(s) working with at-risk youth at ?Lambert House?   He admitted to us that he was gay, but he was celibate.   He understood that was a problem with God, and he allowed us to pray for deliverance for him.

Jorge, is a 37 year old Catholic priest, who I had the privilege of witnessing to on the bus ride home from Seattle last weekend.   He was definitely 'catholic', as far as his doctrine, but I had the chance to speak the truth to him in love.

Nicole, was somewhat of a homeless youth we encountered and her friend, Dakota.   She was very open to the Gospel, as you will see in the video:

I have to say, in all honesty, the Lord had provided great compassion for those we have encountered.   As well, the Lord has provided wonderful, marvelous opportunities for sharing the message of the Gospel.   I pray for these dear people, that they would fall on the mercy of God, and trust Jesus Christ as their savior.   God is so gracious, and he loves these people, and the many others who have escaped my memory.

God bless...

Seahawks Final Regular Season Game 2012

It was all about Jesus today!

He so motivated me to proclaim His goodness, and His greatness, and His mercy.   Videos to come.

We were dropped off about 9:45 am at CenturyLink field.   We handed out bunches of tracts, and we proclaimed the good news of reconciliation to the Seahawk fanatics.

Then got to witness to a Catholic priest on the bus ride back to the Lynnwood transit center.

Here's the text of what I intended to preach.

Good morning), my name is Keith and I’m a Christian I’m here to bring the Gospel message to you as you enter the stadium. The Gospel is the good news of the salvation that God has provided. It's the good news of reconciliation with God; though you may be alienated from God; estranged from God, you can be made right with God. We’re here to lift up and proclaim the Name of the only true God and our Savior, the LORD Jesus Christ. We’re here to tell you about the Name of our Great God and Redeemer, The LORD Jesus Christ.   I’d like you to think about something as you enter the stadium today.  Contrary to what many might say, Christianity requires you to THINK about some things in order to come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ.  God would have you engage your mind.  Oh, that God would reveal the truth to your mind.  The greatest commandment, according to Jesus, is that you love God with all your heart, soul, MIND and strength.  So put your mind towards this concept.   Life is but a vapor. We’re here today and gone tomorrow.   Life is short, you may live 60, 70, 80 or even 90 years, but you aren't guaranteed even your next breath.  You’re heart could give out before I finish speaking. What will you do when you breathe your last breath, when you stand before your Maker to give an account of your life?   Will you try to bribe God and offer Him your good works?  Will you stand before your Creator in your own goodness?  Would you consider yourself to be a good person?  Let's see if you are.  Have you ever told a lie?   If so, that would make you a liar.   Have you ever taken anything that didn’t belong to you? If so, that would make you a thief.   But it goes so much deeper than that, have you always put God first in your life? The first commandment is you shall have no other gods before Me.   Has God always been top priority in your life, or does football and entertainment come before God?  If so, you’d be guilty of breaking the first commandment.   The second commandment is don’t create an idol for yourself. Don’t bow down and worship an idol.   If you believe in a god that’s ok with drunkenness then you’ve made an idol.   If you’re guilty of breaking any of these commandments, then you’re deserving of punishment.  Even if you think you’ve kept all the commandments, and yet offended in one point, you would be GUILTY.  The punishment for crimes against a Holy and Righteous, Eternal God is 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 anyone.   But God gives us time, he gives us grace so that we would come to him in repentance.  God is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance.   It is God’s goodness that leads us to repentance.  You need to change your thinking about God and His Holiness and His Goodness.   He must punish sin because of His goodness and justice.  The guilty will by no means go unpunished. But listen, here’s the good news (the Gospel) of what God did for us guilty sinners so that we could avoid the punishment that we deserve.
The Gospel goes here...
The Seahawks may be good... This year, but they will let you down; it’s only a matter of time.  Do you let the outcome of a football game determine your emotional well being.   Do you get pumped when they win, and depressed when they lose.  All this is temporary.   All this is fleeting, but God is faithful and true, He will never let you down, and if you put your trust in Him you’ll never be ashamed.  God is 100% trustworthy.   Don’t place your Love and affection on the world, or the things that are in the world  Place your affection on God himself.

You might say, “I believe in God”, and you think that’s good enough to make you right with God.  If you think that you’re deceived, because even the devil believes in God, and trembles.   It’s more than just believing in God, but it is repenting (changing your mind about sin and turning away from it, and turning to God for mercy.)
You might think you are safe from God’s condemnation because you’ve never murdered anyone.   You might think that guy who killed 20 little kids and 6 adults in Newtown Connecticut is a murderer, but you aren’t.   But Jesus says Whoever hates his brother is a murderer: and no murderer has eternal life.”  In fact, if you have ever even called someone an idiot or moron, you are in danger of judgement, according to Jesus, because you’d be guilty of ‘character assassination.   I’m here to warn you to flee the wrath to come.  Flee to the refuge of Jesus Christ.

What would God have you do? How does God want you to come to Him?   The Bible says, The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, God, will not despise.    It says, Humble yourself before God.   God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Check out what I’m saying; don’t just take what I’m saying at face value.   Test it by opening the Bible for yourself, to see if these things be so.  Dust off your Bible.   You probably have to find it first in the back of your closet, or under your bed, but find it, dust it off and read it for yourself.  It will change your life.  Start with the Gospel of Matthew or Mark or Luke or John.  The Bible is God’s love letter to you.  The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.   The Bible is God’s Word; It is inspired directly by God himself. Yes, men wrote it down, but the Bible is literally God breathed.   Every Word of God is pure.

God demonstrated His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

If you confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved, because with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.

You must be born again by the power of God.  Jesus said, unless you are born again, you will not see the kingdom of God.  How are you born again, you ask? When you repent and trust in Christ as your savior, God will give you a new nature with new desires.  In fact, God Himself will take up residence in your heart and life in the person of the Holy Spirit. Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out and times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

Don’t wait, don’t put it off.  There’s nothing more important than your eternal salvation.   Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die;

Jim and Mo Mo

Then I walked around the block, via the greenbelt trail.   I saw two youths ahead of me and went up and handed them Gospel tracts.

Jim explained he was an Atheist because the Bible was too hard to understand and he couldn't accept the thought of living, then dying and going to heaven or hell.  He was disgusted with religion. I agreed, religion has caused more wars, more pedophile priests and Jesus was harder on the religious folks than anyone else.   I explained that Christianity was not meant to be a religion, but a relationship with the eternal, infinite God.

I had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with them after running them through the Law.   Mo Mo had a Christian background, so she understood where I was leading them.

Then I explained the cross, and sin, righteousness and the judgement to come.   I gave Jim the 21 day challenge (dust off your Bible and read a chapter of the Gospel of John per day, and see who Jesus really is).

I pray for Jim, and Mo Mo, that they will turn to you, Lord Jesus.

God bless...

Fully Prepared for the Munchies

Tonight, I heard the sound of a car door closing, down the hill from my house, at the trail head.     I grabbed my jacket, my flashlight and my tracts and went down to meet them.  I went out to find two cars parked there. One empty, the other with four guys and one girl.   The girl was sitting in the middle of the back seat between two guys with a couple of pizzas on their laps, while the front passenger was in the middle of rolling some form of a medical cigarette or something.

The driver was reluctant to roll down his window... so I shined the flashlight in his face, which probably didn't help any, but he rolled down the window.   I gave him a Gospel tract, he asked what it was, and I asked them what they were doing, and if it was illegal.  They responded "no".  I offered the back seat passengers a tract and they refused, so I dropped it in their lap.   At that time the driver began to roll up his window and turn the key to start the car.   I said, you don't have to leave, and he said, "I think we do".   And they left.

May the Lord reach these kids that are so disillusioned by life and godless purposelessness.

hmmm....

God bless...

The Proud and the Mockers at the Leavenworth Christmas Festival

Thomas, Wayne and myself had a wonderful time handing out Gospel tracts and preaching the Gospel to hundreds of people at the Leavenworth Christmas festival yesterday.

We received great encouragement by several who listened to our Gospel preaching.   There was at least one couple though, who thought it funny to mock the Gospel presentation.

I had a long conversation with Lucas, who "doesn't not believe" in God.  I explained he was only a breath away from eternity, and he needed to get right with God.  He justified himself, and was unwilling to humble himself, and call out to God for mercy.

I'll let the video's do the speaking this time...

God bless...

The LORD's Favor on Black Friday

As anyone can tell you, "timing is everything", and "location, location location", well, the LORD has impeccable timing and places us where he wills, like pieces of a Chess set.

We started at the target in Smokey Point, but were shutdown before we started.

Then we traveled to Walmart on the Tulalip Indian reservation, where God showed us favor.   We handed out a around thousand Gospel tracts.  We got into several interesting conversations.  One with a single mother, Jesse, whom I got to witness to and pray for.   Another with Joseph, the Persian. Joseph told me I was a pagan Christian, because I celebrated Christmas, but he rejected the Bible and Jesus Christ.  I had to shut the conversation down because he was speaking against Jesus.    While we were there, the store manager came out a couple times, and police were hovering around us, but they just left us alone as we handed out candy canes and Gospel tracts.

Then we drove over to Kohls, where we made a quick pass through the line and handed out 75 Gospel tracts

Finally, we went to the Outlet Mall.  We had to park way out by the Casino, and as we walked to the mall, we engaged a store employee, Julie, who was very nice. Although she had been to Sunday school as a kid, she had no understanding of the Gospel message.   She was so gracious to converse with us during the entire walk into the mall.  Thomas had the opportunity to share the Gospel with her, and she was very receptive. She said she would consider these things and we encouraged her to read her Bible.   Inside the mall, we handed Gospel tracts out amongst a sea of humanity. We went to the food court area and stood on the bench and proclaimed the Gospel in the open Air in front of Coach, and then over by Starbucks.   It was very nerve wracking because we were addressing so many people.  As we completed our second message, the security guard came up and informed us that he appreciate the message, but we couldn't do this and had to leave. We complied.

Here is the text of my message:

Good evening.  Merry Christmas to you!  My name is Keith and I'm a Christian and I'd like to share a message with you of the true meaning of Christmas. So to do that, I'd like to read the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke.  Before I do that though, let me say, I really enjoy getting and giving Christmas presents. I love family get-togethers and all that good food.  I appreciate having a Christmas tree and decorations and Christmas lights; although I'm not such a big fan of climbing up on a ladder and putting lights on the house.   Don't get me wrong, all those things are very cool, but that's not the true meaning of Christmas. So let me read the Christmas story from the book of Luke.  One more thing though, I don't mean to burst anyone's bubble, but most assuredly Christ was not born on December 25th.  From history and clues in the text we can say that most certainly, Jesus was not born on December 25th.  That date was chosen many years later to coincide with the pagan celebration with the Winter Solstice.  So although the choice of that date makes me very uncomfortable, I am glad we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Luke 2: And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

That little excerpt from Luke chapter cut right to the chase of why there is a Christmas story.  We skipped over the angel announcing that although Mary was a virgin, she would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit. We skipped over the fact that Mary was betrothed or engaged to Joseph, and that Rome had ordered everyone to return to their hometown to register for a census, so they could be taxed.   We didn't hear about the fact that when Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem for the census, there was no room for them in the inn, so they stayed in a stable, where Jesus was born, and they laid him in a manger or a feed trough as a cradle. We just learned that Jesus was to be a savior which is Christ the Lord.   What is Jesus a savior from though? Well, simply sin and death, because the Bible says, “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”, and it says, “the wages of sin is death”. Elsewhere it says, “it is appointed unto man, once to die and after this, the Judgement.”   Lastly, it says, “God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in Righteousness.”   So we’ve all sinned, and we’re all headed for death. And after we die, we will stand before God our Maker, and give an account of our life.  And the standard by which he will judge us is Righteousness, that’s the standard Righteousness, which means God is going to judge the heart.   We can know how we’ll do on that day by looking at ourselves in the mirror (so to speak) of God’s law, the Ten Commandments, and we can see how we compare to that standard of Righteousness.  So let me ask you a few questions based on the Ten Commandments. Answer to yourself, you don’t have to answer to me, but listen to your conscience.
The Law goes here...
The Gospel goes next...

God bless...

Merry Christmas... It is Christmas, Isn't It?

I hope you had fun tonight, on this day that goes by so many names; Halloween, All Hallows Eve, Reformation Day.

Reformation Day??? You ask, well yes, it was on this day in 1517, that Martin Luther (albeit he had his theological problems), nailed his 95 theses on the church door at Wittenberg, which began the Christian reformation.

Today, October 31st also goes by the name National Evangelism Day, because kids (and adults) come to your door for candy and you can give them candy and a Gospel tract.

All the kids were very nice tonight.   We had quite a few more than I anticipated.   I ended up giving Fiber One bars to the last several kids (we care about their colon health here.)

Just to put a humorous spin on things, I donned a Santa Clause hat to answer the door tonight.   And as I would open the door I would exclaimed "Merry Christmas" to the kids.   Some were kind of confused, other just laughed and thought I was silly (which I am), other said, "it's Halloween, not Christmas."   By the time they were walking away though, almost all of the kids said Merry Christmas.

I handed out Creepy Cash Gospel tracts tonight, from www.customtractsource.com.   One large group of late teenagers came up.  They were dressed ghoulishly, as so many were tonight.   I handed each one of them a Gospel tract and a piece of candy.   When I explained they were Gospel tracts, about the Bible, one kid say, "but what if I'm an Atheist?", and I said, "Well, you need it all the more then."   He accepted the tract and said thanks.   Praise the Lord!



Here is the text of the tract,

"Are you ready to be scared? Its funny how at Halloween we delight in being frightened. Many people think its fun to be scared to death! But death itself is a very scary thought. What do you think will happen after you die? The Bible says, It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. Take this quick test to see how you'll do on Judgment Day.

Ever lied? Ever stolen? Ever used Gods name in vain? Ever looked with lust? (God considers lust the same as adultery.) If you're guilty of these, you've broken Gods moral Law, the Ten Commandments. God sees you as a liar, a thief, a blasphemer, and an adulterer at heart. The punishment for breaking His Law is death, and eternity in hell. What will you say in your defense? 

The good news is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took our punishment for us. He died on the cross to pay our penalty, then rose from the dead. The Bible says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Jesus said, "Repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15) Repentance involves agreeing that what God says is true; He won't overlook the guilty, we are all sinners, and Christ has died for our sins.  This will lead to genuine sorrow, shame and even hatred for what we have done. It will also result in a lifestyle of turning away from sin, and trusting in Jesus alone for salvation.  Repent and believe the good news today; you may not have tomorrow. Please visit www.TheGoodPersonTest.net"

God Bless...