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!

Bellevue Snowflake Gospel Invasion

Well, it turns out that amplification is not allowed in Bellevue,  but the Lord assembled a great team to proclaim the true meaning of Christmas.

Highlights include:
1. trying to hand one man a jumbo $100 Gospel tract, and him asking what's on the back? I told him its the Gospel, and he said "that's BS".
2. Handing out about 150 Gospel tracts.
3. Standing with Michael Leal as he preached the Gospel to the crowd after the parade ended.
4. Preaching the Gospel without amplification for about an hour on a busy street corner.

Historical Tidbit of Past Evangelistic Endeavors

Here are a few interesting little historical tidbits of my past evangelistic endeavors. Throughout the years, I have had the desire to witness of how Jesus changed my life.   I can’t point to a ton of fruit from my efforts, but I’ve seen a few victories over the years.

• For the first four years after I committed my life to the LORD, I spent Saturday mornings handing out Gospel tracts and resource literature to women as they went into the Family Planning Associates abortion mill in our city.   We saw more than one gal change her mind and turn around and leave, without going through with the abortion.
• One time, I made a small sign with an evangelistic Christmas Gospel message on it.   I bought a flat of sodas, some ice and some Styrofoam cups, and I set up a table with a sign saying "Free Drinks", and gave drinks to people as they were walking down my street to the Downey Christmas parade.   They would read the little Christmas message and receive the Gospel and a free drink.   My Mormon friends were some who came by and read the Gospel message and got a drink.  That was around 1985.
• I made my own tracts (because I wasn’t satisfied with the tracts of the day), and I handed them out in front of a liquor store that was next door to where I worked. That was in 1986.
• Down through the years, I’ve lead various Bible studies at work, and witnessed to my colleagues.  I’m still in touch, through e-mail, with one colleague from 1988, who I had witnessed to.   He is a Jewish Iranian man who trusted Jesus as his Savior.
• A few years later; in 1992, I again hand-wrote my own tract and made copies on brightly colored paper.  Then on my lunch hour from work, I went door-to-door in the neighborhood, and handed out the tracts.   I remember one lady wouldn't open the door, and just wagged her finger at me.   At another house, a lady wouldn't open the door at first, but when I said Gospel tract, she reached out and accepted it from me.
• (not recommended) I had a long commute to and from work every day, so I used to pick up hitchhikers to give them a ride so I could share the Gospel with them.
• I was in several carpools for work, and I would read Bible stories and witness to my carpool partners (when they were driving, of course).   A few years later, I got a call from a gal who’d been my carpool partner, telling me she’d become a Christian.

God bless...

Helmets and Headlights

Saturday night went fantastically at the recently re-branded Xfinity arena in Everett, where motorcycles were racing endurocoss. The Lord was magnified, glorified and honored. Almost three hundred Gospel tracts were distributed and around two hundred people heard the good news preached while they were waiting in line. I had several hecklers, some good and some not so good; actually any heckling is a good indicator that the message is hitting home with someone.

Here's what I said...

Hi friends, my name is Keith. I have the Gospel message for you this evening. First, by way of public service announcement, just a few statistics: Between 2001 and 2008, more than 34,000 people were killed and 1,222,000 were injured in motorcycle accidents. In 2011, over 4600 motorcyclists lost their lives in motorcycle accidents. Personally, two separate times, my wife and I were the first to happen upon the scene of very severe motorcycle accidents. So I’ve seen first hand (and I’m sure many of you have too), what results when someone’s head, arm or leg has a high-speed impact with asphalt or concrete. It’s not pretty, and it’s heart wrenching to be the person to try to help someone who’s been severely injured in that kind of an accident. All that to say, if you’re going to ride, be safe, wear the appropriate safety gear; wear a helmet. Even though a helmet might be a little uncomfortable; even though it might slightly restrict your peripheral vision; it might even mess up your hair (which isn’t such a big deal for me), wear a helmet; protect your head. But even wearing a helmet, here are a few more statistics for you to consider: Everyday, 150 to 160 thousand people on planet earth die. That’s two people every second Someday, one of those seconds will have your name on it, because 10 out of 10 people die. The mortality rate for humanity is 100% So the Bible mentions the helmet of salvation in Ephesians chapter 6. What it's saying is, salvation is to your soul, what a helmet is to your noggin. Salvation protects your life from God's wrath and justice and judgement, so you can receive mercy and grace and eternal life when your mortal flesh falls lifeless. Its in Ephesians chapter 6, where Paul, speaking to followers of Jesus Christ, says these words… “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places.. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having put on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, having your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit... That was the helmet of salvation... Another important piece of safety equipment on a motorcycle is the headlight. And.. just like the bright beam of the headlight shows you what's ahead, the Bible says God's commandment is a lamp and the law of God is a light in Proverbs 6:23. God's law (the Ten Commandments) is meant to be like a headlight in our own lives, to show where us we're going. We can examine ourselves by shining the bright spotlight of the Ten Commandments into our own life and see where we stand with God. So let me ask you, would you consider yourself to be a good person? I can't answer that question for you, but I can ask you just four questions, based on the Ten Commandments. You don’t have to answer to me, answer to yourself and listen to your conscience. The Ten Commandments The Gospel Repentance and Faith New life

Oyster Run

Anacortes Washington, Sunday, September 28, 2014

Much preaching, and handing out tracts took place, but most people valued sin and stuff more than there own soul.

It was sad to be dissuaded from preaching the Gospel and asked to leave by those in the supposed "Christian Motorcycle Association ".

Luke 12:15-21

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And [Jesus] said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

What is covetousness? Whatever it is, we ought to avoid it, Jesus says take heed, beware of covetousness. In other words, don’t just listen to what Jesus says, but act on His words. He says beware of covetousness, when you see a sign on someone's gate that says "Beware of Dog"; you heed that and stay out of there, otherwise you'll be bitten. Same thing with covetousness. It will bite you. So covetousness is a bad thing, but what is it? Well short answer is, it means desire, but it is desire gone wrong... Improper, inappropriate,  immoral, self centered, selfish. It's a desire that puts some thing, some temporary, material, worldly thing ahead what's more important, even eternal things.

16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’

this guy had a bumper crop. He had prospered. He'd done very well for himself.  He had so much he thought to himself, lets see, what are my options; I can rent a storage unit, or I can do a little remodel... That's it, I'll tear down my dinky, little, puny barn and build a bigger one.   Not just that, but he thought to himself, I'm going to retire, and drink margaritas. He was going to take it easy.

20 But God said to [the man], ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

So the day of reckoning comes for this guy, and he's not ready.

Psalm 19:7-10

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. [8] The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. [9] The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. [10] More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Psalm 119:127

Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.

Proverbs 16:16

How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!

Proverbs 16:25

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

There's a lot of chaos going on in this day and age. A lot of people say one thing, then there are others who say exactly the opposite. How can you discern what's true and what's not? 

John 17:17 Jesus said, Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. So if you know God's word, you know the truth. John 8:31-32 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; [32] And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

But, the flip side of the coin,
Jesus said in Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto 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!  2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: [12] That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. [2] But his delight is in the law of the Lord ; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. [3] And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. [4] The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. [5] Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. [6] For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 KJV

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. [14] For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

http://youtu.be/rGVoBVqiGdo

Joseph and Unnamed

Walking Stella this afternoon, along the greenbelt trail, I overheard laughter down off the trail, behind a huge screen of branches.  I decided to go back and get some Gospel tracts, to try to give to whoever it was that I had heard.

When I returned, I noticed my target audience was still sitting where I had left them, so I approached them and gave them each tracts. They asked what they were and I explained they were Gospel tracts and I asked if they knew what that meant. They had no idea, so I explained how the tracts gave the message of  how to go to heaven when you die. I ask what they thought someone needed to do to get to heaven. One young man said "don't break any sins". I asked if he had lived up to that. He said no. So I asked specifics; had he ever lied, stolen, used God's name in vain, or looked with lust (after confirming their ages, which I learned was 15).

They started to get a little squirmy at this point, but I continued to explain the solution to our sin was Jesus Christ and the consequences of our sin was death. I explained that I no longer feared death. At this point I got Joseph's name, and his unnamed friend began to chuckle.  Joseph said he was afraid to die, and I said that's good, thats your will to live and I would call that into account. I asked if what I was talking about was funny, unnamed said we just wanted to chill. I said this is my neighborhood and I have just as much right as you to be here. He tossed down the tract and started walking away.

I told the unnamed one He was free to leave, if he didnt care about his own soul, but maybe Joseph was concerned about his soul. I quoted, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his own soul.

The I told Joseph, here's the point; get a Bible, obey what you read and God will never let you down and you'll never be ashamed.

With the unnamed one still standing there, I said see, I wasn't going to take up that much of your time.  And I left.

God bless...

Cannibas Cup - Comcast Arena - 2014-09-06

We had many great conversations.

Thomas and I prayed for Nina who was having a really bad headache.   Later on, we saw her almost skipping along, smiling.   Thank you LORD for taking away her headache!

We spoke with Justin (the Jew) and his girlfriend.   He was an agnostic.  We had a very nice conversation, and he recognized we cared about his soul.   We tried, as best we could to answer his questions, but he was too in love with his sin.

We spoke with a young guy (who said he was a christian), while he was loading up a bong.   He too, recognized we cared about them, but he was unwilling to give up his idolatry of marijuana.

We spoke with several other people, young and old.

A funny encounter I had, was when I handed a young guy a tract.   He looked at it, through his bloodshot eyes, and said the lettering was too small for him to read.   He handed the tract back to me and said, "here, you read it to me."   Sweet!

Picture courtesy of myeverettnews.com

I preached the following:

Hi friends, my name is Keith.    I’m here to share some good news with you.   I’m your neighbor, I'm trying to be a good neighbor.   I was at hempfest a few weeks ago, and here I am today.    Speaking of hempfest, there was a story on the news about hempfest.   It showed a big stage with some band on stage playing music, and there was a big banner behind the stage that read, “Hate Free Zone”.    I’ve heard it said, “Don’t be a hater!”.   But let me ask you; is it ok to hate anything?   May I express my hate for anything?   For example, I would hate for someone to try to harm my wife or sons.   I hate child abusers.   Another thing I hate is disease.   Especially Cancer.   I guess I'm not the only one that hates cancer, last night almost every channel on TV was showing a telethon raising money for the fight against cancer.   I’ve had several family members die of Cancer.   Most recently, my mom died from cancer, just two months ago.   I pray that a cure is found for Cancer.

But until then, you wouldn’t try to treat cancer with a band aid would you?   No, in fact if you did, not only would a band aid not do anything to treat the cancer, it would hide it, cover it up, and it would be forgotten; all-the-while the cancer would still be growing and spreading throughout the body.

Turning the conversation to the spiritual, to use this as an illustration, Treating cancer with a bandage is about as effective as trying to get right with God by being a good person.   Or to say it another way trying to get to heaven through religion or good works is about useful as treating cancer with a bandage.   Nowhere... nowhere does Jesus say, “I have come to to start a religion”.   He did say, “I have come that you might have life, and that more abundantly”.   Jesus did say, “I have NOT come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”   Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and save the lost.   Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.   Jesus came bring a sharp sword of division between right and wrong.   Jesus came to draw a clear and crisp distinction between good and evil.

There is a true religion but its not what you think its for; its not to get you to heaven.  The Bible says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled is this, that you visit widows and orphans in their distress and to keep yourself unspotted from the world.   Man made religion stinks.   Man made religion produces pedophilic priests, wars, terrorists, abortion mill bombers.   Man made religion produces hypocritical, self-righteous, pompous money-grabbers.   Religion just covers up hate.   Religion covers up violence. Religion does nothing to solve the problem of crime and evil like fraud, rape, murder, and assault, even drug addiction...   Literally, all these things are just symptoms of a deeper problem.

The Bible says the problem is that our heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it.   You can not, and will not be saved by any religion or any religious activity or affiliation, in fact if you think you can offer any good work to God to earn His favor, it is as if you are trying to bribe the Judge of the Universe, to turn a blind eye to your sins.   You might have heard the saying “All Roads Lead To God”... In other words what they're saying is that "all religions are equally valid".   I would have to agree, all religions are equally worthless.   It is true that all roads lead to God, because everyone will eventually stand before God.   We will all be made to give an account of our lives to our Creator.   But the question is; where will you go from there?

Jesus said he would judge the living and the dead, and some would go on to everlasting life and others would go to everlasting punishment.   His judgment will be so complete that He said that every idle word (or careless word) that we speak, we will be made to give an account of on the day of judgment.   As well, the Bible says God will render to every man according to their deeds.   And it says that God will judge the secrets of men’s hearts.   So God will judge not only everything you've ever done, but every word you've ever spoken and even every thought and motive of your heart and mind.

“The Day of Judgement will not be a court trial.   The Day of Judgement will be a day of sentencing.    If you find yourself before the Judgement seat of God, without having already received a pardon for your crimes (that's what your sins are, crimes against God), you will be made to pay for your crimes.   The wrath of God already abides on you.   When you stand before God, it will not be to argue your case, it will not be to lay good works at his feet, because all those are but filthy rags and nothing but an attempt to bribe the judge of the universe.   If you try stand before God in your own “self-righteousness” you will be made to pay for your crimes against God.   That’s means Hell and its for all eternity because of your sin.”   But, If you stand before the Judgement seat of Christ clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ you will enter into the joy of heaven/paradise.   

There’s a saying that goes, “A man who represents himself as his own lawyer has a fool for a client.”

So the question is, will you choose to embrace the truth or believe a lie?   Romans 8:7 The carnal mind is at enmity with God,  for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Ten Commandments

Gospel

Repentance

Faith

New life

Caring for Orphaned Bobcats

Hi friends, my name is Keith.  I’m here to bring the Gospel message to you.  Its great news; you can have eternal life by being reconciled with God.   The Gospel is a spiritual message, so it’s my prayer that God the Holy Spirit would reveal his message to you.

I'd like to start with a news story as an illustration.

I was watching the news back in July. This story took place in a town called MORGAN HILL, California, which is about 20 miles south of San Jose. As I'm sure you know, California is experiencing some of the worst drought conditions probably in history. The drought and the fires are pushing wildlife out of their natural habitat and into contact with humans. The collision between wildlife and humans is taking a toll on the wildlife. The news story focused on the aftermath of a beautiful California bobcat (a mama bobcat) that had been shot and killed for eating a farmer’s chickens. She left behind a 10 week old cub and it wasn’t going well for the cub. The cub was found roaming a Sacramento area neighborhood emaciated and full of ticks. If that bobcat cub had been left on his own he couldn't have survived because his mother would have been bringing him food and teaching him how to hunt on his own.   But that wasn’t to be.

If it weren't for “The Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center” in Morgan Hill, California, that baby bobcat would have starved. Their unique approach to rehabilitating abandoned and injured wildlife is for volunteers at this “Rehab Center” to dress up in a bobcat costume whenever they feed or interact with the baby bobcat. That’s right, the person nurturing the baby bobcat was dressed up in cat costume herself, and the reason they give for that is to minimize human contact with the wild animal.  Since wild cats and people don’t mix, when he gets well and is released back into the wild, it would be dangerous for the baby bobcat to be too familiar with humans,.  It’s because his caretakers only have the baby bobcat’s best interests in mind, and their compassion and love for bobcats that they came up with this clever idea to disguise themselves as cats. I think it might be a little humiliating to dress up in a costume to serve a baby bobcat his breakfast.   I even remember the news anchor snickered a little, when he was reporting this story.

But the story actually represents a profound Christian truth.

In Exodus 33:20 God said to Moses, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” Why is that?   It is because God is so holy and so pure and so awesome, that He is a consuming fire to our sinful nature.   Just like bobcats and people don’t mix, we sinful humans can’t coexist with a Holy, Righteous, Glorious God.

Psalm 5:4 says For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.

So we’re faced with a dilemma.   God is good and we're not.   We can’t dwell in God’s presence because of sin.   Isaiah 59:1-2 says, “God’s arm is not short, that He cannot save, and His ear is not deaf that He cannot hear, but it is our iniquities that have separated between us and God and our sins have hid His face from us that he would not hear our prayers.   You see, without God, we cannot have eternal life, because the Bible says “In Him is life”. 

So here's the crux of what I'm saying, here's the point, just like those rehab center volunteers veiled (or hid) their humanity beneath a cat costume, God Himself covered (or clothed) his divine glory in the human ‘costume’, if you will, of the person of Jesus Christ.  John 1:14,17-18 And the Word (Jesus Christ) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth, For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son of God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Galatians 4:4,5 says… But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,  to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

When I say we're sinful, here's what I mean...

Ten Commandments 

Sin, righteousness, and the Judgement to come

The Gospel (grace and truth)

Repentance and Faith

New life

The Hempfesters Were Pretty Spunky This Year

I guess the conviction of the Holy Spirit was pretty strong on Hempfesters this year.

I got cursed and spit at and slapped several times.

The good news of the Gospel was proclaimed as people ran the gauntlet of street preachers.

1. You don’t have to experience eternal death
2. You can receive the gift of eternal life,
3. You can have heaven, but not only that, you can experience abundant, new life for the here-and-now
4. You don’t have to experience the wrath of God
5. You can become a friend of God and he can be pleased with you
6. You don’t have to be taken down by sin
7. You can be lifted up by the righteousness of Christ
8. You don’t have to be in bondage; taken captive by the enemy of your soul
9. You can receive the freedom and liberty that can only God gives
10. You don’t have to live in darkness any longer
11. You can walk in the light of life in Jesus Christ
12. You don’t have to be carried around by every wind of false teaching
13. You can be lead by the Spirit of God into all truth by God’s Word

SoundCloud audio -- (needs to be cleaned up and have gaps removed)

Cigarette Smoking "Church Guy" (and Girls)

I took the dog with me, down to the pot pit this afternoon, to deliver some Gospel tracts to kids.  As I walked up, one girl was dancing around.   When the kids noticed I was standing at the top of the entrance to the thicket, she stopped dancing.   I was a little concerned how the dog would react to me chatting with people, but she was just fine;   She entertained herself by rolling in the dirt, exploring as far as the leash would allow and playing with a stick.

I had a nice conversation with Joe, "the church guy".   I asked him what someone had to do to go to heaven.   He had the right answers and was very willing to dialog, but I sense there was "no depth of soil" at present, but I pray the LORD would change that.   He said he was part of a local church, and he was a youth group camp counselor.   He was very nice and open, but his cigarette smoking might be evidence of issues somewhere.

Jordan was not taking in the message; neither was she interested in a dialog, but she did hear the message.

And Laura, who said, "I've read the whole Bible", was not interactive other than that.  I commended the Gospel of John to her as I left.

Praise the LORD for opportunities to preach, and reach out to the lost.

God bless...

July 19 - Snohomish Kla Ha Ya Days

I got a chance to witness to several young people last weekend out of the Full Gospel Businessmens Associations Godmobile booth.

Please pray for Conner and Hailey.  They received the Gospel gladly.

It was a pleasant day to use amplification to call out to festival goers.

God bless...

July 4th, 2014 Everett parade

I spent a few hours Friday morning with Thomas, Trevor, sister Alice and Michael and his family at the Everett 4th of July parade passing out tracts, open air preaching as we marched the parade route and carrying a banner.

L

God bless...

Many Rich Have Calloused Hearts

On the evening of Friday, June 6th, 2014, a street preacher made himself heard on the streets of Bellevue.   He preached through any/all Gospel related verses from the book of Mark (verses he had highlighted in his Bible app, on his Sony Xperia Android table).   He got some good responses of thanks, and a handshake and a high-five by several Christians.   But there were several times he was mocked and heckled by naysayers and those contrary to the Gospel [Good News] of Jesus Christ.   He preached Christ crucified for our sins and risen on the third day according to the scriptures.

At one point though, quite a crowd had gathered at the stop light where he was preaching, and a 30-something couple came to the stop light.   The female began pushing the pedestrian crossing button, which audibly says "Wait", every time the button is pushed.   The male half of the couple told the female to stop doing that, but she continued.  The street preacher asked, "Why would you hinder others from being able to hear the Gospel."   For some [probably demonic] reason, the male became very irate at the preacher, and began point his finger at the preacher and walking toward the preacher saying, "you need to leave... just walk away", in a very threatening tone.

The preacher quieted down for a moment, just long enough for the female to intervene and convince the male to leave.

The preacher preached for a total of 2 hours that evening... Glory to God.

God bless...

A New Way to Age

Yesterday evening went very well in Bellevue.   The plan was to go to the Meydenbauer Center where Suzanne Sommers was going to be giving her motivational speech to people who paid $75 a plate for dinner.   The title of her speech was "A New Way to Age".

Doors were supposed to open at 5:30 pm, and we arrived just before 5:00 pm.   Parking was free (Praise the LORD!).   We setup outside the entrance to the conference center.   I had many scriptures about aging, but it turned out that not very many people were using the outside doors (there must have been internal doors, accessible from the parking structure), that people were using.

Well, the LORD had other plans for us, because we noticed there were a LOT of people at the Bellevue Transit Center waiting for buses.    We are very familiar with Transit Center commuter crowds, having preached many times at the Everett Train Station, the Lynnwood Transit Center and the Ash Way Transit Center.   So we walked up the the Bellevue Transit Center and I proceeded down the line, offering Gospel tracts to the commuters who were waiting for buses.   It was a little discouraging, because out of the some one hundred (or more) commuters, I only handed out half a dozen tracts.   So I proceeded across the street and faced the crowd, and turned on my little 5W personal amplifier and began preaching the gospel.   The commuters were very quite, many of them ignored me; some listened intently.

At the same time, my evangelism partner was preaching the Gospel to another section of the crowd.

Then we met up and began taking turns preaching to various sections of the line; as people got on buses and left, new commuters would come get in line, and we would tag-team preach to them.   I only had one (woman) grumbler try to stop me from preaching.   I told her very politely, "ma'am, this is still America" and she quieted down, and got on her phone and ignored me (I thought she might be calling the police, but no police ever showed, so maybe she hadn't).

Then I went back down to the Meydenbauer Center and read a bunch of aging related scriptures, and followed that with a bunch of Gospel related scriptures.   I got a few responses from people; most notably when I was reading about Jesus walking on water, and a lady said, "do you have a picture of that?".   I responded, "yes, it's right here in the Bible".

We did capture some video... I will upload it to my YouTube channel when I get a chance, but you can find my YouTube channel by searching for "Keith Reed Gospel" to see other videos (very poorly produced/raw video indeed).

God bless...

Resurrection Proclamation Westlake Seattle

I met with my brother Mark, and brother Paul and sisters Joanna and Nicky at Westlake center in Seattle.

It was rainy and wet.

We got some good responses and the Gospel of eternal life in Jesus Christ was proclaimed.

God bless...

Christian The Lion

Well, tonight was the night I had prayed and prepared for a long time. The Rodeo was at the Comcast Arena.

I spread the good word of the gospel.

The security guard came up to me afterward and said, are you going to be here speaking Spanish tomorrow evening. I asked what was going on tomorrow night that I needed to speak Spanish. He told me, they were going to have a Mexican Music Festival. I said, "no, I won't be able to be there". Then he said, I like to hear what you have to say. He said, we get complaints about you, but I just tell them I like to hear you.

Here's what I said...

Hi friends, my name is Keith, and I’m a born-again Christian.   I've been blessed beyond measure.   I have peace with God and a future in heaven; and I’d like to share that with you, so I hope I can have your attention for a few moments.   There's a video on YouTube that recently went viral; It caught my attention.    It's a video about a lion and two Australian travelers.   The video is from 1971, but the story began in 1969 at Harrods department store in London.  Harrods brought a real lion cub into their store as a promotional stunt.  And these two Australian men, Ace Bourke and John Rendall, a couple of bohemian filmmakers actually purchased the lion cub and took it home with them.  They named the cub Christian; Christian the lion.  They fed him and cared for him, and treated him like a pet.  But when the cub grew too big for them to adequately take care of, they made arrangements to have him shipped back to Africa, and reintroduced to the wild, in Kenya.  An entire year went by, after they had Christian shipped back to Africa and Ace and John decided to go to Kenya themselves, to try to find Christian.  Which they did and they were able to find the him, and they filmed the reunion.  The film shows Christian (now full grown) come up over a mound and catch a glimpse of Ace and John;  my fear was, that the lion would begin to stalk them, instead he recognized them and trotted up to them and jumped up on them with his paws on their shoulders and began to nuzzle them like a big old kitty cat.

Two film documentaries were made and a book was written about this whole experience back in 1971.   Now, fast forward forty three years later, the video of Christian the lion has gone viral on YouTube.  You can look it up. It's quite touching.

But think about it, those men should have been lunch for a lion.  It's natural for a lion to eat things that look like food to it. Those men would have looked like food to any lion.  They should have been an afternoon snack for a lion, but Christian wasn't just any lion, he recognized Ace and John as the two men who had raised him, and cared for him over a year before.  Instead of attacking and eating them, Christian was like an over-sized kitten the way he was affectionate toward them.  That same lion, who under normal circumstances would have eaten men, was completely safe and tame toward the two men with whom he was well acquainted.

The story of Christian the lion is a very much a Christian story.  Let me explain…  I’d like to draw a comparison between Christian the lion and God Himself.   As with any analogy, it isn't perfect, it breaks down, but I think it's valuable to illustrate a point.  I’m going to describe God, who He is and what He is like, His Character, Nature, His attributes, and I'm going to use some adjectives of God that He uses of Himself from the Bible.

1 John, chapter 4 says, “God is love”.  That doesn't sound like a lion you say, hang on, I’m not finished.  Mark 10:18 says, “God alone is good”.  That’s nice.  Keep listening.  Ephesians 2:4 says God is rich in mercy.   Isaiah 6:3 says, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, the whole earth is full of His glory.”  God is holy, which means God is pure, righteous, set apart from you and I, without sin.  This same God, who is love, good, merciful and holy, is also Sovereign.  In other words, God is boss; He is in control.  The Bible describes God as King… Just like we call the Lion, the King of the beasts, God is King of Kings.  He has the authority over our lives.  Now I know we as Americans value freedom and self-determination, I understand that; but according to the Bible, not only is God in control, but He has every right to be in control because He is the Creator of the universe.  Daniel 4:17 ...to the intent that the living may know that the most High [God] rules in the kingdom of men....    Psalm 115:3 Our God is in heaven! He does whatever he pleases!    Psalm 135:6 He does whatever he pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the ocean depths.   In fact Revelation 5:5 calls Jesus “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah”, so I think it’s fair to compare God with a lion.

Because just as by nature, a lion is not compatible with a person, so also God's nature is not compatible with our nature. The Bible says without holiness no man shall see the Lord.  The Bible says For our God is a consuming fire.  No that doesn't mean God is a blast furnace, but it does mean that people like you and I, who are sinful by nature cannot dwell in the presence of a holy God.  Just like a dry leaf cannot dwell with fire, and a person would not walk into the Lion’s cage at the zoo, we humans, in our sinful state, cannot dwell in the presence of Almighty God.  Psalm 50:21-22 ...you may have thought that God was altogether like you and I, but I’m going to correct that... Consider this, you that forget God, lest He tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.  The Bible says its a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.  So contrary to popular religious culture, God is not our good buddy in the sky… He’s not the man upstairs and he is certainly not our Divine Butler.   In fact, the Bible goes so far as saying that we are enemies with God in our minds through wicked works.   The Bible says God’s wrath and anger abides upon us because we've sinned  against Him.   He is the Holy and Righteous, Just Judge of the universe who will judge the secrets of men’s hearts?  We can know why this is true if we examine ourselves under the spotlight of God’s law the Ten Commandments.  The Bible says in Proverbs 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light…

The Commandments

The Gospel

Repentance and Faith

Just like Christian the lion accepted and loved Ace and John because he knew them, we can be safe with God if He knows us,  Acts 10:35  ...whoever fears God, and works righteousness, is accepted with him.  The only work of righteousness that you can do that will be accepted by God is put your faith in the one He sent to be the sacrifice for your sins.  The Bible says in more than one place, the just [or righteous] shall live by faith.  Ephesians 1:6  [By God’s’] grace, He has made us accepted in the beloved.  That’s Jesus Christ; if you are found in Christ, you will be accepted.   If you are left in your sins, only a fearful judgement awaits you.   Here is a grave warning, from Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus said, “Not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does the will of my Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out demons? and in your name done many wonderful works?  And then will I say to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you worker of iniquity.  John 10:14, Jesus says of Himself, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep , and I am known by my sheep”.  1 Corinthians 8:3   But if anyone loves God, that one is known by God.  2 Timothy 2:19, “Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."   Matthew 10:32-33 Jesus said, “Whoever confesses me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which is in heaven.  But whoever denies me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”  Ephesians 2:14 For he [Jesus Christ] himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

This is important too, 1 John 3:6  Whoever abides in Christ will avoid sin, but whoever lives in sin, has not seen him, and does not know Him.   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 there at, but strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be that find it.   Jesus said, I am the Way, I am the Truth and I am the Life, and no one comes to the Father, but by me.   1 John 2:3 says, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.”  So you will see changes in your life when you come to know Him and He knows you.   Ephesians 5:9 says, “For the fruit of the God’s Spirit being in your life will be goodness, righteousness and truth” 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

The New Birth

Addendum [9/1/2014]

1 Chronicles 29:11-12

Psalm 115:3

Proverbs 16:9

Job 42:2

Isaiah 46:9-10

Psalm 103:19

Proverbs 19:21

Lamentations 3:37

Ephesians 1:11-12

Ephesians 1:11

Romans 8:28

Romans 9:18-21

Psalm 135:6

Isaiah 45:7

Proverbs 21:1

Ephesians 1:4

Proverbs 16:4

Job 23:13

Ephesians 2:10

Daniel 4:35

1 Timothy 6:15

Isaiah 14:27

Ecclesiastes 7:13-14

2 Chronicles 20:6

John 6:44

Job 12:23

Job 12:13-14

Genesis 50:19-21

1 Samuel 2:6

Deuteronomy 32:39

Philippians 2:13

Jeremiah 14:22

Ezra 6:22

Acts 13:48

Lamentations 3:38

Isaiah 43:13

Isaiah 14:24

Proverbs 21:30

Proverbs 16:33

Isaiah 40:23-24

Job 12:13-16

Revelation 13:7

Philippians 1:12

Daniel 2:21

Jeremiah 27:5

Isaiah 46:11

Isaiah 10:5-19

God Stretches out His Hand to Silver Tip Fans

I went and preached outside of the Comcast Arena Everett.

I was so blessed to be encouraged by Alexander the Russian, Jewish Christian who came up and encouraged me.

I was blessed to be scorned by Jimmy, the semi-drunk on his bicycle.   He cussed and cussed and I just kept telling him I cared about him.

Lastly, I was overwhelmed by the encouragement by a mom with her two young girls.  The little girl just said, "I've never seen anything like this before."   They were so sweet.  I gave them Gospels of John and Gospel tracts.

God bless...