Working the Harvest Field

Re-directing

2011-05-30T21:46:00.000-07:00

I want to thank everyone who has visited this blog and have been following my journeys in evangelism. As you may have seen, the posts have been pretty infrequent here. In case you've been wondering why, let me clarify a few things.

1) My passion for and position on evangelism have not changed. I still seek to share the Gospel daily in a variety of ways and will continue to do so.

2) While I am passionate about evangelism, it is not my primary calling. I am a man seeking God in my own life, while also balancing family and pastoral ministry. I caught myself last summer getting too focused on evangelism. While not to the neglect of family (I hope), I do feel my pursuit of God and my pastoral ministry were taking a back seat to my evangelistic endeavors.

3) I began this site to share my journey from a shy, timid guy who could barely muster the courage to hand someone a tract to someone who has open air preached on Hollywood Blvd. and down things I never imagined I would do for the Lord. I wanted to be an encouragement to others I knew who were taking their initial baby steps into evangelism. However, I began to wrestle with why I continued this blog. Was it now to "show off" what I was doing? Was it to draw attention? I guess I needed a break from the site to examine a few things.

With all that being said, this blog will still exist, but more as an informational site for my evangelism ministry - with resources, links, upcoming events, etc. However, any future updates on events or ongoing evangelism-related posts will not be moved to my all-inclusive blog site, The Intentional Spiritual Life. I want to maintain balance in my walk with Christ. Focusing on an evangelism-only site was not proving to be helpful in this pursuit.

So, I would love your continued prayer support as I seek to be a true and faithful witness. Continue to stop back here as I will try to keep the calendar updated with upcoming events. And I hope you will follow the ongoing journey over at the new site.

May the Lord bless you!

100th Episode of On the Box

2011-05-25T20:20:00.001-07:00

A Mini-Van and Mandisa

2011-05-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

For the most part, you won't see a lot of posts here this summer. I won't get into all my reasons now. But I had to share something neat that God did this afternoon at the first Prayer Station of the summer at Lakewood Park.

I was supposed to meet up with someone, but as I arrived at the park, I quickly realized they were not going to be joining me. I was amazed at the fog coming in off the lake. If you've been to Lakewood Park, you know how obvious Lake Erie is from anywhere in the park. Not today - just a wall of fog. It was also a good 10 degrees cooler this close to the lake than it was at my house, and I didn't bring a jacket. To top it off, it took my about 15 minutes to find a spot to set up that wasn't swamp land from the onslaught of rain we have gotten over the past month. I almost got back in the car to go home. I was fighting strep throat this week and had a hundred other reasons to call it a day.

I knew I would kick myself all weekend if I didn't set up for a while. I did. The park only had a scattering of people. I sat there and prayed and read my Bible for a bit. A little over a half hour later, I was ready to leave. I was cold, the park was empty, and nobody would ever know the difference. I was about to get up and pack up shop when a mini-van pulled into the parking spot directly in front of me - about 20 feet away. There were empty parking spots all over, but the van chose to park directly in front of me. The driver turned the car off, but left the radio on. Actually, they turned it up quite loud and opened the driver's side door. I'm not sure what the driver was doing, they just sat there blasting the radio with the door open. When the door first opened, I recognized the song right away. It was "Stronger' by Mandisa. The van was listening to the local Christian radio station. As soon as they opened the door, the words blaring out from the song were, "Hold on just a little bit longer..."

The mini-van sat there for just a couple of minutes. The driver's door closed and the van drove away. That's all I needed to keep me going until my intended departure time. I almost wish this story would go on to say how someone came up, asked for prayer, and came to Christ. Nope. Not today, anyway. Nothing eventful happened. But that's not the point. God does not always want us to obey for what results we can see. Sometimes He wants us to stay at it just a little longer, not because an emotional event awaits us. Sometimes He wants us to continue simply for the sake of obeying Him.

I am continually amazed at the things God does. If a Christian ever complains that they don't see God working or answering prayer, they need to be urged to take a step of faith into evangelism. He is so good, even in the little encouragements in a mini-van and Mandisa.

A Word to My Evangelism Brethren

2011-05-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

Here in rainy Ohio, we are ready to get back into our "nice weather," which means an increase in our outreach efforts. This is an exciting time. But with that, I again pass on the burden of my heart. We can be very zealous in evangelism. In fact, many of us travel great distances and make personal sacrifices of money, time, and energy to be a part of an outreach event. My question for myself and others is this - to what degree do we sacrifice to take part in a time of prayer with other believers? Let us not "hit the streets" this summer in the floesh, but may we go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit. May we be as fervent in prayer as we are in evangelism.

Could This Be Us?

2011-04-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have been wondering how Jesus views Christianity in America. Sure, we can shake our fists at all the bad stuff out there. But would He truly look upon conservative Evangelical Christianity with any better affection? Consider these words, based on Jesus' words to the Ephesian church in Revelation 2, and consider if they might be true of your life.

I know your works of evangelism, your toil in studying theology and your patient endurance of hecklers and skeptics, and how you cannot bear with abortion and homosexuality, but you have tested the Rob Bell's and Joel Osteen's of the world and have found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently with false converts and bearing up for my name's sake among those who profess my Name, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have lost focus of your First Love.

We have nailed down truth, and seek to do so more and more. We preach the Gospel with passion and study Scripture with zeal. But have we ceased to fix out eyes on Jesus?

Keith Green on Me-Centeredness

2011-04-08T13:12:00.001-07:00

A Part of History (April 2, 2011)

2011-04-03T03:57:00.000-07:00

In partnership with Bezeugen Ministries, we took part in a nationwide effort of taking the Gospel to every major league ballpark for each team's opening weekend. We were excited to take part in this exciting opportunity, as well as to see the warm weather sport of baseball return!

As always, we were watching the weather forecast, and it wasn't good. Even the night before, they were calling for it to be in the low 30's with a rain/snow mix heading into the first pitch. We trusted the Lord. It ended up being in the 40's with sunshine and blue skies. It was still really chilly being so close to the lake, but much better than forecasted! We were praying that God would bring together a team of 15 people for this event, and He saw fit to bring together 20 laborers! Praise God! So, we met for prayer, gathered our 2,500 tracts and made our way to Progressive Field.

We got down there at 11 AM, two hours before the game started, and we were delighted to see that we had arrived before the crowd starting coming in. Perfect! The first hour was pretty slow, as people just weren't coming, other than a few here and there. Well, that just meant that the second hour would be a fast-paced rush, right? Twelve o'clock passed and we approached 30-minutes before game time and the crowd flow was still really light. Not only that, we were also getting a lot of rejections.

We pressed on, knowing that the stadium holds over 40,000 people and they were bound to pour in any minute. Maybe people were waiting until the last minute because it was so chilly. We were ready for when they came - we pretty much had every entry point to the stadium covered. We even had a little open air preaching take place.

As the National Anthem began at 1:00, things still hadn't picked up. We made our way home feeling a little discouraged. Where were all the people? Well, it turns out that we were a part of history. With just over 9,000 people in attendance, it was the lowest attendance in the history of Progressive Field. Of the 2,500 tracts, we probably gave away around 1,000. And when you factor in how many rejections we had, we probably reached out to a hefty percentage of the people there!

We went there to glorify God by reaching out to the lost, and that is what we did. We have tracts left over, so we will come back again for another game when the weather warms up. Please be in prayer for those who did get a tract and/or who heard the open air preaching. I praise God that we were able to get the Gospel to so many, even if not as many as we thought. And I praise Him for allowing the weather to defy all forecasts. And I praise Him for bringing together such an amazing team!

St. Patty's Day 2011

2011-03-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

We are back in full swing! Last night, 7 of us continued our efforts to get the Gospel to every home in Rocky River, reaching between 170-200 homes last night. Today, Joshua and John joined me at Kamm's Corners to take the Gospel to the people heading to any one of the Irish bars there. Here are a few pictures of our time...

Easter Outreach

2011-03-01T12:36:00.000-08:00

Help us share the Good News of Easter with our neighbors on Monday, April 11th. We will meet at 6:30 for prayer before heading out. Every home will get a ESV New Testament, MP3 audio of the entire New Testament in ESV, a Gospel tract and an invitation to Easter service.

Home Opener Outreach

2011-03-01T11:22:00.000-08:00

We will be joining with a nationwide effort to get the Gospel to every major league ballpark for the opening week of the baseball season. We will be heading to Progressive Field on Saturday, April 2nd. We will meet at Lighthouse Alliance Church at 10 AM for prayer before heading to the stadium. If you would like to be a part of this, please let me know and I will get your more details.

2011-02-08T14:10:00.001-08:00

Cyber Sign Guy

2011-01-27T09:40:00.000-08:00

For the past 2-years, I have been hosting ABIDE! Radio. Recently, we moved the show to BlogTalk Radio. After the move, we started doing the show 5 times a week. During the show, we have an open chat room. While we have a couple of faithful to stop by the chat room, the majority of the activity in the chat room is made up of "lurkers" - people who pop in to see if there is any activity, then leave. After seeing this trend, God seemed to smack me in the head to use this to try and share the Gospel with the "lurkers" - who may be in the chat room but don't necessarily access the audio of the show. So, how could I reach the "lurkers" in the 3-5 seconds they peak into the chat room? I decided that the first thing to be posted in the chat room every day is a link to http://www.NeedGod.com/, an interactive online Gospel tract by Living Waters. Of course, I've had my doubts as to how many of the "lurkers" actually click the link. It is also hard to pray for them because most of the "lurkers" ate not registered and only appear with a vague screen name like "Guest3947." However, before yesterday's show, I posted the link again and immediately had a "lurker" in the chat room. Now, not only do I not know if a "lurker" is a Christian or not, I think I can safely assume that yesterday's "lurker" does not know the Lord. I will edit out the vowels so as to not risk being flagged as an unsafe web site, but the sceen name for this "lurker" was "Pl-yb-ysFinest." And yes, the missing vowels are "a" and "o." This person was in the chat room for about 3 seconds. But that was long enough to see the link. Please pray that "Pl-yb-ysFinest" went to the link and was confronted with the Gospel.

Basic Training Course 2011

2011-01-27T09:29:00.000-08:00

This week, we began our next round of the Way of the Master Basic Training Course. We have a nice mix of some Biblical evangelism veterans coming for a "booster shot," as well as some who are new to Biblical evangelism. I am excited about what God will be doing in and through this great group of people over the course of this 8-week class!

The Everyday Club 2011

2011-01-02T20:33:00.001-08:00

To Repent or Not to Repent?

2010-12-29T12:30:00.000-08:00

In response to the heated debate swarming around the internet lately. It may be tweaked and expanded over time, but it's at least a starting point:

Over the past few months, I have seen comments flying around online from Facebook to blogs suggesting that telling a sinner to repent and trust in Christ is a heretical teaching as it puts forth a works-based gospel. Is this true? Is it unbiblical to call a sinner to repentance? Or, is it what some have called the “Biblical Gospel”? This in no way will be anything like a full thesis on the subject, but rather an attempt to look at Scripture to see if a case can be made either way.

It is suggested that telling a sinner to repent (turn from their sins) is adding a work to salvation because it carries the idea that faith in Jesus Christ is not enough for salvation. In other words, it is Jesus PLUS repentance that saves a person. The implication of such a teaching is that a person is not saved if they only trust in Jesus without repentance.

Let’s begin with clarifying our terms. Let’s begin with the word “repent” itself. The English word “repent” means, “to feel regret for what one has done or failed to do; to feel contrition for one’s sins and to abjure (recant, disavow) sinful ways.” In Hebrew, the primary word for “repent” is nacham, which means, “to be sorry; to regret.” The Greek word is metanoeo, meaning, “to change one’s mind.” In the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuigant), metanoeo is used in place of nacham.

So, with that in place, let us consider now the context in which the words are used. Much of the debate over the need for repentance comes down to fighting over definitions, but words are largely defined in context. For example, two people could debate all day long about the word “trunk,” but the debate will be endless until the context is considered. Is it a part of an elephant? A box for storing items? A section of a car? Something a man wears to go swimming?

For the sake of time, let us look at some examples of the word repent from the Old Testament and some examples from the New Testament.

Genesis 6:6 – “And the LORD was sorry (lit. “repent”) that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart.”

Here we actually have a case in which God is said to repent! This verse is one that is used to say that repentance does not involve a turning from sin because God does not have any sin to turn away from. We will address this later, but what we see happening in this passage is that God is grieved at the increase of corruption upon the earth. This leads to God sending the Flood to destroy everyone and everything, except for what is preserved in Noah’s Ark.

Jeremiah 8:6 – “I have paid attention and listened, but they have not spoken rightly; no man relents (lit. “repents”) of his evil, saying, ‘What have I done?’”

This is what God is calling Jeremiah to declare to the people of Judah. The people have turned away from God and they refuse to turn back (see v.5).

Ezekiel 14:6 – “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the LORD God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.”

The people of Israel, some of the elders here specifically, took idols into their hearts and “set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces” (see v.3).

Before we consider these further, let us look at some New Testament examples, as any case made from Old Testament passages could be dismissed as “old covenant” practices.

Matthew 4:17 – “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

So, whatever repentance is should be considered important as Jesus made this a highlight of His preaching. However, at this point some may still dismiss this because the “new covenant” is not initiated until the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Acts 2:38 – “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”

This is Peter’s Pentecost sermon, given to “unsaved” Jewish people, primarily.

Acts 3:19 – “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out”

Peter again preaching to “unsaved” Jewish people.

Acts 17:30 – “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent”

This is Paul preaching in Athens to “unsaved” Gentiles.

2 Corinthians 12:21 – “I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.”

Paul expressing concern over people within the Corinthian church who are living in blatant sin.

Revelation 2:22 – “Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works.”

Jesus giving a warning to individuals within the church in Thyatira.

Before we pull together all of these verses, let me expand our consideration a little further. In the arguments I have seen, it is not merely the word “repent” that is the source of controversy, but the very idea that a sinner must turn away from sin in order to be saved. With that in mind, let us add a few verses that address the idea of turning away from sin.

Isaiah 55:7 – “let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD”

Ezekiel 33:11 – “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from evil ways”

Acts 26:18 – “to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

So, let me try and pull all of this together now. First of all, as I said earlier, words are defined largely by their context. With that, let me deal with two different sets of verses. First of all, we have verses like Genesis 6:6 where we are told of God “repenting.” Clearly, God is not repenting of sin. Neither is He simply “changing His mind.” Other Scriptures tell us that God does not “change His mind.” In Genesis 6:6, God is experiencing grief over the sinful ways of humanity. This grief produces a corresponding course of action – the sending of the great Flood. I will come back to this later.

The remaining verses deal basically with the same thing – a call for people living in sin to “repent.” Now, I will note that some of the people being called to repentance are inside the church and some are clearly outside the church. I note this because some say that turning away from sin is only commanded of believers. However, even with Corinth and Thyatira, the people may be “in” the church, but we do not have any proof either way concerning their salvation. Regardless, in the few verses listed above, we clearly have unsaved people who are also being called to “repent.”

In addition, we see in Acts 2:38 and Acts 3:19, we see repentance as clearly made a stipulation for salvation. Likewise, in Acts 26:18, “turning” from darkness is required for salvation. In the verses where salvation is not specifically addressed, the call to repentance is made to those who are actively violating God’s Law in any number of ways from idolatry to sexual immorality, etc. Is this suggesting that our salvation depends on our works?

Let me approach this from a different angle. Let us consider what a person must do to be saved. Opponents of the idea that one must forsake sin to be saved would suggest that it is faith in Jesus ALONE that saves. Let us consider that.

Imagine that you walk up to someone on the street and say, “Believe in Jesus and you will go to heaven.” That person responds, “I do believe in Jesus.” Do you now greet that person as a brother or sister in Christ? Oops, I forgot to mention that this person is a Muslim. Are they saved because they believe in Jesus? Obviously not. So, what else are you requiring of this person? You say, “They need to trust Jesus ALONE to save them.” Save them from what? You say, “To save them – or forgive them of their sins.” Wait. Are you suggesting that a person must admit that they are a sinner in order to be saved? Haven’t you now added a “work” to their salvation in that their salvation hinges upon their faith in Jesus AND an admission of guilt? More than that, would you expect this person to confess their sins in order to be forgiven? So, that makes salvation dependant on faith in Jesus AND admission of guilt AND confession of those sins to God?

To be clear, I firmly believe that we are saved by faith in Christ ALONE. But what all is involved in that experience of conversion? Scripture declares that we are not saved by works (Ephesians 2:8-9). So, if the Bible commands sinners to repent in a sense of turning away from sin, then such repentance is not a work, but something else. So, let us iron that out before we go any further.

If we only take the Scriptures listed above, can we define repentance as only a change in one’s mind? If so, a change about what? Some say a change in thinking they can be saved by another god. The context of these verses never addresses that. The act of idolatry is seldom talked about in terms of someone hoping to be saved, but rather the worship of a god who condoned a particular sinful way of living.

If we consider the examples of repentance, including references to God “repenting,” I believe that we will see them linked a change of activity. Up until Genesis 6, God demonstrated mercy towards sinful humanity until His repentance brought a change in activity – from showing mercy to giving the wrath those sins deserved.

Even as we look at the sexual sins found in Corinth and Thyatira, what was intended with a call for their repentance? What would it mean for them to “change their minds” about the sexual sins? Can they truly change their minds about their sinful activity without some degree of turning away from it?

If repentance is a turning away from sin, what does that look like? Is it a vow to never sin again? Is it a ceasing from sin? How much repentance is enough? Must one completely stop sinning to be saved?

For the sake of illustration (which are all flawed to a degree), let us consider a marriage. Bill and Sally have been married for ten years. They both work for a living. Bill is unable to go with her to her work Christmas party because he is sick. The party is a lot of fun and everyone is having a great time. Sally has too much to drink. Things get flirtatious with Tom, a handsome co-worker. Without going into details, things end up going too far between Tom and Sally. Sally gets home at 2 AM and Bill has long since been to bed. In the morning, Sally is still sleeping, but Bill is feeling better. He goes on Facebook and sees pictures of some of what happened between Sally and Tom. Now Bill and Sally need to talk.

Upon realizing what she had done the night before, Sally is completely crushed with grief that she had done such a thing. She is not just broken because she was caught, but devastated that she had endangered her marriage and hurt her husband. Bill decides that he does not want to lose his marriage. He does not threaten to leave her or divorce her. However, what was involved in their conversation?

First of all, their marriage is saved only by the merciful and gracious choice that Bill made. However, what happened on Sally’s end? When confronted with the pictures, what if Sally said, “I may nor may not see Tom again. Don’t know. Haven’t thought about it yet.” Is the marriage in jeopardy at this point? YES! Why? Because her heart is not turned to her husband. The only way for the marriage to be saved is if Bill decides to extend mercy and grace to his unfaithful wife. However, he must first see that her heart is turned to him – that she wants him. Sally can do nothing to save the marriage – she is the guilty party. However, Bill will extend mercy and grace on the condition of her heart – is it turned to him or to Tom?

Repentance (turning from sin) and turning to God are one in the same. If I am turned in one direction, I must cease from turning in that direction if I am to turn in another direction. As one’s heart turns to God, it turns away from sin.

Does this mean that a person must stop sinning in order to be saved? That is a fruit of repentance. In repentance, which is a gift from God, a person’s heart is changed concerning sin. The sin they once loved they now see as vile because of how the Holy Spirit is working in their heart. They see that they have sinned and need God’s forgiveness. That turning of the heart will result in an increasing victory over sin as one walks with Christ.

Back to Bill and Sally. Fast forward to June. Sally still has to work with Tom. She hasn’t given him a second thought since the day after the Christmas party. One day Tom walks by her desk in a polo shirt that outlines his muscular build. A part of her is attracted. Maybe she gives a flirtatious smile, but then is filled with remorse the moment after she does it. Later in August, the same thing happens, but she doesn’t give the smile. By October, she doesn’t even notice when he walks by. When the Christmas party rolls around, she goes out of her way to stay away from Tom, not because she feels attracted to him, but because the mere sight of him reminds her of the horrible thing she had done the year before. This is a all the fruit of what happened in her heart the day after the Christmas party when she turned away from what she did with Tom for love of her husband.

So, what am I suggesting a sinful person do when I tell them to repent? I am calling them to see the exceeding sinfulness of their sins and to turn away from a life of rebellion against God and to turn to God, who alone can save them. Their repentance only happens because of what the Holy Spirit is doing in them. And their repentance will not save them. Only Jesus can save them. But Scripture calls sinful men to turn to God, which by its very nature is a turning away from sin. This is not a vow to never sin again. This is not a ceasing to sin. It is a turning of the heart. And the fruit of that repentance will be a ceasing from sin as the person walks in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Even those who oppose what I am saying esteem the works of Charles Spurgeon. However, even Spurgeon said:

"There must be sorrow for sin and hatred of it in true repentance, or else I have read my Bible to little purpose."

I am aware that some see this as heresy because it adds a work to salvation. However, as I see it, the Bible commands repentance of those who would be saved, yet the Bible also clearly says that works do not save us. Therefore, Scripture does not see repentance as a work. It is a change of heart. Scripture affirms this. Theologians have asserted this throughout church history. Great preachers like Spurgeon have proclaimed this. Despite accusations to the contrary, Greek scholars affirm this to be the sense of metanoeo. So, here I will take my stand here having been convinced by Scripture and a great witness of the saints. If someone is indifferent to what Christ endured for their sins, they are indifferent to Christ.

Way of the Master Crash Course

2010-12-04T18:39:00.000-08:00

This morning, we held a Way of the Master Crash Course. We had about a dozen sign-up, but only 5 were able to make it. This was the first time we did a half day format. Overall, it seemed to go pretty well. I always struggle because there is so much that I want to say and add, but I have to hold back in the Crash Course format. The best I can do is urge people to take the Basic Training, so we can pass on even more information.

C.A.U.S.E. Project

2010-11-17T18:33:00.000-08:00

Today was the big day - a day I had been eagerly anticipating for many weeks. And then my entire household came down with the flu, including me, within the past couple of days. For me, the worst happened to be last night and today of all days. Today was the C.A.U.S.E. Project in conjunction with Living Waters. The focus of the C.A.U.S.E. (College And University Student Evangelization) Project was open-air preaching and gospel tract distribution on university campuses. Teams were present on approximately 75 college and university campuses in 31 different states across the country.

Living Waters provided each team with 1,000 trillion dollar bill Gospel tracts. While I was upset for not being able to be a part of this outreach, God brought together a wonderful team of 10 people, including 4 other Ambassadors' Academy graduates who carried out the missionn just fine without me.

As with the Origin Into Schools Project, our target was Case Western Reserve University in downtown Cleveland. The team spent 4 hours open air preaching, handing out 1,300 Gospel tracts and having countless one-to-one conversations.

What started as a miserablly cold, windy and rainy day ended up being quite a nice fall day. I praise God for His faithfulness upon the team for a second large scale outreach at a university swarming with scientists and atheists.

My thanks to Chris for being my "fill-in" point man. Thanks to Ryan for taking the following pictures of the event:

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

OK, as we hand out tracts with our candy every Halloween, I like to try and bring some humor to the evening. In 2008, the standard was set with Shrek. 2009 saw the sumo wrestler. And, for 2010: disco man!

We were able to hand out 95 tracts with the candy, getting the Gospel to at least 200 people.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Living Waters Presents "On The Box"

2010-10-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

Tony Miano

2010-10-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't seen the updates, be sure to make note that Tony Miano has shut down his Lawman Chronicles web site and has now set up his new site. Be sure to follow along and give praise to God for His mighty works among men!

Broken Heart

2010-10-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

My heart has been broken lately. I have seen this coming, but over the past few months, it just seems like things are coming to a head. When the Lord first introduced me to Biblical evangelism through the Way of the Master, I was so blown away by the evangelism community. There was such a fire and passion for Jesus Christ! I felt blessed just to be a able to have a place in this beautiful community. The Gospel was our heart and our cry. And this community has continued to be a blessing in my life over the past 5+ years. Having said that, I know that my following comments do not reflect the entire evangelism "family," but just a portion. My fear, though, is that it doesn't take more than a portion to cause pain. I saw an incredible church ripped apart by just a couple of people.

The following concerns are in no particular order.

1. There is an increasing "look at me" emphasis in evangelism. It creeps up suddenly and quietly. The internet has given us amazing tools and resources. I have benefited tremendously from reading accounts from others in their evangelism efforts. Because of that, I started this blog - to help motivate/inspire/challenge other believers with ideas for evangelism. But siddenly, it can turn into a competition. I have been noticing subtle hints creeping into evangelism of "who can preach to the most hostile crowd?" Or, who can get a heckler the angriest? Or, who can get police on the scene the quickest. I have read some blog accounts and have wondered, are we trying to preach the Gospel or see if we have a COPS-worthy YouTube video. It is hard enough to get believers in our churches to embrace evangelism, now we have to work harder to assure them that what they see online is not reflective of all street evangelists.

2. The Gospel is no longer our rallying cry. It seems to me that the Gospel is no longer the test of who we will lock arms with. One's position on Calvinism is now becoming the benchmark of fellowship. Charges of heresy fly on both sides of the debate. There have also been multiple times when members of our team have been stopped in their evangelism efforts by KJV-Only advocates insisting that we are pushing a false gospel because we are not using the KJV. So, we can work together for the Gospel if we agree on the Gospel AND hold the same position regarding Calvinism AND we agree on the same translation. These are two of the larger debates going on, but there are many smaller ones, as well. If atheists are following any of these debates, I'm sure they are loving every minute of it.

3. For some, there has become a "ranking" in evangelism. In other words, it is good to pass out tracts, but that is not as spiritual and heroic as the one who has one-to-one conversations. And that is not as spiritual and heroic as the one who open air preaches. And that is not as spiritual and heroic as the one who holds a sign or a cross on the side of the road. This has left some conviced that, because they could never see themselves doing the "top tier" methods, that they might as well not do anything. I support every one of these methods of evangelism. But have we so lost focus on the Gospel that we no longer know how to cheer on the one who finally started handing out tracts? Do we inwardly wonder why they only gave out a dozen to a small crowd instead of finding a massive group and give away thousands?

I am honored and blessed to be a part of the evangelism community, and I look forward to many more years of active involvement with these brothers and sisters. But my heart is breaking, because I see pockets of this precious community coming unraveled.

The more I study the Calvisnism debate, the more I lean heavily toward one side of the debate. But the more I lean in that direction, the less interest I have in debating it. I'd rather not start a fight with other brothers and sisters that I love. And, yes, this blog has slowed down lately for a number of reasons - this post being one of them. I do not want to fall into the trap of this becoming a showcase for me. This blog is to be for the glory of God and the edification of His people in the ministry of evangelism. It should never become anything other than that.

I will be praying for my brothers and sisters. I am tired of abandoning forums that I love because they are consumed with these debates. I am tired of going on facebook and seeing bombs tossed back and forth among the brethren. Maybe we have gotten so used to locking horns with atheists and hecklers that we have forgotten how to interact any differently with anyone. I don't know. I am sorry if this sounded bitter, cynical, or frustrated. I am just praying that this all stop - sooner rather than later. I miss the evangelism community I used to know - that safe place to go after a rough time dealing with skeptics on the streets.

World Religions in a Nutshell (Part 1)

2010-10-18T19:20:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the first night of our World Religions in a Nutshell course. This is the first time we have held this class, and it was exciting to see how many came out for the first night. We had more show up than signed-up for the class, 17 in total.

We started off by talking about keys to avoiding getting into arguments to lay the foundation for dealing with people in general, especially when getting into the nitty-gritty of different points of religion. We ended the night with a group activity of responding to objections from the Objection Ball. This seemed to work really well, and brought up some homework challenges for the groups.

On The Box w/ Tony & Chad

2010-10-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

Some Needed Down Time

2010-10-11T22:01:00.001-07:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

A Little Slow Down

2010-10-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

I'm still here! Between bad weather, a crazy schedule and grieving the passing of my Mother this week, my evangelism efforts have been a little slow lately. Giving out tracts right now, mostly. Was able to get some of Tony Miano's "In Times of Crisis" tracts into the ICU waiting room.

I am eager to get back into a more diligent flow. There are some other things I am sorting out right now, as well. More on that later. But, for now, this blog will be a little quiet. I am not shutting it down. I am not quitting my evangelism efforts. But I have a few big "projects" on the burner right now (like the Esteem the Word Rally and World Religions in a Nutshell class) and this blog will not be high on the priority list for the next several weeks.

Not only that, most of the content that I post for the remainder of this year will be equipping-oriented. I want to focus on getting back to loving the people I share with, without thinking about capturing audios or blogging about a conversation. I am not saying such things are bad, but I have discovered what others have warned - they can start becoming more important than they should be in the evangelism process.

So, for now, keep watching for updates on some of these "projects" and other training materials and may God bless you!

It's About His Glory, Stupid

2010-09-16T09:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, so many a blunt way to put it. I goes back to the old political campaign advice: "It's the economy, stupid." In other words, come election year, the only thing people care about is the economy.

I just started reading "The Other Side of the Cross" by Bob Sjogren and it is causing me to think through some issues in my own life.

When it comes to evangelism, what is it all about? Is it about seeing people saved from eternity in hell? Yes. Is it about people coming to know Christ as Savior? Yes. But is that all? If that is at the heart of our evangelism, what happens when we fail? In other words, what ifwe share the Gospel with 100 people and not one of them responds to the Gospel? What if you go out to pass out tracts and you cannot give out a single one? Is that failure? Well, if saving souls is the main objective, I guess you could say some efforts can be a failure.

While we do share the Gospel so that people may hear and be saved, that is not our only purpose. Why is it important to see people saved? Is it so that they don't have to go to hell? In part. The reason why it is important to see people saved is so that God receives glory.

If the glory of God is our aim, do we ever fail? No. Every time you share the Good News, you glorify God through your obedience, regardless of that person's response. Every time you hand out a tract or set a tract down somewhere, God is glorified. Every moment you spend holding a sign or a cross glorifies God. Only God can save - you cannot. So, the results are up to Him. You glorify God by your obedience to His call. It is an act of worship unto God.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins, to be sure. But more than that, He died on the cross for the glory of God. Yes, we share the Gospel so that people may be saved. But more than that, we share the Gospel so God may be glorified.

After all, if my evangelism is always based on my feelings of compassion for the fate of the lost, my efforts may be up and down. Let's face it, it can be hard to feel compassion for some people. But it's not really about me or that person. The most important objective is to see God receive the glory.

So, as a reminder to myself, I say, "It's about HIS glory, stupid!"

Prayer

2010-09-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

I am at a pastor's conference this week. I am seeking God's heart regarding something that I have been burdened about for a while now. We have been working to beef up our focus on God's Word in evangelism. The next "phase" is bringing prayer into the spotlight of our evangelism efforts. I will share more details of what that will look like when specifics begin to iron themselves out in my mind.

Faces

2010-09-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

Objection Ball 2.0

2010-09-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

Well, the Objection Ball had a flaw. The metcallic ink that I needed to use on the black squares refused to dry. Any time I even lightly touched the ball, the silver ink would smudge and leave my fingertips silver. Not good. So, I made a quick stop back to Wal-Mart. They had the same ball I used the first time, but only in black and silver. I loved the size and feel of that ball, but not the need for the silver pen. I wanted a mini soccer ball because I like the sectioned pattern on soccer balls. Not seeing anything workable, my heart sank. As I made my way down another aisle to leave the store, I saw another box of mini soccer balls! these were slightly smaller, but workable. But one added bonus was these balls changed color when you touched them! I opted for the bright orange ball and made my purchase.

Now, I introduce to you Objection Ball 2.0. A smaller ball, but still with as many sections on it. Now with the added feature of your right thumb will highlight the square it is touching, making it easier to see which objection will be yours to tackle!

To make your own objection ball, grab this $3 ball from your local Wal-Mart, grab a black sharpie and away you go!

CrossWalking

2010-09-10T11:22:00.001-07:00

I had a little bit of time early this afternoon to head out. I called my fishing buddy, John to see if he wanted to go, but he had to work today. He takes Fridays off during the summer as vacation time, but felt he needed to go in today. I almost didn't go to Lakewood Park. I had several other things go through my mind for what I could do with this small window. But, seeing the sun shining and realizing that the nice day window was closing, I realized I needed to seize this day.

I made my way to Lakewood Park thinking that I could set up a Prayer Station for a little bit. As I pulled into the parking lot, it began to drizzle. Not sure if the drizzle would stop or turn into something bigger, I opted against the Prayer Station. Instead, I put on my windbreaker and grabbed my cross out of the trunk. I went up to the sidewalk in front of the park on Lake Rd. and spent some time walking back and forth on that sidewalk, holding the cross.

I didn't really get any responses positive or negative. A few cars slowed down to get a look at what the cross said, but nothing else. I also saw a couple of people while I was there who were walking or jogging in my direction, but seemed to have found an alternate route. I'm not sure if that shift in route was planned or in response to me, so I won't assume anything.

I may not have seen or heard any type of response, but I know that this does not mean God did not use that brief window to somehow plant a seed in a person's heart.

Blown Away

2010-09-08T18:48:00.000-07:00

Tonight was a night I want to cherish for as long as I can. This is why I am writing about it. I will not go into great detail, because doing so would not do justice to the things that have taken place over the past 3 hours. It was all God. Period.

Tonight was our regular time to be at Lakewood Park. I was concerned all day, as it was chilly and overcast all day - as if it would start pouring at any moment. Around 5 PM, the sun broke through and it was a gorgeous (although slightly chilly) evening. By the time I got there, John was already there with his "NeedGod.com" sign set out. I was surprised by how many people were at the park. Our Marines were gone, but a huge soccer camp was there, as was a cross country practice. Before we set up the Prayer Station, we prayed and asked God to bring to us whoever needed prayer or needed to talk. Just a matter of moments later, that prayer was answered.

A man walked up (I will not use his name) and wrote down a prayer request. I offered him a tract and began to talk through the Gospel with him. John and I prayed for him, and he asked is I had time to talk. Leaving John to man the Prayer Station, I walked with the man about 300 feet away to sit down at a picnic table, where we would spend almost an hour talking and going through Bible verse after Bible verse. The man had come looking for us last week, but I was at a funeral. He came tonight hoping to find us. I am so glad he came back again this week. God knows the details of the conversation - please pray for him. I plan to have ongoing conversations with this man.

As we finished talking, he wanted to spend some time reading the Bible I had given him. I went back to the Prayer Station, where John was joined by Chris and Rachel as I was walking to the picnic table. They seemed to have an active time in that hour, giving away quite a few tracts, from what I could see.

I had noticed that there was another couple at the table for quite a while before I got back there. It turns out that it was a Christian couple who knows Barry, who often joins us at Lakewood Park. He had a handful of tracts and was helping out - they came just to meet us and partner with us. I was blessed by my conversation with the husband, and he had a few incredible encouraging words to pass on.

After I packed things into my car, I had a conversation that blew me away. One of those "pinch me, I must be dreaming" moments. No further details, sorry. Let's just say that Lighthouse just became an even better church to be a part of!

Once I got home, it was time to check my e-mails. One e-mail talked about ways that God was using ABIDE! Radio that I could never have imagined. I have heard a few of these stories over the past couple of weeks. I am starting to catch a glimpse of why God is pulling together the Esteem the Word Rally.

So, not much here may sound earth-shattering. I know. Vague accounts. But the details behind each are more precious than I could ever articulate. And the things I saw tonight were directly related to something God was convicting me of in my quiet times less than 24 hours ago! I feel like tonight was just being allowed ri ride a wave of seeing God at work. And it's in those moments when I become even more aware that it has absolutely nothing to do with me. It is all the Lord. He is so good. He is worthy of all praise!!!! Trust me, when He says jump, don't even ask how high - just start jumping!!!

Reflections on the 2010 Evangelism Boot Camp

2010-09-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

Here are a few comments from some of the participants from this year's Evangelism Boot Camp.

"A great time"

"Wonderful! Inspiring! Holy Spirit everywhere"

"Encouraging, instructive, and hands on"

"A great, God-glorifying experience"

"Very good"

"Great"

"Really fun and you learn a lot"

Contradictions (Part 3)

2010-09-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

What shall we tackle today? How about thise one:

How many animals on the ark?
Genesis 7:2 - "Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate"

Genesis 7:8-9 - "Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah."

Granted, the quote on the atheist web site is based on the KJV (just don't tell a KJV-onlyist!). As we see in these verses (stated more clearly in the ESV), we see that there is no contradiction.

Verse 2 commands that seven pairs of the clean animals be taken into the ark. In other words, seven pairs of sheep. However, only one pair of unclean animals are to be taken - just one pair of pigs, etc. There would be a need for more of the clean animals for the purposes of food and sacrifices.

Verses 8-9 describe how all these pairs made their way into the ark. It is not contradicting the breakdown set forth in verse 2. Even in the KJV, if you take a second to read it carefully, you come to the same conclusion.

And maybe just one more for today...

How many stalls and horsemen?
1 Kings 4:26 - "Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen."

2 Chronicles 9:25 - "And Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen..."

Most Hebrew manuscripts have the number in 1 Kings 4:26 as 40,000. However, the Greek Septuigant manuscripts and one Hebrew manuscript have both 1 Kings 4:26 and 2 Chronicles 9:25 agreeing at 4,000 - which is the more likely number.

But does this mean there is a contradiction in the Bible? No. The KJV and ESV opted for the majority opinion which seems to be off, but manuscripts exist showing that there is no contradcition in the numbers.

Now, some put forth the following response, however. 1 Kings 4 mentions the number of stalls of horses for his chariots. Meanwhile, 2 Chronicles 9 mentions the number of stalls for horses and chariots. Is it possible that there were 40,000 stalls of horses for the chariots in addition to 4,000 stalls for horses AND chariots? Honestly, this seems like a stretch, but who knows?

The bottom line is, there are manuscripts that show a consistent number. Some translations have opted not to reflect this. It is a translation issue, not a Word of God issue. Atheist, is this the issue you want to hang your eternity on?

Jeremiah Cry 2nd Annual "Go, Stand, Speak" Evangelism Summit

2010-09-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

Messages from this year's conference are available here.

The Objection Ball

2010-09-06T19:42:00.001-07:00

Inspired by a couple of things I have seen over the past couple of weeks, I have just made my own "Objection Ball" to use when we hold our evangelism training courses. I bought this soft mini-soccer ball at Wal-Mart for $1. The only other things I needed were a Sharpie marker and a metallic gel pen (because the only ball they had was black and silver - I would recommend getting a lighter colored ball, if possible). On the 30-some squares on the soccer ball I wrote a different objection that one might come across when sharing the Gospel. Some were objections I have come across, others were from the list provided in the Evidence Bible.

When we use the ball, it will be tossed to someone in the class. When they catch it, they are to look at the objection in the square covered by their right thumb. I will set a timer for 5 minutes and give the person a chance to think through their response to that objection and find Scripture to use in support of their response. The longer we use the ball, the less time people will be given to think through their response, since you won't have 5 minutes to think when talking with someone on the street.

The Objection Ball will be used along with another tool given to us to use fun ways to help people learn and be equipped to share the Gospel effectively. I am just hoping the silver ink will dry so we all don't get smears on our fingers! I will be watching for a better colored ball.

My Arsenal

2010-09-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so I like the ESV. I have other translations and have read through most of them, but I prefer to use the same translation on a regular basis. Now, I spent very little on each of these Bibles due to a variety of situations. Each one serves its own purpose.

On top is my pocket-sized ESV with the Old and New Testaments. This is my personal evangelism Bible. I have "cheat sheets" and will be adding notes to help in having 1-2-1 conversations. This is a Bible I keep in my car and can put in a pocket.

Next down is my open air preaching ESV. I have "cheat sheets" to help in open air situations. The text is a little bigger than my pocket edition, so I can read it better while on the box.

Next is the ESV I used to preach from and will now be my stay-at-the-office edition. It is a larger print, so it may eventually become my open air Bible. For now, I would prefer the smaller edition to carry around in my bag.

Next down is my ESV Study Bible for daily use. It is my personal devotion Bible, so there are more notes and underlines than any of the other editions. This is the sword that I use the most and am most familiar with. Sounds corny, but just holding it is a precious moment because of the time spent with God with this Bible open.

On the bottom is my leather ESV STudy Bible which is my preaching Bible. There are notes written which are specific to my preaching and teaching. I wanted this to be the same layout as my devotional Bible so that I can have the same comfort with its content.

A little much? I don't know. It just helps me to have a sword designated for specific tasks. God's Word is precious and I never want to be without easy access to it!

CrossDrive

2010-09-03T10:44:00.000-07:00

Due to some schedule issues, I had a very limited window today in which I was planning to spend some time at Lakewood Park. It was during that window that the predicted rain came pouring down on us. So, instead of my planned time at Lakewood Park, I took the smaller cross (made for me by the Cleveland Cross Guy), put it in my back windshield and went for a....CrossDrive. I know, not as effective, but better than nothing.

Now, it was not an unwillingness to stand out in the rain (I have done so before), but an understanding that nobody would be out to talk to anyway. Cleveland weather is about to bottom out and it is time already to get a little creative!

Bible Drills (Round 1)

2010-09-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

OK, we are not going to waste any time! We will be having our first round of Bible Drills on three consecutive Mondays:

September 20th
September 27th
October 4th

We will meet at 6:30 PM in the Fellowship Hall. Over the three weeks, we will work on memorizing 5 passages of Scripture. Why only 5? I would rather we learn 5 verses well and retain them than try to conquer more verses and forget them all within a week.

We will go through a variety of exercises designed to help us retain the verses. We will also spend time going through the "Verse Jug."

Don't miss out on this time of storing God's Word in our hearts and minds in a way that should be fun and build some great fellowship!

Boot Camp Team Testimonies

2010-09-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

Bible Drills

2010-08-31T10:38:00.000-07:00

Do you struggle with memorizing Scripture? I sure do. However, hiding God's Word in our heart is a vital discipline for all areas of life, including evangelism. Starting in 2011, in between some of our evangelism training courses, we will be holding a series of Bible Drills.

What is a Bible Drill? We will set aside 3-4 Monday nights in a row to take a list of important Bible verses to memorize and use in evangelism. We will use a variety of methods to help us learn the verses and recall them confidently and consistently.

So, stop feeling guilty for not having a greater treasure of Scriptures available from memory and do something to change that! Be sure to come out for our Bible Drills. You'll be glad you did!

Dates will be posted soon.

Contradictions (Part 2)

2010-08-31T10:15:00.000-07:00

It is that time again - time to take a look at what skeptics and atheists are putting forth as contradictions in the Bible. What shall the buffet bring us today?

Who was at the Empty Tomb?
Matthew 28:1 - In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

Mark 16:1 - And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

John 20:1 - The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

Let's try and create a bit of a chart here to sort this all out.

Matthew Mark John
Mary Magdalene Mary Madalene Mary Magdalene
Mary (other) Mary (mother of James)
Salome

Remember, in order for it to be a contradcition, all three accounts cannot be true at the same time. So, who was there that day? Clearly Mary Magdalene. We also see Mary the mother of James (the "other"), and we are also told by Mark that Salome was there. What's the problem? Matthew saw no need to mention Salome. John was concerned only with Mary Magdalene.

What we see here is like if I went to a concert and told him how I saw a mutual friend there. Now, does that mean that the mutual friend was the only other person there? No. The only way to make a contradiction out of the account of these women is if one passage stated a certain woman was there while another passage clearly states that that woman was not there. But, as it appears, there is no contradiciton.

One more for today...

Which came first--beasts or man?
Genesis 1:25 - And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:26 - And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Genesis 2:18 - And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Genesis 2:19 - And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

Many accuse this of being a second creation account of a conflicting creation account. However, as you look at Genesis 1-2, you see clearly what is happening. Genesis 1 recounts the big picture of Creation from beginning to end. As we come to chapter 2, the story "rewinds" slightly to take a closer look at the creation of Adam and Eve. Genesis 2:19 is not suggesting that the animals were created after man. The passage is just saying that God took all the animals that had already been made and brought them before Adam. It is describing something that happened, not giving a minute by minute recounting.

Some would say, "Oh, you're just making that up to make it sound better." Well, I would put the same accusation back to the skeptic. Be honest. Are you reading something into the passage that isn't actually there, just so you have something to justify your disbelief in God?

Why is God Jealous?

2010-08-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

God is a jealous God. We find this stated clearly in such passages as Exodus 20:5, Exodus 34:14, Deuteronomy 4:24, Nahum 1:2, and others. During our open air preaching time at this year's Evangelism Boot Camp, a man named Mark asked me why God was jealous. He figured if God was so big, He should be above such a petty emotion.

Why is God jealous? Because He is the only one with the right to be jealous. He has given you life and breath and all that you have. He alone deserves your love and devotion. But shouldn't he be big enough to not feel jealousy? In other words, people like Mark are accusing God of a weakness by feeling jealousy.

To understand the silly nature of such an accusation, consider this example. Let's say that a man (we'll call him Tom) is married to a woman (we'll call her Betty). They have been married for 15 years and have 3 children together. Betty comes home one night from a PTA meeting to see Tom sitting on the couch with his arms wrapped around another woman. She yells, "What are you doing?" Tom answers, "Are you jealous? Aren't you above such a silly emotion like that? I thought you were a better person than that."

Now, let's first consider Betty. Does she have the right to be jealous when she sees her husband in the arms of another woman? YES! Does this reveal a character flaw in her? NO! That is her husband and she has the right to expect him to be faithful to her.

How about Tom? Why has he turned this around to make Betty the bad guy? Simple - to excuse his actions and justify his unfaithfulness when he is clearly in the wrong.

Mark's problem with God's jealousy reveals a flaw in Mark, not in God. God has every right to demand worship and devotion from His creation. The problem is, people reject their Creator, shake their fists at Him and despise the sacrifice of Christ. In other words, they want to do what they want and live in rebellion. It just makes them feel better to put the blame on God for not being above jealousy. They expect God to sit back and ingore their rebellion. Such a distorted view of God's character does not change the reality that He is, in fact, a jealous God - and rightfully so!

Boot Camp: Teaching Sessions

2010-08-30T19:55:00.001-07:00

Boot Camp: Fellowship

2010-08-30T19:48:00.001-07:00

2010 Evangelism Boot Camp: Day 3

2010-08-30T19:23:00.000-07:00

The final day of the Boot Camp. It has been such an amazing and packed weekend so far, I was excited to see what God had in store for us today. After breakfast, Beth Morris shared a session titled, "Facing Enemy Fire." This was followed by Jeff Osberg's "The Authority of Scripture in Evangelism." This was a great session with some great practical tips and tools for ensuring that we base our evangelism on God's Word. During the morning worship service at Lighthouse Alliance, I gave a message titled, "Conquering the Foe of Fear."

After lunch, we all made our way to Lakewood Park for some open air preaching. I started things off and was followed by team leader Chris Chumita. Barry, Ryan and Bruce went next. This was Bruce's first time on the box! While Bruce was preaching, I noticed a man riding a bike who stopped just behind me to listen. As Bruce finished and stepped off the box, the man asked if he was allowed to ask some questions. Many of them were typical questions asked over and over by people, "why is there suffering," "who wrote the Bible," "why does God send people to hell," etc. Bruce held his own. I sensed Bruce was ready for someone else to field the questions from the man. I began to enagage him and try to answer his questions. His name is Mark. He was very self-righteous. While being cordial, he was firm in that he felt no need for God. One of his biggest hang-ups was why God was jealous. He thought God should be above that kind of thing. This back and forth stopped the preaching that had gone of for 40 minutes. I should have motioned for someone to keep going on the box. we spoke with Mark for about 40 minutes before establishing that he wasn't really interested in having his questions answered. Two other team leaders finished up with him while I started packing up our stuff to return to church. Before I walked away from Mark, an older gentleman from another church (who met Team 4 at the park the night before) jumped in and started finger-pointing and making accusations against Mark, which caused Mark to start getting heated. This emphasized that telling someone they are going to hell without helping them understand why is offensive.

One of my biggest regrets of the weekend was not seeing more preaching take place there. We scheduled 90 minutes there, trusting it would allow time for anyone who had wanted to have a turn on the box. Instead, only 5 of us got to preach. I take responsibility for this and will ensure it does not happen again next year.

One highlight, though, was that there was some kind of function going on - a large cookout hosted by a local hospital. This resulted in the park being more crowded than any other time we had been there in two summers! As I review pictures from the day, I am seeing that there were a lot of 1-2-1 conversations going on around the perimeter of the preaching. Many heard the Gospel!

If I had to guess, I do not think I am inflating the number to say that well over 1,000-1,300 were given the Gospel either verbally or through tracts in these two days.

We finished up with a time of testimony at the church and tears of joy were shed as we reflected on what God had done and allowed us to be a part of.

2010 Evangelism Boot Camp: Day 2

2010-08-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

After a late first night, where we had people stay at the North Olmsted festival until 11 PM (with a couple hundred tracts being given out), we were off to a bright and early start for day 2. Aaron Parker and Rusty Beals gave great teaching sessions on the nuts and bolts of evangelism, especially for those with little or no background in Biblical evangelism/the Way of the Master.

After lunch, teams broke out to their designated evangelism stations. Team 1 started off at a Prayer Station at the Cleveland Zoo. There was not much action for that time, as many people just wanted to get into the Zoo. They left the Zoo and made their way to Sinagra Park in Lakewood and were able to have a couple of good 1-2-1 conversations. Their final stop for the afternoon was a tract blitz at Kamm's Corners.

Team 2 started their afternoon at Lakewood Park and were able to give out some tracts and have some 1-2-1 conversations. Next, they hit Detroit Rd. in Lakewood for a tract blitz. They finished the afternoon doing some inner air preaching at a local McDonald's.

Team 3 began with a trip to Edgewater Park just outside of downtown Cleveland. They had some great conversations there and stayed a little longer than planned. After that, they made their way to a local mall for some "undercover" evangelism.

Team 4 started off with a tract blitz down Detroit Rd. in Lakewood and had some good conversations along the way. The team then split up to do some inner air preaching at a local McDonald's and Dairy Queen. They finished the afternoon at the Zoo, also having some good opportunities to pray with people and hand out tracts.

Team 5 started at an empty Clague Park, so they also did some door to door before taking their turn at the Cleveland Zoo. By this time, many people were leaving the Zoo and were willing to take some time with us. They were able to pray with about 6-7 groups of people and gave out many tracts. They made their way to a local shopping plaza to do a tract blitz and were only chased out of one burger joint.

We all met back at the church for dinner before heading out to our evening witnessing stations. Team 1 did some inner air at an ice cream stand before heading back to Sinagra Park for a few more 1-2-1 conversations. Team 2 also found Clague Park to be empty so they were able to do some door to door tracting. Team 3 set up a Prayer Station at an extremely crowded Huntington Beach and God brought them some amazing opportunities there. Team 4 had some good opportunites at Lakewood Park. Team 5 did some inner air preaching at a local mall.

We praise God for the great opportunities, including the honor of seeing a young man named Adonis trust in Christ as Savior! I also had the blessing of seeing Diego at the Zoo - he was the man I met at Lakewood Park a few weeks ago after he had just given his life to Christ. He was excited to introduce me to his wife.

We ended the evening with a panel discussion and Q&A session with the team leaders.

Wow - an incredible day!

Open Air Preaching at Lakewood Park

2010-08-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

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Boot Camp Session 7: "Conquering the Foe of Fear"

2010-08-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

Boot Camp Session 7; "Conquering the Foe of Fear"
Speaker: Paul Yanchek
Sunday Worship Service, August 29th

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Boot Camp Session 6: "The Authority of Scripture in Evangelism"

2010-08-30T18:24:00.000-07:00

Boot Camp Session 6: "The Authority of Scripture in Evangelism"
Speaker: Jeff Osberg
Sunday AM, August 29th

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Boot Camp Session 5: "Facing Enemy Fire"

2010-08-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

Boot Camp Session 5: "Facing Enemy Fire"
Speaker: Beth Morris

Sunday AM, August 29th

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Boot Camp Session 4: Panel Discussion

2010-08-30T18:12:00.001-07:00

Boot Camp Session 4: Panel Discussion with Team Leaders

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Boot Camp Session 3: "Evangelism Strategies"

2010-08-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

Boot Camp Session 3: "Evangelism Strategies"
Speaker: Rusty Beals
Saturday AM, August 28th

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Boot Camp Session 2b: "Witnessing Principles" Part 2

2010-08-30T18:01:00.000-07:00

Boot Camp Session 2b: "Witnessing Principles" Part 2
Speaker: Aaron Parker
Saturday AM, August 28th

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Boot Camp Session 2a: "Witnessing Principles" Part 1

2010-08-30T17:57:00.001-07:00

Session 2a: "Witnessing Principles" Part 1
Speaker: Aaron Parker
Saturday AM, August 28th

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Boot Camp Session 1: "Forward, March!"

2010-08-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

2010 Evangelism Boot Camp: Session 1: Paul Yanchek
Friday night, August 27th

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2010 Evangelism Boot Camp Day 1

2010-08-27T20:02:00.000-07:00

Well, after 50 weeks of preparation, it is here! Twenty people arrived tonight to be a part of our 2nd Annual Boot Camp. Despite traffic jams and hotel check-in issues, everyone was there on time and ready to go! We opened with a great lasagna dinner followed by our opening session. After a time of worship, we were blessed to have Randy Dukeminier sing a special song highlighting the ransom paid for us by the blood of Jesus.

My opening message, "Forward, March!" had to be abbreviated due to running over on a time a little bit. After a few instructions, teams dispersed for a time of prayer together before heading out for an optional "after hours" witnessing trip. Four people went over to a local high school football game, hoping to tract people heading out, but the 4th quarter was just getting started. Meanwhile, we had about a dozen people head over to the North Olmsted Homecoming Festival. Last year, we had a team get kicked out on Saturday afternoon. With that, I told teams to stay on the perimeter, but by the time I got there, they had already gone into the festival anyway! Tracts were going like hotcakes and I saw a team leader, Aaron, engaged in a mini open air with about a dozen teenagers.

After checking in with everyone, I handed out some tracts with Rusty. At one point we went into a pavilion filled with teens smoking - whether legal materials or not, I am not sure. All I know is once we started with the tracts and Rusty engaged one in conversation, the pavilion emptied out in a hurry.

It was a great opening night and I am excited about what God has in store for us tomorrow!!

Lots of Sheep in the Pond

2010-08-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

Every so often, we need a day like today. I know I did. I will not quit, but there are times when the battle can make you weary. That's where I've felt lately. Wednesday night was a nice pick-me-up, but today was like drinking deep from an ice cold water fountain on a blistering hot summer day.

I was joined by John and Barry at our regular fishing pond, Lakewood Park. And it was a beautiful, hot summer day! Gotta enjoy what we have left of the nice, summer weather. Before John and Barry arrived, I finished setting up the Prayer Station and went back to my car to get one last thing when a woman stopped me and asked if I was leaving. I explained that I was just getting started. It turns out that she is a believer and not only attends a church very close to the park, she also knows my mother-in-law very well. They both attended the same church for a while before each leaving to help start daughter churches in different communities. She was so excited that we were doing this at the park. It was a great little shot of encouragement to start our time for the day!

Just a few minutes later, and after John got there, an older man came up in a motorized wheelchair. He was hard of hearing and a little gruff. He was clearly a Catholic, and admitted as much very soon in the conversation. He came to the park everyday to pray the Rosary after attending daily Mass. He wore a crucifix and had a bracelet on his right hand with pictures of saints all around it. He had a lot to get off his chest about the recent closing of Catholic churches in the Cleveland area. I politely listened and let him say his peace. He refused the first Gospel tract that I offered him, but ended up gladly taking one of the million dollar bills. Knowing that things could have gone from cordial to messy, I decided (whether right or wrong) to be content with him taking the Gospel tract to read, rather than stepping into the Catholic vs. Protestant debate.

Not long after that, just as Barry was arriving, three women came up declaring, "You have three sisters in Christ here!" Now that I think about it, that was quite an assumption to make. As far as I know, they did not know if we were Mormons or New Agey types, or what else we could have been. Nevertheless, they shared what church they went to. One of the ladies pulled out Bible to retrieve a picture of a man who was being persecuted in another country, and facing the possibility of execution. With tears, she asked if we could pray for him. We did. The three women were all very encouraged that we were doing this and thanked us for the ministry.

But this time, it was coming up on 12:30. Not wanting to repeat Wednesday, I set up the box to do some open air. Barry went first and shared his testimony, while incorporating the Gospel. When he was done, I got up and preached next. My throat has been bothering me for about two days because of allergy issues, and you can hear my voice giving out in the audio. Not exactly sure how many heard us. A few did walk by while we were preaching, and several were eating lunch in their cars. The rest were scattered throughout the park, and there was another good sized picnic on the other side of the parking lot. There was also a group of people having a luncheon in the building directly across from us, but I am not sure to what extent our voices went into the building.

When we were done, we enjoyed some more fellowship and discussing the things of God. Some of the greatest times of fellowship I have ever experienced have all been while out "on the streets" with fellow fishermen (and fisherwomen). This was no exception!

Just as Barry was leaving, a sweet, older woman came up a little tentative to talk with us. She began to open up about a situation she was facing with her daughter. I began to turn things to talk about the Law and the Gospel in a general way - a way that could easily be done with family members to avoid things being too "confrontational." You will hear it in the audio - which starts after she was done disclosing her personal situation. You will also hear a few times how she seems to try and change the subject.

As she walked away, I knew that with only 10 minutes until our scheduled end time, that we couldn't leave just yet. It seems like we always have one last encounter when we are packing up, and I didn't want to leave early and miss it. Sure enough, as we began to tear down at 2:00, John ran into a husband and wife in the parking lot and they asked him what we were doing. He explained what we were doing and discovered that the man was a local pastor, heard on a local Christian radio station. He and his wife were extremely encouraged and we had a wonderful time in prayer together.

The purpose is always to share the Gospel, no matter if people hate us, love us or ingore us. But God is so good to bring believers to us to encourage and be encouraged together. Today was one of those days. Many times we may get a believer of two come our way, but to have 6 in one event has not happened before! And not just six to give a nice helo, but six who were all thrilled and excited about what we were doing. I pray they were challenged and encouraged, as well. Thank You, Lord.

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Doug and Charile

2010-08-18T18:14:00.000-07:00

Tonight, John and I were at Lakewood Park - where else? It was a gorgeous evening and the park was quite busy. My plan was to hang out with the Prayer Station, and a little after 7 PM, to do some open air.

After we set up, we prayed together and talked about the things of God, while greeting those who passed us by. John gave away a couple of the curved illusion tracts. It wasn't long after we got going that a young man came up to us. His name was Doug. He was with the Marine training group that is there on Wednesday nights. His commanding officer sent him over to see if we were with Grace Church. Apparently there was a big group having a picnic on the other side of the lot. Actually, I never found out where the group was from. We quickly turned the conversation to the Gospel. Doug said he was Lutheran, but it was clear that the things of God were nowhere near the top of his priority list at this time in his life. The Gospel made sense to him, but he reasoned that he had a long time before he had to worry about eternity. He seemed to casually agree that we can never be certain when death will claim us. He did take a tract and a Bible. John asked if he had any prayer requests, but he said no. However, we were able to find out that he was being deployed in January. Despite Doug's dismissing a need for prayer, John prayed for him anyway.

John and went back to talking about the things of God, and we role-played a witnessing conversation, as I gave John some of the objections I had been hearing during the summer. At one point, the entire Marine group did a group march past the table, so they could all see John's "needGod.com" sign. We also got some laughs from people who saw the Einstein board, which took it's "maiden voyage" tonight.

Before we knew it, it was after 7:30. Oops! I was considering whether I should go ahead and do an open-air when Charlie came up. Charlie seems to be a believer who said that he was in the Word daily. He even commented that he gets a lot of slack from people for being a born-again Catholic. It was a good conversation. He shared some struggles that family members have been facing, and we prayed together about that. He commended us for being so brave as to do what we do.

By the time we finished with Charlie it was 8:00 and time for us to head out. As we were loading things back into my trunk, John was holding the Einstein board, and without realizing it, was holding it in such a way that people could clearly see it. A man with his son were driving by in a convertable and he called out how neat the board was. He said he wanted to win $20. I turned to talk to him and saw that, not only was he also on his cell phone, he was also sitting in a spot to block all traffic. I handed him a million dollar bill and told him that the back would take him through the good person test.

I regret not being more mindful of the time so as to do some open air. but God gave us a couple good opportunities. Also, I am glad to have had a couple good 1-2-1's. I am comfortable on the box. I want more work in 1-2-1's, especially after some of the "tesne" conversations I have had over the past couple of weeks.

Here is my conversation with Doug. If it seems rushed, it is because I knew he needed to get back to his group, and he physically looked more "squirmy" as the conversation went on:

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Join us at Front Street Mall

2010-08-17T20:42:00.000-07:00

Contradictions (Part 1)

2010-08-16T20:10:00.000-07:00

OK, after talking to Rob last Friday night, along with my desire to study the last question I was asked, I decided to find a list of alleged contradictions in the Bible and go through each one. I will be posting my thoughts on these allegations here, so that we may all be edified. I am open to your input on how to respond to these accusations. I will state up front that, yes, I begin with the presupposition that the Bible is true and right. Rob would approach these with the presupposition that the Bible is false. I will not seek to stretch an answer or dodge any issues, but seek to offer a reasonable response. The challenge for the Rob's of the world will be whether they are open to considering the truth rather than blindly ignoring the responses.

The first "contradiction" for us to consider is whether God is good to all. Psalm 145:9 states that God is "good to all." However, Jeremiah 13:14 records God's intention to "dash them one against another." So, which is it? Well, both. Remember, a contradiction is when something cannot be A and not-A at the same time. So, Can these two verses both be true at the same time? Yes. First of all, Jeremiah. God is giving a warning of pending punishment against sin. Can God punish sinners and yet still be good to them? The problem the skeptic is having here is in the definition of good. If you define good as handing out candy to bratty kids, then, no, God is not good to all. How is God good to us? He has given us life and breath and all that we have. He is patient in that He did not kill us today for the ways we sinned against Him yesterday. However, God's goodness does not negate His holiness and justice. He must punish sin - to fail to do so would compromise His goodness.

Think about it this way. Let's say that you hear that I punched someone out - knocked them out cold. Would you question my goodness? It would depend. On what? If I walked up to a stranger and popped them in the mouth, you would be justified to question my goodness. However, if it turns out that the person I struck had broken into my house and was threatening my family, you would see my action as justified. (This did not happen - just an illustration).

The point is this - yes, God is good to every single person. However, God's goodness always includes His justice. The same people toward whom God has expressed His goodness have spit in His face and mocked Him. His goodness demands that law-breakers be punished. And God continues to show each of us His goodness by not punishing us. In fact, in the ultimate expression of His goodness to all - He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself the wrath that we deserve so that, if we repent and trust in Christ to save us, God will forgive us of our sins and grant us everlasting life.

The second "contradiction" for us to consider is whether or not God is for peace or for war. Exodus 15:3 states that "The Lord is a man of war." However, Romans 15:33 refers to Him as the "God of peace." Which is it? Both. Throughout the Old Testament, God stepped in to fight on behalf of His covenant people, so that the Jewish line would be preserved - ensuring the fulfillment of the promise made in genesis to raise up One who would crush the head of the snake. And so, enemy nations were struck down. Not innocent nations. Pagan, God-hating nations. So, how can God be the "God of peace?" Despite many skeptics' claims that context does not matter, it does. Romans, in particular, is a book that explains the message of the Gospel - that peace with God is available through Jesus Christ. As with "contradiction" number one, the problem lies in our defintion. In this case, wrongly assuming what kind of peace is being referred to. The New Testament is filled with reminders ot peace with God through Jesus Christ. Exodus and Romans are just fine side by side.

Lastly, for now, let us consider who exactly is the father of Joseph? Matthew 1:16 refers to Jacob being the father of Joseph, while Luke 3:23 says that Joseph's father is Heli. Let's take a closer look at these passages. There are a lot more differences than just Jacob and Heli. They are two different geneologies. Is this a contradiction? No. Matthew presents Jesus as the King. Luke presents Jesus as the ideal man - the Son of Man. One possible way to resolve these geneologies is that Matthew uses the line of His father, Joseph, as is appropriate to trace a kingly line. Luke traces the "human side" of Jesus, through his mother, Mary. But why is Joseph listed as the son of Heli rather than Mary being his daughter? It is possible that Heli did not have a male descendant to pass on his inheritance, so he adopted Joseph as his son. There are other defenses as well. Do we know for certain which is true? No, not definitively. But again, if there is a reasonable answer, it can no longer be tagged as a contradiction.

You probably noticed my use of the word "reasonable' throughout this post. There is a reason. There are some things, such as the geneologies, that we cannot know for certain. The responses I have given are, I trust, reasonable answers. What would be an unreasonable answer? Something completely made up with no basis of support whatsoever. Such an answer would be what some Christians do with dinosaurs by claiming that they never existed and Satan planted the bones just to fool everybody. That is a cop-out, not a reasonable answer.

So, I hope this was somewhat helpful. I will continue to work through the list of "contradictions" and post my thoughts. My answers are not meant to be examples of the best way to answer the objections, as I am sure there are far smarter people out there than me. My purpose is also not to go too deep in unpacking each allegation. My hope is to present a concise answer that is easy to remember if you should face these questions when sharing the Gospel.

Open Air - August 13th

2010-08-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

At Rockin' on the River.

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Conversation with Rob

2010-08-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

Here is my conversation with Rob from last Friday at Rockin' on the River.

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Rockin' on the River - August 13th

2010-08-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

Today started with a very slow Prayer Station at Lakewood Park. I only stayed for one hour and nobody came to the table. Fortunately, I had my "NeedGod.com" sign up, so I would say at least 30 people/joggers were able to at least see that. Perhaps you have seen pictures in other posts of our Prayer Stations at Lakewood Park, and it looks like we are in the middle of nothing. I took a picture from our side of the table for you to see the parking lot that is right in front of us. Today there were several people in their cars eating lunch and never came out of the car. Again, I was glad to have brought the Need God sign for their sake.

Tonight is what I was really excited about. I was able to arrange things so I could get back down to Rockin' on the River. There had to be at least 15 of us on the team there tonight - a beautiful thing to see! The crowd seemed off to a very slow start, but started to pick up as the evening went on. Tracts seemed to be going pretty well. Many who refused them commented that they had already gotten one another time.

Chris started off the open air preaching and did a great job - he has developed into a very solid open air preacher. After a little break, I got on the box. I will post the audio over the weekend, but it did not turn out very well. This was the first time I used the new sound system there and I think my little recorder was going nuts trying to pick out my real voice, my amplified voice, my voice bouncing off the buildings, and the crowd noise right in front of me. No hecklers for me tonight, but I overheard some snarky comments as people passed by.

When I finished, Chris got up again and did another solid job. Then, Ariana got up and recited the Sermon on the Mount. I had heard about here ability to do this from memory, but had not seen it done yet for myself. Wow - she did an amazing job!!

Just as I was listening to her recite from Matthew, Susan asked me to help answer a question from a young man that they had been talking to for quite a while. I later found out that his name is Rob, an 18-year old who has come many, many times just to try and bring another tough question. Tonight, he came prepared. He had a Bible AND a sheet full of hand-written notes - contradictions in the Bible that he wanted to use to stump us.

The question that brought me in was how Elijah could be taken up into heaven, but John 3 says that nobody has ascended into heaven other than Jesus. I was trying to say how something that happened with Elijah was different than what happened with Jesus. I focused on the fact that Elijah was taken up in his physical body while Jesus was taken up in His glorified body. As I drove home, I realized that, while an answer, it was not the best answer. The better answer, I think, is that Elijah would have been taken up into Paradise/Abraham's bosom, while Jesus ascended into heaven. Add to that, the fact that Elijah was taken up - in that he could not do it on his own, while Jesus ascended without the aid of the chariot of fire.

Rob went on to ask other questions, continually insisting that I had failed to answer any of his questions. I felt like I was being a little snippy toward him, as he was to me. I don't know if this was right or not. I did not feel as snarky as I did with the one young man at SummerFest, but more aggressive than I am used to being. Part of it was a response to his condescending attitude, plus the fact that he had already been debating for a long time tonight, not to mention all the other times he had come around this summer. At the beginning of the conversation, he even hinted that the answers to these questions would not change his opinion of the Bible.

The part that bothered me most is when I said to him, in response to a cocky smirk he made, "You think you're clever, but you're not." Ooh. If there was an evangelism ref, he may have thrown a flag on the field at that point. I think that was the first time I have made such a direct personal attack in a witnessing conversation. However, I was technically true. Part of the dictionary definition of clever is to have originality to your thoughts. Rob had admitted that he did not come up with any of the objections or questions on his own, but had found them online. Nevertheless, true or not, probably not something I would do again. he did have quite a shocked look on his face, though! I pray that God used it for the purpose I was pushing with him - to think for himself and to read the Bible for himself, something he admits he has never done. I will post this conversation, as well, but it did not come out that great, either.

My conversation with Rob brought a few things to my mind. First of all, a reminder of how I am not quick on my feet to think. Driving home, I thought of much better responses to his questions and comments. Second, I feel the need to go back on atheist web sites to thoroughly go through all their alleged contradcitions in the Bible, so that I can think in advance of how to a more thoughtful answer. Third, a continued struggle in my approach to conversations with people who honestly don't want answers, but just want to try and stump you. I can't forget that their mocking questions can still turn around on them and the Spirit can work in their hearts. But my real struggle is whether it is OK or not to be firm and blunt with people who are basically playing games. I will need to pray a lot about that one.

Please pray for Rob. Beth had told me that he expressed to her that he was getting close to becoming a Christian. However, right after that, he started getting very antagonistic. At one point during our conversation, as he looked over his "debate sheet" he said that he promised his Mom to make her proud. Aha! He clearly has been telling his mother about his conversations with our team members and she is adding fuel to the fire, provoking him to skepticism. This poor kid - their is a tug of war on his heart.

As I left, Aaron has gotten up to preach. He just may be one of the best open air preachers I've heard. He also has a keen ability to bring in hecklers! I pray God worked powerfully as the evening went on!

Lighthouse Outreach Team Getting Ready for Winter

2010-08-11T21:38:00.000-07:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Roman Catholic Apologists and Scripture

2010-08-10T20:59:00.000-07:00

Is Mormonism Christian?

2010-08-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

Roamin' the Pro

2010-08-10T18:23:00.000-07:00

Tonight, we were scheduled to meet up with John Chisham with his team from Mark 1:15 Ministries as they made their way back from a trip to New York City. I picked up my fishing buddy, John, and we made our way to Progressive Field ("The Pro") where we were to meet the Mark 1:15 team to share the Gospel with people heading to the Indians game. We paked the car and made our way to E.9th St. and called John to see what their time-frame was. It would seem I left home just before he sent me a note to let me know that circumstances had prevented them from making their desired stop off in Cleveland. Bummer - I was looking forard to meeting John and witnessing with him.

Well, John (my fishing buddy) and I were determined to make the most of our time there. Most of the street corners were already occupied with vendors and scalpers - and this was two hours before the game started. So, we decided to keep walking, passing out tracts as we went. However, I suggested we take a moment to pray before we ventured around the stadium. Before we did, John offered tracts to two young men walking by - Bernard and Lovelle. They started reading the back of the tracts and were interested in talking. John and I tag-teamed the conversation. Both Bernard and Lovelle claimed that they were Christians, even though their language strongly suggested otherwise. They both said that they were good people, and we began to go through the Commandments. Both confessed to having lied, but Bernard protested the question of ever having stolen anything. He justified that the real sin was how much businessmen charge for things. John asked about lust, and both denied doing so, even though they seldom made eye contact with us because they watched every woman who walked by. Bernard said they were just watching people walk, not "checkin' them out."

They had a surface level understanding of why Jesus died on the cross. After pressing the issue a little, they admited that they deserve to go to hell for their sins, but were quick to point out that everybody should go there, too. Although, Bernard launched into insisting that there is no hell, because we are in hell already because things are so bad here. The conversation began to fall apart a little at this point. Bernard started saying that the Bible is just a book written by men and Lovelle was asking me if it would be wrong for him to change his name. Just when I thought everything was over, Bernard asked John if he knew he was going to heaven. He then asked me the same. Then he asked if we were ready to go there now. I had a very unsettled feeling at this point. I don't know if there were in a gang or not, but it was clear that these two guys spent a lot of time on the street. Fortunately, Bernard did not reach for a knife. Rather, we shook hands and ended the conversation.

John and I finally were able to stop and pray. Then we began to roam the streets surrounding Progressive Field. We certainly found all the vendors and ticket scalpers (and yes, they got tracts)! We were even confused for scalpers on more than one occasion. As long as we were close to the stadium, we had mixed success in passing out tracts. By that, I mean we probably had an equal number of people take them as rejected them. Once we wondered a few blocks away from the stadium, we began to run into the professional crowd heading out at the end of the work day. At this point we had maybe a 10% success rate of getting tracts to people.

A couple of times we passed homeless people looking for a handout. We felt like Peter and John in Acts 4, without the healing. One man asked, "Can you spare something?" I said, "No, all I have is the Gospel" and handed him a tract. A little later down that street we came across a vendor setting up his stand. I set a tract on a pile of boxes and he said, "This isn't about church, is it?" I kept walking as I turned back and said, "No, it's about the Gospel." he said, "Well then here - I don't want it." I remembered Steve Sanchez's charge at the Ambassadors' Academy to never take a tract back. I jept walking as if I didn't hear him.

John seemed to strike a cord with a couple of scalpers on a street corner. He gave them tracts as we made our way up their side of the street. As we came back down the other side, one man was yelling, "The million dollar man! The million dollar man!"

Other than the anti-church vendor and a ton of cold shoulders, we didn't face any hostility. We did get several laughs and good reactions to the million dollar bill tracts. And I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to give away quite a few baseball trivia tracts, after not being able to give away any of them at a game last year.

We were there for about an hour and a half before the heat had taken its toll on us - maybe it would have been better to conserve energy and stay in one spot! We were able to give out at least 200 tracts, and had way more than that many rejections. We are hoping to be able to make it to a couple more games before the end of the season.

Are You a Good Person?

2010-08-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

ABIDE! TV - August 4th Open Air Message

2010-08-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

Evangelism of The Jehovah's Witness

2010-08-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

Q and A - How to Explain Old Testament Salvation in Christ

2010-08-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

An Open Air Preacher is Born!!

2010-08-04T19:30:00.000-07:00

According to the weather forecast, our time at Lakewood Park should have been rained out. God had other plans! As I made my way to the park, the thick clouds began to scatter and the sun came shining through! It was hot and muggy, but there was a decent number of people at the park - even though they were pretty well scattered throughout the park. The closest group to us was a yoga class.

I was joined right away by Barry. Barry and I have known each other for several years now, but it was just a few weeks ago that he and I had lunch to talk about the Way of the Master. he had just come across it and was excited to be taking his first steps into Biblical evangelism. He joined us at SummerFest and has become a regular with us at Lakewood Park. We had a great time of fellowship together as we talked about the things of God.

We set up our Prayer Station near our usual spot at 6:30. Several people walked by us and politely acknowledge us, but nobody came to the table. Around 7:00, Chris and Rachel joined us. They had a handful of tracts, and made a lap around the park. They gave away over 20 tracts and enagaged a couple of people, including a Buddhist, in conversation.

When they got back to the Prayer Station, we set up the box and Chris kicked off the open air preaching. Earlier, I had talked to Barry about his interest in getting on the box - actually, he brought it up asking if anybody was allowed to get on the box. He said he really wanted to and would be preparing something. I asked if he wanted to get up tonight and just read John 3:16. He seemed excited about that.

When Chris finished, I asked Barry if he wanted to give it a shot. Without hesitating, he bounced over toward the box. I gave him my Bible, opened to John 3:16. As he looked at it, he said, "Just John 3:16? How about all of John 3?" Praise God! he wasn't looking for the easy way out - he wanted to go "all in!" He got up and read John 3, even without his reading glasses! I cannot describe the feeling of watching someone get on the box for the first time. I am proud of them and so excited to think about what God has in store for them, topped with a feeling of humble honor to be present for their "maiden voyage" into the world of open air preaching.

Earlier in the evening, I shared with Barry how God blessed Todd and me our first time open air preaching with a woman who stopped to listen, then thank us for being there. Well, halfway through Barry's reading of John 3, a couple walking down the path stopped and watched him. When he was done, they applauded him and came over to talk to us. Everett and Carolee attend a church in Lakewood, and had even done a weekly outreach at Lakewood Park for years a while back. We had a nice several minutes of fellowship. When they left, I got on the box to finish up our time at the park.

What a blessed time!

Here is the audio of Chris, Barry, and myself. I cut out the down time in between us, but I left in the driveby hecklers at the very end. It was a car of teenagers who would quickly peak out of the car window to yell, "Satan," then duck back into the car. At the very end, you can hear them yell again as they drove by us. If you're going to heckle, have some courage and heckle properly!

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Boot Camp Coming Quick!

2010-08-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that this year's Boot Camp is now just a couple of weeks away! Oh, by the way, you still have 1 week to register! Visit here for more information.

Tonight, some of the team leaders met (in person and via telephone) to begin going over logisitics for the Boot Camp, as well as to spend time in prayer together. I am so blessed by the team God has brought together to be a part of this Boot Camp. I pray that we have a great turnout to learn from these wonderful servants of God.

Please be in prayer that God bring together the remaining details leading up to the Boot Camp.

Conversation with "Pete"

2010-07-30T13:48:00.001-07:00

OK, I decided to go ahead and post my conversation with "Pete." Again, he and Barry talked for almost a half hour before this audio begins. I post it, not to call for sides on the debate, but for my own edification and growth. Did I handle it OK? Did I get rude? Was it a fair conversation considering the setting? You decide. Please read my previous post to get the context.

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Christian Heckler and a Hungry Baby

2010-07-30T11:52:00.001-07:00

Today, I was joined by John and Barry at Lakewood Park to hold a Prayer Station, and to do some open air preaching. And, after the "end of the world" storm that came through Wednesday, today could not have been a more beautiful day to be out sharing the Gospel. We opened with prayer and set up at 11:30. Just a few minutes after setting up, Barry asked if we were allowed to hand tracts out and approach people. I said we were wide open with our rights. So, a few seconds later, a young man comes around and Barry walks up to him and offers him a million dollar bill tract. I could overhear much of their conversation, and it seemed strange. The man (I will not use his real name, but refer to him as "Pete") was asking a lot of questions and raising a lot of objections - things like, how can you believe the Bible when there are so many translations, and what about other sacred Scriptures, etc. He also raised questions about a popular preacher who went through a divorce in the past few years. Despite all these "objections," I couldn't help but feel like he was setting Barry up or trying to "test" him. The conversation quickly turned to the reliability of the King James version and he stopped sounding like a skeptic and began sounding like someone who strongly believed the Bible. Barry called for back-up and brought me into the conversation. I quickly began to suspect that this was someone who has been talking to my friend Mark at another park in Lakewood. The conversation was dead-focused on debating the KJV vs. other Bible translations. After being a Christian for 22 years, including 4 years of Bible college, 3 years of seminary, and 10 years in pastoral ministry, I have learned to see the difference between an honest exchange on the validity of one translation over another. There is a time and a place for that, if it is done well. This was not that. I tried several times to respectfully end the conversation, stating that we were out here to share the Gospel, not debate other Christians about Bible translations. Before I came into the conversation, Barry and "Pete" had already been talking for close to a half hour. I gave him about 10-15 minutes, then several times pointed out that, while we stand here debating, countless lost people were walking past us - and those are the people we were here to reach. With each attempt to end the conversation, he would say something to the effect of, "So God's Word isn't important to you." Well, just because I go to sleep at night, it doesn't mean ministry is not important to me. There is a time and a place. This time was for evangelism. he wouldn't let the conversation end. I was about to be rude and just walk away when John stepped in to pray. After John closed, I shook "Pete's" hand, thanked him and shared that I appreciated what he had to say, but we were here to share the Gospel. I turned away and got my things ready to do some open air. As I shook "Pete's" hand and he said his name, I knew it was the guy that Mark has talked to before.

I am not using "Pete's" real name because I do not want to do anything to taint anyone's impression of him. My issues boiled down to the fact that, having realized who he was, I know that he came to the park that day specifically to find us and debate KJV with us. And in so doing, he knew that he would be keeping us from sharing the Gospel with the lost. And for just about an hour, he did just that. I do not doubt "Pete's" salvation or sincerity. He brings up some valid concerns, but I feel he ignores other issues. I respect his convictions, his passion for God's Word, and I agreed 100% with every theoligical point he made. Where my respect for him comes to an end is when he comes knwoing where we will be and when we will be there for no other reason that to keep us from sharing the Gospel with lost people so that he can engage in a pet debate, when we tried to end in on several occasions. I would have no problem standing side by side with "Pete" to worship God and pray - and even to stand side by side to share the Gospel. I have no ill feelings, other than the frustration of losing an hour of evangelism for his debate. To me, that is losing sight of the forest among the trees.

Having left that conversation, I got my Bible (ESV, thank you) and my box and made my way over to the veteran's monument area to do some open air, before the better part of the lunch crowd left (it had already died down during the time we spent with "Pete" and I own responsibility for not just walking away and getting to work). As I preached, I was surprised by the response. So often, I just get ignored altogether. I could see many people in different areas stopped or sitting and turned to listen to me.

Maybe half way through the preaching, a man came our way with two small children. They stopped under a tree about 10-12 feet to my right and he was giving them something to eat. I wasn't sure how to take this, as some have done that before and I have tried to talk to them and they were annoyed. I kept on preaching. When I was done, he stood up and I could tell he wanted to talk. His name is Diego. He truly gave his life to Christ just within the past week - a babe in Christ. He has been reading the Bible and hungry to learn and grow. He was asking about any Bible studied or discipleship materials that we could point him to. I gave him my card and offered to help in any way possible with his growth and discipleship, even if that meant helping him find a church closer to his home. After talking for a few minutes, I offered to pray for him, which he was delighted about. He shared a physical problem that he was suffering with and would appreciate prayer for. He shared how grateful he was that he had come and that we were there. he was so humble and genuine - his desire to grow in Christ was obvious. What a God moment!

With that, I am grateful for the sovereignty of God. MY plan was to start open air preaching at noon, which means I would have ended around 12:20. Because of our extended time with "Pete," I didn't start until just after 12:30. That means Diego came up to us around 12:40 or so. Had I started at noon, I Diego would not have heard me preach, and since our Prayer Station was on the other side of the parking lot, hidden by cars from where I was preaching at, he may never have seen us to come and talk with us. I was preaching exactly when God wanted me preaching for Diego's sake. I do pray for all the others who listened, but I am content if Diego is the only reason we came to spend 2 and a half hours at the park today.

After finishing preaching, I went back to the Prayer Station, where we waited to see what else God might do. John was very much at work with the curved illusion tracts, giving away at least 16-20. There was even one odd moment in that time. A city truck pulled up right next to us on the grass - I mean within 6 feet from me. A worker got out and said, "Do you guys need a trash can here?" He then pulled one out and set it right by us. John swifty got up and gave both the workers tracts, which they gladly took. What was odd about that, was that there was already a trash can just over 10 feet away from us. There were plenty of other spots that I could see without a trash can anywhere in the area. I can't help but think that God brought them there, even if they don't realize it, to get those tracts from John.

Just before leaving, a bubbly Christian woman came up asking about what we were doing and bounced away excited and encouraged that we were there.

It was a beautiful day, God was clearly working. I had some wonderful fellowship with John and Barry as we talked about the things of God. Please pray for all who heard the Gospel preached and for those who received tracts. Pray for Diego and his children. Pray for the two city workers. Pray for those who just walked by and saw John's "NeedGod.com" sign. Pray for "Pete." Not in "God change him" way. Pray for his continued growth in Christ, just as you would any other person in your church. I hope to one day be able to enjoy fellowship with him, as well.

Here is the audio from the open air:

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Something Wicked This Way Comes

2010-07-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

So, I was excited about tonight. I haven't open-air preached since July 2nd and I was eager to get back at it. We were scheduled to be at Lakewood Park again, and I was also excited to have a new fisherman, Barry, join us tonight. They were calling for severe thunderstorms all day, but weather forecasts in Cleveland lately have been anything but reliable.

As we got closer to the 6:30 start time, the sky began to look questionable. I decided to head out a little early to see if I could get in a few minutes of evangelism before the rain started. The closer I got, the more I could see the ominous black clouds rolling in off of Lake Erie. When I was just a few blocks from the park, it turned almost night-dark at just 6:00 PM. I pulled into Lakewood Park and got out of my car just as intense winds were picking up. I noticed that there was a decent sized crowd there, but most of them were already starting to "head for the hills." I walked toward the Lake to see the storm approaching just as my wife called with a weather update that a huge storm was heading straight for Lakewood. After taking a quick picture of the coming storm, I resolved to join the masses and "head for the hills" myself. Just as I was pulling out of the park, the city of Lakewood sounded some type of weather alarm. Didn't wuite sound like a tornado siren, but it was something serious.

I made it safely home through an absolute downpour. After the storm died down, the family headed off to pick up a few things from the store. I grabbed some tracts and did a tract drop through the store - determined not to let the evening be a total wash out.

Now I have to wait for Friday - but at least there are no storms in the forecast for then!

CrossWalk - July 21

2010-07-21T10:37:00.001-07:00

So, I am on vacation this week and I have one day - today - completely to myself. I could do whatever I wanted! So, I started the day by getting the oil changed in my wife's car. Then I went to the beach at Rocky River Park to read my Bible, then take a walk while listening to the sermon "What is the Gospel?" by John MacArthur. After that, I headed over to Lakewood Park to hold my cross near the entrance for those making their way to the pool. No conversation presented themselves. Honestly, I wasn't in a great spot. I was hoping to be right at the entrance. However, a school bus was parked on the street blocking the west corner and a landscaper was working on the east corner, with the truck blocking view of that sidewalk. I disn't stay all that long, but I am trying to get over thinking that I need to set aside 2+ hours anytime I go out. Nevertheless, it was a good step in establishing a more regular routine of going out with the cross.

SummerFest Audio

2010-07-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

So, after going through the audio from SummerFest, only one conversation was clear enough to post. My conversation with the Catholic skeptic did not turn out well, nor did my encounter with the second group of teens. The audio from the first group of teens came out OK, although it is a little hadr to hear in spots because of the huge fan that was running next to me, as well as the thumping of the concert going on behind us. I apologize if I missed any profanity - I only recall one word that needed to be muted, which I did. If you hear any other words that should be edited, please let me know.

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SummerFest - Day 3

2010-07-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

Summerfest 2010 has come and gone. So far, we have seen things very slow and we have seen things very active. We have endured 90 degree heat. And the heat continued today. But what else would continue - the busy moments sharing the Gospel or the painful slowness that dominated much of the weekend? Sadly, the painful slowness. Sunday is always the slow day, but this year was mangified by the heat as well as the fact that the fireworks were rescheduled for tonight after being cancelled last night by the thunderstorm. We were able to give away a nice amount of tracts to end the day, and Mark brought out his big cross which drew some attention.

This was the 9th year we participated in the Fairview SummerFest. Last year we gave away 7,000 Gospel tracts which was our highest number to that point. Prior to that, the most tracts we had given out was about 2,000. This year, we ordered 10,000 tracts with a hope that we could top last year. As I saw how slow things were, that became doubtful. Due to schedule issues, we probably had the smallest "staff" for the booth. However, I praise God for every person who was able to come and help and all those who were praying for us. I am also grateful to members of the Northeast Ohio Harvest Team who were able to come and help us at different times over the weekend. By the time we left, we had given out 6,600 Gospel tracts. I was pleasantly surprised by this considering the circumstances. God is good!

SummerFest - Day 2

2010-07-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

One Day, Three Parts

Day 2 of Summerfest began where day 1 left off - very slow. The morning was pretty much uneventful. Not only that, people were largely, well....grumpy. One lady from the church was working the craft side of the booth and would invite people to come and make a free craft. What she got back were somewhat dirty looks. Not sure what that was about! I needed to be away from the booth during the afternoon, but I heard that things got a little better in the afternoon, but not by much. Mark brought out his big cross for a few hours.

I got back to the booth at 5:00 and things were still mostly slow. It wasn't until about 6:00 that things started to pick up. And, in fact, we had about a 2 hour window where tracts were flying. We were blessed to have 2 sisters in Christ from another church come out to help us for a bit. We were starting to run out of some tracts. Things were looking good! We even had a couple of conversations with other believers who were very excited to see Christians taking evangelism seriously. One lady plans to come out and watch us when we go to Lakewood Park to open air preach.

During this "up" time, I had a conversation with Mark. He said that he was a Catholic, but after reading a Mark Twain book, he was starting to have serious doubts. I began trying to work through those doubts with him, but he began bringing up a number of other issues that were making it hard for him to hold on to his faith. Hopefully by Monday night I can post the audio of our conversation.

That was the beginning of the end of the "up" time for tonight. The day started very slow, then got very exciting, then turned dark in more ways than one! I had a group of teenagers - around 14 years old - come up and begin asking questions. I hope to also have this audio posted by Monday. Things got a bit "zesty." I try my best to always stay collected and cordial in concersations. However, this one took the tone of a heated open air. There were about 6 kids gathered around during this exchange. While all the kids seemed to have their "pet" questions, one kid sttod out. Early in the conversation, I stated that I believed what I believe because of what the Bible says. This young man laughed out loud and stormed off. He came back to basically heckle me. I had to talk him back to the conversation several times, as he would start to walk off laughing. The next thing I know, he laughs so hard he spits out the water he was drinking, then he drops to the ground in front of the table and rolled around laughing hysterically. At this point, I felt I lost any sense of quiet-natured dialogue. I took a more firm and confrontational approach. Even now, I am not sure if this was right or not, but I keep thinking of what Ray Comfort talks about with the need to be more confrontational in an open air session. As long as I was trying to be wuiet natured with this kid, he was out of control. Once I firmed up, I was able to maintain some sense of control in the conversation. Things started to get crazy as all the kids were firing off questions at the same time, and I did my best to jump from question to question. My heart broke for these kids.

I didn't have long to catch my breath when another batch of kids (about the same ages as the first group) came up for a very similar type of conversation. Things didn't get as crazy as the first group. I think the first group was fueled by the dirt rolling hysteric. Things bounced around as I talked to this group of at least 8 kids. This was the most heart-breaking of them all. Two of the kids in this group are kids that we talked to a lot last year. Last year, they came up to us everyday of the festival with genuine questions and great conversations. This year, they came with doubts, skepticism and mockery. I pray that they were just trying to fit into the group. But I grieved the fact that in one year their hearts seemed to have gone the opposite direction from where they seemed to be last year of having honest and sincere questions.

Just as this group walked away, my attention was directed to the sky to the north. I hadn't noticed it before. What I saw was something like "something wicked this way comes." Huge dark clouds were rolling in, laced with lightning. By this time it was 9:00, a little ways away still from the start of the fireworks. Jim and I felt it best to "head for the hills." We hurried to get all the tracts back in bins and pull everything under as much shelter as we could before heading out. As we left, a meeting was being held to see if they should cancel the fireworks.

It was an earlier end to the evening than I had planned for, but honestly I was not disappointed. To be truthful, I was ready to leave. I found myself feeling what I felt first in Glendale at the Ambassadors' Academy. It is something I have felt several times since then. It is a feeling that I can often subdue with the joy of sharing the Gospel with the lost. This feeling comes at predictable times - after talking with young teenagers. Maybe it is because the Lord saved me at age 14. It may seem surprising once you hear how heated the two "conversations" were. However, especially after having two in a row, all I wanted to do was curl up in a corner and just weep over this kids. I didn't know if I could bare a third encounter like that. Seeing the hardness in their hearts - and the absolute joke they make of the Gospel, my heart feels crushed. I hurt. It is a pain that cannot be described unless you have felt it for yourself, I guess.

So, how was day 2? Well, which part? The painfully slow part? The fast and exciting part? Or the dark part? We sought to be faithful. Many heard the Gospel. Many received tracts. My guess is that we are somewhere around the 6,000 tract mark for the weekend so far. And many believers were encouraged. And, some "believers" who puzzled by us. Within sight of our booth were other churches giving away TV's and snow cones and another other type of thing. We talked to some from one of those churches who had little interest in hearing the Gospel. Some were puzzled as to what we were doing. In response to our Prayer Station banner, one lady from a church asked, "So what exactly is this - do you actually pray with people right here?" The concept seemed very foreign to her. I don't say this to condemn of criticize those churches. I just mention that as another odd part to our day. But I do have some follow up thoughts that I will reserve for the next edition of ABIDE! Radio.

So, what can day 3 bring? We'll find out tomorrow!

SummerFest - Day 1

2010-07-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

The opening day of Summerfest is in the books! All-in-all, a good start to the weekend. For the first time in a while, we did not have to battle thunderstorms and high winds on the first day!

I was unsure of who all would end up helping at the parade, but God brought together about 12 people by the time we got out on Lorain Rd. We had a team of people from 6 different churches all coming together for the sake of the Gospel! The parade moved quite a bit slower than last year, which made it easier to get tracts to more people, although the crowd seemed smaller this year. Throughout the course of the parade, we gave away nearly 4,000 tracts. We also had one person in the truck throwing out candy, as well as my "Are You Ready?" cross fastened on the back of the truck.

While we were waiting for the parade to start, Rusty noticed one man (in a float behind us) nudge his buddy to look at the cross and both seemed to mouth, "Whoa!" He also noticed during the parade that people weren't just taking tracts, but a lot of the people were immediately turning them over to read the back.

Once we got back to the booth, things also seemed a little slower than usual, but the traffic flow remained pretty steady. There were several 1-2-1 conversations throughout the evening and a lot of tracts were given out throughout the evening. One thing that broke my heart was hearing teenagers - especially junior high kids - very hardened to the Gospel, and Catholic school kids who were very dismissive on the authority of the Bible. I overheard Rachel sharing with one young man who said, "You're not supposed to take the Bible that seriously."

I people mention several times that they remember getting tracts from us before, or even talking to us last year. I heard one teenager say how he has a tract from last year's parade hanging up in his room. I just pray he read it, or will read it. Rusty and I were able to witness someone throw a tract on the ground after walking away from the booth, only to be immediately picked up by the person walking behind them. One thing I did notice was that, unlike previous years, I saw a lot of tracts not only thrown on the ground, but many were ripped into small pieces. Last year, the first two days were positive and the last day was "dark." Maybe we got our "dark" day out of the way!

Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter than today, so we will see how that impacts the crowd earlier in the day. I am praying for a good crowd for fireworks! Please pray for all those who received tracts, heard the Gospel, and saw the cross today.

SummerFest: Pre-Fest Warm Up

2010-07-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

Carnival rides are being put in place. 10,000 Gospel tracts are packed away in boxes. 2,500+ Dum-Dum lolipops are ready for action. 75 tract fans are waiting for the glue to dry. Signs have been made. Yes, it is time for the Fairview SummerFest! Last year, God provided a wonderful weekend for sharing the Gospel as we had countless conversations with people (including Dennis Kucinich) and we have away 7,000 Gospel tracts.

This is one of the busiest times of the year for me as I get things ready for our biggest outreach of the year. This is the 9th year we will be at SummerFest, and we are eager to see what God has in store! Please be in prayer for us, and if you are able - we'd love your help! While this booth is provided by Lighthouse Alliance Church, our number one objective for the weekend is to procalim the Gospel. I have been so blessed already by the number of people who are making plans to join us throughout the weekend! Not only do we need "all hands on deck" for the outreach, especially the parade, we need all the prayer support we can get!

I will do my best to post updates here each night Friday-Sunday about what God did during each of those days for a number of reasons. But i hope that these will be more than just good stories to read, but please pray for each and every person who receives a tract and each person that we engage in conversation.

Look for the day 1 update Friday night (granted it will be late in the evening!).

CrossWalk - July 9th

2010-07-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

OK, honesty time. Late last summer, I joined my friend Mark as we hit a street corner with our crosses. I was excited to begin this new phase of evangelism. What I did not expect was some of the reactions I was getting for such an activity. To be blunt, I became a little "confused" as to whether this was something that I really felt God was calling me to do. I mean, was this something on my heart, or was it just something I did because Tony Miano, a man I highly respect, was making this a feature part of his evangelism efforts?

For several months, I took the mentality of, "This is fine for others, but I'll stick to open air preaching." The problem is, I used to use very similar language about open air preaching! For the past several weeks, CrossWalking has returned to my heart as something I should incorporate more. In the Prayer Stations we do, I began to realize that many people were passing us by without any Gospel influence at all. I also began to realize that people have no problem with all sorts of other sign guys - Little Caesar's, Quiznos, Check Into Cash, etc. It is not the sign that people have a problem with - it is the cross. I recently saw a report of a church that decided to remove the cross from its steeple because it had developed into a more inclusive church (oops - I mean "inclusive spiritual community"). I will not be ashamed of the cross.

Long story short - kind of - last night I found myself wrestling in prayer over hitting the streets with my cross (which has been in more trunk ever since I made it). I was desperate to hear from God on this. I decided to go to His Word. I was about to read from list 2 of the Horner Reading System. Last night had me set to read Deuteronomy 32 for list 2. It is the "Song of Moses." A little skeptical that this chapter would help answer my question, I just trusted God and asked Him to somehow speak clearly to me in this chapter. I only got as far as verse 3 when the words seemed to jump right off the page to smack me in the face - "For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God!" My job is to proclaim the name of the Lord, not worry about who will think I've gone overboard. Not wanting to seem like a flip-open-my-Bible-and-cherry-pick-a-verse kind of guy, I spent time in prayer about this verse and my wrestling over going out with the cross. Yes, I believe God was using this verse.

Today, I was set to go out with John for our weekly Friday lunch-time outreach. He suggested we do another Prayer Station. I had been thinking we could just go out with our signs/crosses. Well, I figured, let's do both. I went to Lakewood Park to set up the Prayer Station AND have the cross with us. The sky was looking quite threatening, as storms were expected to move in. As soon as I pulled in the parking lot, a light drizzle began. Well, so much for the Prayer Station. I went to my trunk and pulled out the cross. We would sit under a tree with the cross in the rain for the remaining crowd at the park - other than the 15 squirrels who surrounded us at one point!

It didn't take long until the rain picked up and the tree no longer provided sufficient shelter. We set up under the overhang at the women's club pavilion. The rain got stronger. In total, we were were there for about 2 hours. The crowd wasn't huge, but at least 3 dozen people saw the cross as many came to the park and stayed in their cars to eat lunch.

It felt good to be out with the cross. I am looking forward to more opportunities to CrossWalk - including putting the cross on our float in next week's SummerFest parade.

Muggy Prayer Station

2010-07-07T18:31:00.000-07:00

Tonight, John and I went to Lakewood Park for our Wednesday night outreach. For a third straight day, temperatures topped 90 degrees. For Cleveland, that's hot. Compared to our winters, I'm not complaining! However, it was clear right away that the heat was keeping people at home in their air conditioning. I was sweating just sitting there talking with John! With the exception of a little league game at the front of the park and the regular Marine training group, the crowd was more reflective of an afternoon rather than an evening at the park. Because of the low numbers, I opted not to do an open-air tonight. Plus, these Marines have now heard me several times already. We gave out about 4 tracts in about 2 hours there.

Our final conversation came as we were packing up the table. Hugh was a Roman Catholic pro-life activist. He is one of the "infamous" people in the area who protest abortion clinics by holding huge signs with pictures of mutilated fetuses. He started to lash out at churches who do not protest abortion. This and other things he said brought us to consider it best to leave him with a tract and part ways after praying with him.

Unexpected Blessing

2010-07-03T18:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, as I was at the Prayer Station with John, he happened to mention a 4th of July parade at Kamm's Corners for Saturday morning. Having not been able to make it to the Duct Tape Festival Parade, I was very interested in going. So, I made plans to meet John and head up to the parade. When I got there, it was clear that this was going to be a bigger parade than I thought it would be. I thought we could maybe give out about 400 tracts or so.

We started to walk the parade route to the crowds already gathered at 9:15. We made our way east on Lorain Rd. and we were quickly flying through tracts. We got to the end of the parade route and began to head back west toward the start of the parade. The parade started earlier than I thought it would and we had run out of tracts, so we wrapped it up by 9:45. We figure we were able to give out 800-1,000 tracts and we had a lot of crowd that we were unable to get to! Next year, we need more people and more tracts!

Prayer Station and Project Ezra

2010-07-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

Today, I met up with my fishing buddy John to set up a Prayer Station at Lakewood Park. Mark was also able to join us for a little bit before he set off for his favorite fishing spot. We began to set up at 11:30, and even as I was taking things out of my car I saw a familiar face! It was Tabeetha, who we prayed with two weeks ago. John was close to where she was and shared a few words with her - she seemed genuinely excited and encouraged to see us again.

After about 45-minutes, I took to the box to read 1 John for Project Ezra. That took almost 15 minutes to read, then I finished it up with a 8-10 minute open air message. While I was reading, two women from Grace Church (the church that planted us years ago) stopped by the table to ask John what we were all about. He gave them a few tracts and was able to encourage them to attend the Way of the Master class currently being taught at Grace by our friend, Chris Chumita. That was followed by a Catholic woman who talked with John briefly, and he gave her a couple of tracts, as well.

After I finished preaching, we spent the next little while being chased by the man mowing the lawn at the park. He wasn't telling us to leave but seemed to go out of his way to mow in such a way that we had to move. We ended up in three different locations before we were done.

At one point, a couple jogging together said that they would be back for prayer when they were done doing their laps around the walking path. I was planning to leave at 2:00, but they had not come back yet. I didn't want to leave before they came back. But they did come back to us, just after 2:00. Ricky and Omelia turned out to be very fired up believers active in ministry. We had a good time encouraging each other, and John and I were blessed to be able to pray for them. They may come to visit us at church on Sunday.

We left at 2:30 feeling very encouraged and blessed by our 3 hours there today. Here is the open air I did after reading all of 1 John:

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Did Joshua Conquer a Wall-less Jericho?

2010-06-30T19:21:00.000-07:00

On this week's edition of ABIDE! TV, I shared how I want to study the last question I was asked, as suggested by Mark Spence. In addition to chronicling my evangelism adventures on this blog, I would also like to share the results of my looking into questions and objections raised by people I talk with. So, I pray that this would be an added encouragement and blessing to you.

As I wrote earlier today, I had a conversation with a man named Armond who raised several accusations against the Bible. One of his accusations is that the Bible says the walls of Jericho came down when God brought Joshua and the people into the land. He claimed that a book he read recently proves that Jericho was only a small village when the Israelites attacked, and that it had no walls at that time. Well, it didn't take me but a few moments to come across an article on the Answers in Genesis web site giving a response to this claim. You can find the article here.

"The 30" Roll Call

2010-06-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

I corrected my previous post about "The 30." I was told there were 37 people there last Friday, but it turns out that the count was at 34. Nevertheless, God did an amazing thing! I just want to give thanks to God for the 34 people from 10 different churches...

Lighthouse Alliance Church = 7
West Hill Baptist Church = 5
Grace Church = 4
The Chapel in Akron = 3
Parkside Church = 2
Bay Presbyterian Church = 2
Cleveland Baptist Church = 2
Elyria Church of the Nazarene = 2
North Olmsted Evangelical Friends Church = 1
Faith Bible Fellowship = 1

5 people did not write down their church home, so who knows if there were more?

I praise God for Isaiah, who came up wanting to be forgiven of his sins. I have also since learned about Helen who realized, with tears, that she was not a good person but was a sinner in need of God's forgiveness. Please pray for these 2 - if they are not believers yet, pray that the Spirit continue to water the seed that was planted!

Prayer Station and Armond

2010-06-30T11:16:00.000-07:00

Today I met up with my friend, Mark to set up a prayer station at Sinagra Park in Lakewood. This beautiful LITTLE park is in the heart of downtown Lakewood, and is also one of Mark's favorite places to go with his cross. I got set up by 11 AM and had a pretty quiet start. I set up about 10 feet from the sidewalk, and Mark stood with his cross right at the sidealk, about 12 feet diagonally across from me. One young man (seen in pitcure below) walked by and gave a shout out in support. He was walking in a direct line towards Mark where he was given a tract. Mark talked with him for a moment and the young man shared his need to get back in the Bible, as he just started doing by reading 1 Corinthians.

Things went back to being pretty quiet at the Prayer Station. Mark was able to give away quite a few tracts to people walking by. I did have a man named "Sam" who came up to show his support. He shared how he had gone through recovery and has been dry for over a month now. As we started talking to him, he shared how he "found God" through his recovery program, which I assumed was AA because he was proud of a Serenity Prayer key chain he found at the dollar store, with the picture of a crucifx on the back side. I was able to give him a tract, but he said he was in a hurry and we weren't able to talk further.

Just after 12 PM is when Armond came up, riding his bike. I said hello and asked how he was, and he seemed a little down and shared a physical ailment he was suffering with. I thought he was coming to ask for prayer, but he got off of his bike asking what I thought about the Gospel of Thomas. As we went back and forth on that, I made every effort to keep going back to his conscience by using God's Law. Every time I got to why Jesus died on the cross, he would cut me off and bring up something else. By that, I am not saying he was rude. I wouldn't even really consider him a heckler. I later found out that he had a degree in philosophy. I think he was just interested in philosophy and spirituality and was up for a good philosophical discussion. I will not be posting the audio of the conversation one, because it was over an hour long, and two because he would often use expletives which would take too long to edit out.

One thing that he kept bringing up as we talked is that I was stating things as fact when they were merely what I believed, or at least what I believed the Bible to say. After that, he began talking about all of these other "facts" that disprove the Bible. I tried turning the table on him and reminding him that all of this is what someone believes and not necessarily facts. Several times, he would mention that he "read this book" or "talked to a guy." I have no doubt that he read a lot of books, and even admitted to having read the Bible a long time ago. I would never dream to suggest that I was anywhere as smart as this man - in fact, he indirectly questioned my intelligence at one point. Not that I would make a case for my IQ!

Anyway, he challenged me to use my brain and think critically. All I could do was challenge him to do the same. I had listened to him reference one book after another trying refute the claims of the Bible. I simply challenged him to think critically, in that he was surrounding himself with one-sided books. I urged him to find sources in archeology and science that support the Bible. I encouraged him to do a Google search of "does archeology support the Bible," which he said he might do. I told him he will find sites that both support and go against the Bible and that he should think for himself rather than just letting one side of the debate persuade him.

This was one of those conversations where I usually can be too quick to ask someone "If I can answer these questions, would you repent and trust in Christ as Savior?" For some reason I did not do that today. I trust there is a reason. Pray for Armond. Pray that he does look beyond the one-sided sources he has been reading. I also encouraged him several times to get a hold of Lee Strobel's, Case For Christ.

"The 30"

2010-06-27T18:42:00.000-07:00

So, where do I begin? Do I begin 5 years ago when two faithful women had a "dream" of seeing an evangelism team of 30 people ar Rockin' on the River in Cuyahoga Falls? Do I begin with the weeks and weeks that these women continued sharing Christ at Rockin' on the River with no clear indication that any others would ever join there team? Do I begin with prayers lifted up to God that he would bring together those 30 people on June 25, 2010? Well, let me just begin by sharing what happened, as best as I can put it into words.

In the weeks leading up to this event, we began to get excited as we had right around 30 people "committed" to being on Front Street mall to share the Gospel. However, a part of me was nervous as I figured some may not end up making it down there. A dear brother in Christ, who has been going down there for several weeks, was out of commission due to physical reasons. Nevertheless, I knew that God was in control.

I met up with a new found brother in Christ, Ben, at his church. We drove down together and had a wonderful time of fellowship together. It was another testimony of the fellowship of the Gospel. Here is someone that I just recently met and barely knew, but we talked like friends who had known each other for years.

Everything was going smoothly, until we approached our exit on the turnpike. We ran into a severe traffic jam. It turns out that we ran into traffic heading to a concert at Blossom. What should have been a 40 minute ride ended up taking a little short of and hour and a half. Once we got down to Rockin' on the River, we were excited to get going, but we were unable to find a parking space! After driving through a couple parking garages, we finally ended up parking a few blocks away. We had hoped to meet up with the team around 6:30, but it was approaching 7:30 before we got in place to start work. I knew several others would be hitting the same traffic. Oh no!

Beth had a sign-in sheet to keep track of who all would be there. As we signed in, we saw that we were only around 20 people. While feel a little down, I rejoiced that we already had 2x as many people as we have seen before, plus I knew many others would eventually make there way through the traffic.

Beth started off the open air preaching and did a wonderful job. I had a chance to get up and preach next, and went for almost 20 minutes. I was blessed by Paul and his inflatable dolphin who heckled me for a few minutes. He was pretty much drunk and spent a good deal of time trying to talk about the Constitution, dolphins, aliends, evolution, and about anything other than the Gospel.

Next on the box was Aaron, who was our Energizer Bunny - he is blessed by God to be able to preach and preach and preach without amplification for as long as he wants to go. I must often confess the sin of covetousness when I hear him preach with a wonderful open air preaching voice. He was able to engage several hecklers during his time on the box.

While he preached, there were people handing out tracts and having 1-2-1 conversations all over the place. It was a blessing to me to have some of those people come out to be prayer support for us. I have become especially fond of those who fill this role on an evangelism team.

At one point, a woman (claiming to be a Christian) began going off on a tirade on the youngest member of our team. She was in his face and wagging her finger in his face. She was so fired up, she continued yelling and wagging her finger as she walked away. Aside from this woman, many on the team seemed to note that the mood was a little more hostile than we have seen there in some time. It was also quite a bit more crowded than the last time I was there. According to the event organizers, this event draws an estimated 8,000 people every Friday night.

One of the highlights of the night was a young man Isaiah who, after hearing the preaching, came up to Beth asking for help in being forgiven by God for his sins!!

As Ben and I went to leave, I noticed that we had just crossed 30 on the sign-up sheet! Not only that, by the time the night was over, the total team had grown to 34 people from 10 different churches! God did a truly beautiful thing! I would not be surprised if 2,000 or more people heard the Gospel this night.

Here is the audio from my open air, including Paul and his dolphin.

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Ready for Summerfest

2010-06-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah!! It's that time of year again! The Fairview SummerFest is right around the corner and we are getting geared up for a great weekend of sharing the Gospel! We have submitted our application to have a double booth space for the weekend and today I put in the call to reserve a spot in the opening parade. On Monday, our tract order came via UPS and now 10,000 tracts are set and ready to go.

SummerFest is July 16th - 18th. We will need help at all points of the weekend. We need as many people as we can for the parade - we can never give out tracst fast enough, and many end up being passed by. We also need people to be present at the booth, which will again focus on evangelism. We will also reserve the second side of our booth for children's crafts and activities. We also need some people who will come and pray for everything that is taking place. Don't forget - the fireworks will be Saturday night and the traffic flow heading in for that will keep us all busy.

More information will be coming soon. Mark your calendar - we will need your help!!

Dry Pond

2010-06-23T18:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight's outreach at Lakewood Park was almost rained out. Heavy rain and thunderstorms came through the area late this afternoon and things didn't really clear up until less than an hour before the outreach was set to begin. But, as I got closer and closer to the park, things started clearing and the sun even came out! But, the crowd at the park was very small due to the weather. And those who were there weren't very receptive.

I was joined by Susan and Kandice. Because of the lack of a crowd, we held off an doing open air and just set up the Prayer Station. Nobody came up at all. So, after an hour of nothing, we packed up the table and went out to hand out tracts. The ladies went one way and I went the other way. As we came back at the end, I found that we all had the same experience - more rejections than positive contacts. Between the 3 of us, we were only able to hand out about 7 tracts. But, those 7 were worth the trip tonight, regardless of anything else.

More on Omegle

2010-06-22T18:30:00.001-07:00

Just tried a conversation on Omegle, and clearly did not last long:

Stranger: hi
You: hi
You: how r u
Stranger: im good thanks
Stranger: u?
You: good thank you
You: can I ask u a question?
Stranger: yea course
You: do you believe in God?
Stranger: yea
You: do you have a Christian background?
Stranger: yea
Stranger: how old are u? and are u m/f?
You: I'll just say I'm an adult male
You: can I ask more about your Christian background?
Stranger disconnected.

In my past few conversations there, I have found people pretty insistent on getting personal information. For me, I don't think it is wise to go into that information. In this case, it may have cost me more of a conversation. However, there is no guarantee they would have kept talking.

Be Available and God Will Be Faithful

2010-06-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

A hot and sunny summer day in Cleveland. I was planning to set up a Prayer Station at Lakewood Park today for the "lunch rush." After not seeing anything happen two weeks ago, I became doubtful about going ahead with the Prayer Station today. Nevertheless, I still felt like it's what God would have me to do. So, I prayed, "Lord, John and I will be there - would you please bring to us people who need to encounter You."

John pulled into the park just second after I did. We picked our spot (well, actually John did) and we set up the Prayer Station. I had barely finished setting out the Bibles and tracts when Ana and Edwin come up to us. Ana had a number of prayer requests to write down for us. We were able to talk a little with her while she wrote. At this point, Edwin stepped away and made a phone call. We found out that Ana's mother passed away just over two weeks ago. She was still grieving, as were her young children. I was able to get her to take one of the "In Times of Crisis" tracts to not only share the Gospel with her, but to help her through this difficult time. She said that she had a Catholic background and was open to us praying for her, after establishing that we believed in the Trinity. John called Edwin over to join us, and he did, as we took a few moments to pray for them. We gave her information about the church if she needed to talk further or would like additional prayer.

They had barely walked away from the table when Cynthia came up to us. She said that she was a believer, but she had been through a great deal of pain and turmoil recently, as was continuing to face some personal trials. She was very encouraged that we were there. We were able to pray with her, and sent her off with a tract. She went to her car and came back with her sister, Tabeetha. Tabeetha also was grateful for prayer concerning a few things she was going through. She also took a tract. While Cynthia said that she was a part of a Baptist church, Tabeetha said she had no church home. We encouraged her to be in fellowship, and gave her information on our church if there should be any way that we can further minister to her. Cynthia perked up and wanted information on the church, as well. They thanked us repeatedly and wished us blessing as they left.

After they left, John and I remained for about an hour and a half. During that time, we were able to extend friendly greetings with those passing by, even though they were not interested in coming to the table. At one point, John decided to call another one of the elders at church, and it turned out to be a part of God's perfect timing as the elder needed some encouragement in that exact moment.

The rest of the time was uneventful and we felt at peace about closing up shop. I always like to pack things up slowly, in case God has just one more person for us. I was just about to start packing things in the box when a woman came to us with one of the biggest grins I have ever seen. Corine is a believer from a church on the other side of Cleveland. Her church has just moved into a building and are beginning ministry in a new area. She said she had just been thinking about how her church could set up a ministry table on the sidewalk in front of their building and provide ministry to their community. She was so thrilled to see us doing exactly what God had just been putting on her heart to do with her church. We prayed for her, her family, and her church. We also directed her to Living Waters for great materials she can use in reaching their community. She seemed to be flying sky high as she returned to her car.

This was all God's doing. God had something that He wanted to do in the lives of those 5 people. We had nothing to do with it. God was just looking for someone to show up and represent Him. We sought to be available and God proved Himself faithful to do the work He had in mind for those 5 people. And the moments talking and ministering to those 5 people made every second of the 2 hours we spent there more than worth it.

Thank You, Lord!

June 16th at Lakewood Park

2010-06-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

Tonight was our mid-week outreach at Lakewood Park. I was blessed to be joined by two great brothers, John and Mark. After opening in prayer, we set up an open-air. I'm still waiting for someone to use my heckler's box - I'll keep praying! There was a pretty good size crowd there tonight - not quite as large as last week, but still a good crowd. Again there was a group of Marines going through some type of fitness program, and they stayed a little longer this week! As I preached, I noticed more people looking and watching than I did last week. What seemed to be about halfway through my open-air a police car came in, drove by me and parked just off to my left. That was quickly followed up with a second patrol car which parked behind the first one. I admit, I offered a silent prayer while I preached. Not sure why I worry - almost every time we are there the police do a drive through and we've never had an issue. And we didn't tonight. I was also pleased that I ended up preaching for 15-minutes. And my voice felt like I probably could have gone on a bit longer. My voice is getting stronger and not cutting out as quickly - I am extremely grateful for this, as we are not allowed to use amplification at Lakewood Park!

When I finished preaching, we packed up my stuff and made our way through the park to hand out tracts. Once again, the response was positive - we had minimal rejections. I was able to give tracts to a group gathered around the sand volleyball courts. They all received the tracts gladly.

Mark and I then made our way down to a beautiful walkway that runs along Lake Erie. While down there, I approached "Dave" and "Cindy." Cindy gladly took a tract, while Dave turned it down initially. However, he then commented that he had already been given one. Now, we have heard this before and it is often another way that people try to politely reject the offered tract. However, Dave proceeded to take out his wallet and pull out a folded million dollar bill tract from Living Waters. He shared how a friend had given it to him several months ago and he has been carrying it in his wallet ever since. When I asked him about the message on the back he said that it was a "nice verse." I found out that Dave is a Catholic, but he also added that he had "something else" in him that he didn't want to get into. He made a big deal about how the tract he had in his wallet had a President on it and not a cartoon picture. With that, I figured I would offer him a President Obama tract which he gladly took. I had hoped this would help the conversation, but ended up getting it off tract and he began to go on and on about the President. The conversation only lasted about 5 minutes, but I do pray that dave would begin to feel "hounded" by God to have been given a tract by a friend and then have a total stranger at a park give him a tract with the exact same message on the back. As we ended the conversation, he shared that he hoped to see me there again.

As we made our way back up to the main area of the park, I gave tracts to 3 young men who were excited to get them because they had seen others holding them, and they wanted some for themselves.

I praise God for a great evening sharing the Gospel. I pray that He continue to do great things throughout the summer at this wonderful fishing hole. Weather permitting, I want to go back Friday afternoon to set up a Prayer Station.

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Blessed By Alistair Begg

2010-06-10T12:51:00.001-07:00

I had a special blessing today in being able to attend a Pastor's appreciation brunch put on by Salem Communications. One of the highlights of the morning was being able to hear (and meet) a true "role model" for me - Pastor Alistair Begg. He spoke powerfully about the crisis of the Gospel - that there is an absence of Gospel proclaimation in our churches. I wish I had the audio from that message because he brought it strong! I wanted to stand on my chair and cheer when he was done!

However, he said something that really stuck with me. Apart from preaching the Gospel to the lost and making sure the people at Lighthouse know how to do that, as well - he talked about making sure that we know how to live the Gospel. To fail at this point reverts the Gospel to the A B C's of Christianity, rather than understanding our need to live in the Gospel every single day. It may be hard for me to express what that means here, but I desire to make it clear in my preaching. At its heart, it means to define ourselves by our position "in Christ" rather than by our ability to accomplish our spiritual "to-do" list.

Anyway, what a blessing to hear from this wonderful and very humble servant of God!

June 9th Outreach at Lakewood Park

2010-06-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

Tonight began our Wednesday night outreaches at Lakewood Park, which will go throughout the summer. I was pretty excited after the great experience we had a few weeks ago on a Wednesday night. Although, I was a bit fearful all day as the weather was miserable. However, by around 4 PM, the sky began to clear and it ended up being a picture perfect evening!

There were 5 of us there tonight and, after a time of prayer, we began with some open-air preaching. My voice had been raspy most of the day, but God was so good and enabled me to preach for 20 minutes without losing my voice! I was very grateful for the other team members for serving as a "rent a crowd" and for their prayer support. Tonight we had what may be the biggest crowd to date at Lakewood Park - including a large group of Marine trainees being taken through fitness tests. Several people would stop for a moment and listen, and there was a group of three teens who sat down on a bench about 20-30 feet away from me. I also noticed a lot of people standing by their cars and listening. Near the end of the audio, you can hear me try to get the three teens to step up and interact with me, but to no avail.

When I finished preaching, John helped me put the boxes back in my car and we made our way out to hand out tracts. June, Susan, and Kandi had already spread out and were handing out tracts. June was able to talk with two young girls - you can see them in the picture standing on the ramp and looking at the curved illusion tract June gave them. By and large, we had a pretty good response with tracts, with few rejections. The only discarded tract we found was one that had been left in a toilet (shows how hardened that person's heart is to the Gospel).

This was a wonderful evening and I am eager to see what God has in store for next week!

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Great Weekend!

2010-06-07T13:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend was such an amazing blessing! It started off Friday night as I received an e-mail from Ben, a man who had recently attended an Ambassadors' Academy and was looking for other evangelists in the area. It turns out that Ben lives in my town! I invited him to come out for the Northeast Ohio Harvest Team Breakfast, which he did. We had a great turnout for the breakfast - 13 people, to be exact. That about doubles the number we had a few months ago!

One of the exciting things that came out of the breakfast, was to hear not only about all the different ministries represented, but to hear something else that God is doing. God has been opening doors for members of the Harvest Team to begin teaching Way of the Master in their churches, as well as in other churches throughout the Cleveland area! God is truly answering the prayer that He would raise up more laborers for the harvest field!

After the breakfast, 5 of us made our way to Lakewood Park for the Meet the Trucks Rally. By the time we got there, a lot of people were already leaving because the forecasted thunderstorms looked like they would be arriving early. But there was still a very nice crowd there for the event. We gave out over 150 tracts had some good one-to-one conversations. It was a special blessing to have Ben there with us! At this rally last year, I had a lot of rejections as I tried to give out tracts, but this year I only had 2 rejections. The crowd was in a good mood!

The weekend ending with an unexpected divine appointment. My family went to the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center for the annual "Great Duck Race" and festival. I will be honest - I didn't want to be there. I was extremely tired and just wanted to go to sleep. When we got there, the parking situation was a nightmare. I was about to park the car in one spot, when my wife suggested we try for a better spot. So, I wasn't exactly excited about that - I just wanted to get on with things. I ended up dropping the family off at the festival entrance while I tried to find a better parking space. Well, I didn't. But I did end up close to Huntington Beach, which I would not have had my wife not requested a different parking space.

The festival was in the Metroparks, which require a permit for "free speech activity." So, while I had a tract with me, I wasn't really looking for a chance to give it away. It came time for us to make our way back to the car. As we got near the car, we saw a pretty wishing well and my wife thought it would be nice to get a picture of the kids by the well. Again, I just wanted to get home to sleep. As we were finishing with the picture, an older gentleman riding a bike came over and asked if he could use our cell phone to make a call. Honestly, I was trying to ignore the man and was shocked when my wife said, "Yes, we have one you can use." I handed the man my phone and waited as he made his urgent call. It was in the middle of the phone call that the Holy Spirit seemed to slap me and say, "HELLO! Give him a tract!" So, as he handed me my phone back, I offered him a million dollar bill. He thanked me and laughed, but then went on an cordial anti-Obama rant (Will Smith was on the tract and he thought it was Obama) as he began to ride away.

As we got in the car, my wife said that the main reason she agreed to let him use the phone was to give me a chance to at least give him a tract. I am so grateful for having to find a different parking spot and for a wife who was helping me find an evangelistic opportunity even when I was not.

The only thing that would have made the weekend even better is if I had been able to make it down to Rockin' on the River. Maybe this week!

Prayer Station and Open Air

2010-06-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

I was planning to go into the Metroparks today to set up a Prayer Station, but I still have not received my permits. So, I decided to set up in my favorite fishing hole, Lakewood Park. When I got there at 11:40 AM, they were mowing the grass, so I picked out a spot by the parking lot where they had already mowed. It was a beautiful day to be out in the sun. I was honored to have Mark and John join me to serve at the station. Immediately after putting up the banner - even before I had started setting out materials - a woman came up to express her appreciation for my being there and asking that I remember to pray for the public schools. For the remainder of our time out, nobody else came up to the table to talk. A few gave us a polite "Hi" in response to our greeting, but that was it.

At about 1:50, I decided to give a 60-second stoplight open air message which ended up being about 3 minutes - oops! But in the process I discovered something tremendous! I had never preached from this particular spot so never noticed it before. I was preaching in the direction of a "clubhouse." A few hundred feet behind me were houses next to the park. While I was preaching, I noticed I could hear my echo coming from behind me! It would seem my voice was bouncing off the roof of the clubhouse and then coming off the houses behind me. It was like I was using an amp!! I think I may need to make this a regular spot!

I would regret not taking time here to note the insane number of squirrels that came up to us while we were there. At one point, there were more than 10 squirrels all gathered in the same small area. John gave one a nut and he became our new friend.

Here is the audio of the open air...

May 21 Audio

2010-06-02T10:47:00.001-07:00

I can finally post the audio from my open air at Rockin on the River from May 21st - the first time I was able to use an amp! Following the open air is the conversation I had with Richard.

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