Archive for February, 2009

…and then there were twelve.

Friday, February 27th, 2009

The graduates of our first evangelism class of 2009 numbered twelve out of a starting class of twenty; unfortunately, a 50% drop out rate is the norm. Still, Jesus started with twelve and they turned the world upside down! The top score was earned by John Webber, who discovered how simple and effective biblical evangelism can be. Great job, folks! Let’s go fishin’!

Our next 6 week class starts March 19 and is free with pre-registration, $15.00 at the door. Also, if you would like my teaching and student notes from this class, they are free. All you have to pay is the postage. Leave me a comment if you would like them for your church.

Academy Awards ’09: The Stand-up Preacher

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Just down the street from The Academy Awards, and almost in front of the Scientology building on Hollywood Blvd., I preached to a disappointed crowd that gathered to watch the stars arrive on the red carpet. Unfortunately, the stars had already gone into the show at this time. I chose to use liberal amounts of humor to engage them and to distance myself from the “Christian haters” positioned just down the street on Sunset Blvd. To read further details of what happened at this event, click here!

Academy Awards Adventure ’09

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

I’d like to share with you all the exciting things that happened at The Oscars last Sunday, where a team of 22 evangelists shared their faith by handing out tracts, open air preaching and talking one-to-one, but not much happened. No one yelled (except a hate church from Kansas), no one threw anything, no one got mad, and as far as I could tell, no one made any professions of faith.

So what’s the use? What purpose did our seven hours of work make?

The day after, in my regular morning time with the Lord while reading through my One Year Bible, I was encouraged to read this confirmation in The Word from Psalm 40: 8-10—

I desire to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.

I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips,
as you know, O LORD.

I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
I do not conceal your love and your truth
from the great assembly.

So what difference did our witnessing make?

The word of God was preached in obedience to His command. We’ll have to leave the results up to Him.

Can I hear somebody say “Amen?”

The Odd on the Promenade

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

The Third street Promenade is a world class shopping haven for the rich and liberal. It is also home to many street performers and kooky people with many strange beliefs (us included). Part of the adventure of evangelism is the interesting people you see and meet.

This man was of the Universal Realization. We hoped he would realize that he was headed for Hell and needed a Savior.

This Jehovah’s Witness hid his face every time I looked at him. I looked again; he covered up. I acted like I wasn’t looking at him—then I’d turn to meet his eye; he’d cover up again. What was he hiding? Certainly the truth of the Gospel.

 

 

 

 

 

And this guy? Your guess is as good as mine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This man from Romania understood the value of the freedom we enjoy in this country. Under authoritarian dictator, Ceausescu, it was illegal to hand out Gospel literature. My paraphase of his sentiments: “What a country! What a country!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Join us this Saturday at the Third Street Promenade for a great adventure. Meet at Hope Chapel at noon to carpool. Email me if you’d like to meet up with us. 

Living Waters University: The Psychic Pinkie

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Imperfect Record

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

My goal for The Everyday Club was to not miss one day in 2009 in handing out Gospel tracts or witnessing to an individual. It’s a do-able goal; it takes a little discipline, though, to keep my mind on the straight and narrow, to focus on the prize.

I will not miss one day. I will not miss one day.

At 11:20PM Wednesday night I was having a little snack at the kitchen table, having had a long day at the office. It suddenly dawned on me: I had not handed out one Gospel tract; I had not spoken to anyone about the Lord. What about my goal? My plans? My, my, my….

I went to bed.

It’s kind of ironic… If I had gotten up to leave the house to hand out a tract, or force a conversation with someone, it would have been my flesh, my pride, not the glory of God motivating me to fulfill my commitment. I wanted a perfect record. I wanted to be able to say that I went the entire year without missing an opportunity to witness of Jesus Christ. No more. I will have to settle with missing one day out of the entire year. No more perfect record, but a little more humility.

At 11:30PM Friday night, head on my pillow and half asleep, I woke with a start.

Make it two missed days in 2009.

Want to join The Everyday Club? (Click here to enroll; click here to report for January.)

Sudden Death: Palm Fronds!

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

A tree-trimmer was crushed by a ring of palm fronds that slipped over him, pinning him to a roughly 70-foot tree.

The worker was in a harness 50-60 feet up the tree when a heavy, ring-shaped section of fronds came loose above him. It took more than 90 minutes for firefighters to get him to the ground, where he was pronounced dead.

Happy Birthday, Tony Miano!

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

You’re not getting older, you’re getting better. Wait a minute… let me think about that.

Tony is the leader of The Way of the Master’s Ambassadors’ Alliance, an evangelistic training ministry for those who want to fulfill Christ’s command to “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation,” effectively! He is now entering the Grampa-ish 46th year (which makes him 45).

Read a nice profile of Tony here.

Read about the trials and tribulations of the very first Ambassadors’ Academy here.

Open Air: Holy Hubert Lindsey

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Many people wonder what impact can be made by someone who preaches to strangers in the open air. Others may wear a furrowed brow when hearing about the “crazy” things that evangelists will do to reach the lost. Holy Hubert was a preacher in the late 1960′s who went onto various campuses to preach Christ to hippies, radical socialists, Satanists, Hare Krishnas, Buddhists, Muslims and Jews; many found Christ as a result of his life and ministry.

 

 

I first posted this article about two years ago and have received numerous comments from some of the people who were converted as a result of “Holy Hubert’s” ministry. Please make sure you read those comments after you read this wonderful article about a man who truly had a passion for the lost. The author of this article is unknown so the accuracy of what is said can’t be guaranteed. Also, you may not agree with all of Lindsey’s theological conclusions; still, as an historical article it’s pretty fascinating. “Holy Hubert” died several years ago.

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Hubert T. Lindsey is one of the great Holiness preachers of our times.

During sixty years of Ministry he has conducted crusades in over 50 nations, established 12 churches and authored 5 books.

America’s best loved and most hated preacher, 74 yr. old (now 83 in nursing home in Raleigh, NC area) Lindsey is perhaps best known as the father of the Jesus movement that swept America in the late ’60s.

During this time more than 3 and a half-million hippies, radical socialist, Satanists, Hare Krishnas, Buddhists, Muslims and Jews found Christ as a result of Hubert Lindsey’s life and ministry.

Given that nickname “Holy Hubert” by the underground newspapers, Lindsey had been preaching 32 years when God called him to leave his crusade organization and go to America’s radical, seething universities and preached Jesus to the students who were enjoying a prelude to hell.

Violent reaction to Holy Hubert’s bold evangelism put him in the hospital a dozen times at California’s radical Berkeley campus. He was blinded in 1965 during a vicious attack by a mob of protesters. Twice he miraculously regained his sight, but blindness returned 18 years after the attack.

Beatings by the Black Panthers, the Hell’s Angels and the Mansion family are only part of the price Hubert Lindsey has paid for preaching the Gospel to this generation.

(more…)

Special Announcement on Sunday!

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Make sure you check
out this blog
Sunday morning
for an extra special

 hilarious photograph of an
old evangelistic geezer
on his birthday!

YouTube Evangelism: Is it Effective?

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

How effective is posting an evangelistic video on YouTube? I was concerned when I read the following comment sent to my account:

Please Read.
Pastor Steve,
I have recently watched some of your videos, and I have a couple of questions. I am under no circumstances trying to question your beliefs. I am 13 years old, and I do believe in God, but I don’t fully understand all of the things that he wants, and what he commands.

I have sinned, many times. I haven’t done anything terrible, I haven’t broken the law. But I feel like I have broken the law of God. I pray, and ask for forgivness, and I try my hardest not to commit the same sins over and over again. Does this mean I am going to hell? I have asked other pastors and they have told me as of now, No. That I am not perfect, and we all sin. After I watched your videos, and you asked people basic questions about if they have sinned, and you questioned not once but twice if they would go to Heaven or Hell, it made me iffy, that I am in the same place, but I still think that I haven’t done extremely bad things, I still think I will go to heaven. What do you…

And that’s how it ended. I went to my account to reply but the comment wasn’t even on my channel. I went to the account of the person who sent this to me, left a message and my email address, but no response. What’s more, I went to the sender’s account the very next day and found that my comment was gone! Was it a joke?

Then I received this nice comment on my channel from holybender666, typos and all: Expletive fat pice of expletive get a job expletive if i could make a replica of the finger id make one just for you”

Then later, he/she/it wrote: “i hope u got my comment u expletive”

And finally, a little bit later: “by the way my names damion ”

Is YouTube evangelism effective? What do you think?

What’s Your E-vangie Tale? #30

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

There is one more week of our 6 week class. Who will finish well?

Jeremiah wrote, “But if I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed I cannot.”

My hope and prayer is that the students of our new evangelism class, “Sharing Your Faith Without Fear” (pictured above), will have the same heart and attitude of Jeremiah after they graduate. Sadly, 30-50% drop out before the class ends. Will this group be the exception?

Part of their homework is to hand out one tract a day each day of the class. They get a point every day they do this; and when they write about it here, they get bonus points, unlimited bonus points! (more…)

Weekend Adventures: The Oscars, Ray & Bicycle Races

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

The Academy Awards! Ray Comfort! And the largest bike race in California… all on this weekend. It’s an evangelist’s dream!

This Saturday we will head on down to Huntington Beach to share our faith alongside Ray Comfort. Meet at Hope Chapel at noon; we will leave promptly at 12:30. Read about the first time I preached with Ray here.

Also on Saturday, if you live in the Northern Territories (Santa Clarita), join Tony Miano and his team for the largest bicycle race in SoCal: The Amgen Tour of California. Click here for times and locations.

The Academy Awards are on Sunday.
This will be the third year in a row that we will crash the Oscars. Meet at Hope Chapel at 12:45 to carpool. If you would like to meet up with us in Hollywood, send me an email for parking and locations.

(Read about the very first time we preached at the Oscars here!)

“Righteous Richard,” Coverboy

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

Hope Chapel’s very own DMV preacher, “Righteous Richard” Chavarria, made the new cover of Ray Comfort’s book, How to Win Souls and Influence People. (He’s the guy with the lips over his head, according to Way of the Master graphics artist extraordinaire, Dale Jackson.)

Who would have ever thought that a man who had resigned himself to working in his church’s Parking Ministry after retiring from an L.A. City job, would take a step of faith by going to an evangelism class, applying what he learned, then preaching regularly at his local Department of Motor Vehicles? That’s what happened to Richard. Now he’s infamous: Not only is he a big TV star, but a coverboy as well!

Who knows what will happen to you as you witness faithfully, boldly, and fearlessly? I know one thing. You will have the commendation of God.

Read other “Righteous Richard” postings:

The “Stoning” of Richard
“Loud Mouths”
“Crazy on a Crate”
“‘Righteous Richard’ Almost Gets Whacked”

Living Waters University: Popeye!

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

I loved this interview with a very exhuberant man on the Huntington Pier (where we will be going this Saturday).

An “Everyday Club” Testimony

Monday, February 16th, 2009

My name is Rich Curry and I am taking part in “The Everyday Club.” I thought you would want to hear about the impact that it is having on me and a particular blessing that God poured out yesterday.

Since committing to the club I had been faithful in meeting or exceeding my commitment of verbally witnessing and/or distributing at least 3 tracts per day, that is until this past Saturday. As I lay in bed sleepless, realizing that I had not met my commitment for the day, I was very distraught. I found myself praying that God would somehow present me with an opportunity to be used in a powerful way although I had not been faithful the day before.

On Sunday morning I was up early and ran to the grocery store. I was able to distribute a good number of tracts even though it was still very early. When I got home as we were getting ready for church, I began to reach into my pockets to reduce the number of tracts that I had bulging in them realizing that I wouldn’t need them at church and that I would still have a few if somehow a need arose going to and from church. However, something told me to keep them with me. As we pulled up to our church, which meets in a local high school, we could hardly find a place to park as there had to be 500 cars in the lot. Since there are only about 200 people in our church I figured that there was something else going on. Although I was hoping it was a revival, it turned out to be a huge youth wrestling tournament.

To make a long story short my pockets were not bulging with tracts by the time we got home. God gave me the opportunity to pass out more tracts and engage more people for Christ than I could have hoped for. We stayed about an hour and a half after church passing out tracts. Although I am still disappointed at missing the mark on Saturday, God showed His faithfulness on Sunday and allowed me to be faithful even though I had fallen short the day before. We serve an awesome God!

Want to join? (Click here to enroll; click here to report for January.)

Sudden Death: 4 Livers!

Monday, February 16th, 2009

Mitsugoro Bando VIII, a famous Japanese kabuki actor and designated as one of Japan’s “living national treasures” died in 1975 while tempting fate. While going to a sushi bar with friends he ordered four livers from the fugu, or pufferfish. The livers of the fugu are extremely toxic and sushi chefs are instructed to carefully cut them out before serving the fish. Bando, believing himself to be immune to the poison, died after eating them. The sushi chef lost his restaurant license soon after. —From the Internet

Rose Parade, Pt. 3: Hootin’, Hollarin’, Hecklin’… Hallelujah!

Friday, February 13th, 2009

The elderly in the bleachers booed and yelled, “Move on!” Another man loudly recited bible addresses, while yet another tossed Gospel tracts over one preacher’s head. Some clapped and cheered, others snapped and jeered… and the most awesome shot was captured at the end of this video, giving new meaning to the term, “Stealth Preaching.” It was all part of the fun on New Year’s morning as Alfredo Chavez and myself preached to the massive crowds before the Tournament of Roses Parade got underway. (Go to part 1 of this Rose Parade adventure here.)

This is a fun 6 minute montage put together by 16-year-old Peter Johnson, first time cameraman and editor. Enjoy!

***Next: Click here to read about what happened at 2009 The Martin Luther King Jr. Parade!***

Hootin’, Hollarin’, Hecklin’… Hallelujah!

Friday, February 13th, 2009

The elderly in the bleachers booed and yelled, “Move on!” Another man loudly recited bible addresses, while yet another tossed Gospel tracts over one preacher’s head. Some clapped and cheered, others snapped and jeered… and the most awesome shot was captured at the end of this video, giving new meaning to the term, “Stealth Preaching.” It was all part of the fun on New Year’s morning as Alfredo Chavez and myself preached to the massive crowds before the Tournament of Roses Parade got underway.

This is a fun 6 minute montage put together by 16-year-old Peter Johnson, first time cameraman and editor. Enjoy!

***Next: Click here to read about what happened at 2009 The Martin Luther King Jr. Parade!***

The Blasphemy Challenge Revisited, Again.

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

It’s been two years since I posted a video response to “The Blasphemy Challenge,” a YouTube event that encourages the ignorant and foolish to “deny the Holy Spirit” on video, and has so far encouraged thousands upon thousands of people to risk eternal Hell by committing “the unpardonable sin.”

Now we all know that it takes a lot more than just making a silly video denying the Holy Spirit that condemns someone for eternity; it’s actually a life that is unrepentant toward God, a life that lives for sin, and dies in sin, unforgiven, because they have not trusted in the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because most atheists—or wannabe atheists—don’t really understand what constitutes an unpardonable sin and probably have no understanding of what standard God will judge them by, I made a little video that starts out like one of their “Challenge” videos, only with an evangelistic twist. To date, my “channel” made especially for this occasion, has received over 7,000 viewings, with nearly 200 mostly angry, nasty comments from atheists who didn’t know they were going to get a Gospel message when they viewed it.

 What a great way to get the word out! One problem: They pulled my video! Who did? Don’t know, they didn’t ask me. As I was writing this, I checked on the video and… POOF! Gone!

No problem. On this two year anniversary of “The Blasphemy Challenge 666″ video, I decided to post it to yet another YouTube account of mine. And Bam! Fresh new atheists! What a treat! Read some of their reviews below:

Atheist Reviews (typos and all)

killerbandit wrote: Atheist here, sorry but I didn’t ask for anyone to be ritually sacrificed and scape goated retroactively for my sins. I am responsible for my own sins thank you very much. Creating us broken and commanding us to be well? I couldn’t dream up a more despicable idea.

DarkTheAtheist wrote:Your an Atheist, you don’t believe in Zeus, Allah, Baal, Atlas, Bellona, Brahma, Apollo, Dagon, Vishnu, Uzume, Thor, Shu, Shiva, Poseidon, Osiris, Seti, Anubis, Mars, Mithras, Krishna and so on. You don’t believe in any deity other than your deity. I just go one deity further, Proud Atheist! and you need to believe that there are atheists cause your one too.

kazaman712 wrote: I like being contradictary. Therefore I WONT think about what you said, and Ill proclaim my JOY of being a fool. Because in my mind, being called a fool by a foolish book doesnt mean anything anyhow.
 
MeloDeath31wrote: anyone who sais he has never stolen, lied, commited adultery in his mind, taken the name of god in vain, is a hypocrite. Such people do not exist. pastor steve, I give you the finger.

(Steve’s note: Please consider making your own video and uploading it to YouTube. Copy mine if you’d like. Make sure you call it this: “Re: The Blasphemy Challenge”)

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