Stone the Preacher

Goong He Faht Choy! is how you say “Happy New Year!” in Chinese and Chuc Mung Nam Moi! is how you say it in Vietnamese. Sunday the 14th was the beginning of the lunar year 4708 in those cultures, The Year of the Tiger. There is a special way to deliver the Gospel message if you live near an Asian  community; to find out what it is, click here.

We visited Little Saigon on Saturday for their New Year Parade. What was the result as we passed out 12,000 tracts to an estimated 10,000 parade goers? You judge the results:

But we found out something interesting as we entered this parade: It was the first time gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual groups were allowed to march.

You’ll be shocked to know what the churches in this very conservative community decided to do to protest the “Rainbow Lobby”… and what we did as an evangelism team to show our love. Read about it later this week.

Spiderman, Batman, and two, count ‘em two Supermen(!) were all asked about eternal things—on camera—when we visited Hollywood on Saturday. One Superman said he was a Christian yet didn’t go to church; the other couldn’t even remember the name of his church. Batman was a good person/believer and Spiderman swore and shoved my cameraman. These guys, so used to saving the world, had no real understanding of their need to be saved themselves. “Holy False Converts, Batman!”

Oh! I forgot to mention that The Joker believed in Jesus but not in God.

No jokin’. Stay tuned….

At the last minute, I decided to take a break and head up to the mountains to play in the snow with my kids, where I was able to hand out hundreds of Gospel tracts to families careening down hills in inner-tubes. And their were plenty of backsliders!

As a result, the year-end retrospective will be put on hold until next week. I’m so very sorry for the disappointment. HAH!

What is the “bait”? 

At El Camino College today a little boy, prompted by his mother, who obviously didn’t like our evangelistic activities on campus, handed me a piece of paper. I read the little note and erred in judgment.

I tell all first time students to my evangelism class that they should live by this motto when they start to share their faith: Go and make mistakes! I too, on occasion, overstep the bounds of good taste and propriety, forgetting that I need to let my words be apples of gold in settings of silver.

Yes, dear reader, I still make mistakes. Lots of them.

The tiny tyke didn’t know what he was doing as he toddled over to hand me a missive written sarcastically by his Mom. Unfortunately, I responded in kind after I read this:

I looked at Mother, and next to Child, then exclaimed, “Oh! A baby fool!”

Admittedly, not the best way to win friends and influence people.

Mea Culpa.

***Read about by own little kid’s adventures here as she confronts an atheist, and here as she is persecuted for her zeal. And here in a tract challenge! ***

Excited by the possibility of thousands, maybe even millions of people standing in line waiting to get tickets to the Michael Jackson documentary, “This Is It,” set to open up at all fourteen theatres in the entertainment complex known as L.A. Live! in downtown L.A., three evangelists and myself jumped in the church van and hurried to the excitment. (Read Part 1 by clicking here.)

The first sign of trouble appeared when we drove up to the parking lot: It was nearly empty—and the parking was free!

The second sign of trouble was when we actually looked at the ticket line…

…and saw about 50 eager fans lounging on their lawn chairs and makeshift cots.

The third sign that this was a bad move was when my three Gospel compatriots got escorted off the premises by Security for handing out Gospel tracts to that massive crowd of fifty.

The fourth sign of trouble was that I didn’t get escorted off the premises. And everyone knows that never happens!

That Was That!

See my interview with a fanboy waiting two days to get a ticket by clicking Part 3 here.

***Read what happened when we attended the Michael Jackson Memorial service by clicking here!***

Christine Brown has a good job,
a great boyfriend and a bright future.
But in three days,
she’s going to hell.

That’s the ad line for “Drag Me to Hell,” a new horror flick that opened last weekend. I thought of the great irony that I was standing in line to purchase tickets for “UP”, the awesome, wonderful, creative—clean—adventure from Pixar that also opened the same weekend. I made the right choice.

Others in line had the same choice: “UP” or “Hell.”

I asked the usher if he was going to see “Drag Me to Hell.”

“Probably,” he replied.

I offered him a Gospel tract. “Here. Take this. It can keep you out of Hell.”

After the movie my kids and I stood outside the doors of another theater handing out tracts to all those exiting the latest action adventure: “Terminator Salvation.”

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

You’re going to have to wait until next week for the exciting story because I have run out of time… But! Here are some teaser photos:

Tom Nance-Uhlrich, myself, Ed Lee and “Righteous Richard” Chavarria
crashed the semi-finals of American Idol.

Former Idol, Jason Whatever-his-name-is (I’ve never, ever, seen the show) got a Giant Money Gospel tract, but was very cautious about posing for a photo, so he skimmed the message on the back. If you know this dude’s name, leave a comment.

“Righteous Richard” did some illicit red carpet preaching (this was a new idea, never before tried), and was soon visited by Security.

The Red Coats are coming! The Red Coats are coming!

We also had visits with the LAPD and every 21-year-old Paul Blart-mall-cop-wannabe.

So what else is new?

And we were joined by some very helpful “EX-es.”

Tune in next week…. In the meantime, you can read about the incredible opportunity we had last year by clicking here! 

Yesterday I asked you to explain the interesting scenario that happened recently on a college campus when we set up our evangelism table. A young man named Leland was upset. Our evangelism leader, Bob Johnson, was on Leland’s cell phone talking to Leland’s Mom. I asked you to explain what you thought may be happening and I got some great responses to the photo on the right. (Read the original article here.)

Here’s what happened: Bob offered Leland $20.00 if he could pass the “Good Person Test.” He was excited to try. Bob took him through the 10 Commandments.

“Have you ever told a lie, Leland?” Bob asked.

“Nope,” Leland confidently replied.

“Stolen anything?”

“No.”

Bob persisted. “Have you ever looked with lust, taken God’s name in vain, or hated anyone?”

Leland denied ever doing any of those things. In fact, Leland always put God first, always honored his father and mother, never desired anything more than God, and never coveted anything.  And I’m sure, if asked, he never missed a Sabbath rest. Yes, Leland was the perfect man. 

Bob gently tried to demonstrate that no one could keep the perfect Law of God, but Leland insisted that he had never sinned.

I stepped in, explaining that if we say that we are without sin then we make God out to be a liar. I also instructed him that the Psalmist says “all men are liars.” “So, Leland, who’s lying? You or God?”

“God,” Leland insisted. Frustrated, I told Leland that he had just blasphemed, that he wasn’t getting the twenty dollars, and passed him back to Bob.

That’s when Leland called his Mom in Washington State to complain.

Bob took the phone and patiently explained the situation to Mom. Fortunately, she was a Christian and agreed with Bob, telling her son to listen to him.

Leland still wanted the twenty; instead, Bob gave him a stuffed animal.

Then his sister walked up to the table and I took her through ”The Good Person” test. But that’s another story.

Don’t get me started…

*****

Yes, in retrospect, we should have just given Leland the twenty. Oh well, live and learn.

*** The winners of the creative scenario contest, those who came closest to the actual event, were…Tom Nance-Ulrich and Paul Latour. May you be blessed with many Lelands in your evangelistic endeavors.***

It happens to everyone who shares their faith on a regular basis…. You’ve scheduled an exciting time to go out and hit the streets to evangelize, you’ve got the plan, the tracts, you’re prayed up… then on the day of the event, no one shows up. It’s just the two of you: God and yourself. What do you do?

Go out anyway.

“Righteous Richard” Chavarria led our “team” last Saturday to the Hermosa Beach St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Though he went solo, he had an army behind him.

Has this ever happened to you? What did you do, give up or go out? What advice do you have for those in small churches that encounter this obstacle regularly?

NEXT: A RADICAL ANTI-WAR PROTEST. CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT IT.

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?”

Two eggs, two slices of bacon, two sausage links and two pancakes: The Grand Slam breakfast, and it was free from 6AM to 2PM, Tuesday at Denny’s, America’s favorite health food restaurant.

That’s right, 795 calories and a whopping 50 grams of fat—all for free!

I didn’t go for the breakfast, I went for the diners. And nearly everyone got a Giant Money Gospel tract telling them about another free opportunity: eternal life.

I’d greet the eaters with a cheery, “Free breakfast and free $100 bills!”

They went like… hotcakes! 

42 evangelists handed out 25,000 tracts in Chinatown on Saturday! This was one of our most successful parade adventures ever!

The police were near as we preached to the crowds before the parade started, and I was assaulted by a spectator in a strange way. There are a few funny stories to tell and one sad one as well.

***Read part 2 here!***

I was on a bike ride this morning when a police officer stopped me. “Shhh… they’re filming.”

“What are they filming?” I asked.

“CSI: Miami. It will only be a few minutes.”

CSI: Miami fans, I hate to break it to you: They film a lot of the episodes in and around the area where I live, Redondo Beach, Ca., not Miami.

Sorry about that, Chief.

I waited patiently, remembering that I had about 15 Million Dollar Bill Gospel tracts with me. I jumped off my bike and “mingled” with the crew. “Here’s a raise for you!” I said cheerfully, handing a grip a tract. “You work hard; here’s a bonus!”

The Hollywood crew’s response? “Thank you.” “Thank you.” “Thank you.” Only one man grouchily refused me.

Go ahead, punk. Make my day.

The scene was filmed and I hopped back on my bike, completely out of tracts. Who knows? Maybe a crew member would get saved and a revival would take place in Hollywood. Yeah, right.

Riding off, I had a Coulda had a V-8 moment. There, big as life was David Caruso, the star of the show, huddled in his CSI: Miami jacket.
And I was outta tracts!!!

Book ‘em, Danno.

I received this anonymous voicemail from a lady who was not too happy about receiving our “Happy Holidays!” tract, but nevertheless, understood the message all too well:

“Hi. I just wanted to say I got your guy’s flyer. It says ‘Happy Holidays! Have you been naughty or nice?’ and [has] survey questions to see if you are going to Heaven or Hell. And for every single [one of the] eight questions it says, ‘You will go to Hell.’

“…I think that it’s very wrong for you guys to pass this out. You guys are a church. [You are] trying to tell me that I would go to Hell for any one of these, even if I lied one time?

“You are not practicing that God forgives people and I think that’s what you should try and do for the holidays.”

Before hanging up she wished us a sarcastic “Happy Holidays.” Hmmm… think she understood the message?

(Read the irritated response I got from a cashier before Christmas a couple of years ago here.)

Last Saturday was the last USC home game against Notre Dame and we were there with our video camera.

You, too, can experience first-hand the wackiness we encountered including: The “Hail Mary Heckler” (Notre Dame is a Catholic school), “Righteous Richard’s” Porta-Potty Preaching Debut (with a very different type of, uh, heckler), an interview with a very drunk, very profane, “God-fearing man” (his words), and a brand new technique we developed, a type of mobile church that allowed many hundreds of people to mock us on the go; it’s called “Church on Your Way.” As soon as my video helper edits the footage, it will be up.

And yesterday at The Hollywood Santa Parade, we tried out an effective method we call “Pre-Parade Preaching.” I’ll let you know the reason why the LAPD stopped us mid-sermon!

Stay tuned. And tell a friend.

We just got back from the campus of USC. What happened?

Surprisingly, not much. The educated students at this prestigious university had no better arguments against God than your run-of-the-mill atheist, or beachbum on the pier. Go figure. But, there are a few stories to tell, and we did shoot some video, but you’ll have to wait until next week to see it all.

(Read part 2 here.)

Or you can check out Tony Miano’s blog; he was there too, and has already written something profound. Click here to read it.

What outrageous and hypocritical reason did the LAPD give for threatening me with a citation if I continued preaching?

Why was this 6-foot-five, 280 pound behemoth of an SC fan so angry at Alfy, our 5-foot-eight, 160 pound open air preacher? And what creative methods did we come up with that allowed him to continue to preach in the face of certain doom?

How did I combat the shouters at the Porta-Potty line, and how did President-elect Barack Obama help us hand out more Gospel tracts than ever?

Find out all this week as I report about our experiences at last Saturday’s USC vs. Cal Berkley football game. This was an outrageous adventure…

We had to use blood to stop the teenagers. Lots of blood. And a dead body….

Desperate times require drastic measures; I read about that somewhere or saw it in a movie. Nevertheless, we put that sentiment into practice at our corner in Lawndale, where hundreds of kids from Leuzinger High School cross the street when class ends. That’s where we set up and preach the Law and Gospel to those who have no standard for living, no boundaries, and no understanding of what God requires.

One problem: When we placed our preaching dummy on the sidewalk at the traffic signal—sans blood—the kids walked right over it and crossed at the light with nary a look or listen. But with the blood liberally placed on the head of the dummy, the kids slowed enough to hear a little of our preaching.

Indeed, there is power in the blood.