SEATTLE (CBS Seattle) — A man was strangled to death after his clothing got caught on an escalator.
Seattle police tell The Seattle Times that a 42-year-old man fell on his back while on a King County Metro escalator and when he reached the base of the escalator, the back of his shirt was pulled into it, strangling him. Read the rest here.
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This is why handing out Gospel tracts at escalators is so important. Read about how to do it by clicking here.
Frequent commenter Steve L. posted this great short article by James M. Boice. Steve on our Hope Chapel Ministry Institute blog and suggested I post it here as well. Some may object that this is too controversial…
Election encourages us in our evangelism. People suppose that if God is going to save certain individuals, then he will save them, and there is no point in our having anything to do with it. But it does not work that way. Election does not exclude the use of the means by which God works, and the proclamation of the gospel is one of those means (1 Cor. 1:21).
Moreover, it is only the truth of election that gives us any hope of success as we proclaim the gospel to unsaved men and women. If the heart of a sinner is as opposed to God as the Bible declares it to be, and if God does not elect people to salvation, then what hope of success could we possibly have in witnessing? If God does not call sinners to Christ effectively, it is certain that we cannot do so either. Even more, if the effective agent in salvation is not God’s choice and call–if the choice is up to the individual or to us, because of our powers to persuade others to accept Christ–how could we even dare to witness? For what if we make a mistake? What if we give a wrong answer? What if we are insensitive to the person’s real questions? In that case, people will fail to believe. They may eventually go to hell, and their eternal destiny will be partly our fault, and how could any thinking, feeling Christian live with that?
But on the other hand, if God has elected some to salvation and if he is calling those elected individuals to Christ, then we can go forth boldly, knowing that our witness does not have to be perfect, that God uses even weak and stuttering testimonies to his grace and, best of all, that all whom God has chosen for salvation will be saved. We can be fearless, knowing that all who are called by God will come to him.
—from The Doctrines of Grace: Rediscovering the Essentials of Evangelicalism
Summary of the second presidential debate: Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Neither candidate actually called his opponent a liar, instead, they used politically correct terms like: distorting the truth, not quite accurate, patently false. Each side will have their fact checkers discredit the statements of their opponent, but there is one fact that NOBODY will check. Near the end of the debate, Mitt Romney proclaimed, “I believe we are all children of the same God.”
Cue the crickets.
There is little doubt that conservative Christian voices will attack Pres. Obama’s falsehoods about Planned Parenthood, Libya and drilling, but it is a safe bet that not one evangelical group will even think about pointing out the biggest deception of the night, Mitt Romney’s horrific theology. How do I know? Because Mitt Romney made the same statement at the first debate and not a peep was uttered by evangelical Romney cheerleaders.
To state that we are all children of the same God is bad theology for a Mormon, but for a Christian, that should have been the most troubling statement of the evening. Yet, it will go unchecked, unchallenged and uncorrected because Evangelicals, as a whole, are far more concerned about winning Washington than defending the truth.
Mitt Romney’s heresy was more sinful than anything Barack Obama uttered during the debate. Does this mean that we cannot vote for Mitt Romney? Nope. It means that the majority of evangelicals are more concerned about reclaiming America than they are in contending for the faith given once for all time.
“Reclaim America” Christians may win this political battle, but they will lose the theological war.
This is written by my Facebook friend, Larry Rosenbaum:
“And they all with one consent began to make excuse.”
Luke 14:18
Two thousand years ago, eleven dedicated followers of the Lord Jesus Christ turned their world upside down with the message of God’s salvation. They and their converts faced horrible persecution, were imprisoned and thrown to lions, yet their faith spread throughout the world.
Today, there are millions of Christians throughout the world. Modern technology has given us the means of reaching multitudes for Jesus. Yet every year the percentage of the world’s population that has heard the gospel decreases.
Here in the United States, a large percentage of the population claims to be born again. The Constitution protects the rights of Christians to preach unhindered. Christians in the United States have more wealth and leisure time than ever before in the history of the world. Yet multitudes in this country, including many of the children of these Christians, are turning from Jesus Christ to Eastern religions, the occult, drugs, alcohol, and sexual immorality of all kinds.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, tens of thousands of Christians are attracted to Christian events. At the same time, a mere handful of Christians are witnessing on the streets. Millions of unbelievers go on in their sins, many of whom never hear a Christian witness. The voices of the political radicals, Eastern cults, and homosexuals are heard loudly in the streets and in the media. At the same time, the voice of the Christian is scarcely noticed.
What has happened? For one thing, the early church believed that when Jesus said to go into all the world and preach His Word, He meant what He said. Today, with Satan’s help, we have developed many sophisticated excuses not to preach the gospel. In this teaching, I want to examine some of these excuses in the light of God’s Word. (more…)
This is a great article by Dr. Bob Gonzales, on when to stop sharing the Gospel with an unbeliever. In this case, the author finally called it quits on a couple of people who subscribed to a materialistic-evolutionary view of reality—much like the unbelievers who comment on this blog. The article ends with a heartfelt letter, and a tactful, gracious plea.
One of the marks of a Christian is a desire to share the good news of the life-transforming gospel with others. In the words of the apostles, “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). But what if a friend, fellow worker, schoolmate, or family member asks us to desist? Does there come a time when we should refrain from speaking to a person about Jesus and Christianity?
A few years ago, I sent John Piper’s booklet The Passion of Christ: Fifty Reasons Why He Came to Die to several close friends and relatives. To my knowledge, most of them were not Christians. I had already shared the gospel with some. With others I had not–at least not in a more comprehensive way. I wanted to be able to face Jesus on Judgment Day with the knowledge that I had attempted to share the gospel with those who were close to me.
Disappointingly, one couple replied with a letter and some materials that made it clear they rejected Christianity, affirmed materialistic evolution, and wished me to relinquish my attempts at trying to convert them. They were polite. But they were also resolute. They didn’t believe in God, and they preferred that I give up any attempt in persuading them otherwise. Click here to read the rest.
Back in March I went to a seminar break-out session at The Shepherd’s Conference, a yearly teaching/preaching/sharpening extravaganza held at Grace Community Church and hosted by Pastor John MacArthur, one of my favorite Bible teachers. The session, “The Ways of the Master” was taught by Pastor Jesse Johnson and was quite critical of the ministry and methods many of the evangelists on this blog appreciate. I will post all the articles, including the criticism in future weeks, but it all ended on a very positive note when Ray Comfort and his team wrote a wonderful defense of the reason why we evangelize the way we do, topped off by a ringing endorsement from John MacArthur, essentially, canceling out Jesse Johnson’s criticism. Here’s the first of the posts from Pastor Johnson’s blog, The Cripplegate.
WHY I RESPECT RAY COMFORT
By Jesse Johnson
A few weeks ago I gave a critique of the The Way of the Master evangelism at the Shepherd’s Conference. I plan on posting that critique here in the coming weeks. However, I want to make clear that I have tremendous respect for Ray Comfort and those at Living Waters. I personally have benefited tremendously from them and their ministry. So before I post that critique, I want to explain why (even in light of my critique) I am such a Ray Comfort fan.
I hesitated to post this because I don’t know how to do it in a way that doesn’t make it seem superficial. If I post it after my critique, it will look like I’m back-peddling and softening what I was saying. If I post it now, it will look like I’m not being sincere. But I think posting this list now is the best approach, simply because I want my critique to be read through the lens of respect for Ray and his ministry. You can have enormous respect for someone, and still disagree on theological issues.
So, with that said…here are my top ten reasons I admire Ray Comfort and his ministry: Click here to read the rest.
Here’s a great article from Bryan Daniels who has a blog called “Chief of the Least.”
“Strive to enter in at the narrow gate.”
(Luke 13:24)
Jesus would not be a minister of evangelism/missions at your church. It’s likely he would have never gotten past your search committee. You may not even want him on a visitation team. Not if you attend a church like most in modern American “churchianity”.
A cursory reading of Scripture shows that many times instead of making it easy for people to come to him, Christ put up formidable barriers to their coming. The harshness of tone and content in his invitation was usually in direct correlation to the hidden pride of his hearers. Amazingly, Christ didn’t always hit an inquiring person with a John 3:16 or a Mat 11:28 like we do. The Rich Young Ruler got smacked with the Ten Commandments when he came in Mark 10. The Pharisees were told their mom [slept] with the devil in John 8. Christ referred to a needy Samaritan woman as a dog when she asked for help in Mark 7:28. In general, his call in the Gospels consisted of “Turn your back on everything you know, and come die with me.” To which the response was either instant obedience to the command or “This dude’s crazy!” and “He just has a demon.”
So it shouldn’t surprise us that when Christ was met with a seemingly simple question, he handled it in an utterly unique and refreshingly blunt way. In Luke 13:23, as Jesus is teaching and journeying towards Jerusalem, an inquirer asks, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” Far from a simple “Yes” or “No” answer Jesus gives this response: “Strive to enter in at the narrow gate” (Luke 13:24). Read the rest by clicking here.
THE BAD
For this latest installment of the series I thought it best to refer you to an article from two years ago when we visited an anti-war protest in Hollywood and encountered the worst kind of sign guys: The Haters. (Read Part 1 of this series by clicking here.)
If you are an ardent evangelist and attend major events you will run into them, too. What should you do? What should you say? How will it affect your loving witness? To read a very effective strategy on dealing with these misguided people, click here.
Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.
One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.
As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.
He came closer still and called out “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young man paused, looked up, and replied, “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”
What difference can one person make in preaching the Gospel?
This 90 second presentation shows the spread of the Gospel as compared to the spread of other religions (and their wars). This map gives a brief history of the world’s most well-known religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Want to see 5,000 years of religion in 90 seconds?
Last week I posted an excellent article by Tony Miano called “I’m a Herald, not a Negotiator.” Atheists didn’t like it.
What has ensued is a lively discussion. For the Christian, you will see how best to reason with those who are unbelievers and not give up any ground whatsoever. It’s called standing firm in your faith. Join in the fray by clicking here.
Since I am getting a fair number of atheists and materialists to this blog as of late, I thought this article, written by my friend Tony Miano from his blog The Lawman Chronicles, will answer the myriad questions that are posed by them about what I believe and why I believe it.
But I’m almost positive that I’ve opened a whole new can of worms.
I’m a Herald, not a Negotiator
by Tony Miano
God exists. I know that God exists. How do I know? He has revealed Himself to me by the power of His Holy Spirit, and through the sacrificial death and glorious resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. He has caused me to be born again, resulting in my repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has given me spiritual eyes to see, the desire to know Him and obey Him, and the ability (although I still have much to learn) to understand His Word.
Whether you or I believe God exists is utterly irrelevant. One’s belief in God has no impact, positive or negative, on the existence of God. God is God. He always has been. He always will be.
I’m a herald, not a negotiator.
The Bible is true. How do I know? (more…)
Oh well. No preaching at the World Series or at the Dodgers Victory Parade… this year!
God saw fit to let another city do this work. But wait! You can relive the glorious Dodger Blue days by reading two stories about our evangelism endeavors at Dodger Stadium by clicking on the links below. And as an extra bonus, a special Baseball “Sudden Death!”
WOW!!! That’s better than the World Series!
I loved this article, sent to me about an evangelistic Grampa, written by Steve Watters…
It wasn’t always easy being around Grandpa.
Although he had a good sense of humor and told entertaining stories, you always knew what was coming — something about Jesus.
He had a habit of interrupting a perfectly good football game on Sunday by asking “What are they saying about Jesus on television today?”
Often my brothers and I were reluctant to invite friends to join us for Sunday dinner because we knew Grandpa would find a way to corner them and ask if they knew where they were going when they died — if they were “holding on to those nail-scarred hands.”
Grocery stores were even worse. Before the checkout clerk could ask “paper or plastic?” Grandpa found a way to enquire about the condition of her immortal soul. My uncle once confided that he hid behind a display of Legg’s hose while Grandpa
sprang his question.
And there were other things — witnessing in the county jail, handing out tracts in the mall, walking down Main Street with a cross on his back. My dad was a pastor and both of his parents were ordained ministers and so I understood why they often acted the way they did. Yet my mom’s dad didn’t even have a church title and still he went around acting more like a preacher than anyone I knew.
The one thing that baffled me most was what he did on the telephone. To read the rest, click here.
Here’s a neat article from the St. Petersburg Times about the evangelists preaching at the Super Bowl:
TAMPA — Wesley Tyler stepped atop a plastic stool Friday at the corner of Channelside and Beneficial drives and began to preach at jersey-clad Steelers fans and other passers-by.
“Be very careful crossing the street,” warned Tyler, a 32-year-old social worker. “If you get hit by a car, make sure you know where you’re going to spend eternity.”
Most people barely looked his way. Undeterred, Tyler picked up his stool and moved to a busier spot.
His mission: to share the Gospel with Super Bowl fans.
I ran this post a year ago on the forum of the School of Biblical Evangelism, a ministry of the Way of the Master. Recently, a 70-year-old man in Mexico who recently joined the school, re-discovered this post and made it active again. Read his testimony below.
My original post from a year ago:
I am recommiting for yet another year to sharing my faith everyday with at least one person or handing out ten Gospel tracts, and hope to make this my goal for the rest of my life. This my goal and sometimes I fall short of that goal, but I have kept it up for the last 5 years and am amazed at what God continues to do.Do you have an evangelistic goal of your own? What is your commitment in sharing the good news? If you don’t set a goal, you will reach it everytime. I will be encouraged to hear what you share…
Now read this man’s comments:
I am a missionary in full-time prison ministry based in central Mexico, that is, in Aguascalientes. I ordered 500 of the million dollar bill tracts in Spanish, (more…)
With Billy Graham hitting the 90th milestone (Oh! How I’d love to preach the Gospel well into my Golden Years. If only God would grant me my health and well-being until then…), Christianity Today has collected a variety of current and classic articles on Billy Graham and put them on one page.
You’ll also find some of his sermons on the site.
Click here to get there!
The debate rages on. Should we tell sinners that God loves them or hates them? Or both? Or neither?
Here is an excellent article that offers some perspective; you decide if the author, Dr. John H. Gerstner, makes a few solid biblical points. Who’s Dr. Gerstner? He was R.C. Sproul’s mentor…
“Repent or Perish” forces people to ponder seriously the popular slogan, “God hates the sin and loves the sinner.” Is a necessary repentance consistent with “God loves the sinner?” If God loves the sinner while he is alive, it is strange that God sends him to hell as soon as he dies. God loves the sinner to death? Loves him to everlasting torment?
There is something wrong here. Either God loves the sinner and will not send him into the furnace of His eternal wrath; or He sends him into His eternal wrath and does not love him. Either “you are going to hell unless” because God hates you, as you are. Or, God loves you and “you are going to hell unless” is false. Read the rest of the article here.
This is a wonderful article from the BBC on an illiterate little boy who takes to the streets preaching for Jesus in Uganda.
A woman cuts in, saying: “You wonder what makes a young person like him come onto the street and preach like he does? He’s so strange but I think that people might take him seriously.”
Another man in their party says the preacher boy is having an effect because, “Even if you don’t want to listen to what he is saying, in a way, his message still touches you.”
In an article entitled “I’ve lost my burden for the unsaved, so why am I still leading worship?” author Dwayne Moore, who has been leading and teaching worship for more than 30 years, realized there was something wrong in his Christian witness. Here’s an excerpt from the article:
For some reason, my burden for the lost has waned of late. I have become so busy and focused on “my ministry” of leading and teaching worship that somehow I have missed the whole point of ministry and worship. I couldn’t tell you the last time I prayed more than one minute for a lost person. In fact, I could name on one hand the lost people I know. My indictment is that I have been living in my own little church world and failing to be salt of the earth to those around me who desperately need God’s tender seasoning. Read the rest here.
