I sure hope there were some evangelists preaching outside this meeting…
Archive for the ‘Strange but True’ Category
Weird: Prayer in Obama’s Name?
Thursday, October 8th, 2009Trick or Treat? 25 Cent IN-N-OUT Burgers
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008A very excited open air preacher sent me this announcement from a popular California burger chain along with this note: “Sounds like an “Organic” situation here …. Wonder if the line will stretch to the sidewalk – ya think ?”
In-n-Out’s 60th Year Anniversary is Wednesday, October 22nd.
All hamburgers will be sold for 25 cents, Cheeseburgers 30 cents,
Fries 15 cents, and drinks are 10 cents!!!
So mark your calendars!
In California the most popular hamburger stand in the state is “IN-N-OUT” BURGER
Think of the long lines of hungry people waiting to eat a 25 cent hamburger (these aren’t ordinary hamburgers, mind you, they are fresh and delicious). The fries? Cut and peeled on the spot! Mmmmmmmmmmmmm… More importantly, hundreds, if not thousands of burger loving meat eaters will be gathered around the block to purchase quantities of these delectable delights! And the open air preachers will be there, too, to help bring the focus back to the Lord, right?
Nope. It was a hoax.
In protest, I’m now joining P.E.T.A. (People Eating Tasty Animals)
(I did preach to the Pink’s hotdog line in Hollywood. See the video here!)
Culture of Death
Monday, October 20th, 2008Americans have a deep fascination with death and everything morbid.
As a result Halloween is probably this country’s favorite holiday of choice.
With that in mind, this blog will try to redeem this sad reality with truly horrible and tasteless articles and videos that deal with death and horror—but with an evangelistic spin! Stay tuned over the next two weeks….
BOO!
BOO!: Honoring the Dead, Then & Now
Monday, October 20th, 2008The treatment and disposal of dead bodies differs from culture to culture. Here are some examples. (See if you can guess which culture is lowbrow.):
In the Solomon Islands of the South Pacific a body was traditionally placed on a reef where it would be eaten by sharks.
Muslims wash the body three times, wrap it in a white shroud, and place it into the ground with the head pointed toward Mecca.
The Inuit people put the corpses in igloos where it would be protected by the cold and preserved.
The Vikings would place a dead man on a small boat at sunset, set it adrift at sea, then the body was then set on fire. If the sunset was the same color as that of the fire, it meant that the deceased was bound for Valhalla, which was Viking heaven.
The Romans: Images of sleep and rebirth were frequently represented on beautiful sarcaphagi. This is one from A.D. 210-220.
Americans: We get our final resting places at… Costco! And at great discounts!
Buy a few for the entire family (and get some muffins while you’re there, too.) With 150,000 people dying everyday you can never prepare too soon!
My daughters’ favorite has the pretty flower.
If you were to die today, would you go to Heaven, Hell… or a big box retailer?
Do Scientologists go to Heaven?
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008With the recent passing of actor and ardent Scientologist Isaac Hayes, the question we all may have is this: Where will Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Kirstie Ally and all the rest of the Hallowed Hollywood Hubbard household go when they die? What do Dianetics diehards have to look forward to in the next life? According to an article at SLATE.com this is what Scientologists believe will happen to them when they die:
His soul will be “born again into the flesh of another body,” as the Scientology Press Office’s FAQ puts it. The actual details of how that rebirth occurs are not fully understood by church outsiders, but some core beliefs of Scientology are that every human being is really an immortal spiritual being known as a thetan and that the “meat bodies” we inhabit are merely vessels we shed upon death. (Members of the elite church cadre known as Sea Org, for example, sign contracts that pledge a billion years of service throughout successive lives.)
When a body dies, its thetan forgets the details of the former life, though painful and traumatic images known as engrams remain rooted in its unconscious. In order to move up the path of spiritual progression—known as the Bridge to Total Freedom—one must eradicate these psychic scars, which cause a person to act fearfully and irrationally. Once a Scientologist has purged them through the counseling process known as auditing, he or she is said to be “clear.”
In a widely reprinted 1990 Los Angeles Times article, Hubbard was quoted (apparently from a lecture given in the 1950s) describing how, after death, a thetan is carried to a “landing station” on Venus, where it is “programmed with lies,” put in a capsule, and then “dumped” back on Earth, where it wanders in search of a baby to inhabit.
The Bible teaches something completely and totally different. There is only one of two places a person will go when they die: Heaven or Hell. If you have ever broken any of the 10 Commandments by lying, stealing, or misusing God’s name, then God will see you as a liar, thief and blasphemer. The bible says that even if you look with lust, that’s adultery, and if you’ve ever hated anyone, that’s murder. On Judgment Day, you will be found guilty and end up in Hell.
But that’s not God’s will!
If you repent, that is, turn away from your sins and put your trust in Jesus Christ, who died for your sins, was buried for three days and rose again, then God will forgive you and grant you everlasting life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. Need more info? Click here!
Read how we were chased by Scientologist security guards here!
“Three”
Saturday, July 5th, 2008The number of Gospel tracts I handed out on Independence Day.
I was too tired to do anything but rest in my home. Hey! It happens! What can I say?
The Mayor’s Right On the Money
Friday, July 4th, 2008I went to a meeting with the Mayor of Torrance (the city that I’m responsible for as part of my pastoral responsibilities), along with 20 other pastors because Mayor Frank Scotto wanted help from churches in building up the community of this city.
A Mayor enlisting the help of pastors? I was so grateful, I gave him a $100 Gospel tract. He also wanted pastors to give invocations at City Council meetings. I asked a very important question: “Mayor, will I be able to pray in the name of Jesus?” His answer: A resounding “Yes!”
Sudden Deaths: Grand Canyon!
Monday, June 30th, 2008“How many people fall here each year?”
This is the question that nearly every National Park Service ranger hears most often from South Rim visitors once they first view the shocking abyss called Grand Canyon.
Here are a few who fell to their death, suddenly:
Gesala Elixmann, 34. Died on March 9, 1989. While she stood on the edge, she became dizzy and fell 500 feet.
Scott Awodey, 29. Died on June 25, 1992. He was “rock-hopping” on the edge of the rim, reportedly hamming it up for photos. He fell 140 feet.
Lori Newcomb, 31. Died on September 7, 1993. She walked far out on the edge to take a photo. The rock crumbled under her weight. She fell 150 feet to her death.
—From “Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon” by Michael P. Ghiglieri and Thomas M. Myers
Stop Preaching! Revival Has Come!
Monday, June 9th, 2008Another big move of the spirit? A second Great Awakening? Here is the leader of the latest “Revival” taking place in Florida explaining how God has spoken to him.
You know how you always hear of Christians giving Jesus a black eye? Watch this two minute video and see that it’s now the other way around: Jesus is giving Christians a black eye! It gives new meaning to a person being “slain in the spirit.”
Click here for direct link.
Every few years a “New Big Revival!” is talked about. If you do a little digging, you’ll find out that something is strangely amiss, and usually it’s a Christian’s discernment. Until we get out there and preach repentance and forgiveness in Jesus’ name, we’ll just have to endure the counterfeit.
Candidates for Conversion?
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008Are the top three presidential candidates saved? Who knows? Only God can judge that. But here are some interesting perspectives on the Big Three:
JOHN MCCAIN
In an article on McCain’s biography tour, I found this tidbit in the L.A. Times:
Each speech was a catalog of sin, then secular salvation, mostly given in made-for-TV settings where he spoke of the dawning awareness of a purpose larger than himself—serving his country. The narrative that he told was a classic tale of redemption through selflessness, as old as Shakespeare…
HILLARY CLINTON
Chelsea Clinton told about how mom is a really good person and why she should be the next president in an interview with the L.A. Times in January. But is she good enough to get to Heaven?
“My mom is the best person I know…. For better or worse my parents have pounded it into my head when I was little and growing up that being a good citizen and being an active participant in our democracy is part of being a good person.”
BARACK OBAMA
In a OneNewsNow report Obama thinks you can be good enough to get to Heaven:
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Senator Barack Obama has told an audience that although he believes Christ died for his sins, those who reject that teaching can also be children of God.
During a campaign stop yesterday in Greensboro, North Carolina, Senator Obama told the audience that he believes he “can have everlasting life” because Jesus Christ died for his sins. But he then told a questioner that he believes Jews and Muslims who live moral lives are just as much “children of God” as he is.
The Illinois Democrat added that his late mother didn’t share his faith but was a kind and generous person, so he’s “sure she’s in heaven.” Read the rest from OneNewsNow here.
A SOLUTION TO THE CONFUSION
Somebody needs to hand these people a Gospel tract. Or better yet, a nice loud open air preacher just outside the National Conventions will be just fine. Any volunteers?
R.A. Torrey (1856-1928) said this:
“You can reach men in an open-air meeting that you can reach in no other way. I can tell of instance after instance where men who have not been at church or a mission hall for years have been reached by open-air meetings. The persons I have known to be reached and converted through open- air meetings have included thieves, drunkards, gamblers, saloon-keepers, abandoned women, murderers, lawyers, doctors, theatrical people, society people, in fact pretty much every class.” May I add: Politicians?
Yet Another Weak & Wimpy Witness
Monday, January 28th, 2008There is no need to “lift up your voice like a trumpet” when you can wear a loud tie only a Dad could love.
—From ALittleLeaven.com
More Weak & Wimpy Witnesses for 2008
Monday, January 14th, 2008AIR JESUS
Why speak about the Savior when you can misrepresent Him on your T-shirt?
I can assure you that this is not what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote about the Rapture saying, “…we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”
(Thank to ALittleLeaven.com)
Islam, Rod Stewart, and Clueless Christians
Monday, December 3rd, 2007I am sure surprised at the zeal in which Muslims in Sudan reverence their prophet Muhammad.
According to the L.A. Times: Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad.
Rod Stewart expressed his disgust at the language used by the entertainment during Al Gore’s Live Earth concerts in Great Britain. According to Mastermedia’s newsletter, The Mediator, Rod referred to the “effing” and such as, “It just sounded so cheap.”
Rod is now putting his money where his mouth is promising to pay 10 pounds (about $20.00) to everybody in any of his audience if he swears on stage.
Now compare “Christians’ ” reverence for their Savior:
Christmas Gifts: Your Choice!
Monday, November 26th, 2007Have a burden to evangelize by wearing clever clothes?
Here are some options that will elicit “Amens” and “Oh nos!”
This is a great gift put out by EvangelismStuff.com:
Shopkeepers Dale and Anna Jackson are good friends of mine who also are on staff at Way of the Master! They know their evangelistic stuff!
And this is an awful option…
Here is another example of the irreverence and cluelessness found in the “Christian” community being passed off as authentic witness. The company that produced this shirt is called “Holeyware.com, which is certainly an appropriate name, since there are some major holes in their understanding of Who Jesus is.
As A Little Leaven puts it: “This is a fine and reverent way to depict the Lamb of God, King of Kings and Maker of Heaven and Earth.”
Weak, Wimpy—and Wrong—Witnesses!
Monday, November 19th, 2007I just did a sermon on hypocritical Christianity dealing with the reasons why the unbelieving world doesn’t take us seriously. We aren’t persecuted so much for what we believe anymore (although that certainly does happen, of course), but for what we do—like buying this Jesus junk! Are we really letting our light shine before men by purchasing these items?
THE JESUS ROBOT
THE “I LOVE JESUS” SHOTGLASS
“JEEZ-ITS”
AND… “THE JESUS TONGUE-PIERCING BARBELL!
Is it time for a revival? Hmmmm…
(All Jesus Junk used with permission by www.ALittleLeaven.com
More Weak, Wimpy—and Wrong—Witnesses
Monday, November 5th, 2007These items need no comment.
Okay. I’ll use the comments that Alittleleaven.com provides: “If you think that wearing this hat to a biker event will cause men with names like “Snakebite” and “Mad Dog” to fall on their knees in repentance, then you’ve got another thing coming.”
See more “Weak, Wimpy—and Wrong—Witnesses” starting here.
Two Weak, Wimpy—and Wrong—Witnesses #5
Monday, October 22nd, 2007This is truly a weak and wimpy witness. Really! No one needs to wear these items to start up a conversation about spiritual things. The last thing anyone will want to do is ask you a question about Jesus if they see you wearing a hat like this. Read an analysis of the design flaws as critiqued by A Little Leaven below:
Design flaw #1: This looks like the type of hat a blue-collar guy would wear BUT the Intel logo knock-off would only be appealing to computer geeks.
Design flaw #2: The orange sherbet color scheme is VERY metro-sexual.
The only people who would actually buy this hat are Biblically illiterate metro-sexual computer geeks who want to look more like cooler blue-collar guys while at the same time are trying to make some kind of a statement for Jesus. That is probably a very small segment of the market. Therefore, we don’t anticipate seeing too many of these hats in the wild.
If you buy the hat, then you may as well get the slippers, too. How else to keep those feet beautiful when spreading the Good News?
See more “Weak Witnesses” here.
Weak, Wimpy—and Wrong—Witness #4
Monday, October 8th, 2007As you can see, there is a whole line of ridiculous T-shirts that will help you not to share your faith verbally, will advertise undiscerning Christian T.V. viewing habits, and most certainly will dumb down our Christian faith in general.
See other ridiculous “Witness Wear” here.
Thanks again to our friends at A Little Leaven, who allow us to feature their site.
Sudden Death: Enema!
Monday, October 8th, 2007I’m continually amazed at the ridiculous things people do that will ultimately cause death, suddenly. This is why there is an urgency in preaching the Gospel…
According to Join Together, an alcohol abuse treatment website, a Texas man died after receiving an enema full of sherry wine, and his wife was recently cleared of charges of killing him, the Associated Press reported Oct. 4.
Michael Warner, 58, had a blood-alcohol level of .47 percent — more than five times the legal limit — when he died May 21, 2004. His wife, Tammy Jean Warner, was initially charged with negligent homicide in connection with his death by alcohol poisoning, but those charges were dismissed in late August because of lack of evidence.
Warner said her husband was addicted to enemas and often filled them with alcohol to get drunk.
Weak, Wimpy—and Wrong—Witness #3
Monday, October 1st, 2007Anyone who thinks that this is who Jesus is will have another thing coming when he faces the Righteous Judge on that Day in the ‘hood.
This is another example of cheap Jesus Junk masquerading as Christian witness.
(Used with permission from our friends at www.alittleleaven.com.
See prevous examples of weak, wimpy—and wrong—witnesses here and here.)
