Mr. and Mrs. Miller

Pray for Scott and Rohnda.
Scott and Rohnda, I know the Lord will bless you in this mini-trial. I also know that you will be even more blessed when you know that you are attending a God-centered church, not a man-centered church.

Scott and Rohnda attend a Church of Christ church and know the heresy that is preached there. They will act on their knowedge and leave the church at the right time. Scott is a Deacon of the church and has many good friends there. Rohnda is a teacher who loves her students. She is building up courage with her husband to talk to the Elders on why they must leave the church.
Godspeed!!!!

Girls That Attend Local Churches

What I'm about to write, is for one thing only, a warning! Our Lord sent out many warnings while here on earth. He would usually start off with, "beware", "cursed", "thus says the Lord".
I do not mean to belittle, ridicule, make light of, or anything approaching those words. I say this in love and truth only. To the right are Sarah, Hollie, and Shalee. These girls were polite, friendly, and daughters whose parents should be proud to have them as their own children. Thank you for listening to me last night along with Chris and Jimmy standing beside me. I forgot who went to which church, but the churches I remember were Fellowhip and maybe Gateway? I sound like a recording, saying the same thing over and over. All three girls claimed they knew the Gospel but, none of them could explain it fully to the extent of what a sinner would need to hear to know of their need of a Savior. My question is this? Is this the fault of their pastor/church or their own fault? Any comments? The Gospel is what a person needs for eternal life. Take the message of the Gospel away, and you take away all hope for eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Christ's last words on earth should be important to know:
Mat 28:19
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
A disciple is someone who heard the Gospel (past tense) and received it with joy and gladness.
Christ's last words are not applicable to the sinner who has not heard the Gospel or has rejected it after hearing it.
Sarah, Hollie, and Shalee thank you again for listening. Please read the Scriptures to make your salvation more sure. Cling to Christ as you would a parachute for a 10,000 foot jump. Your parachute has a few loose strings that might fail you. Christ alone will not fail you and His joy is joy beyond imagination. Remember my story? God will change you more than any tractor trailer rig.

A delight, Mexicans who don't bow to the Pope

Yes, I blew it again. I did not write down the name of the young man on the right. It was this young man that I was talking to about why they did not attend a catholic church. Even his father in Mexico does not attend a catholic church. I thank our Lord for saving these folks from the wretched system of popery, the mass, the eucarist, induldgences, confessions, the rosary, and many other things that weigh down a person until their doom comes. The catholic church is like the modern day Pharisee, taking the last of the coins from old lady in this verse: Luk 21:2

Jesus saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. Have you ever noticed that where the Catholic church thrives, the people around it are always poor, and always needy?
Rev 17:16
"And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.
I hope this young man will comment on this blog, to tell me his testimony of His salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

More of Southlake

Here is Jon Speed doing open air preaching. He is following the same prescription as our Lord and the apostles. Spurgeon highly recommended this method to young pastors starting their first church. Also, open air preaching was common in the streets during Spurgeon's and Whitfield's days. Both did their fair share of it.
Jon was not getting heckled. He had the attention of all that were standing there. While Jon spoke, I started speaking to some Mexicans in the crowd. The picture above this (next posting) will show some Mexicans who came from a Bible church. They understood what Jon was preaching and liked it. I will be leaving only the picture of those people in hopes that the young man I was speaking with will comment about his father and family and why they no longer attend a Catholic church. It fascinates me to hear about how Christ has awakened their souls to the Truth of Himself.

Back to Southlake Towncenter

Tim and Jimmy on the left and Jon to the right. Both are doing the same thing; presenting the Gospel to the perishing. Like I have already stated, the ones that look like they are not interested in anything being said are sometimes the most likely to hear the message (read my preachers kid post). Never quit or hurry the Gospel message because of negative facial expressions. Remember, when the Gospel is preached the message will either damn them or save them. There is nothing in to the center of those two points. Heaven or hell, salvation or damnation. Salvation leads to eternity, damnation leads to eternity. Tim and Jimmy on the left may get different results than Jon on the right. Never give up the full message if at all possible.

Gal 2:20
"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the {life} which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

Back to Southlake Towncenter

Book Review: Whatever Happened to the Ten Commandments

Here is a book that in Reisinger's own words is to "focus attention on the Ten Commandments and to present the duties required and the sins forbidden in each of them." That is an exact representation of the entire book. It is simple and easy to read. Anyone would be able to understand it. You do not have to be a scholar to comprehend the meaning of the Commandments and our duty to obey them, even today.
The Law reveals the Character of God and the condition of man. God is exactly like the laws He wants us to obey. From Adam until the present day, we find every way possible to distort the commands of God. We must look to His law as a standard. Like being lost around town or in a different city, we need something to fix our bearings, something to guide us on our way in order to get to our destination. Without clear of direction we would never get to our destination. The Law is up to the task. The commandments point us to God. Christ, who kept the Law perfectly is our Captain.

Evangelism without the Law is nonsense. "The sharp needle of the law makes way for the scarlet thread of the Gospel." The law is indispensable in a biblical, God-centred evangelism.
The Law forbids "not only the acts of sin, but the desire and inclination to sin."
I love the way a good writer organizes thoughts. These are excellent points to remember when witnessing to the lost. Never leave out the Law to the perishing. In this way the Gospel will always make sense.

Psalm 119:72
"The law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of gold and silver {pieces.}"

West End Dallas Witnessing

Praise the Lord for His mercy on us! Even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us! The Gospel is for the perishing, not the saved. The Gospel has the power to save so that the perishing become saved. This is the only way a individual can actually become something other than what they truly are; wretched and vile, an enemy of God, hell bound, fearless toward God, wicked at heart to go with it all.
Last night, at the West End in Dallas, Jon and I had many privileged encounters. God's appointed time with sinners. My thoughts for last night focused on one thing, evangelizing the lost. I have always called friendship evangelism an unGodly way to evangelize the lost. I had not met the family to the left until last night. Although they were not perishing in a burning house or about to get hit by a semi-truck sending them to their eternal destruction, yet I did see that spiritually they were dead with no way to escape their fate. Until I placed the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their hands with a full explanation of their spiritual situation, they had no idea of the high, hot flames about to consume them.
You could say that as I spoke with them that in reality I yelled for them to, "get out!" Your house is on fire! Not only did I yell out but, I yelled out to them the only clear cut, safe and secure way out. I explained to them what they would encounter if they chose any other way. They understood clearly the way they needed to take.
So what does this have to do with friendship evangelism? This family became my friends last night. They thanked me for telling them about the Gospel. Even though Candice (upper right corner) said she knew about the Gospel, I still pressed the issue until they all knew they truly did not have a true idea exactly what the Gospel was. This, my friends, is true friendship evangelism!
Proverbs 14:12
"There is a way {which seems} right to a man, But its end is the way of death."



This is Jon in front of the famous depository where Mr. Harvey shot Kennedy. You have to trust me, it's back there. My point and shoot camera is not good enough to pick up the details. Why did I take this shot? Lee was instrumental in sending President Kennedy to his final destination. President Kennedy knows all too well now the penalty of sin, the worthlessness of a pope to absolve anyone's sins. There is no escape from the wrath of God. God's eternal punishment is the judgement of His perfect righteousness and justice.

On another note, just to Jon's right are the x's which mark the spots of President Kennedy's murder. But more importantly, a Mexican family was there last night. I handed Spanish tracts out to all of them, and some English tracts to those who spoke English. There may have been ten in the family. I spoke to the father, Pedro. I asked if he was going to attend church. He said yes. I asked where he would attend. He said they attended a Catholic church. I waited a second. I pulled out a several Gendron tracts and gave it to various family members. I then proceeded to speak with Pedro not knowing how much time God would give me to tell him about Christ. He knew what I told him was right. Pedro said his sister left the Catholic church, but he did not know why. I told him why. Once the pope dies, his body will decay. Christ rose from the dead. He is our high priest and the only priest we need for forgiveness of sins. Christ's sacrifice on the Cross will restore us to His Father. Christ paid the full penalty for our sins. No pope has ever had the power to forgive sins. Christ alone!
Pedro, if you read this, pray to Christ alone to forgive your sins. Then pray for His mercy on your soul and those of your families. Leave the Catholic church. It is powerless to save. Pedro you will perish if you stay in it. Flee!
1Corinthians 2:11
"For who among men knows the {thoughts} of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the {thoughts} of God no one knows except the Spirit of God."

I Don't Believe in Hell

This is a shot of Victory Plaza in the shadow of American Airlines Center in Dallas Texas. Lots of events take place here. There are many restaurants and shops within walking distance from the spot this picture was taken.
Turning opposite this photo there is a place a hundred yards away that coffee is served. I found it during Mardi Gras. I needed to locate a restroom really fast. I noticed a coffee shop that had a small line of people waiting for the facilities. I thought if I used their facilities I ought to purchase one of my little habits, an espresso. So after finishing my business, I ordered the espresso and left a tract.
Since that night, I've been there 3 times. Each visit and espresso brought more opportunity to witness as our Lord has commanded. You have to consider that I do not go into a business to witness. I do it on public property only until now.

Enough of that part of the story. Last night, I witnessed to an employee who had read a tract that I left a week ago with another employee! Paydirt! Witness for Christ now, it may not come again. The girl made my espresso, I slugged it down and gave her the tract that started our conversation.
Again, same story of the Law then Grace. She said she heard it all and in varying ways. She was always polite and listened to everything I said and never argued. I think she new what Truth sounded like. After about 20 minutes and one customer interuption, she finally said she did not know that she could believe in hell. She felt that God would not send people to such a place.
I told her she was breaking the 2nd commandent, making a god of her own choosing. Also I explained to her that by her statement she did not believe in justice. If a judge would allow a rapist who raped her mother to go free even though it had been 20 years since the crime was committed, then the judge would be equally guilty of rape! The judge would be a corrupt judge.
I told her God never allows any criminal to go free, He cannot! God is not corrupt, He judges everyone perfectly. Time does not forgive, and good deeds will not either.
I left her with the tract and more tracts on the counter. She did not want her picture taken, so this is all I have is a word picture. I pray that her eyes will be opened and her ears will hear. Christ can save her, too. I will be back.
I had to run to catch my 8:30 train back to Fort Worth. I had another witness encounter on the train. Praise God for His patience with sinners and His saints!

Mar 1:15
"...and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

Mat 10:28
"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. "

This Wasn't in the Training Manual

TRINITY RAILWAY EXPRESS: This is probably one of the best outlets for "street" witnessing that I have found in this area. At least that is what I have begun to think. I have taken the train to the American Airlines Center in Dallas four times. Each of these four trips became witnessing events, and each trip was unique. The major factor that remained the same for these "train trips" has been the vast number of people attending the various events. The first event was a Promise Keepers spectacle, the second was a Van Halen concert, the third was Mardi Gras celebration, and the fourth, last night, was a Mavericks game.
On my way over to Dallas last evening my plan was to just stay on the train to witness. NOT! As soon as I climbed onto the train to find a seat, I saw that most of the crowd was going to the Mavs game. Move to Plan B. I decided get off at Victory Station and witness at American Airlines Center campus. Once I got off the train, I started handing out tracts. I made my way to the center court area just outside the Center. After about an hour and a half of handing out tracts I finally spoke to a couple teens and their father. This eventually lead to a conversation with a scalper who knew the Scriptures at least well enough for an understanding of the Gospel. Better than many at my church. I probed around his beliefs with several questions. I quickly came to understand one of the man's sins, that he could not let go of, was scalping. I told him that it was against the law, but he already knew this. He justified his actions by stating that the Apostles ate the wheat while walking through the field. As John MacArthur would say "Are you kidding me!" Although it was a lengthy conversation, I think it was a good one. He followed me most of the way back to Victory Station until I told him I had to run to catch the train. I think his name is Gerome. If he comments on this blog, then he can let me know for sure.
At Victory Station I met another young man with a skate board. I asked him if he would like to have a tract. He started looking at it. I asked him if he attended church, but his answer was "no." "Why not," I asked? He said he was "just not into it anymore." For brevity's sake, I will have to cut much of the conversation details to a minimum. I asked him if I could explain the Gospel. He started to say, "no I'm good." I gently persisted and informed him that it would only take about 5 minutes. He relented. Praise God for open doors to do the work He has commanded us each to do. We have been commanded to seek and save the lost. My 5 minutes ended up lasting for approximately 30 minutes, yet there was a solid explanation of the Gospel and reasons why we do not need a pope for the forgiveness of our sins. Pray for Jeremy. He was open to the gospel. Now the Holy Spirit needs to work the miracle in his life. I thank the Lord who saved me from my blindness, deafness, and spirtual death to raise me up to life in Him alone. Jeremy will know of whom salvation is given.

Rom 10:14
How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?

Choose Your Ministry Carefully: Seek and Save the Lost

In the beginning as I was trying to figure out what sort of ministry would really count, I realized that all I had to do was locate the ministry that attracted the fewest number of people. Evangelism, one-on-one, street fishing. Evangelism, within the context of going out into the field of sinners to proclaim the Gospel of Christ and Him crucified, always has had the fewest number of real Christians actually doing it. I do not think I could verbalize it any better than what you will read below, I will leave it to Pastor/Teacher John MacArthur to unleash my heart on whomever reads this and is not participating in what Christ, our Captain, and all the apostles did themselves; they went out into the highway and byways to seek and save the lost.
" Likewise, the great mission of the church is to so love, learn, and live as to call men and women to Jesus Christ. As sinners are forgiven and are transformed from death to life and from darkness to light, God is glorified through that gracious miracle. The glory of God is manifest in His loving provision to redeem lost men. He Himself paid the ultimate price to fulfill His glory.
If God’s primary purpose for the saved were loving fellowship, He would take believers immediately to heaven, where spiritual fellowship is perfect, unhindered by sin, disharmony, or loneliness. If His primary purpose for the saved were the learning of His Word, He would also take believers immediately to heaven, where His Word is perfectly known and understood. And if God’s primary purpose for the saved were to give Him praise, He would, again, take believers immediately to heaven, where praise is perfect and unending.
There is only one reason the Lord allows His church to remain on earth: to seek and to save the lost, just as Christ’s only reason for coming to earth was to seek and to save the lost. “As the Father has sent Me,” He declared, “I also send you” (John 20:21). Therefore, believers who are not committed to winning the lost for Jesus Christ should reexamine their relationship to the Lord and certainly their divine reason for existence.
Fellowship, teaching, and praise are not the mission of the church but are rather the preparation of the church to fulfill its mission of winning the lost. And just as in athletics, training should never be confused with or substituted for actually competing in the game, which is the reason for all the training."

Book Review: The Law and the Gospel

Here is another compelling argument for the use of the Law in the context of street witnessing. Use the Law for other things in life also, but use it endearingly in the presentation of the Gospel to the perishing. This is the second book I have read by Reisinger with Ernest in mind. Although several books on the Law have been written, this man writes like John MacArthur. Reisinger is always more interested in people understanding with perspicuity. I like that word. Clarity is what I mean for you uninterested. Illumination is what happens to my brain while reading his material.

Let me begin with a quote of a statistic about our churches. "Less than 1% of all church members can even recite the Ten Commandments!" Look around at your church buds, 99 of 100 do not know 50% of the Gospel. So if your church has 100 members, only 1 will know all Ten Commandments. It could even be the pastor!

"The Perpetuity of the Law of God" Spurgeon states, "The man who knows the relative position of the Law and the Gospel has the keys of the situation in the matter of doctrine" and " a low view of the law always brings legalism in religion; a high view of law makes a man a seeker after grace." The law in the past has always been a great influence to people like Charles Spurgeon, a great open air preacher and a pastor who made big strides for street witnessing.

Reisinger makes clear case for the Law's use even prior to it being written in stone by God's own finger. Because sin was punished the Law was enforced. Paul the apostle said "...where there is no law, there is no transgression." Just as the moral law predates Sinai, it does not end at Calvary i.e. antinomianism. Calvary "changed the Christian's power and desire to do right, not his duty to do right".

The Law demands both external and internal obedience "We know that the law is spiritual," Romans 7:14

• 
  
  Not only murder, but hate


• 
  
  Not only adultery, but lusting


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  Not only stealing, but coveting

In street witnessing these are the commandments that are used all the time to convict the perishing sinner.

Here is another illumination for a layman like me: "...the commands of the first table are not to be kept for the sake of the commands of the second table, but rather the commands of the second table are to be kept for the sake of the first table." Example: if parents command their children to do something against God, the children should seek to obey God rather than men.

Going on to the grace of God we find quotes like: "So strong is the corruption in the hearts of the unregenerate that even the elect resist the saving operation of the Holy Spirit for a time."

There is nothing we do apart from Christ that is counted as righteousness. Romans 8:8 and Proverbs 21:4 and Pauls great confession in Philippians 3:7 , "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ." There is nothing a sinner can do on his own to save himself, or please God. Love is the fulfillment of the Law. The Law is a pointer to the Cross. The Law provides a conviction of sin. Therefore, the true meaning of Christ's death will cause the sinner to do a double take.

When I see the sinner's eyes change from a haughty look to a searching look, I know the Law is doing what it claims. It convicts! It is like a horse kicking you in the face, but the grace of God would allow you to live through it. Oh, it hurts, yet only long enough until I can inject the Cross' meaning into the lifeless veins and it soothes the pain that was caused by the sinner in the first place.

These partial verses in the Scripture all refer to love:

• 
  
  He who has My commandment and keeps them...


• 
  
  If you keep My commandments...


• 
  
  This is My commandment...

"Paul as a Pharisee, thought that people should keep the Law in order to be saved. Paul as a Christian, he saw that people must be saved in order that they might keep the Law."

Paul was a man who spent many hours in prayer, and he spent much time recuperating from being stoned, kicked, shipwrecked, whipped, punched, etc. He felt that this was only the least he could do to follow in our Captain's shoes.

Many people in the church today think they are sharing their faith by saying "come to Christ and He will improve your life or what ever ails you or to improve anything at all." This is not love. No, love is hard work laboring in the fields of perishing souls. The fields of lost souls that are vast and ripe for the harvest. The sad part is that there is a tremendous laziness of the believers and people within the church walls. This can be discouraging to the few faithful laborers. Understand, please, that love cries out to those that are perishing. An example is a person calling out to a person who does not see a car heading in his direction that will hit him. Unless someone is diligent to cry out, and the man hears that cry to escape get out of the way, he will not hear in time to be saved.

The Giver of the crown of glory will say, "well done...", that would tell me that I had actually done something! This is not something that I would do to earn any merit. No, my salvation is nothing of myself. It is a gift of God, not of works which I have done.

All the rest

I do not have any pictures of the other lost sinners I talked to. I usually like to take pictures of those that are willing to listen. I was able to talk to some teenage girls who were very polite and were a joy to talk to. One group of kids laughed as I presented the Gospel. Maybe it was their first time to hear a Gospel presentation, even though their claim to church was that they attended a semi-emergent church called Fellowship. This is a huge "church" in Grapevine Texas, that has a lot of problems. One of the major problems that I have encountered is I have not one person I have met that attends that "church" is knowledgeable in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have asked them if they could explain the Gospel. They have not been able to do so yet. You never know though, one day I hope to meet one.
I did meet a guy from Northwood (forgot his name) who had a pleasing knowledge of the Gospel. I would have been more satisfied if he had used the Law in his explanation to me. It was good to hear him.

Warming up in Southlake

" Do not number your fishes before they are broiled; nor count your converts before you have tested and tried them. This process may make your work somewhat slow; but then, brethren, it will be sure. Do your work steadily and well, so that those who come after you may not have to say that it was far more trouble to them to clear the church of those who ought never to have been admitted than it was to you to admit them. If God enables you to build three thousand bricks into His spiritual temple in one day, you may do it; but Peter has been the only bricklayer who has accomplished that feat up to the present. A lengthy quote by Charles Spurgeon. I hope that Josh and Kathrine you see here have been "broiled." Josh was so excited about what I was telling him and I could hear it in his voice. Josh, if you read this, thank you for talking with me. I heard your willingness to witness to others concerning the gospel. I don't know you personally so I will pray that you do what you say you want to do. You have a lot of potential and an eagerness that will be contagious. Always pray that what you present is Christ centered. Only He has the power to change hearts and minds. The Holy Spirit blows where He wills not where we will. Never, ever be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Warm In Southlake and A Lot of People

It was a nice warm night in Southlake to spread the gospel to the perishing. This young man here is my youngest son Caleb. He is taking an interest in helping dad with taking pictures, keeping me loaded with tracts and remembering the names of those I present the gospel. He is so proud to be on dads blog, now he is like is big brother, Daniel. I praise God for all my kids in that they serve Christ, the living and holy God who has life in Himself to rescue us from eternal damnation. Amen!
Look in the background, you can see Jon Speed talking to a couple who may be groping for Christ. Yes I know about the following verse: 10 as it is written, Romans 10-12 "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; 12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." There is a point I don't know when that the Holy Spirit has given enough water for the seeds of life to sprout and take on life. The soil the seed is sprouting in is also a variable too. But we don't manage any of that, the Holy Spirit decides who will know Christ via his changed heart or only know Christ historically. One saves, the other damns. There are two ways to repent: One like the repentance of Judas, and one like the repentance of the thief on the cross. Note: The thief was never baptized and was saved, Judas was baptized and was damned!

Last night Fort Worth was the destination to witness. To the right is John Speed doing what is called open air preaching. This is a practice that people like Jesus, Whitefield, Spurgeon, did in their time. The goal of doing this among other things is to draw a crowd to listen to the gospel. While a crowd would start gathering, others with the open air person start passing out tracts and witnessing personally to individuals. This is a rewarding practice because you never know who your audience will be. Hecklers are always present and that's what is wanted. Hecklers are wonderful to witness to, because they tell you exactly what they think. You never know how or when the Holy Spirit will quicken a dead soul. With the simple gospel of Christ people are brought into the Kingdom of God as you witness transformation by repentance and faith.

Here below Christ our Lord was outdoors, doing open air preaching.

Luk 6:17
And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon...

You know it really doesn't matter what you think about opein air preching or street evangelism or one to one witnessing, our Captain did it as an example for us.

" Now, you men in the open-air are often bamboozled; the devil's barristers are sure to come to you, he has a great number of them constantly retained in his service. The one thing you have to do is to bear witness to the truth. If you enquire in your own mind, "How shall I answer this man cleverly, so as to get a victory over him?" you will not be wise. A witty answer is often a very proper thing; at the same time, a gracious answer is better. Try to say to yourself: "It does not, after all, matter whether that man proves me to be a fool or not, for I know that already I am content to be thought a fool for Christ's sake, and not to care about my reputation. I have to bear witness to what I know, and by the help of God I will do so right boldly. If the interrupter questions me about other things, I shall tell him that I do not come to bear witness about other matters, but this one thing I do." Spurgeon