What is the real winning of a soul for God?

Panorama of Old Town 12-18-2010 on CleVR.com

What is the real winning of a soul for God? So far as this is done by instrumentality, what are the processes by which a soul is led to God and to salvation? I take it that one of its main operations consists in instructing a man that he may know the truth of God. Instruction by the gospel is the commencement of all real work upon men's minds. "Go ye, therefore, and teach.. CHS “The Soul-Winner” pg 14

Taking the Good News of Christ to Old Town

Lecrae - Don't Waste Your Life

Tony and CJ on Blogtalk Radio

The sky above proclaims his handiwork

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
(Psa 19:1-14)

The best attraction is the gospel...

Panorama of Old Town April 2010 on CleVR.com

“To try to win a soul for Christ by keeping that soul in ignorance of any truth, is contrary to the mind of the Spirit; and to endeavor to save men by mere claptrap, or excitement, or oratorical display, is as foolish as to hope to hold an angel with bird-lime, or lure a star with music. The best attraction is the gospel in its purity. The weapon with which the Lord conquers men is the truth as it is in Jesus. The gospel will be found equal to every emergency; an arrow which can pierce the hardest heart, a balm which will heal the deadliest wound. Preach it, and preach nothing else. Rely implicitly upon the old, old gospel. You need no other nets when you fish for men; those your Master has given you are strong enough for the great fishes, and have meshes fine enough to hold the little ones. Spread these nets and no others, and you need not fear the fulfillment of His Word, "I will make you fishers of men." Charles H. Spurgeon, The Soul-Winner pg 18

Everyone Knows or No One Knows?

The Word of our God will Stand

The light of the gospel of the glory of Christ

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. (2Co 4:1-12)

Seek the LORD while he may be found

"Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
(Isa 55:6-11)

Many people who are not willing to acknowledge God's existence seem to base their refusal on their inability to understand God either in part or in whole. Some claim that the very idea of God's existence is illogical. Others take issue with various aspects of what is claimed to be true about God in the Bible. One question to consider is whether or not we should expect a self-existent eternal Being to be fully understood by creatures that are neither self-existent nor eternal. As the Lord says in this passage, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways". Why should we expect it to be any different?

If God is for us, who can be against us?

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:31-39)

Go Stand Speak: The Forgotten Power of the Public Proclamation of the Gospel

Should Christians be proclaiming the Gospel of the good news of the glory of Christ outside the fours walls of their church? If not why not? If we should why are not more doing it?

July 2010 Ambassador's Academy

Video by Darryl Bradford Jr

Larimer County Fair Parade

On Wednesday night we went down to Loveland, Colorado. They were having a parade in conjunction with the Larimer County Fair. We were a bit late but were able to catch quite a few people heading back to their cars. We stopped at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and 4th Street and because there was a good amount of traffic from the parade all going north on the one way street, many people were able to see the cross. We handed out tracts to the people passing by and were able to engage a few people in conversation.. We also had some interaction with some local bar patrons and homeless people most of whom were too drunk to really have much intelligent conversation with them. One older gentleman came out of the bar and repeated several times, “Jesus loves you” and then said that we should not make a spectacle of the cross. Another said that his friend told him that he was going to nail me onto the cross. We had a fairly long conversation with both Abraham and Jessica who lived nearby wherein we were able to proclaim the law and the gospel to them. Jessica was congenial and took a New Testament. Abraham was also very nice. He told us he was from Chihuahua. We also talked to a man named Lee who stopped on his bicycle to see what we were doing. He said he was an agnostic fundamentalist and laughed saying it was only a joke he liked to tell. He seemed to be under conviction as we went through some of the commandments with him. As we talked with him, another couple approached us who had a look that said “we really need to tell you something about what you are doing”. We asked them to wait while we finished talking to Lee. Our conversation ended quickly when Tracy told Lee that hatred was murder of the heart. He muttered something about us being “too much” and rode away without looking back. We then turned to the couple that was waiting to talk to us. They both had their arms folded tightly across their chests. Rick and Mya identified themselves as Christians and wanted to know what we believed about President Obama. We told them we were not really there to discuss politics. Rick was sure that Mr. Obama was the anti-Christ. Things went downhill when we began to explain to them the gospel starting with the God and the fall of mankind. We explained that we are all by nature enemies of God. Rick was very sure that we were wrong about this and that God had no enemies at all. We pointed him to Rom 5:10 “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” Rick was not really interested in hearing what we had to say. Shortly thereafter, he and his companion departed rather abruptly. My question is that if, we have never come to grips with the truth that we are by nature enemies of God, can we really be God's friend? We also had the chance to talk to Chris a very nice young man who was looking for a solid church to attend. Please pray for all who heard or read the truth of the gospel or who were reminded of it by seeing the cross.

Where is the one who is wise?

Photo by Darryl Bradford Jr


Sam the Cambridge PhD tries to convince Mark Spence that there are absolutely no absolutes.

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
(1Co 1:20-21)


"An idea has long possessed the public mind that a religious man can scarcely be a wise man. It has been the custom to talk of infidels, atheists and deists as men of deep thought and comprehensive intellect. And to tremble for the Christian controversialist, as if he must surely fall by the hand of the enemy. But this is purely a mistake. For the Gospel is the sum of wisdom, an epitome of knowledge, a treasure house of Truth and a Revelation of mysterious secrets. In it we see how justice and mercy may be married. Here we behold inexorable Law entirely satisfied and sovereign love bearing away the sinner in triumph. Our meditation upon it enlarges the mind. And as it opens to our soul in successive flashes of glory, we stand astonished at the profound wisdom manifest in it." CH Spurgeon

Third Street Promenade Open-Air (July 30, 2010)

We traveled to Santa Monica along with about 60 other Evangelists to proclaim the good news of the glory of Christ. Our goal was to make known the message of what our great God and Savior accomplished in a clear and winsome manner. Did we accomplish our goal? I hope that we did. We know that we have much to learn. The Apostle Peter wrote this, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." Amen, may be it so!

Do you consider yourself to be a good person?

Jamie and Friends

Tracy interviewed three young ladies in October 2009 in Old Town Fort Collins. She asked them about there beliefs concerning the afterlife. One of them said that she believed in reincarnation but did not seem to know much about it. Tracy had a good time talking to this energetic trio of friends. Our prayer is that the truth they heard will make bear everlasting fruit in their lives.

Here is the audio:

http://www.archive.org/details/OldTownInterviewJamieAndFriends

Ray Comfort at the Beach

Interview with Michael

I talked to Michael on a Friday night in Old Town Fort Collins in April 2010. He was an affable young man who said he was a Christian. I asked what he would say to me if I wasn't a believer and only had three minutes to live. I also told him what I would say in those three minutes courtesy our brother Tony Miano.

Here is the interview:

Want to learn to proclaim your faith biblically?

Willingness

"There must also be a willingness to obey the Lord in all His commandments. It is a shameful thing for a man to profess discipleship and yet refuse to learn his Lord's will upon certain points, or even dare to decline obedience when that will is known. How can a man be a disciple of Christ when he openly lives in disobedience to Him?" CH Spurgeon “The Soul-Winner” pg 30

Talk with Cody

Tracy interviewed Cody on a Saturday afternoon in May 2010 in Old Town Fort Collins. Cody attends church every Sunday and Wednesday and said he strongly believed that he would go to heaven when he died. Tracy enjoyed talking to him and getting his ideas on the subject of life after death. He said that it is hard to say how a just and holy God can forgive our sins.

Here is the audio. (17min 16sec)

http://www.archive.org/details/InterviewWithCody

What do you think about Ultimate Reality?

It must be by grace alone

Men need to be told that, except divine grace shall bring them out of their enmity to God, they must eternally perish; and they must be reminded of the sovereignty of God, that He is not obliged to bring them out of this state, that He would be right and just if He left them in such a condition, that they have no merit to plead before Him, and no claims upon him, but that if they are to be saved, it must be by grace, and by grace alone. CH Spurgeon “The Soul-Winner” pg 17-18

The unsearchable riches of Christ

"View yourselves as grains of wheat predestinated to seed the world. That man lives grandly who is as earnest as if the very existence of Christianity depended upon himself, and is determined that to all men within his reach shall be made known the unsearchable riches of Christ." - CH Spurgeon “The Soul-Winner” pg 204

The Great Divide Crossed

I grew up in a fairly strict and traditional family in Denver, Colorado. Along with my three sisters and two brothers and numerous cousins; I was raised in the Roman Catholic tradition. We attended Mass on a weekly basis and Parochial schools from 1st through 8th grade and then I attended a Jesuit High School until graduation in 1975. It was a fairly typical upbringing for a kid of the baby boom generation born the late 1950s. Our lifestyle was not lavish but comfortable. I don’t remember much of the religious instruction that came from my parents, though no doubt they tried to give it. My understanding was that Jesus died to give us a second chance to earn His favor by our good deeds. Though this does not exactly reflect official Roman Catholic teaching it was the idea that stuck in my mind. In my High School years there were few if any of my peers who took their religious upbringing very seriously. Most were much more interested in parties, sports, and girls. Upon graduation Denver was left behind to attend CSU in Fort Collins. I remember saying our goodbyes after my parents drove me to the campus and got me settled in my dorm room. For the most part it felt good to be free and on my own for the first time. Continuing to attend church was never seriously considered. Even so, the idea that there must be some kind of God somewhere floated around in my thoughts. Eastern meditation seemed attractive for awhile but whatever was there seemed to remain just out of reach. A couple of different girlfriends were part of the picture in the early years of college, which was unfortunately not a good thing for them or me. A sense of emptiness was always beneath the relentless pursuit of happiness. Despite having much of what imagination had told me would bring contentment, the reality was much less satisfying. The thought of being a basically good person had always been something of a comfort to me regardless of all the bad things done in my life. It was never too hard to find someone who was actually worst than me, at least in my mind. Still, sometimes the undeniable sense of guilt would make me wonder. Unbeknownst to me a radical change was coming.
Working at a nursing home in the summer of 1976 was not the best employment, but it was something and afforded more opportunity to be near my girlfriend who had found me the job. One day the thought came clearly as we were taking our break at work, “there must be a better way”. It was a different kind of reflection, almost as though it was not my own.
A couple of my fellow employees had come to notice in the first few weeks of work. One of them was a hard partying kind of guy who liked to boast about his exploits the night before. The other was a few years older and seemed different somehow. It remained a mystery until one day the two of them were talking within earshot. Evidently the party guy had been invited over to the others place for dinner and something had happened. It was not quite clear as to what, but it seemed that he was giving up his partying ways. Now that was strange. A curious eye was kept on the two of them for the next couple of months. At the end of the summer the job had to be given up to return to school. The last day of work we were saying our goodbyes and the unusual pair was in the hall. The former party guy gave me an illustration. “Have you ever stuck your finger in a candle?” he asked. And then he added, “Imagine that for all eternity”. Such a comment was a bit stunning coming out of the blue, but then, the other guy, whose name was Don, said simply, “Jesus is the way”. There is no more of the conversation that comes to mind than those few lines. They are etched in the memory because of what happened not long after. That phrase about Jesus being “the way” just would not leave my mind. It seemed to be following everywhere, haunting me. My girlfriend asked, not long after, in a somewhat irritated tone, “What is wrong with you?” The question was a surprise. Was it that obvious? Without thinking the astonishing words came tumbling out. “I think I need the Lord”. It was a moment like none before or since in a life that had seemed to be spiraling downward in far too many ways. It was not so much a decision as an admission of helplessness. The great divide was crossed; the way of life irrevocably changed. That singular event set a different course, first to find out what had happened and then to follow and proclaim the truth about the One who had effected this momentous change.
What took place and why it took place has come into greater clarity as the years have passed. In a nutshell it is encapsulated in the words penned by the Apostle Paul in the first century about 30 years after Jesus lived and died and rose from the dead. He wrote that, “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost”. Sinners in this context are not people who are just imperfect, but people who are in active rebellion against their Maker. We have lied and therefore are liars. We have stolen and therefore are thieves. Used God’s name in a profane way and therefore are blasphemers. Looked with lustful intent and therefore are adulterers at heart. In fact, we have broken all of God’s commands in word and thought if not in deed. For me, worst of all perhaps was the arrogant way I viewed my rebellion. It was not really my fault. After all God had made me the way I was. I was a perfect candidate for judgment of the strictest variety. The remarkable thing is that what was deserved did not come. Amazing grace is the only way to describe what happened that day in my girlfriend’s apartment. It happened because of what Christ came into the world to do for people like me. God could have been content to give us the justice that we deserved. But instead He sent His Son into the world to live a perfectly righteous life and die the death of a spotless lamb on our behalf. He took our punishment and purchased us for Himself. And then He rose from the dead proving that all that the Law and the Prophets and He himself had spoken will come to pass. It is my earnest prayer that God will do the same miraculous work in your life if you remain a skeptical unbeliever. Please seriously consider your need to turn away from everything that has been more important to you than the one true God. Turn to Him and call out to Him to have mercy on you. One thing that you can not deny is your knowledge of yourself. Your conscience should compel you to run from the judgment that is to come. It is my prayer that you will not delay.

Conversation with Fernando and Claudia

We interviewed Fernando and Claudia in Old Town Fort Collins on a sunny though somewhat windy Saturday afternoon in April of 2010. We asked them about their thoughts on the afterlife. They were both raised Catholic though Claudia said she didn't really believe anyone knows what happens after we die.

Here is the audio.

http://www.archive.org/details/FernandoAndClaudia

If there is a God, why are there atheists? by R.C. Sproul

This is an excerpt from the book by R.C. Sproul mentioned above. In this book he explores what he calls the psychology of atheism. In chapter 4, entitled the "Flight from an indignant God", He opens with the following:


The views of Freud, Feuerbach, Marx, and Nietzsche have been so widely disseminated in our culture that it is a common occurrence for the theist to have his faith challenged on the basis of psychological charges. Is there any religious man who has never been accused of believing in God merely because he needed a crutch to face the threats of the modern world? That the shoe could be on the other foot or the crutch used for the other leg is rarely considered.
In contrast to the widespread awareness of the psychology of theism, there is a woeful ignorance of the psychology of atheism. It is not common knowledge that the New Testament offers an answer to the question, If there is a God, why is there atheism? The answer to the question is given in what would now be called psychological categories. That is to say; the New Testament maintains that unbelief is generated not so much by intellectual causes as by moral and psychological ones. The problem is not that there is insufficient evidence to convince rational beings that there is a God, but that rational beings have a natural hostility to the being of God. In a word, the nature of God (at least the Christian God) is repugnant to man and is not the focus of desire or wish-projection. Man's desire is not that the omnipotent, personal Judeo-Christian God exist, but that He not exist. The New Testament sees not only atheism but human-fabricated religion as being grounded in such antipathy toward the true God.

So what do you think? Are you suppressing the knowledge of God? Are you trying to convince yourself that God, as revealed in the Bible, cannot exist? Are you telling yourself that even if God does exist, I have nothing to worry about because I am a basically good person? Or if you possess true faith in God, do you buy the idea that unbelieving people are naturally seeking God?

Interview with Phil

We talked to Phil on the corner of College and Mountain Avenues about his spiritual beliefs. He had some interesting ideas about the afterlife, conscience, morality, and our need for forgiveness, including the belief that, "Hell is in Heaven". Here is the audio.

http://www.archive.org/details/InterviewWithPhil

Our prayer for you

This post is for those who we have had the opportunity to either talk to or hand literature to in some public place or to those who may have found something like a million or trillion dollar bill that was left by us or someone else and have come to see what we are about or perhaps you are in some way offended by what you have heard or read.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1Th 1:1-10)

To those who do not possess true faith in Christ:
Our prayer for you is that the message that you heard or read would come to you not as our point of view only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. That means that God will have caused to happen in you the same radical change that He has effected in countless others down through history. If/when that happens to you God's choice of you will be made evident. You will have been granted a radical change of heart. You will really want to turn from the evil things that you have treasured in the past to love and serve the one true God that made you for His own glory. Our prayer is that God will deliver you from His own just and holy wrath to come. As a well known pastor, John Piper has written, "God is infinitely worthy or our admiration, loyalty and respect. Failure to love Him is not trivial it is treason". Our prayer is that our great God and Savior will grant you the gifts of repentance and faith in Christ alone.

To those who do possess true faith in Christ:
Our prayer for you is that God will challenge and encourage you to reject the conformity to this world's standards that is so prevalent in the Body of Christ today. He who would be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. The good news of the glory of Christ is not a message of what people can do to experience life improvement but rather a message of what God has done to rescue truly guilty people from God's righteous indignation. Our prayer is that you will not make it your highest priority to avoid offending anyone. But rather that you will seek to make the message clear to people that desperately need to hear it.

Please send us any comments or questions either in the comment section of this post or you can contact us using the contact form at the bottom of this page.

Thank you,

Patrick and Tracy

Tony and Chad at Cal State Fullerton

ARE YOU READY?

We talked to a group of people that were hanging out in Old Town Square, who asked us about the "Are you ready?" cross that we were carrying. One of them called out, "What are we supposed to be ready for?". We responded that they needed to be ready for the judgment to come. The conversation that resulted transitioned from science to conscience and afforded us the opportunity to proclaim the good news of the glory of Christ to them.

http://www.archive.org/details/ReadyForWhat

Mike, Malik, and Booker

Tracy talked to three young guys, Mike, Malik, and Booker on Saturday afternoon in Old Town Fort Collins and asked them some questions about their spiritual beliefs. When asked if they considered themselves to be a good person, they replied, “Yeah, well I’m not bad” and “It’s not like I purposely do bad things, it’s just one of those mistake types of things.” When asked about the Ten Commandments one of them said, “I do not really believe in them, it should just be in your nature not to do any of that stuff “. Asked about the conscience and where it came from, one of them replied, “It’s what tells you what is right and wrong, because I believe that people know when they are doing something wrong”. Tracy asked them about their track record compared to the laws concerning lying, stealing, blasphemy, respecting their parents, and hating others. They all admitted to some degree of guilt but at least one sought to minimize his responsibility by saying that he was not doing those things anymore. He did admit that he probably would continue to lie, though he said lying did not seem like a very great transgression. Tracy pointed out that even a “small lie” when uttered against an infinitely holy God was infinitely offensive. When asked what the verdict would be if God judged them based upon His holy Law, all admitted they would be guilty. Where they would end up? One of them said, “Heaven because I haven’t done anything that morally wrong”. Tracy reminded him that he had admitted to telling many lies and that lying is a serious moral wrong. Tracy told them the good news that Jesus came to redeem His people. Fully God and fully man He lived a perfectly moral life and died a horrible death to save us from the wrath we deserve. And that what God requires of them is that they turn from their sin and trust in Christ alone to save them.

Libby and Hannah's Thoughts on the Afterlife

We interviewed Libby and Hannah in Fort Collins and asked them about their views on the afterlife. Libby said she believed in reincarnation and Hannah said that she would like to think that people go to heaven. They both said that they were basically good people. We talked to them about the perfect standard of God's Law and about the Savior who lived an absolutely perfect life and died a sacrificial death on behalf of His people to take the punishment that they rightly deserved. It is our hope and prayer that God will grant them repentance and faith so that we will see them again in heaven.

http://www.archive.org/details/LibbyAndHannah

Riley and Ashley Interview - Oct 2009

This interview was conducted in Oct 2009. Riley said she was a Christian. Ashley said she was not. We asked them about whether they thought they would go to heaven when they die and why. They both thought they were good people. Riley had asked for forgiveness but had not thought about how a just God could forgive someone just because they asked.

Here is a link to the audio:

http://www.archive.org/details/RileyAndAshley

How eager are you to proclaim or suppress?

So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Rom 1:15-20)

Here the Apostle Paul declares his readiness, his willingness, his eagerness to proclaim the good news of God to the people of God in Rome as he had proclaimed it in other regions of the Roman Empire. In fact he declared that he had an obligation to evangelize all kinds of people saying, "I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish." There is of course a difference between feeling obligated and feeling eager. Paul evidently felt both the sense of duty and the sense of desire. It is fairly easy to see, that if we are trying to do something purely out of a sense of duty without a corresponding sense of desire, our efforts are not really properly motivated. Motivation is very important. Mere outward conformity is not all that is required of us. The two greatest commandments have to do first of all with inward motivation. "Love God for His own sake and Love people for God's sake" is how Augustine summarized the Law. The problem is that as fallen creatures instead of being first and foremost lovers of God and others we are lovers of other things. Paul writes of this in his second letter to Timothy, "But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God". These people are under God's wrath because they instead of being eager to see the truth made known are eager to suppress the truth. Though they are aware of God because God has made Himself plain to them they have no love for God and no love for the truth. They are enemies of both because they love something else supremely. They love their autonomy. The word autonomy comes from two Greek words, "auto" having to do with the self and "nomos" which means law. So a person who is seeking to live autonomously is seeking to be a law unto themselves. Saying, "I am a good person by my own standards" is at least as foolish as saying. "I am a world class athlete by my own standards". If you have no objective benchmark by which to measure something all attempts to quantify it will be futile. And the problem is much worse when you realize that the law does not just prove that we are all imperfect when measured against it's absolute standard. The law reveals that we all, in our natural state, are motivated by hatred for that which we should love supremely.
If you don't believe me read the rest of Paul's treatise in this first chapter of his letter to the Romans. It is not a pretty picture. There are those of us who are quick to agree that the pagan world is a horrid mess of idolatrous self-worship but are also quick to say, "Thank God, I am not like that". But to these people Paul also brings a sweeping indictment saying,"Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things." (Rom 2:1) To judge is not always bad, but for a sinful human being, self-righteous judgment is inexcusable.

The Gospel stands in stark contrast to the Law. The good news is about what God has done. It is about His loving work on behalf of rebels such as I. It is the power of God for salvation. Paul calls it elsewhere the light of the good news of the glory of Christ. How eager we are to proclaim or to suppress the truth about ourselves and the truth about God and what He has done speaks volumes about what motivates us.

St Patrick's Day Parade

(Photo by Beverly Young-Kniegge - Thanks Bev)


The weather could have hardly been nicer for the parade this year. The crowds of people were much greater than what I had imagined. Caleb and Christine were stationed on the corner in front of the Remington building handing out St Patrick's Day Millions to the people passing by. Many had brought cookies and other refreshments that were being given away as part of Living Stones yearly parade outreach. We had about 400 of the new Lincoln Trillions plus 100 new optical illusion tracts with us. The team ended up giving away all the Trillions as well as about 200 of the St Patrick's Millions. We could have given away many more. We had a number of good conversations as well. I talked to people from a variety of backgrounds including Lutheran(Chuck), Mormon, Jehovah's Witness (Ted), and Catholic(Scott and Beth). Tracy had a very long conversation with a lady who had endured much hurt at the hands of professing Christian leaders. Please pray for her be able to find a solidly biblical church to join. I met a family (Scott and Beth) that converted to the Roman Catholic Church about three years ago. We had an interesting talk and exchanged contact information so we could get together at a later time. We were received graciously by just about everyone. One young man who I had talked to last fall gave me an emphatic "No I do not" when I asked him if he wanted a Lincoln Trillion. When we met him in the fall he identified himself as Christian but let us know that he did not think that we should be doing the kind of overt evangelism that we were doing. Rather he said we should be doing something to serve people like driving drunk people home. I told him at the time that we agree that serving people is important but that we should also be about the business of actually confronting people with the truth about sin, righteousness and judgment. He replied "Confront away!" and stormed off without looking back. (This was at the end of a fairly lengthy discussion on the subject that started with us asking him how he would evangelize someone who wasn't a Christian.) He is like many who seem to have such a man-centered view of the Gospel that they think that relationship building must always precede any attempt to evangelize someone lest we "push people away from God". We do think that as the Apostle said, "the servant of the Lord must be gentle to everyone in meekness instructing those who oppose themselves." But we should not ignore the many opportunities that present themselves to us on a daily basis because some nebulous level of relationship has not been achieved. We did not have a prior relationship with almost any of the 600+ people who received the Gospel in written form at the parade, but we do hope to have a future relationship with them. Perhaps for some of them reading a good solid Gospel tract will be a step in their lives towards coming to faith in Christ alone. We are praying that God will do what only He can do in their lives. And by His grace we hope to be part of a growing movement of believers that will continue to make Christ known as we passionately love Him together. Soli Deo gloria.

The Confessions of St Patrick

The Confessions of St Patrick – (probably written about 450 AD)

1. I, Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman, the least of all the faithful and most contemptible to many ….. I was at that time about sixteen years of age. I did not, indeed, know the true God; and I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people, according to our deserts, for quite drawn away from God, we did not keep his precepts, nor were we obedient to our priests who used to remind us of our salvation. And the Lord brought down on us the fury of his being and scattered us among many nations, even to the ends of the earth, where I, in my smallness, am now to be found among foreigners.
2. And there the Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that …. I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my insignificance and pitied my youth and ignorance. And he watched over me before I knew him and before I learned sense or even distinguished between good and evil, and he protected me, and consoled me as a father would his son.

7. I am not ignorant of what is said of my Lord in the Psalm: ‘You destroy those who speak a lie.’ And again: ‘A lying mouth deals death to the soul.’ And likewise the Lord says in the Gospel: ‘On the day of judgment men shall render account for every idle word they utter.’

In context the Son of God said that people will give account for every careless or idle word that they speak against the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of truth. For he says, by your words (for the truth) you will be justified, and by your words (against the truth) you will be condemned” (Mat 12:31-37)

The Apostle Paul wrote that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (Rom 1:18)

The writer of Proverbs tells us that lying lips are an abomination to the Lord (Prov 12:22) and that the Lord hates a lying tongue. (Prov 6:17)

David as Patrick quoted says, “You destroy all those who speak lies” (Ps 5:6)

John says in Revelation that, “the cowardly, the faithless… those who are idolaters, and all liars, will have their place in the lake that burns with fire…." (Rev 21:8)

Timothy says that the Law is laid down not for the righteous but for liars. (I Tim 1:8-10)

The question is why is the God, that St Patrick served so concerned about the truth about Himself that he would threaten people who do not love it with eternal justice?

Think of it this way, there may be some lies that you can easily overlook but lies against your character and against your good name cannot be ignored. These kinds of lies are called slander in their spoken form and libel in their written form. They are so serious that they are actionable in our legal system. You can take someone to court and win damages against them because they have done harm to your reputation.

So what if a person makes slanderous accusations against the Creator of the universe? Do you think that would be a serious offense? How bad of a liar is someone who makes false allegations against the Spirit of truth Himself? You see the apostle Paul makes it clear in his letter to the Romans that everyone is aware of God. No one has the excuse of ignorance because God has made his eternal power and divine nature plain to all people ever since the creation of the world in the things that are made. So we are without excuse because even though we are aware of God we are all guilty of failing to honor God as they should. We have all at some time in our lives loved other things more than God and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator. As John Piper has so aptly put it “God is infinitely worthy of our admiration, loyalty and respect” therefore “failure to love Him is not trivial it is treason”. And because God is holy, righteous and just, He cannot overlook our suppression of the truth. People will be called to account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word that they have spoken against God's character and name. And our very words will either justify us or condemn us on that day.

And that is why God sent his Son into the world to save sinful suppressors of the truth like me. And as St. Patrick said, to open my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that …. I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God.

Jesus came into the world 2000 years ago. Being fully God and fully man he lived a perfectly righteous life. He loved God perfectly as we all should love him and he perfectly loved his neighbor as himself. And 30 to 33 years into his earthly life He voluntarily went to a criminal’s death on the cross taking the full measure of God’s wrath that His people rightly deserved upon Himself. On the third day he rose from the grave, as he had promised, demonstrating that he was truly the unique Son of God and the Savior of the world.

God has commanded all people everywhere to repent and trust in Christ alone to save them from the coming judgment. In order to truly begin to love God you need a deep-seated change of heart and mind which results in a drastic change of direction like that which St Patrick experienced. If you have not yet received the gift of repentance and faith, it is our prayer that our gracious God and Savior will raise you out of death to life through faith in Christ alone. If you love the God of truth we pray that he will empower you to continue to grow in love for the truth about Him and in your willingness to speak the truth in love to others.

Check out the rest of St Patrick’s work here:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/patrick/confession.toc.html

Pushing the Religious Propoganda?

We interviewed several High School students in December of 2009 about their views on the afterlife. One of them subsequently wrote an article for her High School newspaper about the encounter entitled, "Pushing the religious propaganda". We thought that we would provide the audio and let you decide on the accuracy of her depiction of the encounter. (Click on the image of the article above to read it) There is at least one thing she wrote that we must challenge. She said is that the Million Dollar bills we gave them "looked like Monopoly money". I have not played Monopoly for quite a while but I don't remember the money looking as good as this. :o)

Here is the text of the message on the bill in its entirety.

"The million-dollar question: Will you go to Heaven when you die? Here’s a quick test. Have you ever told a lie, stolen anything, or used God's name in vain? Jesus said, "Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Have you looked with lust? Will you be guilty on Judgment Day? If you have done those things, God sees you as a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart. The Bible warns that if you are guilty you will end up in Hell. God, who the Bible says is "rich in mercy," sent His Son to suffer and die on the cross for guilty sinners. We broke God's Law, but Jesus paid our fine. That means He can legally dismiss our case. He can commute our death sentence: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Then He rose from the dead and defeated death. Please, repent (turn from sin) today and God will grant everlasting life to all who trust in Jesus. Then read your Bible daily and obey it.

Towards the end of the conversation one of the participants asked whether the recording of it would be used for promotional/for profit purposes. Tracy replied that it was just for training purposes. And though consent is not required to make public conversations available online, clarification probably should have been provided that we also record conversations for our own protection and to possibly post them online so that others can benefit from them as well. Therefore at the request of two of the students who were a relatively minor part of the conversation and not involved in writing the article about it, we have removed their portion of the dialog from the recording that we are making available below. We do think that it is fair to offer Taylor's portion of the audio as a response both to the factual inaccuracies and to the tone of her article.

Here is the link to the edited audio file:

http://www.archive.org/details/PushingTheReligiousPropaganda_edit

An Interview with Jess and Derek

Tracy interviewed a couple of people that she had just met in Old Town Fort Collins on Saturday afternoon. It was a conversation that Jess said that she really enjoyed. They heard the Law and the Gospel and went away agreeing to think about what they heard.

Here is the link to the audio file.
http://www.archive.org/details/JessAndDereck

Seth says he is a Christian. Is He?

Tracy interviewed a young man named Seth on October 24, 2009 as he was waiting for a friend. He said he was a Christian and his ideas of what a Christian is are actually quite typical of many that we have heard. But, do they reflect the thoughts of a true Christian? You decide. And please pray for Seth. Thanks!

But test everything; hold fast what is good.(1Th 5:21)

Here's the link.

http://www.archive.org/details/InterviewWithSeth-OldTownFortCollins

Too Negative and Judgmental?

Tracy gave out some MDBs on our way to our meeting place in Old Town Fort Collins on last Friday night. She was able to give away about 20 or so just as we walked from our car to the square a few blocks away. She gave some to a group of youths as we passed by them. One asked if it was pro or anti Obama. She said, "Neither." We continued walking and after a block or so the same teenager came running after us and wanted to give the Obama Million back saying that he "totally disagreed with the message". We did not want to get to our meeting place too late so she accepted it back without asking him any questions. When we reached our destination in the square she said that she wished she had tried to engage him in conversation. We prayed that God would give us another chance if possible to talk to him. About that time some other members of our team (Caleb and Bekah) were passing along the same route that we had just taken. As they passed by this same group of teens they observed them reading out loud in kind of mocking tones the tracts Tracy had given them a few minutes before. They decided to stop and ended up having about an hour long discussion with them, starting with Heaven and Hell, going to Evolution to Science plus several other subjects. All along they were taking opportunities to intermingle the Law and the Gospel into the conversation which of course began because Tracy gave them a Law and Gospel tract. In the end they were able to biblically evangelize the whole group and left without any overt animosity on either side. Bekah said that they even thanked them for talking to them. Meanwhile unbeknownst to any of us, one of the people in the group was evidently something of an undercover Christian. During the encounter he tried to stop the discussion several times saying to them something like, "This needs to stop". He obviously felt that the witnessing encounter was not being handled properly by our team members. Fortunately they were able to overcome his objections and continue talking to the group of youth. Later he tracked me down and inquired about our team's church affiliation and so forth. He seemed to me to be visibly upset or moved by the experience of seeing our team member's interaction with his friends. I asked him what he thought about it. He said that it turned out well in the end and wanted me to convey his appreciation to Caleb and Bekah. But he said in the beginning he thought they were being too negative and judgmental. I tried to explain to him that we intentionally used the law to bring the knowledge of sin so that those we spoke to would have some basis for understanding the Gospel. I asked how he shared his faith. He said he had headed up several different clubs at his school that evidently were designed to create relationships with unbelievers that could eventually lead to some of them being converted. I pray that what he saw on Friday night will continue to impact his thinking and encourage him (if he is born again) to evangelize biblically. If not we pray that he will repent and believe. Monday, September 21st 2009

Jen says "I am my own god"

Four of us headed out to Old Town in Fort Collins at about 2 PM on Saturday 3-6-10. It was a fairly nice day with some sunshine and not much wind. I guess we missed the Gay-marriage rally that took place about a hour and half earlier. Caleb and I paired up and started handing out some tracts (Giant 100-Dollar bills and Ten Commandment Coin Cards). We handed out about 18-20 each without much in the way of conversations starting. Towards the end Caleb was handing out celebrity millions and a couple walking by said that they had already received one earlier so I asked if they had had the chance to read the back yet. The girl, Jen, said yes so I asked what she thought of the message. She responded by saying, “I am my own god”. I was not really sure how to respond to what Jen said about being her own god so I asked her for some clarification. She basically said that she decided for herself what was right and wrong and felt no need for an external deity in her life. I told her that at least she was willing to admit it. Many people want to be their own god but most are not so willing to articulate it. Her friend Luke said that he was spiritual not religious and did not believe in any particular god or deity. He did say though that his great-grandmother had died in the last couple of weeks and he felt that she was in a better place. Caleb talked to them about the origin of the universe and how we must rationally reject either a self-created or an eternal universe. We talked a bit about evolution, gay marriage, and men’s and women’s roles before I moved to the conscience. I asked, "Would you consider yourselves to be good people?" They both readily affirmed that they felt themselves to be good people. Luke said that he did not hurt anyone. Jen said that her main goal in life is to stop cruelty to animals. I have been quite struck the last few days at how true it is that people must in many ways live as though God actually exists even though they try to suppress the knowledge of Him. They have to appeal to the universal laws of logic for instance to try to prove that there are no such things as universal laws. Morality is another area where you see much inconsistency. People who claim some form of atheism or agnosticism are often quick to point out that they are living good lives. Jen and Luke were no different. They both agreed that it was important to live moral lives but said that they didn't need God to do it. We pointed out that a subjective view of truth and morality cannot rise above what is to what ought to be. We explained that in the Christian worldview our reason for existing is to love God for His own sake and people for God’s sake as St. Augustine said. We talked about how we should love God with our whole heart mind and strength because He made us and He is the Supreme Being of the universe. We did not get as far as I would have liked before they were ready to go but hopefully we were able to plant some seeds that will come to life in the future. We gave them some Ten Commandments coin cards that have a Law-Gospel message on them as well as contact information. Please pray for Jen and Luke.

Contact Evangelism

What is contact evangelism? It is a general term for going out into your community seeking to contact people in such a way that you are able to proclaim the Law of God and the Gospel of Christ to them either verbally or in written form. It is not primarily relational in the sense that you wait for a relationship to develop to the point where either you or the other person feels comfortable talking about their eternal destiny. There is in contact evangelism the recognition that there are many opportunities to proclaim the good news of the glory of Christ just waiting for the laborer who is ready to make the most of them. If you are reasonably well equipped and willing to step out trusting in God as your strength and shield, the opportunities are more than any of us will ever be able to exhaust. But the laborers are few. We are praying that God would send laborers into His harvest. We are petitioning Him both for the laborers good and the good of the people who will be saved as a result and most importantly for the glory of His name. In many ways it is easier to wait for the fish to “jump into your boat” so to speak. And while I am certainly in favor of evangelism in the context of relationship, the person who is waiting for their friend or family member or neighbor to initiate a conversation about sin, righteousness and judgment in most cases will be waiting for a very long time. It is important I think therefore for every believer to seek to become better equipped to know how to clearly and concisely explain the Christian worldview (Creation, Fall, Redemption and Restoration) which includes the Law and the Gospel. Jonah ran the other way from God’s command to go and call the people of Nineveh to repentance. He had his reasons and we have ours as well. They seem quite reasonable at times. But we are praying that God will not allow us for whatever reason to fail to do what we should do in relation to the unbelievers around us. We who have received mercy, should want to see many others receive the same mercy. If you want to be equipped there are people and resources that have been helpful to us and we think will be helpful to you as well. Contact us at need-answers@hotmail.com