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