May 2006

"And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire..."

May 26-29, 2006 - We were at the Flea Market again for the Memorial Day weekend. I began getting allergy/cold-like symptoms on Thursday evening (just in time for the Flea Market!) and I was feeling horrible for the Flea Market setup on Friday morning. However, I got everything setup, dropped my kids off for their last "half-day" of school and headed off to work. I wasn't seeming to get any better. I left work at noon and headed over to the Flea Market. I handed out numerous tracts between blowing my nose a thousand times and did about four One-2-Ones. The rest of the team was busy or out of town for the holiday. Around four o'clock I decided to head home and get some rest. Friday was a blur. Saturday morning I didn't feel any better and rested the whole day (wondering what opportunities we were missing to speak with people at the Flea Market!) To my knowledge, the no one manned the booth on Saturday or Sunday. Sunday morning I still felt bad and decided not to go to church, although the rest of my family went. As a side note, Mark showed up late Sunday afternoon just prior to closing to meet with us, but no one was at our booth. However, Mark struck up an hour-long conversation with "Mo" Mohammad (that's what he said his name was!) who was selling T-Shirts across the aisle, a Muslim and was from Palestine. Mark said the main focus of "Mo's" conversation was the relationship between Palestine and Jerusalem. I woke up Monday feeling a whole lot better and was determined to go to the Flea Market on the last day, Memorial Day. Both of my daughters and I headed out around 9:15am and got there just prior to 10:00am, when it opened. Eric showed up with his three sons and his church's associate Pastor around 10:30am. Daniel called me around 11:45am to let me know he needed a ride into the fairgrounds (we do this to avoid everyone having to pay parking!). I went and "shuttled" Daniel into the Flea Market around noon. Shortly thereafter, Eric had to leave. Mark True, a new Jude 23 Network member, arrived in the afternoon. We all had opportunities to hand out tracts and do One-2-One. I even had the opportunity to speak with "Mo's" T-shirt selling partner for about forty-five minutes. Hopefully, he listened to some of what I had to say, although he did most of the talking! As things were dying down at the Flea Market, Jessie showed up and was intently listening as I was going through One-2-One with him. After finishing speaking with Jessie, I asked him if there was anything keeping him from asking for forgiveness, repenting of his sins and putting his trust and faith in Jesus Christ before we departed company. He said, "Do you mean right now?" I asked him if he knew when he was going to die. He said that he didn't have a clue. I told him that he might die in fifty years or it could be in fifty minutes! Today is the day of salvation and eternity is nothing to gamble with. I, again, asked him if he wanted to be saved and he said, "yes, I would like to do that". We stepped off to the side and Jessie prayed to God and then I prayed with him. I gave him a copy of the Way of the Master New Testament, How To Live Forever...Without Being Religious, Are You Good Enough To Go To Heaven? tract, True and False Conversion CD and the Greatest Gamble DVD. We found out that Jessie is from Detroit, Michigan and was just in town for two months working on a video project for U of L (something to do with the BAR exam). I gave him one of our cards with my name and number and Daniel's name and number on it so he could call one of us about going to a local church while he is here. He said that he would attend his grandmother's church when he got back to Michigan. He said that his grandmother used to take him to church every week until he was around twelve or thirteen. As we were finishing talking to Jessie, he just had this glow about him and had sort of a "deer in headlights" look on his face. I asked him if he was alright and he said, "I'm just overwhelmed!" He said that he knew this whole situation was from God and that he thanked God for bringing him down to Louisville to meet with us. I agreed with Jessie and told him that it was definitely a "divine" appointment. We rejoiced with Jessie and he went on his way excited about what God had done in his life. We continued to hand out tracts and do One-2-One with a few more people. I "shuttled" Daniel back out to his car at 3:30pm and we started wrapping things up at the booth around 4:30pm. Hey, do you remember me talking about "Mo" earlier in this Report? Well, Mark's mother-in-law began talking with "Mo" as we were breaking our booth down and was still talking to him when we left! We pray that more seeds were planted along with the one's Mark and other Christians may have planted along life's way with the watering of the seeds as well. We pray that God will bring the harvest in "Mo's" life!

May 19, 2006 - We were very excited about this evening's opportunity's to do One-2-One. Bardstown Road (The Highlands) was hosting an annual event called Bardstown Bound and there were supposed to be lots of people on the streets. We met up at 6:00pm instead of 6:30pm because we needed to do some intro/commentary/outro filming for Daniel's TV show called CrossEyedFreaks. A couple of The Jude 23 Network outings will appear on Tuesday, June 6 at 10:30pm on Insight Channel 98. Check it out! Anyways...Danny, his son and daughter, Daniel and I met and did the filming, prayed, grabbed some tracts and headed down the sidewalk. We were just kind of talking and handing out tracts when we ran into Neal. I approached Neal with the I.Q. Test Survey Tract. He said that he had a few minutes to talk. While I was talking to Neal, everyone else in our group was handing out tracts to passers-by. As I was going through the "Good Test" with Neal, his friend Greg walked up. I immediately included him in the conversation. After Greg learned what we were discussing he started laughing. Neal revealed to me that Greg was a Christian and that they discussed this same topic almost every day. Greg said that he had praying that someone would come along and witness to Neal because he wasn't making too much headway. We all chuckled about it, but then I made sure we got back to the serious nature of our conversation. I ended up speaking with Neal and Greg for about an hour. I intently listened to Neal and gave Biblical answers to every question that he had (which I don't often do!). Neal admitted that he was not living for Christ and that if he died he knew he would end up in Hell. I explained to him that that was not God's plan and that I did not want him to end up in Hell as much as God didn't! I asked Neal if there was anything that would keep him from asking for God's forgiveness and repenting and placing his faith in Jesus Christ before walking away from me. He said that there wasn't, but he had been baptized twice and had rededicated his life to Jesus Christ multiple times. I looked at Neal and with all the loving-kindness I could muster, I told him that he was a false convert. More than likely a product of the "Modern Gospel" (God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life). I mentioned a few of the many parables Jesus used to refer to the false convert in the Bible. The wheat and the tares, the good fish and the bad fish, the sheep and the goats, etc. I then proceeded to tell him that if someone comes to Jesus for the wrong motive, that he will typically fall away. People won't need happiness on the Day of Judgment, but the righteousness that comes from the spilled blood of Jesus Christ. For example, some "Modern Gospel" preachers will say, "Come to Jesus, try Him on for size. He will give you love, joy, peace and happiness. He will fix everything up in your life! All you have to do is say this really simple prayer." So, in an experimental fashion, people try Jesus on for size to see if Christianity is really what all these Christians claim it to be. However, the newly "saved" person only gets the promised trials, tribulations, suffering and persecutions that the Bible promises. Grandma still dies, the transmission drops out of the car, they lose their job, they still struggle with the "flesh", etc. The newly "saved" person shakes their fist at God, they won't talk with the person who directed them to this "new wonderful life" and they will NEVER go back into a church again. Another embittered backslider who never slid forward in the first place! After explaining this to Neal, it seemed to make perfect sense to him. After talking with Neal for about an hour, Neal and Greg had to go. I told him to consider what I had spoke to them about because there was nothing more important than his eternal salvation. I told him that he could get alone with God anytime, anywhere and cry out in repentance and he would receive the immeasurable amount of grace that was awaiting him. I also encouraged him to talk more with Greg while he was counting the cost of following Jesus. I gave both Neal and Greg the "Are You Good Enough To Go To Heaven" tract and they went on their way. Danny quickly reminded me that I had to go. My oldest daughter's thirteenth birthday party for her friends was this evening and I had to get home to help my wife. We headed back to the car, handing out tracts along the way. Daniel, Danny, Matt and Katie stayed to do more witnessing. Around 9:45pm later that night, Daniel called me and told me that he and Danny had done a few more One-2-Ones with one of Daniel's witnessing experiences being somewhat of an object lesson! Daniel told me that he was doing One-2-One with a man in front of Ear X-Tacy and mentioning how you never knew when you would die and that today was the day of salvation. Just moments after saying this, a man was crossing Bardstown Road just a few feet from their conversation and was hit by a car. Daniel said the impact knocked the pedestrian out of his shoes, caused him to do a couple of flips in the air and land head first on the car. Daniel said that the man was bleeding profusely and Daniel immediately called 911. Daniel said that the man who had been struck, unbelievably, got up and started walking around! The ambulance showed up within minutes and they rushed the victim to the hospital. I asked Daniel what that "object lesson" did for his witnessing opportunity. He said that the guy he was witnessing to was pretty shook up about the whole incident. Daniel said that the guy took a tract and left. Statistically,150,000 people die each day and the 150,000 that died yesterday probably didn't think they were going to die. Do you know when you are going to die?

May 12, 2006 - The weather forecast was dismal at best and kept a close on the weather throughout the day. Although the weather was somewhat dreary, we decided to go ahead and proceed with meeting in Bardstown Road in the Highlands, just one of our many favorite spots. Eric couldn't go due to prior plans and Daniel was just getting off of work at 6:30pm. Danny and I met in the Highlands at 6:30pm. When I pulled into our usual parking location, it was lightly raining. I was waiting on a call from Daniel to see if he was going to make it. He was kind of playing it by ear based on the weather. Danny and I decided to go in Ear X-Tacy while we were waiting. We browsed the store and strategically placed a few tracts in various locations. When we came out of Ear X-Tacy it had stopped raining!!! We decided to go back over to our vehicles and grab more tracts and do some One-2-One. We stepped off to the side, prayed and headed down the sidewalk. We immediately ran into two youth. The young lady was 15 and her younger brother was 11. I was just going to briefly speak with them and give them some tracts and be on my way until I heard their "theology" after asking some probing questions. The girl had attended Catholic middle school and knew (she said) a lot about the Bible. However, she said that although she believed in Jesus and thought that most of the Bible was true, she was more into Buddhism and reincarnation. Her brother said that he just that you go in the ground when you die and that's it. He did not believe in an "afterlife". I must admit, I was so shocked that the young boy had been duped at such a young age and his sister was so adamant about her beliefs that I spent longer than usual on apologetics than usual. I did take young lady and her brother through the Law. They continuously kept bringing up "side issues" and made it very difficult to stay "on point". The young lady also received (and answered) about three cell phone calls while we were talking. Although I didn't think that they had admitted a need for The Savior, I decided to go forward with the message of the Cross. As I began to speak of the grace, mercy, patience and loving kindness of God, the evidence of their not being ready was the brother rolling his eyes. My heart was so saddened by this that I had to choke back tears. I think his sister seemed to notice me getting a bit "misty-eyed" and it seemed to cause her to listen more intently. I told them to really consider why they believe what they believe and consider what I told them because there was nothing more important than their eternal salvation. Danny had went back to the car and grabbed two "Soundly Saved" audio CDs which he gave them. He also gave them the Atheist Test and the Evolution: The Evidence For and Against tracts. We thanked them for their time and continued down the sidewalk. We decided to cross the street and speak with a lady waiting for a bus. Danny approached her with a Million Dollar Bill and began to give her the "Good Test". Although I was standing off to the side, I could tell that she seemed a bit apprehensive. Everything seemed to be going fine until he got to the 7th commandment. At that point, the conversation went downhill like my golf game! We don't know if it was because he hit a nerve or due to the nature of the subject. Danny thanked her for her time and we moved on. I'm sure she must have thought about that conversation for the remainder of the day and night...and maybe even now. Danny faithfully planted the seed or watered the plant and we are trusting in God to it grow! It was now beginning to drizzle rain again. We approached Chris and Kendall, who were sitting in a bus stop just down the sidewalk on Eastern Pkwy. I walked up and asked them if they had a few minutes to see something really interesting. I began doing some sleight-of-hand...coins, cards, etc. After a few illusions I pulled out a Million Dollar bill and told them about the Million Dollar Question on the back..."Will you go to Heaven when you die?" Both of them replied, "I hope so!" I proceeded to ask them if they considered themselves "good enough" to go to heaven and they said, "Yes". I then focused on Kendall and went through the WOTM with him, reminding Chris to answer the questions silently with a tender conscience. Midway through our conversation, two or three people came up and were asking questions about the bus coming, etc. and then sat down in the bus stop with us. I knew this would make Kendall and Chris feel uncomfortable, so I asked Kendall and Chris if they wouldn't mind stepping off to the side and continuing our conversation. The gladly obliged. I continued the conversation and Kendall saw his definite need to come to the saving grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. I asked both Kendall and Chris if there was anything that would keep them from asking for God's forgiveness and repenting and placing their faith in Jesus Christ before walking away from me. Chris said "himself" and Kendall said "nothing". I asked Kendall if he would like to pray a prayer of repentance and then I would pray with him and and he said that he would. Let me pause The Report for a moment to note that most Christians, at this point, would say, "Hurry, pray, NOW!" However, I am so concerned that someone is very aware of what they are doing and counts the cost that I usually will ask them, "Are you sure?" UNPAUSE... I asked Chris the same question. Chris told me that he could not pledge allegiance to Jesus because that would be "sac religious" according to his religion. I said, "Oh?" and figured I would come back to that in a moment. I then asked Kendall if he was sure he wanted to pray and become a Christian. He said that he was. I asked him if he has considered or "counted" the cost. He asked what it would cost and I told him that it might cost him everything. While the gift of salvation is just that, a free gift from God, the cost of following Jesus Christ is more than some know. He asked exactly what I meant by that statement so I gave him a scenario. I said, "Kendall, you are sixteen years old, right? I don't know if you have a girlfriend, but let's say you do. Let's say that you are used to having sex with her on a regular basis. Let's say that you say a prayer and you are now "saved". You then visit your girlfriend and she wants to have sex. You tell her that you have decided to follow Christ and you no longer do that and have decided to wait until marriage. Your girlfriend will probably say, "What!?! GET OUT OF HERE! IT'S OVER!" See, Kendall, it could cost your girlfriend. What if you tell your friends that you have become a Christian and they laugh and ridicule you and say they don't want to hang out with you anymore unless you ditch this whole "Jesus Thing"? Following Christ might cost you your friends." As I was describing these real life situations to Kendall I could see his expression changing to one of reconsideration. I told him that becoming a Christian doesn't mean you'll be perfect, but there will be some decisions to make in light of the gift of salvation that Jesus has given you. I asked him again if he would like to pray and become a Christian. He said, "Um, not right now." I said, Good, but not so good." I told him that he should really reconsider because his girlfriend and friends were not worth losing his eternal salvation. I told him to think about all that we had discussed and that he should not wait too long to repent and put his faith in Jesus Christ because he did not know when either a) he was going to die b) when Jesus was coming back (something we all too often lose sight of when witnessing). We gave Kendall a "Are you good enough to go to heaven" tract and expressed how concerned we were for his soul and that he shouldn't wait too long. I asked him if we could have his name, address and phone number to later contact him. He gave us his information and we gave him one of our cards with my number on the back if he had any questions. We need to keep Kendall in prayer that he would come to Christ. I asked Chris what his religion was. He said that was was a Wiccan Witch (Males are actually considered Warlocks, although some Wiccans use the term Warlock to refer to someone in a negative sense). Chris said that he used to be a "radical" Christian (his terminology), but had become disillusioned with the church. He said that he did believe in Jesus and the Bible, but was now practicing Wicca. He actually said that he read the Bible from time-to-time and could quote the Scriptures forwards and backwards. I asked him what he thought about Deuteronomy 18:10-12. He didn't know what it said so I pulled out my "hip-pocket" Bible and read the passage to him. He said, "Everyone has their opin...wait, I guess that is the Word of God." Him saying that, surprised me to say the least. I reminded him from his Christian days that the Word of God is the only truth and that he cannot have a little bit of Wicca and a little bit of Christianity. I heard the TARC bus rounding the corner. I began walking with Chris towards the open door of the bus that had now pulled up to the bus stop all the while telling him things like, "there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12) and "that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." (Philippians 2:10-11) He already had a tract and as he was getting on the bus I again told him to consider what we had discussed because there was nothing more important than his eternal salvation. As it continued to rain, Danny and I headed back to the car passing out a few tracts along the way. We briefly said our good-byes, jumped in our cars and headed out. Even amidst the inclement weather, I thank God that we had an opportunity and were used of God to continue to advance His kingdom by being true and faithful witnesses.

May 5, 2006 - The Greatest Gamble episode from the Way of the Master series was our inspiration for this awesome night of being faithful witnesses. During our time at the Flea Market last month we continuously showed the "Greatest Gamble" DVD. Danny and I began brainstorming, "Hey, why don't we do this?" What is "this" some might be wondering? "This" is taking a briefcase and filling it with a bunch of rubber-banded fake Million Dollar bills along with a plastic pistol (hiding the fake red-tipped barrel under a portion of the money) and asking people what they thought the greatest gamble would be. Some might say a career change or bungee jumping. We then would ask them if they would ever gamble for their life. We would say, "For example, what if we had a briefcase with one million dollars in it and a revolver with one bullet in the chamber; would you play "Russian roulette" for the million?" If they said that they would do it, we would say to someone standing in the wings with the briefcase, "Bring me the money!" We then ask them if they are sure. If they are, we pop open the briefcase and give them a peek at the money and weapon. Most might back down at that point, but some would not! (As you will see in the video once we get it posted!) So what's the point in this unconventional approach? Most people are not willing to gamble with their very mortal lives for any amount of money. Why? Because they value their very life even though the average person might live to be only about 75 years old. What is eternity compared to that? NOTHING? We asked them when (not if) they die, where did they think they would go...Heaven or Hell? Some would say Heaven, some would say Hell and some would say they weren't sure. We told them that they are, in fact, placing the greatest wager (their very soul) on the greatest gamble of all by walking around not knowing where they will spend eternity. More to come...