Gas Station Evangelism

From "Fish with Trish"

The Prayer -

Did you say it? Did you say the prayer, the one you meant from the bottom of your heart that invited Jesus in there sincerely? You were moved by the preaching, compelled to leave from you seat and walk that aisle with real tears on your cheeks then.

You made your way to the altar, but listen. That is where you faltered, believing the lie that eternal life was offered right here in exchange for a prayer repeated verbatim.

“Dear God, I know I have sinned. I believe Jesus died on the cross to pay for them.

Amen.”

Right?

You made a decision for Christ that day again, because you have rededicated your life at least five times since the age of 10, but listen, friend. You are lost. You have never
counted the cost to follow Jesus.

I know this is hard to hear, but please just listen for a moment. Come let’s reason. In
whom do you believe in? God? You do well. But the Bible says even the demons believe
and tremble and you all still end up in hell.

Examine yourself. Use the Scriptures.

What is the description of a two child of God and why doesn’t your life paint that picture? And even if you go to church and been on mission trips to Haiti your unrepentant prayers and your good works is your first class ticked straight to Hades and don’t hate me now that I am speaking the truth. I know that I am not the Judge, but I can judge every tree by its fruit.

And where are your roots planted? By streams of still waters or are they caught
up in rocky places? Are you the salt of the earth or has your flavor been rendered
tasteless?

No, don’t waste this exhortation to search the basis of your assurance. Don’t ignore it.
When you are mistaken on judgment day there will be hell to pay for it. And your
conscience which now lays dormant will suffer eternal torment along with your flesh.
You will be weeping and gnashing your teeth in the pit of hell. This is the second death.

But no need to fret, no. Remember, you prayed the prayer. At least that is what that easy believing, disciple deceiving, wolf in sheep clothing, false teaching, so-called leach of a pastor keeps preaching. And you love that lie, because it is too hard to believe and you don’t take the time to pick up your Bible and read to see that God says in order to live you must die.

And no, I am not talking about suicide, but indeed you must crucify the flesh and its
passions and don’t even imagine that it is just a normal moral reform or such an easy
cleaning up of the outside of the cup.

No. It is so much more. It is a life changing encounter with the mirror of God’s perfect
and holy law.

I took a look. Let me tell you what I saw. I saw the reflection of a God hating law
breaker, one that had the audacity to claim Christ as her Savior, but abort the very
thought of his lordship. Of course this violates the First Commandment.

“You shall no other gods before me.”

And that is the very place I demand it. I saw a vile idolater, it is true. No I never bowed to Buddha, but I was the type who created a Jesus to suit my own sinful demeanor. I saw a blasphemer. See, my lips love to praise him, but my brazen sin he shamed on his name which I was so quick to interchange with a curse.
I saw a sabbath breaker. In church he would never find me.

No. I had bought into the lie that the whole weekend was mine to unwind after the work week. And it hurts me to confess this, but nevertheless it is true.
I have dishonored my own father and mother to this day from my youth.
I was introduced to a stone cold murderer, me. I had never been taught that my hateful thoughts were a felony worthy of the death penalty in God’s court.

But, of course, I knew my fornication was as of Satan. That is why I did my deeds in
darkness, not realizing that God judges where your heart is. This means my disgusting
lusting would not just be pardoned.

My heart was hardened by way of sin’s deceit, but there was no denying that I was a
thief. I cheated God and man. I came to understand that one lie made me a liar and that hat one sin against God was deserving of my burning in the eternal lake of fire.

1 Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7.

My desires were covetous. If you had it, I wanted it. I was in this and of this world and I was loving it.

Yet all the while I was claiming to be God’s child. And why? Because I prayed that
prayer, because I walked that aisle, because I shed some tears, but I refused to repent of my ungodly lifestyle to turn from my heinous sin to the most precious gem, Jesus Christ who died on the cross to cleanse wretched men from within and he bids you come, broken, with your hands open, clinging to nothing but hope in him.

And then what you will gain in exchange is more than the name Christian, this radical life change. Sanctified living is freedom from sin’s chains.

All of your sin forgiven and a promise that you will reign with the King for he is risen.

Niki Roland

Merry Christmas!

^{Luke 1:67} Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
       ⁶⁸ “ Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
      For He has visited and redeemed His people,
       ⁶⁹ And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
      In the house of His servant David,
       ⁷⁰ As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
      Who have been since the world began,
       ⁷¹ That we should be saved from our enemies
      And from the hand of all who hate us,
       ⁷² To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
      And to remember His holy covenant,
       ⁷³ The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
       ⁷⁴ To grant us that we,
      Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
      Might serve Him without fear,
       ⁷⁵ In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
       ⁷⁶ “ And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
      For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
       ⁷⁷ To give knowledge of salvation to His people
      By the remission of their sins,
       ⁷⁸ Through the tender mercy of our God,
      With which the Dayspring from on high has visited^[e] us;
       ⁷⁹ To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
      To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Black Friday is here again!

Black Friday is here again and that means people will be gathering to hang out for hours to get the ultimate gift at the ultimate price.

His Feet on the Street will take the message of the gospel to the folks waiting in lines at several different locations and times throughout Canton.

Your prayers will be most appreciated! Pray that God opens the ears and eyes of the deaf and blind, that the gospel will go forth unhindered and that God receives the glory all night long. Below are the store opening times. We (my wife is going this year) will be at each location way before the doors open to set up, hand out tracts and witness the gospel.

12am -

Kohl's

Target

Best Buy

3am

Belk

4am

Sears

5am

Dick's Sporting Goods

K-Mart

Michael's

5:30am

Radio Shack

6am

Staples (Would people really be at this one?)

My wife will be taking the Are You Ready cross this year. Here she is below practicing her holding technique  :)

Thank you in advance for the prayers!

Here's your candy and don't forget to pick your favorite tract!

Another Halloween has come and gone and another 250-300 tracts found their way into the candy bags of children seeking sweets and treats.

For the second year in a row I set up the Candy/Tract table as an alternative way of distributing gospel tracts. I found that last year the kids really liked looking over the tract table and picking out their own tract as opposed to just handing them one as I gave out the candy.

Above: Here is the table with the "Are You Ready" cross in the background

Above and below: Close up of the table full of gospel tracts!

Below: Creepy and cool looking kids.

This year I even put out a couple Gideon Bibles for the heck of it and guess what? I had a 12 year old boy ask me if he could have one of the Bibles and a 10 year old girl ask for the other one because she had lost hers.

Note to self: Put more Bibles out next year -

Project 180 - Team Kennesaw

Today was a huge day for Project 180.com!

More than 200,000 copies of the DVD were distributed across the USA and Canada by teams of people who value life at all stages.

Our team of seven (five of us below) descended on Kennesaw State University this morning around 9:30am and were able to hand out 1,400 DVD's in about an hour and a half before getting the order to stop from Campus Police.

 Left to Right: Cam, Wayne, Canyon, Julie & Vernon                                                                              


To make sure we covered as much of the campus as possible, we split up to maximize the distribution efforts and this worked well for the short time we were there.

                Randy giving out some DVD's

                 Julie handing out the DVD's


All went according to plan until Campus Police stepped in to put an end to the distribution of the DVD's. The police said we needed permission to be able to hand anything out as well as talk to anyone. Yup, talking to people too!

                 Eric being escorted off the campus



As a result of not getting permission to be on campus, four of us were issued a Criminal Trespassing Warning!

Here I am with my very first Criminal Trespassing Citation!



We were told if we stepped foot back on the campus there would be no more warnings, handcuffs would find their way to our wrists and we would be given a free ride to jail.


But all praise and glory goes to God for allowing us to give out 1,400 DVD's in the relative short time we were there. The project was a huge success on all the campus' across the nation!



Go HERE for a complete list of all the schools and number of DVD's distributed today!


Soli Deo Gloria - Glory to God alone!

When Ministries Collide -

His Feet on the Street will be partnering with Vernon Costolo of Proclaiming the Truth and Canyon Shearer of Be Swift my Soul to Answer Him; Be Jubilant my Feet  for a big 180.com project next week.

Please be in prayer for our ministry teams as we will merge for a special occasion to make an impact for the Kingdom of God and His glory!

Marble Festival

It's Marble Festival time again here in Jasper, Georgia.

The weather will be exceptional this Saturday - With a high of 65-70 degrees, low humidity and blue skies, chances are people will be turning out to this years Festival in droves!

Because my wife wants to take her hubby out for his first 50th birthday, I will only be there for a few hours Saturday.

Here's the plans -

Where: Lee Newton Park in Jasper, Ga.
When: Saturday, Oct. 1st
Time: 12pm-2 or 3pm

Let's plan to meet at the corner of Mary Street and Stegall Drive. Mary Street is right off West Church Street. The Festival starts at 10am, so by noon time there should be plenty of people coming and going!

Check out posts from the last few Marble Festivals:

For 2010, click HERE

For 2009, click HERE (This post also reviews what happened in to us in 2008 before we became known as His Feet on the Street.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

As a recap to how it went during River-Fest last week; It went, as Cam likes to say, just as the Lord wanted it to go!

Cam and I arrived around noon and starting setting up close to where we were told to leave by the police last year.

Now we didn't do this on purpose; we set up here because they had moved the paying entrance point further down the road and, as well, Cam had already talked to some of the River-Fest staff and they had told him that it would be Ok if we set up in that particular spot.

Cool.

We ran into a lady from our church who was working with the Boy Scouts for the purpose of directing traffic. We talked with her for a few minutes and she gave us some encouraging words as we prepared to hand out tracts and engage people.

While we were talking with her a small group began to form around us as people were waiting for the shuttle to come and take them to their cars. During our conversation with our friend from church a gentleman came over and asked if we were evangelists.

He said he asked because I had a backpack like his and he heard us tell our church friend that we were told to leave from this very spot last year.

I think I told him we were out here to hand out some tracts and I showed him the Confederate gospel tracts we had. He thought those were cool and I asked him his name. He said his name was Bill and went out sometimes witnessing with his friend.

I told Bill that I think the most offensive thing last year that probably led to us getting told to leave was the cross I had with me. He asked me who made my cross and I told him a friend and I did. I mentioned I know a guy in Woodstock named Vernon who makes crosses for people.

He said Vernon was his friend and that they worked together!

How cool is that?

We didn't get to talk to Bill but for a few minutes as the shuttle had come to pick them up.

Hopefully soon Bill can join us when we go out.....Marble Festival???

Anyway, we stayed at that spot for about 30 minutes until the dreaded green shirts (River-Fest officials) came over and started talking to Cam. I knew why they had come so I started handing out tracts even more furiously than before.

Cam kept them engaged for about ten minutes, but the inevitable came. They told us that although they are not charging people to park for the Festival, they rented out all the parking lots and that we could not "solicit" while the Festival was going on.

Cam came and got me and I told him not to worry and we headed up to the high school running track. People were cutting across the running track coming and going to the Festival and that was even a better place to be.

We had handed out 390 tracts when, after 2 hours of being at this spot, we saw a green shirt coming accompanied with a nicely dressed uniformed police officer. Officer Friendly told us that we could not be soliciting on the grounds.

I told him we were not soliciting but freely giving people gospel tracts. If people didn't want to take them, they did not have to take them.

He insisted it was soliciting even after I pointed out that on at least two different cases, the Supreme Court has ruled that giving out tracts or religious literature does not constitute soliciting.

Officer Friendly (and he was quite nice by the way) then upped the ante.

He told us if we didn't leave, he would have to charge us with trespassing. Ok, we are leaving, no problems.

Well we were there longer than we thought we might be and handed out almost 400 tracts. It would have been a good day even if we got to hand out just one tract.

God is good and He was/is in total control. How great is it that we don't have to worry about the results or get down because we didn't reach a certain goal.

God is in charge of saving people...not me (thank goodness). God has given us marching orders to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature...not to worry about the results.

God will take care of the results!

Timely Tracts

I would like to take a moment and spotlight a post created by my brother in the Lord, Paul LaTour, over at The Word Street Journal.

Paul recently posted a story about how a dedicated street evangelist and friend of his, Joe Graves, sent a letter to Paul concerning a recent evangelism outreach that left him in awe after he read it.

I'm sure you will join Paul in his "awe-ness" (like I did) after you read it too.


Paul writes: If there was ever a great example of the importance, necessity and urgency in the simple act of handing out gospel tracts to people as a form of evangelism, it is this.

Here is Joe's letter which I would like to share with you:
___________________________________________

Even as I write this I am still grasping the impact of something that happened today. A group of 9 of us had an outreach at the Martinsburg Air Show. We had not been there before and were not sure of the logistics of where the best place was to give out tracts.



This is where it gets interesting...


Around 9am, from a site located off base, we ended up being shuttled onto the base (of the 167th Airlift Wing of the West Virginia Air National Guard). We started giving out tracts right outside the airfield at the gate where people had to line up to go through security to see the air show. Now keep in mind that in plain view for almost 3 hours we gave out probably 3,000 tracts.

Many of the tracts we gave out had "Are You Ready?" on the front and one tract design touched on 9/11 and the fact that those people on 9/11 never thought that it would be there last day on earth.

The attendance was light because of some rain in the morning but most everyone took a tract when we offered one to them...even the military personnel. All the while I kept thinking,"There is no way they are going to let us continue to give out gospel tracts on a military base". One military person even came over and asked us what we were doing and I told him and he said "well, I don't have a problem with that".

We had scheduled the outreach from 9am - noon. About 11:45am a couple of military police said they had gotten a complaint and would have to shut us down. We were almost done anyway so I told them no problem and we left. I was still scratching my head in awe because the Lord has allowed us to give out the gospel unhindered for 3 hours on a military base. We left around noon.


Now for the part that will blow you away...


About 3:30pm I got a text from Nate (one of the brothers who went out with us) saying that he heard from someone that there had been a crash at the Martinsburg air show. I looked online and didn't see anything and thought maybe they were confusing it with the one that happened yesterday that is all over the news. Well, a little later I did see a report and found out there was a crash at the air show that killed the pilot about 2:30 pm.

I found an article where the crowds who saw the fireball of the crash were crying and hugging and praying. Can you imagine the impact when those people who saw the crash finally got home this afternoon and pulled the tract out of their pocket or purse? Then it started to hit me...that's why God allowed us to give out those tracts when normally we would never be allowed to do so. The Lord is awesome and He will glorify Himself because He is worthy.

Pray that God uses those tracts to draw people to himself and that we might have people contact us through the website with questions about salvation. Pray for our future outreaches.

Until His nets are full,

Joe Graves
__________________________________________


Paul concludes: Imagine attending an event, receiving a gospel tract at the gate from a regular "Joe" like anyone else, reading it, not thinking much about it and then suddenly being witness to sudden death right before your eyes?

I would venture to say that 3,000 people who received a gospel tract at this air show later read that tract with greater care and concern for the sobering content of the gospel message offered to them. The Lord has His ways of reaching peoples' hearts. I believe this was one of the more dramatic ways.


Praise God for people like Joe Graves and his team for their faithfulness in doing what they could to reach the lost for Christ by doing something so simple as handing out gospel tracts to people at a popular event.


Nothing could be easier. Nothing more important.


How many gospel tracts have you given out today?

Car Show

Hey folks -

Long time no posts...sorry; busy, busy, busy!

We have another Car Show coming up this Saturday in Canton!

If you would like to come out and join His Feet in some one-to-one evangelism or hand out a few tracts, we would love to have you with us!

Where: Riverstone Shopping Center
When: Saturday (Sept 17th) at 4:30pm

Meet us in front of Hibbett Sports next to Publix -

Pro-Choice to Pro-Life - 180

What is Total Depravity?

Hat Tip - Word Street Journal

How to Avoid Being Legalistic in Evangelism

Ray Pritchard of Keep Believing Ministries



Hat Tip to 5 Point Salt

We Salute You!

Are you bold enough to do this?

Tony Miano and Mike "The Beast" Stockwell doing a little open air on a trolley in San Diego -

Ray Comfort spends time with the Duggars

An unsaved person's perspective of Christians

An unsaved person's perspective of Christians

(James Smith, "The Book You Will Like!" 1859)

I do not believe that you Christians believe your own creed--for if you were persuaded that things really are as your Bibles teach, and that we poor lost people were really going to such a dreadful place as you say Hell is--then you would act more humanely toward us.

If you saw our houses on fire--you would run and help us to put the fire out; or if you saw us in danger of death--you would try to do something to save us. But you pretend to believe that we are going to Hell, and that Hell burns with fire and brimstone forever, and that once there we can never get out--and yet you talk to us about all sorts of things--but never say one word to us about saving our souls from this terrible doom!

So I have reasoned thus: either you Christians don't believe what you say--or else you must be the most hardened and unfeeling wretches in the universe! Now, as I don't believe that you are such cruel, hardened, and unfeeling people as this supposes--then I must conclude that, with all your talk--you Christians don't really believe what your Bibles teach!

For if you really believe what you say about sin, and Hell, and our danger--then you would act differently; and if you have a spark of kindness in your hearts--you would try to save us from such a dreadful doom. And, on the other hand, if you do not believe what you profess--then you Christians cannot be honest; and to say the least, there must be a great deal of hypocrisy among you.

Now, I honestly tell you that these are the things which have stumbled me more than anything, and until I can see you Christians act differently--I will not be persuaded to believe what your sort of folks say.

What is Full Time Ministry?

This is from evangelist Mark Cahill's newsletter -

So, we are about halfway through the summer now: How is your witnessing going? This is turning into a fascinating summer for me! I have been meeting so many people and have had amazing conversations about the Lord!

One atheist I met told me he was having his bachelor party in Las Vegas just to ‘sin’ for the weekend! Wasn’t that an interesting way to phrase it? Even he knew what he was going to be doing wasn’t right. He knew right from wrong! He told me he was a pretty hardcore atheist, but that he would read my book and get back in touch with me. I’m excited to hear his thoughts.

I went to a couple of baseball games in St. Louis to watch the Cardinals play, and one of my friends who plays for the team told me he was watching me in the stands witnessing! I had so many neat conversations in those stands. I have already gotten two emails from people that I met at the games! One of the conversations was with a Muslim man from Iraq who is a dentist here in the States now. We had the most interesting talk about religion that lasted for several innings. It was like the game didn’t exist. He was such a nice man. Actually, he was one of the nicest men I have ever met before. Friendly, kind, generous, loving towards all, and he has even been on medical mission trips with Christian organizations. But of course, we know that it is not by works that someone gets to heaven. That is why we talked about who the Biblical Jesus is. I want to make sure this man is born again and saved before he dies.

You see when I was at that baseball game, I was actually in full time ministry. But there is a common misperception that really needs to be corrected as we head toward the return of Jesus Christ. People always ask me, “How can I get into full time ministry?” What people are forgetting is that if you are breathing, and you are born again, you are already in full time ministry! Satan is just tricking you into thinking that you are not. Remember in Matthew 28:19, 20 when Jesus said,
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

People call that the Great Commission, and that is every Christian’s call into full time ministry! That is why I stand at my front door and pray each day before I walk out it. Because I know when I head out that door, I must be in full time ministry mode. Just today, I had this great talk with Joe, who grew up Catholic, but now doesn’t really believe in much at all. It was a great talk about our Lord. He even told me that there is another Christian man who has been witnessing to him! I get so excited when I get to water a seed that someone else has already planted! Praise the Lord for those folks who are in full time ministry everywhere they go!

Today I also met someone in the Atlanta airport who told me that I sat next to his dad a year or two ago on a plane flight!! Isn’t that an amazing “coincidence”? Kyle said he was so glad that we met, and he knew that it was meant to be. I am so glad that I was in full time ministry mode when I left the house both today and nearly two years ago when I met Kyle’s father!

Last night, I had this incredible talk with a waiter. Justin grew up Catholic, but his girlfriend is Christian. He told me that she is trying to ‘get him saved!’ So we talked about what that meant, and why you need to do it. He had so, so many good questions. Oh, by the way, he wasn’t even my waiter! I am so glad that I was in full time ministry mode at the restaurant last night.

Moms and Dads: You are in full time ministry all day, every day with your kids.

Students and Teachers: You are in full time ministry all of the time as you interact with fellow students and teachers. One football player I know reads his Bible at his locker. He told me that so many times another player has walked over and asked what he was reading and that it leads to the most amazing conversations! I know one teacher who talks about Jesus in her classroom. She tells the kids if they want to get in depth about it to come to her room at 3:31—one minute after the bell rings! She told me that many times she has had a line of students at her door at the end of school!

Businessmen and women: You are in full time ministry mode representing the Lord when you do business in a Christian manner versus doing it the world’s way.

I know a doctor who witnesses to every single one of his patients!! I can’t tell you the number of doctors, physical therapists, chiropractors and business folks who have my books in their waiting rooms or lobbies for their patients or customers. I have heard from folks who have picked up a book at one of those places, and God used it to impact their lives.

Workers: You are in full time ministry every day. It is your job to share your faith and act like a Christian should in the workplace. When I was teaching at a Christian school, I hired a former professional baseball player to speak at an athletic banquet. As we spoke before the event, he told me that he worked for a cable company and laid cable. Inside, I was wondering, why do you do that? I, of course, thought that he was a millionaire from his pro baseball days, but then I started wondering how he had lost all his money. I shouldn’t have made that assumption. He looked at me and said, “I lay cable, because it gets me into people’s homes, so that I can talk to them about Jesus!” I can’t even begin to tell you how humbled I was. Here was this amazing, faithful man of God who stood for the Lord every single day in his ‘regular’ life. Why? Because he was in full time ministry mode everywhere he went.

A lady emailed the ministry recently and said that she had been struggling a lot with things in life. God sent her a Christian dishwasher repairman who witnessed to her and encouraged her. I am so glad that man realizes that he is in full time ministry.

Do you remember the great story of Jesus and the woman at the well? In John 4:6-10, it says:

“Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”

Jesus was tired from the journey. He stopped to sit and get a drink of water. But even when He was tired and thirsty, He was in full time ministry mode, and that allowed one of the greatest stories in all of Scripture to occur. Why? Because the soul of that woman was more important to Him than that drink of water!

The great story of Paul and Felix in the book of Acts has always fascinated me. When Paul got before Felix, he began to speak truth. Acts 24:24,25 states,
“And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.”

Paul was in full time ministry mode. He was going to speak truth to Felix no matter what. Of course, he wanted to be set free, but Felix and Drusilla’s souls were much, much more important to Paul at that point than his freedom.

As one of my friends puts it, ‘ministry is not an occupation but a commandment’! Remember that full time ministry isn’t working at a church or a seminary or traveling and speaking at conferences. I have known so many people who work at places like that who become completely stagnant. They lose their zeal; they lose their passion. Why? They are completely removed from lost people. They get away from the great thrill of planting seeds with the lost. Don’t let that happen to you! You do not want to be lukewarm. Remember that if you are born again and breathing, you are in full time ministry every day! It leads to a very fascinating and satisfying life.

Until the nets are full,

Mark Cahill

4th of July let down?

I thank and praise God for our team this year that consisted of five guys and two gals (four of the men pictured above). These witnessing warriors braved the weather and turned it up a notch to get out the tracts and share the gospel despite the in-climate conditions.

I had big expectations this year of handing out more tracts this 4th of July than we did during last years outing. Last year we handed out over 1,200 tracts in just over two hours and had some interesting conversations to boot.

But this year God had other plans...

Rain.

Rain.

Rain.



No sooner than we prayed and headed out, the rain came. Cam and Andy were right in the middle of a great conversation when the skies opened up and the bottom fell out. They were able to finish the witnessing encounter despite the down pour. Cam said as long as he was going to stand there in the rain and let me witness to him I was going to finish sharing the gospel; rain or no rain.

We all sought some shelter from the rain as it looked like it might settle in for awhile. The place we sought cover was also the place a few more folks were seeking cover. I made sure everyone there received a tract and I even had the opportunity to witness to a fellow who said that God and him "had their own thing going".

After the rain slacked off a bit we were able to leave that area and get back to handing out tracts. Although the rain was light, it kept most people in their cars or huddled up somewhere in the overhangs of buildings.

All in all we were able to get out just over 700 tracts and witness to several folks. My wife, and her witnessing warrior partner Chris, were able to hand out about 150 tracts and talk to a couple different groups of folks on the other side of the complex.

My brother Andy put the evening in perspective the next day when he emailed me concerning what some might have thought to be a disappointing day out witnessing:

Hey Dawg, I know you are not concerned about the number. Just think about this...

On the way into work this morning, I was thinking about yesterday and reflecting back on how the hand of God has been upon me since my salvation. I really think I could write a book that would read like a book of the bible on how He has been and is working.

Telling me I was moving from Augusta to here.

Selling our house in 5 days(two offers, one more than we asked)

Placing us at FBCC the way he did. (A FB church?, no chance)

Me praying at the alter to prepare me to teach if called upon and then that same morning, Brian called on me to teach.

It goes on and on.

It all started with someone planting a seed. Coach Box sowed the seed in the late 80’s. It was fertilized, weeded, watered and tended to over the next 20+ years before growing into the man you know as me.

That one track, one conversation, or that one kid that wonders why this man is taking his time to walk in the rain to hand out funny money may be just like I was in the late 80’s.

Praise Him.

Yes, praise Him indeed!

What we don't see (and may only ever know in Heaven), is how that ONE tract or that ONE conversation made an eternal difference in God's economy.

That ONE tract or ONE conversation that led to the salvation of ONE person could lead to chain of events where some, or hundreds, or thousands more are ushered into the Kingdom because of our obedience and faithfulness to our great God and Savior.

Soli Deo Gloria!

4th of July meeting time and place -

Please join His Feet on the Street for an opportunity to bring the gospel to the masses on Independence Day!

We will meet in front of the Hibbetts Sports store in the Riverstone Shopping Center in Canton, Ga. at 6:30pm on the 4th of July - (Next to Publix)

We will pray up, pair up and split up to hand out tracts and engage people in one-to-one conversations!

If you have gospel tracts...bring em.

If you don't...no worries; we will have some for you!

If you can't make it out with us this time, please pray for God to move and draw many to Himself. Pray that the Holy Spirit convicts people of their sins and that the gospel is faithfully proclaimed to all we encounter. Also, please pray for us to be bold as lions and meek as lambs and for the Holy Spirit to use us for His glory!

Soli Deo Gloria!

4th of July 2011 - Get ready!

It's that time of year again when thousands of people will come to watch the fireworks in Canton, Ga. and celebrate our nations independence.

Many people will arrive in Canton early to make sure they get the best places to sit and enjoy the big fireworks show; His Feet counts on this! We count on it because the earlier people get there, the more time we have to hand out tracts and engage people in conversation before it gets dark.

If you are in the area and would like to join us and help deliver the good news of the gospel to the masses, we would certainly love to have you...

“The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." Luke 10:2

Meeting time and place to be announced in the next few days. Please read of our past 4th of July encounters:

From 2010 - Click Here -

From 2009 - Click Here - Click Here -

From those who joined us for the first time in 2009 - Click Here - Click Here - Click Here -

Car Show Saturday

Had a great hour witnessing with brother Cam yesterday at the car show - Had a tough conversation with a very self-righteous man who had been saved and born-again "many times", believed God was "all love" and picked and chose which parts of the Bible were true.

After we left Mr. Self Righteous we had a great conversation with a couple teens (boyfriend/girlfriend) where God's law seemed to truly convict them of their sins and the gospel really made sense to them for the first time. They both said that they had never heard the law and gospel explained that way before.

The gospel will always make sense to the lost when they are confronted by God's perfect Ten Commandments because they finally understand that they have sinned against a holy and righteous God.

Against the backdrop of the sinfulness of sin, the light of the gospel shines brightly as the only way man can be reconciled to God.

.

Certified Medical Assistant and the gospel -

Congratulations are in order to my beautiful wife, Cindy, who graduated from Chattahoochee Technical College Thursday with a diploma as a Certified Medical Assistant!

She had certainly put in a lot of hard work over the last couple of years; long hours studying, cramming for exams, being a wife, being a mom, keeping house, finding time to go out with His Feet on witnessing adventures...whew; exhausting~

Over the last couple years in school Cindy has been blessed to meet new friends, had opportunities to share the gospel to other students on campus and has been an encouragement to all those fortunate enough to cross paths with her.

Cindy landed a job almost immediately after her studies were complete with a children's pediatrics center run by a Christian doctor; praise God!

A sold out Christian woman with an energetic work ethic as well as a compassionate heart for people, Cindy's new job makes for a perfect opportunity to share with a multitude of children and parents she will come into contact with on a daily basis.

May God bless Cindy's new career in the medical field and may He be glorified through the gifts He has so richly blessed her with!

A funny thing happened while swimming in the ocean -

We are just back from our annual sabbatical to the beach for much needed rest and relaxation. As always, I try to make sure there are plenty of gospel tracts in the car, suitcase and pockets when we make our trip and this year was no exception.

One of my favorite things to do in the evening and early mornings while on the beach is a little prospecting. I bring my metal detector every year in hopes of finding a lost ring, loose change or something cool. Usually I find about $5-$10 in loose change or a kid's toy car; along with more pull tabs and beer cans to fill up a small cooler.

The cool thing with metal detecting is that many people will come up to you and ask you what you have found so far. This is the perfect opportunity to pull out a Million Dollar Bill tract and start up a conversation.

This year I found another way to give out tracts while at the beach...

One day while my wife and I were chilling on the beach and the kids were at the pool, I had to run back upstairs to the room and get the boogy board I'd forgotten to bring down with us. The waves were starting to roll in pretty good and this old man still likes to act like a kid at the beach when there are waves to be boogied. When I got up to the room I saw some tracts laying on the dresser so I grabbed them up and put them in my pocket so I would have some at the beach (just in case you know).

After stopping at the pool to check on the kids I headed back to where my wife was and chilled out a little more with her before I went out into the ocean with my boogie board. After getting out to the spot to wait for that perfect wave to ride, I swam around a little with the board and noticed that there was something floating away from me very quickly...gospel tracts~

Before I could gather a single tract up they swam away from me at breakneck speed and right into a trio of older teen girls about twenty to thirty yards aways. One of the girls plucked out a swimming tract and started to read it....out loud.

Well this is pretty cool, so I strained to listen to her read the tracts amid the sounds of the ocean.

She read the tract out loud to her friends but stopped and objected at the 7th Commandment. I could hear her say, "If you look with lust you are guilty of committing adultery in your heart."

"Wait" she told her friends, "that's not true...you can only commit adultery if you are married."

"No" said a friend, "it said in your heart...that's different than just being married."

They seemed to go back and forth over the lust/adultery issue for a few minutes and then an older lady (maybe a parent) walked out to where they were and joined in the discussion.

They ended up plucking out all of the tracts (which were 2 or 3 different types of tracts) and taking them back to shore with them.

Ocean evangelism without even trying!

Open Air Preaching

From IANA Ministry (I Am Not Ashamed...of the Gospel):

Go Now!

Today, when sin is accepted and proclaimed in public, we should be taking the Gospel to the public too. It is biblical to preach in the open air….Examples include; Noah, Jonah, Jeremiah, Nehemiah, Stephen, Paul, Phillip, George Whitefield, John and Charles Wesley, Dwight Moody, Billy Graham , oh yes..and Jesus. The United States is one of the biggest mission fields in the world. The unbelievers need to hear the proclamation of the Gospel, and they are not going to churches to hear it, and even when they do, the Gospel is rarely preached anyway.

Quotes from Charles Spurgeon on Open Air Preaching….
Certainly, Moses and Joshua found their most convenient place for addressing vast assemblies beneath the unpillared arch of heaven. Samuel closed a sermon in the field of Gilgal amid thunder and rain, by which the Lord rebuked the people and drove them to their knees. Elijah stood on Carmel, and challenged the vacillating nation with “How long halt ye between two opinions?”

Jonah, whose spirit was somewhat similar, lifted up his cry of warning in the streets of Nineveh, and in all her places of concourse gave forth the warning utterance, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” To hear Ezra and Nehemiah “all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate.” Indeed, we find examples of open-air preaching everywhere around us in the records of the Old Testament.

We ought actually to go into the streets and lanes and highways, for there are lurkers in the hedges, tramps on the highways, street-walkers and lane-haunters, whom we shall never reach unless we pursue them into their own domains.

Read rest of post here

Canton Art Festival

I had originally planned to go out to the Art Festival on Saturday and spend a couple hours there doing some one-to-one, but my lower back was not in the mood to go.

The event was a two day event so I thought I would spend a couple hours there after church on Sunday. For the most part the crowd was in a great mood and I was able to hand out about a 100 tracts (without a single rejection!) and talk with several folks.

One of the Way of the Master students from my Wednesday evening class joined me for the last 45 minutes I was there and got to watch, listen and observe as I used the big "Non-Event" of Saturday to start up conversations and talk with people about their eternal destinies.

Always be ready to start up conversations using current or world changing events and then be ready to make a connection (or swing) from the natural to the spiritual.

My lead in for a conversation was this easy:

Me: Did you get your Million Dollar Bill yet?

Them: LOL...I wish it was a real million dollars.

Me: I know, right? Hey, I'm with a street ministry called "His Feet on the Street" and I'm out here today asking people about the big Non Event of yesterday. What's your take on all that?

That's all I had to say to start the conversation and then I just stood back and let the people talk. When the time was right I steered the conversation away from Harold Camping and his false prophecy and turned it toward their personal accountability to God.

Only one person didn't want to continue the conversation once I steered it from a general talk about God to a personal talk about God.

Praise God for His faithfulness and may He receive all the glory and honor!

Main Street Mania?

This past Saturday, His Feet hit the streets in Jasper during Main Street Mania to hand out tracts and do some one-to-one evangelism.

For the second Jasper event in a row, the expected crowd was not up to our expectations. It seems there were only a handful of people that had come out to listen to the band that was to play while we were there.

Nevertheless, we tried to get a tract in the hands of everyone there (even the band members took some tracts) and we were thankful that God blessed us with some folks there that we could verbally share the gospel with!

Here is a quick video of our short time there

His Feet on the Street is 2 years old today -

It's hard to believe it's already been two years to the day that His feet on the Street has been taking the gospel to the streets of Cherokee and Pickens (and beyond) counties.

I praise God that He has allowed us to be witnesses of His Word to the lost and dying world right here in our home town area.

A big thanks, and all glory to God, to all of the precious brothers and sisters in Christ who have joined us in various events and festivals over the last couple of years! With your help, His Feet has handed out thousands upon thousands of tracts and shared the glorious gospel to hundreds and hundreds of people. Thank you for your compassion for the lost and sincere desire to share the gospel to complete strangers!

Praise God and to Him all the glory!

Main Street Mania

His Feet on the Street will be in Jasper, Georgia this coming Saturday evening for Main Street Mania!

The entertainment for the evening will be the band "Stagrr".



The program begins at 5pm and goes to 11pm. The weather looks like it will be perfect and, hopefully, hundreds of people will come out to the event. We are looking forward to interacting with folks by handing out tracts and striking up conversations about the things of God!

If you are in the area and would like to join us, do not hesitate to do so!

Where: Main Street Jasper, Ga.

When: 4:30pm - Saturday, May 7th

Meeting Spot: - In front of the Bank of North Georgia on Main Street

Sharing Christ

Over the last two weeks His Feet on the Street had the opportunity to bring the good news of the gospel to a couple of events in our community.

On April 15th, the small town of Jasper, Georgia hosted an art festival called, "Artfest". The idea was to have artists and craft vendors set up booths and displays to bring out the folks who appreciate art and give a jolt of commerce to the local business owners.

Unfortunately the weather had other plans.



Main Street Jasper looked like a dark, gloomy and people less town. Instead of the thousands of art and craft lovers that officials thought would be descending upon the little mountain town, maybe there were few hundred spread over the two day long event.





Determined not to let a low crowd turnout and a blustery day deter us, we prayed up and set out to hand out some tracts and, hopefully, engage a few people about the things of God.



One thing I like to do before we start witnessing at an event is to engage the local law enforcement and let them know what we are doing and why we are there. I like to give them the "You have a right to remain silent" tract while telling them the same thing. They almost always laugh and take the tract. Such was the case with the deputy in the above photo.

The deputy was very friendly to us and actually thanked us for being out there.

After leaving the deputy we started walking around and handing out tracts; no one seemed interested in conversation; it was just dead there that day.



God did provide us one young man to talk to, but the 18 year old seemed to have no concern about the things of God. We left him with a tract and much to think about.



All in all we gave out well under a hundred tracts and had just that one conversation.

A bad evangelism day? No, of course not.

We must never confuse evangelism with the fruit of evangelism.

Evangelism is not about how many people we can get saved and how many people we can get baptized and onto our church membership roles.

Salvation belongs to the Lord. God takes care of the results. We have been told by Jesus to go into all the world and proclaim the gospel; we were not told to worry about the results.

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Yesterday His Feet went to the Easter Egg Festival on Main Street in Canton, Georgia.



The flowers were blooming, the weather was perfect and the people were many.



I was uncertain if I was going to be able to join my team for this event due to having lithotripsy surgery the day before. Although I was very sore and, truth be known, should have stayed home and rested, I couldn't stand the thought of not being out with the team.

Our team got to talk to many people and we handed out hundreds of tracts.









We had conversations that went well and some that didn't go so well. Some people were polite and some, well, not so much. Some people listened with interest and some argued at every point of the conversation.

Again, salvation belongs to the Lord and we were the obedient vessels that simply took the message to where the people were.

We thank God for the opportunity to share the gospel in a country where it is still free to do so. We praise Him for the few workers He has raised up in this little part of the world where the harvest is great. We give Him all the glory for how He will use those tracts and conversations to bring His own to Himself!

Happy Resurrection Day!

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26



"In the bonds of Death He lay Who for our offence was slain; But the Lord is risen to-day, Christ hath brought us life again, Wherefore let us all rejoice, Singing loud, with cheerful voice, Hallelujah!" Martin Luther

Event: Easter Egg Hunt

The next event for His Feet on the Street will be the Easter Egg Hunt and Festival on Main Street, Canton, Ga.

The Festival kicks off at 1:00 PM on Saturday, April 23rd and is scheduled to have plenty of kid's activities including inflatables, lawn games, a scavenger hunt, Easter Bonnet contest and, of course, an Easter egg hunt. There will also be a Corvette Cruise-In and live music !

The weather looks very favorable for the Festival and for reaching potentially hundreds of people with tracts and conversations.

While there will be HFOTS team members there, my participation (or lack of it) is on a "wait and see" basis. This Friday (yes, Good Friday) I will be having yet another lithotripsy to bust up five stones that have taken up unwanted residence in my left kidney. So, depending on how I feel on Saturday, maybe I will be able to join the team for at least a little while.

Please pray that I won't have to be at home while the HFOTS team gets to have all the fun!

Where: Main Street, Canton Ga.
When: Saturday, April 23rd at 12:30 PM
Meet at: Main Street Theater

If you are out and about and would like to join us in this outreach, we would love having you!!

Jasper Artfest -

This Saturday (the 16th) Jasper will be hosting a Art Festival on Main Street. Officials will close off Main Street to through traffic and somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 artists will set up their booths to display and sell their work.

This is a perfect opportunity to hand out tracts and talk to people about eternal things.

The Artfest starts at 10am and runs through 6pm, but because of some prior commitments, I won't be able to get there until 2pm. If you plan on joining us, we will be meeting up in front of the Bank of North Georgia at 2pm!



Where: Jasper, Ga
When: Saturday, April 16th at 2pm
Meet at: In front of the Bank of North Georgia on Main Street

How Great Thou Art

Amen -

Three from Spurgeon -

"When preaching and private talk are not available, you need to have a tract ready....Get good striking tracts, or none at all. But a touching gospel tract may be the seed of eternal life. herefore, do not go out without your tracts."

"To be a soul winner is the happiest thing in the world. And with every soul you bring to Jesus Christ, you seem to get a new heaven here upon earth."

"If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for."

C.H. Spurgeon

Need any more evidence that you need to be witnessing in your city?

College Campus One2One

Tony Miano witnessing to a college student -

Witnessing Encounter

Hey readers - I know its been awhile since I have posted anything :(

I have been really busy with Sunday school Bible study, Wednesday night Way of the Master lessons, baseball, softball, wife graduating from college....yipes!

I did want to quickly relate a witnessing encounter I had with a security guard on St. Patrick's Day. I had about a hundred St. Patrick's day million dollar bills to hand out, so I called up my buddy Cam and asked him if he wanted to meet up in Canton before our softball game and go hand out tracts and try to have a conversation or two.

Cam never says no.

We meet up and start walking a popular shopping center handing out the tracts. There were a few people here and there, but they all seemed to be in a hurry to go to and fro. People were taking tracts but we couldn't find a single person who would slow down enough to talk with us. I told Cam that if no one is in the mood to talk to us, we might as well go down to the Hispanic portion of town and hand out our Spanish tracts.

When we drove up the the shopping center we were more than happy to see a couple hundred cars in the parking lot! We excitingly got out of the car and, with hands full of tracts, descended upon the masses!

One problem.

A couple hundred cars and only three people in sight.

We walked over to where a couple guys were sitting around and, hoping they spoke a little English, asked them where everyone was. "I don't know" Why are all these cars here? "I don't know"

Ok...make sure you read the back of that card. "Si, thank you" You're welcome.

Cam and I get back in the car disappointed that, despite all the cars in the lot, no one was there. As we were about to drive out of the parking lot I see a couple security guards sitting in chairs on the far side of the lot. I pull the car over there and hop out real quick and asked them why are all the cars here...where is everyone?

He proceeded to tell me the Disney was making a movie down on main street and they were watching the cars for the cast and crew.

Cool.

"Did you get one of these?" I gave both of the security guards a tract and asked them if they had a Christian background. One of the guards said yes, but the other said no. I introduced myself and Cam and the one who said he didn't have a Christian background said his name was Rodney.

Rodney was a very friendly guy who loved to talk. Cam and I only had about 45 minutes before we would have to leave to go to our softball game (we both play for our church softball team).

The conversation was pretty much one sided for quite awhile because Rodney loved to talk about much of a good person he was. So be careful how much time you have when you ask, "Would you consider yourself to be a good person?" to someone who loves to talk!!

When I was able to get a word in edgewise, I took Rodney through the Law and showed him that his justifying himself for the approval of God on Judgment Day, was nothing more than filthy rags in God's sight. I gave Rodney the good judge illustration to no avail.

Rodney still thought that his good deeds would earn him respect with God. It would have been nice to have had my recorder that evening so I could recall more of the conversation between us. Rodney did ask us lot of questions; and ask, and ask.

The Holy Spirit did an awesome job in answering all those questions!

In the end, after going through the Law a few times, showing Rodney from Scripture the wrath of God on those who transgress God's Law, describing the reality of spending eternity in Hell, the sharing of the glorious gospel, Rodney still kept coming back to his own righteousness and how that would be enough on the Day he stood before the Lord.

I just kept thinking of that verse, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but it's end is the way of death." (Prov 14:12)

Pray for Rodney that the Holy Spirit uses the tracts we gave him and the memory of our conversation to bring about conviction of his sins and that God brings him to repentance and faith in the One who did all the work necessary on that cross at Calvary.

Tsunami, Sovereignty, and Mercy - John Piper

From John Piper at Desiring God

“The waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me. . . This God—his way is perfect” (2 Samuel 22:5, 31).

After the loss of his ten children owing to a “natural disaster” (Job 1:19), Job said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). At the end of the book, the inspired writer confirms Job’s understanding of what happened. He says Job’s brothers and sisters “comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). This has several crucial implications for us as we think about the calamity in the Indian Ocean.

1) Satan is not ultimate, God is.

Satan had a hand in Job’s misery, but not the decisive hand. God gave Satan permission to afflict Job (Job 1:12; 2:10). But Job and the writer of this book treat God as the ultimate and decisive cause. When Satan afflicts Job with sores, Job says to his wife, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10), and the writer calls these satanic sores “the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). So Satan is real. Satan brings misery. But Satan is not ultimate or decisive. He is on a leash. He goes no farther than God decisively permits.

2) Even if Satan caused the earthquake in the Indian Ocean the day after Christmas, he is not the decisive cause of 100,000+ deaths, God is.

God claims power over tsunamis in Job 38:8 when he asks Job rhetorically, “Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb . . . and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?” Psalm 89:8-9 says, “O Lord . . . you rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” And Jesus himself has the same control today as he once did over the deadly threats of waves: “He . . . rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm” (Luke 8:24). In other words, even if Satan caused the earthquake, God could have stopped the waves.

3) Destructive calamities in this world mingle judgment and mercy.

Their purposes are not simple. Job was a godly man and his miseries were not God’s punishment (Job 1:1, 8). Their design was purifying not punishment (Job 42:6). But we do not know the spiritual condition of Job’s children. Job was certainly concerned about them (Job 1:5). God may have taken their life in judgment. If that is true, then the same calamity proved in the end to be mercy for Job and judgment on his children. This is true of all calamities. They mingle judgment and mercy. They are both punishment and purification. Suffering, and even death, can be both judgment and mercy at the same time.

The clearest illustration of this is the death of Jesus. It was both judgment and mercy. It was judgment on Jesus because he bore our sins (not his own), and it was mercy toward us who trust him to bear our punishment (Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24) and be our righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). Another example is the curse that lies on this fallen earth. Those who do not believe in Christ experience it as judgment, but believers experience it as, merciful, though painful, preparation for glory. “The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope” (Romans 8:20). This is God’s subjection. This is why there are tsunamis.

Who suffers from this fallen world of natural disasters? All of us, Christians included: “Not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23). For those who cast themselves on the mercy of Christ these afflictions are “preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). And when death comes, it is a door to paradise. But for those who do not treasure Christ, suffering and death are God’s judgment. “It is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17).

For children, who are too young to process mentally the revelation of God in nature or Scripture, death is not the final word of judgment. God’s commitment to display his justice publicly means that he does not finally condemn sinful people who could not physically construe natural or special revelation (Romans 1:20). There is a difference between suppressing revelation that one can mentally comprehend (Romans 1:18), and not having a brain sufficient to comprehend it at all. Therefore, when small children suffer and die, we may not assume they are being punished or judged. No matter how horrible the suffering or death, God can turn it for their greater good.

4) The heart that Christ gives to his people feels compassion for those who suffer, no matter what their faith.

When the Bible says, “Weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15), it does not add, “unless God caused the weeping.” Job’s comforters would have done better to weep with Job than talk so much. That does not change when we discover that Job’s suffering was ultimately from God. No, it is right to weep with those who suffer. Pain is pain, no matter who causes it. We are all sinners. Empathy flows not from the causes of pain, but the company of pain. And we are all in it together.

5) Finally, Christ calls us to show mercy to those who suffer, even if they do not deserve it.

That is the meaning of mercy—undeserved help. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27). Therefore, pray earnestly for Scott Purser and his team as they investigate the best way that the Global Diaconate can mercifully respond with the love of Christ to the calamity around the Indian Ocean.

In the merciful hands of Almighty God,

Pastor John

Way of the Master Video - Jamie

Just because someone is covered with tattoos doesn't mean she doesn't think deeply about spiritual things.

The False Gospel of CHURCH

From Witnessing Encouragement

You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in you in the Lord, that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. Galatians 5:7-10


One of the most popular false gospels currently is the false gospel of “Church”.

This false gospel of “Church” has become popular in all corners of Evangelicalism of late. It is preached to unbeliever and believer alike. I’ve seen people in the community wearing t-shirts proudly promoting in large lettering THEIR CHURCH. Posters and fliers advertise THEIR CHURCH. I’ve been on ‘evangelism’ outings with groups whose “gospel message” to the community was, “Come to OUR CHURCH.”

There are many sermons online preaching devotion to CHURCH. They preach the preeminence of CHURCH to Christians. There are Christian works such as music albums, websites and books, dedicated to making sure Christians are submitted to and devoted to CHURCH. This is being heavily promoted in Baptist, Reformed, Evangelical circles. This false gospel is just like Roman Catholic doctrine.

To the lost their message is, “come to our CHURCH” (much like ‘salvation through Church’) rather than declaring the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. To the believer, their message is, “CHURCH is the preeminent thing in the Christian life.”

Let us not get off track in our devotion. Let us not forget in Whom is our hope. Only the person and work of Jesus Christ is the gospel to the lost. And nothing but Jesus Christ is preeminent in the life of every true believer.

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Amen Loretta!