Are you ready?

This afternoon, while my wife and my boys were at the local library, I took the "Are You Ready" cross to downtown Ball Ground.

I found a good spot on mainstreet and was not there five minutes or so when a car stopped in the middle of the road and the passenger, who looked to be about a 12 year old girl, whipped a camera out of the window and started taking pictures of the looney guy holding a cross. Only after the cars behind them started showing their displeasure by blowing horns did the roving photographer and her driver move on.

After another thirty or so minutes went by a pickup truck drove slowly by and then parked behind me. The driver, a young man in his late teens or early twenties, jumped out of his truck and walked up to me and asked me what was up with that sign?

I simply told him I was intentially provoking people to think about if they were ready or not for eternity. The young man, dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt (temp was about 48 degrees) looked at me a little funny and said that he thought I was one of those people that thought the world was going to end in 2012. I assured him that I had absolutely no idea when the world was going to end or when Jesus would be returning.

I asked him if he was ready?

Ready for what, he asked.

Ready for eternity, I said!

Yes, he said, I am ready.

How do you know, I asked him.

Because I was saved years and years ago.

You know, I said, almost everyone I meet here in north Georgia will tell me that they were saved when they were a little boy or girl. Sometimes they will tell me that they have been born-again two or three times. But when you ask them how often they read their Bible, pray or go to church, most people will say that they hardly ever rewd the Bible, almost never pray and could not tell you the last time they were in church.

It was at this point the young man said that he was on his way to work and just wanted to see what the question on the cross was all about. Experience told me that I only had a moment more with him so I reached my pocket and dug out an "Are you ready?" tract that has a tombstone on the front of it and handed it to him before he had a chance to get away.

He thanked me for the tract, shook my hand and got back in truck and drove away.

I praise God for that "chance" encounter and pray that He reveals Himself in a mighty way to that young man.

Soli Deo Gloria!!!

Born from above!

From the blog of pastor Randall Easter

Nicodemus came to Jesus by night to discuss religious matters. 

Nicodemus starts the conversation by stating, "we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him."  Jesus quickly turns the conversation to the gospel and presses a glorious truth upon the heart of Nicodemus.  Jesus tells him that he must be 'born from above' if he is to see or enter the kingdom of God.  Most translations use the phrase 'born again,' but this misses the essence of what Jesus is saying.  Re-birth is not something that is worked up from the bottom, but rather re-birth is that which is given from above.  To understand that re-birth is a top down model leaves the sinner in submission to cry out for God to come down.  The Greek word 'from above' is used in several other passages and gets translated 'from above' (Matt. 27:51; John 3:31; 19:11, 23; James 1:17; James 3:15, 17). 

In order for a man to see or enter the kingdom of God he must be effectively regenerated from above.  God the Holy Spirit must come down and grant a new heart and a right spirit in order that man by faith can believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. 

In today 21st century church much effort is placed upon getting man to do something in order that he could be saved.  The church today tries to get man to repeat prayers, walk down isle's, raise hands, or some other gimmick to get man to open the door of his heart in order that Jesus can get in.  However, Jesus mentions none of this in his presentation to Nicodemus.  He simply presses upon him the glorious truth that salvation is a top down model.  The result of such preaching presses man to cry out to God until He has mercy upon them.  Jesus will go on to remind Nicodemus that just as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, so must the the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. 

Salvation comes from the throne room of heaven and moves upon the heart of a man and causes him to look up to the beauty of the Savior on the cross and believe that Jesus bore his sins that he might die to sin and live to righteousness. 

So many people will refer to John 3:16 and some will even have an entire conference to talk about John 3:16, but the context of John 3:16 demands that we look at the whole chapter.  The honest reader of Scripture cannot read over the statement that man must be born 'from above.'  If God does not save there will be no saving.  If God does not move there will be no moving.  If God does not draw there will be no drawing.  If God does  not regenerate there will be no regeneration.  We are then left with the statement of the prophet Jonah, "Salvation belongs to the Lord!"

What about you?  Have you been born from above?  Have you experienced genuine repentance?  Have you been regenerated?  Do you now hate the sin you used to love?  Do you now love the righteousness you once hated?  I will repeat what the Lord Jesus has said; "You must be born from above to enter the kingdom of God."

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 -