The streets in Helena

The other day we hit the streets of Helena to proclaim the gospel. The crew consisted of the Swider boy and girl, myself, and our new, good friends, Matt and Evie. It was a slow start with most people not wanting to talk or even take tracts. A man from England who was standing outside a bar smoking said he hated all religion and that he couldn’t be converted. He even finished his cigarette quickly to escape back into the darkness of the bar.

The guy at the coffee shop made many excuses to not talk about Jesus. I talked to a man who said he was a mental patient for a while but as soon as I brought up Jesus as the only escape from sin and misery, he said he had to go. I talked to a guy that hated the government and made his own “god of the mountains” up in his head. He did not want to talk of Christ as well.

We talked with a group of 6 kids in their 20’s. It is funny how I call them kids when they are in their 20’s, it must be a sign of old age, but the older the violin, the sweeter the music. They had mixed backgrounds from Mormon to Catholic to nothing. We had a good talk and I was able to take them through the Law and fully explain the gospel. They seemed to understand.

Evie gave out tracts and tried to talk to people but not many gave in. However; it wasn’t long before she found a fish. Evie was able, by the grace of God, to share the whole biblical gospel with this person and they had a great talk. Evie was so happy that she danced down the street. The Swider girl also joined in on the excitement. Matt and Swider gave out tracts but couldn’t get any takers for a good conversation about eternity.

I talked to a couple in their late 30’s who were Wiccans. I have been running more and more into Wiccans lately. Every Wiccan I talk to has a different understanding and belief system. All love the earth and are into the goddess of course. We talked about their inconsistent beliefs for a while and then I took them through the Law and the fact that Jesus was the only way to heaven and that Jesus said everything they believe is wrong. The guy was open to talking but the woman said they had to go and she pulled him away.

I talked to a 17 year old kid who was smoking in the street. Good conversation. He actually thought about what I said and never ran off.

What a great day for sharing the gospel. And I would like to thank the big tobacco companies for making something so addictive. We can always find a pagan in the street smoking no matter how cold it is and they are so addicted that they would rather suffer listening to a man explain the gospel to them than put out their cigarette and leave. Praise God and let us make much of Him.

Para la fama de Su nombre

Television, The Great Life-Waster

This is an excerpt out of John Piper's book called Don't Waste Your Life

Television is one of the greatest life-wasters of the modern age.  And, of course, the Internet is running to catch up, and may have caught up.  You can be more selective on the Internet, but you can also select worse things with only the Judge of the universe watching.  TV still reigns as the great life-waster.  The main problem with TV is not how much smut is available, though that is a problem.  Just the ads are enough to sow fertile seeds of greed and lust, no matter what program you're watching.  The greater problem is banality.  A mind fed daily on TV diminishes.  Your mind was made to know and love God.  Its facility for this great calling is ruined by excessive TV.  The content is so trivial and so shallow that the capacity of the mind to think worthy thoughts withers, and the capacity of the heart to feel deep emotions shrivels.  (Don't Waste Your Life, p.120)

Now here is a story from Pipers book of a young 14 year old man who did not waste his life.

He fast-talked his way into the Marines at fourteen, fooling the recruits with his muscled physique...Assigned to drive a truck in Hawaii, he had grown frustrated; he wanted to fight.  He stowed away on a transport out of Honolulu, surviving on food passed along to him by sympathetic leathernecks on board. 

He landed on D-Day (at Iwo Jima) without a rifle.  He grabbed on lying on the beach and fought his way inland.  Now, on D+1, Jack and three comrades were crawling through a trench when eight Japanese sprang in front of them.  Jack shot one of them through the head.  Then his rifle jammed.  As he struggled with it a grenade landed at his feet.  He yelled a warning to the others and rammed the grenade into the soft ash.  Immediately, another rolled in.  Jack Lucas, seventeen, fell on both grenades.  "Luke, you're gonna die," he remembered thinking....

Aboard the hospital ship Samaritan the doctors could scarcely believe it.  "Maybe he was too damned young and too damned tough to die," one said.  He endured twenty-one reconstructive operations and became the nation's youngest Medal of Honor winner - and the only high school freshman to receive it.  (Don't Waste Your Life, p.127)


Here is John Pipers plea:

"Oh, that young and old would turn off the television, take a long walk, and dream about feats of courage for a cause ten thousand times more important than American democracy - as precious as that is."

So I ask myself:  how much of my life was wasted watching TV when I could have been doing something courageous for the Kingdom of God that would have made much of God?  Even if turned off the TV to read books, just imagine how many books I could have read, books that could have shaped my life and conformed me to the image of Christ.  Or even if I turned off the TV to pray, just think how many prayers would have been answered.  Or even if I turned off the TV to spend more real time with my family, how much stronger and God-exulting would my family be.

Turn off the TV.  If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.  If your TV causes you to waste your life, throw it out the window.

Don't waste your life.

Providence in Great Falls

God is so glorious in the way He chooses to reveal Himself to us. I went out to share the gospel in Great Falls with Matt Davis, the new man at church who is completely sold out for Christ and desires nothing but God. We started in the mall and tried to witness to some Hutterites but when I asked them what they thought it took to get to heaven they said they didn't want to talk any more.

The mall is actually a hard place to witness because everyone is usually moving around and busy.  We went to Sheels and chased a couple basketball players from Canada down and started a conversation with them.  They said they go to a Christian college but they didn't have a clue how to get to heaven.  I took them through the law and they seemed like they came under conviction, one kid particularly.  I then explained Jesus and the cross and His satisfying of God's justice.  It seemed to make sense to them and they said they were glad we had the talk.  Something was definitely going on with them spiritually.

We decided to leave the mall and go to the so called ghetto but we never found it.  The ghetto in Great Falls is a fine place to live.  No one was around so we went downtown.  We came across a Masonic Temple, or whatever they call it, and went inside to witness to some Masons but never found any.

I talked with a smoker outside of a restaurant who told me that he wasn't religious and didn't believe in anything.  He said his ex-wife killed his 18 year old kid and now she is in the crazy house.  We talked about sin and why bad things happen in this world.  We talked about what sin was and how all men were born in sin and continue to sin and are accountable to God.  After I explained the gospel it didn't seem like the guy cared too much but you never know how the Spirit of God works on a man.

We moved through the park downtown and met a Christian and talked with him for a while.  He gave us some tips on where to witness but he didn't seem to witness himself.

When walking back to the truck, God providential changed our route.  We saw a big church so we walked over to it to see what kind of church it was.  It was a Lutheran church, which we tried to go in but the doors were locked so we moved on.  Right across the street we saw a black man so we walked up to him at the same time he was walking up to us.  This is God's amazing providence.  The first thing he said was that he need to speak to a pastor.  I said he could talk to me and he told us his predicament which the details don't really matter because we were put together in order for us to share the gospel with him.  He said he was a Christian but when I asked why, it was based on all the works he did and how he didn't like jail so he turned to God.  I took him through the law which he admitted to breaking but still justified his works would make God forgive him.  We talked for a while about this and then I shared Christ with him.  He seemed convicted as I explained what Jesus did on the cross and I urged him to examine himself to see if he actually was a Christian before he died.  It was a great conversation.  Matt solidified our witness of Christ by helping him meet a physical need.  He was so thankful and gave us a hug on the street.  Matt commented that he hasn't had a "man" hug in a while, but you never know what will happen on the street.

We drove over to Hastings to get a cup of coffee and stir up a conversation.  The perfect people walked in.  The boy and girl in their 20's were loud and blabbing about everything so I gave them a trivia tract and they went through it, shouting the answers for everyone to hear.  I talked with a man about trapping while I waited for them to finish.  When they got to the last question about evolution I started asking them deeper question.  The girl was loud and a little obnoxious and had no problems telling me her opinion.  I took them through the 10 commandments and they said they broke them all.  They continued to be loud and this was great because I was loud as well and everyone around us was pretending to be reading but really listening to every word.  As the girl got more fired up, all of the people sitting around were on the edge of their seats to see what would happen next. 
She called me a Puritan, which I took as a complement but she meant as an insult.  She kept on insisting that God would forgive everyone on earth if they just asked Him.  I explained the whole biblical gospel to them and about God's justice and how He can't forgive sin without justice being satisfied though Christ.  It was great and everyone around us heard every word.  We ended the conversation and as we left I said good bye to the old guy I was talking about trapping to and he, all of a sudden, forget that he ever knew me.  Funny!

It was an unbelievable day of sharing the gospel and it revived our hearts to see God allowing us to be a part of His plan to glorify His name in His great commission.  Praise God.

Albert Martin - TRUTH

Theology Thursdays

We sit in amazement at what God is doing in our little church in Wolf Creek, Montana. Through consistent expository preaching and study of the Bible we are seeing people growing spiritually in a big way. Our Wednesday night Bible study is packed and we started an additional Bible study in Helena for the members of our church that live in Helena which is taught by Leo Rogge at his house. Now most of the church is also at Bible study. People are truly seeking God and wanting to grow more. Because of a renewed sense of interest in the deep things of God we are going to start a systematic theology class on Thursday nights at 7pm starting in January. We will be diving into the monster systematic theology book by Wayne Grudem. We will read the chapter before we come on Thursday night and then discuss it as a group. We will also provide all of the 1200 page systematic theology books. Probably one per family. So come join us for a cup of coffee and theology. You will be sure to grow spiritually by leaps and bounds as you are grounded in solid, biblical theology. We have no schedule to get through this monster, it could take 10 years, so buckle up. Anyone can join at any time because we will be dealing with different subjects and chapters each week. See you there.

Topics will include:

The doctrine of the Word of God
The doctrine of God
The doctrine of Man
The doctrines of Christ and the Holy Spirit
The doctrine of the application of Redemption
The doctrine of the Church
The doctrine of the Future


If you are interested contact scott doherty at scott_doherty@hotmail.com we can order your book.

Do Christians have a sinful nature?

One of the problems with this debate is how we define our “nature.” It is obvious through Scripture and by looking at ourselves that there is a war going on within a Christian. Some call this the sinful nature warring against the Spirit in us, some call this the indwelling sin that remains in us warring with the Spirit in us, and some call this our flesh warring with our Spirit.

The argument is that at the point of conversion we become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and therefore our old sinful nature is gone. In one sense this is correct because we do become a new creation and we have new desires. Before, we loved sin and were a slave to sin and now the Christian hates sin and is a slave to Christ. But in another sense this is wrong depending on how we define terms. Even though we are a new creation spiritually, we still have indwelling sin in us (Romans 7:20). We are not condemned for this sin because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) but we war against it (1 Peter 2:11)

John MacArthur explains it like this:

So, I am a new creation. I am unfortunately incarcerated in this unredeemed flesh—not just the physical, but all the things that go along with the flesh and my mind and my emotions and my feelings. We still have a sin principle operative.
John MacArthur (2005 Shepherds Conference)

So depending on the terms we use to describe this war (sinful nature, incarcerated flesh, flesh) will determine your position on this subject.

It is so important to understand that you have something in you that is sinful. Whether you call it your sinful nature or as the Bible calls it the “flesh”, we are warring against something in us and it is not only the devil but sin in us. (Romans 7:20).

The Bible is very clear about this war against our sinful flesh even though we are a new creation in Christ.

11Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 1 Peter 2:11

Peter is saying that we have passions in our flesh which we are warring against. Remember that Peter is writing to Christians and not unbelievers.

We see Paul exhorting the Galatians, who are a new creation in Christ, to walk according to the Spirit that is in them and not in the sinful desires of their flesh.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Galatians 5:16-18

By nature, our Spirit is opposed to our fleshly desires. Flesh is referring to our corrupt nature.
Again, because of the natural war within Christians between our Spirit and flesh (corrupt nature), Paul exhorts the Colossian Christians to put away all of their earthly, sinful desires that they walked in when they were lost but our still struggling with, and walk in their new self that they received when the Holy Spirit entered them at conversion.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Colossians 3:5-10

Our fleshy desires are still there when we are converted but we now can war against them instead of being a slave to them. This is the sanctification process. Sanctification is when we are conformed to the image of Christ and are enabled more and more to die to our sinful desires and live for righteousness.

R.C. Sproul explains this sanctification:

When we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and become new creatures in Christ, the power of our fallen nature (flesh) is conquered but not destroyed. Because sanctification is a lifelong process, Christians are daily engaged in warfare with their old nature as they seek to grow in the Spirit and in grace. The old person dies daily as the new person in Christ is strengthened by the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Spirit, who is given to us as a pledge and by whom we are sealed, will prevail in this warfare in the end. In the meantime, however, the struggle can be intense. Christians continue to struggle with sin and temptation. Conversion liberates us from the total control of the flesh, but it does not perfect us. The struggle between the old person (the flesh) and the Spirit continues until we die. After death we are glorified: the flesh is completely put to death, and the new person is completely purified. (Essential truths of the Christian faith, RC Sproul)
Another clear example of this war between our Spirit and flesh is from Paul’s own struggles. We read of them in Romans 7:13-25. Here Paul, now a Christian filled with the Holy Spirit and a new creation, explains his inward war against his Spirit and flesh.

Interpreting Romans 7:13-25

Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

It is important to understand how we interpret Scripture. We us the grammatical-historical interpretation of Scripture.

Here are the reason why Paul is talking about himself as a Christian and talking about a believers struggle with his sinful flesh.

1. When we look at the grammar in this passage we see that Paul is using the present tense, not the past. Paul is not speaking of what he used to be like but what his like now. That is why he says, “Wretched man that I am” and not “Wretched man that I was.”

2. In verse 21 we see that Paul wants to do right where as an unbeliever would not have an intense desire to keep God’s law.

3. The distinction between “I” and the “flesh” in verse 18.

4. His delight in God’s law in verse 22.

5. The fact that Christians are already accounted as righteous in Christ but are yet perfected until the day of redemption. This is shown in the concluding statement of Paul in verse 25 when he says, “I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

This is MacArthur’s take on this passage:

So, in Romans 7, Paul says—and making, I think, a clear distinction: “Sin, it is in me.” But he said, “It’s not I; it is sin that is in me.” So, he understands that he is a new creation. There is a new ego, there is a new “I” and its longings are holy and its affections are spiritual and its love is towards God and its longings are directed in the path of righteousness. Its disposition or its bent is toward the law of God, which he “loves,” he says. But he sees something inside of him warring. So the way I express it there is that we are a new person, a new creation, created in Christ Jesus, with all new longings and desires and loves and affections, but we are incarcerated in this unredeemed humanness. And that’s why in Romans 8, he says, “We are waiting for the redemption of the body.”

Whether you define us as having two natures or one, all biblical Christians should agree that our nature needs continual renewing (Colossians 3:10). This renewing, of course, is a lifetime process for the Christian. Even though the battle for sin is constant, we are no longer under the control of sin (Romans 6:6). The believer is truly a "new creation" in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), and it is Christ who will ultimately “rescue [us] from this body of death. Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25).

The issue is mostly blown out of proportion because we define terms wrongly. On the other hand it is important to see that when you sin as a Christian it is still a sin, a wretched sin. All sin against God is wretched. There is no light sin against the Holy God. Even though, as Christians, we are not condemned for our sin, we still do sin and when we sin it is wretched. The logic goes like this:

If you rape then you are a rapist
If you murder then you are a murderer
If you lie then you are a liar
If you sin then you are a sinner
If all sin is wretched and all who sin are sinners then if you sin wretchedly then you are a wretched sinner.

This logic holds even if you are a Christian because Christians sin. The difference between a Christian sinning and an unbeliever sinning is that Christians hate sin and are grieved by it and repent of it as soon as they fall into it. Even though we are accounted as righteous through Christ, we are still a sinner in the same way as a murder that pays his fine is accounted as a free man, he is still a murder.

So as a Christian we are a wretched sinner that is repenting of our sins, daily, and is conforming to the image of Christ, daily, in this life-long process of sanctification. We should be sinning less as time goes on and we should be more grieved by our sin as time goes on.

Sin is much more than outward actions but is also our thought life, motivations, pride, not loving God like He deserves (which no one has ever accomplished), not loving your husband or wife perfectly, not being a biblical example to your kids and the list goes on.

In this issue it is important to understand the all parties agree that:

1. Christians still struggle with sin through their whole lives (Galatians 5:17, 1John 1:8-9).

2. Christians can and should grow in sanctification throughout their lives by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them.

3. Although Christians are free from the condemnation of the law, sin nonetheless continues to dwell within, and all genuine Christians should be profoundly aware of how far they fall short of God’s absolute standard of righteousness. That is why Paul cries out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24)

4. Christians are delivered daily from the indwelling power of sin by:
a. walking not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:4)
b. by not setting their minds on the things of the flesh, but on the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:5)
c. by the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God who dwells in us. (Romans 8:9, 11)

More study

http://www.gotquestions.org/two-natures.html

Live for Eternity

The Catholic and the, oh boy, Pentecostal

TJ and I hit the streets on a nice wintry day to share truth to a dying world.   There were not a lot of people out put God providentially put the right people in our path to talk to.  We gave out some tracts to warm up and then stopped to talk to two men smoking pipes.  I actually love the smell of tobacco pipes, it reminds me of the old days when all the hunters and trappers smoked pipes.  Anyway, I started off with a card trick and then gave them a tract and told them that it explained the gospel.  I asked if they were Christians and they said they were Catholic.  I asked if they have ever been told what it took to get to heaven and they told me a complicated story of works and left out Jesus.  One kid was one of the nicest, most intelligent Catholic I have ever witnessed to and it was a pleasure openly discussing the deep things of God with him on snow covered street.  We talked about everything for a half hour.  I just kept asking him questions at first in order that he would dig himself a hole.  He did.  I explained the purpose that Jesus died for and that doing good and works can't save and if they could then why did Jesus come and die.  We talked about imputed verses infused righteousness.  The biggest problems was when I asked them how much they read the bible.  They never read it much.  I asked if it was sufficient and infallible.  They didn't believe it was and said it was hard to understand that is why they rely on priests.  I made it clear that no man can get to heaven without Christ and that doing good works to get to heaven or continue to earn heaven is un-biblical.  I told them to trust in the Scriptures instead of men and challenged him to read the bible.  It was a great conversation.

We then went back to the library and TJ tried to share the gospel with some kids standing outside.  They told TJ that they were going to Hell and then the youngest kid cussed out TJ and said they had to go because there mom just pulled up.

We met a man in the parking lot and I gave him and his wife tracts and said it was the gospel.  I asked if they were Christians and the man said of course because he has been a preacher for 25 years or something but not in a church just by himself.  He liked to talk and with a little spurring he went on and on.  The more he talked the more we saw how messed up his theology was.  The man said he was a Pentecostal and immediately told us that he raised 5 people from the dead.  It is funny how the Pentecostals are the only ones that ever "raise people from the dead."  Now I understand that our Sovereign God can and does raise people from the dead but it seems to me that if every Pentecostal actually raised all these people from the dead then mathematically there would be 1 out of every 3 people in the US that have been raised from the dead. 

As he went on it got much more weird.  He told us about the world that existed before this one and that Buddhists and Confucianist's were going to heaven without Jesus because they were peace makers and on and on, more bazaar.  TJ argued a bit but I was trying to break free from this crazy man.  A weird way to end the night but good.  We praise God for the opportunities.

Missionary challenge: Contextualization

Contextualization is important when sharing the gospel to other cultures.  There are dangers of going way to far with it and dangers of not doing it at all, which is what you will see in the video.  It is so important to understand the culture and language before sharing the gospel and our American slang should be avoided at all costs.  This is one of the funniest things I have seen in a while but sadly it is how many missionaries are preaching in the field.  I got this from my friend's blog "The Johnsons' Journeys"  Enjoy.

Provision through Faith alone

As we have said, we are not raising our support for our work in the field by they typical means that missionaries use, which is calling churches and asking to present their ministry and then asking them to support them financially. We are simply praying that our Sovereign God will raise up individuals and churches that will live sacrificially and support us. We don't tell our needs or ask for money, we just wait on the Lord to provide through obedient Christians. Men throughout time have did this same thing, men like George Muller, C.T. Studd, Hudson Taylor and present day men like Paul Washer and Heart Cry. I was very much encouraged and our dependence on God alone was confirmed when I read what just happened with Heart Cry. They told no one their needs but prayed and God raised up one single person to support 40 of their missionaries. Here is the story:
Upon returning from the 10/40 window, the staff at HeartCry set themselves to praying for an advance. There were forty missionaries who were approved and ready, but the funds were needed. We kept the matter concealed among us and made our requests known to God. After two months of feeble praying and little faith, the Lord has done it! One family in the U.S., who desires to remain anonymous, contacted HeartCry with the burden to live the faith they professed, and to know the joy of disinterest in and sacrifice of self. Without any communication between us, they had been praying about supporting missionaries in India with the exact amount that was needed to support the forty new missionaries! Praise the Lord! God has moved them to support the whole group of men! We will soon be traveling to India to make the final preparations for this new advance.

We are looking forward to writing to you all about how our miraculous, Sovereign God, supplied all our support for us without us ever asking men or telling our needs. We trust in God to provide through the people that He wants to give the privilege of sacrificing.

Our big announcement

We are moving to Peru to sacrifice everything we have in us for the glory of the gospel of Christ.  Below is our first announcement letter:

Hello everyone. Finally we can officially announce what God is doing in our lives. As you know ever since God has saved me I have had a passion for sharing the Gospel with everyone, but the last few years God has been calling me to extend my calling to the nations. God has given me an increased burden for foreign missions and has confirmed it inwardly, outwardly through people and providence, and through the Scriptures. Through the providence of God I met a man named Tim Killillay, now one of my best friends, at a conference in Cleveland , Ohio who was raising support to move to Peru as a career missionary. Over the last few years we spent time together sharing the gospel and laboring in the ministry together and found we were very like-minded in almost everything and had the same philosophy on foreign missions, theology, and evangelism. This summer Tim spent two weeks with us for the purpose of preaching and evangelism efforts in Montana . At the end of the two weeks God confirmed to both of us that we and our families would be working together for the sake of the gospel in Peru as life-time missionaries.
For the month after Tim left, God did so much in our lives that we sit daily in amazement of Him. He confirmed our calling in so many ways including giving my wife Kim, not only peace about this move but an excitement about living in Peru . Everything is now falling into place including homeschooling the kids, teaching the family Spanish, going through the checklist of the many things that must be completed before we leave. God has even raised up other obedient Christians to give us some of the support we will need in the foreign mission field. We are going to the mission field by faith, trusting in God to raise up obedient Christians and churches that are willing to sacrifice at home so we can sacrifice in the field. By God’s providence we were directed to a missionary clearing house called Central Missionary Clearinghouse who will handle all of the administrative work. These people are true servants and take no money from us at all but rely on faith to supply their needs. CMC is supporting, through administration, around 372 families. At this time, more than 3800 churches are utilizing the services of CMC. We are being sent out by our home church, Wolf Creek Baptist Church as well as Fellowship Baptist Church in Sydney , MT , Westside Baptist Church in Great Falls , MT and North Range Baptist Church in Colorado . These 4 churches will make up our mission board and we will be held accountable to them.
God willing, we will first move to Costa Rica in August if everything falls into place or December of 2011 for a year of language school. Where we are going in Peru there is not much English so learning the language is essential to survive. After language school we will move to Peru in the area surrounding Cuzco to start our lives and work with a solid, biblical Peruvian church. We have been in contact with a friend of ours named Walter Gammara, who is a Peruvian pastor. He is 28 years old and on fire for God. He will serve to help us get ingrained into the culture and learn the language specifics and government. In return we will work with him teaching, preaching and doing evangelism. He is so excited we are coming to work with him. We communicate by email in Spanish. He does not know any English and Spanish is his second language. He speaks Quechua as his first, which is the native language of Peru and most people in the high Andes speak it. I hope to learn Quechua after Spanish to preach to villages that you can only hike to that sit at 13,000 feet in elevation. After we get settled in and ingrained into the new culture, the Peruvians, Tim and I will travel to some of the unreached regions that have no church of any kind to evangelize and, God willing, plant a biblical church. Our vision is to help teach, preach and evangelize these unreached areas in hope that as the church is established God will save Peruvians and raise up Peruvians into teaching and preaching roles. Our goal is to see indigenous people trained and sustaining their own biblical churches by the grace and for the glory of God. Another major part of our ministry will be teaching the historical biblical truth and sound doctrine to the Peruvians as God saves them and calls them into their roles.
As we are in the process of getting rid of all our material possessions besides a couple suitcases each, we have so much joy and peace in storing up our treasures in heaven instead of earth. We thank God for the privilege to count the cost of following Jesus Christ and for enabling us to give every ounce of ourselves for the sake of the gospel and glory of God among the nations.
We ask you to pray for us as we labor in Peru . We also challenge you to die to yourself and live for Christ by sacrificing yourself by either going into the foreign mission field to proclaim the glory of Christ or by sacrificing all you have at home so you can send those who go to the foreign mission field. Whether going or sending, we all have the same high calling to be involved in the great commission. Both going and sending are equally high callings and both are needed and used by God as the means to fulfill His end of gathering His people among the nations and glorifying His name.
Sing to the LORD, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be held in awe above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
(1 Chronicles 16:23-26)
For more information about us and our ministry you can go to our blog: To the ends of the earth… Peru . Our blog will be frequently updated to track our progress and experiences as we labor for Christ. Sign up on the blog to be updated by email or send us an email and we will add you to the blog update list.
If you have questions you can contact us by phone at 406-235-9061 or by email at scott_doherty@hotmail.com. We will write a more personal and private newsletter frequently so If you want to be added to our mailing list, send us an email and we will add you.

Our church also has information about us and our mission to Peru at: Wolf Creek Baptist
May you be blessed by the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord and to Him be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

The West Yellowstone Mexican

I was so excited.  I was in West Yellowstone for work and was walking to the place we were to eat dinner and I saw a school bus that was converted to a Mexican take out place.  I just got finished memorizing how to share the gospel in Spanish so I went in looking for some Spanish speakers.  I found them.  The girl taking orders hardly knew any English so I spoke to her in Spanish and took her through the law and gospel.  It was cool.  Even though my Spanish was bad, she understood everything I said and actually got convicted.  She spoke to me in Spanish and told me she grew up Catholic but now is not anything.  She then said something about when she was a girl she never sinned but now she does and then she asked where Jesus is now.  All I could say in Spanish that He is "en el Cielo" , He is in heaven.  I gave her a Spanish gospel tract and left the seed to grow.

At work on Thursday, the fire extinguisher man came to inspect our extinguishers so I road along with him and it turned out that he was from Butte also.  We talked about Butte and the people we know and then I swung to the spiritual and took him through the Law and shared the Gospel.  He was wide open to talk and had a lot of questions that he had been struggling with for years.  We talked for 2 hours.  He thanked me a lot and said at first he thought, "I hope this guy isn't going to preach at me all day" but then he said he was very glad I brought up the topic.  He said that he shared things with me that he had never told anyone before and he said it felt good to talk about things.  We covered many topics and I shared my testimony.  He was interested in seeking God but had never read the Bible in his whole life.  I gave him my the first Bible that I ever owned.  It was the Bible I devoured when God saved me.  It had so many notes and highlights it was crazy but he said he didn't care.  I can't take it to Peru anyway so I would rather give it to someone who will read it.  You never know, God might use it to save him in the same way He used it to save me.  Gloria a Dios por su gracia.

A simple illustration on the doctrine of election

Jesus is Worth it

All I can say is WOW!

To Every Tribe Missionary Conference - Day 1

We are in Oklahoma right now at the To Every Tribe Missions conference.  The first session of Friday night was given  by Josef Tson from the Romanian Missionary Society.  He is a Romanian and was persecuted for the faith. 

He brought out some interesting points from Hebrews 2:15 which says that all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.  Everyone that is scared to die is a slave for life. 

Josef said when he was in prison for the gospel and the communists put a gun to his head and said they would kill him, he told them, "Your weapon is killing but my weapon is dying."  He told them that by his death, God would spread the gospel throughout the country, which is what the communists were fighting, so they never killed him and let him go.

Another powerful thing he said was, "A man who has no fear of death is the most dangerous man in the world."

Why do we love our life more than Jesus?  Jesus gave up His life and suffered for us, why don't we do the same?

The unbiblical, worldly, demonic practice of dating

The Drug deal

I wonder if the cops don't know or just don't care. We share the gospel a lot at Hill park in Helena. This is where many of the street kids hang out as well as where most of the drug trafficking takes place in Helena. It was very obvious what was going on in the open. A beat up car from Billings filled with 4 rough looking men were sitting in the car were smoking nervously and waiting for someone. I gave them some gospel tracts, which 3 of the 4 took but one guy wouldn't look at me. After a while another car load of men pulled up. Out jumped a few big men that look like they make their living as the enforcers of those who don't pay. They went to the car of the 4 drug dealers and made a transaction. Many other kids were milling around at the time, probably waiting to get hooked up with what they wanted. It saddened me when I saw the drug dealers in their 50's talking from a distance with one of the teenage girls sitting in the park. It was obvious they had a relationship of some sort and not a good one. What a lost and depraved world.

Before we got to the drug deal we met up with Peters, Brent and Yoshi at their church. I had a man with me named Ravi, who is an evangelist from South Africa. We started at Carrol College because the Rocky Mountain Elk foundation was having their annual meeting. I brought a whole bunch of my elk gospel tracts and we stood by the door and gave them out to all the people who went in. God blessed this and no one from the Elk Foundation told us to leave. We gave out over one hundred tracts in a short time.

We moved up to the drug dealer park and I shared the gospel with a couple guys at a table. We went through they law and gospel. They knew they were condemned and thanked us for talking with them but there was not much conviction.

The drug deal happened next when we were in the park. Yoshi and Brent were busy witnessing to different groups of people so Ravi, Peters and I went up to talk with another group in the park. I tried to do a magic trick but an angry man, who knew what we were all about, immediately started railing at us and told us to leave. I asked if he wanted me to finish the trick and he got made and started to jump up and said he wasn't going to tell us twice. We graciously left, praising God we were not still lost and wretched because that man would have been hurting. We were all the same as this angry man when we were in sin and without Christ so the way he was acting was understandable. He is a pagan, acting like pagans do.

Yoshi tried to give a biker who was sitting in the parking lot a gospel tract and the biker said if he touched his bike with the tract he was going to break his hands. Loving guy.

In the walking mall, a group of girls went off on Brent because they hated Jesus.  They railed at him non stop.  I tried to talk some logic into the girl but she was so illogical that she believed that her beliefs determined what reality was.  We left and they openly mocked us and clapped their hands at us.
Brent talked with angry kids who also reviled him most of the time. This is the way that sinners that hate Jesus Christ act and we are used to it and take comfort in Jesus who said:

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
(Matthew 5:11-12)

I had a good conversation with a 26 year old man who ruined his life and was now an alcoholic.  We talked for a long time about the Bible, law, and gospel.  He was suicidal and had no hope and wanted to be dead.  I shared the hope in Christ and told him to seek God and confirm what I was saying by reading the gospel of John.
 
Praise God for the great night!

Heaven or Hell?

Signs of a Dying or Decaying Christian

1. When you are so indifferent to public worship, or frequenting the church of God, that you can be satisfied to come, or not come, at your own pleasure.

2. When, in your most solemn worship, you are quickly weary without warrantable cause.

3. When few sermons will please you; either you like not the matter, or manner, or man, or place.

4. When you think you know enough.

5. When a small occasion will keep you from Christ’s table, or communion with the church of God.

6. When you have usually no great desire for prayer.

7. When reading the Holy Scriptures is more burdensome than delightful.

8. When you are very inquisitive after novelties or new things, rather than wholesome doctrine.

9. When you are so little prepared for the solemn assemblies, that they come before you think of them, or long for them.

10. When you come to the assembly more for fear of the brethren's eye, than Christ’s omniscient and all-piercing eye.

11. When you will rather betray the name of Christ Jesus and the credit of his gospel by your silence, than appear for it to your own suffering and disparagement.

12. When, at a small offence, you are usually so impatient that you commit great sin.

13. When you are more careful to get the words of Christ’s people than the spirit of Christ’s people,the form than the power.

14. When you are not much troubled at your own miscarriages, while they are kept from public view.

15. When you love least those Christians that deal most faithfully with you, in showing you your faults and pointing you to the remedy.

16. When you pray more that afflictions may be removed than sanctified.

17. When under God's calamity you find neither the need nor the benefit of humbling yourself by fasting and prayer.

18. When the thought of your bosom-lust, or any other sin, is more prevalent with you than pleasing God.

19. When you are curious about the lesser matters of God's law, and careless about the weightier.

20. When the Holy Spirit’s help to the great work of mortification seems not of absolute necessity to you.

21. When you are so ignorant of your spiritual standing that you know not whether you grow or decay.

22. When great sins seem smaller, and small sins seem none at all.

23. When a watchful care of a godly life and a Christian conversation is more accidental than habitual.

24. When care for your body is usually most pleasant, and care for your soul usually most irksome.

25. When you are much a stranger to the practical part of meditation on the word and works of God.

26. When the thoughts of a dying Jesus for your sins little dissuade you from an unchristian conversation.

27. When you can commit sin without pain, and reflect upon it with indifference.

28. When you find greater satisfaction in the company of the world than with the people of God.

George Burder (June 5, 1752—May 29, 1832)

Follow Me

John 10:27


We should follow our Lord as unhesitatingly as sheep follow their shepherd, for He has a right to lead us wherever He pleases. We are not our own, we are bought with a price-let us recognize the rights of the redeeming blood. The soldier follows his captain, the servant obeys his master, and so we must follow our Redeemer, to whom we are a purchased possession. We are not true to our profession of being Christians if we question the summons of our Leader and Commander. Submission is our duty; quibbling is our folly. Our Lord may say to us what he said to Peter, “What is that to you? You follow me!” Wherever Jesus may lead us, He goes before us. If we do not know where we go, we know with whom we go. With such a companion, who will dread the dangers of the journey? The road may be long, but his everlasting arms will carry us to the end. The presence of Jesus is the assurance of eternal salvation; because He lives, we will live also. We should follow Christ in simplicity and faith, because the paths in which He leads us all end in glory and immortality. It is true that they may not be smooth paths-they may be covered with sharp, flinty trials; but they lead to “the city that has foundations, whose designer and maker is God.” All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to those who keep his covenant. Let us put our complete trust in our Leader, since we know that in prosperity or adversity, sickness or health, popularity or contempt, His purpose will be worked out, and that purpose will be clear, unmingled good to every heir of mercy. We will find it sweet to go up the bleak side of the hill with Christ’ and when rain and snow blow into our faces, His dear love will make us far more blessed than those who sit at home and warm their hands at the world’s fire. When Jesus draws us, we will run after Him. No matter where He leads us, we follow the Shepherd.

Charles Spurgeon

Is God responsible for evil?

There is only one God, the true and the living God and He is Sovereign over all creation and He does fore-ordained whatever comes to pass. He is in control over every aspect of His creation. If a missionary is tortured and killed by wicked men, God did ordain it.

So is it wrong that God ordained for His saints to be cruelly tortured and killed for the gospel? Is it wrong for God to send a missionary to Peru to be martyred for the sake of the gospel? If God ordained these wicked and evil events, is God responsible for evil and wicked men doing wicked things? No. Man’s nature is depraved because of his own sin and he by his sinful nature loves the darkness, loves sin, loves selfishness, loves violence, and is a slave to it all. Because of his own willing sin, man is a slave to sin and a slave to their father the devil. The wicked man wants to kill but God, by His common grace, restrains evil in the world.

Think of it like this: If a man puts to rabid, stray dogs in a kennel and then throws one bone in the kennel, what will happen? Each vile, wretched dog will try to kill the other for the bone that it coveted. The same thing would happen if the same mad put a lion in a cage and then put a lamb in the cage with it. The lion, by nature, would devour the lamb. So, did the man who put the dogs together or the lion and lamb together responsible for their wickedness. By no means. The dogs and the lion have always wanted to kill, by their nature. The only reason they never killed before is because they lacked opportunity. The man who put the animals together never made them devour each other but the man did ordain that they would devour each other. The man always knew the wicked intentions of the dogs but restrained them in the past but now choose to leave them to their own wickedness.

It is the same way with God. God may ordain to do a might work in a man of God. He send the man and the man fulfills the will of God and God works through him. The entire time, God is restraining evil and wicked men from destroying this man of God. Then, when the saint’s work is done and it is time to bring him home, God releases his hold on the wicked men and the wicked men devour. In this, God is glorified and He uses the deeds of these wicked men for His glory and does many wonderful things from it. In fact, the church of Jesus Christ is built on the blood of the martyrs.

So God is not responsible for the wicked man’s actions but has ordained it for His glory. God just removed his restraint of the wicked man. God is not responsible for evil, man is. The only reason there is any peace on earth is because of God’s restraining grace on mankind. Thanks be to God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Signs of a Living or Growing Christian

THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL FLOURISH LIKE THE PALMTREE;
HE SHALL GROW LIKE A CEDAR IN LEBANON."
PSA. 92:12

1. WHEN your chief delight is with the saints, especially them that excel in virtue. Psa. 16:3.

2. When the smitings of the righteous are not a burden to you, and you can hear of your faults with affectionate attention. Psa. 141:5.

3. When reproach for Christ makes you not ashamed of Christ. Mark 8:38; Heb. 11:26.

4. When wandering thoughts, in time of duty, find less entertainment than formerly. Psa. 139:23; 1 Cor. 13:11.

5. When length of standing in the profession of Christianity, works increase of hatred to all sin. Psa. 119:104-113.

6. When you carry about with you a constant jealousy over your own heart, that it turn not aside from God and goodness. Prov. 18:14.

7. When every known mercy begets new thankfulness, and that with delight. Psa. 145:2.

8. When known calamity in God's house begets deep sorrow in your heart. Neh. 1:4.

9. When, under deep distress or languishing, the word of God is precious to you. Psa. 119:92.

10. When any condition in the world, though in itself mean, as it comes from God is most welcome. Job 1:21; Hab. 3:17,18.

11. When your chief care, to avoid all sin, is as truly occasioned through fear of dishonoring God and
incurring his present displeasure, as of the wrath to come. Neh. 5:15; Gen. 39:9.

12. When every company is burdensome to you, that is not designing your Father's glory, but derogating
there from. Psa. 120:5; 2 Peter 2:7,8.

13. When the sins of others come so near your heart that you walk sadly to see such persons transgress
God's commandments. Psa. 119:136.

14. When the company of the pious poor is preferred to that of the ungodly rich.

15. When it is truly painful to you to see sinners going heedlessly on in the broad road to ruin.

16. When you are willing to part with all for Christ.

17. When the yoke of self-denial, as imposed by Christ Jesus, is not grievous, but pleasant to you.
Matt. 11:29,30 ; Mark 10:28.

18. When increase of time in Christ's acquaintance, works increase of delight in communion with Christ.
Psalm 92:12-14.

19. When the majesty of the great God, considering how visible you are in his sight, has an awful prevalence upon your heart. Job 31:4.


20. When you are at open war and constant hostility with bosom sin, as displeasing to God, and forbidden by his law. Psa. 18:23.

21. When you have a thirsting desire to get the power of godliness in your heart, rather than the form of
godliness in the head, or outward profession. 2 Cor. 1:12.

22. When the worship of God, agreeable to his word, is highly prized and faithfully practiced in the worst of times. Mal. 3:14-16.

23. When the soul is more hungry for the word of God, than the body is for temporal food. Job 23:12; Psa. 119:72,162.

George Burder (June 5, 1752—May 29, 1832)

Video of Muslims stopping Christians from speaking in US

Here we go again.

The Swiders and I met TJ in town Saturday night to hit the streets with the gospel. It seems that we may need to get a new fishing hole because the recurring theme has been people saying that we have already talked to them 3 or 4 times. This was the case with the first group of kids I talked to. I did a card trick for them and two of the kids said they knew me and I had already shared the gospel with them several times. I focused on the other three kids. One was an agnostic the other grew up in church and the middle kid was confused. We went through creation and the law and gospel. The agnostic kid bolted pretty quick but the others stayed and had questions. As we talked and I answered their questions they said they thought about the things of God a lot. I encouraged them to go home and read the gospel of John and see if what I was telling them was true. I told them not to believe me or anyone else before first comparing our words to Scripture. They said they would look into these things. On kid said he liked my approach because I never tried to relate to them, I just spoke plainly to them. I guess someone else came up to them on the street the other night and tried to relate to them by saying that he smoked pot. This "evangelist" that was trying to relate to them obviously had some very bad theology if he thought that by acting like a pagan and showing the pagans that he was no different than them would win their soul to Christ. Only God can save a soul and if God is in it then it will not matter what you look like or how relevant you are. When the Holy Spirit is working in the speaker and the hearer and they see that you genuinely care for their soul, they stop and listen. People who think you have to look like, act like, and be like the wicked kids on the street to witness to them have no understanding of the Sovereignty of God or the means by which God saves people. It drives me crazy. People don't want to see that you are them same as them, their life is messed up and they know it but don't know how to fix it. They need truth and the truth of the Gospel is the only thing that can change anyone.

I next walked into a group of kids and did a card trick and asked a girl what the cross she was wearing meant, as a way to lead into the gospel. Most of the kids then split but two of the 13 year old girls stayed. The one girl said she was a Christian but I had to help her with some answers. The other girl was not a Christian so I focused on her. She said our beliefs can change reality. So if we believed something to be true then it was. I asked her what would happen if we both went to the top of the building to jump from it and I believed in gravity and she didn't. She saw the point. We would both fall, no matter what we believed because truth is what matters not our belief. We talked for a while about the cross and Jesus Christ. They had questions but didn't seem too convicted but you never know. Seeds planted.

The Clown posse?

Well, we had a good night of sharing the gospel on the streets of Helena and we met some weird people and had some good conversations. This pictures is of a band that is apparently called the "insane clown posse". They are a demonically, twisted, wicked band. We met one of their biggest fans. This guy had most of his body tattooed and had piercings in places where you wouldn't think you could pierce, like his neck. His tattoos were of demons all over his face and body. His clothes were all advertising this demonic band. Now the funny thing is, is that he said he was a Christian. Now I don't hold his looks against him if he did all of this demonic stuff when he was a pagan but the sad thing is he loved his look. He said he was saved after an attempt to shoot himself in the head failed. Sounds like he is as bad a shot as my friend Killillay. The clown said that since his salvation his goal in life is to teach everyone that the "Insane clown posse" are actually a Christian band. I asked what was Christian about them and he said they talk about spirits but not Jesus. I started to get into the gospel and he left.

The girl he was talking to was now playing her guitar for us. She was good. Swider, who is an outstanding guitar player, borrowed her guitar and the two of them played for some time which attracted a crowd. This was good because I was able to share the gospel with them as they listened.

Earlier I saw two little 16 year old kids making out in public so I interrupted them and shared the gospel with them. They seemed depressed and said they received the same tract I gave them a few weeks ago. They were lost and not convicted.

I did share the gospel with another guy playing his guitar on the street. He was a Catholic. He was very pleasant and open to talking about the things of God. He was very active in the Catholic church but never knew what it took to get to heaven. I shared the biblical gospel and my testimony and we debated over some of the usual Catholic arguments but he was open. I focused on standing on Scripture alone to guide our beliefs instead of men. By the end, he admitted that he disagreed with the Catholics on some of their teachings and he said that sometimes the priests would say things that contradicted the Bible. It was a good conversation.

Jesus Died - Paul Washer

The 5 Solas Conference

Wolf Creek Baptist Church held it’s annual men’s conference this year on the “5 Solas” of the reformation. Over 40 men from across the state of Montana showed up for the event. Some drove 8 hours from eastern Montana to get here. There were pastors and laymen from Dillon, Helena, Sheridan, Great Falls, Thompson Falls, Clinton and Sidney. Rick Robinson from Clinton Community Church started us off with Soli Deo Gloria. Rick kept everyone’s attention and kept the crowd involved as he taught on the Glory of God.

Scott Doherty preached next on Solo Christo by expounding Colossians chapter 1 verses 13-20 followed by some time for fellowship and dinner. We had good music this year. The group called “Accounted For” came and sang before and after each sermon. The group was composed of Pete Milne, Glenda Milne, Dana Burns and Pete Milne Jr. They did a fantastic job and everyone was well pleased with it. We ate a great dinner of chicken fried steak catered by the 7 R guest ranch where the conference was held.

After dinner Don Jabaay of Green Meadow Christian Reformed Church took the pulpit and preached on Sola Scriptura. He did an excellent job in teaching us about the Scripture through Church History and then challenged all of us to saturate all things with Scripture. One funny part of Don’s sermon was when he was speaking of the heresies that came out of California, he referred to the state as the land of fruits and nuts. Little did Don know that Joseph Moyer was from California.

The last speaker of the night was Joseph Moyer from Westside Baptist church in Great Falls who preached on Sola Fida. Joseph started off by introducing himself as a pastor from the land of fruits and nuts. Everyone was rolling. Joseph preached a powerful sermon that convicted and encouraged many to step out on faith. He said that God will bring us to the edge of a cliff and tell us to jump by faith. If we do it will build our faith as we are obedient to Him and if we don’t then God will kick us off the cliff anyway. Joseph preached into the night to a crowd of men and dogs. It got pitch black. In fact, it was so dark that we couldn’t see Joseph anymore nor could he see us. As he preached we could look up at the stars. God was glorified.
We fellowshipped afterwards into the night and hit the sack. In the morning we met for a big breakfast at 8 am. Mike Hyatt from Calvary Baptist Church in Helena preached to us on Sola Scriptura in the lodge as we sipped coffee. Hyatt was a very captivating speaker and kept our attention as he expounded 2 Timothy chapter 3. Mike emphasized that we must compare all things to the Scriptures alone as opposed to going by feelings.
Rob Jackson of Wolf Creek Baptist Church preached on Sola Gratia from Exodus and Ephesians to end the conference. He spoke of the danger of playing on people’s emotions to convert them when only by the Grace of God can someone be saved. He said that we should rely on God to save men and not our ability to talk them into something. The conference was a great event and all the men were encouraged to be like Sampson’s foxes with their tails on fire. We were to spread out across Montana burning with zeal and truth to proclaim the biblical gospel wherever we were at.

Our Video Journal from the Street

The good person test and evangelism

This may encourage and instruct you on how to share the Law and Gospel with someone.

The Missionaries

Helena County Fair

The great benefit of open-air preaching is that we get so many newcomers to hear the gospel who otherwise would never hear it.

Charles Spurgeon

We rented a booth at the county fair in Helena this year. The purpose was not to promote our church or a denomination(all of us are from different churches and denominations), nor to give something away so the world would be attracted to us, nor to promote ourselves in any way. The purpose of the booth was to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the roof tops so that God may be pleased to use our efforts and His Word to save some.

We were at our booth from Wednesday to Saturday and spent 10 or more hours a day sharing the gospel one to one. The fair board did not put our booth in the best spot outside but God providentially brought hundreds of people to us to hear the gospel. We were kept constantly busy with little down time.

Tim Killillay (aka Killroy) and I were at the booth the whole time. TJ and Swider were also helping most of the days. Peters and his church had a booth in one of the buildings but Peters couldn't resist being outside sharing the gospel with us. It was such a joy having this group of evangelists working together for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
There is no possible way to write about everyone we talked to so I will give a few highlights. We had a sound system and microphones, even a hecklers microphone, for open-air preaching. Swider brought his guitars that he played on occasion. We even rented an ape suit and dressed swider in it with a sign on the front that said "uncle charlie" (after Charles Darwin) and on the back it said "evolution, a fairytale for grownups". We did this to attract a crown and demonstrate the silliness of evolution. It was quite a hit, except for when a girl jumped on the back of our ape and started doing things to him that I can't talk about here. Other than that and a group of kids chasing him around trying to wrestle him, it went well.

We tried to open-air preach but because of our location there was never large groups of people around, just consistent small groups of 3 or 4 throughout the day. I started to gather a crowd through a trivia game for money and gathered about 25 people but a group of about 10 kids ran all the adults off because they were being obnoxious.

So even though we never got to open-air preach we did get to share the gospel with a lost of people. In the four days we were there we sat down and shared the biblical gospel with around 300 people one-on-one and gave out well over 1000 gospel tracts, bibles, and books.We all had our own personal memorable people we talked with but I will just share a few of mine because the guys will be better at telling of theirs.

After the ape ran around for a while everyone was curious. The national guard was across from us and they could take it no longer. A woman finally walked over to our booth and asked, "what's with the monkey". I told her and she said she believed in evolution. We got in a good talk about science and the fairytale of evolution and then into the law and gospel. She was convicted but was trying to hide it. She finally walked off and never came back.
On Thursday morning before the fair officially opened I talked to a disturbed young man in his 20's. He justified his wickedness and proclaimed his own righteousness. He told me, dead serious, about his plan to open a strip club in a 3rd world country to help women feed their families by providing them jobs. Wow. He said he actually believed in God and thought God would be pleased by this. He heard the gospel and I made the holiness of God very clear by the end of our talk.

At the end of Thursday night we were packing up the booth and the game wardens from FWP stopped us. We were very tired but shared the gospel with them and debated them about their ignorance into the night. This seemed providential. Seeds planted.

The first thing on Friday morning we got hammered by people. The first group was a group of Catholic kids. The chief speaker was the alter boy at the Cathedral under O’neil. I took them through the law and they admitted breaking them but said they would be in Purgatory. I told them that Purgatory did not exist. The 12 year old disagreed and the argument began. He actually was well informed and knew much about the Catholic heresy, I mean doctrine. We argued about all kinds of things related to the Catholic church for a while. I told him if he or anyone he could find at the fair could prove Purgatory existed using the Bible then I would give them $10,000. He did all he could to find it but of course couldn’t. He left to find his mom or a priest but they wouldn’t come over. The kid came back to argue some more. Now Swider was getting fired up and chiming in on the conversation so I let Swider have at the kid so it would stir some zeal up in Swider. It worked. I left to witness to someone else but was distracted by their argument. It ended by the kid and Swider yelling across the fairgrounds. Swider challenged the kid to bring back his Catholic army and then ended the conversation by yelling, “I will see you in Purgatory.” Well, it never ended as well as it should have but it gave Swider a zeal for the lost and study. We also had a good time throughout the day as we laughed at Swiders reactions and then we made a song up about the foolishness of Purgatory.
I talked to a man next that God was working in. He actually died twice and was brought back to life by God. Once the doctors removed all life support to let him die. He went flat-lined but, to the surprise of the doctors, came back to life. He knew there was some reason he was alive. I shared the Law and gospel. He was convicted and the gospel made sense to him. I shared my testimony. A light came on and he understood for the first time in His life. He expressed the desire to look into the things of God. He never had a Bible, so I gave him one and encouraged him to start in John. He actually left the fair so he could go home and read the Bible right away.

I was exhausted at the end of the night and then came the Mormon. My flesh was dead so I only could rely on the Spirit (which is great and how it should always be). We argued over all the typical Mormon arguments that I have heard many times. I hear almost nothing new from Mormons any more. We debated into the night for an hour until I finally told him that Christianity and Mormonism were so contradictory that either all the Mormons would be in Heaven or all the Christians would be in Heaven but that we would never see each other after death. This angered him but it is the truth. He kept on insisting that Mormons were Christians. This is the new program for the Mormon church. They are trying to convince the world that Mormonism is just another branch of Christianity instead of the cult that it actually is.

On Saturday Morning they had a parade for the fair and there were thousands of people there. We gave out 400 gospel tracts in 45 minutes. I tried to witness to a guy playing a guitar on the street but he rejected the gospel and then started singing at the top of his lung some song about hating preachers and the Bible. I considered it an honor.

I did get to witness to two Peruvians and the Peruvian guy’s wife, who believed all kinds of weird Indian stuff and hated the Bible.

God providentially brought a man to me with a question. I took him through the Law and gospel but he said he couldn’t accept it because he had struggled with a question for 20 years. He said 20 years ago he took a religious class which confused his thinking about God. He asked me if God was good. I said yes. He then asked me what evil was. I told him that evil was the absence of good in the same way darkness was the absence of light. He then told me the question that he said no one could answer for 20 years. It was a question I have actually heard countless times. He asked, “If God is good then why did He create us knowing that we would be evil and why does He allow evil on the earth?” I explained sin and God’s desire to show His attribute of un-conditional love by sending His Son to save lost, wretched, God-hating sinners. I explained it over and over until all of a sudden a light came on. The spirit of God had opened his eyes. He said that he now understood and that his 20 year old question had been answered. He fought to hold back tears and said he understood finally and wanted to seek God. I told him to start in the gospel of John and told him about Hyatt’s church. Praise God!!!

I talked with 3 rugby players I assumed would never listen but to my surprise two of them were brought under heavy conviction and we talked for a while.

I talked with a cowboy who went to church at Journey church in Bozeman. He got all of his theology from the book “the Shack”. Wow was he messed up. He said what he loved about his church and the book was that they say that all religions go to heaven in their own way. He said he goes to his church because they believe what suits him. He said he just likes to believe what makes him feel good and discount the rest.

I talked with a Catholic Sheriff that was on duty. We got into a big debate over Catholic heresy, I mean doctrine. He said that if a person never heard of Jesus then they could get to heaven and that repenting and confessing Christ as Lord is only one small part in salvation. He said you had to do many works after that to gain salvation. Our argument got heated. He got in my face and was very angry. I encouraged him to actually study instead of believing every lie from the Catholic church. He got very offended because he said I offended his religion and that I was supposed to accept his views as equal. What a pagan. I thought I might get arrested for some made up reason but God delivered.

At the end of our last night God brought a demonic kid who said he was a druggy and had contact with demons. I talked with him for a long time and shared the law and gospel with him. He said he liked Buddhism better because it felt good. I told him He would be in Hell without Christ one second after he died. He left. Someone said they saw him screaming at himself for a long time. He talked to his pagan uncle and came back to the booth with a letter. He told me his uncle had a question for me. He gave the typical illogical question I have heard before. It is an un-answerable question that skeptics always use and can be applied to anything. Similar to the question, “can God create a rock he can’t lift”. It is an illogical question and I explained this to him. He left angry. We saw him come back to our booth several times that night carrying his paper. Something demonic was going on with him. He was having a war with something that was in him.

What a great, exhausting, God-glorifying, satisfying, exciting, privilege of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ this week. We praise God for everything He did and what He will do behind the scenes that we will never know until heaven. All the glory goes to God.

Amazing Foreign Missions story

Friday night sowing

Killillay and I hit the streets Friday for a night of sharing the gospel. I first talked with a couple homeless guys that heard it all before. One guy like to talk a lot so we talked for quite a while. They were both lost but heard the Gospel. I gave one guy a gospel of John and he said he would read it. I think this is the same drunk that usually heckles us downtown. He was sober now so I think he never recognized us, but when he is drunk he always disrupts us.

We talked to a girl and guy in their teens that were Catholics. They were like I was before God saved me. They were ignorant about almost all things in Scripture, proclaimed their own righteousness, and defended the Catholic church for no apparent reason other than tradition. We argued over the order of the 10 commandments because the Catholic church actually changed them, if you can believe that. Then removed completely the 2nd commandment which is don't worship graven images (which they do) and then to keep the number of commandments at 10 they split the last commandment in two. The guy actually said he was depending on the Catholic church to get him into heaven. Wow! He heard the actual gospel but was hardened.

We gave out tracts for a while and then Killillay talked with a couple kids at Womens park. It seemed to go OK. We then moved up Hill park and Killillay tried to give some people tracts when all of a sudden we heard a group of people screaming across the park telling the people not to take tracts from us. Hill park is where all the street kids hang out and they heard the gospel so much from us that they see us coming a mile away and resist us. The people did take the tracts though.

I ran into a man from Gonzaga university next. We had a great talk. He was lost but open. We went through the whole law and gospel and talked for a long time. He was convicted and interested in the gospel. Seed planted.

We moved up to the walking mall and we started talking to a couple of adults and their 19 year old daughter who they just picked up from college in Denver. This was providence because the parents were Christians and the daughter was a typical false convert with an attitude and the whole trip from Denver to Helena the girl and her parents argued about the things of God. I took her through the law and she was convicted. I explained the gospel but she blew it off in a way. I answered her questions and squashed her little arguments and then explained the evidence of regeneration and suggested that she examine herself to see if she was in the faith. I think she realized that she was never saved in the first place. At first she was loud and obnoxious but now was humble and quiet. Her parents loved it and thanked me for talked with them because this must have re-affirmed what they were telling her. Providence.

Killillay talked with a guy that turned out to be a Christian and sound in doctrine and then we met TJ. I gave an atheist test tract to a guy in a car that had a sticker in his window that said he was an atheist. I think he had drugs in his car. I don't know a whole lot about drugs but I am guessing what I saw were some kind of drugs.

We ran into the crazy guy that says he is a Messianic Jew again. This time he had his Bible and some other people with him. TJ shared the gospel with one of them that was loud and resistant.
We moved to the ice cream shop and I did a card trick for a large group of kids and then shared the gospel. Unfortunately from the outside they were more excited about the tricks than the gospel. Seeds planted. It was a good night for sharing the gospel on the streets. Many seeds were planted in the form of gospel tracts and conversations so now we step back and let God bring the increase because only He can.