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.

Wednesday night pics

My friend Killillay is here for two weeks to share the gospel on the street with us and open-air preach at the fair next week. Killillay, Swider, and I met TJ downtown to share the gospel. There were so many people out last night and we were able, by God's grace to share the gospel with around 50 people one to one and give out 100's of gospel tracts. I don't have the time or space to tell about all of our experiences last night but I put some pictures to show you some of the people we talked to and to get an idea of the atmosphere. Our group witnessed to atheists, people who knew the truth but hated Jesus, evolutionists that were offended that we said they never came from a monkey, a couple homosexuals, skaters, Mormons, Chistains, people who thought they were Christians but were not,rockers, old men and little kids and a variety of others. Here are some pics.

Un trabajo de Dios (A work of God)

Jeremy Roberts and I met Peters and Kenny in town for a late night of sharing the gospel in downtown Helena. We would later meet TJ at about 8pm. We started in Hill park where I shared the gospel with 4 kids and a few more standing by. We joked when we were walking up to this group of kids because one kid had a huge knife and was throwing it at a tree trying to stick it in to it. Peters said he would probably throw it at him when he was running and stick him in the butt. I told peter that the kid throwing the knife hadn't stuck it in the tree yet because he was such a bad knife thrower so there was a good chance the sharp part wouldn't hit him. We all laughed and jumped into the middle of the group. I did a magic trick and went into the law. They all admitted breaking the laws of God but he just didn't care. The girl was raised in a Christian home and had a biblical view of Hell and she even said the Bible was the most accurate book in History. The only bad thing is, she hated Christ and rejected the gospel and embraced reincarnation because it suited her. Seeds planted so we moved on.

We hit the walking mall and I shared the gospel with a couple guy's in their 20's. They were both evolutionists but believed that there was a god of some sort out there. We debated over all kinds of things for a while but I brought it back to the law and gospel. I explained the cross and it seemed like they are listening and it gave them something to think about. It was a good conversation for almost a half hour.

We met up with TJ and ran into an angry man who we gave a tract to earlier. He was looking for a fight. He asked us what church we were with and we told him. It turned out that he said he was a "christian" but hated all organized religion and the government and just about everything else. He was in his late 50's or early 60's and had his wife with him. He was the perfect heckler though because he was loud, angry and yelling but really had not logical argument for his beliefs and they were easily shot down. He said he was against all wars and killing of anything even trees and animals. He almost blew his top at the government so I brought the subject back to the gospel. He also said the New Testament wasn't the Bible, which was odd since he said he had Christ, I wonder where he heard about Him. He railed on for a half hour and when he started saying really messed up stuff I would stir him up a little to show him how illogical his views where. God providentially worked this out though. The real reason we were here was to share the gospel with his wife and another guy that came and sat down when he heard the angry man railing. While I had the angry man railing, Kenny went over to his wife and the guy and explained the gospel. They were very open and listened intently. Praise God. The guy eventually ran out of arguments because they were all shot down so he started acting even more like a 3rd grader and stormed off to pout in the corner. Seeds planted

TJ, during this whole debate, stopped a guy on the street and was sharing the gospel with him. This guy was wide open to talking but went on and on about new age philosophies and metaphysical states. TJ actually ended up talking with him for 2 hours. We moved down the street and sat on a bench to wait for him.

When waiting God brought us a whole bunch of people to witness to. We talked to a man from Kenya and his girlfriend who turned out to be Christians. We talked to an old drunk guy but shooed him off because he was drunk. I shared the law and gospel with a group of 7 people for about 15 minutes. Not much conviction but they heard the truth.

The last group was are best conversation. A guy that was 20 and 2 girls younger than he that we gave tracts to earlier and were laughing at them came back. I started asking them random trivia questions and then asked them what they think it takes to get to heaven. On girl was a staunch Catholic but didn't know why. She believed in purgatory and said she was going there when she died. I told her that Purgatory didn't exist and that the Roman Catholics made it up. She got fired up and said she was going to teach us a thing or two. I told her she was welcome to as long as she started with a Bible verse that speaks of Purgatory. She, of course, couldn't so she shut up the rest of the night and listened. The guy thought there was no spirit and that when your dead then your dead. The girl stopped believing there is a God because her friend died when she was 17. I took them through the law and explained the gospel and we talked about many things. There attitudes went from mocking and laughing at the beginning to now a sober, serious, question asking attitude. The conversation got very deep. We shared our testimonies and now they all were sitting down on the pavement and we were basically having a Bible study and explaining to them all about Jesus Christ and the atonement. It was very humbling to see God breaking them down right in front of us. The girl who lost her friend said she knew her friend that died rejected Christ and asked where she is now and I told her that if her friend rejected Christ then she is in Hell for her sin. It may sound harsh but it is the truth and I said it in love. The girl, now about in tears, looked at me and actually understood. She never objected but understood. I told her that she should focus on her eternity and that as long as she has breath in her body she has hope in Christ. We told her of the love and Sovereignty of God. They were very thankful for the talk and said they were going to look into the Bible. Praise God. Que un día glorioso por proclamando el evangelion de Jesús Cristo.

Expositional Preaching - shai linne

This is a rap song by a guy named shai linne, who is a reformed theologian. This song has more theology in it than 100% of the songs you will hear on K-love. I don't really like rap but I like this because of the lyrics and the focus on Christ and expository preaching. It is surprisingly good.

Alive @ five......again

This is the Alive at 5 street party getting set up.

Jeremy S. and I went to the streets again to share the gospel. What an immense privilege to be able to take the greatest news ever told to a dying people. I thank God for the privilege to go and for the fact that He has ordained to save His people through the means of preaching His Word by us lowly men.

There was, again, a good crowd of people out for the party. We first talked with a group of kids who were all Atheists except one proclaimed he was a Christian but after about 15 seconds we found out he wasn't. They liked the card trick I did and Jeremy's T-shirt and thought we were pretty cool, that is until I brought up the name of Christ and then their attitude changed. I took them through the Law and Gospel, they argued a little, said they could care less if they went to Hell, questioned our motivations and the authority of the Bible, and threw out a few lame objections that an eight year old boy could throw down. Seeds planted.

Next, I started a great conversation with a man from Costa Rica but right when I was about to get into the gospel his kid came up to him and they had to go.

Same situation happened again. I met a kid that lived in Belize, Central America for a while. We had a good talk about it and I asked his religion and he said some kind of Indian religion and they his friends came and he left.

We moved down town and found a man smoking outside a bar so I did a trick and asked a few questions. He said he was an atheist and would never change. His friend came out of the bar so I gave them both tracts and I gave the atheist the "atheist test" tract and they went back inside.

The next conversation was typical of half the kids in Helena except this guy I was talking to was in his 20's. After the small talk I was taking him through the commandments and he gladly admitted to lusting and said that is why he came to Alive at 5 and plans to continue it. I asked if he ever used the Lord's name in vain and then he proceeded to use the name Jesus as a cuss word in conjunction with every other cuss word. He wove a line of blasphemy that would blush a sailor. I can only image the angles of God looking at this man and they looking a God, just waiting for the permission to slaughter this man where he stood in the blink of an eye. How merciful and patient is God. His buddies drove up and he jumped in with them and they mocked us from the car saying, "hail Jesus".

We talked to a girl that was trying to get people to sign a petition to get better bus service in Helena. I didn't want to talk with her but it turned out it was the best conversation of the night. She was convicted and searching and Jeremy and I talked with her for a while about the gospel. She had some questions which I answered and it seemed like she was genuinely interested and said she would look into the things we said.

We talked to a few more people and were heading out when we ran into the Messianic Jew, at least that was his claim. We talked for a long time with this guy and the more we talked the more we were confused. He had some crazy beliefs and couldn't explain the gospel or what it takes to be made right with God. Some of the weird things this guy said were:
1. we shouldn't focus on the gospel
2. Syria was going to be hit with a nuke from Israel on September 20th, 2010
3. Aliens are real and he worked on one of their space ships.

It was a good night for the gospel. We faced some of the standard mocking from people that were too dumb to actually argue with logic but we are used to this and expect it because Jesus said:

"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
(John 15:18-21)