Pachamama

Last Sunday at the Cannes Film Festival, we met Efrain. He is a native indian from the north of Ecuador that immigrated to Spain and was performing in the streets of Cannes, together with other indigenous people; showing their music, costumes and culture.

Efrain, like the rest of them, believe in Pachamama (also called “mother earth”) which is basically the nature. They worship the creation and not the Creator. He graciously agreed to be interviewed on camera and the gospel was proclaimed.

Please pay attention to his facial expressions as you watch this clip; and please keep him in prayer.

Paper Missionaries

Paper Missionaries and Silent Preachers: The Value of Gospel Tracts
By: Mona Leiter
www.lakeroadchapel.org

“What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” -Mark 8:36

“Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father, but through Me.”” -John 14:6

These, and many other portions of truth from the Bible, are the message we are seeking to proclaim to the lost world around us. We communicate these life-giving truths to people by our words and by our actions. The words of men are weak and changeable, but the Word of God is powerful and lasts forever.

How can we best communicate the message of the Glorious Gospel to those around us, especially to those with whom we only come in contact briefly? The God-ordained method of proclaiming the truth of the Scriptures is preaching (1 Corinthians 1:21). Preaching would normally be in the form of a gathering of people, a Bible study, or in a conversation with someone. Tracts should help us to share words of life and truth with the lost people around us. Most of the lost world that we are seeking to reach will never enter a church building to hear the truth proclaimed through preaching from a pulpit. So, we must go to the people with the precious seed of the Gospel!

Gospel tracts, sometimes referred to as « Paper Missionaries » or « Silent Preachers », are very useful to start a conversation about God and eternity and plant a seed of the Gospel. There have been untold millions who have been reached by the message of the Gospel through this method. In my own life I discovered a gospel tract on the ground in the subway system in one of the major cities on the east coast. That gospel tract was one of many things God used to work in my life and to draw me to Himself.

A good gospel tract contains portions of Scripture and an exhortation to the reader to turn to God. The purpose of gospel tracts is not to entertain people but to stir their spirits and challenge their intellect. A tract should not give the wrong message concerning what true Christianity is all about. After all, no one can be tricked into becoming a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. The « new birth » is not signing your name at the end of a gospel tract or a Bible. The goal of every good gospel tract is to show the readers their need of a Savior and to point them to Christ, because one day we will all stand before a Holy God.

If we are truly burdened for those around us, then we will look for ways to reach them for Christ. It is important to be ready to share the gospel any time we are in contact with people, one-on-one or in a group. Since we are planting the seed of the gospel, we may not see many visible results immediately, but we can be certain that God is at work even when we are not aware of it or cannot actually see what He is doing in lives. Gospel tracts are a very good tool to reach students on a university campus, people at a bus stop, walking in the streets, at the bakery, cinema, newsstand, a park, beach, etc. People may read the gospel tracts at the time they receive them or sometimes even much later.

It is good to be reminded that the « Paper Missionaries » or « Silent Preachers » can go on speaking to people long after we have no further contact with them. Even if they are thrown away, someone may later pick them up and read them. The Apostle Paul said, « I might by any means save some. » If Paul had access to the printed page as we do, we can be sure that he would carry his convictions to the full. We should all carry gospel tracts with us everywhere we go and open our eyes to hundreds of opportunities before us, to either give them to an individual or simply leave them behind (phone booth, elevator, bus seat, etc.).

We are called to go and share the good news of forgiveness of sins and eternal life with those around us. It is very easy to distribute Gospel tracts; they are very effective in starting a conversation that leads into the full gospel message. We should use tracts constant and frequently… just because God can use them in lives.

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

If you would be interested in a free sample of good gospel tracts contact us
at: www.lakeroadchapel.org

—-Footnote:

For a summary of what true Christianity is all about order copies of the excellent little booklet entitled by John Blanchard (almost 15 million copies in print in approximately 40 languages) from Cumberland Valley Bible & Book Service: www.cvbbs.com phone: 800-656-0231

Online version:
http://www.the-highway.com/ultimate_questions.html

Open-Air Preaching

On Easter Sunday, God kindly blessed us by allowing us to publicly proclaim the gospel in the city of Nice, France.

We were terrified before we started, and that was very good, since it pushed us to fervent prayer and complete reliance in God. We wanted to get out of our comfort zone and publicly proclaim the good news of the gospel, but we couldn’t do it on our own.

French isn’t our mother tongue, so we knew there would be some accent and grammar mistakes in our preaching, but the importance wasn’t in our speech or wisdom but in the message itself. The power is in the gospel.

God was so gracious that he brought to us a larger crowd than we expected, the rain was held until we finished our first session; then the rain poured down and we moved under a roof. It was really amazing because as soon as the gospel was totally preached and the crowd encouraged to ponder the things they’ve heard, drops started to fall and then… rain.

For the next hour or so, we preached under a roof and even if there wasn’t a constant crowd, people passing by would stop and listen for a while. A group of brothers and sisters were very active passing out Easter pouches, that included a tiny gospel, the good person cartoon tract and a business card tract. They also had a few conversations will people hanging around the crowd.

God blessed us so much.

We didn’t see anyone falling on their knees and crying out in repentance to our Lord Jesus… no, we didn’t. But we were obedient in preaching the everlasting gospel to a dying world.

If you feel you aren’t ready to Open-Air preach, you can still take one step out of your comfort zone. Give out one tract, two, try to have a conversation with a stranger. Talk to telemarketers, leave a tract on a phone booth, go to online chats and preach, etc.

People around us are dying without Jesus, we must tell them!  Be obedient. Don’t quit.

For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.
– Acts 4:20

Young Man

I  met J at an enormous Christian bookstore while my wife was shopping for homeschooling resources.

This young man was looking around, searching on the bookshelves and after a couple of times I saw him I asked what he was looking for. He say, “I’m looking for something from Ray Comfort.”

I told him I wasnt familiar with the store so I didnt know where to find him but I took out a Presidential Million Dollar Tract and gave it to him, “I guess you are familiar with this, then.” He smiled and said that he was, that he had watched everything available on the Way of the Master and that his Pastor is committed to Biblical Evangelism. His Pastor, in fact, was up in Vancouver witnessing at the Olympics.

We had a short but nice conversation. His mom and step-dad aren’t Christians, but his father is. I just encouraged him to keep it up and share the gospel with everyone around. I gave him a bunch of tracts so he can carry them with him.

It was very nice to meet a very young man, searching for books on Biblical Evangelism, rather than Twilight or New Moon.

Please pray for J and his generation, that the Lord will use them as workers for his harvest that is already ready.

Normal Citizen?

I went out with group of 14 evangelist to preach the gospel at the NBA All-Star Saturday in Dallas, Tx. It was cold and windy, two days after the record snowfall in Dallas.

Some brothers stood in one corner, preaching to the crowds as they walked and crossed the street. Others all around were handing out tracts and trying to engage in conversations with the basketball fans. The rest of the group were spread out in the other doors to the American Airlines Center

Hundreds of people got a tract and heard the law and the gospel from the amplifier across the street. It went very well for about two hours.

Then, a group of 3 people in security uniforms approached and told me that it was prohibited to hand any kind of literature, because of the event. In fact, it was forbidden throughout the downtown area. They said that the NBA specifically told them to stop us. The lady in the group, Maria, told me that they were warning me and that next time they would issue a ticket and I would have to appear before the Judge.

Every argument that I used (freedom of speech, public property, no soliciting, etc) was useless. Even though they were friendly, they were very direct and serious in their orders.

“Why can’t you be just a normal citizen,” Maria the officer said, “you know, come here and enjoy the event instead of doing this.”

Normal citizen? Like those teenagers drinking as much beer as they can before the game? Or normal citizen like that group of girls wearing a super short skirt in a cold evening to a basketball game? Or maybe normal citizen like that rich man all in gold, coming to a game with his lover? Normal citizen, you mean like sin-lover-God-hater? Oh, maybe she meant normal citizen like the church-goer that sits comfortable in his sofa watching an NBA game, never moving a finger to reach out the people around him? Normal citizen like those trapped in pornography and drugs? Or just normal, those that never mention Jesus and get upset when they hear His name?

Afterwards, those 3 officers crossed the street to talk to my dear brother-in-Christ, Carl. They basically told him the same thing and he didn’t succeed with his arguments against them neither.

So we stopped passing out tracts.

But conversations kept coming, as well as hundreds of more people listening to a clear gospel presentation from the open-air preacher, another brother standing with a sign and a few others reading the Word out loud.

We praise God for what we were and weren’t able to accomplish today. We pray and invite you to join us in prayer because tomorrow, we head out to the Cowboy Stadium where the big NBA game will take place.

I praise God also, because I am not a normal citizen.

For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

– Philippians 3:18-21

Encouragement

A couple of days ago, I shared the law and the gospel with a lady in a clothing store, while my wife tried a dress on. Our conversation lasted about 5 minutes but the consequences have remained until now. And I pray they will continue for eternity…

This post is a word of encouragement, so that you share the true gospel with people around you, in every and all occasions. Just plant the seed, then pray.

The lovely lady I witnesses to, met somebody else that I know and she told this person about our 5 minutes encounter:

She said that before talking with me, she was very sure that she was gonna go to heaven because she was a good person and because of her good church (Evangelical-Christian) going history.

But that our conversation impacted her so much that she realized she wasn’t as good as she thought and in fact not everybody who thinks will go to heaven, will actually go there. She said, with goosebumps in her arms, that her eyes had been opened to true salvation!

She grasped the true gospel.

She said that she hasn’t stopped thinking about our conversation since then!

She also said that nobody, in her more than 50 years of age, had shared the gospel like that and that Christians should share the same message with others.

Please continue keeping her in your prayers.

Go, share the everlasting gospel with someone today.

WDJD

What did Jesus Do?

If we want to follow in the steps of Jesus, we should consider this model from his encounter with the woman at the well. Jesus started a normal conversation to shortly take it to spiritual things. Then, Jesus exposed the woman to her sin (broken the 7th commandment) to humble her and show her need of a Savior.

We should share God’s grace only when the person’s heart is humble, to take him there, we must use God’s Law.

Law to the proud and Grace to the humble.

Consider the following model and please watch the clip in the end…

(From the “Way of the Master” Basic Training Course, available at LivingWaters.com)

• •Start in the natural.

Start a conversation with everyday things. “Hi, how are you?” “Nice weather we’re having.”

• •Swing to the Spiritual.

Move the conversation from the natural to the spiritual. Mention the things of God. You can do this by using tracts and saying, “Did you get one of these? It’s a gospel tract.” Then you can ask if they have a Christian upbringing.

• •Then move into WDJD.

  W	Would you consider yourself to be a good person? Most people think they are good and will usually say yes (Proverbs 20:6). They often think that compared with others they are good.
  D	Do you think you have kept the Ten Commandments? Again most people would say yes. Many people don’t even know what the ten commandments are. You can then ask them if they mind if you ask them a few questions to find out whether they have or not.
  J	If God were to judge you by the Ten Commandments do you think you would be innocent or guilty? As the person begins to measure themselves up against the Ten Commandments their conscience soon begins to convict them of their sin. The law becomes a school master opening their eyes to their sin. Many will say that they are guilty. They are at a point of humility and ready for grace and the gospel. Others will continue to say that they are innocent. They are still proud in their heart and you may need to continue with the law until they recognise their transgression of the law.
  D	Do you think you would go to Heaven or Hell? (Destiny) Most people, who recognise their sin, will think that they would go to Hell if judged today. Others will think that God is a forgiving God so will let them into Heaven. Then you may have to show them an example from the civil courts to help them understand how a good judge cannot let a criminal off even if he does ask for forgiveness. The punishment has to be paid by someone.

  Only when they have accepted their need can you then bring them the Gospel. If they are still protesting their righteousness before God they still need to hear the Law.

  The Gospel can be shared simply by remembering.

  • •Their need (sin – transgression of the Law).

    •Jesus (The real Jesus – God and man Eternal and holy).

    •The Cross (Jesus dying in their place taking their punishment).

    •The justice of God forgiving you now that the sin has been paid for in Jesus.

    •There need to repent and put faith in Jesus.

DO NOT invite Jesus

The music weeps, the preacher pleads, “Give your heart to Jesus. You have a God shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it.” Dozens, hundreds or thousands of people who want to get their spiritual life on track make their way to the altar. They ask Jesus into their heart.

Cut to three months later. Nobody has seen our new convert in church. The follow up committee calls him and encourages him to attend a Bible study, but to no avail. We label him a backslider and get ready for the next outreach event.

Our beloved child lies in her snuggly warm bed and says, “Yes, Daddy. I want to ask Jesus into my heart.” You lead her in “the prayer” and hope that it sticks. You spend the next ten years questioning if she really, really meant it. Puberty hits and the answer reveals itself. She backslides. We spend the next ten years praying that she will come to her senses.

Telling someone to ask Jesus into their hearts has a very typical result, backsliding. the Bible says that a person who is soundly saved puts his hand to the plow and does not look back because he is fit for service. In other words, a true convert cannot backslide. If a person backslides, he never slid forward in the first place. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (II Cor.5) No backsliding there.

Brace yourself for this one: with very few if any exceptions, anyone who asked Jesus into their hearts to be saved…is not. If you asked Jesus into your heart because you were told that is what you have to do to become a Christian, you were mis-informed.

If you have ever told someone to ask Jesus into their heart (like I have), you produced a false convert. Here is why.

1. It is not in the Bible.

There is not a single verse that even hints we should say a prayer inviting Jesus into our hearts. Some use Rev. 3:20. To tell us that Jesus is standing at the door of our hearts begging to come in.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” There are two reasons that interpretation is wrong.

The context tells us that the door Jesus is knocking on is the door of the church, not the human heart. Jesus is not knocking to enter someone’s heart but to have fellowship with His church.

Even if the context didn’t tell us this, we would be forcing a meaning into the text (eisegesis). How do we know it is our heart he is knocking at? Why not our car door? How do we know he isn’t knocking on our foot? To suggest that he is knocking on the door of our heart is superimposing a meaning on the text that simply does not exist.

The Bible does not instruct us to ask Jesus into our heart. This alone should resolve the issue, nevertheless, here are nine more reasons.

2. Asking Jesus into your heart is a saying that makes no sense.

What does it mean to ask Jesus into your heart? If I say the right incantation will He somehow enter my heart? Is it literal? Does He reside in the upper or lower ventricle? Is this a metaphysical experience? Is it figurative? If it is, what exactly does it mean? While I am certain that most adults cannot articulate its meaning, I am certain that no child can explain it. Pastor Dennis Rokser reminds us that little children think literally and can easily be confused (or frightened) at the prospect of asking Jesus into their heart.

3. In order to be saved, a man must repent (Acts 2:38).Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of repentance.

4. In order to be saved, a man must trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31). Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of faith.

5. The person who wrongly believes they are saved will have a false sense of security. Millions of people who sincerely, but wrongly, asked Jesus into their hearts think they are saved but struggle to feel secure. They live in doubt and fear because they do not have the Holy Spirit giving them assurance of salvation.

6. The person who asks Jesus into his heart will likely end up inoculated, bitter and backslidden. Because he did not get saved by reciting a formulaic prayer, he will grow disillusioned with Jesus, the Bible, church and fellow believers. His latter end will be worse than the first.

7. It presents God as a beggar just hoping you will let Him into your busy life. This presentation of God robs Him of His sovereignty.

8. The cause of Christ is ridiculed. Visit an atheist web-site and read the pagans who scoff, “How dare those Christians tell us how to live when they get divorced more than we do? Who are they to say homosexuals shouldn’t adopt kids when tens of thousands of orphans don’t get adopted by Christians?” Born again believers adopt kids and don’t get divorced.

People who ask Jesus into their hearts do. Jesus gets mocked when false converts give Him a bad name.

9. The cause of evangelism is hindered. While it is certainly easier to get church members by telling them to ask Jesus into their hearts, try pleading with someone to make today the day of their salvation. Get ready for a painful response. “Why should I become a Christian when I have seen so called Christians act worse than a pagan?” People who ask Jesus into their hearts give pagans an excuse for not repenting.

10. Here is the scary one. People who ask Jesus into their hearts are not saved and they will perish on the Day of Judgment. How tragic that millions of people think they are right with God when they are not. How many people who will cry out, “Lord, Lord” on judgment day will be “Christians” who asked Jesus into their hearts?

So, what must one do to be saved? Repent and trust. (Heb.6:1) The Bible makes it clear that all men must repent and place their trust in Jesus Christ. Every man does have a “God shaped hole in their hearts,” but that hole is not contentment, fulfillment and peace. Every man’s heart problem is righteousness. Instead of preaching that Jesus fulfills, we must preach that God judges and Jesus satisfies God’s judgment…if a man will repent and place his trust in Him.

If you are reading this and you asked Jesus into your heart, chances are good you had a spiritual buzz for a while, but now you struggle to read your Bible, tithe, attend church and pray. Perhaps you were told you would have contentment, purpose and a better life if you just ask Jesus into your heart. I am sorry, that was a lie.

From:

“Ten reasons NOT to ask Jesus into your heart.”

By Todd Friel

www.WretchedRadio.com before WayOfTheMasterRadio

Deborah 13





BIBLICAL EVANGELISM AND THE FUTURE OF OUR CHILDREN

– My name is Deborah Drapper, I’m 13 years old.
– I am Kristy and I’ 10 years old.

[Deborah Drapper]

– Would you consider yourself to be a good person?
– Have you ever told a lie?
– Yes.
– Have you ever stolen anything?
– Yes
– Have you ever used God’s name in vain?
– Yes
– Have you ever coveted anything?
– Yes
– So you are a lying, thieving, coveting, blasphemous person.
– Do you still think you are a good person?

Deborah 13: Servant of God.

– I believe that the Bible is the infalible, inspired, inerrant word of the Living God.

– I’ve never actually questioned my faith or questioned if it is actually truth. Look around you. I dont see an explosion that made this. This is intelligent design, this is created by somehting.

– So what you are doing Deborah?
– These are tracts which each of them have the Gospel message so you can give them out. You say, hey did you get one of these? It is a Gospel tract and that is a good way to open a conversation.

– I am called as is everyone to go out and witness to people and try to get them saved. Going on the frontlines and telling people is a job that needs to be done so i do my best to fulfill it.

– Hi.
– A million dollar.
– That’s mine.
– It is a Million pounds.
– On the back there is a Gospel message.
– Do you believe there is a heaven and a hell, maybe.
– Yes. I dont know.
– What do you think someone has to do to go to heaven.
– Be good.
– Be good, so would you consider yourselves to be good people?
– Yes.
– Ok, these are the 10 Commandments. Have you ever told a lie.
– No.
– Yes.
– Yeah.
– Have you ever stolen anyhting? Like pens from school?
– Yes.
– Have you used God’s name in vain as a cuss word.
– Yes.
– So by your own admission, you are lyiers, thieves and blasphemenrs. So do you still think you are good people.
– No.
– Yes.
– No.
– So if you are not a good person do you still think you will go to heaven?
– I dont know.
– Do you know what God did for you so you wouldnt have to go to hell?
– What?
– See actually he sent his Son Jesus to earth and then He died on the cross, he was crucified and God punished Him for your sins. Do you think maybe you will be able to ask God to forgive your sins and repent from them, and turn from your sins.
– Yes.
– Has anything I’ve said does it make you think well maye i need to have my own sins forgiven.
– Yeah.

– Very often when people say oh is really hard to witness to people I always think well actually is quite easy it just takes a little bit of courage. I mean I dont mind offending someone if they’re saved for eternity I dont mind offending someone for that.

[Andrew Drapper]

– Our final authority on matters of faith and practice is the Bible. And the Bible says to teach your children. And the Bible says to teach your child in it. You know it says “You should teach these things diligently unto thy children” and so we teach unto our children. Problably goes over the head some of it but somethings we do they understand, they probably get some of what is taught. And you know in other 5 years we will go thru the same sort of stuff again and the stuff is laid down precept upon precept, line upon line and slowly builds up a foundation of good teaching.

– What are you training them for?
– Eternity.

[Song]

In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth, and it was good. In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth, and it was good. On the fist day…

[Deborah Drapper]

– And I think that if when you die and you go to judgement and God says that you are a lier, etc; and because of that you go to hell; that’s a horrifyic tought, is not nice. I mean you dont like to think about it because you dont want to go to hell, do you?
– And what if it doesnt exist?
– Well then Ill die and ill go to the grave and that will be it. But what if it does exist, what will happen to you?