EASTER SUNDAY

Easter Sunday

What a Blessed day this had been. Last night, I was thinking of a place to attend church today. I’ve been a little frustrated in finding a good place to worship as there seems to be an epidemic in evangelical churches today; preaching a weak Gospel and a soft on the truth…seemingly more of a concern about selling pew space/religion than preaching the truth at all costs. I heard about a website 9marks.org where churches sign a set of doctrinal statements, then are listed geographically. I punched in a zip code and found a couple churches within a half-hour drive of Seawing. Wow, was that a good idea.

The church I found was Grace Baptist Church of Cape Coral. I arrived early to find an adult Sunday school with lots of adults in it…good sign. The sermon (I Peter 1:13-21) was really a bang-up sermon. Guess what…I met a number of people at the church that were street preachers. Their pastor actually supports them…even though some of them go door-to-door (gasp). Awesome!

Some of the preachers drug me home for a great lunch and a sharing of testimonies. What a great time of encouragement. Funny how many folks that are actively preaching the Gospel have a very similar experience; they listened to the modern Gospel, prayed the sinner’s prayer and were assured of their salvation, many serving in the church…only to encounter the Law of the Lord and find they were LOST! They experienced Godly sorrow and were converted. Maybe this is why a pastor once told me that those that have a burden for preaching the Gospel are often at odds with the church.

One of the men (Bob) and I went out on the streets of Fort Myers Beach tonight, sharing the Gospel with all who would listen. Early on, one of the business owners near Times Square challenged us and told us that in Fort Myers Beach, we needed a permit to pass out stuff and talk to people. I reminded her that the United States Constitution protects our right to free speech…though she thought that a local bi-law trumped the constitution. We kept on going and no-one else bothered us…Bob even gave tracts to some police walking by.

I talked to one young-man who had been demon oppressed. He was arguing with me abut baptism, even called his Dad to get ask questions…but he would NOT answer whether he had repented and trusted the Savior. Another couple I met, claimed to have visited Israel, walked where Jesus walked and heard from him a different way of salvation than the bible, but claimed they could not explain it to me, I’ve have to visit Israel. I tried to share all the scripture I could, hoping that the sword of God’s Word would strike at his conscience. Bob and I talked with many, many others challenging them with the sin, righteousness and the judgment to come.

It was SO encouraging to meet with other like-minded believers.

Glenn.

P.S. The subject of being born again and the sinner’s prayer has been on my mind lately, especially as I see so much of the spiritual carnage from this practice. Below are a couple links to both a sermon and a PowerPoint showing the Biblical viewpoint and the HISTORY of the practice…ery interesting:

http://www.christianebooks.com/Jimn_Kyles_sermon.mp3
http://www.christianebooks.com/sfee_presentation.ppt