A New Evangelism Warrior!

Today was a very interesting day at Fort Myers Beach, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ; seems it was more eventful than usual. Sam came with us, from Gunnery Road Baptist Church; he was a blessing and encouragement for sure! Sam got right to work and energetically handed out tracts, started conversations and worked to show many people the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We handed out a ton of Million Dollar Bill Tracts (available at www.livingwaters.com), some Tickets to Heaven and a few other tracts. The conversations were pretty interesting and stimulating today; makes one want to run home and sharpen one’s ‘sword’ to be better ready for battle the next time. I’m tired tonight, but will try and remember some of the conversations to recount here.

I gave a couple girls Million Dollar Bills & asked the Million Dollar Question; Will you go to heaven when you die? Asking them what happens when one dies, they said ‘heaven’. Questioned further, on who goes to heaven, they responded that if one where pretty or smart they would go to heaven (maybe a little arrogant?). I asked if they knew what the Bible said; one of the girls responded that she was Jewish; like this somehow made the truth of the Bible null and void or something. I’ve just been reading through Isaiah, so responded that the prophet Isaiah wrote of the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord, Judgement Day, just as the New Testament says. Asking further of the standard of judgment, I told her that because she was Jewish she would know God’s standard of righteousness....nope; she didn’t come up with the Ten Commandments. They pretty much split after that.

I looked over and saw Sam embroiled in what looked like a rather animated conversation with a young couple. I wandered over & met Ben and his girlfriend. Ben was asking what Christians say would happen to Muslims on the Day of Judgment. I began to show him, how people don’t specifically go to Hell because they’re not Christians, but because they’ve broken God’s Law; like someone jumping without a parachute dies not specifically because they’ve not a chute, but because they’ve broken the law of gravity. Ben (I discovered) doesn’t listen well & doesn’t really want answers to anything, but loved to argue and be vulgar.

As it turned out, I was talking to Ben (read ‘kept Ben occupied’) while Sam was able to explain the Gospel to Ben’s girlfriend (she was close to tears when I looked over Ben’s shoulder to their conversation). Ben when round-and-round with his argumentative talk; finally I asked Ben why every time we began to talk of his conscience and guilt before God, he changed the subject. He told me to go ahead, so I began to lead him through the Law. He paused (promising to continue) to go on a tirade on how I shouldn’t show people their guilt before God when preaching the Gospel. Ben claims to have spent ten years as a Pentecostal missionary, sharing the Gospel. He began to roll-play, showing me a classic make-a-friend, seeker-sensitive, non-threatening, marketing style (his word) ‘gospel’. He said the goal should be to get folks to church so the professionals could preach to them. I asked of the verse (Mark 16:15) should have read ‘Go ye into all the world, bring folks to church so the pastor can preach to them’? I eventually reminded him that THAT ‘gospel’ didn’t work on him, as he was flirting with atheism &/or universalism, is an active & continual blasphemer, fornicator, foul mouthed and angry. Ben didn’t like me very much, maybe it was his booze talking. Heartbreaking to meet another false convert; a product of the modern ‘gospel’ that so many churches embrace. Pray for Ben, that God will dissolve any peace in his life and give him the gift of a sorrowful repentance before God.
Later, I met a couple Spanish boys, who had a history as gang-bangers. They are going to church somewhere now, but didn’t know the Gospel. The one who spoke the most English was Orlando. Orlando figured that he’d done so many bad things, even though he was going to church, it was too late for him. I explained the amazing work of Christ on the Cross of Calvary as payment for sin, and the call to Repentance and Faith. Pray for Orlando, that he will see the truth as truth.

I approached a rough looking man with a Million Dollar Bill tract; said he already had one. I asked if he’d read the back, he hadn’t. Mike had come to SW Florida from Wyoming for work and to escape winter. He’d been unable to find work and was apparently mugged on the beach, losing his money. Interestingly, he didn’t ask for money & when I asked if he was hungry, didn’t indicate that he needed food. I softened my tone and was talked for quite a while, about the Law & Gospel; what an incredibly kind offer it was from God, to ‘pay our fine’ by the Blood of Christ through Repentance & Faith. Pray for Mike, his heart seemed to be softened (& he admitted that he’d lied to me, he hadn’t gotten on the tracts before).
I met a Christian couple from Puerto Rico here on vacation. He was wearing a fish symbol necklace and he t-shirt with a huge “Jesus” on it. Language was a barrier, but I asked him to explain the Gospel to me. He did not show the bad news, before the good news. He’d used Romans 3:23, so I opened up my Bible and showed him that if we backed up the previous verses spell out a more detailed description of man from God’s eyes & then showing the Law as the standard that shows sin (& other verses). Pray for these folks, as they seem to be serious believers.

I was able to preach for longer, using a springboard story to start the message. As I was finishing, I introduced Bobby to speak next. Bobby wasn’t expecting this (please forgive me Bobby!) but rose to the occasion and preached on Nicodemus. The concern, love and pleading in his voice made me really take notice. I got back up after him and preached, giving my own testimony and talked of Romans 3 as I’d talked to the Puerto Rican folks & touched on the false seeker-sensitive ‘gospel’.

Sam got into a VERY long conversation with a Catholic couple at a nearby sidewalk cafe. Sam got his Bible and began showing him the scriptures to show the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The angry couple from the next table moved over to join the conversation, bit Sam seemed to do well. Praise the Lord for Sam!

It was a blessed day, as the name of our Lord Jesus Christ was lifted up!

Glenn.

Ft. Myers Beach.....silent film! :-)

Hi All. It's been a long time since I've blogged. I've a bunch of stuff to blog about and some videos too (having trouble getting the videos processed for upload).

A couple friends and I have developed a habit of going to Fort Myers Beach on the weekend and sharing the Gospel. Yesterday was interesting; got a crowd of 30 or 35 or so. We shot some video, but the audio track didn't work for some reason. It might be a bit of an interesting watch; note Ben handing out tracts while his Daddy preaches.

NEW CITY; NEW CHURCH?!

More than 3000 miles from home I went looking for a church to attend.  We are here in southwest Florida for a few months or more, so we want to find a church preaching the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ & stay there.  This is something I find difficult, because so few churches in our time are bent on preaching the truth.  Fewer and fewer preachers are opening their Bibles and preaching the Word.  I began a web-search for a church; in this part of Florida, there seems like an inordinate number of churches.  Most of the churches I found online either didn’t have a website, or the material on it seemed a little suspect (read; ‘squishy’). 

Not sure what it was, but something about a church four miles from our house caught my attention.  We took a chance and attended today.  At the door, as fine gentleman, saw we were visitors and handed me a visitor package; telling me to fill out the card & drop it in the offering basket and keep the pen and tract.  They gave me a Gospel tract at the door; good start!  After singing a number of hymns, the pastor stepped up and began preaching the word!  Way cool!  He open up I Peter 1 and verse-by-verse began expounding the scripture.  I chatted with him afterwards, and was very impressed with this man of God.  I think we’ve found our church here in SW Florida.

My friend Bob and I plan on going out to the beaches to share the Gospel here regularly.  Pray that the Lord will send others to come and labor with us.  “Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lordof the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest” (Luke 10:22)

Dawn....motel desk clerk (& Wal-Mart cashier)

 

We arrived in Florida, yesterday. Our boat is not yet ready to live on, so we left our kids on my parents boat and took a room at a motel in a nearby town. I paid for the room with a credit card, but as it turns out, I forgot to get my card back. The missing card was not discovered 'till the next afternoon (today)....causing a little commotion. I called back to the motel and found they had the card. No problem, a bit of an annoyance, but no big deal, right? Wrong!....a divine appointment instead.

Arriving at the motel and asking for my card, I ended up chatting with Dawn, the desk clerk. I began to talk to her about death & learned that she'd been in a near-fatal car crash a couple weeks earlier (still has scrapes on her arms). She and four friends rolled an SUV end over end into a river. She was trapped in the truck, fifteen feet under, finally pulled free by a friend. The attending medical staff at the hospital could apparently not figure out why she survived. They told her that in that type of crash, one's breath is usually knocked out of them, leaving insufficient oxygen for the time she was under water.

A Christian friend has been telling Dawn that God is trying to tell her something & that He has kept her alive for a reason. I explained to her the reason that 'God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance'. I explained to her the inevitability of death; that it should not shock us that someone dies & the only surprise would be as to the timing. All of us will surely die. I explained the righteous standards of God & showed her how she'd failed His standard miserably (as have we all). Dawn began to see that she had failed God's standard & when she stood before God in judgment she would be found guilty and sentenced to eternal damnation in the lake of fire of Hell. Explaining how what seems like an insignificant offense to another human being, is an great offense to God seemed to help (I.e. This makes; 'and all liars shall have their part in the Lake of Fire' make sense).

We were interrupted by motel guests checking in, so I left. Later on, driving by, I dropped in and gave her two tracts (“Are you good enough to go to Heaven?” & “Why Christianity?” both from livingwaters.com). I was going to hand them to her and leave, but she stopped me. If I understood her correctly, her Christian friend had just called her since my previous visit and talked to her again about God trying to get her attention. She asked me where she should be reading her Bible. I told her to read the book of John, for an eye witness account of the life and teaching of Jesus Christ & the book of Romans, for Paul's explanation of Justification by Faith. She kept talking and asking questions. Pray for Dawn.

Something to think about; Dawn is a regular church attender but had not understood the Gospel...didn't seem to have heard it clearly before.

Earlier in the day, a Wal-Mart clerk asked about my “What if?” shirt. I explained that 153,000 people die every day, two every second....what if this were her second? We talked for quite a while about the Gospel. I was amazed because there was no one in line behind us....but all the other tills around us had line-ups. She ended up asking me how to be born again & how could one know if they were born again. I was able to point her to the scriptures and explain. Again, this girl had a history of regular church attendance (though not the recent past). What are churches teaching, if those attending do not even hear the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Currently in Moorehaven, FL,

Glenn.

STEVE, THE POOL MAINTENANCE GUY.

Last night, I stayed at a Hotel in Kentucky, while on my way south to Florida with my family (near Answers In Genesis Creation Museum). While swimming in the Hotel pool with my kids, I met Steve, the pool maintenance guy. Steve was working at repairing the floating rope that divides the deep end from the shallow end. I ended up talking with Steve and offering to help him fix the problem line.

Steve told me a little about himself….seems like a real nice young man. Something Steve told me struck a chord; he mentioned that he was planning to join the Navy. I asked what he thought would happen to him if he saw action with the Navy and died. It took a little digging, but he believed that he would be judged by God (Heb. 9:27 & Acts 17:31).

I opened up God’s Law & showed Steve his personal guilt before an infinitely Holy & just God. I showed him what God’s Word says about judgment & punishment. (I Cor. 6 & Math. 5 & others). Steve admitted that he was very concerned that if he where to die that very night, he would be found guilty & sentenced to an eternity in Hell.

I explained the amazing Gospel of Jesus Christ to Steve. I showed him how Jesus Christ suffered and died on the Cross of Calvary to defeat sin and death; as a substitute. I showed Steve that if he would repent of his sin & put his faith in the Jesus Christ & the blood he shed on the Cross , he would walk out of the court room a free man on the day of judgment. Not only that, but God promises that he would make him a new man now, with new desires to please Christ.

Something we don’t often talk to people about, is the cost of following Christ. I felt prompted to tells Steve of the promise of scripture; the promise of persecution and trials for those that profess faith in Christ. I told him how the scripture tells of persecution & that those that endure to the end will be saved (& those that do not, where never truly saved in the first place…..I John 2:19). We talked for a while about the cost of dying to ones own self & one’s own desires and living for Him; this didn’t seem to dissuade Steve.

I asked Steve when he was going to get right with God and he responded that he was going to do it soon. We did talk about Godly sorrow (2 Cor. 7:10) & I encouraged him to get alone that night and cry out to God to show him his sin & great offense to God.

Please pray for Steve; that God will show him his sin & that God will give Steve the gift of Godly sorrow that works repentance unto salvation.

Glenn.

Glenn Preaching in Scottsdale Arizona, Super Bowl Weekend

What's Wrong With The Gospel?