Our Journey in Biblical Evangelism

I'm Back!

2008-03-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

So, I have come back to the world of Blogger! If you weren't aware, I broke my wrist on March 14th, the day after my birthday. Nice birthday present, huh? Anyway, I was only able to type one-handed for a while, but now I have my arm brace off (it wasn't a complete break in the bone, just a crack) I can type with two hands and actually make decent posts. It does still hurt to do a lot of things with, but I can at least rest my arm on the laptop to type.

Anyway, now that I am getting involved with biblical evangelism, I am being persecuted. See, I was never really persecuted when I did the "God loves you" approach. But use the Law, talk about sin, hell, and Judgment, and tell people they must repent of their sins and you will get persecuted! And the majority of the persecution isn't from worldly people who think that I'm offensive. No, it's from "Christians" who think that I am rude for doing that, or that there is a "better alternative" to evangelism, such as the "just be loving and show them Christ's love, then build a relationship with them and then tell them about God's love" kind of evangelism. Not doing that anymore because that did nothing for me except create false-converts. And Satan doesn't care about false-converts, does he? Because that means they aren't saved.

And to the "Christians" who say that I don't do it right, I say, "Get behind me, Satan!" Because Satan knows that using the Law to bring about a knowledge of sin and talking about hell and Judgment brings about TRUE converts. Of course he doesn't want THAT to happen. He wants people to beleive that they can live in their sins and God will just go on loving them all the way to Heaven. Of course he doesn't want genuine repentance and salvation.

And to the "Christians" who say that I don't do it right, I say, "Read your Bible!" Because this is exactly what Jesus and other NT biblical characters do. So, before you judge what I'm doing, check to make sure it's biblical... because no where in the Bible does it say to be friends with people before witnessing. No where in the Bible does it say "Say a prayer to have everlasting life." No where in the Bible does it say to "Ask Jesus into your heart" to be saved. NO WHERE. But it does say that "The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul" (Psalm 19:7). It says that "the law is our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ" (Galations 3:24). Just read ROMANS to find out about the Law and the purpose of it!!!! However, use the law in evangelism and you're branded a heretic!!

We need a revival!

Does Anyone Know Where to Forward This To...

2008-03-11T19:53:00.000-07:00

...so Rick Warren and Joel Osteen can watch this?

Evangelism in the "Body of Christ"

2008-03-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

I just took a Spiritual Gifts test. The most interesting fact was the REST of the "Body of Christ's" results.

Out of 595,430 regular Christians (not Pastors) who took the test, only 3.36% had the "gift" of evangelism. That is 20,006 people from about 600,000. Out of 85,474 Pastors who took the test, only 5% had the "gift" of evangelism. That is 4273 Pastors out of about 85,000. I find it SAD, honestly. The questions were "I feel a strong desire to witness to people," or, "It pleases me to see someone come to Christ." These people MUST be answering "Not Very Much" on their test!!! And the PASTOR'S numbers??? They are PASTORS! They should be witnessing!!!

Evangelizing is the GREAT COMMISSION commanded to EVERYONE. I'll borrow this from Pastor Brian Culver. He says that these same people who say, "I can do all through Christ who strengthens me," say that evangelism is not THEIR gift, that it's not THEIR job. So they see the results of the test and automatically assume they should just not evangelize. "My evangelism spiritual gift is low... that means I shouldn't evengelize."

I just found these numbers VERY SAD compared to the QUESTIONS that were asked.

This Was Interesting...

2008-03-07T21:58:00.001-08:00

I was at work (in a video game retail store) and a man came in. I was getting ready to go to the bank so I could get some change. I told the person I was working with, "Hey, I'll be right back." The man standing at the counter said, "Oh, you got a six pack in the back of your car."

"No, sir, I do not drink."

"Oh, sure. You must be going on a smoke break."

"No, sir, I do not smoke."

"Oh, don't tell me that. Come on... whatever."

"I wouldn't lie about that."

"And (in a mocking voice and with rolling eyes) you must be a virgin, too."

"Well, I'm married, actually."

Then he started talking to my co-worker. I should've witnessed to him. I was hoping he was still there when I got back, but he wasn't. Now I feel horrible. I really hope he comes back in so I can witness to him because I failed today.

Before I got married, my family used to make fun of me because I was a virgin. It's almost as if I was a horrible person because I wanted to wait until I was married. Believe me, I'm not perfect. Jason and I did a lot of horrible things before we were married that were NOT Christian-like. We both thought we were Christians, but our relationship DID NOT honor God. We were false converts. We both DID wait until marriage, and I am so happy that we can both say that.

Sorry this post was kind of weird, but I just remembered that this happened today.

Paul Washer

2008-03-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

Please watch this video. Even if you ARE saved. I know it's a bit lengthy, but if you think you are saved because you "said a prayer" once, but live a worldly lifestyle, please listen to this. It's 58 minutes, yes, but what if these 58 minutes cause you to REALLY examine yourself and you realize that you were a false Christian... one who professes that Jesus is Lord, but lives like the rest of the world.

This gentleman's name is Paul Washer. This is a powerful message he gave to 5,000 youth members at a conference.

You can hate me for posting this all you want, but please know that I love each and everyone who reads this, even if I do not know you personally, and I only ask that you have a humble heart and put aside your church "traditions" and listen to the Word of God.

EXAMINE YOURSELF! Don't think you're a Christian because you act like the "Christian" in the pew next to you. Don't think you're a Christian because you said a prayer. Don't think you're a Christian because your pastor says you're a Christian. Don't think you're a Christian because you wear Jesus t-shirts.

EXAMINE YOURSELF WITH THE WORD OF GOD. Not with your church doctrine or your church traditions. And not by your pastor or your youth group... what if they're not saved?

The Bible says REPEATEDLY that not everyone who claims Jesus is Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven... no good tree will produce bad fruit and no bad tree will produce good fruit... narrow is the way and narrow is the gate...

STOP BLASPHEMING MY FATHER IN HEAVEN BY MAKING FALSE DOCTRINES BE THE CENTER OF CHRISTIANITY! The Christianity of today (in the "happy" churches especially) is NOT the Christianity of the Bible. Christianity of today says that if you say a prayer, you're saved. Or if your pastor says you're saved, you're saved. NO WHERE IN THE BIBLE DOES IT SAY THAT YOU SAY A PRAYER TO BE SAVED. How often did Jesus walk up to people and say, "Just receive me into your heart and you'll go to heaven." NONE.

But he did say this. REPENT and BELIEVE IN ME. REPENT. REPENT. REPENT. That is what the Christianity of the Bible teaches.

Without REPENTANCE there is NO SALVATION. Want to call me a heretic for saying that??? Go ahead. You just called the Jesus you worship a heretic because those words were from HIS mouth (Luke 13:3,5).

STOP LIVING LIKE THE WORLD. STOP MAKING GAY MARRIAGE OK. STOP MAKING ABORTION OK. STOP MAKING PREMARITAL SEX OK. STOP MAKING LYING OK. STOP MAKING STEALING OK. STOP MAKING THE EVIL OF THE WORLD OK!!! STOP COMPROMISING THE WORD OF GOD TO MAKE IT SUIT YOUR PLEASURES! STOP IT ALL... AND READ THE BIBLE!!!!

Mr. Paul Washer...

More On False Coverts

2008-03-04T11:14:00.000-08:00

Why is it young people can be raised in church, actively involved in youth functions and other church functions, then go off to college and completely turn their backs on God?]

It's the church and the new man-centered gospel message. "Don't speak about hell or sin or repentance because we want people to feel good about themselves and to gain better self esteem." You also want them in Hell, obviously. Self-esteem will not save them from Hell.

The Bible plainly states that without repentance, there is NO SALVATION (Luke 13:3,5). So, while this new blasphemous message is appealing to people, it provides comfort on their journey to Hell.

I have been going through my Facebook and Myspace today trying to get updates on where people are, how they are, etc. But better yet, what are these people (who I went to work with) doing for the Lord? Pre-marital sex, alcohol, idols, etc., is where they are and what they as christians are doing for the god of this world.

See, we get this impression that we said a prayer, so we're saved. Or the pastor says we're saved. Or I go to church so I'm saved. Or I pray so I'm saved. Or I read my Bible so I'm saved. Or I sang in the choir so I'm saved.

So, when college comes, we're saved, right? So, let's experiment with alcohol and sex and drugs because I said a prayer or I go to church or I read my Bible or I sang in the choir or the pastor says I'm SAVED! Besides, God loves me. He wouldn't send ME to hell, right?

WRONG. God is a holy and a JUST God. You cannot bribe you way into heaven by going to church, etc. You can only receive salvation if you acknowledge your sins before God, apologize for offending Him and breaking His Laws, REPENTING (turning away) from the evil in your life, and trusting in Jesus Christ to save you.

You can tell the quality of the church by the converts it produces. How many people in your church are just Christians on Sunday mornings from 11-12? How many have a heart for the lost? How many swear, watch horrible TV shows, joke about sex, make fun of people, gossip, have pre-marital sex, look at pornography, gawk at women, etc.? How many kids grow up in youth, then go to college and turn their backs on God?

The problem is they were NEVER SAVED IN THE FIRST PLACE. They are false converts.

The Bible tells us that if we say we are saved (have fellowship with Him) and live in darkness (unrepentant sin) we are LYING (I John 1:6), and all liars will have their part in the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8).

What kind of converts does your church produce? Mine produced false converts. I was one of them (please read my past two posts for more on that). I left my church because of the lack of gospel that was preached. Should you leave yours?

2008-03-03T16:49:00.000-08:00

When I was 19, I was put in a mental institution because I wanted to kill myself. I spent one night in there, and begged to go home. There was another man in there that I "witnessed" to. Now, I wasn't a Christian so I didn't use the law or mention repentance or anything. This man believed in God, and I did mention that I rely on God to get me through hard times (did I really? I wanted to kill myself...) and he said he never really tried that or even thought of that... to rely on God in times of need. So, I hope, since I failed, that he did come across someone who could show him the Law and the need for repentance.

About a year later, I was hanging out with a single Christian (true convert) guy. I was still a false convert. A big problem was that I didn't want to admit that my church was not biblical. I would get ANGRY with people who said anything about my church. A lot of things WERE biblical, but a lot of it wasn't, too. He told me that I should feel like a horrible Christian because I was suffering from depression, not eating, secluding myself, cutting myself, wanting to kill myself, etc. That was slightly offensive to me, too.

Did I have a chemical imbalance? I don't think I did. I took Zoloft for a while, then stopped because I do not like to take medicine. I still struggled with those thoughts until I became a true convert. So, this is why I think that it wasn't a chemical imbalance.

Why did I want to kill myself in the first place? No matter what I did to try to please people, it seemed like it never worked. I would try to do something good to make my parents proud, but I was still a "lazy" teenager who never knew how to keep her room cleaned. I tried doing really good in school, but everyone else always got the positions I worked so hard for and the recognition.

I was living under the false impression that my self worth was based on my performance. So I continued to keep performing with all of my heart, and continued to keep getting let down. I believe these thoughts stemmed from the performance I was always forced to live by at my house. I would do something I thought was good to do, then two days later, I was still viewed as a lazy teenager who doesn't take responsibility for anything.

When I met Jason, I was coming out of one of the biggest performances of a lifetime: I was performing as a Christian, but it was just an act. I wasn't saved. I didn't repent. I was living in my sins happily thinking that Jesus would just save me because I believed in Him. When bad things would happen I would blame God instantly because I was presented with a gospel that said that Christ would improve my life. Bad things happen, blame God! After all, if everything was in His control He should fix it before it happens, right?

How wrong was I?! Yes, God is sovereign, but we have this thing called SIN in our lives. That is the important issue. MY SIN. Not my HAPPINESS. I had broken all of the Ten Commandments multiple times over. And when I saw myself in God's Holy Law, I saw myself not as a good person who needed to be blessed because I was doing good deeds (as I had seen myself before), but as a wretched, evil sinner who deserved to live in Hell.

God doesn't owe me anything at all. He died on a cross 2,000 years ago and paid the punishment for MY SINS. When I first watched the Passion of the Christ, I had to force myself to cry! Isn't that ridiculous! I had to think of something SAD to cry about, because I didn't understand what my SIN WAS that Christ was DYING FOR. I had NO REPENTANCE! And because of that, I wasn't saved (Luke 13:3,5).

Since becoming a true believer, I have seen a few CLIPS (literally about 3 minutes worth) of the Passion of the Christ and I can't help but break down and cry... because now I know exactly what I have done wrong to deserve eternal damnation, but oh the wonderful cross!!! Oh, how amazing His grace is that He would suffer and be tortured for MY SAKE. For my lying, my lusting, my blasphemy, my dishonoring of my parents, my SINNING. He didn't HAVE to do this... He owes us NOTHING. We broke His Laws... but He extended His grace toward humanity by dying on a cross for us.

This is why we must talk about sin, judgment, Hell, repentance THEN grace through faith in Christ... please stop creating false converts like me!

2008-02-29T06:26:00.000-08:00

I went to church from the time I was born until I was about five years old. After that, I only remember going to church for special occasions. I went to Bible class on Wednesdays when I was in elementary, and I also went to Vacation Bible School one summer at a Lutheran Church. Weddings, funerals, Christmas programs, etc., is why I went the rest of the time.

My mom always told me that Jesus "lived in your heart," so when I heard that you needed to "ask Jesus into your heart," I figured He was already there, so no need to ask, right?

I got into high school and had a hard time fitting in. I did try the party scene a couple times, but I always felt like it wasn't right to do. I got into Biology and knew that evolution was a stupid theory. My parents always raised me to believe in God and Jesus Christ, so I knew that God created the universe just by looking around me.

When I was a junior in high school, I met a really nice teacher who was a Christian, though I didn't know it when I met her. She was always really nice to me, so I started helping her with a few projects (yearbook and our school newspaper). She was able to share Jesus Christ with me during after school times when I would help her, so I started attending her church. It was there that I asked Jesus into my heart for the first time.

Since that day, I asked Christ into my heart about 6 times, all the time lacking repentance. I went on my merry way sinning believing that since I had Jesus in my heart, I was saved. I would look at pornography on the Internet, lie, dishonor my parents, gossip about and slander other people, use God's name in vain, etc. I was a horrible person but justified myself because other people in my church did the same things. Besides, God was all-loving and He wouldn't send me to Hell because I was a good person. I was breaking the second commandment by creating a God to suit my own image. I believed that everyone else was worse than me, so God would never punish me. The God I created was corrupt and unjust, but it was NOT the God of the Bible.

I was a professing Christian who was not saved because I continued to live in my sin without repenting.

I then got involved with a ministry called Way of the Master and it was a HUGE eye opening experience. I saw myself in the light of God's holy law. I had lied, stolen, blasphemed the name of my Father, committed adultery, etc. I had broken EVERY SINGLE COMMANDMENT. I knew that if I were to die right then and face God on Judgment Day that I would go to Hell because God was holy and just. I broke His Law, and He had every right to punish me.

But God did something amazing for me. He made Himself into a Man, Jesus Christ, and died on the cross for my sins. It made sense to me: I broke the Law, Jesus paid my fine. And that if I REPENTED (turned away from lying, stealing, etc.) and trusted in Jesus to save me, I would have everlasting life. How amazing is that?!

Since then, I have completely changed in my ways. We refuse to play most video games (when before we were playing them all), we hardly watch TV (is there anything that is decent on anymore?), we have a much better marriage BECAUSE we both are walking with Christ. I desire holy things, though I do fail from time to time. But it's a lot different now. When I sin, I hate it! I don't dive into it and stay there without regretting what I did like I used to do. I absolutely hate it, and I get frustrated with myself.

I was a false convert. I was not saved for six years of my so-called "Christian" walk. It's a scary thought to know that had I died in those six years I would've gone to Hell. No questions asked.

I thank God for the Way of the Master ministries and the people he has put into my (and our) lives to help us.

Recently, we have been extremely blessed to get to know Pastor Brian Culver. He has been a wonderful influence to us. He is so willing to answer our questions, too! He thinks biblically and does not conform to the rest of the so-called "Christian world" by changing Scripture to accommodate everyone. He is also involved in Way of the Master, and we are going to be meeting him next month at the Transformed Conference!

So, Brian, thanks for everything you are doing for us! We praise God for you daily!

Found on Ray Comfort's Blog...

2008-02-25T19:40:00.000-08:00

"If there’s no Heaven and no Hell, I won’t even know about it. And if by living a godly life, I missed out on being an alcoholic, on clogging my lungs with cigarette smoke, destroying my brain with drugs, ruining my family with greed, getting sexually transmitted diseases, and having a niggling thought that Hell might exist, that’s okay with me."

How true is that!? If we're wrong, which we aren't, I missed out on THAT?! Who cares? I love being faithful to my husband, I love not having smoke-filled lungs, I love being able to remember my weekends. It's a great thing, really....

2008-02-24T10:59:00.001-08:00

Mobile blogger

8 Year Old Open Air Preacher

2008-02-20T19:35:00.000-08:00

Wow. Eight years old. Pretty amazing! "God, the One up there... He's perfect." How precious.

Friendship Evangelism

2008-02-17T20:46:00.000-08:00

Notice the contrast between that phrase and the one in my title. Friendship evangelism/BIBLICAL evangelism. Just a warning, this is going to get rather heated.

Number one, "friendship" evangelism is NOT in the Bible, therefore, it shouldn't even be a concept in today's churches.

Second of all, it's very dangerous. Why? Well, in the time you are trying to build a relationship with someone, he/she could die. Death does not discriminate. I'm sure anyone reading this blog knows someone who has died suddenly, young or old.

Friendship evangelism works in the imaginary world of "everyone lives to be exactly 100 years old" but it doesn't work in reality. So, WAKE UP! We do not live in an imaginary land, we live in a sinful, criminal world filled with hatred, murder, rape, drunkenness, etc.

No one is guaranteed tomorrow: "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth (Psalms 27:1). You could start your "friendship" with them today and they might be gone tomorrow. If they die in their sins, they will go to Hell. Yes, Hell exists, it's a reality. Or do you not believe that?

This is the lesson I learned about "friendship, non-biblical evangelism."

My uncle's mother passed away, and my parents and I went over to visit with him, to comfort him. There was a bunch of younger girls (younger than me) that I sort of grew up with. I was a few years older, but we used to ride the bus together. They were great-grandchildren of the lady who passed away. They all seemed rather sad, and I wanted to start a "relationship" with them before I shared the gospel with them. After all, I don't want to tackle them and shove the Bible down their throats. That's rude, right? Oh, and throw out offensive words like "Hell" and "sin" and "repentance" because those are just cruel. Talk about "love" and "happiness" and how Christ gives you a "better life" because everyone needs a better life, right?

I talked with them for a couple minutes and left. Only a few weeks later, one of the girls was tragically killed in a car accident. She was only 16. We rode the bus together when we were younger, we had the same uncle, even. I can only hope she heard the gospel message, the right one, you know, the one that has seemed to disappear in our churches where it says that people will go to hell because they sin, yes, that one.

I have two problems with modern day churches. 1) They preach about friendship evangelism. Be loving to people, show them that there is something different about you by your actions. Hang out with them and hopefully through some sort of osmosis they will realize that they need Christ, too. And 2) they want people to come to Christ for a "better life." One is the result of the other.

I know I pretty much spent the last half of the post talking about this, but it's important that we STOP DOING THIS. I hung out with many Christians before repenting and trusting in the Lord, too. But I didn't learn to repent and trust in the Lord through some feel-good vibrations from the people I was with. In this type of evangelism, we hear quotes like, "Come to Christ because He will make your marriage better." So, Christ is only for those whose marriage is crumbling? "Come to Christ and He will take care of your problem with alcohol." So, Christ is only for those who have alcohol addictions? "Oh, come to Christ and you will find a better job." So, now Christ is for those who have lost their jobs or want better jobs? "Come to Christ because He will give you lasting happiness." So, NOW Christ is for those who are unhappy. There are all these different messages flying around and it's CONFUSING. It's called being a POPULIST. You give ONE message to this person and ANOTHER to that person. You change your message to make Christ more appealing to one person and then more appealing to the next. Besides, what about those people who don't have marriage problems or alcohol addictions or job issues or depression or sadness? Does Christ not work for them?

Here is why I came to Christ. I didn't have marriage problems or an alcohol problem or a job problem or a depression problem. I had a SIN problem. I was a liar, a blasphemer, an adulterer at heart, a murderer (I hated people), a thief, an idolater. I could go on and on. I violated every single commandment MULTIPLE times. I knew I was to face God on Judgment Day and that He would find me guilty and send me to Hell. He is JUST and HOLY and I understood for Him to be "good", He MUST punish me. Or else He would be corrupt. I BROKE HIS LAWS!!! But the grace He displayed for me on the cross became much more amazing. I broke God's Law, and Jesus paid my fine of eternal death (Romans 6:23). Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior DOES NOT OWE ME ANYTHING. "Come to Christ and He'll fix your marriage and your drunkenness, and your job situation, and this and that." He fixed your real problem when He was BEATEN AND NAILED TO A CROSS FOR YOU.

"Come to Christ and He'll fix this and that." Where's the talk about sin and Judgment Day and Hell? Where's talk of repentance, which Jesus HIMSELF said that without it, people will perish. No, it's a man-centered gospel you're sharing; a selfish gospel. He doesn't owe anyone anything. He laid His life down WILLINGLY, yet you choose to BLASPHEME His Word by your self-centered gospel. Yep, that's right. Blasphemy. A gospel you share in HIS NAME, yet you corrupt it. And you're sending people to Hell.

It's time to WAKE UP and STEP UP. And PREACH THE GOSPEL, THE ONE OF THE BIBLE as we are commanded to do!

This Gave Me Chills...

2008-02-14T10:30:00.000-08:00

So, what are you going to do about it?

Jesus said, "Unless you repent, you too will all perish." What is repentance? It's not just CONFESSING your sins, but TURNING AWAY FROM your sins. What is sin? It's "transgression of the law" (I John 3:4). What is the law? The Ten Commandments.

How NOT To Evangelize...

2008-02-10T11:18:00.001-08:00

Here is a good example of how NOT to share the gospel.

Shirley Phelps-Roper (from Westboro Baptist Church) came on the Way of the Master Radio program.

January 29, Hour 1

It starts about 10 minutes (maybe a little longer) into the program. How much hatred this woman has!

This was why my last post was made.

Westboro Baptist Church

2008-02-07T12:11:00.001-08:00

Hello Westboro Baptist Church:

I am going to say to whoever is reading this message that you are a liar, a thief, a blasphemer, and an adulterer at heart. You are going to hell because of it. That is it. Have a great life. God hates you.

Offended yet? You should be. I'm insinuating that you did all those things when you don't think you have. That is what you are doing to everyone else. There is a huge difference in what you are doing and this:

To whomever is reading this email:

Have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen anything, even if it is small. A pen? A piece of candy? Have you ever used God's name in vain? That's called blasphemy. Jesus said that whoever looks with lust has committed adultery in his/her heart. Have you ever looked at someone with sexual desire?

If so, you are a lying thief, a blasphemer, and an adulterer at heart. If God were to judge you by that standard, would you go to heaven or hell? You would go to Hell because God is holy and just. He is not corrupt. He cannot be bribed by works. Because God is just, He must give you justice. You broke His law. Does that concern you? Of course it should.

Do you know what God did for you so that you wouldn't have to spend eternity in Hell? He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect, sinless life, to die in your place. You broke the law, Jesus paid your fine. If you repent (TURN AWAY FROM) your sins and trust in Jesus to save you from eternal damnation, you can have everlasting life. There's nothing more important than your eternal salvation. He'll give you new heart with new desires. You'll become a new creation in Christ. You never know when death can come up and snatch you. Someone could come up to you right now and put a bullet through your skull. Please, get right with God today.

I'm not saying I do not agree with the fact that God hates sinners. "God hates the sin, not the sinner" is not in the Bible. Agreed. However, you accuse people of breaking God's law (it's very offensive, just like you were probably offended by me earlier) and are not presenting the message of the cross with it.

You say "so and so" is in Hell. When did God die and put you in charge? No one on this earth has any right to say so-and-so has gone to hell. Sure, by a person's lifestyle you can realize some people haven't repented of their sins and trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation. However, you do not know what happened in those last minutes before death. Reality is, people go to hell. Agreed. But we can have hope that they realized their sin and how they have angered God, repented, and trusted in Jesus Christ. We can have HOPE, but we still CANNOT know for sure. There are many people who say "Lord, Lord" (who call Jesus Lord and believe in Him) that He will tell them "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

Don't picket funerals. That is ridiculous. Because guess what? God hates you, too, because of YOUR sin. And it is only through our Lord Jesus Christ that we can have fellowship with God.

Please understand I mean this in a loving way. I am a Christian and believe in preaching sin and judgment BEFORE grace. But preaching sin and judgment without any grace is NOT BIBLICAL.

It's okay if you don't respond to my message, I will not be offended.

In Christ, Jessie R

Unconstitutional

2008-02-07T10:44:00.001-08:00

Please visit click on THIS LINK It makes me laugh :)

New Blog

2008-02-06T18:57:00.000-08:00

I'm creating a new blog. It's going to be more about general writing. I want this one to be strictly devoted to evangelism, so I started this blog to keep the entries clear of general stuff (kind of like this post).

Since all of the other names I wanted were taken, it is now the following:

FaithWriting

Please feel free to read anytime. :)

Way of the Master Season Three Promo

2008-02-05T11:10:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't visited this link, please do!

WotM Season 3 Promo.

I'm looking forward to this. I'm also looking forward to the evangelism group that we're going to have come here pretty soon. We are getting our tax return, and are selling our video game systems, so we are going to be able to get a bunch of evangelism resources. I already have some burned copies of Season 1 and 2 (we had permission from the Living Waters ministry to do this). I want to get the Basic Training course, too.

On a side note, Jason's interview is today in about 45 minutes. I will update what I know as soon as he calls me :)

This is Sad...

2008-02-04T18:37:00.001-08:00

I was reading the blog of Fish With Trish (refer to the link at the right) about Ray and Todd witnessing to a Catholic Priest. One of the comments on the blog said this:

Father Jim is exactly right. The Bible should not be the final authority on
doctrinal issues, because it never claims that authority for itself. That
authority was given to the Church, which is, "the pillar and foundation of the
truth," 1 Timothy 3:15.

This is how so many people are being mislead. This verse was quoted, but that does not mean that man has authority for "truth", it means that the church is to uphold and be a foundation for God's Word. It means the exact opposite of what he/she said. I responded that when man gets to be in charge of doctrines, you get indulgences and stuff that is so contrary to Scripture.

Another person had already pointed out 2 Timothy 3:16,17, so hopefully this person will read that verse and realize that man has no authority above God.

Oh, the Catholic Church...

Transformed

2008-02-04T16:08:00.000-08:00

Does anyone plan on attending the Transformed conference in St. Louis, Missouri on April 19, 2008? I think we are going to go. If you are wondering what the Transformed conference is, please see the link on the left of the page.

Doing What is Right

2008-02-02T19:10:00.000-08:00

Truthfully what got me really involved in Ray's ministry wasn't my wife at all. I was just gazing around youtube and saw Ray evangelizing, somewhat interested I viewed wayofthemaster.com and through through the video materials they had on there it brought me to realize my sins against God. I had been raised in a Free Methodist Church and then went to a Wesleyan Church, I always professed to be a Christian, even though my actions did not match. I copied what my parents had done. My mother thinks that not everyone in the church are called to evangelize. She thinks that some are called to make money and fund the people evangelizing. I even stated Mark 16:15 to her and she just said that it is only for some people which I know is not a biblical principle. Also my mother said that the bible says wives, if they tell their husbands one thing and their husbands do another and turn out to be wrong that the wives, "can rub it in their face and say, 'I told you so.'" Any thoughts?

More On Bibles

2008-02-01T19:06:00.000-08:00

We went to the Family Christian Store tonight. I hadn't intended on going there, but I got fitted for a dress for my friend's wedding. They mentioned they wanted to go there, and we went. I love that store anyway. We don't go often because it's in Saginaw (a good 20-25 minutes away) and everything is so accessible here in Midland. Anyway, we were helping a friend find a study Bible because he wants to get one soon. I recommended the MacArthur Study Bible, as I find it to be a great tool for studying. At the end of the aisle something caught my eye. It was called The Apologetics Study Bible. I picked it up and showed Jason. It is something I knew he would like. So, we got it, and it is such a helpful tool. It helps you understand why you believe the things about Christianity that you do, and explains different, confusing passages in the Bible.

The back of the Bible says this:

- Can I know that God God exists?
- Am I the product of a blind evolutionary process or was I created by God?
- How strong is the evidence for Jesus' resurrection?
- Is the Bible reliable and true?
- Do i have a destiny beyond my life on Earth?
- Can evil be reconcled with belief in God who is both all-powerful and all-loving?

It's not that we don't get those things, but oftentimes people ask me these questions, and while I know that I have faith, having the Scriptural answers to these questions can be very important. And since this Bible has everything together, it makes it easier than find Scripture to Scripture to Scripture.

Here's what you can find in this Bible:

- Introductions and notes for each of the sixty-six books of the Bible that provide evidence of the reliability and truthfulness of Scripture.
- Over 130 articles written by today's leading Christian thinkers dealing with life's ultimate questions.
- Twisted Scripture Notes address ways that various religious movements distort Scripture to support doctrine contrary to historic Christian apologists.
- Biographical sketches of some of the greatest Christian apologists
- A timeline of Christian apologists and their works.
- Charts showing important archaeological discoveries for both the Old and New Testaments.
- A chart showing how the manuscript evidence for the New Testament compares to that of other ancient documents.
- Charts comparing world religions and the new religious movements
- Five full color maps
- An extensive annotated bibliography and much more.

It's at least something to look into :)

New Study Bible

2008-02-01T09:01:00.001-08:00

We got our new Bible in the other day. I was really excited. It was mentioned on the Way of the Master Radio, so, after researching it and looking at amazon.com to "look into the book," I decided to get it. It's the MacArthur Study Bible. Both Jason and I want to be more equipped, obviously, as we go out and evangelize and share with other churches (if we ever get the chance to do the latter).

Now, I am firm believer in reading the Bible and drawing your own conclusions. So, I'm not reading this Bible and his notes to make it what I believe. If it makes sense when I read it and compare other verses and other versions of the verse (from KJV to NIV say), and, reading the verse and the chapter in its entirety, and it does not contradict any other Scripture, then I might choose to say, "This makes sense with this verse." And move on. I admit, there are a lot of times when my husband and I will stop in the middle of our Bible study together and go, "Now what does that mean?" We will read some notes on it, cross reference a few verses, etc. There are a lot of very vague notes in the NIV Study Bible, too. It also seemed that on a verse that was really confusing, they had NOTHING on. I like the NIV Study Bible, it's a great tool for those who really want to study the Bible, I just think the MacArthur Study Bible goes a little more in depth on the verses.

One example I have of learning outside of Scripture to apply to Scripture was from Ray Comfort and scientific facts are in the Bible. Number one, I was never that good at science because I just never applied myself. So when I first read this commentary in The School of Biblical Evangelism I was horribly confused. Genesis 1:1, 2 (last half) states, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." I would just go on, ok, makes sense. But something really never occurred to me until I was involved in the SoBE. Ray's commentary states, "Science expresses the universe in five terms: time, space, matter, power, and motion. Genesis 1:1,2 revealed such truths to the Hebrews in 1450 B.C.: 'In the beginning [time] God created [power] the heaven [space] and earth [matter] ... And the Spirit of God moved [motion] upon the face of the waters.'" To a person who strongly disliked science, it made sense to me after studying it for a while.

Before becoming involved in The Way of the Master ministries, I read the New Testament and more or less confused on a lot of stuff. I didn't take the time to meditate on a verse or read notes on it or cross reference it or anything. After hearing about Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron in their ministry, I started realizing I need to do this. It also helped me understand Scripture better, not because they were Ray's opinions, but because they were God's opinions as stated in His word.

Back to study Bibles. I also like them because it gives historical information so I don't have to go take a class on Jewish history or ancient civilization (though I did take that in college) or check out even more books in the library. Most study Bibles have detailed maps and charts that can be very helpful. They also (though I do go to my NIV Study Bible as opposed to the MacArthur Study Bible) give a detailed history about each book in the Bible as far as the title, author, time of writing, background, theological themes, literary features, etc. The MacArthur Study Bible does as well, but the NIV is more in depth. One useful tool the MacArthur Study Bible has is the chart in the beginning with the times of writings of each book.

Jason mentioned last night that a kid in his class said Paul wrote Ephesians (we read that last night) 200 years after Christ. Of course, any one who has read the Bible knows different, but the book was written between (approx.) 60-62 A.D, a mere 30ish years after Jesus' death... not 200. While knowing this information on judgment day means absolutely nothing, it does help when people try to say something completely different making other people believe it's a fact.

This is why we invested in a Study Bible. Not just to help out when we are confused, but also to learn the history surrounding our wonderful Scriptures.

Tax Returns

2008-01-31T21:35:00.000-08:00

I haven't really been that excited about tax returns before. I'm young, 22, and I don't usually get a lot. However, with the new economic stimulus thing, we plan to do a lot more this year. We want to invest in a ton of evangelism resources. We have our eyes set on a ton of stuff from the Living Waters website. We're going to get the Starter Kit #2, the Basic Training Course, and some other random tracts. I'd like to get a few more books, and we have a gift certificate from B&N we can use for those, too.

We also talked to our friends yesterday about getting together once a week to have an evangelism study group. I'd like to go a few more days a week, but it depends on how our schedules work out. Two people work random schedules while the other two have set schedules. We found some other people who might be interested as well. It's exciting!

For those of you who use the tracts from Living Waters, any suggestions? I have, personally, used the Intelligence test, Round Tuits (which are hilarious), curved illusions, and a bunch more that I can't even remember (a guy came to my college with the Starter Kit #2).

Any suggestions would be of great help!

Our First Post

2008-01-29T10:14:00.000-08:00

Here is our first post in our blog about our journey in evangelism. We are extremely excited!

Jason has really been stepping up and witnessing to people at work. He plays nothing but Ray Comfort speeches or Way of the Master Radio as he drives all day with a co-worker who is not a Christian. Praise God that he (his co-worker) is starting to read the Bible!

We are in the process of getting a big pack of gospel tracts to start doing one-on-one witnessing and Open Air preaching. I don't know if I'm more excited or nervous yet! I've done one-on-one witnessing in college for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, but not Open Air yet.

In case this is your first time reading this, we do strict biblical evangelism. We believe, as Scripture says, that "the Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul" (Psalm 19:7). We use God's law, the Ten Commandments, as means to bring about the knowledge of sin, as Paul states, "I would now have known sin except through the law" (Romans 7:7). The Law acts as a "schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ" (Galatians 3:24). We then speak of judgment (Romans 2:5), Hell (Luke 12:5), repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10), THEN grace (Ephesians 1:7, 2:5), as Jesus and others in the Bible did.

We have been called into the field of evangelism, and are very honored to serve our Lord through sharing the gospel with all of creation (Mark 16:15).