Sidewalk Movie Fest
Hello Friends and Family,
Many of you are aware we went to the Sidewalk Movie Festival Sept. 24th in beautiful downtown Birmingham. I have been asked for an update by some of you and here it is.
The group consisted of Jim(friend from church) Richard and Misty (Friends from Jasper), Ginger, Walker, Matthew, James, and myself. Jim arrived shortly after we did, Richard and Misty had an early morning engagement and joined us around 11:00.
I want to praise God for sending these fellow sowers into the field. I also want to praise God for the Jazz Festival that occurred in the same area on the same day. We caught the film people between showing, but spent most of our time with the Jazz Festival Patrons.
We gave out between 100-140 tracts to people. I estimate that 30-50 of those tracts were given by my 8 year old Matthew. I did one open air at Lynn Park. Approximately 20 people heard the gospel during the open air.
We did numerous 1-2-1’s through out the 4 hour period we spent at the festival. Jim, Ginger, and Matthew made up the first team. Walker, James, and myself made up the second team. It was great passing out tracts and sharing the gospel with my kids. Almost every time I looked around Jim was talking to someone or a group of people. From Just what I saw Jim shared with 7 people and I believe that he shared with at least that many I did not see.
I use the term 1-2-1, but many times that day two-four others were involved. All together between Jim and myself we shared the gospel verbally with 30-40 people.
One of the new things we tried was doing a interview on camera. Jim approached a pedestrian and asked if he could interview him on spiritual matters. The guy okayed it and Richard filmed the exchange. I did the same with two others, one of them used to be one of my students from BellSouth. The problem is that background noise makes it hard to hear the exchange, Jim’s interview turned out the best but hard to hear everything.
The last thing we did was infiltrate a peace rally/anti-war rally/anti-Bush rally. On the way to the van we noticed a peace rally at the Civil Rights Park. I sent Ginger on to the van with Walker (headache), Jim (who needed to leave). Richard, Misty, Matthew, and I went to the peace rally to give out some tracts. I got a chance to share the gospel with a group of teenagers about 5 all together I think.
Results
While I saw a lot of conviction in peoples faces, no one made a profession of faith. In the crowded areas I do not ask for a profession anymore, I just recommend they repent and place their faith in Christ soon. I give them a pocket sized New Testament and ask them to read the first 10 Chapters of John. I learned this lesson in Seattle, even when they say they want to accept the gift of eternal life, people have a hard time praying when their friends are standing there or even worse hundreds of people are walking around us.
Upcoming Events
Madison is having a street festival. Madison is near Huntsville. Oct. 1st
Please pray that God prepare their hearts to understand God’s word.
Pray that God sends His Spirit before us and with us and that He speaks through us.
Pray that God lift up fellow sowers and harvesters.
Oct. 8th
Harvest Festival – Headland Alabama.
Small festival we are praying to see if this festival or the Mobile festival is the one we should go to. I would prefer Mobile because of the Guaranteed large number of people.
BayFest – Mobile
This popular Mobile festival expects 200,00 people to attend. Ginger and I will go down if God provides the resources needed.
Pray that God provide the resources and fellow laborers needed.
Specifically pray for Gas money, food money, entrance fees. It may be possible that we can stay for free with friends that live an hour away.
Entrance Fee – 35$ per person if we take the kids then $140.00
Gas – Depends on price but at least $100.00 to be on safe side
Food – at least $150.00 ( I am sure it will be more, but I will go if we reach this amount)
Tracts - $.10 each. 200 would cost $20.00
Pocket Bibles – $1.25 each. 10 given away would cost $12.50
Therefore, we need $290.00 not counting the cost of tracts or pocket-sized bibles we give away. We already have enough of those I purchased before.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Monday, September 26, 2005
EBC-& update 7
EBC-7 Update 7
One last update covering our Monday activity and my trip home. I will probably talk about evangelism topics such as compassion etc. that will provide more information but this is my last post for EBC-7.
Monday morning we got up and had breakfast once again. After breakfast I retreated to my room to read my Bible reading, I am now in the Psalms and they are real good reading when preparing for spiritual warfare. After my personal Bible time, and prayer time I join the rest of the group.
They had formed a habit of praying for approximately an hour before leaving to witness. I have fallen in love with participating in the prayer meetings. I have never felt so in tune with others praying, I know it is the common goal and passion that is unifying this group. This is one of the two things I have missed most from the Seattle trip.
We could not take the monorail, it is closed. At the bus stop and on the way we are giving out tracts and doping 1-2-1’s. On the bus Bird preached the gospel. The bus driver did stop the bus after a few minutes to ask him to lower his voice. When we got off the bus we witnessed to the people there for about 15-20 minutes.
Once inside the festival area we began giving out tracts, 1-2-1’s, and open air preaching. One of my group, David, wanted to open air but had not done it before. I offered to tag team with him. He drew the crowd and I shared the gospel. I did one other open air that day. Neither one of those times did we have any unusual occurrences. I have yet to get a bad heckler, it could be because I am not praying for one to make the crowd larger. If that is the case, it will be awhile before I get a good heckler. I do not have the courage to pray for one yet, mainly because I know God is faithful and can provide more than I could hope to think or ask. It is the “more than I think to ask” that makes me not want to ask yet.
Heckler’s back side.
One of the other open air guys did get a good heckler. This guy used foul language, jesters, and at the end literally showed his read end. In case you are not aware literally means that some of us unlucky ones got a view of his naked behind. He continually called for people to fornicate, he actually used that word near the end, but used other more crude words in the beginning.
They good news is that he drew a large crowd of teenagers and young adults who I would consider to be Goths. They cheered him own and he had their respect. However what they did not realize that they were being exposed to the gospel. It also painted a stark contrast between our heckler and our preacher. It was like looking at two entirely different worlds. I even used that to ask some kids if the wanted to grow up to be like that man. The sad thing is that most said yes.
The best news is that after all was said and done one of the ladies in our group talked to our heckler. He grabber her hand (his mistake) and she began to talk to him. He started to protest, but she said “Sir I have listened to you for over 20 minutes, and now you are going to listen to me.” He tried to leave but she was now holding his hand. She kept on talking and he looked down. She asked him to look at her so he did so but making a joke of it. What she said next broke him down and stopped his mouth and led to a nice conversation. She said, “I love you, and I am going to be praying for you.” The words themselves only reflected the sincerity and truth in her heart. Our foul mouthed, mooning heckler felt love that day from someone he had offended and insulted just a few minutes earlier.
My Atheist groups
I talked to 2 separate groups of kids after open airs. It was kind of funny that both had three boys. They were atheist but kept asking questions. I had to admit that I could not answer all their questions and did feel bad. They even said since we could not answer all their questions then their blood is on our hands. I had to explain that they will be judged based on their actions and our inability to answer every question they had will not excuse them on the day of judgment. Since then I have thought more about what I could have said, and I will be prepared to offer a little more next time. I, however, believe that pride was they barrier to their faith and not lack of information.
Going Home
I was able to share the gospel with a lady between Spokane and Denver. She ended up being a professing believer and I have no reason to doubt. She had talked to me for probably an hour about her family. She is proud of her sons, and especially her 19 year old son. He is doing well with his work in computers.
After sharing the gospel, she told me her 19 year old did not believe in God. She poured out her heart and soul over her son’s eternal destiny. I was on the verge of crying with her. I told her to keep praying for her son, that God send someone to him that can show him who God is and what Christ did. I then asked her if I could pray for her, and all three of her children. She agreed so I prayed with her. I hope I was able to give her some comfort, and I will continue to pray for her and her son.
Arriving Home
I arrived home to late for my wife to drag the kids out of bed so I took a cab from the airport. Realizing that God was arranging things for me to talk to a car driver, I got my luggage and headed of to get a cab. I did find a cab and the driver was available to take me home. It turned out he was a Muslim. I thought to myself, God is trying to push me way beyond my fears and anxieties tonight.
While trying to decide how to open the subject, or if I would open the subject, my driver asked me a question. Here is the conversation to the best of my memory.
Driver: What do you do for work?
Franklin: I left work to pursue what the Lord has called me to do.
Driver : (not understanding) You are working for your father?
Franklin: I left my job to work for God. I am going to school to learn how to counsel families, husbands/wife and parents/children.
Driver: That is great! (He is smiling ear-to-ear)
Driver: Maybe you can tell me about my friend. He has a beautiful wife, but is cheating on her with an ugly girlfriend, why?
Franklin: Well, it is not that easy to say without more information, but I will take a stab at it. Usually a man does not cheat just for looks. The girlfriend ugly or otherwise might be giving him something his wife is not. Just like women can have their heads turned by a guy showing love, men can have their heads turned by a girl that shows them respect. The Bible commands Men to love their wives as Christ loved the church, and also that women respect their husbands. Neither one is earned nor deserved but commanded by God.
Driver: I see, I see.
Franklin: However that may not be the case here. Even if his wife is not showing respect, he is still sinning by committing adultery. The Law of Moses, given by God, says do not commit adultery.
Franklin: In fact, Jesus said that even to look at a woman with lust is to commit adultery in your heart.
Driver: Yes, Yes that is what I believe too.
I went on to give him the Good Test by asking if if he ever lied, stolen, or used God’s name in vain. I remember he had the first two not sure about the third one. I then explained that “all liars have their part in the lake of fire, no thieves or adulterers will enter the Kingdom of God.” I then explained the Jesus lived a sinless life and took our sins on himself. That we did the crime and Jesus paid the fine.
When all was said and done, he wanted to get together (both of our families) to talk to each other>
P.S.
My driver also asked why people here (Birmingham) went to church on Sunday but the bars on Friday and Saturday. I explained to him that some in the church are hypocrites, pretenders. That they pretend to be Christians on purpose or they falsely believe they are saved. I also explained that even real Christians also make mistakes sometimes.
One last update covering our Monday activity and my trip home. I will probably talk about evangelism topics such as compassion etc. that will provide more information but this is my last post for EBC-7.
Monday morning we got up and had breakfast once again. After breakfast I retreated to my room to read my Bible reading, I am now in the Psalms and they are real good reading when preparing for spiritual warfare. After my personal Bible time, and prayer time I join the rest of the group.
They had formed a habit of praying for approximately an hour before leaving to witness. I have fallen in love with participating in the prayer meetings. I have never felt so in tune with others praying, I know it is the common goal and passion that is unifying this group. This is one of the two things I have missed most from the Seattle trip.
We could not take the monorail, it is closed. At the bus stop and on the way we are giving out tracts and doping 1-2-1’s. On the bus Bird preached the gospel. The bus driver did stop the bus after a few minutes to ask him to lower his voice. When we got off the bus we witnessed to the people there for about 15-20 minutes.
Once inside the festival area we began giving out tracts, 1-2-1’s, and open air preaching. One of my group, David, wanted to open air but had not done it before. I offered to tag team with him. He drew the crowd and I shared the gospel. I did one other open air that day. Neither one of those times did we have any unusual occurrences. I have yet to get a bad heckler, it could be because I am not praying for one to make the crowd larger. If that is the case, it will be awhile before I get a good heckler. I do not have the courage to pray for one yet, mainly because I know God is faithful and can provide more than I could hope to think or ask. It is the “more than I think to ask” that makes me not want to ask yet.
Heckler’s back side.
One of the other open air guys did get a good heckler. This guy used foul language, jesters, and at the end literally showed his read end. In case you are not aware literally means that some of us unlucky ones got a view of his naked behind. He continually called for people to fornicate, he actually used that word near the end, but used other more crude words in the beginning.
They good news is that he drew a large crowd of teenagers and young adults who I would consider to be Goths. They cheered him own and he had their respect. However what they did not realize that they were being exposed to the gospel. It also painted a stark contrast between our heckler and our preacher. It was like looking at two entirely different worlds. I even used that to ask some kids if the wanted to grow up to be like that man. The sad thing is that most said yes.
The best news is that after all was said and done one of the ladies in our group talked to our heckler. He grabber her hand (his mistake) and she began to talk to him. He started to protest, but she said “Sir I have listened to you for over 20 minutes, and now you are going to listen to me.” He tried to leave but she was now holding his hand. She kept on talking and he looked down. She asked him to look at her so he did so but making a joke of it. What she said next broke him down and stopped his mouth and led to a nice conversation. She said, “I love you, and I am going to be praying for you.” The words themselves only reflected the sincerity and truth in her heart. Our foul mouthed, mooning heckler felt love that day from someone he had offended and insulted just a few minutes earlier.
My Atheist groups
I talked to 2 separate groups of kids after open airs. It was kind of funny that both had three boys. They were atheist but kept asking questions. I had to admit that I could not answer all their questions and did feel bad. They even said since we could not answer all their questions then their blood is on our hands. I had to explain that they will be judged based on their actions and our inability to answer every question they had will not excuse them on the day of judgment. Since then I have thought more about what I could have said, and I will be prepared to offer a little more next time. I, however, believe that pride was they barrier to their faith and not lack of information.
Going Home
I was able to share the gospel with a lady between Spokane and Denver. She ended up being a professing believer and I have no reason to doubt. She had talked to me for probably an hour about her family. She is proud of her sons, and especially her 19 year old son. He is doing well with his work in computers.
After sharing the gospel, she told me her 19 year old did not believe in God. She poured out her heart and soul over her son’s eternal destiny. I was on the verge of crying with her. I told her to keep praying for her son, that God send someone to him that can show him who God is and what Christ did. I then asked her if I could pray for her, and all three of her children. She agreed so I prayed with her. I hope I was able to give her some comfort, and I will continue to pray for her and her son.
Arriving Home
I arrived home to late for my wife to drag the kids out of bed so I took a cab from the airport. Realizing that God was arranging things for me to talk to a car driver, I got my luggage and headed of to get a cab. I did find a cab and the driver was available to take me home. It turned out he was a Muslim. I thought to myself, God is trying to push me way beyond my fears and anxieties tonight.
While trying to decide how to open the subject, or if I would open the subject, my driver asked me a question. Here is the conversation to the best of my memory.
Driver: What do you do for work?
Franklin: I left work to pursue what the Lord has called me to do.
Driver : (not understanding) You are working for your father?
Franklin: I left my job to work for God. I am going to school to learn how to counsel families, husbands/wife and parents/children.
Driver: That is great! (He is smiling ear-to-ear)
Driver: Maybe you can tell me about my friend. He has a beautiful wife, but is cheating on her with an ugly girlfriend, why?
Franklin: Well, it is not that easy to say without more information, but I will take a stab at it. Usually a man does not cheat just for looks. The girlfriend ugly or otherwise might be giving him something his wife is not. Just like women can have their heads turned by a guy showing love, men can have their heads turned by a girl that shows them respect. The Bible commands Men to love their wives as Christ loved the church, and also that women respect their husbands. Neither one is earned nor deserved but commanded by God.
Driver: I see, I see.
Franklin: However that may not be the case here. Even if his wife is not showing respect, he is still sinning by committing adultery. The Law of Moses, given by God, says do not commit adultery.
Franklin: In fact, Jesus said that even to look at a woman with lust is to commit adultery in your heart.
Driver: Yes, Yes that is what I believe too.
I went on to give him the Good Test by asking if if he ever lied, stolen, or used God’s name in vain. I remember he had the first two not sure about the third one. I then explained that “all liars have their part in the lake of fire, no thieves or adulterers will enter the Kingdom of God.” I then explained the Jesus lived a sinless life and took our sins on himself. That we did the crime and Jesus paid the fine.
When all was said and done, he wanted to get together (both of our families) to talk to each other>
P.S.
My driver also asked why people here (Birmingham) went to church on Sunday but the bars on Friday and Saturday. I explained to him that some in the church are hypocrites, pretenders. That they pretend to be Christians on purpose or they falsely believe they are saved. I also explained that even real Christians also make mistakes sometimes.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
EBC-7 Update
EBC Update 6
Sunday we where at the park as I mentioned in a previous post. I did my first opne air preaching of the weekend Sunday at the park. It was not the first one I ever did, I did two previously in Birmingham. It was however the first in Seattle, and it would be the first one I did in front of people that have experience doing it. So I had the normal fear and anxiety, added to the not wanting to mess up in front of my peers.
A young man from Mississippi, Wes, also wanted to do his first one that day. We had worked together the previous day on 1-2-1 witnessing and worked well together. We decided to tag team. I would draw the crowd and give the law. He would then give grace. I guess you could say good cop bad cop, or more truthfully bad good then good cop.
One of my fears was that my voice would not carry, people have a hard time hearing me because of projection and volume. My volume actually get worse when I get serious, and I find the gospel to be very serious. I was worried I would not carry very far, and the previous two times in Birmingham I had not carried very far.
When the time came and I jumped up to start drawing a crowd, my voice boomed and startled me. It was like it had not come out of my mouth. The crowd came and we where off to a good start. As I went through some trivia questions, and then selected a contender for the “good person test”, I noticed a Familiar man approaching. I realized that I had seen him the day before when he was loudly heckling the preacher at the Bumpershoot. God being graceful, and due to the prayers of those that recognized him, he did not say a word but sat down a few feet away from me.
After walking the “good person” through the “test” and showing her that I could not give her the money because like the rest of us she was not really all that good, I told her to hold on because Wes might be a little nicer.
Wes jumped up and began to share the concept of grace. He gave the woman the money even though she did not deserve it. He did say and do far more than recorded here. He did a great job, especially they way he handled the previously inactive heckler.
Mr. Heckler jumped up after I got down and walked in front of Wes. Wes calmly stepped forward to the edge of the ledge we where using. This prevented Mr. Heckler from coming between him and the crowd again. Not only did he do it calmly, he did not miss a beat preaching.
Then Mr. Heckler approached Wes trying to get him to move. Another sower placed herself between Wes and Mr. Heckler. She then danced in a semi circle behind Wes with Mr. Heckler. I and other sowers are continuously praying for the situation. Mark, a sower, ended up placing himself behind our female sower and Mr. Heckler because it was looking like he might hurt her. Mr. Heckler asked Mark if he knew what martial arts was, then lifted his foot in the air, kind of like a Karate Kid pose. Mark stepped closer, but staying clam and nice.
Mr. Heckler then slinks off, and Wes finishes just a few minutes later. This was another situation where the Christian showed gentleness (strength under control) to someone that was obviously sent by the enemy to distract and cause havoc.
Know for the best news. The Lady that I went through the “good person test” with, talked to our team leader afterwards. The actions by Mr. Heckler was used to show her how much someone did not want her and others to hear the message. She placed her faith and trust in Christ that day.
That day in the park, I talked to people and did share 1-2-1 but it felt off most of the day. I felt like I was not doing enough, that I was failing. Looking back I realized that it was teaching me that the number of people is not as important as the love and time I give each one. Every time I looked around I would see a seed sower talking to someone, many times for 30minutes or even an hour. I saw people praying together and I saw one of the shyest most reserved people I have ever met talking to more than 1 or 2 strangers that day.
I thank God for my time in the park. He gave my soul great comfort seeing that others were in the fight. I also found comfort that when I did not immediately respond the nudge to go and talk to someone another sower took my place. Along with the comfort that God will use someone else when I do not respond, I also was convicted to listen harder and respond quicker when God directed me to someone.
Sunday we where at the park as I mentioned in a previous post. I did my first opne air preaching of the weekend Sunday at the park. It was not the first one I ever did, I did two previously in Birmingham. It was however the first in Seattle, and it would be the first one I did in front of people that have experience doing it. So I had the normal fear and anxiety, added to the not wanting to mess up in front of my peers.
A young man from Mississippi, Wes, also wanted to do his first one that day. We had worked together the previous day on 1-2-1 witnessing and worked well together. We decided to tag team. I would draw the crowd and give the law. He would then give grace. I guess you could say good cop bad cop, or more truthfully bad good then good cop.
One of my fears was that my voice would not carry, people have a hard time hearing me because of projection and volume. My volume actually get worse when I get serious, and I find the gospel to be very serious. I was worried I would not carry very far, and the previous two times in Birmingham I had not carried very far.
When the time came and I jumped up to start drawing a crowd, my voice boomed and startled me. It was like it had not come out of my mouth. The crowd came and we where off to a good start. As I went through some trivia questions, and then selected a contender for the “good person test”, I noticed a Familiar man approaching. I realized that I had seen him the day before when he was loudly heckling the preacher at the Bumpershoot. God being graceful, and due to the prayers of those that recognized him, he did not say a word but sat down a few feet away from me.
After walking the “good person” through the “test” and showing her that I could not give her the money because like the rest of us she was not really all that good, I told her to hold on because Wes might be a little nicer.
Wes jumped up and began to share the concept of grace. He gave the woman the money even though she did not deserve it. He did say and do far more than recorded here. He did a great job, especially they way he handled the previously inactive heckler.
Mr. Heckler jumped up after I got down and walked in front of Wes. Wes calmly stepped forward to the edge of the ledge we where using. This prevented Mr. Heckler from coming between him and the crowd again. Not only did he do it calmly, he did not miss a beat preaching.
Then Mr. Heckler approached Wes trying to get him to move. Another sower placed herself between Wes and Mr. Heckler. She then danced in a semi circle behind Wes with Mr. Heckler. I and other sowers are continuously praying for the situation. Mark, a sower, ended up placing himself behind our female sower and Mr. Heckler because it was looking like he might hurt her. Mr. Heckler asked Mark if he knew what martial arts was, then lifted his foot in the air, kind of like a Karate Kid pose. Mark stepped closer, but staying clam and nice.
Mr. Heckler then slinks off, and Wes finishes just a few minutes later. This was another situation where the Christian showed gentleness (strength under control) to someone that was obviously sent by the enemy to distract and cause havoc.
Know for the best news. The Lady that I went through the “good person test” with, talked to our team leader afterwards. The actions by Mr. Heckler was used to show her how much someone did not want her and others to hear the message. She placed her faith and trust in Christ that day.
That day in the park, I talked to people and did share 1-2-1 but it felt off most of the day. I felt like I was not doing enough, that I was failing. Looking back I realized that it was teaching me that the number of people is not as important as the love and time I give each one. Every time I looked around I would see a seed sower talking to someone, many times for 30minutes or even an hour. I saw people praying together and I saw one of the shyest most reserved people I have ever met talking to more than 1 or 2 strangers that day.
I thank God for my time in the park. He gave my soul great comfort seeing that others were in the fight. I also found comfort that when I did not immediately respond the nudge to go and talk to someone another sower took my place. Along with the comfort that God will use someone else when I do not respond, I also was convicted to listen harder and respond quicker when God directed me to someone.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
EBC update 5
EBC -7 update 5
Saturday we went to the Bumper Shoot, as noted in a previous post. Sunday we spent the day at the waterfront near Pike Place Fish Market.
We had around 6 or 7 teams. Two of the teams, one of which I was on, went to a little park that overlooked the water. If you are on Pike street looking at Pike Place Fish Market and turned right, walked to where the street converges with two others, turned left, crossed street, you would be in the park.
The park layout consisted of a main walkway entrance. It was wide enough for 1.5 cars. A van was parked on the walkway when we first got their. It held equipment for a group that was setting up a tent.
The main walkway ended in a T. To the left was a covered area, and it wrapped back around to the street. To the right it went a couple city blocks and then turned back to the street.
We where going there to open air, do 1-2-1’s, and give out tracts. The leader of our sister team was considering leaving and going elsewhere. The reason was that the tent and van belong to the Church of Scientology. We where there for training and witnessing not debating. He talked to some gentlemen to see if it was okay to go back to Pike Street and do open air there. However, the final decision was to stay. I do have to mention that when we initially walked past the scientologist, one of them said “Here comes a bunch of Paul’s” It was interesting that in area that is largely un-churched they would recognize a bunch of Paul’s.
I am going to do two posts on Sunday, I am going to focus this one on our scientology encounters. We never mentioned them in our preaching, and I am unaware if it came up in any 1-2-1’s. We left them alone, and they did not bother us. However, we did have some 1-2-1 encounters with some of them. All of them cordial, and two of them funny.
Stress Test
They where offering a free stress test among other things. It was their draw to talk to people. One of our guys, my 16 year old room mate, decided to take the stress test. I know because I thought about doing, and when I looked over there he was taking it. I prayed for him, and asked a few others to lift him up and use it to witness to the Scientologist “minister”. I did comment that they would be hard pressed to find any stress in him, he looked so relaxed he could have been asleep.
My roommate told me what happened later. He was able to figure out how to make their machine show stress and not show stress. He was totally relaxed and after a series of question the guy asked him what stressed him out. My room mate told him that hell stressed him out as he manipulated the machine to make it show stress. The guy asked him what exactly about hell caused him stress. My fellow sower of seeds said, “the though of all these people going to hell.” The “minister” asked what takes the stress away. The seed sower said something along the lines of, the stress leaves when I remember that Jesus died so they could escape hell if they would trust in Him. The seed sower then relaxed the stress meter so it showed him calm again. They did this for a long time, and the “minister” kept trying to adjust knobs on his machine to fix the problem it was having.
My fellow seed sower, said that they guy’s face started showing fear as he began to realize he was not in control, and that God had fouled his machine up.
The guy that started these boot camps showed up with his team later. He also wanted to check his stress. He did not come with us, so they did not know he was with our group. He walks up and begins talking to the guy. The “minister” says to our leader,” I feel weird around you.” Our leader says, “that is because light and dark cannot be together. You are the dark and I have the light in me.” Our leader then asks the “minister”, “Can I still get a stress test?” The “minister” says, “no”. Our leader responds “Do you mind if I just sit here?” The response was no.
The other experience was not nearly as comical or interesting. I saw another one of our team talking to one of the “ministers.” He talked to him for a long time. I heard this minister ask our seed sower to walk with to get something to eat so they can continue talking.
While no debates or fights occurs, these “ministers” heard the gospel from the open air preachers at least 15 times that day. They came face to face to the face with this realization, He that is in us, is stronger than He that is in them. They had weird feelings, incredible machine malfunctions, and genuine love and caring showed to them. I would not be surprised if some of these “ministers” deny their faith due to a bunch of Paul’s.
I will tell some more of what happened that day in the park, but this had to be told first. I could not tell our park story with out mentioning them and I could not do those events justice with just a few lines.
P.S. Please pray that God sends people to water those seeds sown. That He helps them take root and grow to trees that bear fruit.
Saturday we went to the Bumper Shoot, as noted in a previous post. Sunday we spent the day at the waterfront near Pike Place Fish Market.
We had around 6 or 7 teams. Two of the teams, one of which I was on, went to a little park that overlooked the water. If you are on Pike street looking at Pike Place Fish Market and turned right, walked to where the street converges with two others, turned left, crossed street, you would be in the park.
The park layout consisted of a main walkway entrance. It was wide enough for 1.5 cars. A van was parked on the walkway when we first got their. It held equipment for a group that was setting up a tent.
The main walkway ended in a T. To the left was a covered area, and it wrapped back around to the street. To the right it went a couple city blocks and then turned back to the street.
We where going there to open air, do 1-2-1’s, and give out tracts. The leader of our sister team was considering leaving and going elsewhere. The reason was that the tent and van belong to the Church of Scientology. We where there for training and witnessing not debating. He talked to some gentlemen to see if it was okay to go back to Pike Street and do open air there. However, the final decision was to stay. I do have to mention that when we initially walked past the scientologist, one of them said “Here comes a bunch of Paul’s” It was interesting that in area that is largely un-churched they would recognize a bunch of Paul’s.
I am going to do two posts on Sunday, I am going to focus this one on our scientology encounters. We never mentioned them in our preaching, and I am unaware if it came up in any 1-2-1’s. We left them alone, and they did not bother us. However, we did have some 1-2-1 encounters with some of them. All of them cordial, and two of them funny.
Stress Test
They where offering a free stress test among other things. It was their draw to talk to people. One of our guys, my 16 year old room mate, decided to take the stress test. I know because I thought about doing, and when I looked over there he was taking it. I prayed for him, and asked a few others to lift him up and use it to witness to the Scientologist “minister”. I did comment that they would be hard pressed to find any stress in him, he looked so relaxed he could have been asleep.
My roommate told me what happened later. He was able to figure out how to make their machine show stress and not show stress. He was totally relaxed and after a series of question the guy asked him what stressed him out. My room mate told him that hell stressed him out as he manipulated the machine to make it show stress. The guy asked him what exactly about hell caused him stress. My fellow sower of seeds said, “the though of all these people going to hell.” The “minister” asked what takes the stress away. The seed sower said something along the lines of, the stress leaves when I remember that Jesus died so they could escape hell if they would trust in Him. The seed sower then relaxed the stress meter so it showed him calm again. They did this for a long time, and the “minister” kept trying to adjust knobs on his machine to fix the problem it was having.
My fellow seed sower, said that they guy’s face started showing fear as he began to realize he was not in control, and that God had fouled his machine up.
The guy that started these boot camps showed up with his team later. He also wanted to check his stress. He did not come with us, so they did not know he was with our group. He walks up and begins talking to the guy. The “minister” says to our leader,” I feel weird around you.” Our leader says, “that is because light and dark cannot be together. You are the dark and I have the light in me.” Our leader then asks the “minister”, “Can I still get a stress test?” The “minister” says, “no”. Our leader responds “Do you mind if I just sit here?” The response was no.
The other experience was not nearly as comical or interesting. I saw another one of our team talking to one of the “ministers.” He talked to him for a long time. I heard this minister ask our seed sower to walk with to get something to eat so they can continue talking.
While no debates or fights occurs, these “ministers” heard the gospel from the open air preachers at least 15 times that day. They came face to face to the face with this realization, He that is in us, is stronger than He that is in them. They had weird feelings, incredible machine malfunctions, and genuine love and caring showed to them. I would not be surprised if some of these “ministers” deny their faith due to a bunch of Paul’s.
I will tell some more of what happened that day in the park, but this had to be told first. I could not tell our park story with out mentioning them and I could not do those events justice with just a few lines.
P.S. Please pray that God sends people to water those seeds sown. That He helps them take root and grow to trees that bear fruit.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
EBC Update number 4
EBC Seattle Update 4
Sorry it took so long. I was going to post from hotel but they charged more than I was willing to pay for internet service. I also did not have time to be honest.
Woke up Saturday around 6am. Had breakfast then went back to room to pray and read scripture. I joined the rest of the group around 8:15 in the meeting room. They had been praying for 15 minutes. We started each day with prayer usually lasting an hour. After the prayer session, we got some tips on using tracts to start a 1-2-1 witness.
We left the hotel around 10:00 and headed for the monorail. We all passed out tracts along the way. One of the team did an open air on the monorail. It was cool. Of course some people where not happy and asked him to basically shut up, but he kept going.
We got to the bumber shoot and split up in teams. My team of 5 and a leader worked with another team of 5. We split up into two's just as the disciples did. This provides protection and allows encouragement. I was teamed up with a 21 year-old college student the first day.
He started the first conversation and shared the gospel with a gentleman named Pepper. Pepper had a friend named Andrew that was in and out, so he heard it as well. Pepper asked those vital questions about the people on a remote Island in the Land of the Lost that had not heard about Christ. We talked to him and his friend for about 30mn-hour.
Wes and I ended up talking to different people after lunch. We stayed within a few feet of each other while doing it. The first major witness I did was with Eric who is in the Army, I found out the Wes was witnessing to his friend Blaze just a few feet away. He let me ask him the million dollar question. "Are you good enough to go to heaven?" I do not remember what he said, but I asked him if I could ask him a few questions to see if he was a good person.
I used the Law of the Lord which is perfect for converting the soul. (Psalm 19:7). He showed sign of conviction so I told him what God did so that he would not have to go to hell. He did want to trust in Christ but He would not pray as thousand of people walked around us. I encouraged him to read the first 10 chapter of John, and settle this soon. Using the same method I was able to witness to Eric, Hayden and two of her friends, and some other people whose names are escaping me right now. The theme through out though was that either they would continue to deny the existence of God, or they would come under conviction but would not pray in the crowd to receive Christ.
I am not overly worried about praying to receive Christ. They can do that themselves, if they did understand that they need Christ to forgive their sins, they will not rest until they have placed their trust in Him.
Around 3 or 4 we began open air preaching. We wanted to get a feel for what the authorities thought first. It was a public place and the 1st Amendment in still on the books, but we also where not going to fight over it.
I was able to see about 4 or 5 different open air session Saturday evening and night. Also had a couple good hecklers that made the crowd larger. I will explain how we drew the crowd in a later post. We did have two really bad hecklers, I am going to talk about one now. Instead of just disagreeing or shouting (he did do that also) he was walking arou8nf with tarot cards and getting close to the open air guy. Getting in his face, but the stool does tend to keep them away. The guy looked rough and freaky.
I prayed, (as other where doing that was with us) that he would get saved, calm down, not be a threat, or go away. When a man walked up and started talking to him. He then engaged that man because of what he said. This man showed up two days later, his name was Jack, and took another heckler or two out by engaging them in conversation with him. I found out later that Jack has a Doctorate of Divinity and is a master of apologetics. Praise God that he was there and intervened. I also praise God that he held off until the heckler had done his part in taking a small to medium crowd into a medium or even large crowd.
We where originally going to leave between 5 and 6 pm to go back to hotel, but decided that to many people where there that needed to know Jesus. We stayed another couple of hours then headed back.
P.S. The monorail music was too loud on the way back to open air, I guess they new we where coming back.
The officials of the event ended up asking myself and a few others to not pass out tracts, but feel free to do open air and 1-2-1 is what she told me.
Sorry it took so long. I was going to post from hotel but they charged more than I was willing to pay for internet service. I also did not have time to be honest.
Woke up Saturday around 6am. Had breakfast then went back to room to pray and read scripture. I joined the rest of the group around 8:15 in the meeting room. They had been praying for 15 minutes. We started each day with prayer usually lasting an hour. After the prayer session, we got some tips on using tracts to start a 1-2-1 witness.
We left the hotel around 10:00 and headed for the monorail. We all passed out tracts along the way. One of the team did an open air on the monorail. It was cool. Of course some people where not happy and asked him to basically shut up, but he kept going.
We got to the bumber shoot and split up in teams. My team of 5 and a leader worked with another team of 5. We split up into two's just as the disciples did. This provides protection and allows encouragement. I was teamed up with a 21 year-old college student the first day.
He started the first conversation and shared the gospel with a gentleman named Pepper. Pepper had a friend named Andrew that was in and out, so he heard it as well. Pepper asked those vital questions about the people on a remote Island in the Land of the Lost that had not heard about Christ. We talked to him and his friend for about 30mn-hour.
Wes and I ended up talking to different people after lunch. We stayed within a few feet of each other while doing it. The first major witness I did was with Eric who is in the Army, I found out the Wes was witnessing to his friend Blaze just a few feet away. He let me ask him the million dollar question. "Are you good enough to go to heaven?" I do not remember what he said, but I asked him if I could ask him a few questions to see if he was a good person.
I used the Law of the Lord which is perfect for converting the soul. (Psalm 19:7). He showed sign of conviction so I told him what God did so that he would not have to go to hell. He did want to trust in Christ but He would not pray as thousand of people walked around us. I encouraged him to read the first 10 chapter of John, and settle this soon. Using the same method I was able to witness to Eric, Hayden and two of her friends, and some other people whose names are escaping me right now. The theme through out though was that either they would continue to deny the existence of God, or they would come under conviction but would not pray in the crowd to receive Christ.
I am not overly worried about praying to receive Christ. They can do that themselves, if they did understand that they need Christ to forgive their sins, they will not rest until they have placed their trust in Him.
Around 3 or 4 we began open air preaching. We wanted to get a feel for what the authorities thought first. It was a public place and the 1st Amendment in still on the books, but we also where not going to fight over it.
I was able to see about 4 or 5 different open air session Saturday evening and night. Also had a couple good hecklers that made the crowd larger. I will explain how we drew the crowd in a later post. We did have two really bad hecklers, I am going to talk about one now. Instead of just disagreeing or shouting (he did do that also) he was walking arou8nf with tarot cards and getting close to the open air guy. Getting in his face, but the stool does tend to keep them away. The guy looked rough and freaky.
I prayed, (as other where doing that was with us) that he would get saved, calm down, not be a threat, or go away. When a man walked up and started talking to him. He then engaged that man because of what he said. This man showed up two days later, his name was Jack, and took another heckler or two out by engaging them in conversation with him. I found out later that Jack has a Doctorate of Divinity and is a master of apologetics. Praise God that he was there and intervened. I also praise God that he held off until the heckler had done his part in taking a small to medium crowd into a medium or even large crowd.
We where originally going to leave between 5 and 6 pm to go back to hotel, but decided that to many people where there that needed to know Jesus. We stayed another couple of hours then headed back.
P.S. The monorail music was too loud on the way back to open air, I guess they new we where coming back.
The officials of the event ended up asking myself and a few others to not pass out tracts, but feel free to do open air and 1-2-1 is what she told me.
Friday, September 02, 2005
EBC 3rd update.
EBC 3rd update
Hi,
I am in my hotel in Seattle now. I am about to shower and join the rest of the people for dinner and briefing.
On the plane into Spokane I sat between Debbie and Kyle. I talked to Kyle before take off and found out a little about him. He is attending college in Seattle, Majoring in Media.
I discovered Debbie is from Virginia and traveling to Spokane to visit her daughter. She is a little heard of hearing, and I also tend to speak softly so I was reluctant to witness to her.
Kyle ended up with his hood over his head, listening to music through an Ipod. Debbie appeared asleep. I decided to write my previous post. I did try an witness to Debbie but her initial response let me know she was not interested in spiritual things.
Kyle pretty much stayed bundled up for the flight. I did give him a tract after landing.
I went to the bathroom and saw the flight attendants working on some number puzzles. I showed them the optical illusions tract and gave them each one. They responded well.
I got off the plane headed to my next plane which was not scheduled to leave until 5pm. It was a standby since my real plane was not leaving until 8pm. I walked past a boarding area that had a plane for Seattle leaving at 1:50. I hung around until they began boarding and asked the guy if he could get me on it.
I offered him a new crisp clean million dollar bill. It was not a bribe since it was not real, and he had already got me on the flight.
I sat by myself on that flight, but did give the flight attendant a tract on the way out. My driver in Seattle had a Christian background, but it was Catholic. I was not ready for that one but we did talk a little.
I will post later, keep praying for us.
Hi,
I am in my hotel in Seattle now. I am about to shower and join the rest of the people for dinner and briefing.
On the plane into Spokane I sat between Debbie and Kyle. I talked to Kyle before take off and found out a little about him. He is attending college in Seattle, Majoring in Media.
I discovered Debbie is from Virginia and traveling to Spokane to visit her daughter. She is a little heard of hearing, and I also tend to speak softly so I was reluctant to witness to her.
Kyle ended up with his hood over his head, listening to music through an Ipod. Debbie appeared asleep. I decided to write my previous post. I did try an witness to Debbie but her initial response let me know she was not interested in spiritual things.
Kyle pretty much stayed bundled up for the flight. I did give him a tract after landing.
I went to the bathroom and saw the flight attendants working on some number puzzles. I showed them the optical illusions tract and gave them each one. They responded well.
I got off the plane headed to my next plane which was not scheduled to leave until 5pm. It was a standby since my real plane was not leaving until 8pm. I walked past a boarding area that had a plane for Seattle leaving at 1:50. I hung around until they began boarding and asked the guy if he could get me on it.
I offered him a new crisp clean million dollar bill. It was not a bribe since it was not real, and he had already got me on the flight.
I sat by myself on that flight, but did give the flight attendant a tract on the way out. My driver in Seattle had a Christian background, but it was Catholic. I was not ready for that one but we did talk a little.
I will post later, keep praying for us.
EBC Update 2
EBC-7 2nd update
Thank you for those who have prayed for my flight plans.
My scheduled flight from Birmingham to Denver was scheduled to leave at 2:37pm. The 8:05 flight I was standing by for was over booked. However, after all the other passengers boarded, I was called to the desk and given a seat.
My scheduled Denver to Spokane flight will be leaving at 5:15pm Denver time. I was standing by for an 11:53am flight. It was also overbooked. I was called up to get a boarding pass minutes before boarding. Praise God.
I ask that you continue to pray I get the first available flight from Spokane to Seattle. It is important I get there in time for the 7pm meeting. So far God has opened the doors in impossible situations to bring me this far.
Evangelism in Denver
Between terminals, I stopped to get something to eat. Domino’s was the most appealing choice in the area I was stopped at. I talked to the cashier a little, and I left him with an Intelligence Test for the Thinking Person. It ask some tricky questions and one of them is How can a man who lied, stolen, murdered in his hear, committed adultery in his heart escape hell. It is second to last question, and the answers are on the backside of the quiz. What do you think the answer is?
I arrived at the terminal, plugged in my laptop to recharge the batteries. I also posted the last message. While my laptop was charging, and I was posting I began talking to a young man setting next to me. I had asked him how he was doing before I started posting, but it took him a few minutes to wake up (mentally zoned).
He shared with me he had just left boot camp. Actually, I had not asked how he was doing, I had asked if he was in the military. He had a brown envelope with his last name on it, just like one I had once upon a time. The lack of much hair, not balding like mine, but cut short.
I talked to him for around 15-30minutes. I probably do not have to mention that a quite voice began admonishing me. I finished my post, turned off the laptop so Icould focus on him. He is having problems with his knee and passing his physical fitness tests in the military.
I finally obey the voice, and ask him if I can ask him a couple of personal questions. He gave me permission so I asked a question to diagnose if he had assurance he was going to heaven. He was sure.
I then asked him a question to determine what he was trusting in for salvation. He was trusting in God’s love. Between the questions I had alreadys asked if I could share with how I knew I would go to heaven. He said okay so I was able to proceed into sharing the gospel with him.
He later said he was trusting in Jesus. I do use anecdotes to help him see the difference between trusting in Jesus and intellectual assent to the fact Jesus is the Son of God. He believes he is saved and since he did not try and argue a works based answer I had accept his word for it.
We talked for a little while. He asked me what about the 2 day old babies that die, do they go to heaven. He also talked about seeing people auras, having the ability to dream about future things. He says his powers are underdeveloped but he is considering finding a teacher to help him develop his natural abilities. The abilities we all have locked away.
I suggested that he read his bible. I suggested not looking into advancing his abilities. He said they where comingout with a new bible,a complete bible with all the missing books. I suggested he study the one he has thoroughly before checking out new ones.
It was very hard to try to find a non attacking way of saying, “you are playing into the devil’s hand”, “or these powers you seek will open you up to demonic attack.”
The important thins is I shared God truth and the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is really the only thing I can do. God has to open his eyes, and give understanding. Please pray for the young man. I will not post his name here, but God know who he is.
I am going to have to go, I am seating between two people. I have already said hello, but I have to attempt to share the gospel before landing. I do not want to bother them, but is it really bothering someone when you share the only way that they can avoid eternal punishment in a lake of fire where the worm does not dies, and the fire is not quenched. A place of gnashing teeth and utter darkness.
P.S. It is Hell not a Christless eternity, or eternal separation from God.
Thank you for those who have prayed for my flight plans.
My scheduled flight from Birmingham to Denver was scheduled to leave at 2:37pm. The 8:05 flight I was standing by for was over booked. However, after all the other passengers boarded, I was called to the desk and given a seat.
My scheduled Denver to Spokane flight will be leaving at 5:15pm Denver time. I was standing by for an 11:53am flight. It was also overbooked. I was called up to get a boarding pass minutes before boarding. Praise God.
I ask that you continue to pray I get the first available flight from Spokane to Seattle. It is important I get there in time for the 7pm meeting. So far God has opened the doors in impossible situations to bring me this far.
Evangelism in Denver
Between terminals, I stopped to get something to eat. Domino’s was the most appealing choice in the area I was stopped at. I talked to the cashier a little, and I left him with an Intelligence Test for the Thinking Person. It ask some tricky questions and one of them is How can a man who lied, stolen, murdered in his hear, committed adultery in his heart escape hell. It is second to last question, and the answers are on the backside of the quiz. What do you think the answer is?
I arrived at the terminal, plugged in my laptop to recharge the batteries. I also posted the last message. While my laptop was charging, and I was posting I began talking to a young man setting next to me. I had asked him how he was doing before I started posting, but it took him a few minutes to wake up (mentally zoned).
He shared with me he had just left boot camp. Actually, I had not asked how he was doing, I had asked if he was in the military. He had a brown envelope with his last name on it, just like one I had once upon a time. The lack of much hair, not balding like mine, but cut short.
I talked to him for around 15-30minutes. I probably do not have to mention that a quite voice began admonishing me. I finished my post, turned off the laptop so Icould focus on him. He is having problems with his knee and passing his physical fitness tests in the military.
I finally obey the voice, and ask him if I can ask him a couple of personal questions. He gave me permission so I asked a question to diagnose if he had assurance he was going to heaven. He was sure.
I then asked him a question to determine what he was trusting in for salvation. He was trusting in God’s love. Between the questions I had alreadys asked if I could share with how I knew I would go to heaven. He said okay so I was able to proceed into sharing the gospel with him.
He later said he was trusting in Jesus. I do use anecdotes to help him see the difference between trusting in Jesus and intellectual assent to the fact Jesus is the Son of God. He believes he is saved and since he did not try and argue a works based answer I had accept his word for it.
We talked for a little while. He asked me what about the 2 day old babies that die, do they go to heaven. He also talked about seeing people auras, having the ability to dream about future things. He says his powers are underdeveloped but he is considering finding a teacher to help him develop his natural abilities. The abilities we all have locked away.
I suggested that he read his bible. I suggested not looking into advancing his abilities. He said they where comingout with a new bible,a complete bible with all the missing books. I suggested he study the one he has thoroughly before checking out new ones.
It was very hard to try to find a non attacking way of saying, “you are playing into the devil’s hand”, “or these powers you seek will open you up to demonic attack.”
The important thins is I shared God truth and the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is really the only thing I can do. God has to open his eyes, and give understanding. Please pray for the young man. I will not post his name here, but God know who he is.
I am going to have to go, I am seating between two people. I have already said hello, but I have to attempt to share the gospel before landing. I do not want to bother them, but is it really bothering someone when you share the only way that they can avoid eternal punishment in a lake of fire where the worm does not dies, and the fire is not quenched. A place of gnashing teeth and utter darkness.
P.S. It is Hell not a Christless eternity, or eternal separation from God.
EBC-7 Update
Good Morning Alabama,
I am currently a few thousand feet in the air on my way to Seattle Washington. I will not be able to post this until I land in Denver, but if I do not take the time to write this update now I will forget to do it. If I could remember to do it later, I would remember any details.
Background
In case you are unaware, I am going to Seattle to participate in a 4 day evangelistic outreach. Seattle was chosen, more than likely, because of a major festival they are having this weekend. The official title for the outreach is Evangelism Boot Camp hosted by GNN. GNN has invited 75 people to practice handing out tracts, 1-2-1 witnessing, and open air preaching.
The main reason I am attending is to watch, learn, and practice open air preaching. Four months ago, I was at 5pts South and had a strange though go through my mind. I wondered what it would be like to jump up on a park bench and preach the gospel. I quickly shook my head to clear that nasty thought, and continued doing 1-2-1 evangelism with friends, relatives, and strangers.
As the months went by, the crazy thought kept recurring. Eventually I decided to give in and try it. Around a month ago, I stood up at 5 Points south and preached for the first time. A week later, I repeated the incident. I will go over details on those in a different post.
I learned to share the gospel using Evangelism Explosion. I incorporated part of the Way of the Master technique, specifically using the Law to bring about conviction in those that where sure they could earn their way to heaven. I learned of the Evangelism Boot Camps from http://www.wayofthemaster.com/ and had wrestled with attending. Once I submitted to following God’s plan for me to open air preach I decided I had to go. There is no other group I know of that does open air, especially holding true to the entire Gospel. I am not saying others are not using scripture, I mean they have forsaken God’s Law as the schoolmaster to bring sinners to Christ. The Holy Spirit guided the Psalmist in recording “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul…”(Psalm 19:7) and yet we chose to remove the Law from evangelism. The Holy Spirit once again guided Paul in teaching us “the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24) and we have chosen to banish the schoolmaster from our evangelism classrooms.
Praises and Prayer
I was unable to get a flight that arrived by the beginning of the “mandatory” first session. I went to the airport early and am trying to fly standby. At this minute I am onboard a flight to Denver. My orgional flight was to leave at 2:37pm I was able to catch the 8:05 flight thanks to God and those who prayed He would allow me to leave earlier.
During the check-in and arranging to fly standby, I was able to meet a very nice lady named Melissa. She was working the counter at United and was very diligent in arranging an earlier flight. The last time I flew the check in person tracked my group down because we had to not left a tip. Not wanting to be embarrassed again I asked her if she was allowed to take tips. She was unable to take a tip. I told her if she could not take a tip, then I was going to have to give her a million dollar bill. She was excited to take the million dollar bill. I informed her a million dollar question was on the back on the bill and left her to read it when she had a chance.
At the second check point, the one before the x-ray, I had my ID and boarding pass checked by a nice lady. While she was checking things out a gave her partner a million dollars. The lady helping me was upset she had not received her million, so I pulled out my last one (on me) and gave it to her.
Shortly after take off I had to make a restroom visit. I noticed a couple kids while I was waiting. When I finished I stopped and showed their mom the “optical illusion tract”. I gave it to her to play with the kids, and told her the instructions where on the back. The instructions tell how to use the card, explains our eyes plays tricks but we would not sell them for great sums of money. This starts in the natural the eyes, and then goes into spiritual things by quoting what Jesus said about the eyes, and then proceeds into the gospel.
I had another illusion tract and I shared it with the flight attendant. She thought it was cool, I gave it to her. She glanced at the instructions and gave it back quickly.
I praise God for using is loyal servants to provide the airline tickets, money for the tracts, food, etc... on this trip.
I praise God for making the way for me to fly out of B’ham on an early flight.
I am currently still scheduled to arrive at the same time in Seattle.
I need you to pray that in Denver I can get an earlier flight onto Seattle.
I need you to lift up my wife and children to God. Pray that he protect them from physical harm and spiritual attack.
I need you to ask God to give me boldness to proclaim the gospel.
Ask God to give me the wisdom to know what exactly needs to be said.
Pray that God prepare the hearts and minds of those in Seattle (and along the way) to listen and understand the gospel.
Please lift up all the participants in the Evangelism Boot Camp in the same way, and any other prayers or request God might place in your heart.
Thank You for your support.
P.S.
I hope to make updates during my airport stops, and then at least once a day. Please check back frequently.
I am currently a few thousand feet in the air on my way to Seattle Washington. I will not be able to post this until I land in Denver, but if I do not take the time to write this update now I will forget to do it. If I could remember to do it later, I would remember any details.
Background
In case you are unaware, I am going to Seattle to participate in a 4 day evangelistic outreach. Seattle was chosen, more than likely, because of a major festival they are having this weekend. The official title for the outreach is Evangelism Boot Camp hosted by GNN. GNN has invited 75 people to practice handing out tracts, 1-2-1 witnessing, and open air preaching.
The main reason I am attending is to watch, learn, and practice open air preaching. Four months ago, I was at 5pts South and had a strange though go through my mind. I wondered what it would be like to jump up on a park bench and preach the gospel. I quickly shook my head to clear that nasty thought, and continued doing 1-2-1 evangelism with friends, relatives, and strangers.
As the months went by, the crazy thought kept recurring. Eventually I decided to give in and try it. Around a month ago, I stood up at 5 Points south and preached for the first time. A week later, I repeated the incident. I will go over details on those in a different post.
I learned to share the gospel using Evangelism Explosion. I incorporated part of the Way of the Master technique, specifically using the Law to bring about conviction in those that where sure they could earn their way to heaven. I learned of the Evangelism Boot Camps from http://www.wayofthemaster.com/ and had wrestled with attending. Once I submitted to following God’s plan for me to open air preach I decided I had to go. There is no other group I know of that does open air, especially holding true to the entire Gospel. I am not saying others are not using scripture, I mean they have forsaken God’s Law as the schoolmaster to bring sinners to Christ. The Holy Spirit guided the Psalmist in recording “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul…”(Psalm 19:7) and yet we chose to remove the Law from evangelism. The Holy Spirit once again guided Paul in teaching us “the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24) and we have chosen to banish the schoolmaster from our evangelism classrooms.
Praises and Prayer
I was unable to get a flight that arrived by the beginning of the “mandatory” first session. I went to the airport early and am trying to fly standby. At this minute I am onboard a flight to Denver. My orgional flight was to leave at 2:37pm I was able to catch the 8:05 flight thanks to God and those who prayed He would allow me to leave earlier.
During the check-in and arranging to fly standby, I was able to meet a very nice lady named Melissa. She was working the counter at United and was very diligent in arranging an earlier flight. The last time I flew the check in person tracked my group down because we had to not left a tip. Not wanting to be embarrassed again I asked her if she was allowed to take tips. She was unable to take a tip. I told her if she could not take a tip, then I was going to have to give her a million dollar bill. She was excited to take the million dollar bill. I informed her a million dollar question was on the back on the bill and left her to read it when she had a chance.
At the second check point, the one before the x-ray, I had my ID and boarding pass checked by a nice lady. While she was checking things out a gave her partner a million dollars. The lady helping me was upset she had not received her million, so I pulled out my last one (on me) and gave it to her.
Shortly after take off I had to make a restroom visit. I noticed a couple kids while I was waiting. When I finished I stopped and showed their mom the “optical illusion tract”. I gave it to her to play with the kids, and told her the instructions where on the back. The instructions tell how to use the card, explains our eyes plays tricks but we would not sell them for great sums of money. This starts in the natural the eyes, and then goes into spiritual things by quoting what Jesus said about the eyes, and then proceeds into the gospel.
I had another illusion tract and I shared it with the flight attendant. She thought it was cool, I gave it to her. She glanced at the instructions and gave it back quickly.
I praise God for using is loyal servants to provide the airline tickets, money for the tracts, food, etc... on this trip.
I praise God for making the way for me to fly out of B’ham on an early flight.
I am currently still scheduled to arrive at the same time in Seattle.
I need you to pray that in Denver I can get an earlier flight onto Seattle.
I need you to lift up my wife and children to God. Pray that he protect them from physical harm and spiritual attack.
I need you to ask God to give me boldness to proclaim the gospel.
Ask God to give me the wisdom to know what exactly needs to be said.
Pray that God prepare the hearts and minds of those in Seattle (and along the way) to listen and understand the gospel.
Please lift up all the participants in the Evangelism Boot Camp in the same way, and any other prayers or request God might place in your heart.
Thank You for your support.
P.S.
I hope to make updates during my airport stops, and then at least once a day. Please check back frequently.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Seattle EBC-7
I am leaving for Seattle Washington Friday Sept. 2nd 2005.
The purpose of the trip is to participate in an Evangelism Boot Camp. A group of 75 people will converge on Seattle and share the gospel one-2-one, open air preaching, and by giving out tracts. The main reason I am going is to practice open air preaching. Having others show me how they do it and analyzing my presentation will help me do a better job serving the Lord.
For more information got to GNN's website. http://www.thegreatnews.com/ebc.html
Please pray that I have boldness of speech, and that God prepares the hearts and minds of those we encounter
Please pray for God's protection of my family while I am gone.
I will bring back pictures and stories so come back here next week,
The purpose of the trip is to participate in an Evangelism Boot Camp. A group of 75 people will converge on Seattle and share the gospel one-2-one, open air preaching, and by giving out tracts. The main reason I am going is to practice open air preaching. Having others show me how they do it and analyzing my presentation will help me do a better job serving the Lord.
For more information got to GNN's website. http://www.thegreatnews.com/ebc.html
Please pray that I have boldness of speech, and that God prepares the hearts and minds of those we encounter
Please pray for God's protection of my family while I am gone.
I will bring back pictures and stories so come back here next week,
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