He thanked us for witnessing.

Last night was my first time going out evangelizing with Jesus Freaks.  I had a good time and it felt very good to serve / obey God in this way.  I was partnered with Mark, our elder.  We talked to about 8 people. 

The first man that we talked to was sitting on a bench with his son waiting for someone.  He seemed appreciative that we were talking to him and understood why we were, but he was not open to receiving Jesus.  He said that he believed in a higher power but didn't know who that was.  We presented him the gospel and wished him a Merry Christmas.

One of Mark's witnessing tools was a group of pictures that he shows the person and asks which picture represents their life, which one represents God, and finally which represents what God is doing in their life.  One of the next people we talked to knew that we were witnessing and said "I don't think (talking about the pictures) that's necessary.  I'm already saved."  Mark wasn't satisfied with that answer but after a few more questions Mark believed him.  He thanked us for witnessing.  It was good to meet a fellow believer!

Another group of people I talked with spoke Spanish.  With my limited Spanish I asked them if they were Christians, they said yes, then I told them that I was too and that they were my sisters and brother.  The smiled and said "si!" and I told them Feliz Navidad.

One person that Mark and I talked to told us he didn't want to talk to us at all.  A separate group of 4 teenage boys also were not interested.  One said that he went to a Lutheran church but that he was not a very devoted Christian.

The most exciting conversation we had was with a group of three young men who are freshmen in college.  They are here for hockey.  One is from Alaska, two are from California.  They enjoyed the pictures from Mark and seriously thought about their answers.  All of them had gone to church at least a few times and two of them said they were Christians.  We found out that they do not go to church here in MN and one of them was very honest (which I appreciated) and said that it was hard to be a Christian and be in the world at the same time.  We told him that this doesn't change as you get older, light heatedly.    I sent the leader of the group my email address and invited them to church.  I have a friend who run an FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) hockey ministry here in MN and I told them about it.  They got very excited about it and I gave them the contact information for my friend. I also gave my friend who runs the FCA hockey ministry their email info.  My hope and prayer is that the do join the FCA league and grown closer to God as they do the bible studies that are part of that and have fellowship with more "on fire" believers.

I also spoke to a Chinese man who had a hard time hearing me and understanding English when he could hear me.  I did learn that he likes Jesus, has a Chinese bible, but doesn't go to church and doesn't plan to.  I encouraged him to read one of the gospels in his Bible this Christmas season.  It was the seed that I felt like I could plant and I hope God waters it.  As our conversation ended he seemed really grateful that I talked to him and he said "I wish you good luck!". 

I felt like we got a lot done in the couple of hours that we were there and I am looking forward to doing this again.


Matt

Jesus Freak

This is a biblical description of a Jesus Freak.

2 Corinthians 6:
⁴ but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships,

 calamities, ⁵ beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; ⁶ by purity, knowledge, 

patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; ⁷ by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the 

weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; ⁸ through honor and dishonor, through slander 

and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; ⁹ as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and 

behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; ¹⁰ as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making 

many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.



Mark16:15
 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

The fruit of endurance

                                                           

  The essential ingredient of being a true follower of Christ is to having the ability to endure the pain, suffering, and persecution for His sake. We all, at one point or another, feel victimized or thinking that our sufferings and heartaches are massively insurmountable. It’s quite understandable to feel that way, but as followers of Christ, we need to view our suffering within the purview of Christianity and within the framework of our commitment to Christ. It means that we are not of this world even though, we live in it, but we are from a world that is above these mundane human –made trivialities and the superficial wounds and aches that we may sustain during our temporal citizenship here on earth.

Paul‘s suffering is the epitome of who we ought to be as followers of Christ and how to fight the adversity and yet remain content and spiritually unshakable.

Read what Paul says, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel,⁹ for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. ¹⁰ Therefore I endure everything for the [sake of the elect] that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory” 2 Timothy 2: 8-10

Paul’s suffering and his enduring character must encourage us to stand tall while we are boldly preaching the gospel in the face of all the adversities.

We must endure all the unjust causes for Christ’s sake, and then we’ll clearly see the fruits of our endurance blossoming into love, and compassion for those who unjustly caused us pain and suffering. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” Matthew 5: 11-12

From a worldly vantage point, it’s easy to rebel and fight back against those who inflict pains upon us but Christ taught us to confront it with love and compassion and be happy because our reward will be great in HEAVEN.

Amen,

Barukzoy 

The unmerited love of God is called Grace

It simply means we don’t have anything attractive within us to be loved by God, it means we cannot earn love and His mercy; it means we don’t have intrinsic capacities to be loved by God. He chose to love us by His own volition& will. This divine love is called “Grace”. It’s profound and it must change the very depth of who we are as human beings. The grace of God is so powerful that can renew the mind and regenerate our selfish heart.

I am talking about the substantive aspect of God’s grace.I am not interested in the stylistic presentation of grace by nonchalantly saying, we are saved by God’s grace alone; therefore, we can do whatever our fleshes crave for because God loves us. That is not God’s grace! That is merely an infatuation with the concept of grace; having that kind of superficial attitudes perverts the very divine nobility of God’s grace.

Grace is when God decides to provide you and I with His mercy and love in order to see the work of His son on the cross; so we can become transformed by it and transmit that love and grace to others around us.

When God gives us His grace, we must become sanctified that is to say we are not going to associate with the temporal and lustful things of this world. It is, however, going to be a challenge for us to separate ourselves, but we have the spiritual weapons to abort those worldly thoughts that may perversely entertain our minds.

God’s grace is sufficient for us through whom we will come to know our Lord and have a relationship with Him, through whom we see the redeeming work of Christ. Christ is the very essence of God’s grace meaning Christ is the grace Himself and He wants to clothe us through it. There is nothing we can do to earn it, it’s completely unmerited and that is the divine mystery of His volition and will. We will know when we have God’s grace in our lives; because it changes us and it produces abundant fruits.

God’s Grace in our life equals to love, mercy, forgiveness, tolerance, patience, understanding, respect, and compassion. Our lack of enthusiasm to manifest these qualities in our daily life is the paramount evidence that we severely need God’s grace.

Hence, I urge you to come to Him in humility so He can grant you His riches grace that is so pure and life transforming.

Barukzoy

The Unjustified can become justified through Christ

 

The holiness of God demands justice; conversely, his grace provides mercy, love, and compassion. He determines our faith; He grants us a regenerate heart. According to prophet Isaiah “all our righteous works are like filthy rags" Isaiah 64:6

 

In reality, what he's saying is that we are culpable down to the core, we're filthy and sinful. The apostle Paul said, “There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, there is no who seeks God, all turned a way , they've together become worthless; there is no who does good, not even one" Romans 3:10-12.

In the Judicial theater of God, we are all charged with treason, corruption, deception, duplicity and sinfulness. Hence, the verdict is death and we definitely deserve it. No one can save us and there is nothing we can do to meet the standard of God's holiness except to accept His wrath, indignation and ultimately His divine judgment.

Every religions in the world seeks to please God through some form of ritualistic or ceremonial practices such as sacrificing animals , Ramadan ( fasting), giving alms, praying five times a day , meditative prayers, yoga, etc. It's a noble thing to be an altruistic humanitarian, helping our fellow brothers and sisters, and doing all sort of charitable works but that cannot change our corrupt hearts, our good works can not reverse God's judicial verdict nor propitiate God's wrath.

Therefore, the question is: what can we do to become justified? It's not a matter of carnal rehabilitation to advance our case in the divinely court of God ; it is the spiritual birth which grants us access to our redeemer whose divine nature regenerates our filthy hearts, renew our minds and then continues to sanctify us. That divine redeemer is Jesus Christ, He is our advocate before God, He's our purifier, and He is the only way to heaven. "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ" 2 Corinthians 5; 21

God's holiness demands justice and His justice is divinely righteous and we are unjustified before Him through our own merits but through Christ we become justified and He becomes gracious, merciful, and a forgiving God.
^"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life". John 3:16

Believing in Christ is an action which requires a complete surrendering of our life to Him, not merely knowing Him intellectually ; it's accepting Him and believing in His accomplished work on the cross, it's like saying " I don't live anymore, but Christ lives in me through Him I live again " . We then become justified and then through the power of the Holy Spirit we see the mortification of the sin within us that is called Sanctification.

 

In other words, Sanctification is the process of being set apart for God's work and being conformed to the image of Christ. This conforming to Christ involves the work of the person and his or her believability & faith in Christ which is still the work of God.

 

This is a divine mystery which is way beyond our comprehension and God revealed His son to us through faith we can be saved and justified.

You are all loved

Barukzoy

What do we value more?

Am I a True Christian When Nobody’s Watching Me?

I normally get up at 5 O’clock in the morning to get ready for work; this particular morning I got up at 4 O’clock and then I did my morning devotional prayer. As I was praying, the question of “am I truly a follower of Christ if no one is watching me crossed my mind? I felt convicted right on the spot as this thought digging through inside of my head. I think this is rather an essential question that we as Christians ought to ask ourselves. Are we genuinely following Christ’s mandate in our daily lives? I know I haven’t been perfect and probably will never be able to attain a plateau of righteousness or perfection. My walk with Christ has to be practical in order to honor Him and give Him the glory that He deserves. I can’t preach the gospel sincerely if I am lacking the ability to apply what Jesus expects from me to do in my personal life.

Generally speaking, we’re all perfect Christians when we are being watched whether it’s in Church or in any other social settings for that matter. We also act so perfectly towards each other with compassion and love when we are interacting with one another in plain view. Conversely, in our private lives we are not who we ought to be at least that is how I feel and I am sure some of you probably feel the same way.

Are we still saved when we are not who we ought to be in private life as Christians? The answer is categorically NO! I say this with authority because the gospel is very clear on this issue. Read what Paul said "Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, nor backstabber shall inherit the kingdom of God." Corinthians 6:9-10.

A consistent pattern of any of the above sins can rob us from the kingdom of God. I know some of you Christians may disagree with me on this issue, by saying, Jesus died on the cross while we were sinners. That may very well be, but we need to change and feel guilty and shameful when our private life is in contrary to what the bible teaches. The pastors as the leaders of the Church must preach the applicability of the gospel in our life not just focusing on what went wrong in ancient cities such as Corinth, Ephesus, Thessalonica, and Philippi. Paul’s epistles to various churches addressed the very same fundamentally moral and spiritual issues that we as Christians need to address. If we are not practical Christians or not being genuine Christians in our private lives then we have no business to call ourselves the followers of Christ.

Being a Christian is not to be a player to get engaged in some games to win the hearts and minds of the unbelievers for Christ ; being a Christian is to practice the gospel and walk with Christ daily not just on Sunday’s in Churches but every day in the rest of our days . The question is: Do you pass the litmus test of being a genuine Christian in your private life particularly, when nobody is watching you? You need to focus on this question ,and I am confident that the Holy Spirit will reveal to you what needs to be revealed.

You’re all loved.

Farhad

at the MOA

Last night was really eye opening, and we pray fruitful.

We hit the Mall of America, where people were busy getting ready to celebrate Christmas.   And they were looking for gifts - for a deal. But only one which we spoke to were looking unto the free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ as Lord.

 

Mike brought the verse in Isaiah 53:5 "But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." 

We used that with everyone whom we spoke with, asking them to read it, and then asking them if they knew of Whom it spoke.  And it was a wonderful lead-in to share the Gospel. 

 

We spoke to a man and asked if he could name ten things associated with Christmas.  Gifts, trees, bows, lights....not one mention of the meaning, until prompted.  The world has hijacked the birth of the Messiah, and with it they have stolen the message of the Gospel, and replaced it with social justice and with things of this world. But what our culture has done with Christmas should give each of us a season of automatic "prompts" to speak of His Word.

 

We had a rather "international" night.  By choice, or "target," so to speak. 

 

We spoke to one muslim woman, who seemed almost frightened as we shared with her, but was listening with intent and took a Bible with gratefulness - tucking it into her purse quickly. 

 

 We spoke to Ming and his mom, from Cambodia, who listened with great interest, and wanted the Bible that we gave him

 

We spoke to a Lebanese "Christian," by his own admission, who, upon greater questioning thought that all religions were similar, and that Jesus was born a man, but evolved into God.  He denied that Jesus was the only way, truth and life, and was adamantly opposed to the truth that Jesus was the I AM of the Old Testament.  He was respectful, and I pray that seeds fell on soil that the Lord had prepared, and if not, I pray that the Word of God will continue to be a thorn in his side, provoking him to question what he heard until God gets his heart.  

 

 We spoke to a couple who had a joy that was evident, and were convicted and firm in Jesus Christ as Lord.  The woman's parents were missionaries in Laos. 

 

We spoke to Cedar and her friend (14 and 16) who had never heard the Gospel, although they had heard of the cross.  They listened with intent and heard - I pray for their hearts to yield. 

 

And we spoke with two hindu's, who had never heard the Gospel message, and were skeptical, but took a Gospel track (one of the two).  The one, who was clearly unable to see any sin (Hindu's define sin as actions which hurt another, a clever disguise of the enemy to redefine sin and allow us to remain in delusion, thus a lie is not a sin unless it hurts another) would not even touch the Gospel track.  It was too convicting, which validated that the law had done it's job

 

We "ran into" two young pups that used to be discipled by Mike, and had a wonderful time speaking with them, to be followed with a meeting of Matthew - one of the original Freaks. 

 

 And in the Mall of that size, on the busiest shopping day of the year, it validated the Jewish saying that "coincidence is not a kosher word." 

 

It was a great night.  It was not the streets, but it was also not the temperature of the streets, and of the people we got to share, they were all awake, alert, and we pray receptive to the Gospel. 

 

I am so very thankful that we still are able to speak openly of the single greatest gift of grace that this universe has ever experienced. 

 

And I pray that every person in Christ will be emboldened, encouraged, and convicted to share the Gospel with a world that is perishing.

 

Blessings to each of you. 

The Freaks

stand on God's truth

My initial contact with the Jesus Freaks was kind of a friend of a friend of a friend connection. John, a friend of mine, got a last minute email about evangelism at the Anoka Halloween Parade from someone else, and they had a contact named Andy. I contacted Andy and said I couldn't make the parade, but wanted to know more about the Jesus Freaks. He said Mike was the one to talk to. Finally, Mike and I corresponded via email, and I expressed that I was interested in joining them as I am able. Mike was very enthusiastic.

Friday night, November 9th we headed downtown Minneapolis. Now I live up near Cambridge, MN and have contact with a lot of Swedes, Lutherans, etc. And even though I had been recently doing some evangelism at the MN National College Fair outside the Mpls Convention Center, I hadn't been downtown in a couple of years, so I felt a little rusty. But just being out with some brothers and a sister who have hearts for evangelism was so encouraging as it's hard to find other street evangelists to minister with - "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." (Mt. 9:37)

The evening was fruitful as our group had many conversations about salvation and we handed out numerous tracts to others that didn't engage in conversation. Some conversations were very peaceful, while one in particular, Jessica, was quite contentious and explosive. (Please pray for Jessica.) We also spoke with some Muslims and Dewey, a homeless man from Ohio. Besides discussing salvation with Dewey, I took the opportunity to pray with him for a job, his health and forsaking alcohol. As I prayed about his diabetes, he stopped me to ask how I knew that he had diabetes. I thought he had told me, but he said he never said a thing. Whether it was supernatural knowledge from God or not, I'm not positive, but it opened up his heart all the more. (Please pray for Dewey.)

However it looks, the ministry is certainly one of faith as we don't always see someone turn to Christ. As Paul spoke about in 1 Cor. 3:6-8, some plant, others water, but it is God who makes it grow. It is our job to speak the truth; it is God's job to save. Evangelist Bill Fay in "Share Jesus Without Fear" quotes a statistic that of those who come to faith, on average they have heard the Gospel 7.6 times. The point is, we don't know where we are in that process. Our conversation might be the first clear Gospel presentation they've ever heard, or it might be the third, or maybe the exciting 7.6! Saints, don't be discouraged by what you see with the natural eyes. The devil is a liar and would like to convince you that you are wasting your time, but we know that "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (Js. 5:16). Pack the scripture in your heart and stand on God's truth - "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes!" (Rm. 1:16)
Patrick

becoming desensitized

   The Macabre   Truth within the World System

The current world system teaches us to be happy and joyous in the face of all adversities. The children are encouraged to reach their goals whatever that may be without paying serious heed to the means through which they ultimately reach their goals. The principle of moral judgment is sliding down at full speed on the slippery slope without any boundaries or any cautions

The world system is a diabolic principle at its core and it has one intention and that is to veer us away from God and God’s precepts. The desires of mankind are burgeoning intractably for sexual deviancy  and the society as whole affirms that deviancy. The things that once were considered abnormal & deviant are becoming normal, right, and considered modern and acceptable.

We are becoming desensitized to the atrocious killing of babies under the canopy of abortion, homosexuality is becoming as a normal and accepted pattern of this culture,

Our politicians are seeking to gain popularity and fixing the societal problems at the cost of compromising the very   moral fabrics of society within which they live.  How can we free ourselves from all of this?  Is it too late for the culture to wake up and see this massive immorality that is spiraling down so fast? What do the Christian leaders do about this?  Are they too involved in the gruesome drama of this ongoing immorality?

These are some serious questions need to be answered.

 I am afraid there is none except to seek the kingdom of God with all its righteousness. The bible is very clear on this “there is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.  All have turned away; they have together become worthless; there is no one who does well,
not even one.” Romans 3:10-12

Obviously, it’s clear that we as human beings cannot do anything to stop this moral chaos and it’s getting worse and worse.

Therefore, if we depend on ourselves to pursue a life of spiritual prosperity; we’ll again run into disappointments, abjection and all our efforts will be in vain. God has created this world and He is the Only One who can give us the guidance to veer us away from the claws of Satan and puts our culture on the righteous path. Jesus Christ came to this world to rescue us from the sin & that was God’s redeeming plans to give us an eternal life through His son Jesus Christ.

If you haven’t received Jesus as your Lord & Savior, just confess  your sin to God the Father and ask Him to grant you His grace in order for you to see Jesus as the Light of the world , as your Savior. Through Him you will see the Kingdom of God; through Him alone you will be called the Child of God. So don’t waste your life seeking the vanities of this world system; humble yourselves before God and ask for His mercy. God’s mercy and love demonstrated through Jesus Christ. Without trusting in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you’ll face God’s wrathful justice.

You all loved,

Barukzoy

comfortable in their sin

Last Friday was really good.  It was a bit nippy outside, and there were not as many people on the streets, but the ones that we got to share with were receptive to the Gospel - for the most part.  We also found a "fishing spot" that I think we will go back frequently.  It was just in the lobby of Target, which is open until 10, and warm, and most of the people are sober.  I guess it is a cross between the mall, and the streets!

What never ceases to amaze me, as we share,  is the lack of knowledge of the need for repentance  before forgiveness of sin.

 

We have raised a generation of young kids that when asked the question, "if someone were to slaughter your whole family, for $20, and then stood before a judge and said they were sorry, and the judge let them go, would you consider that a good judge?"

And many, many will say yes.   They have heard of the forgiveness, and love of Jesus, but they do not have any sense of awe and fear of Him as a righteous, and holy, and perfect judge.  Who has to judge sin - or compromise His holiness.  The central theme of the cross.

 

If you ask if they were to be judged by the 10 commandment, innocent or guilty?  All will say guilty.  If you then ask if judged by the 10 commandments heaven or hell - most will say heaven.  Why?  Because they are a "good person" and God would never send anyone He loves to hell. 

Again, they miss the need for the cross, and discount that their sin cost the Father everything in His perfect and Holy Sacrifice.

 

A false gospel making false converts (not to judge, but to simply let their own answers speak, as they line up with the scriptures).

This generation is comfortable in their sin, while deceived into thinking they can abide in sin, and still abide in Christ. 

 

As we spoke, many listened, some scoffed, some questioned, and some had no interest. 

There were 2 people we met - one from Switzerland, and one from Ethiopia.  When asked of the one from Switzerland - heaven or hell - heaven.  Why? Because of Jesus Christ my Redeemer!!  He had a smile and a joy of the Lord that encouraged us, and was a gift from the Father. We gave him Bibles, and tracts to share with others - he is at the U. of M. and I know what a hostile place that is to share the Gospel.

The one from Ethiopia stated yes as well - and with joy stated that he was a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

But there were others that were skeptical, and cynical, and apathetic, and deceived.  And it broke my heart. I got one response that stopped me in my tracks.  When I mentioned that Jesus was perfectly righteous, perfectly holy, and perfectly just one of the kids (there were 6 guys - in their early 20's) one said "I don't believe He was perfect."  Still mulling on that one. I just went back to the law - the schoolmaster to shut every mouth, and condemn those who are under the law - for the singular purpose (uncomfortable as it may be, with the current no hell, prosperity gospel) of using the conscience to bypass the intellect.  Relying, as always, on the Holy Spirit to convict. 

  

I feel a sense of urgency that is quite acute at the moment. 

We need to sound a clarion call, sharing the Gospel with all that we meet. 

I will end with some quotes from an article called the sin of silence (by Ron Keller)

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter" - Martin Luther King

"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.  God will not hold us guiltless.  Not to speak is to speak.  Not to act is to act. " - Bonhoeffer - who was martyred for Jesus at the age of 38.  

"All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing" - Burke 

God has given us an opportunity like no other - and as people face the uncertainty is so many different areas, it is our great opportunity to show hope in the midst of despair, peace in the midst of crisis, and love in the midst of hatred. 

 

No greater love is there than to go and preach the gospel, making disciples of men. 

We are on a rapid course of the loss of free speech, when giving a Bible could be distributing hate literature, and when to stand for Christ we may also give our lives for Him. 

My I encourage each of you to keep your focus sharp, and your heart pure - witnessing with compassion toward a world that is clueless of the good news of Jesus Christ. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 

 

May the freaks multiply, and the seed that is given fall on soil that is soft - that the Lord of the Harvest can change the hearts and lives of those He loves while we still have opportunity to be used by our KIng of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

 

Blessings to all.

Travel the Road

I want to tell you about a man named Patrick who heard about the Jesus Freaks through the grape vine. He drove over 55miles one way to come out with us to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Pat reached me by email and we conversed a few times and he met us at our meeting place. Praise Jesus!!

There were 5 of us on Friday night. Dan and Cathy were there representing the Reed Family. I love the fact that these two come out as a team. As there feet are firmly planted in Christ. There 3 children have and are planning there next outing with the Jesus Freaks.

Matt, Patric, and I went out together. Pat told me that he needed to dust off the cob webs . As I witnessed Pat speaking and reaching the lost I didn't see any dust on him. Jesus empowers us with the wisdom and boldness hen we are obedient to His calling.

Mark 16:15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

As we walked down Nicolet Ave. there was nobody on the streets as in previous times. We continued to walk and talk with whoever we seen. I will give you just a quick over view of the night.

With the 3 of us handing out tracts,bibles,180DVD's, and talking with lost souls. I would say that we reached 150-200 people on Friday night on the streets of Mpls..

Please pray for Jessica if that is her real name. Pat and I were witnessing to her and right away she became real loud so every body within 50 feet could hear her. We never bring up the subject of being gay. The first words out of her mouth was on homosexuals. We talked with love and compassion and she continued with a voice so all could hear. Then a bicycle taxi came and this man said I like what you said get on the ride will be free. So this woman and her companion left. As we continued to walk I prayed for Jessica to be set free. Pat and I discussed how Saul was stuck down by the Lord on his way to persecute Christian's on the way to Damascus.

We seen Jessica a couple more times on our traveling the road. We just said hi and kept walking.

We ended up having 3 different conversations with 5 Muslim men who were together. To my surprise it went very well. There was no arguing amongst us.

We prayed with people, spoke truth with love and compassion, preached the gospel,scattered, planted, and watered seed.

It was a very fruitful night, all in the name of Jesus Christ our King.

Mike

my desire to share Jesus

Are you like me? Do you intend to get out and share the good news about Jesus but something keeps holding you back. Would it help you to go out with people who are more experienced?

Two weeks ago that is what got me out. When God led me to the Jesus Freaks ministry at my church He introduced me to a very humble and discerning man. Him along with my desire to share Jesus is what God used me to the Anoka Halloween Parade..

But yesterday God allowed me to experience a totally different way of sharing Jesus. God empowered me to talk about Jesus more in depth. At the parade God got Jesus' story into people's hands but last night God was sharing Jesus with people's hearts right before my eyes.

Here is just one of the experiences God gave me:
I was waiting as God was helping a fellow Jesus Freak share Jesus God brought a young man my way. His name is Rodrick. So I walked up to him and here's basically how the conversation went:

I offer Rodrick a "million dollar" tract. And he takes it curiously. I tell him it talks about what Jesus did for sinners on the cross.

Then God applied His law to Rodrick's heart. Rodrick begins to realize his guilt before God.

Finally, Rodrick gladly takes a New Testament and excepts encouragement to read the book of John.

The whole conversation only took a few minutes. But God used it to bring infinite blessings to me. Please pray that God will continue to work on Rodrick's heart and brings him to repentance and faith in Jesus. Then he will experience infinite blessings as well.

Wouldn't you like to experience infinite blessings? Well, what are you waiting for? Find out when your evangelism group is heading out and tag along!

May God work mightily through you!
Matt T.

Our Ultimate Refuge

Where do we find unshakable confidence to go on when a devastating tragedy strikes? King David, a man who was familiar with tragedy throughout his life, wrote:

“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge. (Ps.62:5-8).

David’s exhortation 1,000 years before Christ is still true today. The only refuge for the battered souls and broken heart is to have relationship with God who has shown how deeply He loves and cares for us. (Rom. 5:8)

Jesus Christ {The anointed One} invites us to a life of spiritual prosperity and a life full of confidence and hope, even when faced with loss: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me” John 4:1

What does it mean to trust in Jesus? I would love to tell you this: Believing in Jesus produces trust in His ability to rescue us from our lustful desires, sin and wickedness. Trusting Jesus means depending on Him for what can never be lost (John 1:12; 3:16; 10:10). His life, death, and resurrection assure those who trust Him that they will receive His grace, mercy, peace, forgiveness, eternal life, and unfailing love. (Rom.8:31-39).

No matter what we may lose in this life, Jesus’ assurance of his abiding presence now and His promise of an eternal home with Him in heaven can become our unshakable fortress of hope and peace in times of trouble.

As always, love you all unconditionally,
Barukzoy

What is sanctification ?

                                                             

It's a doctrinal term that basically refers to our spiritual cleansing, set a part , growing in God's word, being different from what the world wants you to be. It all starts at the point of our spiritual birth, when you and I place our trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit starts residing within us .

When we commit sin we feel convicted and guilty . That is exactly what the Holy Spirit does , to awaken our senses so we can avoid commiting sin or avoid feeling drawn to moral debauchery.

It's like having a transcendental super ego which controls our moral barometer. When I see somone swears to God, my body shivers and I feel like there is a massive knot of pain in my stomach and it's churning my stomach inside out . One of the fruits of being sanctified is that we become more sensitive to our lusftful nature and I think this is the foundational function of the Holy Spirit that empowers us to see our inequities so we can entreat our Lord to give us a regenerate heart.

I struggle with sin just like everybody else ; i am not better than anybody or smarter than any one of you. When I talk about Jesus our Lord , I ask the Holy Spirit to guide me to say what needs to be said.

I don't want to be creative, I don't want to be innovative, I don't want to embellish things. I just want to say what the bible says that is all. 

 I don't go out to seek meaning to the scripture in order to please everybody and making the scriptures less offensive. Th meaning of the scripture is in the scripture ; if it is offensive to people then be it , because it's God's word not mine.

we need to humble ourseleves before almighty God so we can discern His word through which we can obey His purpose, His will and His plan. We need to trust Him everyday , we need to ask Him to guide us in our pursuit to holiness, purity, and humility which are the fruits of sanctification.

Sometimes it pains me to see my hypocrisy , duplicity and a shallow understanding of the bible ; but I know that is the Holy Spirit who indwells within me that enables me to see my sin so I can rely more & more on God to rescue me from all of that.

I write with passion when it comes to God and I love you all so much that I want to urge you to embrace Jesus because through Him you'll see the light and through Him you'll be saved forever.Pursuing God's redemptive plan for your salvation requires self denial not self-fulfillment,  it requires  you to live your life for Christ not for the world or making people happy. As a matter of fact , Jesus said," He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" Matthew 10:37 I think that wraps it up as far as what we need to do in order to be His faithful disciples.

Bond slave of Christ

,
barukzoy

we can be saved and justified.

                The Unjustified became Justified Through Christ

The holiness of God demands justice; conversely, his grace provides mercy, love, and compassion. He determines our faith; He grants us a regenerate heart. According to prophet Isaiah “all our righteous works are like filthy rags" Isaiah 64:6

 

In reality, what he's saying is that we are culpable down to the core, we're filthy and sinful. The apostle Paul said, “There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, there is no who seeks God, all turned a way , they've together become worthless; there is no who does good, not even one" Romans 3:10-12.

In the Judicial theater of God, we are all charged with treason, corruption, deception, duplicity and sinfulness. Hence, the verdict is death and we definitely deserve it. No one can save us and there is nothing we can do to meet the standard of God's holiness except to accept His wrath, indignation and ultimately His divine judgment.

Every religions in the world seeks to please God through some form of ritualistic or ceremonial practices such as sacrificing animals , Ramadan ( fasting), giving alms, praying five times a day , meditative prayers, yoga, etc. It's a noble thing to be an altruistic humanitarian, helping our fellow brothers and sisters, and doing all sort of charitable works but that cannot change our corrupt hearts, our good works can not reverse God's judicial verdict nor propitiate God's wrath.

Therefore, the question is: what can we do to become justified? It's not a matter of carnal rehabilitation to advance our case in the divinely court of God ; it is the spiritual birth which grants us access to our redeemer whose divine nature regenerates our filthy hearts, renew our minds and then continues to sanctify us. That divine redeemer is Jesus Christ, He is our advocate before God, He's our purifier, and He is the only way to heaven. "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ" 2 Corinthians 5;21

God's holiness demands justice and His justice is divinely righteous and we are unjustified before Him through our own merits but through Christ He is gracious, merciful, and a forgiving God .
^"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life". John 3:16

Believing in Christ is an action which requires a complete surrendering of our life to Him, not merely knowing Him intellectually ; it's accepting Him and believing in His accomplished work on the cross, it's like saying " I don't live anymore, but Christ lives in me through Him I live again " . We then become justified and then through the power of the Holy Spirit we see the mortification of the sin within us that is called Sanctification.

 

In other words, Sanctification is the process of being set apart for God's work and being conformed to the image of Christ. This conforming to Christ involves the work of the person and his or her believability & faith in Christ which is still the work of God.

 

This is a divine mystery which is way beyond our comprehension and God revealed His son to us through faith we can be saved and justified.

You are all loved

Barukzoy

door to door

I never imagined that I would ever have done door to door evangelism. But, I could not resist this opportunity on Halloween night. As we went out gathering candy with Nora and her cousins I would give the person at the door a money tract.

They would say what is this? I would tell them that there is a gospel tract on the back and I ask that you would read it. Have a great night. On to the next house we would go.

 I got quite a few thank you's and they said they'd read it. I got a God bless you from a woman ,with amazement and excitement.

One woman told me that "now I have 2 of these". I asked if she got it from the parade and she said yes. I continued to tell her that  a group of us  passed them out there.

Wendy was back at her sisters handing out candy with a stack of bills I gave her to hand out to the treaters. When we got back to the house she was out of money tracts so I gave what I had left. We handed out 150 tracts between the two of us, it was fun.

The kid's eyes would pop out as the bill was going in the bag with a treat. I would then say there is a gospel tract on the back. I just ask that you read it.

Seeds were planted every where, please pray for the seeds to take root.


Mike

Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

 

like-minded brothers

A couple of days ago I received an email from a friend at church, who was forwarding an email about an upcoming evangelism event. The event was the Anoka County Halloween Parade. The city of Anoka Minnesota likes to boast that it’s the biggest Halloween parade in the nation. Regardless, it’s grown over the years into an event that brings out the community in large numbers. Just the right kind of event for some serious “tracking” evangelism, where large numbers of gospel tracts are distributed.

I had hoped additional people from my church would join us, but I arrived at the designated house, the point of departure, and found I was the only representative. But, that was okay, I knew that God would bring grace for any social anxiety I might have because of it.

I soon found myself among like-minded brothers as introductions were made. Mike’s garage was the hub of preparations activity, with boxes of tracts, Bibles, and gospel DVD’s. We were encouraged to fill up our knapsacks with the rich gospel materials. The tracts were especially well-suited to the event, being Way Of The Master million dollar bills of assorted sizes. I use my photographer’s vest instead of a knapsack because of the numerous pockets and the even weight distribution. By the time.I was finished stuffing pockets I was well weighed down. But, if you have put on weight this is the best kind!

The team of seven split into two groups to work the parade, each starting at opposit ends of the parade route to work the crowds along the way. At the beginning where my group started it was wall-to-wall people. Generally, people were eager to accept the imitation bills. It seems to appeal to the consumer, or perhaps the greed, in each of us. You see something that looks like currency, and your all for receiving it!
After I ran out of gospel material I had a chance to observe the crowds and the event. While I celebrated Halloween lots of times as a kid, and our family saw no real harm in it, even apart from the fleshly darkness that has become so prevelant today, I now find myself sad that we make a celebration out of such things. I shudder to think how much worse the reality of hell is, than even the darkest expression of Halloween. If anything, this celebration should motivate believers to work harder, that by God’s grace, many more would be spared such a truly gruesome fate as eternal suffering, where “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48).

Still, it was a fine late Fall day for a parade. And, it was good to be out and about putting something of life into the hands of young and old. So many tracts went into the buckets and bags of little ones who would not understand its message. I silently prayed that God would move in households when parents examined the contents, that parents would be won to Christ, and in turn train little ones to become wise for salvation.
My time with my previously unknown brothers was brief, but a blessing all the same. There is nothing that bonds so quickly as working together for the glory of Jesus Christ. God’s grace was manifest as we began running into each other toward the center of the parade route. It wasn’t too long before we were all reunited. Then, we walked together to a house a few blocks away, where a wonderful Christian family greeted us and invited us in for warm drinks and snacks. A while latter we headed back to the cars and drove back to Mike’s house, where we blessed one another and said our goodbyes.
“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news” (Romans 10:15, NIV)
 Dave E

Farhads notebook

   "The supplication of a wounded Spirit”

I am down on my knees again tonight; I am hoping this prayer will turn out right. O’Lord, my restless heart needs your help. You see, my heart is restless and my mind is full of worries.

I have done all that I could to obey you but I failed so miserably and woefully. O’Lord, I am so tired and weary, help me stop worrying. I put my hands on my heart and praying so you can hear me. Can you hear me? Tell me that you are with me in these lonely nights when I am restlessly walking in an empty room.

I have no one to talk to, no one to listen to me, but I know you are with me O’Lord. I’ve come to know you and left everything behind. So, can you hear me O’ Lord?
Each night I kneel down at the edge of my bed to worship you so you can hear me. I have no one, but you through whom I know I can get my restless heart healed. I've tried to do it myself, but you know Lord, it is so difficult, it is so exhausting and it's so burdensome.

I don't want to live my life fearfully, I am feeble in all things I do, but through you I know I can do it all. I am going through tough times; I am going through doubts, consternations and apprehension.

My mind is full of worries and perplexities. Can you hear memo' Lord? I need your divine mercy; I will continue to bow down and asking you for your mercy and compassion.

There was a time, when I didn't know you; I was full of myself and tried to do everything by myself, but I couldn't find contentment within my heart.

I am back on my knees to implore you for your forgiveness & you know O'Lord, I need your hand on my heart, I need your spirit to heal my infirmities. My soul needs you, my heart needs your touch, and my broken spirit needs your breath, so I can become revived again.

O'Lord, pick me up again, one more time like you that before. O'God my heart gets appeased through your words. Can you hear me?

You have drawn me to your son through whom you provided me the eternal life, but my mind is still in despair; help me once more to see the everlasting light of salvation, O’Lord be with me. Can you hear me?

What should I do when these lonely nights darken my heart? Will you be with me tonight? O’Lord, can you truly hear me? I promise I will be back on my knees tonight to worship you with all the broken pieces of my heart & wounded spirit.

They even ask for more!

Here I am. People are running after me and reaching out to me. Am I some rockstar or teen idol? Nope and definitely not.
I'm handing out Gospel tracts at the Anoka Halloween parade! People love these tracts! They even ask for more!
Yes some people say no but they are the smallest minority. And some people ask questions but never in a mean way.
Even on the surface this is just plain fun. But deep down I know that one of these seeds may hit some fertile soil. And God may see fit to bring the next Great Awakening through it!
I wish you could be here. But don't be sad. You can come next time! I'll be there!
Blessings,
Matt Taylor

quite an event.

The Halloween parade was quite an event.

  Great opportunity to share tracks, DVD’s, and bibles. 

  Adults and children were very open to getting the money tracks that look like real money.  As passing out tracks I would ask if they or friend would like a bible and about 60% of the time I would get a yes.   For the most part, people were very open to being asked and receive a bible.  I was very surprised.   Kids love the big Money tracks and would ask for one for a friend at times.   I had a teenage girl after getting bible get a friend so she could have one as well.  This was rewarding to see.

  Praise God!  To anyone who would like to join us next year,  this is a great chance to see what it is like to share God’s word.  It is fun and rewarding at the same time.

Blessed in planting seeds,

Steve Lindell

20,000 people

Halloween Parade outreach

The city of Anoka calls itself the Halloween capital of the world.
The parade they have every year draws some 20,000 people to
this little town eager to watch the parade and to get
something to brighten their day.  What could be better than getting
their lives touched by the Holy Spirit from a seed planted by us.

It is very easy to spread the word of God, and the path to
Jesus Christ and eternal life in such a low stress and inviting situation.
Many of the people ask us for the tracts.  

The tracts handed out will get into homes of people who would never bring
a gospel tract into their home, and there is a good chance that they
will sit down and read the message on the back, because it’s non
threatening and gets right to the truth.

The 7 of us touched the lives of close to 1000 people each in a
matter of 3 hours with the gospel and the way to Jesus and
eternal life.  What better way to spend a beautiful Saturday
afternoon. Think of the impact this outreach could have if there were
20 or 25 people planting seeds.  With Gods help, the possibilities are
endless.


Steve

A Grave encounter.

What an amazing thing that we witnessed today at the Anoka Halloween parade.  The unreal number of tracts that were scattered was one thing, but the boldness that I witnessed through those who attended was very encouraging to my faith.  Our boldness today was from Him and Him alone.

 
        There were a few encounters today for me that I knew God was at work.  And this is one of them.
        Dave, Steve, Matt and myself headed out from the start and immediately began scattering Gospel tracts. People loved these things! A few even ran up to us to ask for more so they could give them to their family and friends. Pretty cool to see people run to the Gospel.  Pray that these people will read, understand, and be forever saved by the life changing message. God is able!! 

        So, about ten minutes into our walk, we ran into a man shaking many people's hands and all of a sudden he shakes mine.  I said hi and asked him if he wanted a tract. He said he couldn't take money because he was campaigning.  I told him it was obviously fake and he laughed and took it from me.  At this time I recognize this man from TV ads. It was Jim Graves who is running against Michelle Bachmann.  I was a little star struck to be honest with you, and he asked me what these million dollar bills were.  I said that it was a gospel tract and if he was a man of faith.  He said he was Catholic.  I proceeded to ask him if he knew where he would go when he dies.  He told me that he hopes he would go to heaven.  He asked if I would vote for him, I said I didn't live in his district, and we shook hands again and went our separate ways. 

 

       Now I don't know if this man is saved or not, but I do know one thing.  I never knew I was going to heaven until I was born-again September 13, 2001 through the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ who forgave me of ALL my sins.  Until that point I only hoped.  I challenge those of you who are reading this to pray for this man.  I believe that this man can and will be used by God in mighty ways.  God created the universe, what makes us doubt His power?  Make yourself available to be used by God everyday.   

 

Very humbling day.......the Jesus Freaks give all honor, glory, and power to Jesus Christ.

 

In Christ,

Scott

Halloween Outreach

There were six Jesus Freaks that met at my house it was 11:45am. We filled our back packs with tracts, bibles, and 180 DVD's. Steve was meeting us at the place we were parking and that makes seven of us.

We prayed before we left on our mission for God.

 As we  walked to our destination people were already on the move to get a spot to view the parade. The walk to the end was about a mile. The people on the way were accepting our tracts with no hesitation.

When we crossed the Rum River over the walk bridge I handed three guys a tract and one stopped to talk further. I took Wallace through the law of God and then presented the gospel to him. He was receptive to the message and I gave him a bible. We still had a 1/2 mile to walk to the end as we were meeting the other Jesus Freaks at the half way point.

As we walked the parade route 80-90 percent of the people we handed tracts and bibles to gladly took them.  The Jesus Freaks handed out roughly 6,000 tracts 150-200 bibles and over 150 of the 180 dvd's.

I can not explain the joy you get when you are doing the will of God.
  “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." Mark 16:15

 I met other evangelist and we exchanged contact info. Praise Jesus!!

It was 3:20pm when we met up in the middle of the route and almost everybody was out of material. What ever was left we grabbed from the others and dispersed it out to the people on the streets.

On the way to Rachel's we talked about our day everybody was excited in our results. As we were welcomed into the house by Scott we felt the love of Jesus through them. We all enjoyed cookies ,chips coffee, apple cider, and fellowship from the entire family. I love that Scott Russ prayed for us as we were getting ready to head back to our families. What a blessing to end an awesome day the Lord has made. 

We got back to the cars to head back to my house and the time was 4:00pm. I would ask that all who read this to pray for those who were reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are nothing He is everything.

Mike

before dinner

I was mulching leaves yesterday and this man who is always walking with his son goes by. I have always seen him but never talked with him as he lives on another block.

The Lord stirred in me to say something. I shut off the lawnmower and walked over to him and introduced myself. We talked awhile Nora pet his dog and I gave John a million dollar bill. I shared the gospel with John and Nora and I went back and continues to mulch the leaves.

There is opportunity everywhere you look.

 Share the gospel .

Mike

We walk by the Spirit

We once again traveled to downtown Minneapolis to bring the word of God, and plant seeds of salvation. It was a great night of witnessing.

 

I will say that I sensed a strong presence of dark forces at work against us on this night. Or perhaps it was just that I really noticed the darkness that is the standard on the streets of Minneapolis these days. It is getting hard to see a lot of the drug use and drinking that is blatantly out of control. It is discouraging.

On Friday night, it seemed that whenever we spoke to people, there was someone trying to distract or block out the Gospel. In the past two trips there have been dangerous encounters with drunk individuals.

We walk by the Spirit, and we are protected by Christ.

 But for me there is still fear. I fear sometimes for my own life. I fear for the life of my family if something were to happen to me. I fear for those that I see on the street who are homeless. I fear for those I meet who think they have life figured out and under control, but are in fact headed to Hell. And every time I leave my family to go and deliver the Gospel to these lost souls, I do it out of obedience, and because I truly believe in the message I am bringing to the lost.

Jason, Paula, and I met a man named Keith who was 23 years old. He had been in and out of prison many times, and spoke in prison lingo. He said he had yet more warrants out for his arrest. He told us he was an addict. We talked and listened to Keith for about 45 minutes. We prayed with him, and we prayed for him. We planted a seed for Christ with this man, each of us related to him in our own way.

We need more men and women to come with us and plant the seeds of truth. People like Keith do not go to church. This is a big reason we do what we do.

Phil 

STREET WALKERS WANTED

Me and the guys … out on the streets … excited to see how God will lead us and what the Holy Spirit will do.  Believe me, I am not a gifted evangelist like Mike, Scott, Cathy and the others. Yet I know without a doubt that I am to with them.

Friday night I’m paired with Jason and Phil. If you keep up with the blog, you know Jason is just on fire to tell people about Jesus. To see him in action is fun. Even if people don’t want to listen to him, they get caught up in his enthusiasm and will engage in a conversation with him. There were a couple of conversations with people who come across as very confident in what they believe (atheist, Buddhist, or a mix of eastern and New Age theology). Jason listens then quickly gets to the heart of where their belief fails them and counters with the logic and truth of the Gospel message.

Phil is just as filled with the Holy Spirit only he is soft-spoken but articulate. God puts into his path those who need to hear his story. I’ve been with Phil before and am amazed at the number of men and women who are touched by his testimony. It happened again on Friday night. The last person we talked to was Keith. He has anger issues, is an addict, has several warrants for his arrest, trying to get his act together but gets kicked down, and has given up on life. I started to talk to him and soon he spilled out his whole story. Phil told Keith how Jesus rescued him from similar situation and Jesus would do the same for him. (Now, let me put your mind at ease – Phil does not have any warrants for his arrest.) I wish I could end the story with Keith then gave his life to Christ but he didn’t. But he may because we gave him the Truth!

What do I do? I listen. I contribute where I’m felt led. I pray. I pray for protection and ears to hear as my partners are talking to the people. As we walk down the street, I pray that He shows us who He wants us to talk to. I pray with some of the people we meet. Quincy was in pain with a toothache so I prayed over him. In talking to Keith, I could relate with some of his issues and was given the words to cut through some of his confusion about who Jesus is.

At the end of the night, I am so thankful that He would include me on His work to sow seeds. It is not by my strength that this is done – only through the Holy Spirit. I just need to agree to show up!

Ladies – we need you out there. Having a woman along side of the guys makes them more approachable. There are times that a woman’s touch is needed. You have gifts that are needed out there. You can see that those who go have different abilities and are used accordingly. If you have any stirring in your heart to see what it is all about, I urge you to do it. Just once. 

Paula

new fire

Friday night was filled with an awesome array of conversations. There were six of us on the streets proclaiming the gospel in the heart of Mpls..

We met up with Johnny who just got saved 3 weeks ago. When I was introduced to John at church through Mark VP I witnessed to him not knowing. I took him through the Law gave him the gospel and asked him when he was going to do it (repent and trust).

He had told me that he did it that morning over coffee with Mark. Praise Jesus I exclaimed.

We continued to fellowship and I told him what we do on the streets. John with excitement tells me that he wants to come out with us. I explain when we go out again and tell him where we meet him.

John is staying at the Salvation Army in downtown. John tells me that he has a curfew but has a permission slip to stay out and I need to fill in the blanks. Awesome!

It was time foe John to go and I gave him tracts and 10 bibles to hand out inside. I say to John only give the bibles to those who will read them. He agrees with me and crosses the street.

I see John at church on Sunday talking in the foyer. I approach him and give a hug. He tells me that he only has 2 bibles left. He tells me that he gave one away and then people came to him asking for one. I gave John more tracts when he left after church. I will give him more bibles next week.

Mike

still sadened

10-12-2012

Spiritual warfare was clearly noticeable this evening. I did not really understand it was occurring until taking a second look at things.

Often times when speaking to a person about their eternal destination there would be a second person (usually intoxicated, unrelated to whoever I was speaking to) that would approach and interrupt the conversation. I remember talking to a young man named Keith, when a car blaring its rap music pulled up to a nearby curb…and proceeded to turn his music up while we attempted to share the Gospel.

Nothing is coincidence.

One of the highlights for me tonight was speaking to a group of valets. I asked the group if they had any thoughts on heaven or hell. To my excitement, one said he knew the Lord personally, had been forgiven of his sins, and was sure he was going to heaven. I noticed that this was getting uncomfortable for one of the young men. I asked him if he knew where he was going, and he had some uncertainty on his face when he said “I suppose heaven?” At this point he had to help a customer, leaving me with the other believer. He said he worked with this other guy for the past 4-months but hadn’t yet talked to him about Jesus. I left him with a bible to give his co-worker and encouraged him to share his faith.

I am amazed at what God has been producing in this group of Jesus Freaks. We’re still saddened when people show no interest in the Gospel, or when people react with hostility towards the message. I see God working in my life to reduce the amount of discouragement during these encounters. I am so thankful for this work He is doing, that He’s given me such a heart for others and for words to say in each situation. When I’m out on the streets, I see the Truth of God’s Word come alive. I think God expanded my understanding of the parable of the sower tonight. I trust in Jesus to continue His work in these differing soils. Help us all to be obedient to preach to all the world.

All for His glory,

Jason

Pride Weekend....

 

This year has been interesting for the Jesus Freaks in that a few days that we have gone out to proclaim the gospel have fallen on big events.  The first being St. Patrick's Day and this most recent being the annual Gay Pride weekend.That being said, we knew that we had a challenge to face.  Lot's of people would be on the streets united in their pride of being gay.  But this challenge is something that we gladly faced only with the guidance of Jesus Christ and his presence living inside of us.  I'll get back to that shortly.

 

First, the day started out with us teaming up with In Love, Word, and Deed.  We helped serve the homeless at the Salvation Army downtown.  There were many donations of clothing, shoes, bag lunches, water, blankets, etc.  What a great opportunity to see how God is working through this ministry! So, besides serving these people with material things, the freaks were there as well speaking truth to those who were willing to talk about spiritual things.  Great combination of Love, Word, and Deed! 

 

So after we finished there, we headed out to share the gospel with boldness and without apology.  There were eight of us in total and we split up in twos.  For me, I had the great blessing of teaming up with Mike Karlstad.  This doesn't happen very often so I was super excited!  We prayed as a group and then began to scatter seeds.  The fruit that we saw that day was really quite awesome.  We talked to one guy named Peter, who was there for the festival, and after initially being a bit defensive, God softened him to be open to what we had to say.  We never brought up anything about his sexual orientation, but explained to him that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Lying, stealing, lusting, blasphemy.  The things that I have committed and the things almost all of us have done as well. 

 

Even though Peter didn't give his life to Christ at the end of our conversation, we felt like God used us to plant a seed in him that will never be destroyed.  He will forever remember those two guys who, with love and compassion, explained the gospel to him and left him with a choice.  A choice that he will either lead him to salvation in Christ, or a choice to remain in his sins knowing that ultimately will lead to a place called hell.   The conscience is a place that God can speak. So, by using the ten commandments as a mirror to his life, God can begin to work in a way that can never be done by any man or any man's arguments.  I pray for Peter's salvation and if you are reading this, please pray as well. 

 

There were many others that day, and much fruit was produced.  But just like one of the main themes at Harvest Bible Chapel, all the Glory goes to God!  We are nothing without Jesus. 

 

In Christ,

Scott

the seed

 I rejected  the message when  the preacher came to my door. He asked me if I knew where I was going when I die?

I said yes I hope I'm going to heaven.  He comes back with oh so you don't know. I then tell  the preacher you can get the hell out of here, I don't need that shit as I am pointing to the road. He doesn't say another word and walks off the property.

Little did I know this was the seed to be planted in my heart. I didn't get saved until over a year later.

I have been born again 10 years now and preaching the same message that was preached to me.

God is so patient with us.

 All we do is plant and water the seed. The Holy Spirit makes the seed grow.

I am nothing.

Mike

Amazing Grace

I was blessed to join the Jesus Freaks this  past Friday. It was Amazing.  I was really nervous at first but that quickly went away.  I expected more rejection from the few other times I've done this.  I think it was because before I had a set spiel to say and didn’t listen to their stories enough and I didn’t seek the Holy spirits urgings of what to say or do before.

 I was pretty floored when a lady told me Jesus saved 13 years of Meth addiction from her.  As she said that another lady near her perked up and said Jesus saved her from 5 years of cocaine addiction.  God is so powerful and it shook me pretty good when they told me and the one lady showed me her tattoo covering much of her forearm stating “Amazing Grace saved a Wretch Like Me”  We got to only talk for a bit since their bus was coming but we chatted a bit about how I loved that they set aside seperation of church and state when they sentence people with addictions to Teen Challenge which bases a lot of their curriculum on the christian faith because it works better.  God changes and I love that even the secular have to admit it

I got to roll with Scott C. and he was a blessing to watch showing love to all me met.  One time though I could tell he was angry when a man wearing a cross was yelling obscenities at some woman especially cause this guy was wearing a cross and stated to us that he I didn’t believe. Conviction runs deep in Scott. I was blessed to pray for a man named Donn.  He made sure I knew his name was spelled with two N’s.  He was an alcoholic drinking on the street rolling up cigs when I approached him.  He said he’d do anything to get his life back away from alcoholism and I assured him after the two ladies I had met earlier in the night that God can change.  He said he’d try anything.  I told him Jesus just isn’t anything, he’ll change your whole heart and life if you allow him to. I talked with him awhile more about his life as a marine and more Jesus Christ volunteer death out of Love for us, gave him a Bible and a tract and he allowed me to pray over him. I encouraged him to read the Gospels and seek the Lord to change him.  

 The other contrasting encounters that amazed me was that we had pretty good dialogue with people going into strip clubs but zero dialogue with people in nice clothes coming out of nice restaurants.  Both sinners who need the Lord but when you think your good to start with your not as open to Gods grace.  I got to talk to a two lesbian girls one who said Jesus had kept her 5 months away from another woman and the other who just looked broken and took in all I said.  She looked like she was going to cry and she had a black eye so I continued hoping it was the holy spirit moving.  I parted telling her that Jesus will wreak havoc on your heart if you let him and told her i’d pray for her.  I regret stopping talking to her since Scott was talking to one of her friends for another ten minutes but she now had wiped her eye and was reading the tract.

   I got to pray with Scott for a guy named Ryan who stayed at Harbor light.  He was struggling and his girlfriend just got pregnant.  Its pretty amazing to see God work and to be part of his plan.  I couldn’t have been more blessed by Scott and the other Jesus Freaks. 

 God is so good and it was very evident that night.

Michael E.