MY SHEEP LISTEN TO MY VOICE

Missionary street evangelist, Christopher Sippley of Jeremiah Cry Ministries, has been in the UK this past week ahead of the rest of the JCM evangelism team who will be arriving today in Glasgow, Scotland to begin their annual gospel preaching tour. This year's event is called, "Fire In The City". 

Not one to stand still for long without preaching the gospel, Chris was on the box last Saturday on a busy pedestrian street. I will let him tell of this account in his own words:

"This past Saturday, after open air preaching, I approached and talked to a young couple who had been in the crowd listening. They were very attentive to the Gospel and seemed very affected. After encouraging them to close with Christ, we parted ways. A couple of hours later I ran into them again, talked with them some more and got this picture with them. Today, while we were walking back home I heard someone call out my name. Turning around I saw that it was the same couple. They seemed glad to see us, and while we talked I asked them if they had given much thought to what I had said before. The girl looked at me and said that before Saturday she had not given much thought to this kind of stuff, but since our first witnessing conversation she has not been able to stop thinking about it and has so many things going on inside! She didn't know what to do. I spent some time further explaining the Gospel and stressed her need to come to Christ today. Please be in prayer for Jordan and Nicole, that they would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved."

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes..." - Romans 1:16

This is of great encouragement to me as it demonstrates the power of God through the faithful open air preaching of the gospel in the public square. Open air preaching reaches people like Nicole and Jordan who would otherwise never be exposed to the gospel and its saving truth. 

Open air preaching IS effective no matter what naysayers might say. The people who hear the gospel are usually many. The people who respond to the gospel are usually few, if any. But seeds are planted and seeds are watered in the meantime. The regeneration of one's heart is the supernatural work of our sovereign God in His way and in His time, and all whom He has chosen for salvation before the universe was created shall receive the gospel one way or another, respond accordingly and be saved. The Great Shepherd shall lose none of His sheep and His suffering, along with the preaching of the gospel, shall never be in vain.

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand." - John 10:27-28

Please pray for those like Nicole and Jordan who have demonstrated evidence of the Holy Spirit working in the hearts in the hearing of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And pray for Chris and his team as they will spend the next two weeks travelling through Scotland boldly preaching Christ and Hm crucified to the lost of that country.

PROCLAIMED IN TAIWAN

So I met this guy in Taiwan. Well, actually, this guy is IN Taiwan and I met him on Facebook just recently. 

This guy is only three years old. Well, actually, three years old in Christ and ever growing. This guy's on fire. Well, actually, not like in flames but he certainly has a burning desire to serve His Saviour (that's Canadian for "Savior", eh?) and from the looks of things, it doesn't look like he will ever be extinguished.

And so it is that the Lord turns yet another heart from stone to flesh and helps him to see the world as he used to be: lost and on the road to perdition without Christ. Upon saving this guy, God has planted in him a seed of compassion for the lost and it has grown to the point where he has buried what pride he ever had in him and is now risking being looked upon as a fool, in public.

Yes, this guy has taken to the stand in the public square and is now preaching the same gospel that God had him hear and receive which led him to a broken heart, followed by repentance and then faith in Jesus Christ for his eternal salvation.

Last month was only the second time he had ever preached the gospel in the open air. This guy thinks he's not a good public speaker. Another guy, the apostle Paul, admitted the same thing so I think this guy is in good company. I look forward to hearing more from him.

I would like you to see this video and, by it, I would hope you would be as encouraged as I was. I would like you to meet this guy in Taiwan, my new friend and fellow gospel soldier, Blaine Seman.

GOD'S KINDNESS, NOT MAN'S

Truth be known in regard to the title of this video, it is only God's kindness (His sovereign power, grace, mercy and will) that keeps the world afloat, not man's.

Yes, this video tugs at the old heart strings but even nice people who do nice things for others need to see that, ultimately, they are sinners in need of a Saviour; that without Christ, their "righteous acts are as filthy rags", according to word of God, in Isaiah 54:6.



Most people believe that if there is a heaven then they are going there because they were kind people. But kindness toward others is a fruit of one's salvation not a means TO salvation.

It must be made aware to all people, kind and unkind, of their need to be saved from God's eternal wrath for their sins through genuine repentance and faith in Christ who paid the price for sin on the cross by His substitutionary and sacrificial death on the cross.

Truth be known in regard to the title of the video, it is only God's kindness (His sovereign power, grace, mercy and will), not man's, that keeps the world afloat.

The Lord has commissioned those He has already saved to share and proclaim the Good News of God's provision and offer of salvation to the unsaved.

Christian, how will you do that today?

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'" - Romans 10: 14-15

EVANGELISM: A CHRISTIAN'S DUTY

I cannot take credit for this encouraging 7 point list of biblical reasons why evangelism is a must for the Christian. I actually copied it off of a Facebook post, asked for and received permission from the author to repost it here on my blog but somehow forgot to mark down the author's name. My apologies to you, brother, whoever you are and thank you. 

__________________________________________

             Evangelism: A Christian's Duty

#1- There is work to be done

"Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." - Matthew 9:37-38

#2- Jesus has commanded you to do it

"And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." - Matthew 28:18-20

#3- Success is guaranteed

"And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd." - John 10:16

#4- Jesus is the only salvation

"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6 

#5- You were given the Holy Spirit for this purpose

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." - Acts 1:8

#6- People won’t be saved without hearing

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" - Romans 10:11-15

#7- Evangelism is necessary for your own growth in Christ

"And I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ." - Philemon 6

RESURRECTION DAY 2013

Resurrection Day! The day of days for Christians. Had it not been for Jesus rising from the dead, our faith would be in vain and our eternal destiny absolute hell, in the literal sense of the word.

Continuing on in demonstrating our appreciation to the LORD for what He graciously/powerfully did for us on our behalf and for the sake of the souls of those lost in their sin, a handful of us took a couple of hours after a wonderful morning of worship to bring the gospel message of saving hope at a busy intersection of Westboro, in Ottawa, and be a public witness for Christ there with our crosses and gospel tracts.

At work in the Lord's service today were myself, Kim, Serge, elder Denis and his wife, Peggy.

Here are a few pics from our Easter witness this afternoon...

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Amen!

GOOD FRIDAY 2013

Good Friday is good for reasons Christians are well aware of and should never take for granted. We, the redeemed, should be so incredibly amazed, humbled, grateful and moved by God's demonstration of His love, grace and mercy for the likes of sinners like us, His elect, that our hearts should be found bursting with eagerness to do all we can to share this Good News with the lost all around us, even if it makes us seem like fools to them.

Such are the hearts of those at Emmanuel Baptist Church here in Ottawa. Our annual Good Friday gospel outreach is only one of the many occasions we take advantage of in a year bringing the saving gospel of Jesus Christ beyond the four walls of our church and onto the streets of our fair city.

And there is no better time in the year than Easter to proclaim to the masses the great and wonderful thing Jesus did for sinners in their place by taking on our sins, guilt, shame and the consequential wrath of God upon Himself in order that we may have our sins paid for, be forgiven, be granted the gifts of repentance and faith in Christ and thus escaping hell, guaranteeing our place in Heaven after we die by His grace alone and nothing of ourselves. Christ's vicarious atonement on the cross for our sins is what Good Friday is all about.

Our Good Friday outreach always includes a few from our congregation going to the Byward Market, the only place in Ottawa where shops, restaurants and bars remain open on this Holy Day. If we Christians are not serious and active in bringing the gospel to the lost in our area..."How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" - Romans 10:14

Flanked by two of our men with Christ exalting crosses, our outreach began with an introduction to the reason why we were there, which was to give glory to God in the public reading of His holy word from the last three chapters of the Book of Matthew detailing the passion of Jesus in the last hours of His life here on earth leading to His death and resurrection. It was made clear that we were there to tell the public what the "good" of Good Friday was all about.

The above photo depicts a first for three men from our church. This was Pastor Bob Doble's first time "on the box" reading Scripture in the open air. And it was a first time for both Serge (L) and George (R) holding a cross on the street. They are both relatively new to our church with George, who pastored a church in Haiti for 28 years and is a veteran street evangelist and Serge, a new believer with a heart eager to help us get the gospel out onto the streets.

Some stopped to listen, some heckled, some sneered, some smiled and some, like this lady passing by, gave waves of support as the word of God was being read aloud.

Kim was last to take to the stand as she read the final chapter of the Book of Matthew. I had planned to open air preach the gospel with Good Friday as my springboard, but, unfortunately, those plans had to be dashed.

I was approached by Byward Market  security patrol and was told we were not allowed to do what we were doing. Kim and I have had a long history in dealing with Market authorities and their particular by-laws. The patrol said I had to go speak with the Market manager to which I replied that if he had an issue with us that he could come speak to me, which after being radioed, he and the head of Market security did.

Our exchange was mutually cordial. I was told of their need to enforce their rules and given a copy of the updated  by-laws regarding "non-profit organizations" using the Market for their purposes. We were then asked to comply, to which we did. So from here, it looks like I have yet more reading to do and deal with the situation of open air preaching in the Byward Market, which we have been doing for years and hopefully will somehow be able to continue.

We pressed on with being a visual presence in the Market by holding our crosses at the busy pedestrian intersection we were stationed at. No by-laws against that, thankfully.

And, as per usual, gospel tracts were given out by the hundreds and one-to-one gospel conversations began.

One conversation with a fellow named John, (back to camera) turned into a marathon discussion, mostly with Kim along with Pastor Bob and brother Tony (middle) chiming in now and again. Apparently, the only issue John had, a serious one, was that said he believed in Jesus but claimed He is not the Son of God. He was interested in hearing what we had to say about that.

While the above was going on, Pastor Bob's wife, Marie-Josee, tended to and, among other things,  explained the gospel to John's girlfriend. Following their discussion, Marie-Josee was asked to provide her with the address of our church along with the time our Sunday worship time began as she expressed interest in paying us a visit some Sunday, hopefully with John.

If there was anyway to see the joy we felt being given the privilege to once again exalt Christ and proclaim His word in the public square, especially on Good Friday, it can be found represented in Serge's expression as he unashamedly held our crosses during our outreach. This was Serge's second outreach with us. We believe it was the second of many to come and we are honoured to have him join us. God is so gracious.

Three hours passed by in a blink of an eye before we prayed, giving God the glory with heartfelt gratitude and petitioning Him to sovereignly act upon those who heard and received the gospel this Good Friday. We then packed up our bags and headed home. 

It's a wonderful thing to be in the service of our wonderful Lord, our King, our Redeemer...our God! 

ST PATRICK'S DAY PARADE OUTREACH 2013

Before I begin, let me say that for the first time in Word Street Journal history, there will be no photographs nor videos to accompany this post. Reason: somebody forgot to load the camera with a freshly charged battery before leaving the house. Yes, I confess, that "somebody" is me and now I don't want to talk about it anymore. 

As every year at this time, it was our privilege as a church to help spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the throngs of green-donned, cold-weather-brave people as the St Patrick's Day Parade took to it's annual trek through the downtown streets of Ottawa. It was bitterly cold but that does not stop a parade. Especially an Irish one.

This year, the ten of us from Emmanuel Baptist Church were pleased to have join with us a pastor, his wife and 3 of their congregants from a local Haitian Christian church. They were on hand to experience the work and joy of handing out gospel tracts to parade viewers lined up along the parade route. Elder Denis Pomerleau held back on the tract giving to walk the route with an "Are You Ready" cross.

I thought I would do something different this year. It came to mind that those who missed out on receiving tracts in past years were the actual participants in the parade. So when the lead people in the parade reached me, I walked alongside them to the end of the parade in the dismantling area where I proceeded to hand out tracts to the participants.

The first person I gave a tract to was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Ottawa, who rode in a convertible and waved at people. (He had no gospel to proclaim.) I put my hand out with a tract and offered it to him as I approached him. I smiled and said, "Good morning and Happy St Patrick's Day! I'm sure you are somewhat familiar with this. It's the truth." He did not smile back as he snatched the tract out of my hand and under his breath he mumbled, "Thank you." He didn't lose a step and kept right on walking reading the tract for a few seconds, whipping it into his pocket and carried on.

After handing out about 100 tracts,  I "bumped" into a former news photographer colleague of mine I haven't seen in 10 years. We worked together for the Ottawa Citizen newspaper for 20 years. He was on assignment this day. 

In short, he started the conversation telling me he's about to turn 65 and had recently been thinking about his days being numbered. He started asking me questions about my faith knowing I had become a believer shortly after I left the paper in 1999. 

We stood on the street talking and freezing for one hour until he invited me to a coffee shop so we could continue talking about God. We went to a shop not far from us, sipped on a hot chocolate and spoke of nothing else than the gospel. He is very philosophical in his thinking but said he was very interested in what I was sharing with him.

Before we left, he asked for the address of the church I attend and said he might drop by sometime in the next few weeks. We parted pleased that we had met, agreed that there is a reason for everything and he went home thankful with a gospel tract, as well. I love "chance" meeting like these. God sure knows what He is doing!

In total, the team handed out gospel tracts to well over 1000 people along and at the end of the parade route. It was a cold, but good day. With Winterlude behind us and Good Friday/Easter Sunday outreaches on the way, it's safe to say our gospel outreach season is about to be in full swing with the coming of spring.

May the Lord continue to bless our gospel giving efforts on the streets of Ottawa for 2013. It is a privilege and a joy to serve the Lord in obedience to His Great Commission given to us in Matthew 28. All glory to the God and to Him alone!

EVERYDAY EVANGELISM

I sure miss being out in the open air preaching the gospel on the streets of Ottawa. But up here, the open air has a mighty bite in it that has its way of slowing things down in that department. It's something we call, "winter".

For that reason and others, I have not been able to get out on the "highways and byways" to preach as often as I would like to. But, thankfully, open air preaching is not the be all and end all of evangelism. If one is willing, faithful and ready to present the gospel wherever you may be, God is willing, faithful and ready to provide the opportunities to do so.

As I walk to work each morning (I'm a bus driver for the city of Ottawa) I pray God the Holy Spirit to grant me opportunities to share the gospel with people, whomever He may put in my path or lead me to approach: co-workers, bus passengers, people I meet on the street as I walk home, etc. God is gracious to answer favourably to this request on an average of about once a day, and He divinely orchestrates every meeting.

The Lord has entrusted me to share the gospel and hand out tracts to all kinds of people on almost a daily basis all winter long. Here, just to give you an example, I'll tell you of some of the everyday opportunities God provided for me to spread the gospel in the past 3 weeks:

- A passenger mistakingly got on what I call "the right wrong bus". A young visitor from Texas, he had to come to the end of my route and sit with me for 15 minutes on my break before I was able to return him to the right stop he was seeking. Regarding his unexpected delay, he said, "I guess there's a reason for everything". With that, a chat about the sovereignty of God, His purpose in all things, the gospel and his need for Christ ensued. He left, thankful, with a gospel tract in hand affirming that THIS may have been the reason why he was on the "wrong bus".

- A young lady got on board asking if my bus would take her to a specific place and I assured her it would. As she searched for her fare, she told me she was on her way to a lecture and didn't want to be late.  Interested, I asked what might the lecture be about. She said it was about how the world can attain "Global Peace". I asked her if she would like to hear what I had to say about that and she said, "Sure." I told her I thought the expression "global peace" was not only an oxymoron but unattainable due to the depraved nature of man's heart. She was taken by my statement and we had a good discussion. That led to her hearing the gospel, feeling intrigued and gladly accepting a gospel tract as she left.

- A fellow got on my bus during one of my lay ups in a residential area. He told me he had just finished refereeing a basketball game. With the gospel in mind, I brought up the recent story of basketball superstar Michael Jordan who, as a retired and extremely wealthy man, lacking for nothing in life admits to feeling empty in his life. My passenger told me that another superstar 'Pistol Pete' Maravich was one of his basketball heroes. I informed him of what he didn't know about him: I told him after Maravich retired from basketball, great fame and fortune achieved, he felt so disappointed, empty and depressed about life that he was led to the brink of suicide, until God intervened. Long story short, Maravich surrendered His life to Christ, did away with all his awards and used his fame to travel across the states sharing his testimony and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ everywhere he went. I then took him through the gospel and his own need for redemption. My passenger seemed amazed. When he came to disembark the bus, he thanked me for what I shared and told me he was going to research Maravich's testimony and walked off with a gospel tract to read and ponder over.

- One of our supervisors at work was on his way to the office 3 weeks ago and was hit in a head on collision, injuring him and totalling his car. He was sent to hospital, treated and was back to work last week. I approached him at the office and said how thankful I was that he was not seriously hurt. He said, "It could have been so much worse. Somebody above must have been looking after me." I smiled and said, "I know who that somebody is." We couldn't take the time to talk so I handed him a copy of my "Are You Ready" gospel tract to which he said he would read. I am hoping to see him again soon and talk.

- In the last 3 weeks, just by turning a general conversation into a gospel conversation, I also shared the Good News of Jesus with 2 fellow bus drivers, one who blasphemed God's while telling me something and one who told me her mother had just almost died.

- Kim and I had meetings with two separate financial advisors. In both cases we were given the opportunity to share the full gospel with them before leaving our meetings and present them with tracts. Their response was more than just polite. They seemed genuinely interested and thanked us for sharing.

To keep the gospel going elsewhere, when we are out on errands (which is also a daily thing) we strategically lay gospel tracts wherever we go for people to find, pick up and read.

This post is not meant to be a braglist of personal outreaches, but rather an encouragement and demonstration to you of how God blesses his gospel harbingers with opportunities to reach the lost with the His gospel in everyday situations. Missionary work is not just about bringing the gospel to Third World countries. The whole world is the Lord's harvest field and that includes our own back yard.

Yes, I'm anxious for spring and warmer weather which will get me back better conditions to preach the gospel "on the box". But, until then, there is always opportunity to share the gospel everywhere you go IF you are willing, faithful and ready to share.

Are You Ready to share the gospel wherever the Lord has you today?

SUPERBOWL OUTREACH 2013

Everyone knows what the Superbowl is. An annual football tradition that is attended by thousands and viewed by millions on TV. Another tradition that comes with it, though unofficially, is the open air preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Superbowl Outreach is a gospel ministry, affiliated with Sports Fan Outreach International,  that organizes and brings in over 100 veteran and novice open air gospel preachers and street evangelists to spread the gospel throughout the host city's streets.

This year's championship football match was held last weekend in New Orleans, Lousiana. Hundreds of thousands of football enthusiasts roamed the streets of this famous city as they toured, drank and whatever else that goes on in a city that is in party mode.

For three solid days, the gospel was heard just about everywhere that people went. Teams of open air preachers, brothers and sisters in Christ, were stationed here, there and everywhere. For 8.5 hours a day non-stop, the gospel was being preached on the corners and byways of downtown New Orleans. Many heard, many received, many approved and many rejected the word of God as it was being preached in the public squares.



God was indeed glorified, His name exalted and His glorious gospel proclaimed at a time in a place where He is the last thing on the minds of sports and party enthusiasts. As always, God will bless this gospel outreach effort by affecting the unsuspecting hearts of those whom Christ died for, who passed by the proclamation of the gospel, whose planted gospel seeds are being watered, grown and prepped by the working of the Holy Spirit in time for the Lord's harvest of souls.



May God bless each and every gospel harbinger who gave up their time and energy toward such a worthy cause for the continued building of the kingdom of God. They worked very, very hard.

WITNESS WINTERLUDE

It's that chilly time of the year again when certain members of our evangelism team (true cold blooded Canadians) from Emmanuel Baptist Church get all bundled up and brave the biting cold to spread the gospel and be a witness for Christ to attendees of the city's annual Winterlude festivities in downtown Ottawa.

For the two hours that we stood at the gates to Confederation Park we were privileged to hand out hundreds upon hundreds of gospel tracts as people entered and exited the park. Pastor Bob Doble and Elder Denis Pomerleau brought their "Are You Ready" crosses and utilized them during our gospel giving efforts there, as well.

Pastor Bob and his wife, Marie-Josee, were stationed at one entrance gate and Elder Denis and his wife were stationed at another one block away. I was miked up and went back and forth from each gate standing on the corner reading excerpts of Scripture that pertained to the greatness and love of God as found in Psalms 145 and 146. As well, I read encouraging excerpts of Scripture from the Book of Isaiah focussing on God's invitation for all to come to Him for salvation.

Chilled to the bone after two hours, we packed up and headed across the street to a coffee shop where we defrosted with hot chocolate and coffee tied along with rich fellowship for over an hour. Many went home with the gospel in their pockets, with the memory of seeing the cross and a hearing from God's word ringing in their minds. May God bless all those whom He has sovereignly predestined to receive and respond to His calling.

 "My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." - John 10:27-28