GOSPELFEST AT RIBFEST

We have alot of "FEST"s here in Ottawa, especially during the summer. They come in a variety of events like music concerts, art displays, food contests, street performances, theatre shows, etc.

We have Westfest, Bluesfest, Ribfest, Jazzfest, Fringefest, Chamberfest, just to name a few. Most of them are in the summer which means most of them are held outdoors on city streets and city parks.

And it's where lots of people congregate, for whatever reason, that Christians with a passion for the Lord and compassion for the lost should be out and about giving the gospel to the meandering crowds when the opportunities are there for the taking.

This past weekend was Ribfest in Ottawa. Three downtown blocks of various eating establishments from all over vying for top prizes for the best ribs on the planet. Thousands of meat lovers flock to partake in the annual public chowdown.

I worked all day Saturday but was able to MAKE a small window of time on Sunday to preach the Law and the Gospel in an area of the mall where there was no loud rock music blaring out of speakers to compete with like in other venues.

My vantage point: below is a left to right view from where I would preach the gospel from. Many on my left and right are not in the photo.

All miked up so I wouldn't have to yell, I opened up with a positive note on the event at hand. I told my meat-chewing congregation that I was there to offer them food for thought as they ate their food for tastebuds.

I started my discourse on the deaths of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon just last week. THAT certainly caught the attention of many. Utilizing familiar current events is a great way to attract people's attention as a springboard to any gospel giving venture.

Focusing on Michael Jackson, I told them it was highly unlikely that he woke up Thursday morning, got ready for his day, stopped, looked in the mirror and said to himself: "Well, today is the last day of my life."

I informed them that he and the others were part of the ultimate statistic, that 10 out of 10 people die. I reminded them that one day, maybe sooner than later, they too will face the same fate, some as sudden as Jackson's.

After telling them that, along with the three stars mentioned above, one million and fifty thousand people on earth died last week and that 150,000 would die that day, etc., I took them through the Law and the Gospel.

Many stopped and paid attention to the gospel sermon. Some listened for a while and continued on their chow 'n chat with their friends. Others seated nearby me pretended not to listen, but I could tell they were.

But there was one fellow who happened to stroll by with his wife and baby. He stopped to listen for a while, came right up me while I was preaching and quietly told me to "Go **** your God!"

I ignored him.

Then he pressed on: "You are an ***hole."

I responded for all to hear: "God bless you, sir".

"I was having a fun day until you came along and ruined it." he said.

"But you haven't heard the good news yet. I told you good news was to follow".

"I didn't come here for this." he said.

"I didn't come here for you to deny me my right to free speech." I responded.

"Go to hell!" was his final word as he walked away.

"I can't, sir. Please stick around to hear why that is so." I suggested.

He gave me the finger and left in a huff with wife and baby in tow.

I wished him well and continued the gospel from where I left off with many more people paying attention after that little verbal exchange. Hecklers have no idea how helpful they can be to a street preacher.

All else went well. I thanked my listeners for their patience, encouraged them to think about what they had heard and stepped down. I packed up my gear and had to head home, unfortunately, without the time to give out tracts. But I was pleased for the time the Lord gave me to preach one gospel message, at least, to about 100 people on Sunday who, otherwise, would not have heard it.

This day, church came to people who, for most I'm sure, did not go to church that day, or ever do. Or maybe some did but attend a church where the TRUE gospel is not preached.

That's two of the many reasons why we Christians must be out there doing all that we can, in whatever way we can, wherever we can, to share the Good News with those who know it not.

Are there city or community events in your area where you can share the gospel with folks? I am sure there are just as many, if not more, than what we have here.

Make time, even if just for a little while, to take advantage of crowd gathering events around you to share the gospel with others and revel in the joy of knowing you have shared in the gospel work of building the Kingdom of God.

The food is real good is some places, too!

THE KING OF POP MEETS THE KING OF GLORY

Michael Jackson died yesterday. So did Farrah Fawcett. A few days before, Ed McMahon died.

This week, here in Canada, former Governor General Romeo Leblanc died. These are all people with bigger names than us.

Actually, around the world this past week one million and fifty thousand people died. Another 150,000 will die today. The same tomorrow and so on and so on and so on.

The statistic continues to be consistent: 10 out of 10 people die.

As far as the King of Pop goes, the world is in shock and mourning at his sudden death. Madonna can't stop crying. Miley "I do everything for Jesus" Cyrus lost her inspiration. Quincy Jones lost part of his soul. There is no doubt about it, the guy was very talented. For more reasons than that, Michael Jackson was a household name. And, from the news reports, millions around the world are praying for him and hoping he finds his Neverland in the afterlife.

Well, its too late to pray for Mr Jackson and he won't find himself in Neverland. And his worldly status will be not be of any significance compared to the status of his soul when he faces the King of Glory, his Creator and Judge, who will hold him (and all others who have died and will die) accountable for every thought, word and deed while on this earth.

I think it safe to say that Michael Jackson did not wake up yesterday morning, prepare for the day ahead of him, stop to look in the mirror and say "Well, today is the last day of my life." One second his heart was beating, the next it was not. Snuffed out like a candle. And that is what it will be like for most everybody, including you and me. The question is: are we ready to face the King of Glory ourselves?

If you are a born again Christian (there is no other kind) you must, you must, you must be out and about doing everything you can, when possible, to be in the service of our Lord and sharing the saving gospel of Jesus Christ to as many as you come in contact with on this side of the grave. There will be no need to do so in Heaven, so now's your only chance.

The Good News of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, must be made known to all as it is absolutely clear from God's word, the Bible, - and therefore TRUE - that:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

It's heaven or hell, folks! No limbo. No purgatory. No Neverland or any other man made myth to soothe the conscience of the unbeliever or false convert. Jesus preached heaven and hell. Mercy and wrath. Love for righteousness and hatred for sin.

The "love of God" is a misconstrued concept in the eyes of the world. People must be made aware that because GOD IS HOLY, RIGHTEOUS AND JUST, He must punish sin. And the punisment that God has ascribed for sinners is eternity in hell.

"But, where does His love come in?" Well, that's just it: the Good News is that He has already unleashed His wrath for sin upon His own innocent Son as He hung on the cross over two thousand years ago. He paid the price for us and justice was served, setting those who humble themselves, repent and put their faith in Christ, free from their guilt and given eternal life!

THAT is God's love!

To reiterate: God came down to earth as one of us, fully God and fully man, yet without sin, in the person of Jesus. And it is Jesus who voluntarily went to the cross to take on the punishment from God the Father that we so rightly deserve for our sins. He lovingly did that in our stead. Amazing grace!!

And now, through the gifts of repentance and faith we may obtain the righteousness of Christ, receive forgiveness and be saved from eternal wrath and be freely given the gift of eternal life.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

We must be out there sharing and living our faith with our loved ones and friends. We must be out there giving the gospel by laying down gospel tracts in public places, handing out gospel tracts to people on the streets, verbally sharing the gospel with people on the street, open air preaching...whatever you sense you are called to do, but DO SOMETHING!

Yes, the King of Pop has met the King of Glory. The question is: will it go well for him at this meeting?

Next question: will it go well for you? If you are a true Christian, then you have already been fully assured by faith that it will.

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:1-2)

With that, then, it is your duty to go and tell others of this Good News, this wonderful eternal free gift you have been so graciously given and offer the same hope that has been offered you that they, too, may be saved.

GO!

DIVERSE DENOMINATIONS: SHEEP & GOATS

There are a large number of denominations existing under the banner of Christianity, each with their own distinctives that separate one part of the whole from the other.

And it's no secret that not all denominations, just like not all individuals that profess themselves to be Christian, are truly Christian in the biblical sense of the word. That leaves the existing true body of Christ standing in tact. "I know my sheep and my sheep know me". (John 10:14)

On Judgment Day, however, the particular denomination that one ascribed to in life will not even be taken into consideration. Before the throne of God, one will either stand before Him in the mirror of Christ, or one will stand before Him in the mire of sin.

Yes, we are a diverse religion differing in many ways. But here is how diverse it is going to be in heaven on that great Day of Judgment: sheep and goats.

Jesus said: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left." (Matt 25:31-33)

Heavenbound sheep, hellbound goats. That's it!

If you are a true believer, your profession should be that of belonging to Christ before belonging to a denomination. Identifying your denomination will reveal the particular distinctives you adhere to and there is nothing wrong with that in and of itself.

But your identity, first and foremost, should be with Christ. That central point should never be put on the back burner as a no-brainer just because you are a member of a particular church that stands under the umbrella of the Christian faith.

There will not be a corner in heaven for Baptists, one for Roman Catholics, one for Jehovah Witnesses, Methodists, Lutherans, Mormons, Pentacostals, Presbyterians and all the rest that identify themselves as followers of Jesus.

Only Christians. (Think about that.)

A common question I get from people on the street whom I share the gospel with is "What church or denomination do you belong to?". To which I answer "I belong to Christ. I am a Christian." I start from there and will only elaborate on my church affiliation if its a help in the converstation. I try to keep the focus on the cross instead of the cross links.

Here, again, is open-air preacher extraordinaire, Jonathan Edwards (1714-1769) in a statement regarding this very issue:

"I profess to be a member of the Church of England; but if they will not let me preach in a church, I will preach anywhere. All the world is my parish; and I will preach wherever God gives me opportunity. You will never find me disputing about the outward appendages of religion. Don't tell me you are a Baptist, and Independent, a Presbyterian, a Dissenter: tell me you are a Christian. That is all I want. This is the religion of Heaven and must be ours upon earth."

(Tyerman, Vol 2, p. 567)

Edwards wasn't being sheepish here, but in a good way.

THE WORD OF GOD

If we once get above our Bibles, and cease making the written word of God our sole rule both as to faith and practice, we shall soon lie open to all manner of delusion, and be in great danger of making shipwreck of faith and a good conscience. Our blessed Lord, though He had the Spirit of God without measure, yet always was governed by, and fought the devil with, "It is written".

Jonathan Edwards


HT: Igniter Media

LATE NITE WITH PAUL WASHER

Not many people would argue against spending time in front of the TV for a few hours during the week, especially evenings.

But is 'primetime' viewing truly a good use of prime time for the Christian? Do these programs glorify God in any way? Do they ever edify the viewer?

You will never see the likes of Paul Washer on the major TV networks. Not good for business.


But the constant TV onslaught of people breaking God's 10 Commandments via depictions of murder, lies, theft, adultery, blasphemy, idolatry, coveting, etc., in all their many forms, is a source of "entertainment" for most who watch TV. That, sadly, includes many professing Christians. The networks don't care. It's more bucks in the banks for them.

"I will set before my eyes no vile thing." (Psalm 101:3)

Some Christians may cringe at the one hour length of this sermon video below and ignore it, but would not think twice about watching an R rated flick on the tube for a time twice a long. (I confess: I was there a time ago. I remember how easy it was to justify my "down time".)

So, without further ado, if you are one who prefers to be edified instead of horrified, then I suggest you pop yourself a huge bowl of popcorn, have a seat and enjoy a commercial free, sin free, man humbling, God glorifying video that should speak volumes to your heart and encourage you in your walk with Christ.

I'm heading for the popcorn popper myself! I like watching worthwhile re-runs.


HT: Lane Chaplin

GOSPELFEST AT WESTFEST

What a joy it is to serve the Lord! What better time can be spent here on earth as we wait our call into Heaven to be with Him forever?

Yours truly, mine truly (that would be my wife, Kim) and ours truly, George, a brother in Christ, spent this past Lord's Day doing the Lord's work on the street at one of Ottawa's many annual outdoor festivals called "WESTFEST".

The popular 3 day "neighborhood event" draws an estimated 100,000 people each year focusing on the celebration of the arts in various forms on the streets of the trendy Westboro section of Ottawa. Along Westboro's main street, that was open only to pedestrians, there were all kinds of displays, street performances, buskers, outdoor concerts, lots of food, etc, for people to enjoy.

One of the things NOT presented, however, at this huge public event was the gospel. (Feel free to to take a few moments to catch your breath. I know that must have been a shock for you to read.)

Of course, there's nothing really "artsy" about a gospel presentation. But that doesn't mean one (or three) cannot, at least, take the opportunity to present it as throngs of people mill about the street.

So out, in the name of the Lord we went.

George arrived at our chosen location literally armed with a stack of bibles. Kim and I arrived with a stack of gospel tracts. For the first part of the afternoon, we teamed up to hand out tracts. We were even able to stop here and there to engage people in conversation about God's grace and mercy offered to them.

It was wonderful to see George in action as he approached people with his stack of bibles in one hand and a deck of gospel tracts in his other, giving them out left, right and center.

After a while, it was time to get up on a box and preach God's word. It so happens, the church where I first heard the true gospel being preached, the church where by God's grace and power I came to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, is in Westboro.

And it was in front of that church where I set up my box to open air preach the same gospel message that broke me and sent me running to my Savior almost 10 years ago. It was good to be there.

Miked up to my portable speaker, the Lord abled me to preach non-stop for one hour.

Knowing most of the people would be passing by without stopping, I read many pre-selected key portions of Scripture from the book of Isaiah for passersby to hear as they slowly walked by. I would then preach the gospel, followed by more verses from Isaiah and then back to the gospel again and so on.

During the one hour "presentation", many stopped to listen for a while before carrying on. Some nodded positively. I even heard "Amen!" more than once. And, of course, I heard "Shut-up!" just as many times. It was that, you know, the "smell-of-death-to-one-and-the-fragrance-of-life-to-another" scenario.

After we put the preaching gear away, the three of us continued on down the promenade to hand out more tracts. Kim came across a band of youngsters hanging out outside a restaurant and handed each of them a MDB gospel tract.

One girl who received a tract (above) reacted by saying "Oh, my G--!" to which Kim immediately used that as a springboard to speak to her of God. Her friends were already busy checking out their tracts.

With that, I came along and seized the opportunity to take these kids through the gospel. It was amazing to see how attentative they were as I explained the gospel message to them. Questions followed and answers were gladly given. And they all expressed their gratitude to us as we left.

With all glory to God, we believe our afternoon at Westfest was a fruitful venture.

Along with being able to preach the gospel, the three of us were able to engage a good number of people in conversation about God's saving grace through Christ. We were able to dispense gospel tracts into the hands of almost 400 people. And George gave out 10 bibles to passersby he initiated conversation with.

A sad observation: I wish I didn't have to end this with a sad commentary, but I cannot ignore it. Within the boundaries of Westboro, there are a number of churches that stand under the banner of the Christian faith, none of which that we saw were doing anything in an evangelistic way. One would think that with the potential of having 100,000 people walk right by your door, that a church might jump at the opportunity to somehow give passersby the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Jesus reveals to us: "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." (Matt 9:37) And it just should not be that way.

ADJUSTING TO DARKNESS?

Not until glory shall we Christians be completely sanctified. Not until glory will we be free from temptation and sin in our lives.

But until then, the Scriptures call us to be diligent in our guard against such powers. All of us are tempted. All of us sin. And all of us should be quick to seek forgiveness from the Lord and repent of our sin when we do.

We of the flock who share our faith regularly with others (that should just about include everyone who is a biblical Christian) should know that we cannot serve Christ and be in deliberate and unrepented sin at the same time. It's either your love for your King or your love for your sin. One of them has to go.

Posted below is a 5 minute video with a text lesson written by Pastor Troy Bohn of Daytona Beach, Florida that deals succinctly with this issue. None of us are immune to the power of sin. But with God's help, we need not succumb to it.



The video was produced by a Christian who goes by the YouTube alias "Skintightpotato". Thank you!

Have a blessed weekend!

ASK THE LAWMAN

Tony Miano, of The Lawman Chronicles, has recently begun a new feature on his blog called "Ask the Lawman".

It is a helpful venue for attaining sound practical advice on various and important issues regarding the realm of biblical evangelism. I believe this would be of good service to both seasoned and novice evangelists.

With years of field (street?) experience behind him, Tony offers sound, practical solutions and answers to serious questions concerning the task of Christian witness. I highly recommend checking out these video segments on his blog.

In the sample segment posted below, Tony offers advice on what to do when you approach someone in public with the intent of sharing the gospel and they immediately proclaim that they are already "Christian". Do you drop the gospel giving intent right then and there? Or do you have reason to pursue the issue a little further? If so, how?

Here's Tony Miano:

WEEK EVANGELISM

And what at week of evangelism it was!

From Saturday to Saturday, my wife, Kim, and I went 7 days straight with tract laying, tract giving, a public speaking engagement, one to one conversations and an open air opportunity. During our work, our freetime, our walks, our errands, our trip downtown, etc., the Lord kept us busy in the realm of sharing the gospel any way we could.

Last Saturday, I had worked all day. I got home in the early evening, had supper and took a half hour gospel power nap. (Hey, I'm a bit past 50!) Re-energized, I jumped on a bus and headed downtown to hand out tracts. In the almost two hours I was there I was able to hand out 112 tracts and talk to people, persons, pedestrians and the odd human being.

On Tuesday, in between work shifts, I had the privilege of speaking to a class of about 30 students at Life Christian Academy here in Ottawa. Principal Mike Karpishska found out about my ministry via this blog and invited me to give my testimony and share some street evangelism stories with students. Part of their Christian curriculum involves learning about evangelism and the school utilizes the Way of the Master program as their guide. How great is that? I spoke for an hour and spent 20 minutes answering good questions. It was so encouraging for me to talk to young kids who actually knew what I was talking about when I referenced Scripture verses and the like. Praise God for faithful Christian schools!

On Wednesday, I had just parked my bus towards the end of my morning shift and a fellow driver, Nick (right), approached me. He knows I'm a professing Christian. He is not. Nick was struck by the recent Air France tragedy and wanted to get my view on where God was when this jet went down killing all 228 on board and what happened to the vicitims' souls after they died. God brought a man to me, with his own provided springboard, that he would hear the gospel. By his own admission, Nick is sure of where he is going if he were to be suddenly taken like that. The good thing is, he voiced his true concern about it and asked that we continue our discussion this week. Please pray.

And this Saturday was the 65th anniversary of D-Day. Kim and I made time to go downtown to share the saving gospel of Jesus Christ with people and hand out tracts. I open aired on a corner just across the street from the War Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.I tried to convey to listeners the difference between the time limited freedom that soldiers of past wars purchased for us by their shed blood and the eternal freedom purchased for us by the shed blood of Jesus. "The soldiers voluntarily stood in harm's way for us and sacrificed their lives to free us from a life of torment here on earth. Jesus voluntarily stood in harm's way for us and sacrificed His life to free us from an eternal life of torment in hell" I voiced. The Good News of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone was preached. Glory to God!

Following that, Kim and I packed up and walked through the downtown core placing and handing out over 100 gospel tracts before we got back to our car to go home. One of Kim's favourite things to do is to tag cars with tracts. So as I walked the sidewalks handing out tracts to people, she carefully walked along the long lines of cars parked along the downtown streets and left a tract on the windshields like a parking ticket.

Speaking of parking tickets, we will even leave a million dollar bill next to real parking tickets to...you know...help the owner pay for the ticket. I know...such generous people we are!

Including and in the days between all this activity, Kim and I made sure to bring tracts on all our outings and errands during the week handing them out to people we made contact with, reaching out to people passing by, leaving them on car windshields, on parked bikes, public phones, in store magazines, in newspaper dispensers, in mail boxes, etc...basically anywhere where anyone can find them.

What a privilege it is to serve our Lord in this way! It's the very least we could do in gratitude for what He did for us on the cross.

It is such a joy and, yet, there is an element of concern that comes with it and it is this: sometimes we feel we're the only ones giving the gospel on the streets of Ottawa. We know we are not, but there should be more. Way more! Jesus was so right when He said "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." (Matt 9:37)

We're praying for an even busier week of sharing the gospel than last. How about you? Are you planning on making time to share the gospel some way, somehow this week?

If so, people would be gospel informed, the Lord would be pleased and you would be blessed.

CATCH A FALLEN STAR

Susan Boyle. A few weeks ago nobody knew who she was.

But following her performance on Britain's Got Talent, it seemed like there was hardly anyone on earth who did not know her. This simple woman's amazing singing performance was downloaded nearly 200,000,000 times on the internet, more than any other in history. Instant fame had arrived on Boyle's doorstep.


This instant fame also brought reporters, TV crews and tabloid photographers to camp outside her humble home in Scotland where she lives with her cat. She was invited on the Larry King show. She was interviewed via satellite by Oprah.

Susan Boyle was on top of the world.

But it was not quite over for her. Boyle had one more hurdle to conquer: the final contest. The one that would see her contend for the for best overall talent of the year on this "Idol" type show.

Alas, the mounting pressure for her to win first rate approval by the judges and her failure to do so last Saturday in front of millions of viewers, proved to be costly.

Susan Boyle is no longer on top of the world. She's in the hospital.

Following her loss to a dance troupe, she collapsed from a "breakdown" coupled with sheer exhaustion from the whole ordeal. As good as she was, in the eyes of the judges that night, she was not good enough to win the top prize. It was too much for Susan Boyle to take and the stress and upset of it all did her in.

Had Susan Boyle won the top prize and everything that came with it, in the eyes of the world she would have had everything. But she now must face the world as one who has fallen short of the judges' standard of perfection.

And that is exactly how God will see you if you stand before Him on Judgment Day without Christ: fallen short of perfection. Despite of all the good you performed here on earth, despite how great everyone else's opinion of you is, you will still fall short of God's holy standard of goodness (perfection) and you will be condemned to hell forever.

That is, unless you turn away from your sins and place your faith in the One who gave a perfect performance in the eyes of God for you, in your place, while he lived here on earth over 2000 years ago. That is, unless you place your trust in the One who suffered humiliation for your imperfection through your sins, your guilt, your shame and was nailed to a cross to die as though he was the one who fell short of perfection in front of the perfect Judge.

This "One" is Jesus Christ.

Don't seek the love, approval and acceptance of the world. Everything the world has to offer you might feel good for a time, but it has an expiry date: the day you die (if not before). The world will fail you.

But seek the love, approval and acceptance of the One and only true God through the saving work of His Son, Jesus, on the cross. The top prize of eternal life in heaven has already been won for you if you but repent and receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior. There is no other way to win this prize. Receive Christ! And the prize, with all it's rewards, will be yours as though you had won it yourself.

Susan Boyle may not have placed first in the eyes of worldly judges, but she would be considered as first in the eyes of the Judge of the world (and so would you) if she were to appear before Him on the Last Day gowned in a robe of righteousness not her own, but that of her Savior.

It is my prayer, that if she is not saved and not in a right relationship with God, that He would graciously send someone to her door to give her the gospel and catch this fallen star. Then, maybe, she would see that losing out to the world, but winning herself to Christ, would have been the been the best thing that ever happened to her.

"For all have fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:23-24)

EVANGELICAL DOCTRINAPHOBIA IN CANADA

Evangelical Doctrinaphobia: the fear of teaching the fear of God.

"The look and sound of the church has changed considerably over the years, growing and evolving as it meets the needs of it's community."

So begins a mini-documentary produced by Christian TV program 100 Huntley Street about a major documentary produced by Global TV which was aired across Canada last week. It's aptly titled "Hip 2 B Holy".

Global's documentary is a look at the growing number of people who are being drawn into "churches" in Canada that appeal to their senses, emotions and other felt needs via what the hip and modern seeker-senstive evangelical movement has to offer them.

"What we do is very strategic in that we try to take the easiest, the most obvious and the most culturally relevant way we can to move people from a place of being curious about God to being in a real relationship with Jesus" says one Rob Bell look-a-like leader.

A hoodied "youth pastor who incorporates music and dance into his ministry" claims "I don't have to be afraid to say that I believe in Jesus. But I do have to wrestle with the ramifications of what people think that means."

I'm not judging the hearts of the church leaders profiled here. Nor have I seen Global TV's documentary in whole (we're not hooked up to local, cable or satellite TV here at home). But this mini-doc about this major-doc revealed enough for me to conclude that their Sunday services looked more like self-glorifying MTV than God-glorifying churches.

I could go on, but I'll just let this 10 minute presentation speak for itself.
Be forewarned: this is sad state of affairs, not unlike what is happening south of the border in the USA in these present times.



I have to ask: Does this not make it obvious that we need more true Christians than ever before to step out of their comfort zone, make themselves visible and audible in the public square and allow an opportunity for "seekers" to find the truth in true gospel being preached? How long do we have to wait before the workers are no longer few? The ones who are seeking are seeking truth! Shall we just sit and wait for them to come knocking on our church doors? (Matt 9:37-38)

Jesus commands us to take the initiative and seek the seekers. What part of "GO" do we not understand in Jesus' giving of the Great Commission?

Let's be out there on the streets and catch them before they are drawn to and find false comfort in places where only felt needs are met; where their ears are tickled; where they are entertained; where eternal life giving doctrines like God's holiness, man's sinfulness, hell, the saving work of Christ on the cross, repentance and faith are only miniscule sidenotes of their services, if anything at all.


(For a good list of what to look for in a church , check out Robert Tewart's blog at http://www.streetfishing.org/ and scroll down one post to May 31st.)