SPREADING THE '180' WORD

Today was the day that the 180 movie was released. And today was the day that Kim, myself and Nicole, along with our pastor, Bob Doble, began to spread the word about it.

Armed with Nicole's  homemade "180MOVIE.COM" business card sized flyers, we set out at noon just outside the campus gates at the University of Ottawa and handed these generic flyers to almost 1000 students who happened to pass by in the hour and a half that we were there.

The only image and info on these little flyers was the 180 logo pointing to the website address where the film can be viewed. As we were offering them out, we would say, "This is a link to an online documentary that you might be interested in viewing." Most were satisfied with just being informed of that as they made their way to their next class.

When asked by a very few to be more specific we would say, "It's about the holocaust of WW2 and how it compares to the present day holocaust that is still going on." For most that was enough for them to take one and keep going.

We handled it that way in order to prevent ourselves from being drawn into a sidewalk debate about abortion as that was not what we were there for. It also kept peoples' curiosity at a peak which would most likely ensure that they would watch the film.

Close to one thousand flyers went out and a few 180 logo posters were taped or pinned here and there, as well. An hour and a half (for me, in between my work shifts) well spent.

We are praying that this video will go "viral"; that many would come to the same conviction and conclusion regarding their position on abortion; and that many would also hear and respond to the saving gospel of Jesus Christ which was appropriately presented as part of all this, as well.

We plan to continue to 'spread the word' in days to come for the sake of the voice of those who don't have one and for the glory of God.

180 - THE MOVIE

Adlolf Hitler.

His name alone sends a shiver up my spine.

Can you believe that there are countless intelligent young people walking this planet who have never heard of Adlolf Hitler, let alone what he did?

THOSE WHO FORGET HISTORY ARE DESTINED TO REPEAT IT.

NEWS BULLETIN: History IS repeating itself, folks! And it's happening as we speak right in our own backyard! 

What makes it worse is that what is taking place today is government sanctioned. As far as the end result is concerned, the only difference between what took place under Hitler's barbaric rule and what is taking place under "civilized" rule is that the latter daily adds to the list of innocent blood being shed to the global tune of over 125,000 per day.

That's nearly 46 million murders per year. Yes, 46 million cold blooded murders per year against the most vulnerable people on earth! And it's all legal.

There is a shocking, yet, hope-giving new documentary produced by Ray Comfort, of Living Waters, that has just been released and can be viewed on YouTube and, as of September 26, at 180movie.com. It is simply titled "180".

What's this all about? Well, whether you are Pro-Choice or Pro-Life, you need to watch this 33 minute documentary to find out for yourself.

You will also not be able to help but see how God, the Creator of all people, fits into the realm of things presented in this very unique and thought provoking film. You will not be disappointed.

WARNING: if you are Pro-Choice, you may change your mind. Very quickly. Viewer discretion is advised. 

IDOL FEATHERS

Last week at a National Democratic Party caucus retreat, former NDP leader Jack Layton's widow, Olivia Chow, presented the interim party leader, Nycole Turmel, with two eagle feathers that had belonged to Layton.

Chow presented the feathers, one of them blessed by a native Haida elder, saying they were "very sacred" to Layton. "He used these feathers to guide his decision-making", Chow told the caucus, adding that she hopes they will now give Turmel 'the wisdom and the strength' to lead the party until a permanent leader is chosen in March.  Chow closed by invoking the spirit of Layton to "guide us, now and in the future."

That all seems sincere and spiritual, but the truth is:

1) Feathers are not sacred. Feathers are, for lack of a better word, feathers.

2) Trusting in created feathers (instead of the God who created them) in attempt to help people make any kind of decision in life is a form of idolatry which God hates and which will only continue to guide the practitioners of such sin on the road to eternal hell.

3) Feathers have no power to give anybody "wisdom and strength" to do anything, let alone provide guidance. They're just feathers, beautifully and masterfully designed by God enabling birds to fly. 

4) Invoking the spirit of a dead person to guide those left behind is again a form of idolatry and, therefore, sinful. A dead person is not deity.  A dead person cannot be prayed to. A dead person has no power  And feathers have no more power than that of a dead person. A dead person is just that: dead!


The god(s) of pagan spirituality, or any religion that does not ascribe to the gospel of Jesus Christ, is not the God of the Bible. The two cannot co-exist. No person can embrace or practice pagan spirituality and try to harmonize it with biblical Christianity. God makes Himself perfectly clear in the Scriptures that He does not tolerate any form of idolatry, no matter how small, subtle or sincere. He severely punished the Israelites on many occasions for this grievous offence.


The Book of Hebrews in the Bible states that God has appointed man to die once and after that to face judgment. Judgement Day will see the reuniting of the body with the soul. Then, depending on whether or not the person's faith was in Christ for salvation before death, or in other words, whether or not the person was a genuine born again Christian, the individual will spend a conscious eternity in only one of two places: heaven or hell.

There is only one way to God. If that were not so, then Jesus was lying when He said, " I am the way and the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." - John 14:6


"But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned." - Galatians 1:8


There is, therefore, only one true gospel. All others are false. All ties to false gospels, like feathers and invoking the spirits of dead people, leave sinful and deceived people in the state they were born in: condemned. 

Relying on feathers, or any man made object, in order to seek blessing and special favour is an abomination to the one true God, our Creator. But most people are very comfortable with a man-made god as it will never call them into account nor deliver eternal consequences for their sins. They could not as these gods simply do not exist.

Idolaters are, as found in Corinthians 6:9 and in Revelation 21:8, on the Lord's list of sinners whose place will be in the eternal lake of fire come Judgment Day. 

What idolaters need is the gospel truth that they may be saved from their sins and just punishment. But in order for them to receive the gospel truth, they must be presented with the gospel by someone who has already heard it, believed it, repented and has put their trust in Christ as their Saviour. Who is going to do that?

The job is yours, Christian. 


You know you have been commissioned by Jesus to "go out into all the world and preach the good news." You know you have been called to be an ambassador for Christ, no matter the cost. You know you have the answer to what the truth is. You know that you cannot keep this precious gift to yourself and not share it with someone who is as needy today as you once were before receiving the gospel and coming to faith in Jesus.


God has equipped His people with all the tools necessary to turn sinners like rebellious idolaters into sinners saved by grace, faithful believers in the Lord, Christ Jesus; saved and bound for Heaven.


Go! Go now, while there is still time and try to convince those who trust in the created rather than the Creator, that feathers always has been and always will be for the birds. 


"And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Saviour; there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other." - Isaiah 45:21-22 

TIMELY TRACTS

Joe Graves, a brother in Christ, dedicated street evangelist and friend of mine in West Virginia, sent me this letter on Saturday past that left me in awe after I read it. 

If there was ever a great example of the importance, necessity and urgency in the simple act of handing out gospel tracts to people as a form of evangelism, it is this.

Here is Joe's letter which I would like to share with you:
___________________________________________

Even as I write this I am still grasping the impact of something that happened today. A group of 9 of us had an outreach at the Martinsburg Air Show. We had not been there before and were not sure of the logistics of where the best place was to give out tracts.

This is where it gets interesting...


Around 9am, from a site located off base, we ended up being shuttled onto the base (of the 167th Airlift Wing of the West Virginia Air National Guard). We started giving out tracts right outside the airfield at the gate where people had to line up to go through security to see the air show. Now keep in mind that in plain view for almost 3 hours we gave out probably 3,000 tracts.
Many of the tracts we gave out had "Are You Ready?" on the front and one tract design touched on 9/11 and the fact that those people on 9/11 never thought that it would be there last day on earth.

The attendance was light because of some rain in the morning but most everyone took a tract when we offered one to them...even the military personnel. All the while I kept thinking,"There is no way they are going to let us continue to give out gospel tracts on a military base". One military person even came over and asked us what we were doing and I told him and he said "well, I don't have a problem with that".


We had scheduled the outreach from 9am - noon. About 11:45am a couple of military police said they had gotten a complaint and would have to shut us down. We were almost done anyway so I told them no problem and we left. I was still scratching my head in awe because the Lord has allowed us to give out the gospel unhindered for 3 hours on a military base. We left around noon.


Now for the part that will blow you away...


About 3:30pm I got a text from Nate (one of the brothers who went out with us) saying that he heard from someone that there had been a crash at the Martinsburg air show. I looked online and didn't see anything and thought maybe they were confusing it with the one that happened yesterday that is all over the news. Well, a little later I did see a report and found out there was a crash at the air show that killed the pilot about 2:30 pm.

I found an article where the crowds who saw the fireball of the crash were crying and hugging and praying. Can you imagine the impact when those people who saw the crash finally got home this afternoon and pulled the tract out of their pocket or purse? Then it started to hit me...that's why God allowed us to give out those tracts when normally we would never be allowed to do so. The Lord is awesome and He will glorify Himself because He is worthy.


Pray that God uses those tracts to draw people to himself and that we might have people contact us through the website with questions about salvation. Pray for our future outreaches.


Until His nets are full,


Joe Graves
__________________________________________


Imagine attending an event, receiving a gospel tract at the gate from a regular "Joe" like anyone else, reading it, not thinking much about it and then suddenly being witness to sudden death right before your eyes?

I would venture to say that 3,000 people who received a gospel tract at this air show later read that tract with greater care and concern for the sobering content of the gospel message offered to them. The Lord has His ways of reaching peoples' hearts. I believe this was one of the more dramatic ways. 


Praise God for people like Joe Graves and his team for their faithfulness in doing what they could to reach the lost for Christ by doing something so simple as handing out gospel tracts to people at a popular event.


Nothing could be easier. Nothing more important. 


How many gospel tracts have you given out today?

DEALING WITH 'CHRISTIAN' HECKLERS

What does an open air preacher do when a person in the attentive crowd speaks up, professes himself as a Christian and then proceeds to refute the biblical gospel that is being preached by preaching a different gospel?

Observe and take note as street evangelist Tony Miano demonstrates how to effectively handle a situation like that. This encounter took place recently during an open air session on a college campus in Southern California.



"But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned." Galatians 1:8

9/11 GOSPEL OUTREACH

Almost 3000 lives sadly and tragically lost in a blink of an eye. Murdered. Three thousand people who woke up to a beautiful September 11 morning not knowing they had only a few hours left to live.

I think it safe to say that not one of those who perished woke up on that September morn, took a shower, packed for a trip or got ready to go to work as they did everyday, looked in the mirror before leaving and said to themselves, "Well, today is the last day of my life."

Ten years later we remember that terrible and sobering day. People the world around gather to commemorate the event with special observances. But soon, life will get back to normal for all and most will go back to taking every breath they take and every beat of their heart for granted without a concern for their own imminent death, let alone where they will spend eternity.

With that in mind three of us from our evangelism team at church made time to spend a few hours on Saturday and a few more on Sunday, September 11, to bring to the minds of those willing to hear and be helped to understand the fact that they are in the same boat as everyone else. Ten out of ten people will die.

A day is coming when they will die but they have no idea when. If not so already, they are in dire need of being made ready; to be put into a right relationship with God, before they reach the grave, through Jesus Christ in order to be acquitted in God's Court of Law and be granted eternal life with Him in Heaven.

It was a privilege for Kim, Nicole and me to share the Good News of God's saving grace through Christ  with the hundreds who crossed our path and with those who heard the gospel through our preaching in the public square. Scripture reading, gospel tracts, one-to-one conversations and open air preaching were the order of the weekend while 9/11 was on the minds of most.

A video of our weekend witness will be forthcoming. Click on the photos if you would like to see them in them in their actual size.

May God be glorified in the faithful preaching of His word, always.

MISSION COMPLETE

Mission Ottawa 2011 complete!

God was glorified in the faithful proclamation of His saving gospel in Ottawa over a period of 5 days straight by members of our church evangelism team and Vernon Costolo from Atlanta, Georgia.

Many heard the gospel being preached in the open air. Many received the gospel in their hands. Many saw the 'Are You Ready' crosses. Many held good conversations with us. Some received Bibles, as well.

Time to rest? A little, perhaps. Still lots to do as well as catch up on the everyday things that got left behind this past week. All worth it, however.

A hearty "THANK YOU" to those who were praying for us over during this event. The Lord was gracious to answer favourably. Praise Him, always! He, alone, is worthy of all praise!

I hope to have a video up in the very near future. Please stay tuned.

RIPPING THE DEAD

Where and whenever a public outpouring of grief takes places following the death of a public figure, or the death of one or more resulting from a tragic event, there is a natural tendency for the public to create a makeshift memorial somewhere to honour the memory of the dead.

In and of itself, that is understandably a good thing. It unites people in shared grief and mutual comfort stemming from a sad circumstance, the loss of one(s) whom they mutually loved and admired whether they knew them personally or not.

Among the makeshift memorials, usually strewn with flowers, candles, teddybears, photographs, etc., are notes to or about the deceased that usually end with the acronym "R.I.P.", universally understood as "Rest In Peace", their sentiment being genuine and sincere.

It must be noted, however, in their heartfelt hope for the deceased to be truly resting in peace that they are acknowledging the fact that there is life after death. If asked, they would have to admit that in order for the dead to experience eternal rest and peace, they would have to be existing in a state of consciousness.

In other words they would have to admit that the dead are in some way still alive, their souls living on outside the realm of time. Many find solace in believing and expressing that the deceased is/are "in a better place now". If pursued to answer what this "better place" is called, most would likely say "heaven".

But what they don't know, understand or believe is that the eternal reward of rest and peace in heaven is not a reality determined by man, nor by a false religion they may follow, for anyone they deem deserving because the deceased had been a good, moral, influential and upstanding citizen while alive. They do not understand that these rewards are not granted dependant on how people die, no matter how sad, horrible and tragic the circumstances causing their death might have occurred.

In their ignorance or refusal to believe, they reject that it is God, the God of the Bible, the sovereign Creator, sustainer and provider of all life, who is the One that administers judgment on whether a person will be granted "rest in peace"...or not, in His heavenly court of law on Judgment Day.

If they don't know then they should know. The unregenerate need to be brought to and convicted by the truth because it is inconceivable and an offensive notion to them that there is even a remote possibility that a place called "hell" exists where, for all eternity, the Holy wrath of God will be continually poured upon all those who had never repented of their sins against Him and sought  redemption while alive on earth through His one and only provision: the sacrificial substitutionary death of His Son, Jesus, on a cross for the payment of all sins.

That is why God has appointed us, sinners saved by grace, His already redeemed people, to be His voice, His earthly messengers, His trusted harbingers of His one and only saving gospel. We, who have already been given the promise of eternal "rest in peace", are the ones who have been commissioned by Christ, Himself, to "Go out into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." - Mark 16:15.

There are literally millions of people who have no idea of what the gospel truth is, both in the world of the "unchurched" and the "churched". The latter, if they know not Christ as their Lord and Saviour, have been lied to and therefore deceived. There are, unfortunately,  more churches than not that preach "a different gospel" that is "really no gospel at all" (see Galatians 1:6-8) and, therefore, leads people on the broad road to hell. It all sounds and looks good and sincere, but falls short of the truth found in God's Holy Word, the Bible.

There is only one truth that lead to eternal REST IN PEACE in Heaven: Jesus Christ. There is no other way. We biblical Christians need to be found being busy proclaiming that truth everywhere we are and everywhere we go, no matter the cost. The gospel was never meant to be preached in church buildings alone. Churches are where most of the population is not.

What is the truth?

Jesus said of Himself: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."- John 14:6

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." - Act 4:12

Onward Christian soldiers! Let's be out there telling people the TRUTH in love and with sincere compassion!

Let's tell them that nobody, no matter how wonderful (even "religious") people may be or how tragically or sadly they die, that they will never experience this "rest in peace" without having had humbled themselves, repented of their sins and placed their trust in the Saviour, Jesus Christ, while they were still alive. We need to tell them that their tomorrow is not guaranteed to them and that Judgment Day will be one day too late to say "I'm sorry" to the Almighty God, their Judge. They need to be warned that there will be no mercy offered or given on that great and terrible day.

"I tell you, now is the time of God's favour, now is the day of salvation." - 2 Cor 6:2

"Rest in Peace" is a quasi-religious flowery sentiment full of emptiness. It means nothing, especially if the deceased was not a regenerate born again Christian. If that be the case then that person, in body and spirit, will never know rest and will never know peace. Eternal torment, unbearable pain and indescribable suffering in the promised "lake of fire" will be all they will know without end, forever.

"And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and the have no rest day or night..." - Rev 14:11

Let us be out there and bring the Good News to those who do not know it in truth, that they may one day, Lord willing, join the apostle Paul and us proclaiming:

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved." - Ephesian 2:4-5

Then, for the remainder of their days on earth, they will be able to "rest in peace" knowing that they will truly RIP in glory.