Stone the Preacher

Michael Jackson’s funeral will take place on Tuesday morning, July 7th where an estimated 750,000 people are expected to attend. We will have a team heading to the Staples Center on Tuesday from Hope Chapel at approximately 11AM, arriving at Staples Center at the end of the service, so that we may share God’s Law, His love, and His salvation to the many thousands who will be attending.

Mindful that “Sign Guys” and people from that hate church in Kansas will probably also be there, a delicate balance will be needed at this event; that’s why I am emphasizing the word sensitive. We will be there to offer hope, encouragement, understanding, and the truth that we will all have a funeral someday— some sooner than others—and we will all appear before the great judgment seat of Jesus Christ.

We want people to remember the most important thing: If anyone has ever broken just one of God’s 10 Commandments, that’s called sin. If they have sinned one time then they will end up in Hell forever. That means if they have ever lied one time, stolen one thing, or misused God’s name one time, then God will see them as lying, thieving, blasphemers, and on Judgment Day they will be found guilty of sinning against a holy God. Their penalty will be Hell for eternity.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that God sent His one and only son in the person of Jesus Christ, who was fully God and fully man, to suffer and die on a cross for our sins. He was buried for three days and rose again, defeating death, so that we may be forgiven for all our sins and have everlasting life, if we would repent and put our trust in Jesus as payment for our sins.

That’s the memory I want all those attending Michael’s funeral to think about.

On July 4th meet at Wilson Park in Torrance at 12:30 to share your faith with all those celebrating Independence Day. Tracts will be provided.

And my 6 week class, “Sharing Your Faith without Fear,” begins this Wednesday at 7PM.

I can’t tell you how important it is to make a daily goal. I have found that the majority of Christians stop sharing their faith on a regular basis because they have not made evangelism a daily priority. It can be as little as handing out one tract a day! My favorite Spurgeon quote is: “Do something! Do something! Do something!”

Whatever you do is a lot more than the average Christian will do.

Have you ever heard this excuse? I can’t do it on a daily basis because sometimes I don’t leave the house. I understand. I sometimes am faced with the same dilemma. But what if we all chose to leave the house for God? I know it may be a bit inconvenient at times, but what if that was our daily living sacrifice? Just a suggestion.

The Everyday Club gives you the opportunity to hold yourself accountable to whatever evangelistic goal that you have set for yourself, providing that it’s an everyday goal. Your goal can be to hand out one tract a day, or a thousand; it’s up to you! (You can join the 60+ others who have already signed up by clicking here!)

I am taking a little time off and when I return will be offering an opportunity for you to enter a new contest. Stay tuned!

The Everyday Club June Report should post automatically on Wednesday, so look for it.

Any comments you leave will be moderated if I have access to a computer, but if not, they will be moderated when I get back, so please still leave them. Thanks for your support and keep fishin’!

You may want to click here to see this ridiculous video of my interview with a drunken “Al Pacino”. It was a disaster…

And you may also want to click here to read about the time we invaded a Jehovah’s Witness Convention. It too, was a disaster.

And one more disaster: I preached to a bunch of Hindus at a beach BBQ. It didn’t go well.

“My real goal is to fulfill God’s purpose. I didn’t choose to sing or dance. But that’s my role, and I want to do it better than anybody else. I still remember the first time I sang in kindergarten class. I sang ‘Climb Every Mountain,’ and everyone got so excited.

“It’s beautiful at the shows when people join together. It’s our own little world. For that hour and a half, we try to show there is hope and goodness. It’s only when you step back outside the building that you see all the craziness.” —Michael Jackson in an interview with Robert Hilburn from 1981. L.A. Times, 6/27/09

“I desperately hope that he can be relieved from his pain, pressure and turmoil now. He deserves to be free from all that.” —Lisa Marie Presley, from her celebrity MySpace blog, 6/26/09

MEMORY LANE
YOU GOTTA REMEMBER THIS.
NOW WATCH THIS.
(Trust me.)

Want to have your evangelistic blog featured at some point on this site?

I want evangelists and would-be evangelists to be encouraged wherever they can. If your blog features regular evangelism articles of any kind, I will put it as a post sometime in the future. Then I’ll put it on my sidebar so you will get “hit credits” whenever anyone goes to this home page.

Remember, since I’m on vacation, I’ll most likely have to moderate your comments when I get back.

Every year I must re-post this because the times they-are-a-changing. Have you noticed?

If you are regularly sharing your faith, sooner or later you will be hassled by people with badges, especially if you are an open air preacher. I found a great 12-point list of what to do—and what not to do—when confronted by the police. Copy this and memorize the protocols… before it’s too late!

1. Always speak in a professional manner. “Yes Sir, No Sir” is an absolute rule. No Street Preacher serves a righteous cause in being publicly rude to an officer. Your attitude will go on the report and will meet with the same disrespect. Read the rest by clicking here.

Two weeks ago I was smacked in the face by an irate fan as I preached at a stop light across from the Staples Center at the first game of the NBA Finals (read the story here). I didn’t see it coming, but we caught it on video, along with a bunch of other angry fans shouting obscenities and blasphemies. Don’t worry; our editor replaced the offensive words with funny sound effects. Enjoy!

The fact that we are promised persecution will never be found in those corny little Bible promise books; but it is sometimes the reality. 

Here’s the written account: I have a little memento from the NBA Finals on my face. It was a little gift graciously offered from a drunken fan waiting to cross at a traffic signal. He gave me this precious present because of my preaching. Read the rest by clicking here.

Staying true to the pattern, 50% made it through to the end of our evangelism class, “Sharing Your Faith Without Fear.” That’s 16 ready to do the work of an evangelist! Pray that they will.

Our next class starts on Wednesday, July 8!

My teaching notes and student notes—over 100 pages of material—are available free of charge, except for postage. Just leave a comment if interested.

This Saturday and Sunday we will be setting up our Intelligence Test Booth from 9a.m.-6p.m. in the Free Speech Zone of the Riviera Village Fair. We will be in space #4 on Catalina Avenue and Del Norte.

Join us if you are available. For more information, call Barbara Twyman at 310-374-4673, x. 121, or email her at barbara@myhopechapel.net

To see what we do in these booths and to make your own copies of the I.Q. Tests, click here.

A great attitude can make all the difference when entering into hostile territory with the good news of Jesus Christ. At the 39th Annual West Hollywood Gay Pride Parade we knew we weren’t welcome as Christian evangelists, so we came armed to the teeth, battle-ready. rucksacks packed with… great attitudes! (Start at the beginning of this series by clicking here.)

Anita Alvarado and Liz Ebert, two employees from Living Waters, traversed the entire length of the parade route, from beginning to end, completely emptying their backpacks of Gospel tracts. I was impressed with an account that Anita shared, because she had the right attitude:

There was one conversation where I ended up being chased by a lesbian. The conversation started off with the million dollar bill tract. I asked, “If you were to die, where would you go?”

“I know where I’d go,” she replied, “because my dad is a Pastor at a church out in Texas. I would definitely be going to heaven!”

I then took her through the Commandments. She and I both realized that another lesbian was listening in on our conversation; that’s when she switched and got a little aggressive with her tone of voice. “I’m a decent and good person,” she declared.”

I told her that our goodness won’t get us into heaven. She told me again that she knew where she was going: to heaven. “You can’t afford to be wrong on Judgment Day,” I pleaded. “Please repent of your sins and place your trust in Jesus Christ.”

At that point she folded up the tract I gave her and said, “Here you can have this back, I don’t need it.”

I quickly dropped my hands down and said with a huge smile on my face, “Ooops, I won’t take it back.” She looked at me and tried to put it in my pants pocket and that’s when the chase was on! I ran off (laughing and smiling of course). I said to her, “Give it to someone else! I won’t take it back!” She then caught up to me and forced it in my purse. I then pulled out another tract and ran back to give it to her, but she then just threw it to the ground. I just laughed some more! It was hilarious! Liz thought that I was going to get in a fight.

I will definitely never forget how I spent my 31st birthday!

Donnie Legg told me that another lesbian grabbed a tract out of his hand, ran away, and taunted, “I’ve got your paper! What are you going to do now?”

Smiling, Donnie shouted back to her, “Good grab!”

It’s all a matter of attitude.

Click here to read about the seven parades we attended in the last seven months: From a Christmas Parade, to the Tournament of Roses, to Martin Luther King, Jr., to Chinese New Year, St. Patrick’s Day and an anti-war protest, all linked together, each with a different strategy.

***Check out a ministry that helps ex-homosexuals by clicking here.***

Last Tuesday I asked you to pray for a Messianic Pastor friend of mine, Rabbi Greg DeValera, as he was heading to Michigan to share his faith with Muslims in Dearborn. Here is the unfortunate result: 

DETROIT, MI - A federal judge has denied an evangelical group’s request for permission to hand out Christian literature on sidewalks at an Arab festival in Dearborn, Michigan.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds denied Anaheim, Calif.-based Arabic Christian Perspective’s request for a temporary restraining order. The group describes itself in its court filing as “a national ministry established for the purpose of proclaiming the Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ to Muslims …(that) travels around the country attending and distributing Christian literature at Muslim festivals and mosques.” Read the rest here from OneNewsNow.

Archived here: Read the rest of this entry »

The attitude toward Christians and God at the 39th Annual West Hollywood Gay Pride Parade is distilled perfectly in this conversation with a gay man. He was so intent on defending his views and positions about religious people and their Creator that I couldn’t—and wouldn’t—tell him the Gospel. Why would I bother explaining how he can be saved from Hell when there was no conviction of sin, and God, in his eyes, is “a moron”? (Please start at Part 1 by clicking here.)

I had to speak loudly because behind me was the sound of war….

Click here for the conclusion: How to have the right attitude while sharing your faith in a hostile area.

Okay sports fans, here’s a review from Slate.com about a book that details all those who died during the Great American Pastime. The book, Death at the Ballpark: A Comprehensive Study of Game-Related Fatalities of Players, Other Personnel and Spectators in Amateur and Professional Baseball, 1862-2007 contains interesting information like this (from the Slate review):

It’s weirdly moving, if not exactly consoling, to learn just how many of baseball’s casualties made the play before expiring. There’s the amateur shortstop who, in 1902, caught a bad hop in the throat and used his last moments to throw out the runner at first. The third baseman in an Indiana league who, in 1909, tagged out the runner plowing headfirst into his gut, then succumbed to the resulting internal injuries three days later. There’s just something about baseball that inspires a kind of heroic resolve. John McSherry, the major league umpire who collapsed at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium in 1996, had actually postponed treatment for the heart condition that felled him so he could call the game. It was Opening Day.

One more: One July night in a backyard in Houston in 1950, a 7-year-old boy asks if he can throw his dad one more pitch before heading inside. The father says OK. The son pitches. Then the father swings and connects, inadvertently “striking his son over the heart.” The son dies before they can make it to the hospital. Read the rest of the review here.
Get the book here.

Click here to see how people reponded to our giving the Gospel at Dodger Stadium!

A friend asked me, “When do you dust your feet off?” This was a reference to Jesus telling his twelve disciples, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.” And make no mistake about it, fifteen evangelists were not exactly welcomed to the West Hollywood 39th Annual Gay Pride Parade when we attended. (Start at part 1 by clicking here.)

“I don’t know when to dust my feet off,” I replied. There were so many in this area who needed to turn to God. Had God left this area to utter ruin? Had he completely given them over? Surely there were some here that were struggling with their homosexuality, others experimenting, and some who were just along for the ride. Since we didn’t know for sure and Jesus told us to go into all the world, we gave it our best shot. We attempted to try and save some.

I wondered if some mom somewhere had lost their son or daughter to this lifestyle, some Christian mom. Maybe she was hoping, praying, that someone would reach out to them. Maybe, possibly, we were an answer to prayer. We had the words of eternal life, and we were giving them out freely to whomever would listen.

My friend Donnie Legg, from Florida, accompanied the team to the parade. He loves people and loved the gay community. He was furiously handing out Gospel tracts, throwing out as many life ropes as possible, when he encountered a young woman named Pinky. Watch what happened.

Donnie sent me a later email that filled in some details left out of the video. Here’s what he wrote:

I didn’t mention the fact that after reading the tract Pinky said that it put her under heavy conviction; that’s why she didn’t want to keep it. I explained to her that she would not get out of the lifestyle that she was in by being in the flesh. She needed to heed God’s conviction by repenting, trusting and committing her life to Jesus Christ alone. God would then deliver her from that lifestyle. I was able to go through the law and the gospel with her, and told her if she was truly born again that there were many lost people around her that she could give the tract to. She thanked me for talking to her that way, and turned and walked away with the tract. Keep Pinky in your prayers.

Maybe the only reason we were at the parade was for Pinky.

When do we dust our feet off? After the very last person is snatched out of Hell.

*We handed out well over 20,000 Gospel tracts and had many, many loving conversations that day.*

Click here for Part 6 and watch a video interview with a gay man who had issues with Christians and God.

The photos that you will see in this article are shocking, but for a reason different than you might think. I was careful not to record the wanton depravity and lewdness that was an essential part of this parade, not wanting to glorify in any way what God condemns as wickedness. But the truth must be seen… (Please start this series at part 1 by clicking here.)

A sad reality dawned on all of us as we shared the Gospel at the 39th Annual West Hollywood Gay Pride parade: God gave them over. In the first chapter of the book of Romans in the New Testament, the phrase, “God gave them over…” appears 3 times as it records the downward spiral of a life lived for sin.

And there was no church represented in this parade that could offer any hope, except in the here and now. The churches in this parade, sadly, were also “given over.”

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. (Romans 1:24-25)

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. (Romans 1: 26-27)

Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1: 28-32)

We were there—as Christian evangelists—because we loved these people enough to tell them the truth, the truth that their churches wouldn’t tell them, the truth their churches refused to tell them: that God has a standard by which he will judge everyone, the standard of the 10 Commandments.

If they had ever lied, stolen, misused God’s name, or even looked with lust, God would see them as lying thieves, blasphemers and adulterers-at heart. On the Day of Judgment, they would be found guilty and end up in Hell to pay for their sins. They will not go to Hell because they practiced homosexuality, but because they have sinned against God by breaking His Commandments. Homosexuality is just one sin in a long list of sins we all commit.

But we weren’t there to give them just the bad news. We weren’t there like the “Sign Guys” at the start of the parade condemning people. No we were there to proclaim in a gentle, loving way the full counsel of God, including the Good News that Jesus died for there sins. If they would repent, turn away from there sins, and put their trust in the Savior they could have everlasting life. Yes, God demonstrated His love for the gay community in this: While they were still sinners, Christ died for them.

That was the real message of hope we were bringing. 

Anything less than the full message of Christ and Luther would turn over in his grave. 

“Satan, the god of all dissension stirs up daily new sects. And last of all others I should never have foreseen or once suspected, he has raised up a sect such as teach that men should not be terrified by the Law, but gently exhorted by the preaching of the grace of Christ.

“The first duty of the Gospel preacher is to declare God’s Law and show the nature of sin.” —Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Click here for Part 5 and read some good news!

  *****

If all this sounds too harsh, may I suggest that you watch this video I made two years ago (in fact, this was my very first YouTube video) of a conversation I had with a young lesbian woman. You will see how respectful we can be when stating the truth.

Click here for Part 5 and read some good news!

How tolerant was the gay community toward the 15 evangelists who attended their Gay Pride Parade in West Hollywood? Not very. Even though we were determined to be friendly, kind, loving and winsome in our attitudes toward this group, you’ll see by the comments below that they don’t necessarily practice “tolerance” as much as they preach it. Read some of the nasty comments below, relayed to me by a few members of our evangelism team. (Start at part 1 by clicking here.)

Ed Lee sent me this random sampling of what was said to him as he shared his faith one-to-one and handed out Gospel tracts:

“Is that some kind of Jesus sh*t? Get that Jesus sh*t away from me!”

“Give me a few more of these so I can wipe my a** with them.”

“Do you have a Bible?  Give it to me so I can wipe my a** with it too!”

“Your propaganda is disgusting!”

“More murder has been committed in the name of Christianity than by anyone else!”

“Do you think Jesus would be condemning us the way you are?”

Jesus loves us just the way were are!”

“Jesus created us this way.”

 Ed adds, “Although I would not say that these comments were representative of the majority, they were not uncommon.”

Rachael Liebregt remembered these experiences as she ministered alongside her husband Dennis:

One group of about six girls stood away from Dennis and I, staring at us and talking about us. Finally, one girl mustered the strength to walk over and throw the tract that I handed to her back at me. The wind blew it back to her, and then it fell near my feet as she walked off. Shortly afterwards the group dispersed.

I had one lady walked up to me, hold out her hand for a pink equality tract, and once she got it, ripped it up, threw it at me, and walked away.

Two women attacked me as I was minding my own business passing out tracts. I never said a word to them, yet one said that I was being judgmental. I tried to talk to her for a while but it went nowhere; she didn’t like the “Gay Equality” tracts.. She asked me all the questions that you had warned us about: ”How did you vote on Prop 8?” I told her that she voted her conscience and I voted my own. She replied, “No I did not vote my conscience; I voted what was RIGHT. Are you a lesbian? Is your husband gay? God is love and you are judgmental!”

Dennis Liebregt, Rachael’s husband, had a few touchy experiences himself:

Well one guy I tried to witness to asked me if I was gay, bi or heterosexual?  When I said hetero he walked off without another word. Another guy came up and grabbed my upper arm and said, “You have beautiful eyes.” I got smacked on my butt by some drunk walking by the crowded bars with those stupid love paddle things. And one guy slapped the tract out of my hand which I tried handing to him.

Dennis adds, “The things we endure for the love of Christ huh? All in all, we had a very blessed time, however, just so sad to see. How much more does God see. God please have mercy on us.”

In part 4, see for yourself the worst offense of all by clicking here! 

This Saturday join us for an exciting excursion to Santa Monica, where street performers, anarchists, liberals, and the very rich all mingle together. It’s a great time for the entire family! We’ll also try to balance on little poles and preach at stop lights! Oh what fun!

Meet at Hope Chapel at noon to carpool.

Hate would not be too strong a word to describe the attitude of the people toward our evangelism team as we covertly attended the 39th Annual West Hollywood Pride Parade. They hated our values, they hated our God… though they did like Jesus: Jesus Smith. Yes, they loved another Jesus—not our Jesus—a Jesus who was tolerant, a Jesus who was non-judgmental, not concerned about sin, a Jesus who was accepting of homosexuality—in other words, a Jesus who never existed. (Read part 1 by clicking here.)

In the gay community tolerance is the religion, widely preached, not practiced. No one in West Hollywood who subscribed to the gay agenda was tolerant of born again believers. We were the ones, of course, who, along with the Mormons and Catholics, voted that marriage should be between one man and one woman. When Proposition 8 was voted in, thrown out, then re-instated, we were the people, the H8ers, the religious right—the Nazis—who were wrong. We were the bigots, those Fundamentalist Fanatics who should be labeled as terrorists and nuts—in their eyes.

No one tolerated us.

Aware that we were not welcome in this venue we devised a strategy of non-confrontation, sort of. We did not go into this community with the intention of preaching in the open air; no, that could prove fatal. We planned on preaching the Gospel through one-to-one conversations and handing out Gospel tracts, lots of Gospel tracts. We made 5,000 specially designed ”Got Equality?” tracts on pink card stock. There was no mention of homosexuality, marriage, gay or lesbian in the entire message, just the law and Gospel.

We planned on combating ignorance and intolerance in three ways:

1) We were not going to discuss what the bible says about homosexuality unless asked. Even then we would be careful about how we answered, knowing that this type of discussion would only elicit an argument—and get us off track of what we really came to do: preach the Law and Gospel. Besides, this community already knows what the bible says. We would seek to understand in a gracious way.

Here’s a sample of what we might say if confronted with that question:

Gay person: So what does the bible say about homosexuality?

Evangelist: What do you think it says?

At that point, the gay person would explain his perspective, why we were wrong, and why he was right. The evangelist, in turn, would transition the conversation into a question of whether he thought he was good enough to get to Heaven. End of debate.

2) We were going to gently steer around the Proposition 8 question.

Sample conversation:

Gay person: How did you vote on Prop 8?

Evangelist: How did you vote?

Gay Person: I voted against it. I believe all people have the right to marry.

Evangelist: I’m glad that you felt free to vote your conscience. Isn’t it great that in America we have the right to vote according to our consciences. I believe you voted in the right way, according to your conscience; I, too, voted according to mine. It’s wonderful that we can disagree and still be respectful of one another, isn’t it?

3) We would employ a cheerful attitude and gracious demeanor; we would be warm and friendly. This would be so unlike the Christian haters who shake their fingers and bibles and signs, while condemning everyone to Hell.

The sad fact is that these poor people are condemned already according to Jesus Christ (see John 3:18; John 3:36). We were there to explain this fact, warn them, and not let bad our attitudes get in the way.

Did it work? The Sheriffs who patrolled the area noticed that we were different than the usual “Christians” who haunt these parades. One Sheriff said, “I like the way that you share the Gospel with these people.”

If only the tolerant gay community had responded to us in the same way; unfortunately, they didn’t.

Click here to read part 3 which shows you some of the persecution we endured.

I have a friend, Rabbi Greg DeValera, who is a Messianic Jewish Pastor, and he’s heading to Dearborn, Michigan today to share his faith and pass out Bibles to the 300,000 Muslims living in the area, especially at an Arab festival in Dearborn. Read what he wrote to me:

We leave Tuesday morning with a large group from Arabic Christian Perspective (ACP) to head to Dearborn, but even before we board the plane, there is already trouble.

The City of Dearborn has informed ACP that we cannot distribute tracts and Bibles ALONG THE PUBLIC SIDEWALKS of the city around the festival area. Apparently some of the locals who have attended the festival in the past were offended by our activities and have convinced the police that our activities should be restricted. A Christian public-interest law firm sent a letter to Dearborn yesterday informing them of our constitutional rights to do what we plan to do. Nevertheless, the police dept has threatened to arrest us if we attempt to talk to Muslims and give them literature in the public, taxpayer-paid areas of the festival grounds.

Please pray for Rabbi Greg and his team.

A team will be heading downtown along with an estimated 1 million people on Wednesday to celebrate with the NBA Champion Lakers. Meet at Hope Chapel at 9AM to carpool. Parade starts at 11AM. 

Note the address of the building on the right of the exit of the Pride Festival.

Fifteen evangelists considered that to be a foreshadowing of what was to come as we attempted to reach a few of the estimated 400,000 revelers attending the 39th Annual West Hollywood Pride Parade with the Gospel of Christ.

Parades are typically happy, fun, and exciting. People are carefree in celebration as they cheer their favorite float, marching band or dignitary. But what happens when a spectator cannot celebrate or shout for joy as paraders pass on by? What do you do when cannot rejoice with those who rejoice because what they are rejoicing over is gross perversion?

That was our dilemma as Christians in the midst of Sodom.

As time allows, and as I wrestle over my thoughts and attitudes about what we experienced yesterday, I will write about the unsettling nature of what it was like sharing our faith in the blackest heart of darkness.

Read about hate and prejudice in the gay community by clicking here for part 2!

MANILA, Philippines —  A contestant of the Bulgarian version of reality television show “Survivor” died of a heart attack while filming an episode of the show on an island beach, Philippines police said.

Noncho Vodenicharov, 53, died on Saturday despite efforts by a Filipino and a Bulgarian doctor to save him, Police say.

Chief Inspector Hilario Lelis Are said on Monday that Vodenicharov had just finished an activity for the contest at the Gota Beach Resort in Caramoan township in eastern Camarines Sur province.

Vodenicharov was a town mayor and a former stuntman and singer, Bulgarian news reports said.

Survivor originated in the U.S. but other countries have created their own versions of the popular show.

Contestants compete in a variety of tough physical challenges until there is a sole winner. —From Fox News.com

I am currently away at the Ambassadors’ Academy, The Way of the Master’s evangelism training arm, to show 10 students from around the country how to share their faith without fear. I will post new stuff on Monday.

In the meantime, if you’d like to read about what happened at the very first Academy, including how John Travolta interrupted my open air sermon, and what happened when a clown demon possessed a man, then click here.

We are going to another “Pride” parade this Sunday and wanted to be prepared.

We came up with a tract that will be a sure-fire hit among the gay community. And best of all, you can download it for free, eight to a page, below. I wanted to play off the whole “equality and gay marriage” theme, and this tract, I believe, strikes the right balance. 

For the front side of the tract, click here.
For the back side of the tract, click here.

Note: Before you print off your own, you can leave our church website on it, or you can use “White-Out” and stamp your own before you print them.

Here’s the message on the back:

Equality is a big issue with people—and it should be! Our own Declaration of Independence says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” The late great Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1963 that “Equality means dignity.” We the people, in God’s eyes, are all equal before Him as well, and we will all be held accountable for our actions while here on earth, equally. Where will you go when you die? Will it be Heaven or Hell? Read the rest of this entry »

This Saturday we will be heading down to Huntington Beach to share our faith alongside Ray Comfort and 50+ evangelists from The Ambassadors’ Academy, where I will be leading a team of ten from around the country. Meet at Hope Chapel at noon to carpool.

This Sunday we are going to another “PRIDE” event in the heart of West Hollywood to graciously share our faith and hand out specially designed Gospel tracts.

According to the L.A. Pride website, “The 39th annual LA PRIDE Parade is expected to gather over 400,000 people this year and will feature over 125 parade entries including floats, bands, performances, marching community advocacy groups, smiling seniors, proud parents, out teachers and convertibles with honored guests. The parade will run west along Santa Monica Blvd. from Crescent Heights to Robertson Blvds.”

Meet at Hope Chapel at 9AM to carpool. Or, if want to join us there, meet us at the corners of Robertson and Santa Monica Blvds. at approx. 10AM. For info and map click here. LEAVE THE KIDS AT HOME FOR THIS ONE.

I have a little memento from the NBA Finals on my face. It was a little gift graciously offered from a drunken fan waiting to cross at a traffic signal. He gave me this precious present because of my preaching. 

I never got one of these before—you might say it was for the man who has everything—and I certainly could never return it. Now that it’s healed, I will always cherish the memory….

Our team was positioned on the northwest corner of Figueroa, directly across from the Staples Center where the Lakers were playing the first game of the NBA Finals against the Orlando Magic. Hundreds were gathering, some a little inebriated, others anxious to see the game after a long day of work.

And there I was, preaching simple, 30-second Stop Light sermonettes, giving little Gospel encouragements before the big game. I even lightened it up a little, starting the messages with, “If you were to choke on a popcorn kernel, or fall out of your loge seat onto the floor below and die, where would you go, Heaven or Hell?”

One man wasn’t laughing.

I don’t remember his exact words, but they were something like: “SHUT-UP!”

Then a flagrant foul was perpetrated upon my person. I got slapped—half-punched, rather—on the side of my face. Fortunately for me, I kept my wits, pointed to our video man and politely stated to the ruffian that he was being filmed.

End of assault.

The light turned green, then the crowd and my nemesis were swept away into the cavernous bowels of the sports complex.

Not the equivalent of being boiled in oil, flayed, or having my eyes poked out for my faith; no, this was persecution Southern California style. 

It was my little Red Badge of Courage: a slight, ever-so-slight, cut under my nose.

A few years back I started a weekly column called “Lost Liberties” after a mission trip to China. I was amazed at the freedoms we have in America—freedoms taken for granted—that the Chinese don’t have to enjoy their Christian faith.

I would post various articles that showed the coming persecution in America and archive them for future reference. Unfortunately, my archive disappeared when the main source of these articles changed their name and website to ONE NEWS NOW, and I lost all the links.

I have noticed, however, that more and more articles of Christian persecution are appearing in many sources, so I am reviving this column again as an archive of the liberties we are losing as Christians in America. If you spot a ”Lost Liberties” article, please send it to me.

 Court Bans Bible from Kindergarten Show-and-Tell

This is a truly frightening 30 second video, and a reminder that eternity is just a small miscalculation away. Please folks, when on a double-decker bus, stay below.

Evangelism was going so good at the American Idol semi-finals, it was a shame it had to come to an end….

Three crazy evangelists had the opportunity to preach about ten times in the red carpet area—unheard of due to the high security presence—but we ended up preaching one time too many and it all came tumbling down. Here’s why: (Please read Part 1 by clicking here.)

I thought it would be a great idea to have “Righteous Richard” stand on a bench so that he would get more visibility and better vocal range, thereby insuring that more people would hear the Gospel message and, of course, repent and trust in the Savior. It totally worked, too!

But we forgot about the downside: What Idol fans could see and hear more clearly, so could Security. They nabbed Richard, and sent him packing.

Ed Lee was spared the indignity. He saw what was coming and ducked out before he was asked to leave. He had already been stopped from preaching across the street at the Staples Center by a very kind, but firm, LAPD officer. He learned his lesson.

Then it was my turn. I saw that Richard was being hassled by the Redcoats so I took cover behind a large beam—out of sight—and continued preaching.

Then a man with a cell phone told me to stop. I ignored him because I thought he was just a regular guy, and continued to preach the good news. He asked me again to stop, but since he was an ordinary guy, I just preached away. That’s when he dialed up a number and called who-knows-who? Ghostbusters? Holy Ghostbusters? I preached on.

Then something weird happened. A red-haired woman jumped out of line and started yelling. I inclined my ear to hear what she was saying and Wow! what a surprise!

It’s a bit embarrassing to tell you what she was shouting, so I’ll be discreet. She obvously understood my message, and like a rock hitting a dog in a pack she yodeled “Worship the [clinical name for a part of the female anatomy]!”

Say that again? What?

“Worship the [clinical name]!” C’mon everybody! Worship the [clinical name]!” Then her boyfriend (poor sap), dragged her inside the theater. Okay. I admit that my style was cramped a little after that one.

Then it got worse.

A 7-foot-two (or thereabouts) Amazon woman greeted me. She was the Head of Security, and in no subtle manner, told me to leave. I did. 

I met up with the rest of the team on the sidewalk outside the Nokia and started handing out Gospel tracts. That’s when Mr. Hard-Look-Red-Jacket-man told us to leave.

Uh-uh! We were on public property (the open area of the red carpet area was also public property according to state law; there was nothing illegal about what we were doing), so we stood our ground. They ended up leaving us alone.

In events such as American Idol, or any other large shindig, evangelists are never wanted or appreciated. Still, people are perishing, and the command from Jesus to “Go!” is still extant.

The goal of going to these venues is not to brag about the exotic locations, nor is it to gloat about how many times we were removed by authority figures. No! The purpose is to get the Word out, trusting that it will never return empty, trusting that God will use the little that we do to glorify His name. We are respectful, but we stand firm, knowing that at any time a lost sinner may hear what is said and cross over from death unto life.

That’s why we go.

On this particular day, after all we experienced, we thought that we had a visible sign of God’s approval. I’m not superstitious, and I don’t need signs and wonders to verify that we are in God’s will, but this time it was a little funny coincidence, a little reminder that God was there.

“Look at the address of the Nokia Theater,” I exclaimed excitedly: 

Why was my friend Ed Lee escorted by a fine member of the LAPD in front of the Staples Center?

Why was another friend, “Righteous Richard” Chavarria stopped by Security personnel?

Why was this man on his cell phone reporting my activities?

And this guy—this guy in the red jacket with the hard look—was irritated at the whole lot of us and tried to throw us off the premises of the Nokia Theater. Why? O’ why?

I’ll tell you why; I’ll tell you why—

They don’t like people preaching the Gospel on their turf.
(Read the introduction to this story by clicking here.)

But Jesus said “Go!” That’s right, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”

No limitations as far as I can tell, to where we could, or should, preach.

That’s why we went to The American Idol semi-finals: to preach to all those thousands coming out to see their favorite idol. Problem was, unlike last year when there were thousands of people waiting in line to get into the theater…

…this time there were only a few hundred. What should we do now?

Well, we tried something that has never been done before. It had to be from God, because this idea was crazy; no one in their right mind would do such a thing. That’s why we let “Righteous Richard’ Chavarria do it first. Whenever there’s a new idea we always let “Righteous Richard” do it first.

“Richard,” I said, “let’s go onto the carpet area and preach the Word to all the people waiting to get in the doors. There’s hundreds of people—thousands—standing around doing nothing.”

“How long do you think I’ll have before they boot me out of here?” he asked.

“Two minutes, max. Make it a Stop Light sermon, ya know, short.” So he did.

 No one screamed. No one heckled. No one died. Security didn’t even come by to stop us.

This emboldened me. No reason to be timid now. Let’s do it guys! Let’s roll! Full of the Holy spirit and power I took the lead, trusting boldly in God and his protection. I sucked in my breath and… asked Ed Lee to go next. He did.

Same results. No harrassment of any kind. No semi-important-looking guys with badges and furrowed brows. What’s wrong with this picture?

My turn now. I was a little wary. Whenever there’s a problem, I am a magnet for trouble. If anyone else in the world wanted to preach with a porkpie hat while hanging upside down from a bungee cord in a plastic bag above a crowd—they’d get away with it. If another guy wanted to recite the Book of Jeremiah in Speedos while wearing Mickey Mouse ears standing in Jell-o, there would be no problem. But just let me preach a little sermon in a cool place like American Idol and the cops, and guards, the Marines—the Taliban itself—would be on me faster than maggots on moldy meat.

Oh, those horrible memories….

At last year’s Christmas parade in Hollywood I was prevented from preaching the Gospel by the LAPD….

I was stopped at a USC football game—again by the LAPD!

I was pinched in the stomach by an irate man at a Chinatown parade and stopped by Mall Cops when preaching in an elevator.

Maybe you can understand my initial reluctance… but the righteous are as bold as a lion! I took my little stool, stood upon it, cleared my throat, ahem, and—preached! Yessiree, I preached my little heart out—and no one stopped me. In fact, after I was done “Righteous Richard” preached again, as did Ed, then me. Then Richard, Ed, myself… Where were those Security guards anyway? Why were we allowed to preach the forbidden Gospel among all these “IDOLaters” with nary a hoot or boot?

God certainly must have blinded the guard’s eyes; I cannot think of any other reason that we were allowed to do this for so long.

Maybe they were lying in wait…

Hundreds upon hundreds of people heard that they had broken God’s Moral Law by telling lies, stealing, and misusing His name. They heard in clear loud voices that even looking with lust is adultery, hatred was murder. They were reminded that if they had broken just one of God’s 10 Commandments—which is sin—they would stand before a Holy God and be found guilty. Their punishment? Hell. A real Hell for all those who mocked God and put other things before him. Eternal punishment, horrible. Forever.

 We weren’t mean. We weren’t angry. We spoke pleasantly, but with authority. We were called on the carpet to preach the Good News that no one had to go to Hell, that there was a choice. If only they would repent—turn away from their sins–and put their trust in the Savior, Jesus Christ, then they could be forgiven, the old would become new, they would become… born again, no longer enemies of God, but friends.

Security walked past. They didn’t even nod, or wink, or blink. Winkin’, Blinkin’ and Nod strolled by, unconcerned. Could they not hear us?

I had an idea.

We could reach even more people if we tried it out. I walked over to “Righteous Richard” and discussed it with him. He nodded in agreement. Obediently trusting the Lord he did what I asked him to do; if he could pull it off, no telling what type of Revival might happen outside the Nokia.

But we over-played our hand. We went too far. That’s when the trouble began….

(Click here to read the exciting conclusion.)