Another Gospel

Excerpt from "Another Gospel"

by Arthur Pink

"If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ." 2 Corinthians 4:3

Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers through hiding the light of the Gospel of Christ, and he does this by substituting his own gospel. Appropriately he designated, "that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray!" (Revelation 12:9)

The gospel of Satan is not a program of anarchy. It does not promote strife and war--but aims at peace and unity. It does not seek to drag down the natural man--but to improve and uplift him. It advocates education and cultivation, and appeals to the "best that is within us." It endeavors to occupy man so much with this world--that he has no time or inclination to think of the world to come. It propagates the principles of self-sacrifice, charity and benevolence; and teaches us to live for the good of others, and to be kind to all. It appeals strongly to the carnal mind and is popular with the masses, because it ignores the solemn facts--that by nature man is a fallen creature, alienated from the life of God, dead in trespasses and sins, and that his only hope lies in being born again.

The gospel of Satan teaches salvation by works. It inculcates justification before God, on the ground of human merits. It is a bloodless gospel, and presents a crossless Christ, who is received merely, as the Ideal Man.

The apostles of Satan are not saloon-keepers and white-slave traffickers--but are for the most part ordained ministers! Their message may sound very plausible, and their aim appear very praiseworthy--yet we read of them, "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness." (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

In Proverbs 14:12 we read, "There is a way that seems right to a man--but in the end it leads to death." This "way" which ends in "death" is the Devil's Delusion--the gospel of Satan--a way of salvation by human attainment. It is a way which "seems right," that is to say, it is presented in such a plausible way that it appeals to the natural man. It is set forth in such a subtle and attractive manner, that it commends itself to the minds of its hearers. By virtue of the fact that it appropriates to itself religious terminology, sometimes appeals to the Bible for its support (whenever this suits its purpose), holds up before men lofty ideals, and is proclaimed by those who have graduated from our theological institutions, countless multitudes are decoyed and deceived by it!

It as been said with considerable truth, that the way to Hell is paved with good intentions. There will be many in the Lake of Fire who lived with good intentions, honest resolutions and exalted ideals; who were just in their dealings and charitable in all their ways; men who prided themselves in their integrity--but who sought to justify themselves before God by their own righteousness; men who were moral and kind--but who never saw themselves as guilty, lost, hell-deserving sinners, needing a Savior. Such is the way which "seems right." Such is the way that commends itself to the carnal mind and recommends itself to multitudes of deluded ones today. The Devil's Delusion is that we can be saved by our own works, and justified by our own deeds!

"He saved us--not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy." Titus 3:5

Christmas Light Evangelism

Every year at Christmas time we go out and look at all the Christmas lights in town. There are some pretty elaborate exhibits out there. At some of the larger ones, people park their cars and get out to walk around and look. In the past there have been rather large crowds at some of the houses. I started to think that maybe we can combine our annual family tradition and witnessing together. I said, "This year we're taking tracts with us." I told the kids to grab some Million Dollar Bill tracts and lets go!!

We road around looking at all the different houses decked out with lights. Some people really go out of their way decorating their houses for Christmas. If people would only use a fraction of that time and money witnessing to the lost then imagine the impact that could be made for Christ. As we looked on after another house, we got closer and closer to one of the bigger exhibits. This one exhibit has tons of lights and man dressed up like Santa Claus. Of course we don't do Santa, but my daughter wanted to go up to Santa. Not do beg for presents BUT to GIVE him a Million Dollar Bill!! I can't tell you how proud I was of her. We handed out about 20 or so tracts there. That was a huge let down from last year. The crowds were slimmer than last year. The owners kept eyeing these crazy people handing out the fake money, so we decided to go to the next place. But, not before I gave the owners Million Dollar bills first. Then we were off to the next big light show.

As we rode around we noticed that there didn't seem to be as many houses with lights than in previous years. Could it be the economy? Are people just not in the "Christmas Spirit"? Or maybe we just picked a rotten night to go. But, after a little sight seeing we made it to the BIGGEST exhibit in the area. Surely there would be a huge crowd here. But, it was even a smaller crowd than the last one. This seemed like a great idea when we started, but I didn't expect that the crowds would be so small. We met a couple of groups of people and handed out tracts to them. This exhibit took donations to help pay the power bill (if you had seen it you would know why). So I wrapped a Million Dollar Bill up in a generous donation and put it in the donation box (never give people JUST the fake money when they are expecting real money). It was a let down, but at least we got the Gospel into some people's hands.

Who knows why we were out there? Who knows why the crowds were so small? God does!! All I know is that we were out there for a reason and if it was for only one person out of the 30 or so we handed tracts too, then they were worth it. It's not ours to say whom God will save or why. All we can do is be obedient and preach the Gospel to everyone and let God handle the results. The part that made me a proud parent was that both my daughter and son were not ready to stop handing out tracts. They wanted to wait around longer to see if more people would come. It was cold and getting late, so I promised them I would take them out with me on the next event I did. There is something we can all learn from the enthusiasm and fearlessness of small children.

Until then, What are you waiting for?? Go preach the Gospel!!!

Payton Dooley

Santa or Satan?

Go ahead say it. I'm a "Grinch or "Scrooge". I've heard it all before, so keep it coming. I'm used to it. I get flack about it from the "world". All the time.We don't do Santa Claus!! The reaction you get from the world, you would think I beat my children. While the world perpetuates a lie, I choose to tell the truth and remember the REAL meaning of Christmas. Not about a magical, omniscient fat man who rides in a flying sleigh around the world in one day. Giving presents to "good little boys and girls". But, the story of God, becoming man so He could live the perfect life that we could not. So he could bare our sins and be the perfect sacrifice for the evil that we do. So that if we surrender our lives to Him, and die to self, put our trust and faith in Him (and Him alone, not our works) we may have eternal life. By God's Grace, we have a chance to avoid the Hell we deserve. Go ahead...beat me up. I'm used to it. But one thing you CAN NOT say is that Santa Claus is Biblical. I don't have the elegance nor the patience to present the Biblical case against Santa, but John MacArthur did. Please read this except from one of his Christmas Sermons:

An except from John MacArthur's sermon
(A Son to Make Many Sons - Galatians 4:1-7):

"This is the meaning of the coming of Christ, God's gracious act to save by Grace those who are under the bondage of law. So a son was promised who would make many sons, a son of God to make many sons of God. Charles Wesley's carol that we sang says it, "Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give them second birth." That's Paradise regained. That's the Christmas message.

What a false, fake substitute the world puts forth at this time for that true message. Do you remember these words? "You better watch out; you better not cry. You better not pout. I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town. He's making a list. He's checking it twice. He's gonna find out who's naughty and nice. Santa Claus is coming to town. He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good. So be good for goodness sake. You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout. I'm telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town." Now, does that threaten you? That's a very threatening poem. That's intended to scare children.

Now, listen, if you look at the letters of Santa, you'll see that Satan is hidden in Santa. When we teach a child to sing this song, we're teaching him a false theology. We're teaching him a false set of doctrine. Let me see if I can explain it to you. First, that song teaches that Santa is a transcendent being. He lives on a higher plane; he lives on another level; he transcends time and space. He has powers equal to whom? God. Not only that, he knows everything. He is omniscient. He knows when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows when you're naughty. He knows when you're nice. He knows everything. Not only that, he's everywhere. He sees you when you're sleeping. He's not only omniscient, he's omnipresent. And he's watching to see whether you've been good or bad. Not only that but he bestows favors. Now on what basis does Santa give his favors? What must I do to receive good things from this transcendent being called Santa? Well, it's very simple. I have to be what? Good. I can earn Santa's favor. If I'm good, Santa will give me gifts. After all, he's making a list. And he's checking it twice to make sure that we've been either naughty or nice and on the basis of how we've been, he'll deal with us. And if I'm not nice and good, I won't get any gifts. So I better be good for goodness sake. Not to mention for my own sake or anybody else's sake.

But you want to know something about Santa? He may be transcendent and he may be omniscient and he may be omnipotent, and he may be omnipresent, he may be dispensing all the good things, but you know what? You can't trust him. You can't trust him. So what do you mean by that? It says he's checking to see if you're naughty or nice and you better be good for goodness sake because if you're not good, you won't what? You won't get anything. You want to know something? That's not true. Plenty of times I haven't been good and I get something anyway.

Every year I get something. And you want to know the truth of it? There are a lot of naughty people get a lot and there are a lot of nice people don't get anything. You know what about Santa Claus? You can't trust him. He doesn't even stay true to his own word. He's blustering around and warning everybody to mind your manners and be good all the time. Be nice and not naughty and good and not bad. And then, you know what? When Christmas comes he caves in. And even when we've been naughty he gives us all that stuff. And sometimes he overlooks people that are nice. He really can't be trusted. His threats are meaningless and so are his promises. But that's good because it takes the sting out of them. And there's another good thing about Santa, you only have to worry about him once a year. He only shows up once. And you know when it is. It's always on December 25th, so you can get your act together just a few days before.

You say, well, where is he the rest of the time? Oh, he's in the North Pole. Could that be Heaven and Satan's little scheme? What's he doing? Oh, he has all these elves around him. What are they doing? Whatever he tells them, mostly meaningless things like make toys. He's sort of inane, isn't he? He threatens but never fulfills his threats. He promises but doesn't always fulfill his promises. Is it any wonder that if I believe all that as a child, when I come to be an adult, I might have a hard time believing in a transcendent God who does know everything? Who is everywhere? Who does have all power? Who does keep His promises and His threats? And who does not save me and give me good gifts on the basis of my works but on the basis of His Grace? If Santa has been my understanding of God, I'm in trouble. That's why I say hidden in the letters of Santa is Satan.

I'm glad for a God who is absolutely dependable. I can trust His promises. I can trust His threats. He is everywhere at all times and He doesn't just show up once a year. He's here all the time. And He gives His great gift, not on the basis of our works but on the basis of his Grace through faith. As we look at Christmas this year, let's see it for what it really is. Let's look at the true God and the true Redeemer and the true provision, the Son, the seed of the woman, born to make many sons and to deliver them from a system of works' righteousness in which Santa and his ilk exist to no good, into the domain of son-ship in which Christ rules and reigns supreme.

Father, we thank you again for the reminder of the true significance of this season. Forgive us for foolishness and foolish thoughts and for our inability to see the subtlety of Satan's deceptions. We thank you for Christ who always keeps His promises and always His threats. Who takes us out of slavery into son-ship not by something we have done, but by what He has done. Who blesses us forever and ever not according to our works, but according to His mercy. We thank you, Father, for the son who came in the fullness of time to give us back Paradise, to make us sons and heirs of all that you possess. We pray in His blessed and holy name. Amen."

http://www.gty.org/Resources/Print/transcripts/1247

2008 Prattville Christmas Parade

Well me and my son Britt were on our own Saturday at Prattville's Christmas Parade. The folks from evangelizeyourcity.com were at "Christmas on the Coosa" in Wetumpka that day. But, I had an obligation to be at Prattville's Parade because my daughter Diana was in it. So we brought all the tracts we had and was determined to hand out as many tracts as we could. After only three blocks my son and myself had handed out over 360 tracts. That was all that I had. I had handed out over 300 tracts alone at Montgomery's Christmas Parade last week, so my stash was low. I've got some on order but they aren't here yet :-( I just looked around at all the people we were not able to get too. Hundreds and Hundreds of people went home without any tracts. I was feeling down, then I saw something that cheered me up a little.

I saw a local church which had made a float and was throwing out candy with tracts attached. A man was walking along side the float handing out tracts and man with amplification followed reading John 3:16. Now, I looked the church up when I got home and I was a little disappointed to find out they were a KJV only church...but God Bless them they were spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the parade. Their belief about the inerrancy of a certain translation aside, the message being proclaimed that day was "Jesus saves".



I got to thinking (.. I know, you're saying 'NOT AGAIN'), it would be nice to have a float of our own. Do something like that church did. Pass out candy with tracts and have a loud speaker to do open air as we went. No banners though, something about the banners was a little out there. But the float was a GREAT idea and the guy with the electric megaphone.

As me and Britt, we handed out "Million Dollar Bill" tracts and "Goodness Scale" tracts like crazy. I'm very proud of Britt. He is very out going and smiling when he asks them, "Did you get your Million Dollars yet?" He also likes to say, "Don't spend it all in one place". The people were very receptive too, grabbing up the tracts like they were candy. The fields were fertile Saturday, but the laborers were few. I didn't really have time to do any 1-2-1's either, because of time constraints. Poor excuse, right? But, I wanted to at least get the Gospel in their hands to read later. It did greatly saddened me that we didn't even get to but a fraction of the people who were at the parade before we ran out of tracts. Next Christmas I WILL be prepared and stocked up.

One side note. I did give the mayor of Prattville, Jim Byard, a Million Dollar bill. One of his friends with him said, "Good, you need that to get started on your re-election campaign." I pray that Mr. Byard reads it and that God works on his heart. So, my claim to fame is that so far I've given the Governor of Alabama and the Mayor of Prattville a MDB. Hummm..wonder if I can get over to the State House and give one to all the State Legislators one??

Until then, What are you waiting for?? Go preach the Word!!!

Payton Dooley

Montgomery Christmas Parade Part 3 (Darrell and his friend)

(continued from the previous 2 posts)

While at the Montgomery, Alabama Christmas Parade, I open open-air preached and handed out at least 400 Million Dollar Bill tracts (and even gave one to the Governor). But, the most important part was the 1-2-1 witnessing I did. Please be in prayer for a guy I met named Darrell and his friend (I've forgotten Darrell's friends name, but God knows it).

As I handed out MDB tracts I gave one to these two young Afro-American guys (they were maybe in their early twenties). After I gave them the tract, one of the guys asked, "Is it real?" I said, "No, but the message on the back is more important than a million dollars. Do you know what the million dollar question is?" He said, "No." I said, "what happens to us when we die?" He said, "good question". I asked him his name and he said it was Darrell. Darrell was kind of being playful as I took him through the law. But, his friend was listening intently. You could almost see the fear in his friend's eyes when we came to conclusion they were lying, thieving, blaspheming, adulterers at heart. And that if they were judged by the 10 commandments they would spend eternity in Hell. Darrell said, "I'll be in trouble then I guess."

Darrell was wearing this HUGE solid gold, crucifix. I asked him, "Do you know who that is on that cross?" Of course he knew of Jesus, but he didn't understand the cross. Then I took them through Grace. Even though Darrell did all the talking he wasn't very receptive. But, I believe God put me there for his friend, whom seemed convicted. After we went through the sacrifice and substitutionary atonement of Jesus (big words for Jesus took our punishment for us), I prayed with them. No, not the "sinners prayer", which I'm not a big fan of. But, we prayed that God will open their hearts, work in their lives and draw them to Himself. I told them they needed to read their Bibles and find a good church. Then we parted ways.

Another encounter I had was with a young lady (never got her name). I gave her and her friend a MDB tract. Then I started talking to them about what happens after they die. The lady was willing to talk but her friend was saying, "Come on, we've got to go". So I talked with her as we walked another block. I gave my best 45 second Gospel presentation. I took her through the law quick and gave her Grace. I asked her if she would read the Gospel of John in her Bible when she got home. She said she would. I pray that maybe a seed was planted.

All in all the it was a good day of witnessing. But, there are so many lost people out there and few Christians willing to go. I pray for more "workers".

Matthew 9:36-38 NASB
(36) Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. (37) Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. (38) "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."

I would like to thank those guys who were out there with me. David of evangelizeyourcity.com, Rob and Rafael. Brothers, it was great to be serving the Lord with you and I hope to do it again VERY soon.

Until then, What are you waiting for?? Go preach the Word!!!

Payton Dooley

Montgomery Christmas Parade Part 2 (Hey Govenor, need a million bucks!!)

(Continued from last night's post on Montgomery, Alabama Christmas Parade Witnessing)

Ok now I'm still on a little spiritual high from my first open-air (for details read previous post). I went outside of my comfort zone for a few minutes doing the open-air, now it's back to my comfort zone; one-2-one witnessing. I've never been real afraid to do one-2-ones and handing out tracts. That has always come easy to me from the moment I started witnessing a few years ago. I like talking to individuals. And what better subject than Jesus and how he can save them from dying in their sins like He did me.

I was walking down the line of people standing and watching the parade. I handed each one a million dollar tract telling them, "Make sure you read the message on the back!!" The people were very receptive. Not one was turned down (a total opposite reaction than what I got in Downtown Atlanta during "The 500" ) As I was standing there handing out tracts, I saw Bob Riley (Governor of Alabama) coming down the parade route accompanied by his entourage of state troopers. As everyone was waving at the Governor, this crazy idea came to mind. I want to give Governor Riley a million dollar bill tract!!! Hey I just open-aired a few minutes ago, would it be any more crazier to give the Governor a tract?? There is nothing any more special about the Governor than myself. He's a sinner in need of Jesus as much as anyone else.

The street was roped off to keep the crowd off the parade route so I had to get the Governor's attention. I yelled out with the loudest voice I could, "HEY GOVERNOR!! Do you want a millions bucks!!" while holding out a Million Dollar tract for him to take. He actually turned toward me and came my way. He took the tract and gave me a commemorative coin and said, "Here let's trade". I told him, "Make sure you read the message on the back!!". The people around me seemed to have a look on their face like, "Did he just tell the Governor the same thing he told us??"

Yes the Governor of Alabama needs Jesus too. So does everyone in the world. Jesus is the only hope for a dying world, no matter your wealth or position in life. Oh by the way the coin did look cool, but I gave it to one of the kids who was with our group. I figured he would have something cool to show his friends at school. Maybe he will tell his friend's at school about the crazy guy who yelled at the Governor. :-)

Tomorrow I'll do Part 3, my final report on the Alabama Christmas Parade. I'll tell you about Darrell and his friend who I witnessed to and other one-2-ones.

Until then, What are you waiting for?? Go preach the Word!!!

Payton Dooley

Montgomery Christmas Parade Part 1( I DID IT!!! or more accurately He did it!!)

Today was Montgomery, Alabama's Christmas tree lighting and Christmas Parade. And David Day of www.evangelizeyourcity.com organized a outreach for the parade. David uses a Prayer Station as a springboard for the Gospel. Sometimes people are more willing to stop and talk when you are willing to pray for them.

David setup the Prayer Station on Dexter Avenue across from Chris' Hot Dogs. I work about 5 blocks from there, so I got to walk the parade route on the way to the Prayer Station. On my way I handed out about 200 "Million Dollar Bill" tracts to the people gathering for the parade. By the time I got there David had already setup his Prayer Station and he had all kinds of tracts on display. As we were handing out the MDB tracts to the people walking by, I kept looking at the stool I brought to stand on to open-air preach. I wanted to open-air preach for the first time tonight, but fear was coming over me. My old insecurity surfaced..."What if people don't like me? What if they think I'm weird?" But, the whole time leading up to tonight I reminded myself it was not about me, it was about Jesus!! All these people are dying and I have the cure. Who cares what they think about me

With much fear I stood on the stool. I had bookmarked my Bible with the verses I wanted to use. I was standing on the stool looking down at my Bible, and saying a little prayer, "Lord I am scared...but I'm gonna do it." I looked up and raised my voice as loud as I could (no amplification). I said, "Ladies and Gentleman welcome to Montgomery's Christmas Parade". At that instant literally hundreds of people turned around and looked at me. My natural instinct would have been even more fear, but at that very moment all my fear was gone. God kicked in. He took over.

I introduced them to this "Christ" in Christmas. I challenged them, "Why did God become man? Why do we need Jesus? If He's our Savior what is He saving us from?" I took them through the law. I showed them our guilt before a Holy and Righteous God. Then I showed them Grace. I showed them the Cross. And all this was not me, it was God leading me.

I saw David talking with people who walking by as I preached the Cross. I saw some people listening and some mocking. Some were ignoring the message, some were enthralled with the message (or the loud weird guy on the stool). Either way they heard the Gospel. I pleaded with them to evaluate who was their lord. Was their sins their lord or was Jesus their Lord? I urged them to turn from their sins, to repent and put their trust in Jesus and Jesus alone. Not their good works. No amount of good deeds can make up for breaking God's law. I took them though the analogy of a court room and the "good judge" who has to punish law breakers. And when it was over I got off the stool. I felt at ease, unlike ever before. Also, when the parade was over I open-aired again to the people who were leaving. I was still a little scared, but no where near as scared as the first time.

It's getting late so I'm going to wrap up Part 1 tonight. Tomorrow I'll post Part 2 of the Montgomery Christmas Parade, and talk about the one-2-ones I did at the parade. Also, I will talk about the Christian brothers whom I labored along side with tonight.

Until then, What are you waiting for?? Go preach the Word!!!

Payton Dooley