Called By Grace

2010-07-23T22:48:00.004-05:00

http://www.BMXChurch.org

Forgiveness

2010-01-20T10:37:00.002-06:00

Great message given by my Pastor, Glenn Graham, on the subject of Forgiveness. Enjoy.

East Memorial Baptist Church
Prattville, Alabama

The REAL Story of Christmas

2009-12-24T18:09:00.003-06:00

Talladega, Alabama NASCAR Outreach

2009-09-20T22:15:00.004-05:00

Are you familiar with Biblical Evangelism the way Jesus did it?

If not go to Living Waters Ministry Website and listen to the messages Hell's Best Kept Secret and True and False Conversion.

Would you like the opportunity to present the Gospel to Hundreds of Thousands lost people?

Then you need to come out with me to the NASCAR Race at Talladega, Alabama!!!

Talladega NASCAR Outreach is just around the corner (October 30th - November 1st).

I need to start getting confirmations on who can help out. You can come down for one day, two days or all three days. Any help would be a blessing. Please let me know ASAP if you will be able to help out. There will be over 200,000 fans in one area for three days. This will be one of the largest sporting event outreach you can go to. The camp grounds around the track are huge and the atmosphere is one like Mardi Gras. There are so many lost people there on race weekend and they desperately need to hear the Gospel.

Here is my Schedule:

(all times Central):

(October 30th) Friday
- 12:00 PM - Meet at Shocco Springs
- 2:00 PM - Go to the track, meet the ARM folks and do a little 1-2-1 in the Camp Ground
- 5:00 PM - Return to Shocco

(October 31st) Saturday
- 7:00 AM - Head out to the track
- 5:30 PM - Go downtown to walk-a-fame induction (starts at 7:00)

(November 1st) Sunday
- 6:00 AM - Head out to the track
- 11:00 AM - Go home (Race Starts, may take 30 minutes to an hour for traffic to clear)

** Cost is $20/night to stay at a Baptist Resort (Shocco Springs).
http://www.shocco.org

** Also, you will need to purchase either an Alabama Raceway Ministries hat or t-shirt (they want us to be identified with ARM, so we don't get kicked off Speedway Property). I believe the hat is $10 and T-shirt is $15.

No open-air allowed on speedway property (only 1-2-1s and tract distribution) BUT, we will be doing some open-air Saturday night at the Walk-of-Fame induction.

Shoot me an e-mail ASAP if you can come one day or all three. Any help is appreciated. May God be Glorified!!

Revival Hymn

2009-09-14T22:44:00.001-05:00

Enter to Win "John Calvin A Heart for Devotion Doctrine & Doxology

2009-07-10T09:03:00.003-05:00

You can register to win a copy of John Calvin's "A Heart for Devotion Doctrine & Doxology" at Fish With Trish's blog

http://fishwithtrish.blogspot.com/2009/07/enter-to-win-john-calvin-heart-for.html

Bobby Welch's Testimony

2009-07-08T13:40:00.005-05:00

Bobby Welch is a former president
of the Southern Baptist Convention
and a Vietnam War Veteran.

Can God Bless America by: John MacArthur

2009-07-04T10:54:00.002-05:00

The following is a Sermon preached by John MacArthur in 2002. On this 4th of July we need to ask ourselves "Can God Bless America?" :

One of the new features in our country in recent weeks is this obsession with "God Bless America." In itself certainly a nice tune and a well-crafted song that was sung on many occasions for many years in our country, but now has become our sort of new national anthem, if not, our national prayer. And apparently from all that I can tell, as I see the emotion that is attached with the singing of the song, there is not just symbolism here. There is not just shallow sentimentality. I get the feeling that Americans really want God's blessing, and by that they mean protection. Blessing means, "God, don't let me die." It means, "Don't let my children die...don't let my spouse die." It means, "God, don't let the stock market keep going the way it's going." "God, stop the decline in unemployment." "God, maintain our freedoms, don't put us in a position so we have to make all kinds of laws against terrorism that wind up impinging upon our cherished liberties."

I get the feeling that blessing then is associated with protection, it's associated with safety, it's associated with freedom and it's associated with prosperity. And it is such a loud cry currently that even the usually vocal atheists and militant agnostics have somehow sunk into the shadows, aware that if they were vocal they could actually invite a self-defeating national backlash. Even the bold and counter-productive destructive group known as the ACLU is making very meager and unsuccessful efforts to take down "God Bless America" signs in schools. And they, rather than the people who put them up, are being vilified by the populous.

Americans are to one degree or another in a state of fear. They're afraid. And they're crying out to heaven for an invisible means of support against an invisible enemy by an invisible God. And they hope that God is not only omnipresent, not only omniscient, not only omnipotent, but even more importantly that He's interested. The cry "God Bless America" seems to be getting louder and louder every day and commanding more and more emotion.

And as I was listening to this, it struck me as an interesting issue. The prayer is simple, "God, bless America. Keep us protected. Keep us long-term safe. Keep us free. Keep us prosperous." And I began to think about the fact that if God were to bless America as everybody seems to want Him to do, it might look very different than we would expect.

Will God bless America? Can God bless America? Should God bless America? And if God did bless America, what would He be saying about His holiness? If God did bless America, what would He be saying about our morality? About our spiritual condition? Could God bless America and protect His reputation as holy God?

Now, of course, God can always do whatever He wants, whenever He wants. But when it comes to blessing, He has clearly and repeatedly set down conditions. I've listened carefully to that song, "God Bless America," there is no verse in there that identifies the conditions. Nor do Americans seem to be opening their Bibles to try to find out what the conditions are. I don't hear anybody say, "God, what do we need to do to be blessed?" So I'm going to answer the question nobody's asking.

In fact, I think this is a serious intrusion. I don't think they want to know the conditions. It's sort of like don't ask, just bless. We'll ask, don't ask anything of us. We just want blessing. Don't impose any conditions. Don't ask for anything from us. Give us protection. Give us safety. Give us freedom. Give us prosperity. But don't meddle with our morality. I don't hear any national cries of repentance, do you? I don't hear any national affirmations of the law of God, the Word of God. I don't hear any cries for virtue and forgiveness. I don't even hear preachers preaching like that.

We're in, frankly, no position at all to be blessed. It seems to me that this prayer is futile. We're actually in a better place to be unblessed...cursed, if you can handle that word, because blessing has always had its conditions...always. And the conditions are not hard to find, you just need to go to Scripture. So let's do that.

A good starting point is the eighth chapter of Nehemiah, Nehemiah chapter 8, just to the left of Esther, Job and Psalms. At this particular point in the history of Israel they were coming to the end of a long curse. They had experienced divine judgment. That judgment had come to an end. They were ready to be blessed. They went back to the land of Israel from their captivity in Babylon where they had been for a minimum of seventy years. They went back to the land and they wanted God's blessing. Their land was a rubble. Their city was torn down. They engaged in rebuilding it, and rebuilding its wall, as you know, under Nehemiah. They needed to rebuild the temple to reconstitute their worship. They desperately wanted the blessing of God and began to move in the right direction in chapter 8. They all gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate...a particular gate in the city. And they asked Ezra, the scribe, here's the key phrase, "To bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel."

If there was going to be blessing after cursing, if there was going to be a future of blessing, they had to go back to the book. Bring the book. "And Ezra the priest brought the law, the Torah. He brought it before the assembly of all the men and women, all who listen with understanding, the first day of the seventh month and he read from it before the scroll which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning till midday in the presence of men and women, those who could understand and all the people were attentive to the book of the law."

He read for hours and hours and hours, just read the books of Moses. He was standing, in verse 4, at a wooden podium, just like this one, they had made for that purpose. The first pulpit in the Bible. "And Ezra, in verse 5, opened the book in the sight of all the people, he was standing above them all and he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God and all the people answered, Amen, Amen while lifting up their hands. Then they bowed low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground." Verse 8, "And they read from the book from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they could understand the reading." This is the beginning of expository preaching. They read it and they explained it.

If there's ever going to be blessing, the first thing that has to happen is you have to go get the book. Bring the book. In verse 18, "He read from the book of the law daily, from the first day to the last day. They celebrated the feast seven days. On the eighth day there was a solemn assembly according to the ordinance." Day after day after day after day they read the Word while the people stood and listened.

And then in chapter 9 verse 1 it says, "On the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel," this is indicative of the collective people of Israel gathering together, "assembled with fasting, in sack cloth and dirt upon them." That is a posture and an attire of penitence and humiliation. Verse 2, "The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers." Now we're getting something done here.

You bring the book. The book reiterates the law of God in no uncertain terms. The people hear the law of God, they now are very much aware of why they have been cursed. They recognize their sin, the very sins for which they endured this prolonged captivity. They posture themselves as penitents. They confess their sins and the sins and iniquities of their fathers. "And while they stood in their place they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of a day and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped their God."

This sets up the pattern for blessing. In verse 5, "Arise, bless the Lord your God forever and ever. O may Thy glorious name be blessed and exalted above all blessing and praise. Thou alone art the Lord, Thou hast made the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is in them." And they go on to recite the fact that God is the great sovereign creator. And then in the rest of chapter 9 you can see is a reiteration of God's powerful, sovereign work in Israel. It talks about Egypt and the Red Sea and how they were led by a pillar of fire by night and on and on it goes all the way down through that chapter.

Go down to verse 29 and they're reminded again that they were admonished to turn them back to Thy law. Yet they acted arrogantly, didn't listen to Thy commandments, but sinned against Thy ordinances by which if a man observes them he shall live. But they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not listen. However, and this is characteristic of God who is patient and gracious, "Thou didst bear with them for many years and admonished them with Thy Spirit through Thy prophets, yet they would not give ear. Therefore Thou didst give them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. Nevertheless, in Thy great compassion Thou didst not make an end of them or forsake them for Thou art a gracious and compassionate God." And they're just going through reciting the history of the people who had the law of God, had the Word of God, didn't obey the Word of God and were therefore cursed.

"Now therefore...verse 32...our God, the great, the mighty, the awesome God who dost keep covenant and lovingkindness. Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before Thee, which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and on all Thy people from the days of the kings of Assyria to this day. However...and I love this...Thou art just in all that has come upon us; for Thou hast dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly."

Here you have a people putting themselves by the prompting of God into a position to be blessed. Bring the book. Read the law of God. Confess that you have disobeyed it. And God will bless you.

Israel knew there was no mystery to the standards for blessing. Israel knew that even though they were a covenant people that possessed the covenant that was eternal, they had been given everlasting promises that God will fulfill eternally, they knew that God is a faithful God but they also knew that God was just to punish them because He is a holy God. Blessing begins when you admit your sin and you admit your violation of the law of God. Israel had to start there and they were a covenant people with everlasting promises. We're not. America is not a covenant nation. We are not an elect nation. We're just another nation like many nations that have come and gone through human history. We bear no eternal covenant with God as a nation. America is not a Christian nation, as such. We have no covenant to protect us. We have no eternal promises nationally that God somehow must keep.

And so, if Israel who has those covenants and those promises cannot be blessed unless they obey the law of God and repent for their disobedience, why would we assume that the standard for us would be any different?

And, in fact, listen to a few other scriptures from the Old Testament so that there's no mistake in your mind. Second Kings 17, this again reiterates in terms that cannot be mistaken the standard for blessing, 2 Kings 17, let's go down...well, we'll start at verse 14, we'll let's go back to verse 13. He's talking about idolatry in the prior verses. In verse 13, "Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer saying, 'Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you through My servants, the prophets. However, they did not listen but stiffened their neck like their fathers who did not believe in the Lord their God.'"

This is the problem, unbelief and disobedience. Verse 15, "They rejected His statutes, His covenants which He made with their fathers, His warnings which He warned them, they followed emptiness, or vanity, and became empty, went after the nations which surrounded them concerning which the Lord had commanded them not to be like them." In other words, they just sucked in all the idolatries of all their surrounding nations.

Verse 16, "They forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God, they made for themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, which is a form of an idol, worshiped all the host of heaven, served Baal. They made their sons and daughters pass through the fire, literally incinerating their children in sacrifices to the idols. They practiced divination and enchantments and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him. So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight; none was left except the tribe of Judah." And that's talking about the captivity of the northern kingdom, the kingdom in the north called Israel, the kingdom in the south called Judah...the northern kingdom taken captive by Assyria.

Verse 19, "But also Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God but walked in the customs which Israel had introduced." In other words, Judah, the more resistant to idolatry because in Judah was Jerusalem, in Jerusalem was the temple, and so because of that there was a stronger influence to stay true to the Scripture in Judah. But eventually Judah caved in. The northern kingdom taken captivity in 722, the southern kingdom taken into captivity in 586. So a hundred and some years later Judah caves in, same thing, didn't keep the commandments of the Lord their God, began to imbibe the same things which Israel, the northern kingdom, had introduced. You remember, the kingdom was divided after Solomon. "The Lord...verse 20...rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, gave them into the hand of plunderers until He had cast them out of His sight."

The bottom line is very simple, even if you are a covenant nation, even if you are the recipients of the eternal, everlasting promises of God, you still must meet the conditions of blessing or you will be cursed. If that is true for a covenant people, it is true for a covenant-less people, which we are.

Look at 2 Chronicles, and again this is very clear and unmistakable instruction from Scripture. Second Chronicles chapter 7, for the moment look at verse 19. The Lord has reiterated the promises of the Davidic covenant. The people are aware of the promises of the Abrahamic covenant, these eternal promises, "But...verse 19...if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you and shall go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot you from My land which I have given you and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight." That's the temple. "I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. As for this house which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, 'Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?' And they will say, even the strangers will know, 'Because they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them from the land of Egypt and they adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore He has brought all this adversity on them.'" And again I reiterate the obvious point, when Israel turned away from God, when they turned away from the Word of God, when they forsook His statutes, forsook His commandments, began to establish other idols, they forfeited God's blessing and they ended up with curses.

Now this had been instructed to them back in the Torah, back in the Pentateuch, back in the books of Moses, Deuteronomy 28, listen to two verses, verse 58 and 63. "If you're not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the Lord your God, it shall come about that as the Lord...listen to this...delighted to bless you and multiply you so the Lord will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you." If you meet the conditions, God will be delighted to bless you. If you don't, He will be equally delighted to curse you.

What do you mean, is He delighted in that? He's delighted in the sense that He finds satisfaction enduring what is consistent with His holiness. It's a simple principle. You ascribe your life to the truth of God, to the Word of God and where you fall short, you repent, you seek His forgiveness, you then put yourself in a place of blessing. Apart from a national penitence, a national brokenness, a national contrition for having turned their backs on God, on His Word, lived in sin, disdained to worship the true and living God, there is no basis upon which God would bless a people.

Psalm 81:11 and 12, "But My people did not listen to My voice and Israel did not obey Me. So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart to walk on their own devices." If you disobey God, you'll never be blessed. That's true individually, and therefore it's true collectively.

You say, "Yeah, but that's the...that's the Old Testament standard." No, that's the universal standard. God said, "I am the Lord, I change not." It is pointless really, no matter how well intentioned to keep on saying "God bless America, God bless America, when it is crystal-clear that America is not interested in meeting the conditions of that blessing. God bring America back to the truth of Scripture. God bring America to true penitence. Pray that.

When I was speaking to this group of Jewish people on Sunday night, I said two things have to happen for God to bless America. One, we have to return to God and two, we have to return to guilt. I put them on a God trip and a guilt trip.

What am I saying by that? I'm saying we have to return to a true understanding of God and a true understanding of ourselves. We have to look up to God and His truth, we have to look in to our fallenness and our wretchedness and our sinfulness. While we're seeing the truth of God's morality, we have to see the truth of our immorality.

We have a long way to go to return to the true and living God. Wouldn't you say? You want blessing? God repeatedly said in Leviticus, "Be holy for I am holy...be holy for I am holy...be holy for I am holy." Jesus repeated it in the Sermon on the Mount. Peter repeats it in his epistle. You want blessing? Then you have to go back to the holy standard.

Joshua, turn to Joshua 1...1:8, this is such a great statement. It should be marked out in your Bible. Joshua chapter 1, Moses is dead and the people of Israel are ready to cross the Jordan and come into the land God had promised them. Verse 3, "God says every place on which the sole of your foot treads I'm going to give to you, just as I promised Moses from the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites as far as the great sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory." The Mediterranean, all the way back to the middle of the Mesopotamian Valley, the Tigris/Euphrates valley, north to Lebanon all the way south down to Egypt, that's exactly what God had pledged to Abraham, reiterated that pledge to Moses, is recorded in the books of the law. And now God reminds them as they go into the land of that promise, I'm going to give it to you.

I'm not only going to give it to you, "But nobody...verse 5...is going to be able to stand before you all the days of your life, just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you, I will not fail or forsake you. Nobody is going to be able to overthrow My ultimate purpose for you." Verse 6, "Be strong and courageous," this is speaking directly to Joshua, nobody is going to be able to withstand Joshua who was a godly leader, God's going to be with him. "Be strong, courageous, you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them." Verse 7, "Only be strong and very courageous," and here it comes, "be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right, or to the left so that you may have success wherever you go. If you turn from the law of God, I guarantee you will not have success. You will not have prosperity. You will not enjoy safety, protection or well-being."

What's the key? Verse 8, here's the key. "This book of the law, the Word of God, shall not depart from your mouth. You shall meditate on it day and night. Learn it, absorb it, make it your own so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous, then you will have success."

The principles haven't changed. If America wants success, if American wants prosperity, if America wants well-being, safety, protection, all of these things that are bound up in this particular fear, then the standard is established, go back to the law of God and meet the God of the law.

I mean, it's obvious, we have God in our salute, we have God on our coins, we have God in our songs, we just don't have Him in our minds or our hearts. This is a serious situation because we have turned so seriously against God that we are far, far away from a return. We are in a kind of desperation that I think is best defined by Romans 1.

Turn to Romans 1. This was pretty shocking to the pupil I was speaking to on Sunday night in this meeting because they were not familiar with Romans 1. Many of them not familiar, because they were Jewish, with the New Testament at all. Those who were Christians not familiar with the real intent of Romans 1. But here's what you have in Romans 1, verse 18, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men...here's the key phrase...who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." You want to put yourself as an entity, as a corporate group of people, you want to put yourself in the worst possible condition, suppress the truth...suppress the truth. Verse 19 says, "That which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them." God has revealed His truth in the human heart, man is created in the image of God, he's created with rational capabilities, moral capabilities, a conscience and built into the fabric of man, according to Romans chapter 2, is the law of God written in his heart and the attendant conscience that on the knowledge of that law accuses or excuses man. So that everybody has the knowledge of God to some degree in his heart. It's evident.

How did God make it evident? Verse 20, "From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse." Nobody has any excuse for not believing in the true God who is the creator, no one. The evidence is massive, and we've just recently gone through it in our series on Genesis. It's available to you if you want information in the new book Battle for the Beginning. Every culture can look at creation and by virtue of the simple principle of cause and effect know that there had to be a cause for this massive effect that we call the world.

The problem is, man suppresses the truth. Verse 21, "Even though they knew God because God had planted that knowledge in them, they didn't honor Him as God, they didn't give Him thanks, they were futile, empty in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened, professing to be wise they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man, of birds, and four-footed animals and crawling creatures."

Now that's a lot to absorb. Let me make it very simple. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against people who suppress the truth. The knowledge of God is in the human heart, it's a very part of being human. God as He's given you physical senses, the five senses, have given you spiritual senses and a rational mind so that you can reason from effect back to cause, back to cause until finally you come back to the ultimate cause and your mind demands that there be a creator God who has the capacity to create not only a material universe, but a spiritual universe who has the capacity to think and to reason and relate the way humans do. The greater cannot come from the lesser. Clearly God is revealed and certainly beyond His revelation in the physical world, He has revealed Himself in Scripture.

America, we not only have that physical revelation, that theologians call natural revelation, we have special revelation, verbal revelation, the Scripture, our country has always had the Word of God. Our problem is, when we knew God, we glorified Him not as God. We have taken God out, forced Him out in the name of political correctness, in the name of conventional wisdom, in the name of tolerance, in the name of not offending somebody we have blasphemed God, the creator. We don't honor Him, verse 21. We don't give Him thanks. And we are empty in our ideas, our foolish hearts are darkened, we think we're smart, we're actually moraino, the word from which we get morons, worshiping dolphins, or spotted owls, or the new religion, eco-feminism, or whatever other bizarre kind of idolatry we can concoct in the place of the true God, or just worshiping money, power, prestige, worshiping our own physical bodies, whatever it is.

So that's the problem in America, but it's not just us, it's everybody. Acts 14 says, "God has allowed all the nations to go their own way." That's the whole history of the world. Every nation goes this way...people are born, they know God exists, God is part of the fabric of their very being. They can know God through the law written in their hearts. They can know Him through reason. They can be responding to the revelation through their conscience. The knowledge of God is there. Every society suppresses that because of fallenness, because of wickedness, because of blindness, because of the love of iniquity. They crush the knowledge of God. They crush it lower and lower until it disappears out of their view. And that turns loose the wrath of God.

Now go back to verse 18. "For the wrath of God is revealed against all who do this." Every once in a while I hear a suppose a well-intentioned and hopeful preacher say, "We're on the brink of a great revival in America." I don't know what they're looking at. I don't know why they would ever come to that conclusion. I believe America is currently experiencing the wrath of God. The wrath of God is the general reality in our nation.

Am I saying it was an act of God's wrath to allow terrorists to kill people? I don't know why God does what He does. We've already said that. I do know that for some they were catapulted into eternal wrath. But I also know for some who were believers, they were taken into glory. God may have many purposes in what He does. I'm not talking about an incident. What I am telling you though is on a national level, I believe America is experiencing the wrath of God. And I think you'll see that here because the wrath of God is defined for us in verses 24 and following and it's very specific.

The wrath of God, verse 18, is revealed, and then it tells against what it's revealed. But down in verse 24, you go to the therefore. Therefore, let's go back to the wrath. Here is the definition, "God gave them over." Verse 26, "God gave them over." Verse 28, the middle of the verse, "God gave them over."

That's an interesting phrase. God gave them over, or God gave them up. God abandoned them. That's a fascinating statement. There are, as I would count them, five forms of God's wrath. First is eternal wrath, that's everlasting punishment in hell, that's one form of God's wrath, that's not in view here. Second, there would be what we could call eschatological wrath, that's the wrath of God that unfolds at the end of the age, during the time of the Great Tribulation when the wrath of God is poured out on the earth and all the things that are described in the book of Revelation take place. That's a future eschatological wrath.

Thirdly, there is a cataclysmic wrath, that's the wrath of God that comes on Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroys those cities and the cities of the plain and when God destroys Bethsaida, Chorazin, Capernaum in the New Testament, there is that cataclysmic wrath that falls on Pompeii or through some massive disaster brings about the death of tens of thousands of people, cataclysmic expressions of God's wrath often on cultures that have found themselves in this position, having rejected the knowledge of God.

And there is, fourthly, what I call natural wrath. God has built into the fabric of human life consequence to sin, and some of that consequence is natural. If you sin against your body by becoming an alcoholic, the natural effect, the natural wrath that works could be called cirrhosis of the liver. If you sin in a life of immorality and you get involved in homosexuality or promiscuous sexuality, you could wind up with a sexually transmitted disease, you could wind up with AIDS and that is a built-in act of wrath. That's the sowing and reaping principle.

We're not talking about eternal wrath here. We're not talking about eschatological wrath, cataclysmic wrath or natural wrath...there's a fifth kind of wrath, it's the wrath of abandonment...the wrath of abandonment.

This is such a frightening thing. This is when God gives you up, steps back, let them go...let them go. No more restraining grace. Turn them over. They want their sin, let them go. We know this is going to happen in its consummate sense in the time of Tribulation when the restrainer is removed, remember? The Holy Spirit and hell belches forth the previously bound demons and all the demons of the universe come down to earth and aid the Antichrist in his satanic efforts to finally conquer the world and the Kingdom of God.

But we get a foretaste of that, previews of that as nations turn against God and He gives them up. This is the wrath of abandonment that is true in the Old Testament. Judges 16, Samson found a Philistine woman by the name of Delilah. I never met anybody who named their daughter Delilah, such an infamous person. Well, you remember the story. She seduced Samson and so he told her that his strength was connected to his Nazarite vow which had to do with his hair. And she made him, according to Judges 16:19, sleep on her knees. She called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair, then she began to afflict him somehow, not in some severe sense, but to jostle him and his strength left him.

And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson," and he awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free." He had defeated the Philistines on many occasions and by the thousands. He had defeated them single- handedly, so he said, "I will go out as at other times." Verse 20, "But he didn't know that the Lord had departed from him." Wow. So when the Philistines came, they seized him, they gouged out his eyes, they brought him down to Gaza, bound him with bronze chains and he was like a mule, grinding in a prison." God left. Turned Samson over to the consequence of his choices. Judges chapter 10 verses 13 and 14, it says, speaking of Israel, "Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods, therefore I will deliver you no more." I'm done with you. I'm not going to rescue you, I'm not going to protect you. So verse 14 says, "God and cry out to the gods which you've chosen." You've chosen your gods, let them deliver you in the time of your distress. You leave Me, I leave you.

Proverbs 1, "Because I called and you refused, I stretched out My hand and no one paid attention, you neglected all My counsel, you didn't want My reproof, I will even laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your dread comes, when your dread comes like a storm, your calamity like a whirlwind, and distress and anguish comes on you, then they will call on Me but I will not answer." Is that America? Are we saying futilely against a vaulted sky, "God bless America" and God is not going to answer? Why? "Because they hated knowledge, did not choose the fear of the Lord. They will seek Me diligently, they will not find Me. They would not accept My counsel, they spurned all My reproof so they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satisfied with their own devices. I'm letting them go." They can have the meal they cooked.

Hosea 4:17, the prophet said, "Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone." Amazing, let him go. Let him go.

Jesus said about the Pharisees, "They're blind leaders of the blind. Let them alone. Let them go. I'm done with them."

That's the frightening wrath that God just steps back and lets sinners go to the consequence of their choices. You say, "How do you know that's going on in America?"

Follow the sequence. Verse 24, you're familiar with this, first thing that happens, "God gave them over to the lust of their hearts to impurity that their bodies might be dishonored among them for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever, amen." They turned their back on God. God gave them over to...what?...sexual immorality. They operate on lust. They function in impurity. They dishonor their bodies.

You look at America, you look back at 1960, you see the sexual revolution. That's...when God lets a people go, that's the first step down...they become preoccupied with illicit sex. Here we are a few decades later, drowning in a sea of pornography, now pumped into every person on the Internet everywhere. But that's only step one.

Step two is in verse 26, "God also gave them over to degrading passions for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural," that's Lesbianism, "in the same way also the men abandoned the function of the women and burned in their desire for one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own person the due penalty of their error."

First, when God lets a nation go, they sink to immorality. And then they sink to homosexuality. First it's heterosexual sin and then it's homosexual sin. Does anybody question that we're there?

And then in verse 28, the third step, "God gave them over to a depraved mind." What is that? Adokimos, useless mind, the mind is morally incapable of making a right judgment. And when you get to that point, there's no recovery. You can be moral, heterosexually, you can be immoral homosexually, and still somebody can be sane enough to call you back, but when you get to step three and the mind is morally incapable of making a right judgment, there's no way back. And you know a society has reached this when that society will not tolerate anyone making moral judgments.

You want to be an enemy of our culture? Start making moral judgments. Once you don't make any moral judgments, what happens? Verse 29, "Unrighteousness fills everything, wickedness, greed, evil, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents with understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful, everything breaks loose and the Jerry Springer show becomes funny to the degraded mind.

I was speaking at chapel at the college this week and I leaned over to Mark Tatlock and I said, "Mark, do you think there's anything that could happen that would shock these young people? Anything?" But if you step up and call a halt to the moral insanity and place the law of God in the public eye, believe me, you will be rejected. The same America that keeps saying "God bless America, God bless America, God bless America," is not anyway near ready to hear how God will bless America and that is, first of all, by establishing His law against which every life is measured, and against which an appropriate repentance is required. And even though people, verse 32 says, know that death is the result of these kinds of behaviors, they do them anyway. And they give hearty approval to those who practice them.

That's where we are in this country. So if we're saying "God bless America...God bless America," on the basis of what? We've turned our back on God, we've blasphemed God, we've rejected God. In His place we've made our own idols. And now we're saying "God bless America?" I'm quite sure that if He were to bless America in the way people are now asking, it would be hard for Him to maintain His reputation as a holy God.

So, folks, I'm not the prophet or the son of a prophet, but I will tell you this. I can't see any reason at all why God should bless this nation and a myriad why of having let go of the nation He should turn it over to the consequence of its own wickedness. We can sing that song until we're blue in the face, and it doesn't compel our holy God at all.

Listen to what Scripture says again. Second Chronicles 7, familiar text, we looked at the later part of the chapter, let's go back to the earlier. Second Chronicles 7, Solomon in verse 11 finished the house of the Lord and the King's palace, successfully completed all that he had planned on doing in the house of the Lord and in his palace. And, of course, the Solomonic temple and palace were the greatest ever. "Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, 'I have heard your prayer, have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land or if I send pestilence among My people." In other words, He says I'm going to come here, I'm going to live here, but I'll tell you this, if the people sin and I have to bring judgment, drought, devastating locust plague, some other pestilence, some deadly disease, if I have to bring that, then remember this, verse 14, "My people who are called by My name, if they humble themselves and pray, seek My face, turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and heal their land."

You say, "Is that a covenant promise for Israel?" Well, it's a promise from God to a covenant people, but the standard applies to anybody. God doesn't bless people who reject Him.

Psalm 81 again, verses 13 to 16, God says, "O that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways. If My people would just listen, and obey, I would quickly subdue their enemies." I suppose we could extrapolate from that that the best hope for any nation to be protected and safe and secure and free and prosperous is to have God fighting their battles, subduing their enemies. And in verse 16 He says, "If My people listen to Me and walk in My ways, I will feed you with the finest of the wheat and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." That's blessing, that's just a way to express blessing, I'll give you the best I've got, I'll give you the best blessings I have.

There are conditions. The condition is the law of God must be put back as the standard and obeyed. That's a return to God and His Word. But secondly, there has to be a return to guilt. I have to measure my life against that law and repent. Let me use David as an illustration.

Saul was king. He had been chosen by the people but confirmed by God. And Saul was hunting David to kill him cause he was threatened, of course, by the fact that David was going to be king. On one occasion Saul is hunting David and David stumbles across Saul in a very compromised condition. He is in a cave doing what the Old Testament very delicately calls "covering his feet," relieving himself. David could have killed him. His...his enemy, he could have killed Saul. And his men said, "Kill him...kill him...look, kill him." He wouldn't do it. He went over and he cut off a little piece of his robe, Saul's robe, to let him know he could have killed him.

And then it says in 1 Samuel 24:5, "David's conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul's robe because Saul was the Lord's anointed." I'm telling you, folks, that's a sensitive conscience, isn't it? That is a hyper- sensitive conscience. With all of David's failures, he sinned greatly but is there anybody in the Old Testament who had such a sensitivity to his sin as he had? David compromised again with Bathsheba and engaged in adultery with her. She was the wife of Uriah, one of his soldiers. Not only did he sin with Bathsheba, but he arranged for Uriah to be left isolated in the middle of a battle, have the ones around him retreat so that he would die and he did. David was guilty then of adultery and murder. And in response to that he came to Nathan the prophet in 2 Samuel 12:13 and he said, "I have sinned against the Lord." And he was so smitten in his conscience that he wrote two Psalms, Psalm 32 and Psalm 51. And in Psalm 32 he said, "When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away and through my groaning all day long, night and day Your hand was heavy on me, my vitality, my life's juices were drained away." It restricted his blood flow, it restricted his saliva, all the functions of his body were thrown out of whack because of the terrible guilt that he felt.

Later on in 2 Samuel 24 he numbered Israel which essentially was a way of being proud and a way of sort of counting on the sheer force of your army to win a battle, rather than God. He numbered the people when he was told not to number the people. Second Samuel 24:10 says, "David's heart smote him." Something went through him like a spear. I hate that David sinned, I love that David responded so sensitively to it. A spear went through his heart and he said to the Lord, "I have sinned greatly in what I've done, please, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, I've acted very foolishly."

That's what it takes. That's what it takes. It takes a recognition of the standard of God, the law of God and then an instant severe pain over having violated that law. If America, if you want to be blessed, that's the path. Return to God, return to guilt.

We don't want God in our society, except as a sky-hook, a parachute. And we certainly don't want guilt in our society. Ann Landers wrote, I quote, "Guilt is a pollutant and we don't need any more of it in the world." Really? Charles Dyer in his book Your Erroneous Zones said, quote, "Guilt must be exterminated, spray cleaned and sterilized forever." MTV said, "No sin is as evil as the killjoy attitude of those who think someone's behavior is an offense to some holy God." We want self-esteem, not guilt. Guilt's intolerable. The psychologies of self-esteem and victimization are designed to silence the voice of conscience to remove guilt. That is damning and destructive. Generations are being trained that their consciences are liars and that they're really good and not evil. Psychologists have been the purveyors of that damning anthropology.

John Owen who was Cromwell's chaplain wrote, "If you want to kill sin, load your conscience with the guilt of it. Generations are being trained that conscience is a liar, they shouldn't feel guilty, and you can do whatever you want because you have the freedom to be yourself. And don't let anybody put some guilt trip on you or make you feel bad about it.

This is the depth of the morass of twisted thinking that America is in. We've abandoned God and He's abandoned us. We've plummeted down the path from immorality to homosexuality to degraded thinking. We've slaughtered our conscience. We don't have the Word of God to inform conscience and when conscience tries to speak even weakly, we crush it into silence and tell it it has no right to tell us anything. We're good, the Twinkies made me do it. Your child has ADD, HDP, ODD, or whatever other psychologization of morality.

We have a long ways to go in this country to expect blessing, don't you think? Just getting back to God is a huge, huge trek and getting back to guilt is another one. We want God but we want Him on our terms. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. In His law he meditates day and night."

You want to be blessed, get back to the book. Go back to the book and the God of the book. And the book will reveal God in all His magnificent, holy morality and it will reveal you in all your ugly immorality. Yes, there is blessing for the one who walks in the Word. Psalm 32, "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity." Blessed means that you've come to the Lord, you've come to the truth, you've embraced His Word, you've sought forgiveness. And you've been justified, that is no longer is iniquity imputed to you, your sin has been covered, covered, in fact, by the very righteousness of God through Christ. Blessed, Psalm 34:8, is the man who takes refuge in the Lord.

You want to be blessed? Return to the Lord. I'm just reading you a few that come to my mind. Psalm 40 verse 4, "Blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust and has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood." I think it's Psalm 112, a good place to sort of conclude these references from the Psalms, yes, "Praise the Lord...this sums it up...how blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments. Wealth and riches are in his house. He will never fear evil tidings. His heart is steadfast. Trusting in the Lord, his heart is upheld. He will not fear." That's blessing.

But there are conditions. Walking in the truth, knowing God, repenting, confessing sin. Isaiah 55, "Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He's near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord and He will have compassion on him and to our God for He will abundantly pardon." There is blessing, but that blessing is attached to repentance for sin and obedience to the Word of God. And that's not a national thing until it's an individual thing. The only way God could bless America as an entity is if it was dominated by individual who had stepped into His blessing.

There's one other thing that I have to say. Believing the Bible, repenting of sin--the standard of blessing. But there's one other absolutely critical reality and that is that blessing is provided through Jesus Christ and Him alone. In 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 20, "There is many as may be the promises of God, all His promises of blessing, obviously, as many as may be the promises of God, in Him, that is in Christ Jesus, the Son of God, mentioned in verse 19, in Him they are yes." All the promises of God in Christ are yes. "Wherefore also by Him is our amen to the glory of God through us." Paul is saying, all the promises of God become reality in Christ.

Galatians chapter 3 and verse 14, "In Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham comes to the Gentiles so we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." The ultimate blessing of forgiveness, eternal life originally given in the Abrahamic covenant comes to us in Christ Jesus.

And then a passage to end on, Ephesians 1 verse 3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places...what are the next two words?...in Christ."

We have a message for America. God bless America, well He will bless America if the conditions are met. But before we can be concerned about America, we need to be concerned about those who are America, that's us. And the way to blessing is back to the book, to know the truth of God and the God of the book, to repent of sin and to come to Him for forgiveness and new life and new capacity for obedience through faith in Jesus Christ. All the promises of God are yes in Christ. All spiritual blessings are ours in Christ.

I wish that all the people saying God bless America were willing to acknowledge God, His Word, their own sin and the Savior Jesus Christ. That's the only way anybody will ever be blessed by God. This is our message, folks, not just mine to you, yours to everybody else.

http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/80-245.htm

Nine Conditions That Prove Genuine Saving Faith

2009-06-25T09:35:00.005-05:00

I got this through Pulpit Magazine (by Dr. John MacArthur). I thought is was something that we all need:

(By John MacArthur)

Yesterday we looked at seven common conditions or tests that don't necessarily prove or disprove the existence of saving faith. What then are the marks of genuine saving faith? Are there some reliable tests from the Word of God that enable us to know for certain whether one's faith is real? Thankfully there are at least nine biblical criteria for examining the genuineness of saving faith.

Nine conditions that prove genuine saving faith.

1. Love for God

First of all a deep and abiding love for God is one of the supreme evidences of genuine saving faith. This gets to the heart of the issue. Romans 8:7 says "the carnal mind is enmity [hostility, hatred] against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." Thus, if a man's heart is at enmity with God there is no basis for assuming the presence of saving faith. Those who are truly saved love God, but those who are not truly saved resent God and His sovereignty. Internally they are rebellious toward God and His plan for their life. But the regenerate person is set to love the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. His delight is in the infinite excellencies of God. God is the first and highest affection of his renewed soul. God has become his chief happiness and source of satisfaction. He seeks after God and thirsts for the living God.

By the way, we must be careful to distinguish the difference between that kind of true love for God that seeks His glory from the kind of self-serving love that sees God primarily as a means of personal fulfillment and gain. True saving faith doesn't believe in Christ so that Christ will make one happy. The heart that truly loves God desires to please God and glorify Him. Jesus taught that if someone loved their father and mother more than they loved Christ, they were not worthy of Him. In Matthew 10:37-39 Jesus put it like this: "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." (Matthew 10:37-39)

The question then is this: Do you love God? Do you love His nature? Do you love His glory? Do you love His name? Do you love His kingdom? Do you love His holiness? Do you love His will? Is your heart lifted when you sing His praises-because you love Him? Supreme love for God is decisive evidence of true faith.

2. Repentance from Sin

A proper love for God necessarily involves a hatred for sin that leads to repentance. That should be obvious. Who wouldn't understand that? If we truly love someone we seek their best interests. Their well being is our greatest concern. If a man says to his wife, "I love you but I could care less what happens to you," we would rightly question his love for her. True love seeks the highest good of its object. If we say that we love God, then we will hate whatever is an offense to Him. Sin blasphemes God. Sin curses God. Sin seeks to destroy God's work and His kingdom. Sin killed His Son. So when someone says, "I love God, but I tolerate sin," then there is every reason to question the genuineness of his love for God. One cannot love God without hating that which is set to destroy Him. True love for God will therefore manifest itself through confession and repentance. The man who loves God will be grieved over his sin and will want to confess it to God and forsake it.

In examining our faith we should ask: "Do I have a settled conviction concerning the evil of all sin? Does sin appear to me as the evil and bitter thing that it really is? Does conviction of sin increase in me as I walk with Christ? Do I hate it not primarily because it is ruinous to my own soul or because it is an offense to the God I love? Does the sin itself grieve me or am I only grieved over the consequences of my sin. What grieves me most-my misfortune or my sin? Do my sins appear to me as many, frequent and aggravated? Do I find myself grieved over my own sin more than the sins of others?" Genuine saving faith loves God and hates what He hates, which is sin. That attitude results in real repentance.

3. Genuine Humility

Saving faith is manifested through genuine humility. Jesus said blessed are those who are poor in spirit, and those who mourn [their sin], and those who are meek, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:3-6)-all marks of humility. In Matthew 18 Jesus said that "unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3). True saving faith comes as a little child-humble and dependent. It is not the man who is full of himself who is saved, but the man who denies himself, takes up his cross daily and follows Christ (Matthew 16:24).

In the Old Testament we see that the Lord receives those who come with a broken and contrite spirit (Psalm 34:18; 51:17; Isaiah 57:15; 66:2). James wrote: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). We must come as the prodigal son, broken and humble. Remember what he said to his father-"Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son" (Luke 15:21). Those possessing genuine saving faith do not come boastfully to God with their religious achievements or spiritual accomplishments in hand. They come empty-handed in genuine humility.

4. Devotion to God's Glory

True saving faith is manifested by a devotion to God's glory. Whatever believers do, whether they eat or drink, their desire is to see God glorified. Christians do what they do because they want to bring glory to God.

Without question Christians fail in each of these areas, but the direction of a Christian's life is to love God, hate sin, to live in humility and self-denial, recognizing his unworthiness and being devoted to the glory of God. It is not the perfection of one's life but the direction of a life that provides evidence of regeneration.

5. Continual Prayer

Humble, submissive, believing prayer is mark of true faith. We cry "Abba, Father" because the Spirit within us prompts that cry. Jonathan Edwards once preached a sermon titled, "Hypocrites are Deficient in the Duty of Secret Prayer." It's true. Hypocrites may pray publicly, because that's what hypocrites want to do. Their desire is to impress people-but they are deficient in the duty of secret prayer. True believers have a personal and private prayer life with God. They regularly seek communion with God through prayer.

6. Selfless Love

An important characteristic of genuine saving faith is selfless love. James wrote, "If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' you do well" (James 2:8). John wrote, "Whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (1 John 3:17). If you love God you will not only hate what offends Him, but you will love those whom He loves. "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death" (1 John 3:14). And why do we love God and love others? Because this is the believer's response to His love for us. "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). Jesus said we will know that we are His disciples by our love for each other (John 13:35).

7. Separation from the World

Positively, believers are marked by a love for God and for fellow believers. Negatively, the Christian is characterized by the absence of love for the world. True believers are not those who are ruled by worldly affections, but their affection and devotion is toward God and His kingdom.

In 1 Corinthians 2:12 Paul wrote that "we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God." In 1 John 2:15 we read: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15). True saving faith separates one from the pursuits of this world--not perfectly, as we all fail in these areas, but the direction of a believer's life is upward. He feels the pull of heaven on his soul. Christians are those whom God has delivered from the power of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of His Son. The believer is marked by the absence of love or enslavement to the satanically controlled world system (Ephesians 2:1-3; Colossians 1:13; James 4:4).
8. Spiritual Growth

True believers grow. When God begins a true work of salvation in a person, He finishes and perfects that work. Paul expressed that assurance when he wrote in Philippians 1:6, "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."

If you are a true Christian, you are going to be growing-and that means you are going to be more and more like Christ. Life produces itself. If you're alive you are going to grow, there's no other way. You'll improve. You'll increase. The Spirit will move you from one level of glory to the next. So examine your life. Do you see spiritual growth? Do you see the decreasing frequency of sin? Is there an increasing pattern of righteousness and devotion to God?

9. Obedience

Obedient living is not one of the optional tracks given for believers to walk. All true believers are called to a life of obedience. Jesus taught that every branch that abides in Him bears fruit (John 15:1-8). Paul wrote that believers "are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). That speaks of obedience. We are saved unto the obedience of faith (see 1 Peter 1:2).

How can we know our faith is genuine? Examine your life in the light of God's Word. Do you see these characteristics in your life? Do you have a love for God, hatred for sin, humility, devotion to God's glory, a pattern of personal and private prayer, selfless love, separation from the world, the evidence of spiritual growth and obedience. These are the real evidences of genuine saving faith.

Toothfairy, Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and Jesus...just fairytales!!

2009-06-11T20:50:00.003-05:00

Christians give me a hard time all the time about not doing Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. They say, "That's the fun of Christmas/Easter". Personally I don't see how lying to your child can be "fun", when you should be teaching them the theology of the Holiday. And it can be dangerous. The reason I bring this up is because I've been witnessing to a gentleman online. He was raised in a Christian home, he went to church every Sunday. But now, he doesn't believe in God any more. Read an excerpt from his e-mail:

"It's true that I was raised in a 'christian' home. My mother took us to church. I was indoctrinated into that belief process. But I was also taught that a fat guy in a red suit came down our chimney to deliver presents. I was taught that a human lived 3 days in a fish. I was taught that if I left a tooth under my pillow that a fairy would leave money. I was taught that I was born evil and wicked and as a 5 year old boy I deserved to die and burn for ever. I was taught that a big bunny rabbit left goodies on Easter. As I grew older I stopped believing in fairy tales. There is no proof of Santa, the Easter bunny, Jesus, or the tooth fairy."

My heart goes out to this young man. I do realize there are probably other underlying problems he has with God. But teaching them bad theology at a young age doesn't help their understanding of God. What are we teaching our kids about God? That He is a fairytale like the Easter Bunny? Think about it!!

Outreach in West Montgomery

2009-06-08T09:43:00.005-05:00

I'll be the first to admit, I wasn't sure about going out to West Montgomery. In the flesh, I was worried about my safety, but I remembered that we are called to go out in ALL the world and that we have a Sovereign God. So I made myself go and boy was I glad I did. It was such a blessing to be around brothers and sisters in Christ who were different from me. We were from a different culture, but shared the same Saviour. It was awesome when we joined together in Prayer and Praise of the Lord Jesus Christ together before going out. It was a REAL Blessing.

Brother Ken Austin Pastor of New Walk of Life Church (on Council Street in Montgomery, AL) put on a neighborhood fellowship for the area. This is a very low income neighborhood. They had food, activities for the kids, praise and worship, clothing donations and much more. At First we helped setup everything, then we broke off into groups in the neighborhood handing out fliers for the event. It gave us an opportunity to do some one-on-one conversations and hand out a few tracts. But, the best part for me was the Christian Fellowship. It truly is amazing how diverse people can come together for a common purpose. To Glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jubilee CityFest Open-air

2009-05-25T01:25:00.003-05:00

Report from Talladega Outreach

2009-04-27T11:49:00.005-05:00

Talladega went great. We were able to have numerous 1-2-1's with people and we handed out close to 3,000 tracts, praise be to God. We saw many who professed to be "Christian", yet when we presented them with "the Law", they admitted they were sinning, but it was "only for the weekend". They did not have a heart of repentance, there was no fear of the Lord. One man I talked to quoted Psalm 111:10, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom". I asked him, "Do you fear the Lord?" He said "yes". I asked, "Then why are you intoxicated? The Bible says no drunkard will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven." He said he knew that, but he was just here to party. I saw that very man later that afternoon, he was so drunk he couldn't even walk straight. No fear of the Lord.

But there wasn't all bad news, several people we talked with were convicted and listened. I talked to one lady who said she taught Sunday School. I went through the Law of God with her. She admitted to being a liar, thief and a blasphemer and that if God judged her by the 10 commandments she would go to Hell. It was a sobering thought to her. I asked her, "Did you know what God did so you wouldn't have to go to Hell?" She had no idea, she taught Sunday School and did not know the Gospel!! What is happening in our churches here in the U.S.? What is being taught there?? She truly was convicted that day though. I have many stories, some encouraging, some not. But, I know that our job was to plant "seeds" of the Gospel. God will handle the rest.

Many people there did not like my testimony. I was a reminder to them that what they were doing was wrong. You see, if you had been visiting the campgrounds at Talladega about 10 years ago, you would have found me there. I was one of them, a bottle of beer in my hand while professing my own self-righteous goodness. I'd be saying I'm a "good person" as I passed the bottle of Jack Daniels to the next person sitting around the campfire. I reminded them of how they should be, how they should act. Now, all the glory goes to God. It was Him who saved me from that lifestyle, not myself. It was Him who changed my heart and showed me how repulsive my sin was, not myself. It was Him that made me a "new creature", not myself. And it's God that can save them too, if they repent (turn) from their sins and put their faith and trust in Jesus and His sacrifice on the Cross, not their own "goodness". He bore the wrath of God on our behalf so we could be forgiven. But, you have to love Jesus more than your sins.

I have to give a thanks out to everybody who came out to help this weekend:
Bill Adams (and friends)
Leslie Tollett
Shelby Tollett
Dustin Casey
Glenn Parker
Troy Smith
and my two lovely children Diana and Britt

So, what are you waiting for? Go preach the Gospel to a dying world!!

Talladega, Alabama NASCAR Outreach

2009-04-09T10:42:00.003-05:00

I've been working with Bill Adams (of www.sfoi.org) and Alabama Raceway Ministries (ARM) to put together an opportunity for witnessing at the upcoming NASCAR races at Talladega Super Speedway.

Anyone who will be in the North Alabama area during the 24th-26th of April is invited to help us reach the lost at the race track.

I'm still getting info together. Here is what I got so far:

* The race weekend is April 24th-26th. Not much happens Friday at the track, but we get together Friday afternoon to meet everyone and go over the weekend plans. Saturday and Sunday are the big days. A good time to leave is after the race starts on Sunday. Saturday's race is set to start 2:30/ET (1:30/CT) and Sunday's race starts at 1:00/ET (12:00/CT).

* Everyone has to wear an ARM (Alabama Raceway Ministry) Shirt to identify themselves with the ministry (this is a requirement that ARM has). Shirts cost $10-$12 depending on the size. I need to know how many and what sizes (they come Adult S,M,L,XL,XXL) as soon as possible so they can put in a batch order to make them. I told them we might have a large group.

* You can stay at a Baptist Resort 13 miles from the track call Shocco Springs for $20 per night. More info about Shocco is at: http://www.shocco.org/ Let me know if you are going to need to stay at Shocco, so I can get you a room.

* Meals should not be an issue, since ARM makes 3 meals a day for the fans in the campgrounds. The food is all free. There isn't a whole lot around the track except service stations, you are about a 8 or 9 minute drive from the city of Talladega. The city of Talladega has all the normal amenities of a small town (i.e. McDonald's, Burger King, Dairy Queen and Wal-Mart).

* Alabama Raceway Ministries wants people assigned to camp sites. The North Camp ground is the largest (it puts the entire complex at Atlanta Motor speedway to shame). We could spend all weekend just there and still not hit every race fan. They asked me if we want to split the group up into the other camp grounds or just the North Camp ground. We are still debating how we will divide up. This is a HUGE complex. We could take 500 evangelists and still not put a dent in it. The crowd will be more than twice as big as Atlanta. Talladega is known as the "party track" of NASCAR. Expect around 150,000 fans to be there (and that's a smaller amount than in the past). Before the economy problems, they easily had over 200,000 on Sunday.

* NO OPEN-AIR -- sorry I tried :-(

This is private property and we are given permission to do 1-2-1s and handout tracts, but we have to follow their rules. They are cool with our tracts (NASCAR Trivia) and us presenting the Gospel WOTM style. So that is a Blessing.

Please let me know ASAP if you will be able to go. Sorry about the short notice, but the folks at ARM were a little hesitant at first.

My contact info is:

payton.dooley@gmail.com

I need to know if you will be staying at Shocco, how many nights and T-Shirt size. You need to bring money for T-shirt ($10 for S,M,L or $12 for L, XL, XXL), money for room ($40 for 2 nights...$20/night) and your own tracts.

Idea's for tracts:

* NASCAR Trivia
* Name 10 Beers
* Million Dollar Bill

Race Track Address:
Talladega Super Speedway
3366 Speedway Blvd
Lincoln, AL 35096

Shocco's Address:
Shocco Springs
1314 Shocco Springs Road
Talladega, Alabama 35160

What Hollywood left out

2009-04-06T20:11:00.002-05:00

This video says is all, no commentary is needed.

Enter to Win a Signed Copy of "Evangelism in the New Testament...A Plea for Biblically Relevant Evangelism" at fishwithtrish.com

2009-04-03T23:26:00.008-05:00

Head on over to FishWithTrish.com and register to win a copy of

"Evangelism in the New Testament...A Plea for Biblically Relevant Evangelism"
by Jon Speed

All you have to do is leave a comment on her blog at:

http://fishwithtrish.blogspot.com/2009/04/enter-to-win-copy-of-evangelism-in-new.html

You've only got until April 16th to sign up...so HURRY!!

Jesus Died! - Paul Washer

2009-03-17T21:07:00.000-05:00

Jesus Died! - Paul Washer from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

Witnessing at Atlanta Motor Speedway

2009-03-13T09:09:00.006-05:00

Last weekend I had the privilege of witnessing at the NASCAR races at Atlanta. Many of you may already know that I'm a race fan and that prior to my conversion I would have been found in the campgrounds at Talladega during race weekend. Because of this, God has given me a love for the unsaved race fans. This is my "cup of tea" you could say. I enjoy volunteering with Alabama Raceway Ministries at Talladega every year. But, one of the draw backs at Talladega is that I have to spend the majority of my time ministering to the needs of the fans and track support staff (i.e. feeding them); and I'm not able to to do a whole lot of evangelism. But, at Atlanta, MRO (Motor Racing Outreach) brought a group of people in whose primary job was evangelism. These were people who were trained in Biblical Evangelism, the Way of the Master way. So for three days I was surrounded by like-minded brothers in Christ whom had the same desire to proclaim the Gospel as myself. The fellowship alone was well worth the trip. The best part though was that thousands of people got to hear the Gospel!! In the 1-2-1 witnessing opportunities I had I heard everything from being a "good person" to being "good to animals" gets you to heaven. I met atheists to agnostics to a woman who knew "everything about the Bible"... everything that is except the Gospel. When I asked her the "What did God do so you wouldn't have to goto Hell" part, she didn't know. You could see the conviction in her eyes. God was definitely working on her.

I carried about 4,000 tracts with me. Now they are all gone...completely out...none...zilch!! I feel naked walking around without Million Dollar bills or anything. Don't worry though...I'm ordering some more next week!!

All in all this weekend was a powerful work of God. We have to remember we can do nothing good unless God is in it. We prayed and drew close to the Lord before we would go out. The whole weekend was a movement of God on our hearts and those of whom we were witnessing too. I count myself privileged to have worked alongside those guys proclaiming the Truth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I came back home even more "on fire" for evangelism!! I'm ready to shed light onto the darken world ... anybody want to go with me!!

P.S. Here are some pictures from our witnessing encounters:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14820266@N08/sets/72157614971210255/show/

Mardi Gras, Prattville Style

2009-02-07T23:07:00.003-06:00

No I did not dress up in my Mardi Gras Jester outfit, but we did hit the streets for the parade dressed in casual apparel. We were armed with 5,000 tracts and I had three others show up to help in the endeavor. I've got to give a BIG thanks out to Phillip Baker, Carolyn Scott and Rafael Ray. Thank you guys for giving up a beautiful Saturday afternoon to go out and present the Gospel to a dying world. We met at the rendezvous point 45 minutes before the parade started. We split up the tracts among ourselves and we were off. Myself, my wife Marla and our two kids were on one side of the parade route and everybody else on the other side (Rafael was late, but better late than never ... just joking :-) ). The Million Dollar Bills went like hot cakes. We got about 1/2 way through the parade route, then the parade caught up to us. By the time we got 3/4 of the way through, the parade was finished and people were dispersing. A couple of times when I asked, "Did you get your million dollars yet?", they said, "I got one at the Christmas Parade". I asked, "Did you read the back?". And one person replied, "no". I told him, "That's the best part!!". I gave him another one and told him to read the message when he got home (the parade had wound down by then and he was heading home).

As I was headed back to the van, ready to call it a day, I got a call on my cellphone from Phillip. He was on his way back too and he saw a "block party" going on with a band, blow up slides for the kids, food and souvenirs. PERFECT place to open-air!! So I grabbed my little red wagon (I was carrying the tracts in it) and headed over to the spot Phillip was talking about. Phillip went through out the crowd and handed out tracts while I set up my stool to open-air. I'm still a novice at open-air preaching, but I do the best I can. (I do realize now that I need a sound system, I was loosing my voice trying to talk over the crowd noise) I drew a little crowd, so my kids gave them tracts as the people stood and listened. We had a few hecklers yell profanities too, but all in all it was pretty tame.

I wasn't sure how many tracts we had handed out, so when I got home I did inventory. We had handed out over 2,000 tracts!! That by far is the largest single effort I have been a part of locally. (The 500 in Atlanta blows that number away, but I'm only counting local stuff) It was a great day of fellowship and witnessing. I hope everyone joins with me in prayer for those who heard the Gospel today. Pray that God works on their hearts and maybe a seed was planted that God can grow.

Next Week....Millbrook's Mardi Gras Parade...maybe if nothing comes up.

Mardi Gras Apparel

2009-02-04T22:42:00.004-06:00

Saturday there is going to be a Mardi Gras Parade in Prattville, AL. After the mess that happened over the "Obama shirt" over at Stone the Preacher, I was looking for a "relevant" outfit to wear to the Mardi Gras Parade. I found this one on the net, but it just wasn't my style. (I've been told Green and Purple make me look fat...actually EVERYTHING makes me look fat). After much searching I decided I'd wear my "500" t-shirt from the Deeper Conference in Atlanta. I've never been one that was up on the latest fashion. Now with that said, Brother Steve, I'd stand by you and preach the Gospel side-by-side no matter what you were wearing. You can wear an Obama shirt or a Mardi Gras jester outfit, it doesn't matter to me. Well...if you were wearing a speedo, I might pass on that.

Regardless, if anyone is going to be in the Montgomery, Alabama area Saturday (February 7) and wants to hand out tracts or open-air just shoot me an e-mail. The parade starts at 3:00 Central. We are going to meet up at the parade route at 2:30.

I'll have all the tracts you need available, but you will have to B.Y.O.R.S.

Bring Your Own Relavant Shirt

DISCLAIMER: The comment about 'Relevant Shirts' was intended as satire. The author of this BLOG was in no way claiming that anyone was a 'heretic' for wearing a relevant shirt. On the contrary the author of this BLOG would find it an honor to work an event with said person if ever given the opportunity.

Martin Luther King Jr. Parade 2009

2009-01-19T13:56:00.003-06:00

I'll admit it. I've been lazy. It's been Christmas since I went out and handed out a lot of tracts. Sure I'd do my occasional tract at the grocery store or at a restaurant. But, it's been a while since I did an event. Then comes Martin Luther King Jr. Day and off I go to the parade in Prattville (AL). I'd sent out an e-mail to folks I usually go out with, but I didn't get any responses so I went on my own. I was armed with 300 Million Dollar Bills and 200 of the Giant Money one hundred dollar bills. I got to the staging area for the parade about 20 minutes before the start of the parade. As they staged the floats I hit everyone up with a million dollar bill tract. Then I followed the parade. The folks on one of the floats was holding up their Giant Money tracts (free advertising). I followed that float, people thought I was part of the parade. I handed out millions and giant money to everyone we passed. They were going FAST!! But, I couldn't hand out on both sides of the road, so half the people didn't get anything :-( But, I didn't have enough for everybody anyway. I was by myself, and had limited resources.

The people were VERY receptive and loved the money tracts. Especially the giant money. Like always I told them they needed to read the message on the back, that it was worth more than any amount of money.

What is wrong with this picture?

I do realize that tomorrow is a very significant day in American history. A day that many people thought would never come. We will have our first African-American President. And being born white, I do realize I will never really understand how significant it really is. And this being Martin Luther King Jr. day, it is even the more reason for African-Americans to be proud of King's "Dream" coming true. BUT, on the other hand I see the cross, a symbol of the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior placed along side the picture of man whose morals and beliefs are directly contrary to everything that cross represents.

I'll admit it makes me a little angry. The same way I feel when I see a "W" (the President) sticker beside a "J" (the Savior) sticker on a car. George W. Bush is a universalist and his belief system is contrary to scripture (now is when the rabid "Christians", who think "W" really cares about evangelicals, attack me). I had seen heresy in the belief system of Bush years ago and tried to tell people then, but they called me a "traitor" for doubting Bush. Now I tell people who Obama really is and they call me a "racist". Christians, if they are who they claim to be, should NOT be putting their trust in politicians, but in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I urge each and every Christian to be in prayer for this nation and the souls of those who run it.

Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."
(John 18:36 NASB)

All-in-all it was a good day. I passed out over 500 tracts. Also, when I got to the end of the parade route I saw Rafael (one of the guys I've went out and witnessed with before) handing out tracts. It was great seeing him, if I had known he was there we could have met up together. But what was even better....he gave me a ride back to my car at the beginning of the parade route. The Lord DOES provide :-)

What is wrong with the World?

2009-01-16T23:35:00.002-06:00

This is a "Sermon Jam" of an excellent sermon preached by Voddie Baucham. Enjoy:

Video by Wretched Sinner @ http://wretchedsinner.blogspot.com/

Present Day Evangelism

2009-01-01T10:57:00.003-06:00

By: Arthur Pink

If "modern evangelism" is weighed in the balances of Holy Writ, it will be found lacking; lacking that which is vital to genuine conversion, lacking what is essential if sinners are to be shown their need of a Savior, lacking that which will produce the transformed lives of new creatures in Christ Jesus.

The "evangelism" of the day is not only superficial to the last degree--but it is radically defective. It is utterly lacking a foundation on which to base an appeal for sinners to come to Christ. There is not only a lamentable lack of proportion (the mercy of God being made far more prominent than His holiness, His love than His wrath)--but there is a fatal omission of that which God has given for the purpose of imparting a knowledge of sin. There is not only a reprehensible introducing of humorous witticisms and entertaining anecdotes--but there is a studied omission of dark background upon which alone the Gospel can effectively shine forth.

In twentieth-century evangelism, there has been a woeful ignoring of the solemn truth of the total depravity of man. There has been a complete underrating of the desperate case and condition of the sinner. Very few indeed have faced the unpalatable fact--that every man is thoroughly corrupt by nature, that he is completely unaware of his own wretchedness, blind and helpless, and dead in trespasses and sins! Because such is his case, because his heart is filled with enmity against God--it follows that no man can be saved without the special and supernatural intervention of God.

The teaching of Holy Writ on this point is unmistakable: man's plight is such that his salvation is impossible, unless God puts forth His almighty power. No stirring of the emotions by anecdotes, no regaling of the senses by music, no oratory of the preacher, no persuasive appeals--are of the slightest avail. None but the Holy Spirit can make him willing in the day of His power (Psalm 110:3). He alone can produce godly sorrow for sin, and saving faith in the Gospel. He alone can make us not love ourselves first and foremost, and bring us into subjection to the Lordship of Christ.

But serious indeed as is the above indictment, worse still is that which is being retailed by the cheap-jack evangelists of the day. The positive content of their message is nothing but a throwing of dust in the eyes of the sinner. His soul is put to sleep by the devil's opiate, ministered in a most unsuspecting form. Those who really receive the "message" which is now being given out from most of the "orthodox" pulpits and platforms today--are being fatally deceived. It is a way which seems right unto a man--but unless God sovereignly intervenes by a miracle of grace, all who follow it will surely find, that the ends thereof are the ways of death! Tens of thousands who confidently imagine that they are bound for heaven--will get a terrible disillusionment, when they awake in hell!

What is the Gospel? Is the Gospel a message of glad tidings from heaven to make God-defying rebels at ease in their wickedness? Is it given for the purpose of assuring the pleasure-crazy young people that, providing they only "believe," there is nothing for them to fear in the future? One would certainly think so, from the way in which the Gospel is presented--or rather perverted, by most of today's 'evangelists'! And the more so, when we look at the lives of their 'converts'! Surely those with any degree of spiritual discernment, must perceive that to assure such 'converts' that God loves them and His Son died for them, and that a full pardon for all their sins (past, present and future) can be obtained by simply 'accepting Christ as their personal Savior'--is but a casting of pearls before swine! Because the churches are so largely filled with these 'converts', explains why they are so unspiritual and worldly.

Another Gospel

2008-12-30T09:00:00.002-06:00

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

2008-12-22T23:16:00.005-06:00

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?

2008-12-20T11:24:00.004-06:00

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

2008-12-14T22:46:00.005-06:00

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)

2008-12-07T22:44:00.005-06:00

(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!!)

2008-12-06T10:15:00.003-06:00

(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!!)

2008-12-05T21:58:00.005-06:00

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

Don't forget the Cross!!

2008-11-29T18:57:00.005-06:00

Above you will see the "Christmas" decorations that I display in my front yard every year. I will be the first to tell you how hesitant I am to celebrate something that is on a Pagan holy day (December 25th is winter solstice) or any Roman Catholic 'Mass' (Christmas = Christ's Mass). Much less a secular holiday that centers around an omniscient fatman in red suit, flying around the world in a sleigh being pulled by reindeer.

But the subject of the Holiday, Jesus, is well worth a display. Also, in the past I've used the display as a 'spring board' into the Gospel with my neighbors.

I've had people ask me, "Why the cross? Isn't Christmas about the birth of Jesus". My reply is, "Jesus may be the 'Reason for the Season'...but the cross is the 'reason for Jesus'."

Acts 2:23 NASB "this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death."

1 John 4:14 NASB "We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world."

It was God's plan, determined before the creation of the world, to send Jesus here to be crucified. They would say, "But why would God send Jesus here to die a horrible death like that? What kind of god is that?" I would say "a loving God, let me explain."

You see there is a problem in this world, called sin. It was brought into this world by Adam (Romans 5:12) and we continue the heritage.

Romans 3:10-12 NASB "as it is written, 'THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; (11) THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; (12) ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.' "

Romans 3:23 NASB "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"

How many lies have you told? Even one lie makes you liar. Stealing anything, no matter the value (even downloading an MP3 illegally), makes you a thief. God even judges our thought life. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:27-28 NASB "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; (28) but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

God sees lust as adultery and anger as murder (Matthew 5:21-22). Compared to a perfect and Holy God we are all sinners in need of a savior. God is a just god and can not allow law breakers (like us) to go unpunished (Nahum 1:3). The punishment for sin is a place called Hell, where there is an eternal flame and 'weeping and gnashing of teeth'. (Matthew 5:22, 8:12, 13:42, 13:50, 18:8, 18:9, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30 25:41 - Mark 9:43-49 - Luke 13:28 - John 15:6).

No matter how many good deeds we do, we can't make up for our sins. It would be like a murder going before a judge and saying, "I only murdered once. Most the time I do good things. I give money to the poor, can you please forget about the murder and let me go?" OF COURSE NOT!! What kind of judge would let a murder go because he does "good things"? Neither can a Holy and Righteous God. He has to punish "law breakers". Like us. But, because He loves us, He provided a way.

God became a man, Jesus. He lived a perfect and sinless life (of course He did...He's God), something we could not do. He choose to die on a Roman cross and die a horrible death that He did not deserve. But, more was going on at that cross than just another Jew being crucified.

The perfect, sinless son of God took OUR sins upon himself and he bore the FULL wrath of God, that we deserved, upon Himself. He paid our price on that cross. Not only that, but He was buried and on the third day he defeated death. He conquered death. Then He ascended to the "Right Hand of the Father". (Romans 8:34) He took our penalty, so we can be declared clean in the eyes of God. (Romans 3:25, Hebrews 2:17, 1 John 4:9-10) We wear HIS righteousness not our own. But, not everyone is saved. (Matthew 7:21) Just as if I offer you a gift, you have to accept it. Likewise you have to accept God's free gift. You have to acknowledge your sin and your need for a savior. You have to repent (turn from your sin) from your sin and turn your life over to Jesus. (Acts 2:38, 3:19, 17:30, 26:20) Live your life for Him. And He will make a "new creature" with new desires. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Is Jesus your Lord...or is your sin your lord? Which one rules your life?

That is why at this time of year, we need to remember the cross and our sin...the reason for the "birth".

Galatians 6:14 NASB "But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

Who's George??

2008-11-24T14:07:00.003-06:00

Last week I took a little walk at lunch time to Subway on Dexter Avenue in Downtown Montgomery (Alabama). On my way I saw this man who was standing on the corner with a folder. He was dressed modestly.

     He didn't look like a homeless person, but you could tell his clothing was old and slightly tattered. He approached me as I walked down the sidewalk and handed me a piece of old, wrinkled paper with a poem on it. He said he was a writer trying to collect money for supplies, card stock and such.

     Now many of you may disagree with me, but I have a personal rule that I don't give anyone asking for money cash. If they are hungry I'll buy them a meal. If they need gas I will fill up their tank. But, I don't give cash. Now, I don't think there is anything necessarily wrong with giving them cash (ultimately they will have to answer to God for what they do with it), but this is a personal preference.

     After Talking with him briefly I asked him if he was hungry. He said, "Not yet". I read his poem quietly, I politely told him "thank you" and then I went about my business (I was hungry). While eating at Subway I was trying to think of a way to meet back up with him and present the Gospel to him. After I finished eating I asked the lady at Subway if they have a gift certificate or gift card. She told me they do have gift cards, so I asked for one and put $8.00 on it (enough for him to buy a footlong sandwich, chips and drink).

     On my way back to work I walked by him again. I shook his hand, handed him the gift card and told him lunch was on me today. He thanked me and showed me a poem about God. I used that as a springboard to get into "The Law of God". We talked briefly about how we all have violated God's law and how we all deserve Hell. He actually agreed with me. So, I asked him, "Then how do we get to Heaven?" He gave me the right answer. He told me, "Jesus took our sins upon Himself on the Cross and paid the price for us." I then asked him, "Well, does everyone goto heaven?" Again he had the right answer. He said, "You have to repent of your sins and trust in Jesus." We talked a little more and he seemed to have a good understanding of the Gospel.

I left him with a Million Dollar Bill Tract and went on my way back to work. But, I still had that man on my mind. I was determined to come back some other day and see if he was still there. Well that was last Thursday, I went back today.

He was in the same spot on Dexter Avenue. I shook his hand and at first he didn't recognize me. I told him I met him last week and he said, "Oh you were the guy who bought me the sandwich." I told him my name was Payton and asked him his name. He said, "George". I then asked him how things are going and if he needed anything. He said, "Well I could use another one of those sandwiches." He said it in such a way, I couldn't tell if he was serous or not. I said, "Sure!!" After I ate lunch I came back with another gift card and gave him a Ten Commandment's coin. I told him, "I like to have these around to remind of how I've broke God's Law and my need for a Saviour." We talked for a few minutes. He was very thankful and then he went about his business. I ask you all to be in prayer for George and that he may truly understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I plan on coming back again soon.

Deeper Conference in Atlanta

2008-07-24T13:56:00.003-05:00

Where can you see: Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron, Todd Friel, Paul Washer, Ken Ham, Johnny Hunt and Dr. Marshall Foster all together in one place?

The Deeper Conference in Atlanta!! It'll be October 17 - 18, 2008 at First Baptist, Woodstock (North of Atlanta). Goto deeperconference.com to register.

I'll be there...will you???