The Candy Maker

Tom and I had the great honor of being asked to go speak on Evangelism at Pacific Baptist Church last night. It was our first time speaking anywhere like this, other than atop a trash can or a box. ;-) We were very nervous, but we just pray that what we spoke honored God and blessed the wonderful people of Pacific Baptist. We thank you very much for the honor of visiting and sharing with you. What a blessing to us it was. Here is "part" of Tom's sermon, the "Candy Maker", I thought the analogy really was a good way to explain the poison of the Modern Gospel.

Refreshing to hear the Gospel in Church

Some of you know that, as of late, my family has been searching for a new church, one that is biblical and preaches the truth, uncompromised, no matter what. Today we visited a very tiny church near us that we didn't even know existed until about a month ago. After leaving a church where most sermons were "good common sense advice" at best, it was totally refreshing to hear the LAW & GRACE preached from the pulpit. After all, isn't that what Jesus is all about? He came to save us from the judgement of breaking God's laws. He paid our fine so we could go free. Yet sadly, today, in a lot of churches, all you hear is Jesus being compared to little more than a genie in a bottle; for us to say the right "magic words" and He will do as we command; and where He is totally hand tied without our say-so on an issue. Do we even realize we are talking about Almighty God? The same God who holds your next breath? The same God who literally spoke the world into existence? The same God who holds back His wrath from and totally sinful world? Do we realize that we make ourselves (the created) to be in charge of the creator? Think about that? Churches will have a lot to answer for when that day comes. Pastors I beg you to think about what you are preaching. Do not elevate yourselves and humans in general above the Lord of the Universe. I have come from a word/faith background and now that I can see what that really means, I am floored that I ever believed that at all. To make ourselves to be in control of anything is foolish at best.

We need to get back to the basics of the gospel and of why Jesus came, and it wasn't to give you your "best life now" or that new car or to make your wallet fat. It was to save your soul from hell....period. To restore fellowship between us and the Father...to reserve your place in heaven. We need to use words in church like sin, repentance, and hell. We need to show people what is really at stake, its not their lifestyle or their possessions, but their life, their soul.

I was so relieved to hear of at least one church in my area that believes that too. Praying for the remnant to stand up and be heard. God Bless.

It Was An Honor

I apologize for not updating this blog sooner, my family had some medical issues to take care of; however things are looking to slow down now, I hope, so I can get back to my blog posts among other things. I receive Ray Comfort's blog via email called "Atheist Central" and today this photo was on his blog. Apparently the atheists cannot let an opportunity pass by to belittle Ray and Kirk for their faith in God and their love for the lost. Ray, as usual, is not dismayed, he takes it all with a wonderful sense of humor. God bless him and his ministry for all they do so selflessly.

I wanted to post the other side of the coin today, and tell you what an honor, a true honor, it was to be even a small part of that amazing project called "Origin into Schools".

Origins into Schools was a project where Darwin's book "The Origin of species" (which is public domain) was reprinted with a 50 page gospel presentation added to the beginning of the book. It was handed out free of charge on 100 + campuses nationwide this last fall during the 150th Anniversary of the book.

My husband and I were given the honor of leading the team that went to the Washington University campus in St. Louis. I would do it again in an instant. It was a lot of work but such a blessing to us, our team and to the students and faculty on the campus. Not only on the Wash U campus, but many other campuses around the country and even into England. There were, of course, some who didn't want us there that day, but many more thanked us for the book and were happy to get it. All in all, over 125,000 people were given the gospel of Jesus that day. It never ceases to amaze me what God can do with a willing vessel if we will allow Him to use us. It was a privilege to be part of the Wash U team that went out to do this and to be a part of the project itself, and most of all to serve my Lord and Savior that day in that way. I look forward to future opportunities to work with people like Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron while serving our Lord. Thank you to all the staff at Living Waters for being willing to serve. God Bless.

For more information on Origins project and the gospel please visit www.livingwaters.com

December 5th, 2009

This is my very first blog post, I had intended to title the first post “Few who find it” and talk about something in particular, but that will have to wait for another day as God had other plans for today. You see today I spent 3 hours as a Salvation Army volunteer at the mall near our home. We did this for two reasons…one, to help out the Salvation Army who helps so many all year round; and two, to have an opportunity to hand out gospel tracts and talk to some folks about their eternal destiny, or to at the very least make them think about it.

The day went well. My husband and I and our daughter went up to the mall and rang the bell and handed out tracts for quite a while, nothing earth shattering happened there, not much conversation since it was pretty cold out and everyone wanted to either get in the warm store or get in their warm cars, but we handed out several hundred tracts and planted many seeds. It

was a successful day. Any day where you hand out even one tract is a success.

It was what happened after that on my way home from the grocery store later that I want to share with you. I guess if I were to give this post a title it would be “ARE YOU READY”?

On the way home from the grocery store later in the afternoon, I passed by what looked like a person pulled over on the side of the road who I thought was probably getting a ticket; until I got closer and realized it was a car stopped in the middle of the opposite lane with a person laying on the ground in front of it. Could it really be what I was seeing? Is that person dead? Did they know Jesus? Where were they now in the blink of an eye? As I passed by, I could see that it was a woman who looked to be laying in front of a car as if to reach under and repair something, but

she wasn’t. She wasn’t moving at all and her eyes were closed. She was laying on her side like she was just sleeping.

I passed the scene and started to pull over to see if I could help but in the rearview mirror I saw several people on both sides of the road who had also pulled over going to see if they could help. Not being good in an emergency situation, I thought it best that I prayed for her, and them, and didn’t get in the way of a rescue. But the entire incident is the reality of how fragile our lives are, in a single breath they can be gone. I pray that she will recover with no lasting effects but from the look of the scene, I do not know.

I said all that to say, ARE YOU READY? As a Christian, are you ready to go into all the world and preach the gospel? How many people a day do we pass by with just a hello?…would it put us out that much to hand them a simple tract? I know I am guilty as well of not taking every opportunity. It is not hard to do. “Did you get one of these? Or Merry Christmas” and hand them a tract. Most will take it. Some will not.

We are called to do this, yet only 2% of Christians share their faith. Why? Do we not care enough? Do we feel it’s none of our business? Are we too busy? Shame on us for not taking every and all opportunities to hand someone a tract or to talk to someone about eternity. We have this amazing treasure and the majority of Christians don't seem to want to share it.

If you are not a Christian, then I ask you the same. ARE YOU READY? Are you ready for eternity? Ten out of ten people die. Not most people,…ALL people die. Where will you go when it happens to you? Please consider it. The bible states that it is appointed unto men once to die and then the judgment. (Hebrews 9:27). We have all sinned and broken God’s laws and have to face a just and Holy God on judgment day. If you have ever lied one time, you are a liar. Ever stolen anything, no matter the value, you are a thief in God’s eyes. If you have even so much as looked at the opposite sex with lust, you have committed adultery in the eyes of God. That is how high His standards are. The bible says that all have sinned… (Romans 3:23).

We cannot possibly keep Gods high standards, and He knows this, that is why He sent His only son, God in the flesh, to take our punishment on the cross. WE broke God’s laws, and Jesus took our penalty. Why? Because he loves us. He loves you. All we need to do is repent and trust in Jesus to save us. Repent means to turn away from your sins. Trust means to believe that He paid your penalty and because of His sacrifice we can be freed from paying the price ourselves. Because God is a fair and Holy judge; someone has to pay for our sins…it will either be us, by an eternity in hell; or Jesus, by His sacrifice on the cross. I plead with you to consider this and repent and trust in Jesus today…while you still have time.

I pray the woman I saw today survived, and if she did not, then I pray she repented and trusted in the Lord to save her.

Let us take every opportunity the Lord gives us to reach others while there is still time.