March 22, 2016

Prayer and Bible Reading on YouTube

Since the beginning of the year, I have lead a daily, online time of prayer and Bible reading. Beginning at Genesis 1:1, I've read all five books of the Law and Joshua. Tomorrow morning we will continue reading, starting from Joshua 8. The goal is to read the entire Bible aloud, before year's end.

I've tried a number of live-feed formats for these morning devotions, including Periscope and Facebook LIVE. Both worked well, but had limitations. Most recently, Facebook LIVE simply stopped working for me, altogether.

So, this morning I began using my YouTube channel as the live platform for these morning devotions.

I want to encourage you to join me each morning, Monday through Saturday, at 7 AM (CT), 5 AM (PDT), 8 AM (EDT). I begin broadcasting each morning about 5-10 minutes prior to the top of the hour. I usually finish at about 7:30-7:40 AM (CT).

If you subscribe to my YouTube channel, you will receive notification when I begin the live broadcast.

People from around the world tell me they are encouraged by this daily time of prayer and Bible reading. I hope you will join us.


St. Patrick's Day Parade Open-Air Sermon

This last Saturday our community, like community's around the world, celebrated St. Patrick's Day. 42 members of our church family (our church is comprised of less than 100 people), divided into five teams, descending on the parade route. Several men preached the gospel in the open-air, and the rest of our team distributed gospel tracts and engaged people in gospel conversations.

Here is the video from that day, of my open-air sermon: 2017 Quad Cities St. Patrick's Day Parade.

I hope you are encouraged.


Brian and Torri: A Cross-Walking Testimony

The first time I ever engaged in Cross-Walking was on Sunday, July 12, 2009. For almost eight years, I've carried a wooden cross on street corners and other places, in many parts of the United States. Since that Sunday afternoon in 2009, many brothers and sisters in Christ have put together their own wooden crosses, with either Scripture or a pithy saying (such as "Are You Ready?") on the crossbeam. Over the years, the Lord has blessed me with many wonderful gospel opportunities as people have stopped to talk with the guy on the corner, with the cross. You can read some of those stories in my most recent book, "Cross Encounters--A Decade of Gospel Conversations."

The other day, I stood with my "Stop and Talk" cross at the corner of Kimberly Road and Marquette Street, in Davenport, only about a half-mile from my home. This has become my favorite location for a few reasons:

1. It's close to my home, which means people in my neighborhood are likely to see the cross. (Note: I walk from my home, to and from the corner, so my neighbors will see the cross).
2. It's a busy intersection. In a two-hour period, hundreds of motorists will see the cross.
3. Directly behind where I stand on the corner is a Popeye's Louisiana Chicken restaurant. There is ample parking, which means those who want to stop and talk have a safe place to do so.

After being there for some time, I heard the honk of a horn coming from behind me, in the Popeye's parking lot. I turned around to see a man sitting in his car. When we made eye contact he waved, indicating he wanted me to walk over to his car. I regularly experience a brief moment of uneasiness as I begin to make my way to a stranger's car. Thus far, they have all been friendly encounters, but I never know if the person in the car I'm approaching intends to do me harm.

Brian was the man who sat alone in his car.

"Hi. My name is Tony." I introduced myself.

"Brian."

"How are you doing today?" I asked.

"I've been sick as a dog for weeks. I'm getting better, but I'm still not right. I just had to get out of the house and get some fresh air. I drove by and saw you standing there and thought I would stop and talk." Brian said.

"Well, I'm glad you did!"

"Yeah. But I'm already feeling lousy again, so I can't stay. Will you be here about this time tomorrow?"

"I certainly can be."

"Oh, I don't want you to do that just for me."

"That's why I'm out here." I explained.

"My wife and I are Catholics." Brian offered. "But we don't belong to any church. Where do you go to church?" He asked.

"I'm a member of Grace Fellowship Church, just down Kimberly as you head out of town. My church bought the old Club Mo-Kan property last year." I answered.

I handed Brian one of my church's gospel tracts, which included information about the church, and told him that I would pray for him. I also gave Brian my cell phone number, in case he had questions about what he was about to read.

Brian thanked me for my time and then pulled out of the parking lot to head home.

About an hour later, I heard the voice of a young woman behind me. Her name was Torri.

"Hi. How are you today?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm fine. I have a question for you." She said.

"Ask away!"

"How do you find the courage to do what you do?" Torri asked. Then she told me her story.

"I grew up in the church." She began. "I went to church because my grandma and my mother made me go. I thought I had faith when I was young, but in my teen years I walked away. About four years ago I visited the church where I'm at now. I really felt the Lord calling me to Him.

"I think the Lord is calling me to step out of my comfort zone. Seeing you standing on the corner moved me, and I just had to stop and talk to you."

Torri professed faith in Christ, yet in her testimony I heard nothing resembling the gospel. This, of course, doesn't mean Torri isn't born-again. However, there was nothing in what she said that would give me confidence she was a genuine sister in Christ.

I communicated the gospel to Torri by sharing my testimony with her. She affirmed the gospel I communicated to her, which was encouraging.

I explained to Torri that courage isn't what drives me to stand on a street corner with a cross or engage in other forms of evangelism. If all it took was courage, then anyone could do it, and I could take credit for it. I told Torri three things motivate me to spend my life engaged in evangelism: faith, love, and obedience--faith in Jesus Christ, love for Christ and love for people, and a God-given desire to obey Christ's commands to reach the world with the gospel. I explained that to seek or strive for courage before having faith in Christ, before loving God and loving people, and before having a desire to obey Christ's commands is to put the cart before the horse. It is faith, love, and obedience that will have courage as a fruit.

Since my faith in Christ, my love for God (and as a result, for people), and my desire to obey Christ are all gifts from God, then I can't take any credit for what I do. God gets all the glory. I'm only doing what I've been commanded to do (Luke 17:7-10).

Torri and I talked to for a few more minutes. As she was getting ready to leave, I asked if I could pray for her. Torri hesitated for just a moment. I think the offer took her by surprise.

"Sure." She replied.

We bowed our heads. I leaned on my cross, which stood between us, and I prayed for her. I prayed, in part, that her professed faith in Christ would be a saving faith.

I handed Torri one of our church's gospel tracts.

"Torri, it is very important that you believe and understand the true gospel before thinking about communicating it to others. While you don't have to memorize what is written in this tract, you should study it to the point that you can communicate it to others. Torri agreed and thanked me for the tract.

We shook hands, said goodbye, and Torri walked to her car. A few minutes later, Torri was in her car and at the intersection. She called to me, and I walked to her car. She handed me a flyer from her church.

Upon inspection, I learned that Torri attends a COGIC (Church of God in Christ) church. The COGIC denomination is part of the Holiness and Pentecostal movements, which not only hold to many essential Christian doctrines but also subscribe to a number of false teachings and seems to be responsible for producing quite a few false teachers.

My hope is that Torri's faith in Christ is genuine and that our time together encouraged her to step out of her comfort zone and reach people with the gospel in which she professes belief and faith.

It was a good afternoon out with the cross.