Irvine Spectrum - 01/12/09

Last night was another great night of witnessing at the Irvine Spectrum. We had a large group last night and I was paired up with Kevin and Paul.

The first one-to-one conversation we had was with an agnostic named Matthew. He believed there was "something" out there after death but didn't believe in "the dualism of heaven and hell". He believed there was some sort of supreme being out there but didn't know if the God of the bible is the true God. We were able to reason with him that the bible is divinely inspired by looking at the internal evidence, prophecy, and experiential evidence. From there we shared the law with him by taking him through the ten commandments. When he recognized that Hell would be a reasonable destination for lawbreakers, we shared the glorious gospel with him and explained how Jesus' suffering and death on the cross was a legal transaction whereby his fine was paid in Jesus' blood.

The next encounter was with a man named Armando and his wife. He had never even heard the name of Jesus. At first I thought he was kidding around but soon came to find out that he was 100% serious!! So, we shared the law and the gospel with him and his wife and left him with a New Testament and a million dollar bill tract.

The last encounter of the evening with with a couple of born again believers. This was a really encouraging conversation and, although our viewpoints on eschatology were different (they brought it up, not us!!), we were on the same page on everything else. What an encouragement they were to us last night!!

OK, now here's an invitation and challenge - if you are subscribed to this blog and want to join me, we meet at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa every Monday afternoon at 4pm for an hour of prayer and instruction. We then drive over to the Irvine Spectrum and split up into groups of 2 and go out witnessing between 5:30 and 7pm. If you ever want to come along to witness, pray, or just come see what we're up to, just email me at Jeff@LoveTheLost.org.

Westminster Mall

Last night I joined the team from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and went witnessing at Westminster Mall. Michael and I were able to pass out lots of gospel tracts to the people scurrying about looking for last minute deals. Several even stopped long enough to have some great conversations with us. One man in particular had his eyes opened to the truth of the gospel and promised to not go to bed that night without getting right with the Lord. I have no idea if he was truly sincere but trust that the Lord will use the seeds that were planted.

While I was almost finished sharing the gospel with a group of four young men, Michael looked into the store window that we were standing in front of and exclaimed "Guys, look at that painting behind you". There, in the store, was a painting of the three crosses on Calvary. Michael then told them that this was not a chance encounter and began to share the incredible gift of salvation that was laid before them. Those young men left the mall last night with tracts, bibles, and a memory that will not fade any time soon! Please pray that God will use the seeds planted last night to bring these young men to repentance and faith.

Another team reported that they walked up to a man reading a book and started to witness to him. The man told them that he had been given a copy of Mark Cahill's One Heartbeat Away by one of the other team members and he was deep in thought reading the book!

Glory to God for the work He was doing last night at Westminster mall!!

According To An Atheist

Penn Jillette is a self-admitted atheist. Somebody recently handed him a bible after one of his shows. Watch this YouTube video and check out what he has to say about Christians who don't share their faith.

Tracy's Drive-Thru Evangelism

Here's an IM I got from Tracy today:

(13:15:42) tracy: I had a a great rush. I drove thru in and out after working at church. This lady let me go ahead of her in the car line. God prompted me and I bought her lunch for her. I put a sticky note saying Merry Christmas. Just wanted to bless a stranger. I stuck it to a million dollar bill and asked the cash guy to give it to her.

... and here is where the idea came from originally:

http://fishwithtrish.blogspot.com/2008/10/two-minute-tip-with-trish-fast-food.html

What a great way to bless somebody, and leave them with a gospel tract! Try it out and report back!

Irvine Spectrum - 12/08/08

Last night was another great night of witnessing at the Irvine Spectrum. Although there were very few people out last night, and many didn't want to talk with us, we were still able to share the gospel with several people. After sharing the gospel with one group of young men, two security guards approached us and told us that we were OK to be there sharing our faith but that if anybody complained they would ask us to leave. We assured them that we were not there to cause problems and that we pass by those who do not wish to talk with us. They wished us well and sent us on our way to continue talking with people.

The last conversation of the evening was a blessing! Norman approached two older gentlemen and when he asked them what they think happens when somebody dies, one of the men lifted his arms and said "I love this question!! Hallalujah!!". We then had a very encouraging conversation with a fellow brother in the Lord who is ON FIRE for Jesus. It was very encouraging, and lifted our spirits after a bit of a difficult night of witnessing. Thank you Lord for allowing us to finish the evening with such a great conversation!

Crash Course

The crash course that was held at SCCA on Saturday was a success! 22 people attended the class and most everybody also joined us for the Mission at the Mission where we handed out tracts, books, bibles, and invitations to SCCA's Christmas musical. Many have also reported that they engaged in one-to-one conversations! Way to go SCCA!!

I was paired up with Rich Norman and he had the boldness of a lion and approached a young couple standing in line waiting to take their kids on a train ride. They told us they attend the LDS church. We didn't get into a theological debate with them but left them with a copy of The Case For Christmas and a gospel tract. We also had a great conversation with a group of teens. We took them through the law and were able to show them that they stand guilty before God. We then explained to them that Jesus paid the price and that the way to receive eternal life is to repent and put their trust in Jesus alone for salvation. By the time we wrapped up the conversation, we had 10-15 teens standing around listening to the gospel!! Hallelujah!!

Next week I am going to start a weekly outreach where we will meet in the SCCA prayer room after the second service (~12:30am) where we will pray and then go down to the train station in San Juan Capistrano (by Sarducci's) to witness for an hour. If you would like to join us then just come over to the prayer room after second service and come along! Even if you would like to come along to watch and pray, please join us!

First Open Air - Hawthorne DMV 12/05/08

This was a first for me. A brother in the Lord, Steve Rollins, and myself went to the DMV in Hawthorne this morning to hand out gospel tracts to those standing in line, and to preach the gospel. Here's the audio from this morning. Steve is up first, then it was my turn:




If you don't see the audio player above, then click here.

Here's the video: