San Juan Capistrano Train Station 10/25/09

This Sunday was another great time of evangelism at the San Juan Capistrano train station. God even provided train schedule delays and a police arrest which tripled the crowd.
I was joined by Pat, Bob, Dave, and Fema. God's word was preached, communicated one-to-one, passed out in the form of gospel tracts, and nobody could miss the "Are You Ready" cross which was front and center to remind people that there is an eternity to get ready for and that the cross is the readiness that is required.

Pat preached a beautiful gospel message, reminding those listening that "Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and nobody can come to the Father but by Him". Here is the audio from Pat's preaching:

Click here if you don't see the embedded audio player.

At one point several police cruisers pulled up and several officers walked up to the ticket booth. When the next train came the officers boarded the train and came out with a man in handcuffs. This drew quite a crowd, so I stepped up onto the box, addressed the crowd, and used the arrest to transition into the gospel. Here's the audio from that:

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The best news of the day was that Bob got to pray with a young man who responded to the gospel and wanted to trust in Jesus as his Savior. Glory to God!!

Cross Walk On The Huntington Beach Pier

On Thursday I stopped off at the Huntington Beach Pier on my way home from work, paid for an hour of parking, assembled my "Are You Ready" cross, and began walking toward the pier.
Since building the cross, I have displayed it at several busy intersections and have set it up at the San Juan Capistrano train station where I preach on Sundays, but this would mark the first time the cross has been used while tracting/witnessing.
I had no idea how people would react to me passing out tracts and sharing the gospel with them while holding a wooden cross. Needless to say, I was nervous!

However, it turns out that my nervousness was unfounded. The "Are You Ready" cross serves as a wonderful ice breaker! People would see me coming, would begin talking among themselves, and by the time I walked up to them they seemed to expect me to share the gospel with them! I was able to have 8 one-to-one conversations during my 1 1/2 hrs. on the pier (remember, I had only paid for 1 hr parking - no ticket though, praise the Lord!).

Also, while walking down the pier, I noticed that people below on the beach would see the cross and comment among themselves. I even heard a couple of surfers in the water talking about the cross after seeing it!

There is one encounter that I would like to share. God used the visual of the cross to stir up a fellow Christian surfer who was walking toward the water. He saw the cross and shouted up to me asking what it was for? I asked him if he was ready for eternity. He told me that he was a born again Christian and then went on his way praising God! As I continued further down the pier, I walked up to a man sitting on a bench and offered him a gospel tract. He looked up at me and said, "another sign". "Another sign?", I asked. He then explained to me that he had lost his job that very day and while he was sitting there just moments before, a surfer came by on the beach below and hollered up to him and told him that he should cheer up because this was a beautiful day God had made.
God used the visual of the cross to stir up the surfer who then passed along a small encouragement to this man on the bench and then God allowed me to continue that work by being able to share the gospel with this man! God is AMAZING! The man claimed to be an atheist but I was able to reason with him and challenge his world view. He promised me he would read the tract and consider that we talked about. Please pray for him - his name was Mark.

The Awakening Evangelism Conference

Join us at The Awakening Evangelism Conference at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa on Oct 30-31. Go to theawakening09.com for more information and to register for this free conference.

Psalm 119:9-16

Click on this image for the full size (med) version. This makes a great desktop wallpaper.

A Quick Conversation

Who says that every evangelistic conversation has to be lengthy?
Is there anything wrong with simply planting a small seed?
What about leaving somebody thinking about sin and judgment without being able to finish up with a presentation of the gospel?

Last night I stood on the corner of Ortega and Camino Capistrano in San Juan Capistrano with my "Are You Ready" cross. As I was standing there, a car pulled up to the red light and came to a stop. I could see the passenger staring at the cross.
He leaned out the window and shouted, "ready for what?". I walked over to the car and said, "Eternity! If you died today where would you go?". He replied, "Heaven of course". I asked him why God should allow him into heaven. He said, "because I'm a good person", to which I replied, "Have you kept the ten commandments?". "Yeah, I think so" was his answer. "Have you ever told a lie?" I questioned. "Yeah, but God won't send somebody to hell just for telling a lie" said the now concerned man.
At this point, the light changed green and I said "The bible says God is going to judge in righteousness.". As the car pulled away from the light I could hear him say, "Oh, wow!" in a very sober tone.

As I walked back to my spot on the corner I couldn't help but think that this was not a fruitful encounter. Sure I had challenged his worldview that you can earn your way into heaven by being a good person, and our short conversation obviously had an impact on this man. BUT, was this "preaching the gospel"? I didn't even get to tell him about Jesus' work on the cross. I didn't get to tell him that God the Father sent His Son to earth, fully God and fully man, to live a perfect life, to suffer and die on the cross taking the punishment for our sins so that God could legally dismiss our case if only we will repent and trust in Him. I didn't get to tell him that Jesus rose from the dead after three days thereby defeating death. I didn't get to tell him that God so loved the world that He sent his only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. I didn't get to tell him that He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God! The Gospel... I didn't get to tell him the Gospel!!

... or did I? Is not the Gospel that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was buried , and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures? Is the law and sin and judgment not part of the Gospel? After all, sin is transgression of the law. Was not this man left with a part of the Gospel ringing in his ears? Is the law not a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ?

Also, is this not exactly how Jesus left His conversation with the rich young ruler in Luke 18? Jesus went through the law with this man, then showed him that he had fallen short of it's requirements, and left it there. The rich young ruler left his conversation with Jesus feeling sorrowful. Does not godly sorrow produce repentance?

I would have loved to have continued the conversation with this man, but I trust that God's word will not return void and that the Holy Spirit will continue the work on this man. After all, it is He who brings the increase!

What do YOU think? Leave a comment.

Yet Another Preacher Is Born

This past Sunday was another great afternoon of ministry at the San Juan Capistrano train station.
Sam joined us for the first time and was a tract-passing-out-machine!
He was handing out gospel tracts to anybody who would take one. He was able to have a conversation with a man who Dave and I had spoken with the week before. Louie was still holding to his theory that Hell doesn't exist. Sam was able to reason with him that just because he doesn't believe the train is coming, that doesn't make that belief true. This left Louie with something else to think about. I pray that Louie will continue to come and speak with us on Sundays.
My friend Bob from the Gideons also joined us. Bob's passion to share the gospel with the lost is always a huge encouragement!
Tracy was able to give a bible and CD to a girl who had heard me preaching. This girl was really convicted by what she heard (I had read Joshua 24 and then used that text to preach the gospel). The girl told Tracy that she wanted to read the book of John like I suggested. She started reading it right there!
Fema was able to have several conversations in Spanish and was proclaiming the gospel with the boldness of a lion!
While I was talking with Johnny, the guitar player who hangs out at the train station, I could hear Pat preaching!! I turned around and there was Pat up on the box! Tracy later told me that Pat just walked up to the box and said "I suppose I should preach", and then stepped right up and preached a beautiful gospel message to those who were waiting for the next train!! I was only able to record part of the message and then the batteries in my recorder died, but here it is for your edification. I pray that this will encourage and bless you as it does me. Way to go Pat!




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First Time Out With The "Are You Ready" Cross

Yesterday was my first time out standing on a street corner with the "Are You Ready" cross.
I got home from work, loaded the cross into the trunk of my car and drove to the corner of Ortega and Camino Capistrano in San Juan Capistrano. I sat in the Starbucks across from the corner and read my bible while enjoying a tasty iced latte. After reading several chapters I began to pray that the Lord would bless my time out with the cross. I had no idea how this was going to go and was nervous! In fact, I may have been even more nervous than the first time I open-air preached! I "tweeted" a quick update to twitter asking for my brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for me and then headed back to my car to get the cross and my evangelism backpack. I got the cross out of the trunk, hoisted it up and began to walk toward the corner. I said hello to a couple who were hanging out on a park bench and they just stared as I walked past. As I walked down the sidewalk toward the street corner I could see drivers looking up at the "Are You Ready" message on the cross. I crossed the street and turned and faced the traffic and felt very conscious of the eyes that were now staring at me and the cross. I continued to pray that the Lord would use the "Are You Ready" message to cause people to think about eternity. I was also praying that the Lord would confirm to me that this "method" of evangelism is valid.

During the first several minutes I experienced a full range of responses from the motorists who drove by. Some stared at the "Are You Ready" message, some honked, some nodded, some gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up, some shook their heads, and some laughed at me (nobody hollered or cursed at me and I was very thankful for that!). I thought about Tony Miano saying that he experienced a new level of identifying with Christ in holding the cross for all to see and I too experienced this new sense of identification with my Saviour.

Then it happened! I caught the eye of a young man waiting to cross the street. His eyes were riveted on the cross. When he got a walk signal and began crossing, I could tell that he was headed my way. I said hello and asked how he was doing. This began an amazing witnessing encounter that was an answer to my prayers. I was wondering if holding the cross on the corner was effective and the Lord brought this young man along to answer that prayer. Rather than type out the conversation here I'll just let you hear for yourself. I pray that this will be an encouragement to you as it was for me. Also, please pray for this young man. He was very open to the gospel and I believe that he will read the bible I gave to him. I look forward to seeing him in town again to follow up on our conversation. Here's the audio:



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