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| Friday (Halloween) was a special seed sowing night. We put together hundreds of goodie bags with candy and a Great Pumpkin gospel tract to give to the trick-or-treaters. At first it looked like I might have been on my own trying to get all these tract bags out to kids that night. However, I was able to talk about it at church the Sunday before and was blessed by seven folks that volunteered to help (see picture below).
 From Left: Aaron Faust, Joseph Weber,Jordan & Brielle Adams, Jim & Rene Ford, and Ryan Imel.
We first hit the big downtown festival held by the River Valley Church. There were tons of people there. Within 45 minutes we'd given out around half of the tracts and candy. We also had Million Dollar Bill tracts for the grown-ups which were a big hit. We met back at the cars and headed over to Washington Street. That's the main spot where parents take their kids for trick-or-treating. Hundreds of kids were making their way up and down both sides of the street and in less than an hour we'd given out the rest of the Great Pumpkin bags and Million Dollar Bills.
By my count, at the end of the night we'd given over 1,000 tract bags to the kids and approximately 300 Million Dollar Bills to the adults. Thirteen hundred seeds were sown for the gospel and I couldn't have done it without the others. I thank God for them.
Saturday was great. After the past few months being out of the picture, Greg Beals resurfaced and joined me on the streets. It was a great time of fellowship and it looks like he'll be with me regularly for a bit now. That's a real blessing when you consider that Dave and Darrin moved recently and it looked like I was going to be alone for a while. God's timing is wonderful.
We made our loops around 6th Street and passed through Riverside Park. A couple hundred tracts went out. Greg was passing out the Jumbo Million Dollar Bills and I went with the Ticket to Heaven tracts.
 Greg witnesses to Armand and his brother.
I picked up a one-2-two with a couple of guys named A.J. and Josh. A.J. did most of the talking while Josh just stood by and listened. When I asked A.J. if he came from any kind of Christian or spiritual background he said no but that he was looking into a lot of different things. He had no real idea what happens after we die. I said I'd share with him what had and made sense and put the puzzle pieces together for me. He was genuinely interested, so I took him through The Good Person Test. Josh was there listening the whole time. In the end, I challenged them not to just take my word for it but to check it out in their Bibles. They took a couple of tracts from us and thanked us for talking with them before they left.
 Digging into the Word downtown.
Greg had one-2-two with Armand and his little brother. The Jumbo Million Dollar Bills served as an ice breaker. When he learned that they were Catholic, he opened his Bible and pointed them to Ephesians 2:8-9. He talked with them about sin, righteousness, judgment and the amazing grace offered through Christ and the cross. I stood off to the side and watched them. It's still amazing to see how people will just stop here in downtown Grants Pass and let us talk with them about the things of God. It's a real lie from Satan that no one wants to hear it, and it's a shame that the modern church has so readily bought into that lie.
Pray for the seed that was sown. Jesus, may you receive the honor that you're due. | | |
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If you weren't able to tune in to the Reformed Think Tank podcast when I was a guest on Sunday night, you can still listen to it online at the link below. It was a fun show. We covered the roots of Halloween with its symbols and traditions; things still done by both pagans and secular or even Christian people today. I also took number of questions on my experience with Wicca and Druidism. Even if you were able to join us live, you may still want to give it a listen as we went another half hour or more in the after show that you didn't get to hear on the broadcast where I fielded a few more questions and we got into the discussion of how much a Christian should participate in Halloween (if at all).
Episode 44 (10/26/08) - Halloween Show
We didn't get as much into how to share the gospel with a Wiccan or someone involved in paganism as I'd wanted. However, that was covered pretty well the other two times I was on the show. We also talked about maybe doing an upcoming show focusing just on witnessing to modern day pagans. I'll be sure to let you know if and when that comes about.
Some of you had asked where you could find and listen to those past two shows. Click either link below.
Episode 4 (12/23/07) - Christmas Show
Episode 15 (3/16/08) - Easter Show
Lastly, on Sunday's show I recommended the following book for Christians to better understand what has become the fastest growing religion in America and how to share the gospel with those practicing it. It's on sale for $7.99 at ChristianBook.com.
Generation Hex: Understanding the Subtle Dangers of Wicca
by Marla Alupoaicei, Dillon Burroughs
You can also click here for an informative Crosswalk interview with the Generation Hex authors.
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| I took my bride away last weekend to celebrate our 12th anniversary. In lieu of a weekly "fishing" report, I thought I'd share the following witnessing encounter from the Fool4Given archives.
Thorn was a typical looking highschooler wearing a t-shirt from a popular but very dark rock band. However, it was an open door to share ... what else can you expect when someone tells you they were named after the crown of thorns that Jesus wore? This was also one of the few times I had someone ask what had personally brought me to Christ, so after sharing the biblical gospel with him I was able to go back and recap the message -- telling my own experience of being brought to the narrow gate that swings open on the two hinges of repentance and faith.
Click here for the MP3 audio.
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I've been both privileged and blessed to be a special guest on the Reformed Think Tank (formerly 2RB) internet radio program twice in the past. The first time for a Christmas show and the second for Easter. Both times we discussed the pagan roots for many of each holiday's symbols and traditions. Traditions that are alive and well amongst pagan circles today. Each time I've also been able to share some of my testimony and how Christ saved me out of witchcraft and druidism to call me as an evangelist for his gospel on the streets.
The RTT guys are brave enough to have me back yet again. This Sunday (10/26) we're going to look at the next big holiday on both secular and pagan calendars: Halloween. Naturally, we'll look at the pagan origins of this holiday. What's with the costumes, trick-or-treating, jack-o-lanterns, black cats, and so on? We'll also talk about how to share the gospel with Wiccans, Druids and other modern day pagans.
Join us on Sunday (10/26) at 8pm Pacific or download the show and listen to it later.
Click here to listen live or download the podcast.
The show has listeners from all-over the U.S. and around the world. Pray that Christians may be equipped through this. Pray that the gospel is shared clearly for the lost that may be listening. Above all, pray that through our efforts Jesus may receive the honor he is due.
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| Dave, Darrin and their family moved to Redmond last weekend. This means I'm alone again on the streets. Pray that God will raise up and bring more laborers to join me. I'll stay faithful and keep going out. I've been out there on my own before at various times over the past 3+ years and God has been good in bringing others join me, some for a short time and others for a year or more. In fact, it looks like he has a couple of guys waiting in the wings: Ryan may be able to come out more often and Greg Beals has resurfaced after an extended silence. Keep this in your prayers. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. (John 9:4)
Since I didn't have a "fishing" report for you this week, I went in to the archives and found an open air audio to share. This comes from back in the days when I was preaching open air to the folks waiting for the doors to open at the DMV. One of the hecklers broke from the line to get just inches from my face. I was wondering if he was going to knock me off the stool. Towards the end, he ripped up a tract I gave him and in God-granted compassion I told him "I plead for you."
Click here to listen to the audio. | | |
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