Bezeugen BLOG

What happens when you cross a life long dream of running a marathon, along with the design of a bucket list Gospel tract, the need to loose weight and the prompting of the Holy Spirit? You guessed it – you start planning to run a Marathon. Many of you already know that I am training for this. So, I thought I’d give a quick update.

I am completing week 10 of training for the half marathon which is this Sunday, August 15th. I am using a training plan from Marathon Rookie. The web site also provides a 16 week training plan to prepare to run a marathon. So my plan is to start on that plan next week and then run the White Rock Marathon in Dallas in December.

This has been an interesting journey. As I started handing out the Bucket List tracts that we designed, I often found people naming the items on their bucket list. As they did, I’d ask, “do you think you will do that?” So it seemed, natural for me to do something on my own bucket list. I’ve joked with a number of people that I could have picked “riding the fastest roller coaster” and been done by just getting on a plane and going to an amusement park. But, I didn’t do that. So, Lord willing, I will be able to keep training and run the marathon in December to cross it off my bucket list.

Thanks for all the encouragement and support as I set out on this goal.

This week as I’ve considered running 13.1 miles, I decided I needed a verse. So I went through the Bible and looked up all the verses that are 13:1. The verse I settled on is Zechariah 13:1 which is a propehcy of the second coming of Christ:

On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

While I was at Starbucks yesterday, I put some tracts up on the community “bulletin” board with a magnet that was there. As I did I noticed a card on the board that said AMMA on top and had a picture of what I guess is a Hindu “spiritual advisor”. The front of the card at the bottom says, “May all beings everywhere be happy.”
On the back of the card, was an invitation to a “free program” (which took place two months ago) where “numbered tokens for individual blessings are distributed one hour before the program.” I took a quick look at the web site that was listed on the card. On of the pages of her web site says:

Amma always points out that the purpose of one’s life is to realize who we really are. She says, “By realizing our own Self we become full, with nothing more to gain in life. Life becomes perfect.”

To attain this goal, Amma says that no particular path or spiritual practice can be recommended for all. “Just as a doctor gives different dosages or even different medications to patients with the same ailment according to their constitution, so does a Spiritual Master prescribe different methods to different people to reach the same goal. Spirituality is the practical science of life. Apart from taking us to the ultimate goal of Self-realization it also teaches us the nature of the world, and how to understand life and live fully in the best way possible.”

However, Amma says that the path of devotion and selfless-service is the safest and most conducive path for many people.

This really struck me. Read again what she wrote “different dosages” and “different methods”. This is totally opposed to Christianity where Jesus says “I am the way.” (John 14:6) If Jesus is “the way” then he is the way for all people. Period.

I was going from Starbucks to the mall to meet up with a couple of guys to do some witnessing. I put the card in my pocket. As we walked around the mall, I would show it to people and say, “what do you think of this saying that all beings everywhere should be happy?” The first guy turned out to be a Christian. He disagreed with the statement and cited the same verse in John 14 that I referenced above. We had a wonderful conversation with him about Jesus and we all left feeling very encouraged.

The next gal that we showed the card agreed with the statement about happiness on the card. As we talked, she claimed some beliefs about Hinduism that I have not heard before. She said there is a heaven and a hell and that she also believes in reincarnation. We talked a few minutes. She continued talking about heaven, hell and re-incarnation. Finally, I asked, “what is more important, what you believe or what is actually true.” She said “what I believe is true.” Realizing we were not getting anywhere with her, we gave her a COEXIST tract.

About that time her manager came back. We asked her if she had any spiritual beliefs. She said she is a Christian and her dad is a Muslim. Very interesting. Her mom is a Christian and her dad is a Muslim. She said that growing up both parents taught her their beliefs and she believed Christianity to be true.

All in all, the AMMA card made a nice ice breaker to share the Gospel as we walked around the mall.

This BLOG post about Muslims praying in New York City has been circulating the Internet a lot recently. It’s probably been sent to me at least a half a dozen times. What amazes me when I see these images is the absolute dedication that these people have to worshiping their false god. In these pictures you can see that they have gathered even in public to bow down to a god that does not even exist.

When we do door to door ministry, we are amazed at the tenacity of Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses who similarly are going out to tell others about a false god.

If you are a believer in Jesus, would you please pray about joining us on the First Monday of September in praying for our nation, leaders and revival in the church? If these people who follow their false god’s can pray and witness then surely those of us who know the truth can be all the more bold!

Craig and I met at the mall to do some witnessing. On the way into the mall, I came across a new “kiosk” called EURO Bubble. There is a pool of water that had about a foot of water in it. There were these bubbles that you get inside of, they zip it closed and then blow it up with air. Once inside, the person in there tries to run around like a gerbil in its little ball. All this for just $7 for 3 minutes or $10 for 5 minutes!

I walked up right as two guys were getting in to the bubbles. I stood and watched them try to stand, walk and run in their bubbles. It was pretty entertaining. And the kids seemed to be having a blast. I used my phone to take a picture and a short video. When the kids got out, I talked to them briefly and then showed them the video. I gave them my card and offered to send them the picture and video if they emailed me. I also gave them and several others that were watching some Gospel tracts. The kid emailed me the next day and I sent him the picture and the video.

We then went to the Vonage booth to try to meet back up with a gal we had witnessed too the week before. She had said that she attends and LDS church so we had brought a copy of Joseph Smith vs The Bible for her. However, she was not there. Instead, a new employee there was a strong believer in Jesus who had converted from Catholicism about six years ago. We tried to witness to the other guy at that kiosk, but he ran off as soon as we asked about the ninth commandment. He got a tract anyway.

Before we left, I ended up back at the Euro Bubble kiosk talking to the two guys that were working there. I started by asking them about the business, how many customers they had and the like. Then I asked if they had any spiritual beliefs. One of them spoke very little English. So the conversation remained more with the other guy. The one that spoke only Spanish stood more to the side. When I swung the conversation to the spiritual by asking about beliefs in God, Heaven and Hell, the Spanish speaking guy got interested. So I gave him a Spanish tract. He took it and started reading, then said, “this is great.” We were able to have some brief conversation. He is a believer. At that, the other guy started suddenly saying “I am a Christian too”. So I asked him why he calls himself a Christian. Obviously, he had no idea, because he is not a Christian. I was able to share the Law and the Gospel with him. At that he went back to saying he is trying to be good.

At that, I was able to use the Euro Bubble as an example. I said, “imagine if you have to cross to the other side of the pool without getting even one drop of water on you.” He said, “it can’t be done.” I said, “on your own, you are right, but if you get in the bubble, you can get across the pool without getting wet.” Then I used that as an example to explain that in the same way the Bible says to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” I explained to him that the bubble protects you from the water. Likewise, when we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are clothed in His righteousness and God sees us as His perfect Son.

He seemed to understand. I gave him a copy of “Why Christianity?”

Our August First Thursday Day of Prayer will be held on Thursday, August 5th. We have at least two locations:

• Carrollton, TX – meet by the flag poles at the Carrollton City Hall at the NE corner of Josey and Jackson for prayer at noon. We will pray for 15-20 minutes, then go to Quiznos across the street for lunch and fellowship. Contact Carl with any questions.
• Dallas, TX at HOBI International office – Contact Craig for security pass. Arrive at 11:50. Prayer starts at noon.

Would you like to host a prayer group in your city? Just post a comment to indicate where you will be. Contact Carl to be included in future months. It is our plan to pray for our nation on the first Thursday of each month at City halls all around the country.

Recently I worked with Tyler McNabb to develop a tract to refute Islam and Mormonism. The tracts arrived on Monday. Today I was at the mall with a friend sharing the Gospel. We had a good discussion with the first guy we talked too. As I was handing him a tract he said, “I’m a muslim”, so I took that tract back and handed him one of our new Mormon / Muslim tracts. He took it. We had a brief discussion from there about the difference of the Jesus and Heavenly Father in Mormonism than in the Bible. Please pray that he reads the tract and seeks the truth which he heard from us.

A short time later we were at the sunglasses kiosk talking with the guy who was working there. When we asked about spiritual things he said he was a muslim. He said he did not have time to go into things much more because he was working. So I handed him the new tract and told him he could contact me through the web site on the back and we could set up a time to talk more. Please pray that he will contact me.

It was really encouraging that the first time we took this tract out, we were able to give one to a Muslim and one to a Mormon. Both said “thank you” when we gave it to them.

The message on the back of the tract reads:

Answer: False. Imagine you’re watching a TV show. Most of your community watches it every day. This tradition has been going on for years. You know the plot, the characters and almost everything about the show. Then, one day a person outsid…e your community comes and states that everything you know about the plot, characters and TV show is completely wrong. Would you believe him? Muhammad and Joseph Smith made claims like these about the Bible when they preached without reason or evidence that the Bible was corrupted and needed a new revelation. Though the burden of proof belongs to these two religions, people have been quick to believe them without any rational judgment. The Bible says it is appointed once to die and then the judgment. Ever lied, hated (which Jesus calls murder) or looked with lust? God says if you fail to keep all the commandments you are under a curse (Deut 27:26)! The good news is that God sent His righteous Son, Jesus Christ, (Isa53) to bore His people’s curse and to fulfill the law for His people. From taking on His peoples curse He died and then rose again, conquering sin and death. If you repent (turn from sin) and believe the Gospel, then God will give you everlasting life. (Mark 1:15, John 3:36) www.AfterLifeCatalog.com / www.romans121.com

These tracts will be shipped in a future mailing of the Bezeugen Tract Club. Enroll today to be sure you get yours when we send them out. Aside from using them to reach people in the malls, these should be great to have on hand at your door when the Mormons come calling! 

Today I watched the second episode of The Adventures of Roman and Jorge. I must say, Dru and Greg and all the folks at Last Words Radio really have done a great job on this. Episode 2 picks up two months later from episode 1. There are some nice flash backs scenes to show what has been happening in the lives of the characters. They do a wonderful job of showing how many within the church are not supportive of evangelism, how kids get excited to join their dad’s on the streets, how scary it can be to get up on the box, etc. I really enjoy the way that they can use humor to drive a point home. One of my favorite scenes is how they “go fishing”!

The show also has several really interesting threads running through it which have me anxiously awaiting the release of Episode three.

So far, I’ve watched Episode 1 and 2 on my computer via download. I am looking forward to receiving the DVDs and watching them again and again on my TV. You can order the DVD from Last Words Radio. But, hurry, first edition run is while supplies last!

Updated on August 7, 2010
You can now download the first two episodes from Last Words Ministry web site.