Newsletter – Summer 2014

August 2014

The Big News!

Some of you already know but I have some Big News. I am leaving SOS Ministries & the San Francisco Bay Area for a preaching trip around the United States. I hope, the Lord willing to leave sometime this coming November. I will stick around the West Coast until January. I will then be off from San Diego going east toward Florida.  I have about 35 cities I plan on covering in the first six months as I travel throughout the south.

Thank you for the wonderful support over the last several months. I have some exciting stories below as I have been preaching in San Francisco, Oakland, & San Jose since my last newsletter. I have included a video taken of me in July sharing my testimony. Also there are a few photos towards the bottom of the page. I continue to go to Oakland regularly with Dave and Darren. We continue to get great favor to preach downtown there with an amp. Oakland is my favorite place to preach.

Seattle Evangelism June 2014

Seattle Preaching Report – June 2014

The main reason for my trip to Seattle at this time was to see my son Matthew. Both my sons live in Juneau, Alaska. Matt was recently married and his wife Kate was supposed to accompany him on this trip. Kate couldn’t make it since she just started a new job. Hopefully I will meet her another time. I was able to spend an entire day with my son and his long-time friend Barney. We met for breakfast at Pike Place and then journeyed down the waterfront and decided to take a ferry to Bremerton. I’m sure I bored those guys to death as I took them on a long walk to a couple of places I lived when I was about 5 years old. We returned to Seattle for an early dinner and then attended a Seattle Mariners baseball game where they beat the Red Sox. We said our goodbyes outside the stadium as they were leaving for Juneau early the next morning.

On this trip I stayed with a friend I have known since 1970. Greg lives in an apartment in Snohomish, Washington which is about 30 miles Northeast of Seattle. It was easy access to the city using the extensive bus service here. We visited Greenlake in Seattle which is somewhat of a tradition since we both grew up in the area. I went off my diet, had some great quiet time with the Lord, and I saw a few other friends as well. I should mention that I visited Chaplain Ron and Linda Jinkens. They minister in the Snohomish County jail. I was mentored by Ron several years ago. It was great to see them and they also happen to know the group of street evangelists I met in Seattle. They particularly know Alice who is also a chaplain alongside the Jinkens.

Thank you to all who prayed for me and all who continue to support the Gospel through the ministry of public proclamation. I consider it a great honor to represent the King of Kings and would love to preach His Word even if everyone were already saved!

Preaching on Pike & Pine
Well of course I don’t go anywhere anymore without preaching on the streets. I was able to preach in Seattle on three separate days and once in Bellevue which is across the lake from Seattle. On the first day in Seattle I ended up preaching for about an hour and a half on the corner of 2^nd & Pine. The police had a mobile command unit set up across the street and even though there were police coming and going I dug in here. The highlight on this corner was when a well-dressed man in an expensive car barely made it through the light and was stuck right in front of me for about a minute. I kept using the amp but spoke softly looking at him in the eyes as he turned to look at me. I said, Jesus died on the cross for sinners and he offers a free gift of salvation to you today. He looked back forward expressionless and then drove off as the traffic was moving again. I believe God will use the encounter to bring to this man’s remembrance what I said. I pray he would get saved.

After this I went 3 blocks down the street to the Westlake Center where I have preached many times in the past. This day I was stopped almost immediately by a young man who said he worked for the city and was saying I couldn’t use the amp. I waited until police arrived and then received my first ever written warning in eight years forbidding me to use amplification in this area. I stayed and preached without an amp for a while and then went to 2^nd & Pike where I used the amp for about an hour with no problems finishing out the day.

Day Two in Seattle
Arriving early on the bus and coming down from the restroom at Westlake Center I ran into a group of about 4-5 Christians as they were holding Scripture signs, preaching, and passing out tracts. I introduced myself to Lisa and Trent. We visited and compared stories. We prayed together as I left to go preach on 3^rd & Pike. They also invited me to a fellowship on the following Sunday which unfortunately I could not attend. I preached the entire time on 3^rd & Pike. This was about two hours straight. Many people heard the Gospel as they passed by. I met a couple of brothers in the Lord (pictured in slideshow) that listened for a while and then I visited briefly with them. The crazy story of the day was a man I met named Roy. He came by and mumbled something and then a few minutes later came back by and told me that I was in a fantasy world by preaching about Jesus. He then proceeded to tell me that the Bible was a banking book and a legal document. He was in the process of suing the government for several million dollars using the Bible. He showed me his portfolio he had prepared (quite nice actually). I asked him if he thought what I was doing was stranger than what he was doing. With a straight face he said yes. Well he parted in peace when he agreed it was ok to have different opinions. Dave would be proud of how I dealt with this would be heckler.

Day Three in Seattle
Today I decided to try something new. I didn’t take my amp but instead I went from corner to corner preaching about 10-15 minutes on each corner using just my voice. I did this for several hours covering at least 10 heavily traveled sidewalks throughout the downtown area. I found this to be a great learning experience which I can’t now speak in detail.

I had just read in Psalm 89:22 that morning: The enemy shall not outwit him, Nor the son of wickedness afflict him. In the context God promises several things to King David. It didn’t register when I first read it, but re-reading it later that evening, it made perfect sense. I took this text and was able to apply it to what happened to me in the streets this particular day. God promises protection, wisdom, and favor to his servants and although persecution is the norm, this day I realized more than ever the favor God for us to preach the Gospel freely in our nation.

I had some strange encounters from several people. First a lady came up and tapped me on the shoulder saying what I needed to do right then was to stop preaching and pray for a woman she said was in distress in Sumner, a city over 50 miles away. She said that she was on her way there to help her. There were more details she gave but I don’t remember them. You are not suggesting I come with you are you? I asked. She hesitated but then said no, just pray. Then she walked off. I thought she would stay and pray with me. I called after her but she kept walking.

Next, a block away a young woman approached me. She looked so much like a woman I knew from my past sinful life that I called her by that name. She shook her head no, that it wasn’t her, but she still wanted my undivided attention. I kept preaching and handed her my Bible. She took it and then said I don’t want this, gave it back and walked off.

On the same corner a few minutes later a man who was visibly in bad shape came up and interrupted me to say that he loved the Lord and was glad I was there. He had an accent of some sort and it was hard to understand him. He eventually asked for some money so I gave him a couple of dollars and prayed for him. I then continued preaching but he came back and wanted more money to buy medicine. I wasn’t going to give him the $14.00 cash he said he needed for some cream for the sores on his face. I offered to go to the drug store and get it for him. He said ok but that I would have to go to Queen Anne. This is a couple of miles away. I inquired further and concluded it was bogus. He then stood across the street from me and was crying, “Please help me” This was very hard for me but I held my ground but felt bad the rest of the day.

Finally later that day a young man hollered something at me and then came charging right for me. I didn’t move but it look as though he was going to try knocking me over. I stayed put and he came so close that his left ear was about an inch from my mouth as I continued to preach. He got really mad and came back for me but someone who he was with scolded him saying, “Leave that guy alone”. You can see how the above scripture really was for that situation. The enemy did not outwit me because God did not allow it, nor did he allow the last guy to assault me. Awesome God!

Bellevue
This was the first time I preached in this city. With a population of 127,000 it has a decent downtown area. Bellevue is growing up with skyscrapers that can be seen from Seattle. Microsoft has a building there although their headquarters are in Redmond, a neighboring city. I got there early and went for a cup of coffee. There were 3 Starbucks in about a 2 block radius but I found the one with a bathroom. I got my coffee and went outside to have some last minute prayer and consultation with the Lord before preaching. A young man who worked there came up and asked what I was doing in town and I told him how I was a street preacher describing the Gospel to him at the same time. He listened with interest and then after that he went back inside. I think what caught his attention was when I said we serve the Lord out of a love relationship not a rigid duty like so many religions. His name is Wesley. Please pray for this divine appointment I had.

Ok now it was off to find a good corner. It is not uncommon for me to walk in circles around several blocks before deciding where to settle in. I sometimes come back to the same corner I had passed up the first time. Here are the criteria; it is preferred to preach where there are lots of people. I do not like to block a doorway or set up where my sound can easily go into a business. Nor do I setup where there is already a musician or some other attraction. I like to have the sound reflect off of something as well if possible, like another building. It is nice to have a backdrop so that no one can blindside you. This is not always possible.

I found the perfect corner that put me between several office buildings and a gauntlet of eateries. That’s right; if they want to eat they have to hear the Gospel on the way. It was a few blocks down from the transit center as well which always adds extra people to an area. To my surprise there were more people than I had anticipated. I started preaching right away about 11:45am. It was a good experience and no one called the police which astounded me since this is a ritzy area. Upon leaving Bellevue I had two businessmen ask me how it went. They were believers and one actually had attended UC Berkeley. He said that the public preaching had an effect on him way back then and encouraged me to continue in the ministry. You can’t end a day better than that!

 

Sacramento Jazz Festival 2014

Jazz Festival Report – May 23rd-26th

I arrived in Sacramento early Sunday morning, May 25th. This was going to be the third day of the four-day event known as the Sacramento Jazz Festival. In recent years they renamed it to just Music Festival. I worked my way down to the pedestrian tunnel area that goes between the “K” Street mall and Old Town, which is where the festival was. This is a great spot as people go to and fro all day long. Things were a little different for me this year. Due to an evangelistic outreach in San Francisco on Friday and Saturday I was unable to attend. Saturday is the busiest day and the brothers here in Sacto had it covered. I also was nursing a sore mouth due to a recent tooth extraction. (no narcotics by the way) For this reason I apologize for not taking more pictures than I did. I forgot my camera altogether on Monday which prevented me from taken pics of the other brothers; David Beal and Andrew.

Well about mid morning Sunday Tom and Wally came and then my family, Pat, Jacob, and Brianna. I had them pose for a picture and then we prayed before handing out tracts and preaching. Shortly after this Steve Stiles, his son, and Brother Chris came. Something else different this year was that we had an amp. Steve has one just like mine, a Roland KC 110 great sounding amp. Because of this we preached a lot more taking turns even sharing the mic with a recording of Billy Graham from the 1950’s.

At one point an elderly lady lost her composure and became very hostile to the Gospel. I was preaching and she came and protested that Jesus wouldn’t openly preach like I was. She claimed to be a Christian and that we were going about this the wrong way. The other fellas tried to talk to her to no avail. I kept preaching and when I thought it was over she came back from about 10 yards away screaming at me the words, “atheism, atheism, atheism” Steve has a picture of her that I didn’t seem to have obtained, anyway she was quite a spectacle as I believe she thought we were.

On Monday I went down with David Beal and Andrew. Wally and Tom were there and the rest of the crew didn’t come since they had been out all the other days. Today we preached without a mic and it went well. I preached about three times again today. Mouth hurting. Andrew had several conversations with people. One in particular I found quite fascinating as I was able to hear part of it. A young lady had indicated she was a Christian, “born again”. I would have said amen and let her be on her way. Not Andrew, and it is a good thing. He started to gently press her about her faith asking some questions. Next thing you know the gal divulges that she doesn’t believe in hell. With great patience and reason using the Scriptures Andrew was not getting anywhere with her and it was left at that. It surprises me, although it shouldn’t, that many people professing Christ do not believe in the basic Christian doctrines. One would think that we are always preaching to the unbelieving pagans, however; we are also out there for the church goer and other religious people.

It was a great day time and an event that is family friendly to come out next year, the Lord willing, you folks can join us. Thanks for those who prayed – below are a few pics that I did take or acquire.

Ministers of the Gospel

We are Ambassadors for Christ

Taken from the text: 2 Cor 2:12 through 2 Cor 6:10

2 Cor 5:20 Note: Ambassador – diplomatic representative; a diplomatic official of the highest rank sent by one country as its long-term representative or an official representative of an organization or movement.

As Ambassadors of Christ

• We are Ministers of the New Covenant – 2 Cor 3:6
• We have the Ministry of the Spirit – 2 Cor 3:8
• We have the Ministry of Righteousness – 2 Cor 3:9
• We have the Ministry of Reconciliation –  2 Cor 5:18
• We are Workers together with Him (Jesus) –  2 Cor 6:1

Conduct Comparison

What We Do Not Do

• We are not peddling (adulterating for gain) God’s Word 2 Cor 2:17
• Commend ourselves 2 Cor 3:1
• We are not sufficient of ourselves 2 Cor 3:5
• Handle the Word of God deceitfully 2 Cor 4:2
• We do not preach ourselves 2 Cor 4:5

What We Do

• Be Sincere 2 Cor 2:17
• Allow fruit to speak for itself 2 Cor 3:1-3
• Our sufficiency is from God and our trust is in Christ 2 Cor 3:4-5
• Manifesting the truth 2 Cor 4:2
• We preach Christ Jesus the Lord 2 Cor 4:5

Keep These in Mind

• Our mandate & purpose; to preach Christ’s Gospel 2 Cor 2:12
• The Lord opens the door for ministry 2 Cor 2:12
• We are to God the fragrance of Christ 2 Cor 2:14-16
• We use great boldness of speech 2 Cor 3:12
• We do not lose heart 2 Cor 4:1

Ministers of the New Covenant

Old Covenant or First Covenant	New Covenant
Letter Kills	Spirit Gives Life
Ministry of Death	Ministry of the Spirit
Glorious	More Glorious
Passing Away	Remains
Ministry of Condemnation	Ministry of Righteousness
Written on Stone	Written on Our Hearts

Summary

As ministers of the Gospel we are to have interwoven in us; the right motives, the conduct and behavior befitting a believer, follower, and spokesman for the Lord Jesus Christ, and the correct message as we open our mouths in proclamation of the Gospel. I want to share one major point out of this passage. As a minister of the “New Covenant” it has been my aim to have the same message of Jesus Christ and of His apostles throughout the Gospels and the book of Acts. Many street preachers today preach mostly on the impending judgment of the sinner without mentioning much about the cross and its redemptive work. In effect the message seems to be “stop sinning or else”. As an evangelist I think we should preach repentance and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and on sin and hell, but mostly preach Christ crucified which would include the person, the work, and coming kingdom of Jesus Christ. In sharing the truth we must have our demeanor, bodily presence, and even the tone of our voice glorifying God and attracting the sinner that is being drawn to God. This of course can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit working through us. Do you want to be a good minister? Spend time with Him.

Evangelism Rules Of Engagement

Introduction

Definition: rules of engagement —  directives issued by competent military authority which delineate the  circumstances and limitations under which military forces will initiate and/or  continue combat engagement with other forces encountered. Reference:  encyclopedia.com My son who served in Iraq  told me the US Army’s “rules of engagement” in Baghdad were good and necessary. This was to  prevent true civilians from being shot and other “Collateral Damage” taking place. We can  apply this principle to the army of God out there evangelizing. I can think of  many situations when we need  rules of engagement. Out on  the street there are many forces to deal with. We engage the enemy. We engage  people in conversations, the police, and we engage hostile people. We also engage other  Christians too. We have to have Biblical guidelines and the Holy Spirit to  prevent us from doing something that would not glorify God, or would actually  destroy our witness and testimony. Charles Spurgeon was quoted as saying, “The  Gospel is offensive enough, let’s not add to it.” Situations come up on a  regular basis that really puts us to the test regarding how we respond, and our  general behavior. My friend Eric Baxter had a saying; “pray that when the devil  squeezes you, Jesus comes out.”

Being A Soldier for Christ

As we are soldiers for Christ, we are engaged in warfare. 2 Tim 2:4 If you desire to be a good street preacher, then you must  lose your cares for this life and get serious about following the Lord Jesus  Christ. I have in no way arrived, but we need to focus on the Lord and on our  ministry. I used to be a mailman for a time. Probably 70% of the total job was  in the post office before I ever left to deliver the mail. If you didn’t  properly prepare the mail for delivery it would cost you time, accuracy, and it   would just be a giant headache. Likewise, it takes much careful time preparing  to go out preaching. Time spent with the Lord in prayer and reading His Word. I  can’t emphasize this enough. Also allowing the  sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit to make us a pure vessel for the Lord to  use; this is very important. 2 Tim 2:20-21

Dealing With The Forces of Darkness

There is a host of teaching out  there on spiritual warfare. Some of it is good, and much of it is bad. I  decided not to get into this subject except just to say that as a Christian you  are in a spiritual battle and preachers are in a heavy battle as well. Remember that the devil can use people like pawns to attack us. We are in a spiritual battle. Eph. 6:10-12

• We are told in scripture to resist the devil. 1 Pet. 5:8-10and James 4:7 Asking God for strength and a way of escape we must resist temptation, whatever form is comes in.
• The Word of God as our sword to put to silence the enemy’s temptations as Jesus did while He was being tempted in the wilderness. Matt 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13
• Do not hold un-forgiveness or bitterness against anyone. 2 Cor. 2:10-11
• Pray so that you will not enter into temptation. Matt 26:41
• Other scriptures on spiritual warfare; Luke 10:18 John  16:11 Acts 26:18 Romans 16:20

Dealing  with Hostile People

To preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ glorifying God so that sinners may be saved! All this in a hostile world. John 15:20This is a tall order. It can and will be done.

Prevention is always a first line of defense, but not always possible. Foreseeing a chaotic or bad situation and avoiding it is always prudent. Prov 22:3 Prov 27:12 In the book of Acts, although Paul did not see it, his disciples saw it not wise  to have Paul enter into a bad situation even though Paul probably thought He could preach there. This was with the uproar in Ephesus. Acts 19:30-31 Most evangelists want to go where there are people, and lots of them. Special events come to mind. In the past I would go to most  events without considering what my objective was. If the objective is to cause controversy or show that you are the boldest preacher on the planet, then you have not considered a careful battle plan. We also have to check our motives as well.

If possible assess the person’s level of hostility in the shortest possible time. Although it maybe rare it could be the time to run.

Proverbs 15:1 Phil. 2:5-8 1 Pet. 2:21-23 Rom. 12:20 James  1:19-20

Dealing  with Police

Refer to: The Police & The Street Preacher

Friendly  Fire

The  term “friendly fire” taken from the military vocabulary is when a soldier is injured  or killed by another soldier that is on the same side. This is a real travesty  and yet it is part of warfare. It may never be eliminated from happening but  the goal is to minimize it. I have coined this term to describe  what takes place out on the street. Many times well-meaning Christians can  distract, interrupt, and hinder the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sometimes they can  even be used by Satan, as was Simon Peter. Extended grace is needed on part of  the preacher to discern and respond in a God honoring way. Remember, attacks  can come from within the church too.

In our day and age street preaching is considered archaic by most Christians. It is not an overly accepted ministry therefore there may be opposition from the Christians. A normal reasoning process and a scriptural mandate usually satisifys most inquirys as to “why are you doing this”, or “this is not the way to witness” comments.

Collateral  Damage

In a  military operation “Collateral Damage” occurs when other things get damaged  instead of the intended target. These can be infrastructure, but we are mostly  talking about people here. In modern warfare there are civilians that are not  intended to be killed, but in fact are part of the loss. Again, although this  is a part of warfare, the military tries to minimize it as much as possible.  Besides an outright mistake, collateral damage can also occur when the battle objective is lost. In street preaching there is sometimes collateral damage. When this happens it is best to abort, that is, pack up and leave the area. I am not  afraid to concede an area if things get out of hand for one reason or another.  Here is an example of what I call collateral damage when preaching in public; I  was with some brothers a couple of years ago preaching at an event. During this  time, one of us, (not me in case you’re wondering) got on what I call a bit of  a tangent and started preaching fervently against sexual sins. In particular,  the sin of homosexuality was focused on. It all turned south when some  descriptive information of that behavior was mentioned in graphic detail. At  the time, I didn’t hear what was said until after the fact. I was not the  leader on this outreach either. Well, several people including mothers of small  children came up and verbally objected to that kind of speech. At that point I  thought we should have left. The others didn’t feel the same way. I guess they  wanted somehow to save face, but the damage was done. We did end up leaving a  short time later and talked about it over coffee afterwards. I could give more  opinion here but I just wanted to share a real experience to give the picture  of what I think collateral damage is when it comes to evangelism.

Other Past  Experiences

I  learned early on in witnessing that you shouldn’t approach a person at a cash  machine to hand them a tract, or to converse, until they have finished their  transaction. Personally I don’t like anyone bothering me or talking to me while  I am counting my money such as at a check stand in the grocery store. Another  issue is that the person at the cash machine may feel threatened by your  presence. If you notice the unwritten code while waiting for the cash machine  is that people stand back behind an imaginary line to give the person at the  machine time and space to take care of their business. Some people wouldn’t  like you looking at their numbers or amount of money, etc.

One time my friend and I were preaching in San Francisco when suddenly an elderly  gentleman collapsed to the ground. He apparently was having a heart attack or  something. I was preaching and I stopped. I said over our amp that there was  medical attention needed. There are a number of police in the area and this was  the fastest way to get help. After that I was just standing there watching as a  number of people were already giving the man some aid. My partner thought I  should keep on preaching and when I wouldn’t he grabbed the mic, and being very  agitated at me, began to preach. The crowd overwhelmingly voiced their  disapproval. It was a little embarrassing I thought for such behavior on our  part. The same people had just heard the Gospel.

Conclusion

We all realize  that salvation is the most important issue in a person’s life. Because of the importance and urgency of the message it would seem there is no place that would be off limits. Having said that I do believe there are places that are off limits, although most would not agree with me. The better the environment for the reception of the Gospel to the hearers the better. As much as possible I do not try to compete for the persons attention. For example: at a parade I witness (preach or otherwise) before the parade starts while people are waiting. Once the parade starts I do not try to preach while they are watching the parade, thus competing with the parade. This to me is not very productive. Therefore there are times when I put  limitations on where I will preach. I won’t preach to the people in those  outside cafes while they are dining. I will not preach in a confined area like  a train, or bus, however; I will preach outside of the station. In this way  people are free to leave. I don’t believe in corralling them.  I suppose an exception would be if we were trapped in a burning building where  their death is imminent. I will not point my amp directly into a doorway. Sometimes using common  sense is helpful. When you make a mistake, the next best thing is to admit it  and make amends or apologies. Or do whatever is necessary to correct the  situation. Many times there is not opportunity to do so.