Myths & Misleading Phrases of Modern Christianity - There Is No Hell

If you’re reading this, rejoice!  You made it through Christmas again and the Lord has given you another day to serve Him!

A dangerous myth believed by some professing Christians and many in the public at large is that there is no Hell.  In our culture, we have been deceived into thinking of Hell as a bad word rather than a horrifying place created by God for the punishment of the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41)  Many believe that God is good and therefore He would never send anyone to eternal punishment.  Nor would He ever create such a horrible place as Hell.  The idea of Hell is not comfortable so many choose not to think about it.  They choose instead blissful ignorance.

Here’s the danger of this myth:  Believing something does not exist or choosing not to think about it does not make it go away!

How nonsensical would it be to have a law and no consequence?  It would be silly for a police officer to apprehend a bank robber just to tell him there is no punishment for robbing banks and let him go free.  If there is a law, there must be a corresponding punishment.  Otherwise, the law is senseless and useless.

God has given us His moral law, (the Ten Commandments), and He has specified the punishment for transgressing His Law.  The soul that sins, it shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4)  The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23)  If God is willing to subject the rebellious angels to the punishment of Hell, He will certainly subject rebellious people to the same. (2 Peter 2:4-9)

The Ultimate Judge of Creation has publicized His Law to all humanity by writing it on every person’s heart. (Romans 2:15)  That’s why our conscience bothers us when we lie, steal, dishonor our parents or break any of the other Commandments.  Every person, especially me, except Jesus of Nazareth, has rebelled against the God of the Bible and failed to obey His Law.  Therefore, we are all guilty of crimes against our Creator, the Ultimate Judge.

The Ultimate Judge has the power and authority to sentence us to whatever He chooses as the ultimate punishment for transgression of His Law.  According to the Bible, the just, ultimate punishment chosen for those who have rebelled against the Ultimate Judge without trusting Jesus Christ and turning from and forsaking their sins is eternal, conscious, painful, sorrowful burning in Hell (Luke 16:19-31 & Mark 9:48); a destruction that lasts for eternity. (2 Thessalonians 1:9)

As you go and share your faith in Christ, you can avoid the pitfall of failing to talk about eternal punishment in Hell by simply opening your mouth and warning someone of their sinful condition and the punishment they face.  Difficult?  Yes, but we have been commanded to do it, (Matthew 28:19-20), and the Lord will help you because it conforms to His will.

You are normal if you have difficulty saying the word Hell.  It’s like swimming against the cultural tide.  Try saying it in private.  Get used to hearing the word come out of your mouth and then it will be easier to say in public where it really counts.  Remember, Hell is not a bad word, it’s a bad place.  People must be warned of God’s wrath and His ultimate punishment of all those who fail to obey the gospel. 

So go, stand and speak to people as a herald of the King of kings and as an occupying soldier for the Lord Jesus Christ!  May God bless and guide you as you go!

Whew!

Sorry for the lack of posts, but I've been out.... a lot.  The Lord blessed us with a two month window of wonderful weather during September and October and people have been out on the streets.

In the past two months, the Lord has provided evangelism opportunities at the Kansas State Fair, events in small towns near Wichita, two large parades and a chili cookoff..  For this area, that's pretty busy.  Additionally, We've been able to hit the streets most evenings, Saturdays and Sunday afternoons.  The Saturday evenings in the Old Town party area of town have continued as well.

Jesus has let us give hundreds and hundreds of tracts to people and He has also allowed us to lovingly, conversationally and seriously take folks through His Law (the Ten Commandments) and the gospel.  It is wonderful when the Lord stops someone to speak for a few minutes.  Nearly all are thankful and shake hands hand as we finish.  None have demonstrated that they have been offended.  They understand their guilt before God because they have transgressed His Law and they understand that punishment in hell for eternity is justified.  They understand God's command for them to repent from sin and trust in Jesus Christ.  They leave our conversation awakened from trusting in their own goodness, but not offended.

As cold weather begins to arrive, I'm not sure what the Lord wants us to do to reach people with the truth.  It's nearly impossible to witness in malls although that's where people will be during the shopping season.  Wintering in Hawaii sounds good, but the commute would be tough!  We'll see in the coming weeks what He wants to do and I'm planning to let you know here.

Please remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and wisdom for Israel's leaders during this difficult time.  Now, go tell someone about Jesus.  "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7)  God bless you as you go and share your faith in Him!

Step By Step

Street evangelism is continuing to go well out here in fly over country.  My brother in Christ from Calvary Chapel and I are continuing to distribute hundreds of tracts and speak to people in the Old Town bar district.  It seems the Lord has not wanted us to open air preach much lately and that's ok.  I'm ready when He wants His word to go out.

The Lord has also let me meet folks who accept Ten Commandment coins (with a gospel message on the back) while walking down sidewalks in various parts of town.  Seeds are being planted and I'm eager for the harvest!

In the very near future, like this Friday, I'm planning to join Calvary Chapel Wichita's awesome youth group as they go to the Kansas State Fair about 40 miles up the road in Hutchinson to share the gospel.  This should be a nice evangelism adventure.  The youth dipped their toes in the street evangelism waters at Wichita's River Festival a few months ago.  They did a fantastic job of handing out tracts and I'm asking the Lord to bless our efforts at the state fair.

In the slightly farther future, like this Saturday, two evangelism expeditions are planned.  It seems the Lord wants me to go to Winfield (not too far from Wichita).  The Walnut Valley Festival will be happening there and people come from all over the U.S. for the flat picking guitar championships.  Although I play guitar (kinda), the mission is to distribute tracts and speak with people to make sure they understand God's Law, their guilt of transgressing it and their need to repent and place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The second expedition on Saturday is the usual evening in Old Town.  People turn 21 every day, so there are new faces there every week.

Thank you so much for reading!  God bless you and all you do for Him!

A New Gospel Offensive

It's been busy around here lately.  We've had a few evenings below 100 degrees when people are actually out and available to talk about the absolutely most important information in the universe.  Quite a few tracts have been distributed and I haven't kept track of the one-2-one conversations.

This past weekend was Wichita's very own Blacktop Nationals 3-day car show (along with other events).  It went over well evangelistically, but it sure is difficult to get folks' eyes and minds off the cars.  For this reason, I got away from the main car show and tried to reach people while they were less distracted by the cars of this world.

It seems the Lord is opening a new theater of operations (maybe 3 of them).  There are three universities in town.  One is large and state.  Two are small and private.  My hope is that the Lord will link me with Christian students so He can get me officially invited to share on campus.  In the meantime, I'll just be casual and reach out as the Lord leads.

As I spend more time on the streets in Wichita, it has become clear that there are many, many people who have been deceived into thinking they will be in heaven because they:  (1) Go to church    (2) Do more good than bad    (3) Don't think hell exists or that God would send anyone there

Our enemy has done a great job of blinding people to the simple truth that everyone has sinned against their Creator by breaking His Law (the Ten Commandments) and they will justly perish in hell forever unless they repent from sin and trust that Jesus Christ took their punishment on the cross and rose again.  Such a simple message and so easy for the spiritually blind to miss.

God bless you!  Tell someone about God's Law and Jesus' fulfillment of it today!

The Missing Ingredient

There is a crucial ingredient missing from many people's understanding of the gospel and it is evident when the Lord lets me speak to people one-to-one.  Around here, on the fringe of the Bible belt, almost no one denies God's existence.  Very few deny the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth, His virgin birth, His death on the cross for our sins, or even His resurrection from the dead.  Most people will readily agree that they must trust Jesus to save them from God's wrath.  The missing ingredient is repentance.

Since evangelism is my thing, I tend to listen closely to gospel presentations and even analyze them a little.  For whatever reason, it seems many people present the gospel with the crucial idea of repentance either missing from or quietly imbedded within their message.  Instead of explicitly teaching that God commands all men to repent; to turn away from and forsake their sins as the Bible instructs, a seemingly repentance-less message goes out.

When we present the gospel without an explicit command to repent from sin, non-Christians who hear the message do not understand that they must repent.  They don't know that God commands them to stop drinking to excess, cursing, blaspheming, lusting, etc.  So, when presented with an opportunity to drink excessively, curse, blaspheme, lust, etc., the new "Christian" will do so.  They are likely not true followers of Jesus Christ because no one clearly told them to repent.  In fairness, many people refuse to repent out of their love for sin.

Jesus said, "I tell you no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." Luke 13:3  If a police officer mercifully warns a driver to stop speeding, the driver needs to stop speeding or a ticket is in his future.  Since the Lord commands us not to blaspheme His name (see Exodus 20:7), we had better not mis-use His name or we can expect punishment even if we attend church and profess to be Christian.  For out of the abundance of our heart our mouth speaks (Luke 6:45) and if our mouth blasphemes the Lord, we have no reason to claim to be a follower of Christ and thus a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).  This same principle applies to the practice of all sin.  (Notice that this is in reference to the practice of sin, not the accidental falling into sin followed by repentance).

Although it's sort of a dirty job to tell people to change their ways, we must take a stand and tell people that their drunkeness, lying, cursing, blasphemy, adulterous behavior, etc., must stop if they expect to be saved.  We must use the backbone the Lord gave us and lovingly tell non-Christians that God commands them to repent because we don't want them to perish.  The Bible backs us up by being very clear in these two verses:

"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived.  Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God."  1 Corinthians 6:9

"But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death."  Revelation 21:8

One important note:  I do not intend in any way to say that someone will be saved as long as they don't do the bad, immoral stuff.  I am not teaching we can be righteous by doing good or by avoiding doing bad.  No amount of filthy rags (see Isaiah 64:6), can make up for offending our Creator by transgressing His law.  We all must turn  away from sin and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation He purchased for us with His blood.

If Christians persist in preaching the gospel without a strong call to repentance, we can expect many of our hearers to say to Jesus on that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?"  Then Jesus will declare to them, "I never knew you.  Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"  Matthew 7:22-23  They will end up in hell for eternity.

Thank you for your patience and for reading.  If the Lord tarries, the next post will be more encouraging.  God bless you!

Persecution?

Worldwide, the persecution of Christians is terrible.  Many Christians are horribly mistreated, beaten, tortured and killed simply because they believe Jesus is Lord and choose to follow Him in the way they live.  If, however, you are a Christian who lives in the USA, fear not!

My brother in Christ from Calvary Chapel Wichita and I were very mildly mistreated Saturday night during our evangelism adventure in Old Town.  To say we were persecuted would cheapen the word.

It was a particularly chaotic evening with lots of noisy, bumper-to-bumper traffic cruising up and down the streets.  My partner was handing out million dollar bill tracts and I was distributing Ten Commandment coins to initiate conversations.  A million was offered to a young guy who was walking from one bar to another.  He asked if it was "religious" and said disdainfully, "I have my morals in order."  I gently asked him if he had ever lied.  He responded by cursing both of us and giving us the single finger salute as he walked away.  All we did was offer him a cool looking million dollar bill with a gospel message on the back.  All we want is for him to admit his sinfulness, repent and trust Jesus Christ for salvation so he can escape God's wrath and eternal punishment in hell.  This was the worst treatment I've ever experienced during any sort of evangelism effort in the U.S. or Mexico and it didn't hurt a bit.  We shrugged our shoulders and continued the work.

If a person is not humbled and repentant, I will gladly take an angry response to the gospel.  It is never my intent to make anyone angry.  We are not to strive, but to lovingly and patiently teach God's law and the gospel (2 Timothy 2:24-26).  If people sense the conviction of the Holy Spirit, let them get mad at the Ten Commandments and the gospel.  Let them get angry because their conscience is bothering them.  The Holy Spirit can use that to break a person and draw them to repentance and salvation.

Aside from a good conversation with a couple of young men, last weekend's gi-normous Automobilia car show didn't go too well.  The temperature was about 105 degrees with high humidity and threatening thunderstorms.  This is typical for Kansas in the summer, but not conducive to evangelism.  People understandably don't like to receive sweaty tracts as the lightning approaches.

Thank you for reading and remember the words of Jesus in Luke 12:4-5.... "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear; fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  Let your love for and fear of God overcome any fear of man and propel you out to obey His command to go into all the world and preach the gospel.  God bless you as you go!

Breaking the Sound Barrier Again!

There is a big development to report from last night.... Wichita has a new person "breaking the sound barrier" (open air preaching).  Around midnight, my brother in Christ from Calvary Chapel Wichita stood up and preached that the people wandering from bar to bar in Old Town must repent and trust Jesus Christ or perish.  He preached for several minutes.  Maybe this doesn't sound like such a big deal, but open air preaching requires a huge battle against our flesh that seeks comfort, wobbly knees, noise from passing traffic, and whatever spiritual forces that may come against the preacher.  It ain't easy!  It is one giant, sinner-loving, self-denying step up from handing out gospel tracts which, in itself, is a battle.  My hope is that the Lord will orchestrate so we can tag team preach and be more effective at reaching Wichita with His gospel.

In other news... the Lord has let me do a little open air preaching and have one-2-one law & gospel conversations with 10+ people in the past few weeks.  He has let me take them through a few of the Ten Commandments to show them their sinfulness and spoon-feed them the Good News of His taking our punishment.  Although I clearly and specifically warn them about eternal punishment in hell, not one of the people was offended.  Most thanked me and shook my hand afterwards.  It's amazing what can be said to people when it is shared with love and concern.  I'm hoping for a few more opportunities during this Independence Day weekend we're celebrating here in the U.S.

Next weekend is the enormous, annual car show called Automobilia in downtown Wichita.  There will be hundreds and hundreds of cars lining the streets over around 12 city blocks.  If the Lord tarries and the weather cooperates, thousands of people will be shoulder-to-shoulder in the streets during this show.  Please join me in asking the Lord to give us boldness and lots of opportunities to distribute tracts, have one-2-one conversations, and open air preach.

Thank you for reading and thank you for your prayers!  God bless you!

River Festival Final Report

First of all, thank you so much for your prayers!  The Lord gave many opportunities to share with people at Wichita's River Festival through tracts and one-2-one conversations.

Throughout last week, aside from Thursday evening when events were stopped due to severe thunderstorms, there were many people in the streets of downtown Wichita for concerts and other events.  Several hundred tracts were distributed and 14 people let me take them through God's Law (the Ten Commandments) and the gospel.  Yea!!!  Lots of seeds were planted and lots of people have a very important decision to make now.

It was encouraging to see folks from a couple of other good, Bible-teaching churches out on the streets during the festival.  They were also distributing tracts and leading people through the gospel.  May the Lord unify us and send us all out together to make an impact for Him.

Looking forward, there are no other huge opportunities on the horizon.  A few car shows are scheduled where we may be able to pass out lots of tracts, but it's difficult to get people's attention off the cars long enough to talk.  So a couple of brothers from Calvary Chapel Wichita and I are planning to continue evangelism in Old Town, parks, wherever the Lord leads.

Thank you for reading!  God bless you as you step out of your comfort zone in faith.  Remember, Peter could not walk on water until he stepped out of the boat.
   

Another quick note about River Festival so far...

Well, my vision for what would happen at River Festival's first Saturday did not materialize.  That's good!  Instead of the youth distributing bottled water along with tracts, four youth from Calvary Chapel Wichita joined us in walking around to distribute tracts for a couple of hours in the morning.  They jumped in eagerly and passed out around 100-150 tracts combined.  When questions arose they turned to me or one of the other adults for advice about what to say.  We adults watched from a distance and passed out a few tracts, too.

Yesterday evening, after the lull during the middle of our 100 degree day, I went back downtown to the festival and fished for one-2-one conversations.  After an hour or so, the Lord let me have a very friendly, relaxed conversation with a couple of skateboarders and their four friends.  They were really nice kids and a couple of them had a good understanding of the gospel.  I simply tried to reinforce their understanding and thanked them for the conversation.  It was an encouraging time.

If the Lord tarries, I hope to have more reports about the River Festival soon!  Thank you for your prayers!

Just a quick note....

We've been hitting the streets of Wichita during the past two weeks.  Lots of tracts have been handed out, we've had some very enjoyable one-2-one conversations, the folks around here have heard us preaching in public, and the "Are You Ready?" cross has been out.  (A police officer in his patrol car even honked and waved at me yesterday while I held the AYR cross.)  These are the best ways we've found to get the Word out.  Thank you, Lord, for all of the opportunities and resources to make this happen!

Right now, I'm asking the Lord to use us at Wichita's huge River Festival.  It begins this Friday evening 6/3/11 and has events every day through 6/11/11.  Plans are in the mill and I'm not able to give you details now.  Please return next week for a full report.  Your patience is appreciated!  God bless you!

Two Busy Weeks

Wow!  The last two weeks have been a blur.... but a good one.  Two weeks ago, I was able to visit my family in Christ at IDT Baja about 2 hours south of Ensenada in the state of Baja Norte, Mexico.  This is the mission base where I served for nearly 3 years ending in 2009.  The original plan was to participate in a conference for the local pastors, but I arrived a little late.  Anyway, it was wonderful to fellowship with and encourage my brothers and sisters at IDT and do a little street evangelism Baja style.

By the way, if you are thinking of visiting Mexico for a mission trip, please don't let the news reports scare you.  I experienced absolutely no crime or violence whatsoever in Tijuana, Ensenada, or anywhere else.  If the Lord tells you to go, trust in Him and GO!

Since returning from Baja, I've been busy getting back in the saddle here.  Last night, a brother from Calvary Chapel of Wichita and I hit the streets in the Old Town area of town where there are lots of bars, clubs and people who desperately need Jesus Christ but have not yet admitted it.  We had quite a productive night of distributing tracts and speaking one-2-one with people on the streets.

I arrived at around 7pm and tried to distribute tracts to the dinner crowd.  After an hour of a lot of rejections, I went to a busy intersection a couple of miles away with the "Are You Ready?" cross for a while.  For those who don't know, this is a 4 foot tall wooden cross with the question Are You Ready? painted on the cross beam.  The idea is to ask this question of people as they drive by in their cars.  Many people in the U.S. are difficult to reach because they are always in their cars, homes, stores, etc.  It's rare that they are out and available to engage in conversation about the most important subject in the universe; eternity and where they will spend it.  The "Are You Ready?" cross is simply a way to put that question in their minds when they are unavailable to talk.  It can also lead into good conversations with those walking by.

Upon returning to Old Town, the party scene was beginning to warm up and people were more open to talking.  For some reason, it seems people more willingly take tracts from strangers at night rather than during the day.  Anyway, handing out Ten Commandment coins with God's Law on one side and a brief gospel message on the back resulted in the Lord allowing me good, relaxed conversations with 6 people.  He let me take them through the good person test (take the test yourself here y en espanol aqui).  He also let me spoon feed each of them the gospel message of Jesus Christ taking upon Himself the punishment that we deserve and He let me encourage them to repent from sin and trust completely that Jesus' sacrifice was sufficient to pay the debt we cannot pay.  All of this in spite of a chilly, windy 50 degree fahrenheit evening.  Thank you, Lord!

Thank you for reading!  God bless you as you share your faith!

IDT Mid-America

Welcome to the "official" IDT Mid-America blog.  You may be a regular reader of my previous blog at 3w.cornerstoneinbaja.typepad(dot)com.  If so, thank you!  The old blog needed to be updated somehow to more accurately reflect my current mission of street evangelism in Wichita, Kansas and wherever else the Lord may send me.  So, please continue to look here for information about evangelism activities along with some tips and encouragement.  God bless you!