Answer me a question…

Concerning evangelism

“In the morning sow your seed,

And in the evening do not withhold your hand;

For you do not know which will prosper,

Either this or that,

Or whether both alike will be good.

(Ecc.11:6)

A poem from a friend

 

 

“Fisher of Man”

Blessed are the feet of those who preach the gospel

You go out in to this world that is so hostel! 

Armed with the power of God

you dive face first in to any crowd! 

You teach the school of life that never ends

You teach them to repent of their sins! 

Faced with question of heaven or hell

The Holy Spirit steps in He never fails! 

When they realize there on the wrong path

You turn them around and show them God’s path!

Salvation at hand eternity in heart

You show them that God’s Law is the biggest part!

Faced with the knowledge of the day of judgment

They are faced with convection of their punishment! 

A Fisher of man you start to cry

For you know what happens if they die!

Heaven or hell they must decide

Broken of heart or stand in pride! 

A Fisher of man you live life so humble

God’s reward for you will be so wonderful!

 

“Fisher of Man”

 

Jeronimo

 

More from GERMANY

We were at Potsdamer Platz tonight for evangelism (like there would be somewhere else we would be on Friday night).  Jeff Serio getting up to preach.  Several of us prayed for him and one of the guys asked God for a crowd to gather.  Then I chimed in and said, “Yes Lord, Madrid style!”  Jeff got up to preach a new message and it was great.  We had a small crowd gather to listen and then stayed to talk.  Jeff and Kim went up to two young men who had stayed around after the preaching.  After they talk for a few minutes Jeff asked them where they were from.  They said, “Spain”.  Jeff asked where in Spain?  They said they were from Madrid and had been down to Kilometer Zero and saw a similar thing.  They saw people stand on a red box and talk to people about God.  That is why they stopped tonight at Potsdamer Platz.  They thought that maybe we were doing this all over the world and they just happened ! to catch our show in Berlin.  We said no (cool thought though), but that we knew the people in Madrid.  In fact I told them you got the idea from us (just kidding man). 

 

Jeff got their email address and is going to pass it on to Arnold.  They talked about an hour with the guys.  One of them told Jeff that he knew he would make a decision to give his life to the Lord soon, just not tonight. 

 

Small world, huh?  God is so awesome.  He is keeping the connection between Berlin and Madrid strong, even in ways we never expected.  Be encouraged man, and be blessed.   Chuck – director open-air Berlin

How shall a young man cleanse his way?

By taking heed thereto according to thy word. Young man, the Bible must be your chart, and you must exercise great watchfulness that your way may be according to its directions. You must take heed to your daily life as well as study your Bible, and you must study your Bible that you may take heed to your daily life. With the greatest care a man will go astray if his map misleads him; but with the most accurate map he will still lose his road if he does not take heed to it. The narrow way was never hit upon by chance, neither did any heedless man ever lead a holy life. We can sin without thought, we have only to neglect the great salvation and ruin our souls; but to obey the Lord and walk uprightly will need all our heart and soul and mind. Let the careless remember this.  (Treasury of David, Charles Spurgeon)

Where’s the coffee?

We were at a missions banquet Sunday night in Tulsa.  During the dessert time, Susie, my 16 year old came over to our table and asked where to get the coffee, because all they had was tea.  ”Susie, hun”, Julie said, “that is coffee”.  Growing up in Europe coffee doesn’t look like that.

Testimony from Spain

Roxana

Arnold had just finished preaching an illustrated message on “passports.” Among the crowd of listeners stood Roxana.  She hadn’t planned on coming to the Puerta del Sol that night. Her appointment with a friend had been canceled at the last minute, and she felt drawn there somehow. As she walked near us, she heard Arnold talking about God and inched closer to listen.  As we began to converse after the message, Roxana recognized her need for forgiveness and began to cry. She was at a point of decision and struggled inwardly, knowing Jesus was asking her to give control of her life to Him.  She told me her daughter in Bolivia was a Christian and had been praying for her. “Roxana,” I urged, “it is not a coincidence that you are here tonight. God has brought you. He is calling you to come to Him.”  Roxana prayed and surrendered her life to Jesus, and immediately her face reflected overflowing joy. Her first thoughts were to purchase a Bible and find a church to attend. She accompanied us to the coffee house and took a photo of herself with Arnold, the one she had first heard preaching.  Roxana moved to another city the next week, but we were able to put her in contact with another believer from that city. She has found a church to attend there, and has been regularly reading her Bible.  PRAY that Roxana would continue to grow spiritually. PRAY also that God would continue to send people to us, and that they would become incorporated into local churches, just like Roxana.

Great testimony

Here is a report from Berlin, Germany from our sister outreach…

I just wanted to send an encouraging email about Am Platz Berlin.  A few months ago we were on Potsdamer Platz on Friday night as usual.  Someone was preaching and an older man (around 60 or so) started yelling at us.  He was saying things like, “Don’t believe them.”, “God is dead”, “They’re just lying to you.”  After the preaching was over, one of our team members started talking to him.  He continued yelling and told the team member that he had given his life to Lucifer.  She was at a loss for words.  Nari, our team member from Albania, took over the conversat! ion at that point.  The man continued to yell, but also listened to a lot of what Nari said.  The next Friday night, the man came back and talked with Nari for about an hour.  This time he did not yell as much.  As he stood to leave, he shook Nari’s hand. 

Nari told us last week that the man came by his church a few weeks later to talk more.  He let Nari pray for him.  When Nari prayed, the man just wept and wept.  He told Nari that he never really gave his life to Lucifer.  He was just trying to shock us. Nari said he understood, but that if he had not given his life to Jesus, it really is about the same.  The consequences are the same.  This made the man really begin to listen.  He came back several times until one day he told Nari that while he was at home he asked J! esus to forgive him and to take over his life.  Wow, God is so amazing.  Here is a man who was yelling at us, now following Jesus.  How encouraging.

I wanted to encourage you to keep trusting God for the salvation of people.  I have heard statistics that say the older a person gets, the harder it is for them to change their beliefs and follow God.  This is probably true.  But praise the Lord that we serve a God who works outside of statistics.  I encourage you to keep praying and sharing with your family and friends about this great hope with have in Jesus.  I encourage you to keep trusting that God will release salvation to the nations.  I encourage you to keep walking with God daily to see His glory revealed in the earth.  As long as people and nations have breath, there is always hope.  There is always salvation available.  There is always Jesus.  Be encouraged.  Keep going for it.

Peace,

Chuck

VERBS

The Bible is pretty clear on what we are to do with His message of salvation:

Proclamation, boldness, preaching, arguing, compelling, consistent, outreach, reasoning with people, speaking out, declaring, sharing, testifying, and even shouting.  (taken from Hussmann)

Special Forces

I felt like the Commander of a special force team.  Twenty-four Christians from Harvest Assembly in Glendale, Arizona completed the evangelism training and were now headed down to our “Target Zone” -  the University of Arizona in Tempe.  We piled into four special force vehicles, (one church van and three cars) and drove thirty minutes to our destination.  One-by-one the cars slid underground to park.  The kingdom of darkness wasn’t prepared for what was about to happen.  We emerged from the underground as if in slow motion, young and old, privates and veterans.  Each was armed with the power of the Holy Spirit; filled with fear and anticipation.  Boldness was on our right hand; obedience on our left.

We gathered in front of a small café called THE MUNCHIES.  We agreed to meet back in one hour.  We were sent on a mission to rescue.  We went out into the unknown, yet we did not go out alone.  Silently we dispersed in all directions and began talking to strangers:  A taxi cab driver from Somolia, A Jew preaching on animal rights, the gothic young sitting on the curbs, a man selling sunglasses.  Light pierced the darkness.  Truth swallowed up lies.  The blind began to see.

A look down the road, you would see one of God’s SEALS praying for that young man selling glasses at Sun Planet.  He wept as he confessed that his mother had been praying for him for years.  He ran to the phone to give her the good news that he got right with God.  Another prayed for a man tending a toilet for tips.  In all, over twenty were prayed for; many turned from their sins.

Ninety minutes later we were in front of THE MUNCHIES and the soldiers were telling their stories.  You couldn’t wipe the smile off their faces, you couldn’t get them to stop talking of the wonders that the Lord had worked through them.  We slipped back down underground, satisfied that we had done some serious damage to the evil kingdom and had been triumphant in rescuing those that were willing.