Chipperfisher

Cool Gospel Presentation for Kids

2011-07-05T09:51:00.002-04:00

This is a wonderful visual presentation of the Gospel for children. It would be great for VBS since 'tis the season.

Scarefest 2010

2010-11-04T19:16:00.003-04:00

Here is a video excerpt from Scarefest 2009. It is billed as the largest paranormal/horror convention in the United States. November 5th, 6th, and 7th, 2010 it will be back. If you would like to join us, we will be downtown handing out tracts and engaging in one on one conversations. Please pray that the light will shine into the darkness.

Equestrian Games Evangelism

2010-09-28T21:43:00.003-04:00

If you are in the Central Ky area on Wed. 9/29/10 and would like to join us, we are sharing the Gospel in downtown Lexington, Ky. Contact me via the e-mail contact and I'll give you more information if you'd like to join us.

Come join us for evangelism at the World Equestrian Games

2010-09-24T11:05:00.003-04:00

Tonight a group of us are heading to downtown Lexington to share the Gospel during a 16 day street festival which conincides with the 2010 World Equestrian Games.

The World Equestrian Games have never been hosted on this continent and an estimated 500,000 people from around the world will be descending upon Lexington, Ky from September 24-October 16, 2010.

The city of Lexington will hold a street festival downtown during those dates and it will be packed!

If you want to join us, send me an e-mail and I'll give you more details.

How does compassionate street evangelism look?

2010-08-10T20:56:00.002-04:00

If you've ever wondered what street evangelism is really like, watch this video and see a group of faithful witnesses from the July 2010's Ambassador's Academy in Los Angeles. You don't have to stand on a box to be a faithful witness, but do something! With whom are you sharing the Gospel?

Have you ever wanted to study Isaiah?

2010-05-08T20:50:00.007-04:00

Have you ever wanted to study the book of Isaiah but it seemed too overwhelming and daunting? I wouuld like to invite you to attend Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) a non-denominational, international, FREE Bible study held in locations around the world.

Until this year, BSF provided a seven year Bible study which repeated on a seven year cycle. Past studies have included Matthew, Acts of the Apostles, John, the Life of Moses (which included studying Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) Genesis, Romans, and Israel and the Minor Prophets. But, the Isaiah study will expand this to an eight year cycle beginning with the 2010-2011 year. (I'd erroneously reported that Israel and the Minor Prophets had been absorbed into the Isaiah study as that is what I'd been told in Sept 2009. Obviously, as of August 2010 that is not the case. Thank you J Bell for pointing that out!)

Until this year, BSF notes were given only in English. That did not stop thousands of people in Spanish speaking countries or languages other than English from participating though! In January of 2010, BSF made the announcement that they would begin translating the notes into Chinese! The Chinese government gave permission for BSF to open classes throughout China and this has been an amazing blessing!

I am completing my 8th year of BSF. I was privileged to be asked to teach level 4, which are 7th and 8th graders, in the Children's Program this past year. We conclude the study of the Gospel of John this Monday night.

BSF runs from September through May of each year. The study is FREE to all but donations to cover the cost of printing the materials are accepted each week. A donation is most appreciated and quite honestly should be done for this ministry.

Goto their website at www.bsfinternational.org for more information about the history of this fine organization started by a British missionary to China, A. Wetherell Johnson. Ms. Johnson returned to the United States over 60 years ago and began teaching the Bible to a few women who came to her begging her to teach them. Soon, her class grew and has become what it is today. On the left hand side of the home page click on "BSF classes" and locate a class in your area. You will need to contact the class administrator for that class and they will assign you a space if there are any available. Please bring your children because they study the same topic the adults do all year. They even hand out a "Home Discussion" page to facilitate family devotion time.

BSF made an incredible announcement this February when they shared that they are opening a program for infants and toddlers. Do not let the fact that you have a young child keep you from attending. BSF has day classes which offer an infant/toddler program through kindergarten. They offer evening classes for elementary school through high school ages which are conducted at the same time as the adult program. The children's program (not to be confused with the toddler-kindergarten program) is only offered in the evening because children are in school during the day.

It is non-denominational in that they do not advocate a particular denomination. They also ask participants to refrain from discussing where they goto church or particular denominational issues and rely on the Word of God to teach truth. Please consider joining the Isaiah study this fall!

Way to go Mo!

2010-04-15T09:05:00.005-04:00

I just wanted to share something today that encourages me in obedience and faithfulness. This is my son. His nickname is Mo. In August 2009, he started with a goal to read the Bible all the way through. Today, April 15th, 2010 he completed reading the Bible all the way through for the first time!

We've taken off on vacations early in the morning and he had a flashlight in the back of the car reading his Bible. Or he'd be under his covers with the flashlight reading. After 3 weeks of consistent reading, he told us he really enjoyed it. He gets up early in the morning and reads. He read a few chapters in the morning and a few in the evening. He averaged reading 10 chapters daily. He broke it up by reading 5 in the morning and 5 in the evening. Sometimes, he'd read it in the middle of the day. He didn't get legalistic about it if he missed a day or didn't read 10 chapters. He just picked up the next day and read.

Congratulations son! We are very pleased with you!

How's your Bible reading going? Do you read it daily? once per week? whenever you feel like it?

I used to have difficulty reading the Bible especially if I started with Genesis and decided to go through to Revelation. I used to start out with a bang and then got bogged down in Numbers because well...it's all about numbers. Then I would fuzz out, trail off and not pick it up because I would get discouraged.

There are several Bible reading programs out there that are free and easy to use. There are even apps for the iPhone that make this an easy task. If you've never considered a Chronological Bible, try one of those. The books are arranged according to when they occurred and it really gives a fresh perspective on the history of mankind when read chronologically.

If you aren't actively engaged in reading your Bible except for the few passages your pastor may read on Sunday during the service, why is that? Do you watch TV? How many hours per week do you spend with your eyes glazed over staring at the non-edifying programming? Trust me, there is plenty of time to diligently study the Word of God. I am a wife and manage our home as well as homeschool 4 kids (3 middle schoolers and one elementary schooler), take care of all the bookkeeping (9 accounts), monthly taxes and quarterly taxes for our business, teach 7th-8th grade students in BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) and am involved in civic groups where I live, I blog, and read other books as well (I average around 100 books per year). I still find time to read my Bible. I gained 20 hours of my life back per week by cutting out television watching!

When I was a child, the TV was on all day and evening. It produced nothing good in me. Instead, it took me years to break the bondage I had to that stupid box. We don't have satellite or cable and I no longer watch any television show at all. I haven't for almost 6 years. We do watch an occasional movie together as a family but there are days the television doesn't even come on.

I say this for two reasons: 1) to encourage you to evaluate your time spent and 2) to encourage you to be diligent.

The system my family and I are using is Professor Horner's Bible reading system. You can access it here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/12349985/Professor-Grant-Horners-Bible-Reading-System. I would suggest laminating the bookmarks because they are going to get curled really fast if not. Also, you will need a pencil to circle the chapter you stopped at so you know where to pick up the next day.

I will tell you that I started out using this system with my study Bible. After realizing the impracticality of toting this voluminous tome with me if I wanted to go to an evangelistic outlet, I purchased a Bible just for the reading that would be easily transportable. Thus, I started over again. You're not trying to get an award or make sure God doesn't kick you out of heaven (as if that could happen), it's just a discipline that every Christian walking towards maturity should aim for. The point of Professor Horner's reading system is to read your Bible so frequently that you become familiar with what side of the page certain passages are on because you've read it frequently. I'm glad that I got a smaller Bible with the nuts and bolts. There is no commentary and it is thin and easy to transport. So, I strongly support is recommendation to "pick a Bible and stick with that one."

Lastly, if you still believe that you can't do it break it down by reading 5 chapters per day- just do something! My son spoke no English 4 years ago and came from a country that is not friendly to the Gospel. He'd never heard of God, the Bible, Jesus, none of the patriarchs, nor did he know that Zacchaeus was a wee little man. The Word of God transformed him! Allow it to transform you as well!

What motivates you to share the Gospel?

2010-04-08T10:00:00.001-04:00

If you say that you're a Christian yet you never or rarely share the Gospel, can you really say that you're an authentic, follower of Christ? Before the hackles raise on the back of your neck, hear me out. I used to get offended when someone would suggest that I wasn't being obedient at best and not a Christian at worst if I rarely or NEVER shared the Gospel. As far as I was concerned, it wasn't my job because I didn't have the spiritual gift of evangelism. I'd taken a written test administered by my church to discern my spiritual gift and it said I didn't have that one! Whew!

Besides, that is where my offering money went every Sunday- to support missionaries. I was going to let them do their job. Later, I attended a church where the preacher said point blank, "You bring them here and we'll do the rest." In other words, it wasn't my job to share the Gospel because I might mess it up and it was best left to the professionals (a.k.a. the pastor.)

Have I stepped on any toes yet? Let me take it a step further. I believe with every fiber of my being that if you are not regularly sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others you do not fully understand the Gospel. Matthew 28:16-20 is the passage known as the "Great Commission" where Jesus sends his disciples forth to spread the news of the Gospel. This is also directed at any believer in Christ. This is our mission.

There are only two conclusions to draw if you do not regularly share the Gospel with others. Either you understand the great price that was paid for you that you were unable to pay because you had violated the standard set out to guarantee your admittance to heaven and eternal fellowship and worship with God which compels you to share this news or you don't understand it. Period.

It is unconscionable to state that you are a believer and you are fully aware that anyone who dies apart from repentance and faith in Christ will spend eternity in hell and not be moved by genuine care and concern for others and yet still refrain from sharing the Gospel.

The assertion that people, "can see by my life" is a very weak position as well. There are MANY happy pagans in the world- people who are happy with their life the way it is and thus see no need for a Savior. We are commanded to be ready to give an answer for what we believe and why we believe it. I have never had anyone come up to me and say, "I want what you have."

This clip is very provocative as it gets to the heart of what motivates this young man to share the Gospel. Watch and examine your heart and ask, "What is my motive for sharing the Gospel?" and if you don't share the Gospel by opening your mouth to tell others, why aren't you?

Ichthus is coming!

2010-04-06T12:03:00.008-04:00

One of the best evangelistic opportunities East of the Mississippi is coming in June 2010! I had some of the best evangelism encounters I'd ever had at this Festival last June. Everyone is saved at Ichthus. (wink, wink.)

If you've never shared the Gospel this will be one of the easiest and most difficult places to share the Gospel that you've ever encountered. Let me explain. Many are Gospel hardened. They've heard it all so many times before that they think they understand when in actuality they have no clue. Others are just there for the bands that will play and are there to listen to predominately a "feel good" message from those who have a mic. The easy part is due to the fact that it's labeled "Christian," most atheists or people that you're afraid you'll encounter aren't going to be there. It makes it a lot easier to begin a conversation about Jesus at a venue marketed as Christian.

If you live anywhere near Wilmore, Kentucky (15 minutes South of Nicholasville) consider going and sharing the Gospel. I had some of the most sincere but profoundly ignorant people suddenly go silent as they realized that they had NEVER heard the Gospel before. One young man believed that because he was part of his youth group that he was saved. Seriously.

I'm sure there are people that are true converts, but from handing out 600 tracts and having one-on-one conversations with 30 people in 4 hours I discovered that after I asked, "So, if I had a knife in my back and 2 minutes to live and wanted to go to heaven, what would you tell me? What must I do to be saved?" Many just stared and then you heard crickets begin to chirp in the background. Even after gentle prompting they still couldn't articulate the Gospel message on even a basic level. I ran into only ONE young man who not only could articulate the basics, but claimed to have read his Bible regularly and seemed to understand. I was so saddened. There were approximately 10,000 people there that week-end.

The ones I did share the Gospel with were sincerely appreciative. Not one person got angry or offended. Yes, the Gospel is an offense to our status quo way of living, but when presented Biblically, it is the best news ever and is received with joy when God has prepared the heart to receive.

Here's an idea if you're looking to get your feet wet sharing the Gospel. Look for Christian music festivals, outdoor concerts, amusement parks hosting Christian musicians this summer. Remember, they probably aren't going to be hostile to the Gospel because it's a Christian venue. Buy a ticket and plan on attending. Pray that your heart will be right, prepare to walk in obedience and share the Gospel biblically with those you encounter, grab your tracts and go!

Here are some tips that were helpful for me when sharing in a venue that is labeled "Christian." You might ask them, "If I had 2 minutes to live what would you tell me I must do to be saved?" If they say, "Accept Jesus and believe." Prod further and see if they have actually done that. It's a good springboard to explain repentance and walking in obedience. If they say they are pretty good, take them through the "Good Person Test." Encourage them to read all of 1 John to see if they are producing fruit. Explain that being an active member in the youth group won't save them.

Another question that was really successful was, "When was the last time you read your Bible?" Everyone of them except one young man either couldn't remember, or it had been weeks, and one person didn't even know where their Bible was!

One thing I noticed when taking young people (uh, let me define young as anyone under 23)through the Good Person Test was many of them answered, "No," when asked if they had stolen anything (breaking the 8th commandment). Yet, if you asked them, "Have you ever downloaded music or a movie from the Internet illegally?" their heads dropped and they said, "Yes." Many people, even young ones want to justify their actions by believing since they didn't commit a bank heist then they haven't stolen.

The two most popular tracts were the "Curved Illusion" tract and the "Celebrity Teen Million Dollar Bill" tract. Take plenty of them because they ask for more! Goto my links on the right side of the page under "tracts" to purchase some of your own.

To see hi lights from last year's experience:
http://chipperfisher.blogspot.com/2009/07/ichthus-festival-pt-1.html

Click on "July 2009" to view the five part series on my experience at Ichthus 2009 which better demonstrates just a very small sampling of what you may encounter.

I encourage you to take time during vacations this summer to make a deliberate effort to share the Gospel.

Sharing the Gospel at the Mall

2010-04-03T18:59:00.002-04:00

I have personally walked the streets of L.A. with these two sisters. If you only knew their hearts and could hear their stories you'd be encouraged and know they are the "real deal." Are you looking for places to share the Gospel and uncertain where to go or do you want to try some place new? Try going to your local mall and handing out Gospel tracts in the mall. Listen to Stuart as he explains some of the Supreme Court decisions in your favor which allow you to engage in conversation and share the Gospel. Where necessary, go through the proper channels if a mechanism is in place to allow such activity but, don't shy away from sharing the Gospel. Your goal isn't to "save" people- only God can do that. We are called to obediently share the hope we have within, He will do the rest.

Chinese Food and the Gospel

2010-01-04T14:50:00.009-05:00

This year has already started out much better than 2009 ever was! Today we had the sweetest thing happen I'd like to share with you. My husband came home to pick me up to take me out to lunch. When we returned our oldest son told us this story.

We had left for our lunch date and our kids were supposed to make lunch for themselves. They decided they wanted Chinese food today and wanted to know if they could order take out since they had never ordered on their own before. I told them that if they wanted to order this, they would be using their own money since we had food in the house. They couldn't get off the phone fast enough! They called a place a few miles up the road and ordered General Tso's Chicken- their favorite!

When it was delivered, they tipped the guy well and stuck a million dollar bill in with the tip. This is a principle that we've hammered into them- tip well if you leave a tract. There have been too many cheap and tacky Christians that have come before us that give Christianity a bad name.

Our oldest noticed that the delivery man sat in his car reading for just a moment before he took off. Since he didn't want to sit there staring at him from the front door, he assumed he was reading the tract and went to divide the food. About five minutes after the delivery man had left they received a call from an unknown number. Our oldest son answered and it was the man calling from his cell phone on the way back to the restaurant! The delivery man said, "Thank you for the million dollars." Our son said, "You're welcome. Glad you liked it." Then he said that the gentleman laughed and said, "This is a good day in my life- I now have a million dollars." It was as simple as that and then the conversation was over.

Lest you think that he was going to cash it at the bank- it was a celebrity million. There is no way that it could have been thought of as one million REAL dollars with a cartoon caricature of a Hollywood movie star on it.

It's a new year. Make sharing the Gospel a priority in your life this year. Pray that God would allow you to not be ashamed of the Gospel but to share it biblically and frequently this year. Buy a package of tracts and see if you can give out the whole package in a month. It works out to about 3 tracts per day. You never know how God will use that tract. It encouraged our son tremendously! I can't guarantee that you will have people calling you back on their cell phones thanking you for them, but right now while we still have the freedom, take advantage of every opportunity you have to share the Gospel.

Everyday Club- update

2009-12-22T22:01:00.004-05:00

Well, how are you doing? Have you been handing out Gospel tracts? Have you been intentionally trying to engage people in conversation?

I've been trying to hand out tracts every day this month or engage people in conversation. The highlight of this month happened when I got to phone fish for Ambassador's Alliance Radio. That was really fun and it really stretched me. I had about twenty-five minutes to find someone. So, I prayed God would send me a fish in less than 20 minutes. He did it and two people got to hear the Gospel. One of the most difficult places to share the Gospel, in my opinion, is the South. So many people are Gospel hardened. They have heard it all before since they were in diapers and they don't believe it applies to them because they are basically good people who go to church.

I have handed out some tracts everyday so far. I have been to a Festival and handed out hundreds and then I went to Sam's Club today and handed out two. You want consistency not quantity. If you've never handed out a tract, try it. If you can't muster up the courage, try stuffing them in magazines or books at stores you visit.

I look forward to the new year. I have had a lot of growth through a most difficult situation. I believe it has changed how I view situations and people and hope that it will help me to continue to never quit. Looking forward to the New Year, I hope to be more consistent about sharing my experiences in hope that it will encourage you to share your faith.

Everyday Club

2009-12-15T11:09:00.006-05:00

One of the best ways to be consistent about sharing your faith is handing out Gospel tracts- they always know what to say and never get tongue-tied. I joined Steve Sanchez's everyday club earlier this year. Click here if you want to check out his blog: http://stonethepreacher.com/category/everyday-club. The goal is not to engage in sanctimonious, pharisetical tally marks. It's just to be used to help you stay actively committed to sharing the Gospel.

Well, I made it to December and while I know I've been more obedient this year and shared my faith consistently and biblically, I have never had a month that I handed out a tract EVERY single day. There are just days I don't leave the house. I work from home and don't always need to go out. God, isn't going to strike me dead if I don't. It's a condition of the heart. I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could engage in conversations about Christ and if I could hand out a Gospel tract EVERY day.

So, this month I promised I would get in my car every day and go somewhere, anywhere and hand out tracts. I also wanted to challenge myself to try to hand out tracts everyday since I had never done that before.

So, here it is the 15th of December and I'm 100%! I have handed out a tract at least every day and when possible, I try to engage in conversation. Pray that I am able to meet my goal and not miss a single day. I'm still thinking about where to go on Christmas Day since almost everything will be closed. But, there is a truck stop on the interstate about 15 miles from here. So, if I have to I'll go there. You know, it says we should take the Gospel to the highways and the biways... :)

It's Called Christmas

2009-12-09T08:51:00.002-05:00

Just thought I'd share a humorous reminder of what the Christmas season is all about.

Origin into Schools Project- the video

2009-11-21T06:44:00.000-05:00

Here is a video account of our experience distributing Darwin's "Origin of Species" book on the campus of the University of Kentucky.

The Origin Project- It was a success!

2009-11-18T15:48:00.010-05:00

On November 18, 2009, I was privileged to be a part of the "Origin into Schools Project" on the campus of University of Kentucky. I was on team 2 which was comprised of 15 people. We were on central campus and and our team was given 432 books to distribute. We were in place a few minutes before the class change began. We distributed all of our books in under 15 minutes. It had been raining all morning. We prayed that it would stop. It reduced to a drizzle and then stopped altogether!

Here's a small sample of the crowds we encountered. Many would just stop and read right there.

Here's Theo and Bis handing out copies just as fast as people were coming up the main thoroughfare. No one ripped out the 50 page introduction proclaiming the Gospel. We only found three in the garbage cans. We pulled them out, dried them off and handed them out.

Here's Kaitlyn handing out her copies. This is actually a few minutes before class let out and the crowds really began en masse.

What I love most about this picture is the fact that the rain stopped! It started up again at the very end but the other teams only had a few boxes left. All 1000 copies were distributed in less than 30 minutes and less than 5% of the people we handed them to rejected them.

Bill handed out this stack of 10 in less than 2 minutes and was back for more. We were positioned near the Department of Anthropology, the Natural Science building and the main lecture building, White Hall. In all, we experienced very little opposition. Only one atheist engaged someone in our group and conceded that yes, in a country where thinking and speech are free, we should be allowed to hand them out.

Here is the group photo for our team. We had Carrie, Elizabeth, Katie, Michael, Bill, Theo, Kaitlyn, Bis, Hannah, Kirsten, Jonathan, Christian, Hunter, Misty, and me handing them out.

This is a picture of the group in front of the Department of Anthropology. Only Kaitlyn and her boys are missing because they had an appointment elsewhere. On a side note, Misty and her family drove 1 1/2 hours from Eastern Kentucky to participate and Brian and his team drove 1 1/2 hours from Western Kentucky to participate. Way to go! It was a privilege to serve together today!

We handed some giant money tracts and other types of tracts to individuals as we left campus. We estimated we handed out 150 tracts while exiting campus. These two individuals just stood there reading the tract for the longest time.

After it was all over, someone called from the Kentucky Kernal, the campus newspaper, wanting more information about what we were doing and why. I directed her to http://www.livingwaters.com/ where she could find out more information. If you would like to read the 50 page introduction that Ray wrote or would like more information on the Origin into Schools project please visit Living Waters' website where you can find more information and read the pdf file for free.

A sister shares on the street corner

2009-10-26T16:02:00.004-04:00

My friend Diane Lytle shared the Gospel on the street corner adjacent to a fall festival. Listen to her voice- she is kind, and concerned. She isn't foaming at the mouth and screaming at people. Observe the people at 2:09 into the video as the camera pans. Do these people look angry? How many people do you think heard that Gospel message that day? How many of those people do you think will be in heaven because of the seed she planted? Watch the video and consider what she says and how she says it?

Not everyone has to preach from a street corner, but are you at least sharing the Gospel with those around you whenever you have the opportunity? I have to confess, I still do not take advantage of every opportunity. I don't know why I sometimes avoid situation where I know the Gospel needs to be proclaimed. Diane encourages me to consistently share the Gospel and to not worry about what others think because if I do that then I am more concerned about my comfort than their souls. God, forbid!

At the very least, buy some tracts and hand them out to people or leave them wherever you go- restaurants, shopping malls, parking lots, etc. Halloween is coming up. Buy some tracts to place in the bags of the children coming for candy. Surely, you can do that. Just give it a try.

Encouragement to share the Gospel

2009-10-24T14:12:00.003-04:00

Paul Latour just simply stood on a street corner with a cross that asked, "Are you ready?" He was able to share with two teen boys who aked, "Ready for what?"

Evangelism doesn't have to be fancy, but you actually have to do it. Was his method offensive to you? It didn't seem to offend those who saw him over the hour he stood there. Try it. Be encouraged. Be faithful.

How would you like $20,000?

2009-10-13T18:46:00.007-04:00

Origin into Schools Project

2009-10-10T10:34:00.006-04:00

Please join me for a project that is sure to have an incredible impact on this entire nation. On November 22, 2009 the world will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's publication of the book "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life," more often referred to as "Origin of the Species." Living Waters publications will be publishing and distributing thousands of copies of the book free on our campuses across America on November 19th. Please watch the video below for more details.

After watching the video, if you would like to be involved with the effort to distribute them at the University of Kentucky, please e-mail me at chipperfisher@gmail.com for more details.

Encouragement to all moms!

2009-10-07T13:19:00.005-04:00

In a day and time when women are told that there is no worth or value in being "just" a mom, take heart. There is a great call on our lives to raise Godly children. This is not to say that women should never work outside the home- even the Proverbs 31 woman was a woman of business. Your influence may be some children's only experience with anything resembling God is when their lives are touched by a Godly woman in their school, civic oraganization or sports team. However, if you are not in the workforce and staying home to raise your children, never let anyone frustrate you or make you feel inferior for obeying the clear calling you have on your life during this season of raising Godly children to serve Him!

Our son made his public profession of faith!

2009-10-05T09:19:00.006-04:00

On October 4, 2009, our youngest son made his public profession of faith! He had shared with us a month or so ago that he had prayed and asked the Lord to forgive his sins and make him a child of God. We had no idea that he would make a public profession on Sunday. We've never pushed him because we truly believe Salvation belongs to the Lord. We also don't want a false convert- one who goes forward either because of pressure or to please someone else only to fall away when they get older. So when he whispered to my husband that he wanted to go forward we were pleased but surprised.

This is our pastor asking him to tell the congregation that he is a believer and has believed that Jesus has taken his sins away and granted him eternal life.

Our pastor prayed with him and our entire family after he made his profession. It was truly a beautiful day! We will make arrangements for him to be baptized in the future, as we are currently meeting in a school.

We have seen much evidence of true conversion in him. We normally don't tell people we meet that he came to our family through the gift of adoption. But, I believe it is important to share his story so that you can fully appreciate where he began.

We first met him in December of 2005 in an orphanage in rural Russia. He was a tiny 8 year old boy with an infectious smile. When he came home in April 2006 as our forever son, we began explaining to him the reality of God. He had never heard of Jesus and had no knowledge of the typical stories most children do. No songs about Zaccheus being a wee little man or Father Abraham having many sons. In fact, he had never heard of Jesus, Noah, Adam, Moses or any of the people in the Bible that most children in America are acquainted with from a young age. He just had an intense longing to have a question that had been burning in his mind while in Russia answered: Where did all the people, trees, and animals come from?

He said he had asked people over in Russia, but no one knew the answer. In 2006, when he came home, we studied Romans. By the time we had gotten through the first few chapters he exclaimed, "It is God!" The light came on and he has studied the Bible diligently ever since.

We have studied Romans, the life of Moses by studying Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, the life of Jesus by studying Matthew, and this year we are studying the book of John. He reads his Bible every day for about an hour and has for sometime. He reads about 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes before bed and will read the entire Bible 1 1/2 times this year on his reading program. He doesn't read under compulsion but because he genuinely desires to see what happened next.

We see fruit in his life as he looks for ways to be a servant to his family. We so infrequently have to discipline him. He is eager to take on responsibility and a joy to be around.

Our lives are blessed beyond measure and it is an honor and privilege I do not deserve. My life is better having had the privilege of having him as my son. We love you son and are thrilled and pleased that God has answered our prayers over the past four years for your salvation. To God be the Glory!

Fishing this Saturday 10/10

2009-10-05T09:16:00.002-04:00

If you are in the Central Kentucky area and would like to join a group of us on Saturday, e-mail me at chipperfisher@gmail.com or check out the calendar for details. We are going to a Hispanic Festival that begins at 11:00 am. Come join us!

Tracting Hotels

2009-10-05T08:47:00.001-04:00

In the past, when I stayed in a hotel I would leave a tract or two around the room. This last time I stayed in a hotel room I wondered just how many tracts I could place around the room. Did you know you can unload a pack of 100 in minutes? Stick them under the cushions of furniture.

Tuck several in the literature they give to you about the hotel, attractions, and dining.

Of course, there's always the nightstand. We didn't see a Gideon Bible in the room so at least there was a tract.

Someone is going to get a surprise when they turn on the air unit in the room!

I like tucking things underneath other items so you can barely see the edge of the bill.

You can tuck them in the valance and draperies in the room. If God wants them to find it He'll guide their eyes.

I took advantage of the cabinetry and the microwave in the room as well.

There were plenty of places in the bathroom too. I laid a few out in the open for housekeeping to find. After I was done, I earnestly prayed that God would guide the individuals to find these and that the seed would be planted.

If you have still never shared your faith or if you are working up the courage too, you can easily put tracts in the places you visit. Your faith and boldness will be strengthened by your obedience. Go ahead and try it if you haven't already. When you've placed the tracts, pray that God will cause people who need Him to find them and pray that He will increase your boldness and obedience to share the Gospel.

Calvin, Mike, and Gary...the rest of the story

2009-10-03T08:18:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, I shared with you the story of Calvin, Mike, and Gary. I thought you'd like to know the rest of the story...

A few weeks ago, I'd contacted a friend to see if our daughters could get together to play. Since we live on opposite sides of town, about 30 minutes apart, we agreed upon a halfway point so she could pick up my daughter and take her to her house. We agreed that we'd meet at this grocery store in the parking lot. I had no intention of going in or doing any shopping. I only happened to be on this side of town because my son was taking a science course on Thursdays at a church down the street from this location. After his class was over, I was to meet them in the parking lot. Before I got there I got a call from a friend whose whole family had been battling either the flu or allergies for weeks. I thought, "I'm right here at the store and she lives so close I might as well pick up some medicine for her and the kids so she didn't have to go out." On my way out of the store that I never would have gone into had my friend not been ill nor had I not had to meet a friend for a playdate rendezvous, I met Calvin and Mike.

Knowing that I would need to pick up my daughter again, my friend and I had agreed a few days prior to pick up at the same place. From the time I had left the two gentlemen, my other 3 kids and I dropped the medicine off to my sick friend. We then went out for a quick bite to eat and headed home. I had several things that needed to be done before I had to drive back over to pick up my daughter.

Then it hit me- would those guys still be there later in the afternoon? If they were, I would be able to give them the books and materials! I prayed that God would let it be. When the time came for me to pick up my daughter 5 hours later, guess who was still standing in the same spot? Calvin and Mike!

I gave them the books before I picked up my daughter. I also handed them some curved illusion tracts and a few others. I explained that Way of the Master would teach them about the fallacy of the modern Gospel. Hell's Best Kept Secret had a study guide in it so that he could lead others and One Heartbeat Away was a book geared primarily to the unsaved but has excellent ways to share the Gospel with them and answers many questions. Calvin was thrilled to get his hands on them! He said he'd already handed out some tracts since I'd seen him last!

As I was driving away, Calvin was already engrossed in the book! When I think back about all the things that God orchestrated I know that everything is for His Glory. Remember, Calvin and Mike live in another state several hours away. Who knew that God would bring them to a different state so that I would run into them at a store in which I never shop on a side of town that I am rarely on so that these eager men would learn to share the Gospel in a Biblical manner? I know I don't truly know them, but I have never seen anyone who was not a Christian ever so thrilled by our conversation, amazed to see resources available (like tracts) that they were unaware of and eager to share the Gospel as these two men. What a blessed day!

Calvin, Mike, and Gary

2009-10-02T13:41:00.001-04:00

I was running into a grocery store today to pick up some medicine for a friend. On my way out, I was asked by these gentleman if I would like to donate to support a ministry that helped men stay off the streets and stay clean and sober. Meet Calvin and Mike. Calvin is on the left and Mike is on the right.

I asked if they were Christians. They emphatically and enthusiastically answered, "Yes." They had their Bibles on the table and I could see that they had gotten some use as they were worn and marked up. But, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I asked, "Do you share your faith?" Calvin said he did and said he often goes and shares on the streets and shares wherever he goes. I was intrigued. I asked, "When you share the Gospel with people, what do you tell them?" He said that he would tell them that they needed to give their lives to Jesus so they would have a better life. I said, "So you might tell them to come to Jesus because they will have love, joy, peace...right?" He said, "Yes, exactly."

I began by asking if I could share something with them to which they replied, "Sure." I told them that years ago, whenever I wasn't a chicken and mustered up courage, I would share the Gospel by enticing people with all the good stuff of Christ by sharing with others the same way they were sharing until I found out that I was only giving them half the story. They were all ears. So I asked them, "If you could travel back in time to September 10, 2001 and talk to all the people who were going to die in the twin towers on September 11th, could you still preach the same message that they were going to have lives filled with love, joy, and peace?" They said, "I see what you're saying. No, you really couldn't say that could you."

I began with a scenario I thought they could relate to. I said pretend that you go to the doctor for a check-up and then as you were leaving the doctor casually mentions he had some medicine he wanted you to take and said nothing more. You take the medicine and quite frankly, it tastes bitter. You think, "I was feeling fine to begin with so I probably don't need to take this anymore. Besides, I hate the bitter aftertaste." You go to the doctor sometime later and he asks if you are still taking the medicine that he prescribed from your last visit. You tell the doctor that you didn't really like how it tasted and thought you didn't need it because you were feeling fine. When the doctor describes to you that you had 10 clear symptoms that he noticed from your last visit you begin to get concerned. He then tells you that the medicine he gave you was the cure and without it you will die. You're horrified as you realize what you've done!

I asked them if this made sense to them. They said it really did as I explained that when we give people the cure without convincing them that they are ill they are not as likely to follow through with the cure. What we need is contained in the Word of God and sometimes what the Word reveals is a bitter pill to swallow.

So, I took them through the law and after they admitted they were lying thieving, blasphemous, adulterers at heart I took them before the bench of Eternal Justice. I had them stand before God, and they saw that the law didn't help them but left them helpless before a holy and just God.

They really understood and I then asked them if they had been told to not use the law nor mention hell or judgment when sharing their faith because it would be offensive to the listener.

Calvin said, "This absolutely is what I've been taught, but what you're saying makes more sense. I'm seeing that when you tell someone in the manner that you do it's just not offensive." I said, "That's right! Because again, the patient is never going to listen or want the cure if they are never convinced they are ill."

I went back to the courtroom before God the judge and gave them some different scenarios to consider. I asked Mike and Calvin what they think would happen if I were standing before a judge on murder charges, but before he passed sentence I told the judge, "Judge, I know you're a good judge and I want to let you know that before I got here this morning I washed and detailed your car and even armorall on the tires. I'm sure you'll take this into consideration before passing sentence and I'm sure you'll let me go." They said there was no judge in the land that would let you go if you did that. I agreed and told them in fact, what I was doing was bribing the judge and that is what we do when we try to say we hope our good works will get us into heaven.

Calvin stopped me and asked, "Are you a teacher? Do you teach this to people? You ought to teach this to people. How can I find out how to do what you're doing? I have so many people that I need to share this with and teach them!" I gave them my website and told them that if they e-mailed me their address I would mail them several books and resources. I found out that they are from Colombus, Ohio several hours North of where I live. He was very familiar with the Word and as I brought out different scriptures the light was coming on and they were more excited.

The more I shared I would pause and ask if what I was telling them made sense. They agreed enthusiastically and we continued. So, I told them that when sharing with people who say they are going to use their good works to get into heaven, all they are doing is trying to bribe God. I said your good works come from a grateful heart that responds in obedience to the extravagant sacrifice that was offered on your behalf by God Himself through Jesus Christ His son but they are never used as the means by which you are granted eternal life.

I then reached into my wallet and gave them all the tracts I had and showed them how to use them. I gave them several million dollar bills and told them to just give them to someone simply by asking, "Did you get one of these?" I showed them that the entire Gospel message was on the back and that it was goof-proof because million dollar question was on the back. They grinned and were asking questions about how exactly do you do this to a complete stranger. At that moment, a man walked out of the store and donated something to their bucket and got a package of crackers and lingered. I looked at Calvin and whispered, "Try it." He grabbed a tract, gave it to me and said, "Here, you do it."

Gary

So I gave him a million dollar bill, told the gentleman it was part of the economic stimulus package, and answered that it was a Gospel tract when he asked. I asked if he were to die would he go to heaven. He said he didn't know but supposed that he should probably get saved before he dies. I introduced myself and he told me his name was Gary. I said Gary, "You don't know when you're going to die because you could be in your car going home and die in a wreck before you get saved. Doesn't that concern you?" He said it sure did. I took him through the law, the courtroom of Eternal Justice, and gave him grace. After I concluded, he said it was definitely something to think about, held onto the tract, thanked me and left.

I am certain that God sent that very man at that very moment to not only hear the Gospel but to show Calvin and Mike that people don't get angry when the Gospel is shared Biblically. I asked them, "Did he get angry at me? yell at me? spit in my face? curse me? beat me up?" They saw that when the Gospel is shared Biblically people are usually left speechless and contemplative.

We talked some more and I told them to give them law and then grace because sharing one without the other comes across as either harsh or produces false converts. Calvin truly understood and commented about the ones who didn't seem to finish the race because they got off the path. We talked about false conversion and worldy sorrow versus Godly sorrow. I had such a wonderful time with them. They were so enthusiastically receptive. I told them that I was going to go to my car and give them something.

On a side note...

I learned today to always make sure you have enough books! I was so frustrated that I didn't have any more WOTM books, but I cleaned out my tract stash in the center console. Besides tracts, make sure you check your stash of books and CD's before you leave home!

I had my son walk over with me as I gave them a bag of tracts and take a picture of us. Calvin asked if I had a ministry because he'd like to support it. I laughed as I told him no because I have never had anyone say that before. He asked if I would pray with them before I left. We prayed right then and there and then I left.

I wanted so badly to get those books into their hands. If only there was a way...

Lesson Learned

2009-10-01T14:35:00.005-04:00

Many of you may not know that this year has been extremely difficult for our family. The difficulties that we have experienced have not been of our doing. However, through it we have learned some really valuable lessons with regard to how we respond while in the midst of a prolonged continual trial.

It's so easy to have a difficulty arise and say you've given it to the Lord to handle and then look back once you've been through it and say, "Ah, I trusted the Lord and He got me through it." It is something entirely different when there is something that is thrust upon you, that you had no part in and in spite of efforts towards resolution and reconciliation, it only intensifies and keeps going.

What do you do? I learned many years ago when I was facing difficulty running, not walking, to the Psalms and reading them or singing praises to the Lord really helps refocus my thoughts and emotions. However, I have recently added something that I will do in addition to reading, praying and singing to the Lord. I believe another way to help us stay deliberately focused on CHRIST and not focused on our problem or difficulty is to go share the Gospel. Before you think, that is a really whacked out response or that I am disconnected from reality or trying to be "super spiritual" I'm not. It's just that the reality of what I claim was not consistent with what I believed. If I cower from a situation because I fear then I am allowing the fear to rule the situation and govern my actions.

Our family (my husband and children and myself) have experienced a situation that has caused us to be fearful for our lives. But, I have realized that I loved my life more than I ought. What happens if, for example, a gunman were to walk in and mow us down at a school, university, or gym? We get promoted, right? Why do I fear man (or woman) in this way? I shouldn't. It has caused me to understand more what is said in Mark 8:34-38,

34Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

Particularly, v.35 stands out to me.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

In an effort of self-preservation I have avoided facing a difficult situation. I have allowed fear of death to prevent me from pushing through circumstances that may or may not result in this. I was listening to Mark Cahill address a group of college students about the Virginia Tech shootings that had happened. He challenged them by asking, "If the Virginia Tech shooter were to walk in this room right now, what would you do?" Most people would want to hit the ground. He challenged the students with the thought, "What if you could stop the gunman either by addressing him by name (as was the case with the boy who confronted Michael Carneal in the Paducah, Kentucky shootings) or would you and a group of men ambush the attacker while he reloaded instead of preserving your own life, knowing that you may die trying?"

He wasn't talking about stupidity that would run right into the cross-fire and take a bullet nor was he talking about placing yourself in harm's way for the sake of placing yourself in danger. That is foolishness of the highest degree. However, the deeper truth he was trying to convey was this: Do you value your life so much that you spend the majority of your life and allow the decisions you make to benefit you with the goal of preserving the life you have now, this side of eternity? Think about it for a moment. What are you doing in your life that is causing you to cling to THIS life you have now? My best life is not nor ever will be now! My best life is going to be on the other side of eternity. While I have known this I don't believe that I have ever understood the depth of this truth until my own life has been dredged this past year.

When experiencing a trial there is always collateral damage. There are unintended consequences to your life or things you suffer as a result of the difficulty. Today, I had that Helen-Keller-at-the-water-well experience as I understood that I have got to get out of "life preservation mode" and make certain that my focus and objective are not obscured by circumstance. I shared the Gospel today with two brothers in Christ who, while trying to walk in obedience, were only giving part of the Gospel. I have been sharing the Gospel this past year, but I also have allowed my problem to make me more lazy and less inclined to be obedient. I also have avoided the problem for fear of what the outcome may be.

Obviously, because I haven't revealed the details of our difficulty it seems somewhat enigmatic. Suffice it to say, I finally learned the lesson today that despite the trial or fear you believe you may feel as a result of it, God has never called us to be obedient whenever things are going our way or easy for us. I've known that on some level but never comprehended it at the depth I did today.

In a deliberate effort to establish habits that are God-honoring I will probably start sharing the Gospel when I am experiencing extreme difficulty, or saddened, or fearful. That is the one sure cure for making certain that I maintain my laserbeam-like focus on being obedient to the Lord no matter what. Lesson learned.

World's Worst Sermon Ever

2009-09-24T15:50:00.002-04:00

Please, don't ever do this. Please, don't. Unfortunately, this guy doesn't even know what he is talking about, but it is a good laugh.

Halloween Tracts

2009-09-20T20:14:00.005-04:00

Now is the time to order your Halloween tracts! Then, in November, check back because most tract sites will put them on sale so you can stock up for next year. While your at it, you might want to order your Christmas Cash as well. http://www.customtractsource.com/ has some "Creepy Cash" tracts to hand out during this season. www.livingwaters.com also has seasonal tracts.

Here are some ideas for handing out tracts during October:

Fall Festivals
Public Haunted Houses (Usually a civic group sponsors these)
See if your city has a Halloween Express which is a temporary costume store and hand them out to people entering and leaving the store.
Check your city's calendar of events and see if there are any re-enactments of Michael Jackson's Thriller video. Our city has re enacted "Thriller" for the last few years.
Then, of course, everyone is thrilled to get these tracts during the Halloween season.
Goto churches and hand them out if they are hosting a Trunk or Treat alternative to typical trick or treating.
Hand them out with the candy to little trick or treaters. People DO read them because we watched several people stop in the middle of the street and read them to the end.
Give some to your bank teller. My bank actually like my seasonal tracts. Only a moron would try use a bill with Frankenstein on it for cash.
Parades your city or town may have. Hand them out up an down the parade route.

I'm sure you can think of several more places to hand them out but just be diligent and DO IT!
This is one of the easiest times to talk about Christ because images of death are all around. If you want to see some experiences I had last year, check out these posts. I posted a 5 part series on the Little Five Points area of Atlanta. Here is the link to part 1. http://chipperfisher.blogspot.com/2008/10/little-five-points-welcome-to-hell.html

Also, another thing you can do is print out some cards yourself from www.deathbeth.com. After you go to the website, click on the button "Tell someone else" on the 2nd page and print some cards to hand out.

You have about 45 days so get some tracts, get ready, and just do it!

Pre-game tracting

2009-09-19T09:52:00.004-04:00

Now that football season is upon us, there are thousands of people across the nation that are paying homage to their particular football team every Saturday. One of the things that is obvious is going and handing out tracts to the tailgaters that are involved in pre-game activities.

If you have a major university near you, consider handing out tracts there or getting a team together to go actively hit the crowds that are sure to be there. One thing to consider, if you have tickets to the game, you really should get there 2-4 hours in advance NOT to get a good spot, but to witness. Be bold! If you are just going for the game and nothing else, you really aren't being faithful to the Gospel or obedient to the call that we each have on our lives.

An idea that I just got had to do with the day before the game. Go to your local grocery store or major liquor retailer in your area and stuff tracts in the beer boxes the day before or evening before the game. There is always a rush on alcohol purchases right before a game. When I do regular grocery shopping, I usually cram tracts in the beer aisle or let the kids do it but I have never thought to make a concerted effort to target the beer aisle or liquor stores right before a game. I'm sure many others have already figured this out a long time ago, but since I'm not a big sports fan, I never really made the connection.

I believe this would be an excellent way to begin sharing the Gospel if you are new, still trying to work up courage to be bold or just wanting to walk in further obedience. So get a game schedule of the days that your particular University is playing and cram tons of tracts in these boxes. Can you just imagine the conversation that may result from someone getting the box you put a tract in and they bring it to a tailgating party? Could it cause them to think about their spiritual future? God will use anything he chooses to bring a sinner to repentance for His glory.

Heading for Deeper!

2009-09-11T10:48:00.002-04:00

Postings have been sparse lately due to school starting again and other things like taxes and a consignment sale I participated in. But after the Deeper conference, things return to normal. I want to share photos and the experience we had at the Winchester Pioneer Days Festival last week-end and several other experience. I should be getting these up within the next week or so.

We're heading for the Deeper conference as we speak! (www.deeperconference.com) This is coming to you from I-75- I love mobile broad band. :) We will be there in about 30 minutes.

Keep everyone in your prayers as we will be heading out after the last session to downtown Atlanta for some evangelism with "The 500."

An inconvenient truth

2009-09-02T15:26:00.001-04:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Former Muslim girl fears for her life

2009-08-22T21:26:00.003-04:00

Is this the peace loving religion that we've been told is Islam? Even if this girl was just making up a wild tale the fact remains, she and many others around the world know that "honor" killings are real and do happen in the name of Islam's Allah and no other religion. It would be suspsect if this girl had a boyfriend that she ran away to Florida to be with however, she is currently living with an adult couple and claims rather emphatically that all she wants to do is worship Jesus.

Pray that the judge deciding this case right now is given wisdom and that if what this girl is asserting is even a remote possibility, that he do everything within his power to protect her life.

Sharia law in the U.S.?

2009-08-08T16:05:00.005-04:00

Amazingly, on U.S. soil Muslims who were at a public festival on a public street decided that U.S. citizens were not entitled to the freedoms we have here in the U.S. that are protected by the U.S. Consitution, U.S. Courts, and U.S. law. This is a fine example of the "peaceloving" nature of Muslims who adhere to Sharia law. What were they afraid of? the truth?

Here's a video response from the gentleman in the video further clarifying what happened. Keep these brothers who are contending for the faith in your prayers.

What if God graded on a curve?

2009-08-04T11:22:00.004-04:00

I've been thinking a lot about having Biblical responses to some of the opposition and excuses I hear people give as to why they will not submit to Christ and become a Christian. The response I hear most often is by those who admit they believe in God and a judgment day but when asked, "How are you going to get to heaven?" often respond by saying, "He will take into account how good I was to people."

He will take into account your actions but they will not save you, they will only condemn you. What these people don't understand is that they are asserting that God somehow grades on a curve and that His acceptance and love increase by the more things you do to earn favor. To hold this view means that His love and acceptance must also decrease as you do things that are not favorable.

I have thought of an analogy that I would like to use the next time I am doing a 1-on-1 with someone who believes that there is a participatory aspect in the saving of themselves. There is a huge difference between "saving works" and "works of obedience during sanctification." The first one is heretical- there are no works that can save you. However, if your life is NOT marked by works of obedience in keeping with repentance you need to reexamine your life and find out where the disconnect is.

Adoption is a very special relationship to me. We have experienced the gift of adoption in our own lives. How offensive it would be if we told an adopted child, "Well, I know you're adopted, but you're never really going to have the same love as the others get from me. In fact, you will need to work harder to earn my love. I will let you know at the end of your life whether you measured up or not and that will determine your inheritance."?

That would be terribly offensive yet that is the way many people appear to approach their salvation. In Galatians 4:1-7 and I Peter 1:3-5 God speaks plainly about our status in His family. We are adopted and have all rights and privileges as the biological child to be known by name as a member of God's family. There is no favoritism given to those whom God adopts as His own. For if there were favoritism that would be evil.

Could you imagine if I were to tell my children, I'm going to love this one more than that one and I'm going to keep score based on how well or how poorly they perform? If I told my kids that I will love them according to how well they have scored and in the end that will determine their inheritance...how wicked that would be!

Yet, this is EXACTLY what those who say, "God will let me into heaven because I am a good person" or "God will let me in based on how well I treated others" are asserting. If God were this way they are saying God is evil and wicked because He plays favorites and His love is fickle. If we as a society agree that a parent that plays favorites is despicable how much more so would it be to assert that God is anything like that? This is evil and wicked to the core!

So how am I going to incorporate this into my witnessing? I will give a hypothetical illustration using my own children. I will say if I have 4 children and I tell each of them that I am going to love them based on a set of checks and minuses that I will give to them based upon their behavior and one day there is going to be a day when I settle the accounts of each of them which results in them being given an inheritance based upon how well they performed, how fair is that? Is that loving?

It will be easy to explain to them their belief that their personal righteousness will somehow earn God's love, portrays God as an evil parent who is going to give a child love and reward inheritance based upon the child's personal performance. No loving parent would ever do that and neither does God.

I have a witnessing opportunity coming up in less than 2 weeks and I'm going to try this out. If you try this, leave a comment and tell me how it worked.

Don't let language barriers stop you

2009-08-03T12:17:00.007-04:00

We had some excitement this morning. The city arborist had determined a few weeks ago that a tree in the green space behind our home was dying from the inside out and needed to come down as it posed a danger since it was so large. Today a tree service arrived to remove the tree.

As they were setting up we saw the men removing the tree were Hispanic. After the tree was down, they men took a break. This was the perfect time to try to give them the message of the Gospel. My son and husband went over and and gave them this tract, a Jones Soda (yum!), and an invitation to the Hispanic church that we helped with their community outreach in May.

I would encourage you, keep some Hispanic tracts on hand. I got these from Living Waters and I love them! It gives the entire Gospel message in Spanish and who is going to turn it down when you are giving an ice cold drink?!
Sorry the trees are in the way, but these are the first two guys they were able to give drinks and tracts to. My son is walking over to hand a tract to the other guy.

Here is the man he gave the invitation to the church, a tract, as well as the drink. Here is a photo of the other gentleman. He actually stopped and read it for awhile!

I can't speak Spanish, but I really believe that the Holy Spirit can do the work that is needed in their hearts if they are unsaved. Try to keep tracts and maybe some water or soft drinks on hand for these opportunities that may arise. I am so glad that we had an affiliation with a Spanish speaking church just a few months earlier so that I had information to give to them. Pray that God presents opportunities for you to walk in obedience and also pray for the strength to ignore that voice inside pleading with you not to do this. Walk in obedience and you'll never regret it.

EVERY life is precious

2009-07-29T07:58:00.002-04:00

Is God not powerful enough to reveal himself through the life of a little boy who has never said a word? Please consider your words carefully before you say, "It's just a choice."

Michael Jackson's Real cause of death

2009-07-24T08:06:00.006-04:00

Found a great open air shirt

2009-07-23T08:36:00.001-04:00

My oldest son and I decided to check out a new Goodwill store that opened close to our home today. They had some really great t-shirts and he was fortunate enough to find his first open air shirt!

I had never thought to look for an open air shirt at Goodwill but it really had many promising possibilities. Here are the ones that were contenders. This is the first one. I loved it! He said, "Uh mom, it's got pink on it! No way!" Oops. OK, we'll skip that one.

This one was quite catchy since the top of it says, "Life Safety 101: Hear a fire alarm?" The girl is asking if they should leave the dorm and the guy is telling her that it's safe and that it's only a false alarm. We almost got this but the other side had something about the fire marshall on the other side and it was also quite busy looking.

With this one, we thought that since neither grandfather is a green beret it might lead to misunderstanding so it would be best if we left it at Goodwill. But, it was catchy.

Getting closer- It says, "Authentic Worship." On the back is the name of some church's youth group and their website. Since we're not a part of that church or youth group, we declined.

And the winner is...

WARNING: Do not play video games on the Freeway! It is perfect! He can't wait to try it out!

Grill 'n Chill at the Park

2009-07-22T08:11:00.004-04:00

On Friday, July 17th, our church went to a park for a cookout. We have these get-togethers that are affectionately known as "Grill 'n Chill." We also hoped to share the Gospel with people in the park. Some guys were playing basketball earlier and when they walked by we offered them some food and something to drink. They were such sweet young men. We handed them an Obama Million and they loved them! In fact, they each asked for more until I'd given all I had in my hands to them. Like Spurgeon said, "...get good, striking tracts or none at all..."

I don't know if it gets any easier when you share the Gospel. I still get a lump in my throat, my mouth goes dry, and I have weird thought or two run through my head like, "They're going to think you're an idiot" every time I open my mouth. I truly get nervous every time. Don't let that stop you. (To my friend Shannon: You can do it girl! You're hubby brought home an Obama Million. Now be like Nike and "Just do it!") My son was standing next to me and began sharing with one half of the group while they loaded up on some rather tasty food. I talked with the other half of the group and we had a really engaging conversation.

Here's a shout out (from left to right) to LaQuan, Alex, Marcus, Cory, and Adrian!

I spent most of my time talking with Marcus and LaQuan. I asked them the million dollar question and then asked them if they thought Michael Jackson thought that his last day would have been just a few weeks ago? They said probably not. I told them, likewise they didn't know when their last day was going to be and there isn't a 2nd chance once you die.

Marcus (front row with black shorts and white t-shirt) admitted that he lies- a lot. He says he just can't stop. I shared with him that I knew of a man who used to visit his grandfather when he was younger. One time, his grandpa let him have all the black licorice he could eat. That night, his stomach revolted. He got so sick he was throwing up black licorice for hours- out his nose, his mouth- it was disgusting. He said to this day if he even hears of black licorice a shiver runs up his spine. He can't see a package of it, smell it, let alone taste it because it is so revolting to him. I told Marcus THAT is how you need to be with your sin, especially lying. You need to be revolted by it so much that the thought of it repulses you. Furthermore, I explained that until you have a new relationship with sin all you've done is just gotten a little exercise (if you walked the aisle) and gotten wet (if you were baptized) but have no new attitude or relationship with your sin. There has to be a change that is not sustained by your own self-will. It flows from a grateful heart enabled by the Holy Spirit that realizes that you were guilty, couldn't pay the fine, and were freed! You respond out of gratitude not obligation.

I asked them how they would feel if they were standing before a judge and it had been established they were guilty of breaking the law and at the last second before they were sentenced someone they didn't know paid their fine. They agreed they would be grateful if they were freed by someone they didn't know who paid their fine. I asked Marcus again how he can hold on to lying or any other sin if he was so grateful for his fine being paid.

I asked if they were given the opportunity to see the president, would they take a brown lunch bag filled with hot, steamy dog poo as a gift for the president? They said, "No way!" I said, "Of course not! that would be offensive! If you believe that you are going to do good things to earn your way into heaven, you might as well have brought the same hypothetical dog-poo-in-a-bag present to God. Your good works, if used to get in to heaven are an offense. When they are a response out of gratitude for what God has done for us and you do them to glorify God, then that is a whole different matter.

They said they appreciated us talking with them and that it gave them a lot to think about. We met their physical needs and their spiritual needs that night. I pray that they would take seriously the conversation we had with them.

Here's the crazy shot. I had a blast talking with them! Guys, if you're reading this, think seriously about what we talked about. You never know when you're last day on earth will be. Don't "play" church. Get serious. Repent, believe, read your Bible and do what it says.

8 year old girl shares the Gospel

2009-07-21T07:50:00.008-04:00

My youngest daughter went to day camp this week and tried her hand at sharing the Gospel. She had told me the day before that there was a little boy who lied to her about cheetos during lunchtime. Although I don't fully understand the cheeto incident, she talked with the little boy today and worked it into her Gospel sharing experience. She was also able to share with another little boy. However, there was a little girl she tried to share with that wanted nothing to do with it so she just moved on.

Encourage and equip your kids to share the Gospel. When they start young, sharing the Gospel will not feel so foreign to them. I had a desire to share the Gospel for many years but just didn't have the knowledge of how to use God's law. Unfortunately, I was in my 30's before I began to consistently share my faith. I don't want my kids to be ill-equipped or to hide behind excuses or to believe it is only the preacher's job. I want them to understand their obligation to share their faith and get lots of practice while they're young.

Kids can share the Gospel too

2009-07-20T09:00:00.014-04:00

After an eye opening week at day camp, my daughter sees the need to share the Gospel with kids her age. She understands that she has a mission field that isn't necessarily reachable by adults. We went to a picnic sponsored by our church on Friday night. We were trying to be out in the community and share the Gospel with whomever we ran into.

She showed this little girl several of the teen million dollar bills. After she picked one she began to share the Gospel. I particularly like these because on the back instead of asking if they have broken the 7th commandment (do not commit adultery), it asks if they have broken the 5th commandment which is honoring your father and mother. It is more appropriate for the younger crowd.

How pretty is your Bible?

2009-07-15T14:48:00.000-04:00

You know, I was reading the latest issue of Voice of the Martyrs (July 2009) and I was struck by an article at the end of the magazine. It was about Narayan Gowda, a former radical Hindu who is now a fellow believer in Christ. He was holding Bibles in his hands that had been burned by attackers. Upon first glance though, I thought that this was a picture of his Bibles and noticed how tattered they looked. Eventhough I learned that these were pictures of Bibles that had been burnt, but I thought, "I wonder how many Christians' Bibles look like this from genuine hours of rich study of His Word?"

What does your Bible look like? Don't get me wrong I understand that there is not necessarily a correlation between the "look" of someone's Bible and their piety or spiritual maturity.

Something curious I've noticed is that they don't make Bibles the way the used to. Today, it takes very little actual use to get that worn look. How sad that many Christians don't even use their Bibles enough to KNOW that it is poorly made.

I believe the way to know the difference between the ones truly using their Bible and the ones who aren't could best be summed up by Charles Spurgeon who is reported to have said, "A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn't."

Following is one of the best admonishments I've heard encouraging us specifically to persevere in scripture reading and Bible study. Watch it and ask yourself, "Are you not only persevering in your walk, but specifically in the study of the scriptures or do you just give the appearance that you are because you're too foolish to know that your cheap Bible is falling apart because you left it on the dashboard of your hot car which only gives the appearance of use?"

Drive-in evangelism and the agony of defeat

2009-07-14T16:20:00.010-04:00

After a storm that could be categorized as a "Chicken-Drowner," the sky cleared, a rainbow appeared and we decided to enjoy our Friday evening. We shared the Gospel on Friday night where I'd never shared it before: the Drive-in Movie Theatre. There are still two drive-in movie theatres in the next county. So after the storm we headed out. We brought our tracts and after we got a place to park my son and I took off. We tracted all the bathroom stalls and dropped some wallets and then we went to have some one-on-one conversations.

We saw two young men standing near the concession stand who worked at the drive-in. The first guy we handed a million to wasn't too thrilled with the Obama Million. My son quickly said, "If you don't care for him, then you'll love this." Great come back, buddy. He reluctantly took it and so we asked if he'd ever given much thought to what happens when you die. He mumbled something, handed it to the man standing next to him and walked away.

I thought, "OK, he just didn't want to talk. We'll just talk with the next guy." We handed him a Celebrity Million and asked the same question. His name was Gerald. He said he didn't really know if he was going to heaven and wasn't too concerned. I said, "None of us know the day we're going to die. I mean, I'm sure that Michael Jackson didn't think the day he died would be his last day, you know?" He agreed. My son asked, "So do you think you're a pretty good person?" He said, "Oh yeah. I'm not that bad." I told him I used to think the same thing because I'd never been to prison so I couldn't be all that bad. He laughed. Then we started taking him through the law so he could see that his standard of goodness didn't matter and that we could get to grace.

He said he agreed and as I was talking a woman walked up and joined the conversation. It turns out it was his wife named Becky. Well, as she came up he fuzzed out and walked away. I thought, "Fine, maybe we can talk to her and we'll have a good conversation with her." I asked Becky if she thought she was going to heaven when she died. She said she hoped so. We went through the same scenario with her. I asked if she read her Bible every day and she said, "Not really, it's been awhile." So, I asked her, "Becky, if Gerald were to write you love letters to you would you just let them sit on the table unopened or would you want to find out what they said?"

The moment was pregnant with silence. Then she said, "I don't really know, maybe not." In my mind I started screaming, "Mayday! Mayday! " I said, "Are you serious?! You mean if your husband sent you letters professing his love for you you're not sure if you'd open them?" She kind of laughed and then said, "I guess." I'm thinking, "OK, either there are serious marital problems or she is dingy." We got past that and got to worldly sorrow versus true repentance. She seemed to have a true understanding of godly sorrow versus doing the same thing over and over again, but then it happened: a girl popped her head out the door of the concession stand and said, "Becky, could I see you in here for just a minute?" She said it with a smirk on her face and kind of laughed. Then we saw the first guy around the building and Gerald was next to the lady that called to Becky. Becky did not work for the theatre. She'd just been taken away as we were finishing but I know it was because they were trying to pull her away. It was abrupt and stopped. Just like that.

As we walked away the image of the skier going down the ski jump at the beginning of ABC's Wide World of Sports ran through my head as the famous words, "...and the agony of defeat." echoed through my mind. I shared the image with my son who had no clue what I was talking about since he wasn't alive when that image was played every Saturday in the '70's. Mental note: look up this video on Youtube and show him.

I have noticed that my witnessing encounters over the past few months have become more difficult. I still haven't shared my encounter with a teen at the Expo who was steeped in postmodern Darwinistic indoctrination who kept throwing out so many red herrings that I almost blew a neuron trying to keep up with what trail he was hopping down. I suppose that is what happens as you share the Gospel. I am assuming that God is gracious to let you start on the bunny slope and then after you get a little experience and have only fallen a few times He then takes you to the next slope. I know that you can't improve your witnessing abilities without experiencing a wide range of situations, but lately I've had some real corkers. I'm not concerned about if they think I'm a religious fanatic, but I just want to make sure that they really got the whole Gospel and that I wasn't a bonehead and said something incorrect or wasn't able to get the whole truth out.

I just prayed in my thoughts, "Well, Lord, at least the bathrooms have tracts all over them and they will all be gone by the time the evening is over."

We went back to where our car was parked and my son walked up to the carload which looked like a mom and 5-6 kids. It looked like she had hers and maybe some of her children's friends. At first I thought he was just standing there waiting for a response. What I couldn't see is that he was sharing the Gospel with one of the teen guys sitting on the tailgate. This was the BEST thing that happened the whole night. He went completely through the Gospel and then some of the kids asked for more millions. I was so thrilled for him. This was maybe the 3rd or 4th time that he has actually shared the Gospel start to finish with someone without help from another adult. I was so thankful that God allowed him to share with these kids. What an awesome night!

Ichthus Festival - pt. 5

2009-07-13T08:06:00.001-04:00

We took a break and had some dinner. Rick, TJ, and my son all sat down and grabbed a bite to eat. After dinner we had the longest conversation with two ladies who happened to be sitting at the same table. It all started with a million dollar bill and a curved illusion tract.

Rebecca and Brittany

TJ began the conversation with a curved illusion which is always a great ice breaker. Rebecca is 15 and Brittany is 16.

Notice the hat that Brittany has on. The next picture is a closeup of the hat. It has a "one way" street sign motif with "Jesus" embroidered on the diagonal. Listen to the conversation. At the 3:14 mark she says, "Yes, she had blasphemed before she became a Christian. So she is acknowledging she is a Christian. At 11:15 in the conversation, TJ asks her point blank, "So if I were to ask you if you were a Christian, what would you say?" Brittany said, "Probably not." At 15:10 in the conversation, TJ asks her, "Is what I'm saying making sense? If you had to compare yourself to scripture how are you doing right now? Would you say, that in fact you have been born of him?" She said, "I have no idea what that means." By the end, she says that she is a new Christian that is just starting to hate sin. I explained you can't just "sorta" hate sin, it's all or nothing. All three of us, (Rick, TJ, and myself) talked with these ladies. It was very eye-opening.

Here is the audio of the conversation. If the playbar doesn't work, click on the link below.

http://www.archive.org/details/IchthusFestival2009

Please keep these young ladies in your prayers. By the end of our conversation, Rebecca (on the left) and Brittany realized that they really had no clue what they believed or why they believed it when we explained to them what the Bible said. They were both really appreciative of the time we spent and thanked us for explaining so many things to them. Rebecca said she wasn't even a Christian but was there to hear the music. TJ gave them a recording of Paul Washer, and also two DVD's. Pray that they actually listened to or watched them together and shared what they learned with their youth leader.

Ichthus Festival - pt. 4

2009-07-12T08:27:00.001-04:00

Nick & Jeremiah

This is Nick and Jeremiah. I handed them a Million Dollar bill and asked them where they thought they'd spend eternity. Jeremiah, the one on the right, said he had already received two of these million dollar tracts earlier today and read the back and concluded that he was definitely saved. So I asked him what he wouuld tell me if I were dying right now before his eyes. He said that he would tell me to pray and believe in Jesus and he would save me. I told him, "Jeremiah, you're close." He said, "I am? What am I missing?" I explained repentance and told him that I was a pretender for a few years before I really understood what repentance looked like. I explained that you can't continue in the same habitual sins and then keep asking for forgiveness because it just doesn't work like that. He said he agreed and was happy to talk with me and then went on to articulate the faith quite well. Out of the groups of young people I talked with, he was the only one that I suspect might have been a Christian.

My son was a tracting fiend- he was handing them out left and right. He handed them to these two gentlemen and they kind of hung around looking to see all the different Celebrity Millions he had. As I walked up I had my recorder on and recorded one of the best samples of the types of conversations that we kept having all day with these kids.

Brandon & Austin

This is Brandon and Austin. Here is the recording of the whole conversation. It breaks your heart that so many kids are at an event where the preachers and spokepeople for the bands have their undivided attention and instead of preaching the entire Gospel and shattering any ideas that they have of their inherant goodness, most of the sermons by the bands were this "God-shaped hole in the heart only Jesus can fill" and "Jesus made my life better" genre. I wouldn't have believed it had I not heard it with my own two ears. It's this watered-down Gospel which is cranking out a generation of young people who not only can not articulate the basic tenents of the Christian faith, but after sharing the Gospel many aren't even sure they are saved. They are convinced that walking the aisle and accepting Him is all that is required. When pressed to define, "What does accepting Him mean?" the answer I heard most frequently was, "It means asking Him into your heart."

I tried to edit this so that I canceled out as much of the background noise as possible, but it was so loud. If the playbar doesn't work, I've included the link so that you can hear. I've only gotten this crazy playbar to work twice. But, the link will take you to the clip.

http://www.archive.org/details/Ichthus2009

Ichthus Festival - pt. 3

2009-07-11T01:59:00.000-04:00

Just a little side not about how we got to go to this Festival. Through God's wonderful provision, we were able to get into Ichthus for free. I'd called my friends TJ & Kelly to let them know I was praying for them since I knew they were there that week-end. I also told them our vacation plans were delayed by one day and I really wished that I could go but couldn't see paying the almost $100 price for two people the day before we left on vacation. We all agreed, "Next year." and then I hung up. Not ten minutes later Kelly called back and said, "Girl, guess what? We got some free wristbands!" A person who had obtained several wristbands couldn't use them and it is against the rules to sell them so my friend TJ said he could use them. I asked for two of them. What wonderful provision from God! Devin joined us as well. Here is a picture of him and my son.

TJ began talking with a group of kids. He asked for a curved illusion and I handed him one.

Here he is showing the mesmerized teens! They jumped back and couldn't believe their eyes. But, I tell you after an illusion like that, it's hard not to listen.

He was able to talk with them for quite awhile. The blessing is that we were able to talk to group after group of people and they all listened and walked away genuinely thinking about the conversation. Some seemed unaffected, others were concerned, others were going to rethink their lives. There were so many people and so little time.

Here's Rick handing out tracts too. He went to the Academy last year and was TJ's partner.

The next few posts, I will have audio of conversations that TJ and I had with people at the Festival.

Ichthus Festival - pt. 2

2009-07-10T09:59:00.000-04:00

Have you been fearful that people will scorn you if you share the Gospel with them via a Gospel tract? I mean, they'll think you're a freak and get angry, right? I noticed when I was looking at all our pictures, we just happened to get a "before" and "after" photo of me handing a tract to two women. Look at the faces of the two women before I hand the tract to them.

Now look at the picture below- they are in the lower right corner. They are smiling! I didn't get yelled at, cursed at, beat up, etc. Just try handing out a tract at a public event. It will really help you get over your fear of anything that you may believe may happen to you if you're obedient and share the Gospel.

This is the first group of young ladies I spoke to. From left to right we have Brianne, Caroline, Rachel, and Morgan. I asked them the million dollar question and so our conversation began. One of them hoped they would go to heaven but the others quickly and enthusiastically told me they would definitely go to heaven. So I asked them, "If I had a knife in my back right now and it is certain that I will die within the next few minutes and I say to you, 'I'm scared. What must I do to be saved?' what would you tell me?" They all became rather quiet and then Rachel offered, "I'd tell you to pray and believe in Jesus." I told her that was pretty close, but then I pressed further and so began a wonderful conversation with these young ladies.

I told them that praying and believing in Jesus isn't all there is to it. I told them that there is no magical formula or special prayer they are to pray to be saved. I said you can walk the aisle and say the prayer, but if you don't repent, believe, read your Bible and obey it, all you've done is gotten a little exercise (as you walked the aisle) and a Kodak moment. I asked them if they read their Bible everyday. They said they try to but don't always read it and sometimes it is several days before they do. Rachel said, "Well if you don't just pray and believe then what else are you supposed to do?"

I explained to them that they need to realize that because Jesus was morally perfect, He was the only one who was able to take our sin upon Himself and credit us with His righteousness. I took them through the Good Person Test and asked if they had ever lied, stolen, disobeyed their parents, or taken God's name in vain. They admitted they had and when I told them that God takes those offenses very seriously and the punishment for those offenses is death. I explained that placing their faith in Jesus wasn't just an intellectual assent (just acknowledging Jesus is who He says He is) but it was a total belief that you have sinned, you deserve death (God says the payment for sin is death) and as He is about to sentence you to hell in the courtroom of eternal justice, when you didn't know Christ He stepped forward and paid your penalty for a debt you owed and could not pay. You respond out of gratitude for such an extravagant gift that you turn from the things you used to love and you find out through reading His Word what you should do.

I explained the difference between Godly sorrow and worldy sorrow because many times the answer I get when asked to explain repentance is, "It means saying you're sorry." It's so much more than that. It means that you do a 180 degree turn and go the opposite direction from the things that you used do and you don't keep doing them again.

The girls listened and all agreed that they had never really understood it that way before. About then, a woman walked up who knew them and indicated they needed to head to the next event. I had her take a photo and as they left I was so saddened that these young people probably go to church ever week, are in their youth groups and are generally viewed as the "good" kids yet, they are not even aware of the basic tenents of the faith or how to articulate them. They also have never even tried to share the Gospel with anyone because they have been told and also bought into the idea that "we will win them over by our lifestyle." That's what they have been taught. Please pray for today's youth and pray for these young ladies that they will open His word and learn for themselves what Christianity is all about.

Ichthus Festival - pt. 1

2009-07-09T07:58:00.000-04:00

Ichthus is a Christian Music Festival held every year in Wilmore, Ky. This year, it was held June 11-14. The weather turned out to be nice and hot which is a switch from the previous years. Usually, it turns into a mud pit because it rains the entire week-end. There are about 20,000 people that converge on this little town and set up camp. There are several stages throughout the property for the various bands and speakers that are featured.

Here is my fishing buddy, my son. He is 13 and a fine young man who cares deeply about the lost. On a side note, I have found that I am not avoided nor are my tracts declined as often if I wear something like a T-shirt that is somewhat goofy or juvenile. I am not trying to act younger than I am, but if you look older than them (like I do) teens at these events are more apt to talk to you or take your tract if you wear something like this because it breaks the ice. I have worn just a regular "mom" shirt and been avoided more then when I wear something like this. I know this is purely anecdotal, but this has just been my experience. This shirt is special to me because #1 I like penguins. My whole family likes them. #2 My son used to wear this shirt when he was little. OK, enough wardrobe talk.

This Festival has run for 40 years and was started as a Christian alternative to Woodstock. It is also the first year I ever attended. It is an unbelievable gathering and has by far, been my favorite fishing experience since the Academy. Here's why: By and far, I don't have to worry about witnessing to some weird, existential freak because everyone at this Festival knows who Jesus is and almost all of them believe they are saved. We only had about 800 tracts and gave them all out except for a handful by the end of the day.

These two pictures show how large the main stage is. There were thousands of people just at this sound stage alone. The picture below is the rest of the crowd at the same stage. What opportunity!

Unfortunately, after my experience was over that evening, I was deeply grieved. We were almost out of tracts and I'd had conversation after conversation until I was literally hoarse and could barely speak anymore. Out of all the young people I spoke to, there was only one young man who may have been a Christian. It was so sad to hear so many of these kids arrive with their youth group and their youth leaders agreeing at the beginning of our conversation that they were Christians, but when asked, many could not articulate even the basic premise of the Christian faith. These are the "good" kids- the leaders in their youth groups. When asked, "When is the last time you read your Bible?" the most common answer was, "It's been awhile." When pressed further, the average length of time since they had last read their Bible was about 3 weeks or longer.

Pray for the youth of today. Pray especially for the ones in the youth groups of the churches in America. We need to be sharing the full Gospel with these kids because if they can't tell us what was happening on the cross as Jesus hung and died, there is no way they can be a Christian because they don't even understand it was their sin that put Him there and that He was being crushed by God not because God is evil but because He is so good. I'll be sharing our experiences over the next few days.

You Never Know...

2009-07-08T17:46:00.004-04:00

what effect your obedience will have on another person. We had to call a refrigerator repair person last week because our refrigerator's temperature kept fluctuating. So we called the warranty company and they contacted and coordinated a visit from a repair person. So we had no control over knowing who was being sent or from where this person was coming.

He came and made a quick repair and as he was leaving, my son handed him a million dollar bill tract and said, "Thanks a million!" The man laughed and said, "Wow! This is really great. But, I tell you what, you keep it. I have several of them already."

Puzzled, I asked him where he had gotten them from. He said, "Oh, they give them out in Frankfort all the time."

He really was under a time constraint and had to go so I couldn't engage him in conversation, but I encouraged him to consider the million dollar question.

Here is the wild part: We had been to Frankfort handing out tracts at the Expo. Perhaps we had handed out a tract to this man at the Expo. Not only that, but a dear brother and sister (and fellow fishermen) have taught evangelism classes in Frankfort to over 150 people. There are several people handing out tracts in that area now as a result of the training. It was very encouraging to my son because he wonders, as I'm sure many do, if the tracts ever get noticed or make a difference.

What are the odds that a man will receive a tract and then drive 50 minutes to the next city to repair a refrigerator only to get the same tract again?! Maybe God is trying to tell him something. He definitely was telling us something too: Don't Quit!

You never know the means by which God will use to draw someone to Himself. He may just partner with you in accomplishing His purpose.

One True God

2009-07-02T08:31:00.002-04:00

This post is a two part audio story broadcast on Focus on the Family. It is the story of the Yanomamo people and specifically the story of Chief Shoefoot the man pictured in the photo. This man speaks about his experience as a Shaman of his people and how he renounced that and became a Christian. In the depths of the jungle, this man and his people are keenly aware of the spiritual realm and of the God of the universe. This is a powerful testimony.

(I have only had limited success with this embedded playbar so if it does not work, click the hyperlink and play the broadcast directly from the site by selecting stream or mp3.)

http://www.archive.org/details/OneTrueGod

Below, is part two of that interview where the audience is invited to ask Chief Shoefoot questions. It is a wonderful question and answer session where Chief Shoefoot clearly articulates the very real conflict that is ongoing in the spiritual realm. If the embedded playbar doesn't work, and the hyperlink below fails, go to http://www.archive.org/ and type "One True God- pt.2" in the search bar and it will take you to the recording. I wish I could do better but, I'm somewhat technologically inept.

http://www.archive.org/details/OneTrueGod-Pt.2

So, what about the pygmy tribes in Africa?

2009-06-30T16:30:00.000-04:00

You know, there are many times that I have talked with people about the Gospel and invariably I have someone that asks, "Yeah, well what about the pygmy tribes in Africa? What happens to them if they haven't heard the Gospel?" It's odd how it's always the pygmy tribes in Africa.

Interestingly enough, the Bible addresses this. It is very clear in Romans 1:19-21:

19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Also, in Romans 2:14-16
14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,
15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,
16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

To anyone who has been in that situation, I would first suggest becoming very familiar with the above passages. Read not only the passages, but read the entire two chapters so you are familiar with the context and then memorize those verses.

I have told these people the following 3 things when they try to assert that somehow God is unfair and is going to leave out the pygmy tribes of Africa:

They offend the character of God and don't know what they are saying.
They are limiting God's power and somehow suggesting that He is not powerful enough to reach these remote tribes or that they have escaped His notice.
How do they know that God hasn't appointed them to go and tell them about His goodness, justice and mercy?

I just finished a book called Bruchko. It's a quick read at only 202 pages and I finished it in a few hours. To be honest, I couldn't put it down. It had some passages in it that I will probably photocopy and take with me when I am sharing the Gospel.

Bruchko is the story of an American missionary, Bruce Olson who goes to South America as a 19 year old young man in the 1960's and shares the Gospel with the Motilone tribe of Indians. The Motilone tribe was so feared that other tribes such as the Yuko tribe wouldn't even go near their territory for fear the Motilones would kill them. It is an amazing story about the obedience of a young man in the face of great trial and difficulty. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone contemplating mission work or anyone who thinks their life is difficult. You can not comprehend the words "difficult" or "trial" until you've read this book. The next time you're having a pity party because you think life is difficult, pick up this book and read it and you will quickly have your attitude adjusted.

Interestingly, on p.117-118 he is talking with one of the Motilones he has befriended asking why the greatest warrior/hunter, named Abaratutura was fearful of him (Bruce/Bruchko) and wanted to kill him.

"He thinks you're the cannibal with the magic flute," Arabadoyca said. "So he'll kill you before you kill him."

"What?" I said, "What do you mean?"

Arabadoyca stretched. "The time will come it's said, when a white man will come to the Motilones with a magic flute that he will play. He'll lead all the Motilones into a trap, and they'll be eaten alive."

They talked about how they had first met and then Arabadoyca continued, "When no harm camed to us because of you, most of us believed that you were all right. In fact, some thought, that you might be bringing God's banana stalk."

"What's that?"

"There is another prediction that a tall man with yellow hair will come with a banana stalk, and God will come out of the banana stalk."

Just to let you know, Bruce is a tall man from Minnesota and had a head full of blond hair. These predictions were made and by oral tradition handed down by the witch doctors who interacted with the people. You will have chills when you discover what the banan stalk is. Even in the depths of the jungle they are aware of God! They recognize that there is a supreme Creator over all the earth. They may not refer to Him as God as we do but make no mistake they already knew having never been "told" about Him.

Further, on p.126 he is working with the Motilone witch doctor. According to Bruce (a.k.a Bruchko) she didn't pray to demons but tried to help her people by praying to God in the best way she knew.

This next part is very important.

On p.127 he asks the witch doctor, "What's the cause of all these sicknesses? There doesn't seem to be any end to them."

She was surprised that I didn't know. "It's the evil spirits showing their power. That's why we use the chants. We call on God to cast the evil spirits out."

"And why doesn't He always do it?" I asked.

Her face fell, and she turned aside. "We have deceived God," she said in a low, sad voice.

I stood behind her, puzzled, feeling as though beneath what she said was something I needed to understand.

"How did you deceive God?" I asked.

"A man came who claimed to be a prophet," she said. "He said that he could take us over the horizon to a land where there was a better hunt. His name was Sacamaydodji. We left God and followed him."

"When did all this happen?" I asked softly.

She said nothing for a moment, then swept her arm out. "Many, many years ago. We have only heard the story. But we know that he has deceived us. We are far away from God."

The deceiver, Sacamaydodji was Satan and even this stone age, primitive tribe in the jungle of South America knew not only that there was a God but that they had offended Him and were far from Him and only He could save them.

Furthermore, when he is finally able to share the Gospel with the Motilones, he tells them that they were sinners and specifically it was their sin that killed Christ. They wept but understood completely and gave their lives to the Lord. None of this ridiculous watered-down message of salvation out of fear that they couldn't handle the truth or that it was too heavy for them. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation! (Romans 1:16)

So the next time someone tries to "trip you up" by asking about the pygmy tribes in Africa tell them that the pygmy tribes in Africa and South America and all the world, for that matter, aren't foolish enough to pretend there is no God as the fool in front of you is trying to assert.

I hope that this book helps to equip you to share the Gospel. You can learn more about Bruce Olson by visiting www.bruceolson.com

Hispanic Outreach

2009-06-29T06:07:00.003-04:00

On May 30th, our family was able to participate in the launch of a church for the Hispanic Community in our city. The Pastor, David Agrinsoni is starting a new church and decided to have a family-oriented outreach to the community to help launch it. It was a beautiful day! We set up tables and chairs, blew up balloons, had the food ready, while a group went door to door to hand out tracts and invitations.

Under the pavilion, they set up speakers so they would be able to preach and have music later.

From left to right, my dear husband (in the sombrero), the pastor David Agrinsoni, Sean, and Tony. My husband and Tony were paired with another Spanish speaking person. With their tracts and invitations in hand, they headed out through the neighborhood. Many started coming by shortly just out of curiosity. They would walk by the park or drive up and just watch as we were setting up. I had ordered Spanish tracts for this event and was so glad to have these for the many Spanish speaking people we encountered that day.

Here is a man that I saw just sitting in his car watching what we were doing. I grabbed some information about the church and a tract and handed it to him. It was the "Are you a Good Person?" in Spanish. Don't let a language barrier stop you from trying since it is the Lord that saves. Just be obedient. He continued to sit in the car and read it from cover to cover.

Here, Shawn and Bill are able to witness to two men in the park. There were people and opportunities everywhere.

Two more outreaches are planned for later in the summer. There is one planned for July and on in August. If you are in the central Kentucky area, please join us. There will be more witnessing opportunities than you can shake a stick at!

To see one of the most memorable witnessing encounters I've had goto http://chipperfisher.blogspot.com/2009/06/im-coming-back-as-something-else-when-i.html and read about Randy Travis Hammond.

What does Biblical repentance look like?

2009-06-25T22:23:00.003-04:00

Have you ever struggled with the meaning of the word "Repentance?" This is one of the most succinct explanations of repentance, Pastor Tim clarifies repentance from the book of Acts. I hope this encourages you when sharing the Gospel and are explaining repentance to the person. Perhaps this will equip you to explain this concept to them and clarify the difference between godly sorrow and worldy sorrow and what true repentance is.

Interstate Witnessing

2009-06-24T12:02:00.001-04:00

If you are looking for a new and exciting way to share the Gospel, try interstate witnessing.

Catching Up

2009-06-23T11:02:00.000-04:00

For anyone who regularly keeps up with this blog (all 3 of you), May and June have been a blur. We have traveled and done major home improvement projects which have interfered with me actually sitting down to write about all the wonderful encounters I have had. My family and I shared the Gospel in the Capital city of our state during a festival, at Ichthus, at a Hispanic Outreach and each encounter has sharpened me. I look forward to sharing these. Then I ran into technical difficulties. Translation: I'm just not sophisticated with technology and have tried for a month to get the pictures off of my phone and edit some videos. Pathetic, I know.

But one thing is for sure, I have a continued passion for the lost and make time to share my faith frequently and regularly. Since August of 2008, I have looked for and taken advantage of more opportunities to share my faith then I have collectively over my whole life. I have learned so much and each time I open my mouth to a stranger my mouth is dry and my heart is pounding in my throat, but I am driven in knowing that unless they know Christ they will be eternally punished.

That thought horrifies me.

Don't mistake for a second that I think that I have anything to do with the saving of the lost. But, for some crazy reason the God of the Universe has decided to use faulty human beings sharing the Gospel as the means by which many will come to a saving knowledge of Him. I don't try to understand or figure it out but I just try to obey.

I pray for all Christians who are reluctant to share their faith. Try to picture for a moment that you saw people driving along a road and you knew that the bridge was washed away and a 1000 foot drop awaited them. It would be unconscionable to not warn them if you had the ability to do so. Now, keep that thought in mind and go out and share the Gospel with a dying world!

I'm coming back as something else when I die.

2009-06-22T10:14:00.002-04:00

This is Randy Travis Hammond. If you guessed that he was named after the singer, you’re correct. I had the pleasure of talking with this young father of 3 at the Hispanic outreach on May 30th. I gave him a million dollar bill, started with my usual, “It’s your part of the bailout,” got a laugh and we were off.

I asked him if he’d given much thought to the million dollar question on the back of the bill? He said that he believes that we will come back as something else. I asked if he believed there was a God and he said, “Oh, definitely!” I reasoned with him that the Bible says that we were created in God’s image. If that is true and we can see from evidence around us that we are smarter than the animals, God would not allow us to return as say, a worm, a tree, or anything else for that matter. Furthermore, I pointed out that in Hebrews 9:27 states that man is destined to die once and then face judgment.

I asked Randy if he gave much thought to being judged by God. He said that he had a hard time believing the Bible and knowing if it’s true which made him doubt Jesus and besides, he had an uncle who died and at the funeral people said bad things about him just because he was a drunkard who lived a reprehensible life. He also stated that he used to be involved in church and gave his life to the Lord but doesn’t go now because the church is filled with hypocrites. Um, OK, one rabbit trail at time, please.

I asked him, “Randy, have you ever gone to a restaurant and had a really crappy meal with really crappy service?” He said, “I sure have.” I asked him, “So, have you quit eating out at restaurants?” He said, “No,” and started smiling because he could see where I was going. I told him that just because some people do things that are unkind and unlovely doesn’t mean we can judge the entire body of Christ by those people and quit. I wish I would have told him that each man will give an account for his own life and not for anyone else’s. Oh well, maybe next time. That's definitely a scripture I'll use for that excuse. I also told him that if he had walked the aisle and said the prayer but now doesn’t believe in the Bible, Christ, or isn’t in fellowship at a church then he was never saved to begin with. Surprisingly, I got no opposition from him only wholehearted agreement.

We explored the next rabbit trail that I felt was causing him some very real unresolved pain: the uncle at the funeral. I listened to his story as he shared his hurt and disbelief that people would say true things about a dead man. It just boiled down to the fact that he believed that funerals were a place to pay respect regardless of what someone had done or how they had lived. OK, fair enough. So I asked him if he thought the man was in heaven or hell based on what he had shared with me. He said he didn’t know. I told him that was a cop out. He agreed. This was a wonderful place to take Randy to the courtroom scene where a man who had just murdered Randy’s entire family is standing before a judge. I reasoned with him that even if he protested that he only murdered once and wasn’t going to do it again and was only having a bad day the judge would be a bad judge if he took that defense and freed the man but would be a good judge if he punished that man. He agreed. I then took him into God’s courtroom and told him that he will be judged according to his offenses. We’d already established earlier that he was a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart and God takes very seriously these offenses and more. Anything that does not measure up to His standard of holiness will be judged and if they are found guilty will be condemned to hell forever.

I didn’t leave it there. I changed the story and told him that now he is the one standing before God and the gavel of eternal justice was coming down to sentence him because he WAS guilty and couldn’t pay the fine and just at the last moment someone he didn’t know shouted from the back of the courtroom, “Stop! I’ll pay Randy’s fine!” How would you feel? He said relieved. I told him that is what Jesus Christ did for him on the cross because He was morally perfect and therefore could pay his fine and turn God’s wrath away from him.

I then addressed the questions about the authenticity of Christ. I shared with him that Jesus is who He says He is because He fulfilled so much prophecy in the Bible. I explained that it was prophesied He would die by crucifixion almost 800 years before crucifixion was ever invented. I told him that he had no control over what name his parents gave him, the city of his birth, the fact that he would flee to Egypt as a child to escape death, or the city where he grew up thus, eliminating the possibility that he somehow manipulated His circumstances to “fit” so that he could be Messiah. I explained that there were at least 60 major prophecies concerning Christ and that Jesus fulfilled every single one. Furthermore, I explained that the odds of one man fulfilling only 8 of those prophecies was the number 1 with 17 zeros after it and he didn’t fulfill only 8 but ALL prophecies to the letter. I broke the size of the number down for him by telling him that if the state of Texas were filled with silver dollars approximately 2 feet deep an “X” was marked on just one silver dollar, we drop a man from a helicopter in the middle of the state and tell him he had one chance and one chance only to pick out the silver dollar with the “X” on it and then ACTUALLY did it that would be the odds he was up against and that man who pulled that silver dollar out was Jesus Christ. So, if He is who He says He is and He says He is the Son of God and the Bible is true he should really give some serious thought and consideration to what we have talked about today.

I told him that I cared about him and where he ended up and that I didn’t want him to go to hell and that God loved him so much with an extravagant love that He sent His son to die and pay the penalty for his sins but that He is also a good judge and lawbreakers must be punished.

He was very quiet. He was thinking and taking it all in. Then he shared that his mother was very young, when she was pregnant with him and he didn’t know his father. He never met him and said he’s glad that he is dead because he tried to murder Randy when he was in his mother’s belly by repeatedly punching his mother in the stomach. He then said he has been an alcoholic since he was a child. He credits his marriage to his wife as saving him and keeping him alive. My heart was breaking for this man. I told him that sounded like he had a difficult life but that he can have a different life and needs to read the Bible to see the truth it contains. Randy said that he can’t read or remember things because of his alcohol and drug use all these years. I told him that he can get the Bible on tape or CD from the library or even from the dollar store. I said, "God can restore your mind but you need to humble yourself and repent and believe and then do what the Bible says."

Altogether we talked for about an hour. He wasn’t a hard-hearted man but just doesn’t know. We shook hands and he said he appreciated our talk and that it gave him a lot to think about. I told him I'd pray for him and that I enjoyed our talk as well. Pray for him because he was not hard-hearted only confused from a life marked by sin. Pray that God pursues him and he responds in obedience.

Last Day of Ichthus Evangelism

2009-06-13T12:07:00.003-04:00

Please be in prayer for our little team of people heading for the final day of Ichthus today. There are tens of thousands of people and they all love God but many have never heard or understood the Gospel message. It was shared numerous times yesterday and very few of the young people there could articulate what they believe or why they believed it.

Did you know that you will suffer for Christ?

2009-06-13T10:12:00.004-04:00

I love John Piper. Listen to his words as he is speaking to a college aged group of people. How many people were honestly told the truth about the Christian walk before they became Christians? Were they told about suffering? Living the authentic Christian walk is only going to become more difficult in the years to come. Pay particular attention to the video at the 3:00 mark. Have you rejoiced that you have been counted worthy of suffering for Christ?

Convention Witnessing

2009-06-07T09:30:00.004-04:00

I'm a bit behind on updating my witnessing encounters. We've had a busy Spring and I totally reworked our backyard. In 5 weeks I have hauled in 5000 lbs. of compost and 2000 lbs. of mulch and gotten our vegetable garden expanded and planted, planted another garden and got 9 trees planted. Now that things are settling down, I wanted to share with you some of the opportunities that God has allowed into my life. I have been stretched and challenged for sure.

In the middle of April I drove to Cincinnati for a homeschool convention that I attended over a period of 3 days. It was pretty large and there were ample opportunities to witness everywhere. Here is an overhead view of the convention hall.

I gave tracts to each of the vendors as I picked up information or purchased something from them. They all received them pretty enthusiastically. Never assume that because many people claim to be Christians that they truly are. Since this convention took place at a large convention center, the vendors cooking food in the food court and around the perimeter of the area were employees. There were several opportunities to hand out the million dollar bills to several employees.

Here is my fishing buddy, Kaitlyn. She is one neat lady. She is mom to 10, 8 of whom are teens. Their whole family loves fishing and look for frequent opportunities to share the Gospel. I count it an honor to have people such as them in our lives. These were the best fruit smoothies we'd had in our lives. Of course, everything tastes better with a parasol in it!

Kaitlyn was definitely more proactive then I was at first. I was afraid that I would be violating the "no handling out literature" rule and so in the convention center I was very reluctant. Not Kaitlyn. She'd whip out those million dollar bills and work the crowd before they even knew what had hit them! Here she is talking to a group of women and just being real telling them what Christ had done in her life.

Look for those opportunities to share the Gospel even at "Christian" labeled events. I handed out tons of Christmas Cash as a Christian concert I attended in December. I'm sure many of you have already come to that realization, but I guess I'm a little slower. It never occurred to me to hand out tracts at overtly Christian events until about a year ago.

Animated Pilgrim's Progress

2009-06-06T19:49:00.003-04:00

This is definitely worth viewing. I found a digital animation of Pilgrim's Progress on Youtube. I believe that this would be excellent to show children in Sunday School or Vacation Bible School. We ordered it from Amazon and our kids love it. It is so simple and which makes it easy to understand but it in no way is fluffy theologically. It is packed with so much solid truth. This version is a much more simplified version of John Bunyan's classic. In part 1 at approximately 3:39 into the video, evangelist enters the story. I hope that by watching this we are all encouraged and reminded that we all have a part we are to be obedient to with regard to being a Christian. Be encouraged by this simple video.

If you are not a Christian and have stumbled upon this know that this message is for you and explains simply the Christian walk. Humble yourself, repent, and believe in Jesus Christ.

Fishing at the Kentucky Derby (pt.7)

2009-05-12T06:00:00.006-04:00

I was walking down the enclosed sidewalk and following the brick wall when I was drawn to this man. I pulled out a dollar because that is all the cash I had left and gave it to him. This is Yousef Ali. He is a homeless man living at the Salvation Army and a former Christian who converted to Islam about 15 years ago. I made a recording of it but it is difficult to listen to with the airplanes pulling advertising banners circling overhead and hundreds of people passing so I transcribed our conversation.

This was the first Muslim I have ever witnessed to and it was a fascinating conversation although at times he was a bit philosophical and couldn't really articulate why he believed that Islam met the need in his life as opposed to Christianity. (Notice he has the 'Why Christianity?' tract and had already started reading it- Yay!). Here is the transcript of our conversation:

After he introduced himself I said, "It's really interesting but it's my understanding that with Islam you never really know for sure that you're going to heaven. Doesn't that concern you?"

Yousef: "Yes, yes that is absolutely true."

Me: "To me that would really concern me, wouldn't you want to know if you were going to heaven or not? What if there was a way you could know, wouldn't that be more reassuring?"

Yousef: "Uh, with the knowledge that I have now, the answer would be no because it would make me more lackadaisical."

Me: "What made you stop being a Christian?"

Yousef: "Islam spoke to my humanity and spoke to my connection with the universe."

Me: "So you kinda feel like you have to work off the bad."

Yousef: "Exactly! It kind of, well the bottom line is, it made sense to me because the issue I had with Christianity or the reason I'm not so sure of Christianity is because, well it's hard for me to explain, but it was somewhat the role of Christ in relation to the other prophets. If God has all knowledge and all wisdom did God, some 6000-7000 years after the first man was ever brought on the face of the earth subsequently send a bunch of other prophets? Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Jonah, Moses..."

Me: (I interrupted and asked) "It's sounds like you're very familiar with the Bible so what was your question about Christianity?"

Yousef: "If God sent all these prophets and said that I need a Savior and you need a Savior, why did God use all these prophets and say that you need to believe in Jesus Christ to be righteous when He sent countless prophets ahead of Jesus Christ? So it implies He is not the author of all knowledge and leaves room as if there was an error made...uh, I am told that the only reason that I am created to serve God, the one God and He is a very jealous God and I am not to share...(unintelligible)...There is nothing in the universe that assists God. He creates all things and controls all things. But the likeness of Jesus is the likeness of Adam and Eve in the garden and when you understand that (unintelligible)...It is kind of a test for humanity and most of us are failing it."

I was trying to pull him back to the law and get him to the law instead of this cosmic universe mumbo jumbo he was talking about and his reliance on works.

Me: "Well, if you look at it from the very beginning from Adam all the way down to Christ there was a plan that was being slowly revealed that a Savior was coming. Even when God used Moses, He instituted the Levitical Law they ended up having sacrifices and all the things they ended up doing was a foreshadowing of Christ. This wasn't an afterthought. This was something that God promised. It was Moses that ended up giving the law from God, right? This is God's standard of moral perfection. Do you know why he did that? It was to show that through these thousands of years, man just cannot be good enough because what happened is that they had to offer sacrifices and did it ever fully take it away?"

Yousef: "Yeah, that's right."

Me: "It just covered over the sin didn't it?"

Yousef: "Yes, but it's that same way today. You still have to offer sacrifices. You have to sacrifice yourself."

Me: "Well, as far as Christ, He was sacrificed once and for all. There is nothing else. There is nothing else that needs to be done. Have you ever told a lie? (He answered: Yes.) Ever stolen anything? (Yes.) Ever looked with lust which is adultery in your heart (Yes.) Have you ever taken God's name in vain by saying OMG?" (Yes.) Of course, we all have. But you see that's the thing, by God's standard, you know His moral standard of perfection is what He is going to use to judge us on Judgment Day. You know, here, we have our civil law and we have laws we agree upon like that we are not going to drive 100 m.p.h. through a residential zone, right? If we did, the law would arrest us and say, 'We clocked you doing 100 m.p.h. and let's say you were in a city that you didn't know, and the judge says in this city we don't tolerate that. You're going to have to pay a million dollar fine or go to jail the rest of your life.' I know it seems extreme, since you only broke the law once, but that's not the way it works. So this is the thing, if you're standing before the judge and he asks you how you plead you look at him and say, 'Well, you've got me on radar and you've got a video of it, I'm guilty.' If he hands down the sentence is he sentencing you justly? Yes, because you're a lawbreaker and so am I. If you can apply that same example to God, we will stand before Him on Judgment Day but the good news is that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the grave. Haven't you read Matthew? It said he appeared again, there has never been anyone else not even Mohammad came back...

Yousef: "Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead,"

Me: "Yes but..."

Yousef: "You don't worship Lazarus. He wasn't the only one that was raised from the dead. He only did that by God's permission. You have to understand Jesus was a man just like everyone else...He ate food..."

Me: "Actually, He was fully God, fully man. Let me tell you one thing as far as believing you have got to know that Jesus is who He says He was."

Yousef: "He was the Messiah."

Me: "Out of all the prophecies, if there was just one man to fulfill just 8 of them, that number would be so large..."

Yousef: (Interrupted) "I would invite you to buy a Koran. Have you ever read the Koran?"

Me: "Parts."

Yousef: "Get one and read it in its entirety. But when you read it don't just read it like...put away your Christianity...put away your European-ness...put away your job, your mother, put away all the things that attach you to this world if that makes sense."

Me: "But I already have put away the world because I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and I can't be good enough. There is nothing I can do to save myself. I can NOT be good enough..."

Yousef: "You're absolutely right. I'm not disputing that, but what I'm saying is that Jesus can't save you either. Only by the grace of Allah."

Me: "Well, that is where we'll have to agree to disagree."

Yousef: "Elohim, most gracious and merciful...He promises to keep His promise to the people. The Koran teaches you how to (unintelligible) belief."

Me: "I don't know. The things I have read in the Koran and the things that I have had ex-Muslims tell me in the Koran is that it is a religion that is works based..."

Yousef: "That is correct."

Me: "And see, that is why Christianity is so different. Christianity is the only one... and it doesn't make lax, do you know what it does? It makes me respond out of gratitude for what was done..."

Yousef: "I agree."

Me: "Out of gratitude for what I could not do for myself..."

Yousef: "And I'll share this with you. God tells us in the Koran that the ones closest to you are the ones who can call themselves Christians when men humbly to love God study to learn... There will Christians in heaven also. Unfortunately, I'm not so sure if that is in error but it does warn those against saying that Jesus is God. It is the greatest sin in the sight of God. The only way you can get to heaven is to stop saying that.

Me: "I just...I can't because I'm compelled because I know that it is true."

Yousef: "God is the greatest."

Me: "He is. And, I will, I will pray for you and I will be thinking of you. If you would like, I do have this it's called, 'Why Christianity?' and it talks about all the major religions, Buddhism, Islam,..."

Yousef: "I'll share this with you, Muslims are in error too. God is the greatest."

Me: "I will think of you and I will use this picture to remember you and I will pray. I really will. Think about it. Read the brochure and see."

Yousef: "I will."

With that, I headed up the sidewalk to see who else I could talk to. It was a great learning experience. What I learned is that he had a fair command of the Old Testament and New Testament but is so deceived into beliving that Jesus can not be fully God and fully man because God is one and not in three persons. I don't know if I made a difference in his thinking or not that is something only God knows. Please pray for Yousef. He is so deceived by his works based religion and he basically just believes that if he accepts the grace of God that he will become lax. Pray that God will save him.

Fishing at the Kentucky Derby (pt.6)

2009-05-11T15:02:00.008-04:00

While we were standing on the side in a little grassy strip against the wall handing out tracts, I wanted to walk further down and see where I was. As I was heading down, I couldn't help but hand a tract to these gentlemen and snap a photo. These are some of the best hats I've seen by the infield crowd!

I gave them some celebrity millions and the young one a teen celebrity million. Boy, I sure was glad I had those. If you don't know the difference between the celebrity millions and the teen celebrity million they're great. The teen celebrity millions have caricatures of popular teen celebrities. On the back where the Gospel message is, instead of asking someone if they have ever committed adultery in their heart, it asks if they have ever dishonored their mother or father which I believe is more appropriate for younger children since my children don't know what adultery is yet. I don't want my 8 year old knowing what that is indepth yet. There will be plenty of time for her to know.

Just a few hundred feet from where we were I met Dennis from South Africa. When I told him I had a friend in South Africa he asked me who it was, as if he'd know Nigel. He didn't know my friend which was no surprise. He was trying to sell beer and water out of his cooler. I gave him a million and that's all I needed to start the conversation. I found that as long as I tried helping this man sell his water he was interested in talking.

Our conversation began by me asking him the million dollar question on the back of the tract: Did he think he was good enough to go to heaven?" I asked, "Have you heard of Heaven and Hell?" He said, "Oh, yes lots of times." I asked where he thought he'd go. "As far as I know...I wish to go to heaven rather than hell," he said.

I said, "Oh, absolutely! What do you think you need to do to go to heaven?" He said that "You must worship and believe."

It was a really interesting experience because we were constantly interrupted by people buying water or him trying to sell water but he still wanted to talk. It was a good opportunity for me because I gave the people a "Derby Trivia" tract as they were leaving. So I explained to him that he was close in his understanding, but that worshipping and believing is not all that is required. I told him that he must have faith in Jesus and repent. I explained that his all of his sins anytime that he has told a lie, stolen anything, were what was going to keep him from heaven because God uses a standard to judge everyone by and we don't measure up to that standard. Since he had a thick South African accent I kept asking if he understood what I was saying to him. He said he did so I continued. I explained that when we believe and repent that He will not hold us guilty. We can't earn our salvation and he wholeheartedly agreed.

I gave him the "Why Christianity?" Gospel tract. As I explained that it was a Gospel tract he told me that he was searching for answers. He said he wants to know more about God and doesn't know how to find out! I was stunned. I had never heard anything like that come out of someone's mouth on the street ever. Just goes to show you how limited my experiences are. He asked where I go to church and I explained that I lived over an hour away and didn't live in this city. Mental note: I guess I should do some work before an outreach in an unfamiliar city to get the name of a local church or pastor to refer people to should the need arise.

I reiterated with him what needed to be done and he said that he really appreciated out talk and he would read the "Why Christianity?" tract. I encouraged him to get a Bible and read the book of John and to believe and repent. He shook my hand and thanked me once again for our conversation. I was not met with anger or hostility but a man whom God is working on his heart who is searching for answers. Please keep Dennis in your prayers.

Fishing at the Kentucky Derby (pt.5)

2009-05-09T12:36:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture of my oldest son and Rachel handing out million dollar bills to the people passing by. My son handed out Kentucky Derby Trivia tracts and about 400 million dollar bills. Rachel's hat was a hit and when million dollar bills weren't flying off of it, it was a really great conversation starter.

My youngest daughter actually had a conversation with this woman. you can barely see the woman behind the man that is walking. The lady asked her what it was she said, "It's a Gospel tract that tells you about Jesus." I was so proud of her and her willingness at such a young age. I told the kids they didn't have to hand out tracts but they had to go with me since my husband was out of town being a pallbearer at a funeral. They all joyfully handed out tracts.

Although, I did think it was funny to hear a woman comment as she passed, "That is just ashame that they are making those kids do that!" If only she knew.

In fact, my eldest daughter (below, wearing the black sweats with white stripes) said she was too scared to hand out tracts. I told her that was OK and said she may just want to try handing out one. After she handed out her first one she was hooked! She really enjoyed handing them to people and having them request more as well as realizing that afterwards someone may go home and read the tract and become convicted of their sin and repent. She shared on the way home that she was terrified at first and didn't want to, but after so many people enthusiastically accepted the tract, she saw that what I had been telling her was true: attitude is everything. Do you really care about the spiritual state that people are in or are you doing this to notch numbers in your belt?

Here is TJ and Brian. Brian just went to the Academy in March and lives not too far from Louisville. TJ was his team leader at the Academy. It was great to meet another brother in Christ and one that likes wearing just spanky T-shirts to boot. Here he is featuring his "Evolution of the Coco-Cola can."

Here Jessica and my youngest daughter and my youngest son in action. They handed out several. I must say, having children handing out tracts certainly reduces the hostility that a crowd has towards you. Only a fool would attack a child verbally and it didn't happen. Another thing I noticed about the kids handing out tracts, every homosexual man that was offered a tract readily accepted one from the kids but would rebuff the men or anyone else. In fact, it was the homosexual men that would make kind comments. I believe it was safe to assume that when two men are walking hand in hand and wearing things that no other man would that they were homosexual. That is one thing that bothers me about sharing the Gospel with homosexual men who have already been witnessed too in an angry, hostile way. It breaks my heart because when you scream at people that they are going to hell as if God sets homosexuality apart from all other sins and puts you on the the "Do not pass go and go directly to jail (hell)" pathway as if you were playing Monopoly, it's just wrong. ALL sin is wrong not just sexual sin or perversion. To tell people this is the way God is, is a grave error in my opinion and I believe it does more damage than good.

There were all kinds of entertainment literally on every street corner. I commented to TJ that I was going to tell Kelli how much he wanted a pair of those black and purple stockings the banjo player was wearing. Unfortunately, TJ said he already had a pair. He wasn't kidding. Only in Kentucky.

Yet another shot of the unbelievable crowds that were there. We had to be standing in the middle of approximately 10,000 people that passed us by just in out little area.

Fishing at the Kentucky Derby (pt.4)

2009-05-06T11:25:00.009-04:00

This is Djinda and she comes from Thailand. For some reason she was attracted to us, especially my daughters. She held on to my arm and wouldn't let go. She didn't want me to buy anything nor was she panhandling me. In broken English she said, "This for you" as she pointed to them. She just wanted to give them bottled water. I knew she was out there trying to make money and I didn't want to take something from her so I politely refused, but she insisted. Then she said, "I learn English. I love American citizens!" She was just a sweetie pie.

I gave her a "Why Christianity?" booklet tract and the "Are you a good person" cartoon tract. This is a good tract since there are so many pictures. I ordered it from Living Waters. It's all I had and I knew her English was limited. When I gave it to her, she asked what it was. I told her it was a Gospel tract and that it told about Jesus. She sort of understood. When I said it was about God she seemed to understand a little more and gave me a hug. She then held my hand and wouldn't let go. I told her it was for her to keep and to get someone who understands English to read it to her. I suggested maybe her teacher could help her. She wasn't weird but she just kept holding on to me and didn't want to let go. It wasn't a bad thing. I'd just never had anything like that happen before. Maybe I reminded her of someone. We were heading up the sidewalk so we needed to leave. She gave me one more hug and I snapped this photo before we left. I will pray for her for the rest of my life.

Rachel was standing beside me and as we were leaving, we talked to each other wondering if perhaps God had ordained this woman to spend eternity with Him and moved her from Thailand to a corner in Louisville, Kentucky to receive the Gospel this very day so that she might be saved. I'm not saying that is the way it will happen, however, I believe keeping an eternal perspective on all that we do and our motives is so important. I wished that I could have communicated the truths of God to her but I don't worry about it because God will accomplish what He desires and won't be thwarted by a language barrier.

Remember Numbers 22-25? It is the story of Baalam. Balak summoned Baalam who was a seer to curse Israel. It is actually a very funny story rich with irony as every time Baalam opened his mouth he spoke blessings upon Israel which really hacked Balak off. Through seven oracles given by God, Baalam spoke blessings which leads to this principle: God can speak through whomever He chooses and through whatever means He chooses and truth may be presented through an unlikely source.

Will you look for those times when God calls you to obey? What area of your life are you not obedient?

Fishing at the Kentucky Derby (pt.3)

2009-05-05T23:41:00.004-04:00

Derby Drunks are Damned?

I was glad that the kids and I moved down the street away from the entrance to the infield. There are several entrances to Churchill Downs. There is the main entrance where all the celebrities, royalty from Arab countries, and people who have corporate sponsored box seats enter. However, there are two main entrances to the Infield. The infield is filled with every kind of drunken orgy-like behavior you could imagine. There is a huge brick wall around it so you can't see inside, but you could only imagine what it is like on the inside as you watch the streams of people entering.

Our message was well-received. We didn't water down the Gospel and tell them that God had a wonderful plan for their lives and that He is love without explaining that they were in danger because they were sinners. But, we also didn't start screaming at them through a bullhorn holding signs saying, "DERBY DRUNKS ARE DAMNED!" Folks, you don't get cuts in the line to hell because you are a Derby Drunk. It just isn't so.

If a person who regularly shares the Gospel by means of sandwich boards and large signs while using a bullhorn ever reads this blog, know that I consider you a brother or sister in Christ. However, there is a way to share the true Gospel, including using the words "judgment," "hell," and "sinner" without watering down the message. But, you also need to know that while God is a jealous God who has unbelievable wrath against sin, He also is filled with incomprehensible love. He is filled with so much love that He provided a way for us, the wayward, stiff-necked, disobedient children to spend eternity with Him. The church has, for several years, told only about His love and not His wrath and I believe that is a grave error. But, to share only about His wrath and never mention His love or to explain what "sin" really is or what "repentance" really means to people who really don't know is just as grievous.

In all the posts I have made about the Kentucky Derby outreach and the ones I am about to make, notice that people are not angry with us or screaming at us. Look at the faces in the photos- they are smiling! What the photo doesn't show are the quiet moments that these people had as we shared the Gospel and their conscience convicted them. Their mouths were stopped and they were left defenseless. We shared the good news and many said what we often hear, "I never understood it that way before." or "I'm going to go home and pray." As we were leaving, they weren't flipping the bird at us or screaming, they were waving good-bye, asking for more tracts or quietly contemplative. That's all I'm going to say about method.

Seeing so many people, brought the verse to mind, "Broad is the way that leads to destruction." Besides seeing such a mass of humanity living utterly depraved lives right in front of us, the "sign people" broke my heart. The crowd was absolutely hostile to the people who had signs stating that "Derby Drunks were Damned!" and "Mothers should be home with their children not drunk in the street." The signs were akin to approaching a sleeping person in a darkened room flipping open one of their eyelids and shining a flashlight in it and wondering why they got so offended! It was very hard to see and and hear. There was a lot of profanity thrown in the direction of these people, who while well-meaning, were unbelievably offensive.

We walked down the street and around the corner handing out our tracts all the way down the street until we found a location next to the brick wall where peddlers were. Along the wall were people selling beer and water, homeless people, people playing instruments for money. It was much more pleasant.

Fishing at the Kentucky Derby (pt.2)

2009-05-04T21:56:00.004-04:00

Here's a close-up of the fabulous conversation starter Derby hat. She just got a cheap straw hat and taped million dollar bills on it with a sign "Anyone want $1,000,000?" She glued roses on top since the Kentucky Derby is also known as "the Run for the Roses" and -voila! That's one snazzy conversation starter.

TJ witnessed to this guy- he was a character! TJ gave him a million dollar bill and began to witness to him. I was recording the conversation when Merlene walked up and I began witnessing to her. Fish were jumping in the boat left and right. These pictures don't do it justice. While we were talking, the kids were handing out tracts and even Donald was handing out tracts in the middle of the street.

After TJ had explained the Gospel the man knew we were talking about God so when I went to take a picture he said, "Oh don't take a picture with me wearing this shirt!" I thought that was pretty amazing that this man's conscience was convicting him about the content of his shirt after TJ's conversation with him! Funny, huh?

This is Merlene. I met her as we were coming out of the ally. She saw Rachel's hat and asked for a million. I offered her some Obama millions and she asked for more. She was going to a cookout later that night and wanted to give them to her kids and some friends. I thought, "Go right ahead." This woman is going to aid in the spreading of the Gospel. It's mind boggling to think that someone she gives the tract to could read the message on the back and be brought under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and then repent and believe!

She asked what the tract was since it looked like a picture of Obama on the million dollar bill. I told her it's a Gospel tract and on the back is the million dollar question. So she flipped over the bill and read the million dollar question out loud. I asked her, "Do you think you're good enough to go to heaven?" She said, "I hope so." Whenever someone answers like that, it always breaks my heart and I immediately spend time taking them through the complete Gospel message because it's apparent they really don't know and they they probably do not possess a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. She really thought she was a pretty good person and that she could go to heaven until I took her through the good person test.

As I explained that if we break a law here and end up in court then it makes logical sense that if God is the judge that He will judge us by His law and that our own goodness or our own assumption of goodness doesn't matter. She really listened and then just stared in silence for a few seconds at the million dollar bill and said, "I see what you're saying." I explained that this requires faith and repentance in Jesus Christ and that He is the only way God will forgive our sins. I always explain repentance and distinguish it from worldy sorrow. She thanked me for our talk and said that she was going to think about what we had discussed. I thanked her for talking with me. She was more than happy to pose for this picture. She also had to get back to work trying to entice people to park in her yard.

It took us about 45 minutes for us to walk one block because there were so many people in the neighborhood and on the street that would never be on 4th and Central. Here is TJ handing out tracts to some of the traffic safety officers.

We headed up the street and these police and security officers were seated at the entrance to a gate in front of the stables where the horses who were getting ready to run in the Derby were stabled. The man that is closest to TJ is Officer Alvin. He asked who published the tract and if we were with someone I'd never heard of before. TJ told him that this tract was from Way of the Master and Ray Comfort. He got really excited and said, "I LOVE Way of the Master! I listen to everything I can get my hands on!" That was really neat to see another brother in Christ. You never know who you might run in to.

The military police were happy to take some tracts and "Derby Trivia" tracts too. We made sure to give some tracts to the young ladies right by the MP's who had just been asked to pour out their beer all while trying to convince them that they were 26! They barely looked like they were out of their teens.

We probably handed out 100 tracts and had about 10 one on one conversations with people from where we parked the cars up to where we hit the main gate for the infield.

Fishing at the Kentucky Derby (pt.1)

2009-05-03T20:54:00.002-04:00

The 135th running of the Kentucky Derby was my first ever. If you've lived here any length of time, you soon learn that unless you have box seats you don't want to go to the Derby. The crowd in the infield is wild and raucous, it's a madhouse, parking is crazy and it just turns into an excuse to get drunk and behave badly. There were an estimated 150,000 people attending today. My husband couldn't join us because he was to be a pallbearer at a dear friends' father's funeral 3 hours from where we live. Once we arrived, it took us an hour to get through the traffic as I scouted the closest and cheapest place to park. After sizing up where I was and the best way to leave, I chose a guy that offered to allow me to park in his backyard for a mere $20. I thought $10 seemed more fair so I asked, and he agreed. We drove down an ally and parked in his backyard. I called TJ and told him I found a place for him to park and had gotten the guy to cut his price in half. Here's my team as we get ready to walk the 2 blocks to our rendezvous point on 4th and Central Ave.

Soon enough, TJ arrived with his father-in-law, Donald, and two young ladies, Jessica and Rachel. Kelli (TJ's wife) wisely stayed home with their very young children. We later discovered this was definitely no place for the very young.

As we walked out of the ally, we witnessed to everyone we could find who was out on the street. The mood was festive. In the picture below, Donald is carrying the box of tracts, TJ is talking with Mike (the guy whose backyard we parked in), and Rachel and Jessica are beside them.

While TJ witnessed to someone else, Donald began by handing this gentleman a "Derby Trivia" tract.

My eldest son handed tracts to these little girls. Absolutely EVERYONE took a tract, wanted a tract, and asked for more tracts! **I highly recommend the Teen Celebrity Millions from Living Waters. The teen crowd loves them.**

Unfortunately, I'm so old I have no clue who these people are on the tracts. The only one I could guess was Miley Cyrus. At least I had Jessica and Rachel who quickly rattled off each one of these teen celebrities. I told the girls to stay close to me, I definitely saw I could use their help.

Have you ever seen a finer team of evangelists?! They ranged in age from 8 1/2 to 17. Rachel designed this hat and put million dollar bills all over it. I really liked it because you really are supposed to wear a hat to Derby and this was spectacular. What a conversation starter!

We prayed that the rain would hold off because earlier that morning it was pouring and rain was forecast all day. So, with approximately 5000 tracts between us we headed with high spirits under cloudy skies.

Rainy day evangelism

2009-05-02T20:29:00.000-04:00

I was going on a fishing trip and there was rain in the forecast all day so I shot a quick video that shows what I packed for the day. Hopefully, it will be helpful to know what to pack for rainy day evangelism.

This call may be monitored for quality assurance

2009-04-30T17:53:00.001-04:00

Well, I suspect that the last several calls from U.S. Bank have been monitored for quality control purposes and someone didn't like that every time someone called trying to get us to go in debt they got the Gospel instead! I have not received anymore calls from them for over 2 months.

One thing that I do know for sure is that I was faithful with the opportunity that the Lord had given to me. I pray for those people and wonder if Jeff ever bought a Bible and repent? Did Ellen ever share the Gospel with anyone and was she encouraged? Did Christina ever recover from the shock of thinking about death? Here's the previous posts.

http://chipperfisher.blogspot.com/2008/10/i-love-phone-solicitors.html

http://chipperfisher.blogspot.com/2008/10/another-phone-fish.html

http://chipperfisher.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-love-us-bank.html

I laugh at all those calls I received while being on the do-not-call list. But, I do and always will continue to pray for those people. I wonder if I will ever meet someone in heaven and the Lord introduces us by saying, "Your obedience was the means I had ordained for this believer to be saved. Yes, your obedience really did matter."

I know God isn't wringing His hands in heaven waiting for me or any other believer for that matter to act. I still am in awe that God would condescend to use a peon like me to share a message of salvation with anyone. Look for those opportunities especially the ones that come to you that He places in your lap. I know there were so many that I have had that I squandered. I am thankful that He gives me the opportunities that He does. It is the very least I can do for a God that is so great.

His name was Micah

2009-04-29T22:14:00.007-04:00

I was out in the backyard when I heard someone yell from the top of the hill in the front yard. He was from one of those companies trying to sell prepackaged meat and seafood from his truck. I let my husband know from the basement that someone was at the front door. I went back to my gardening project because a lot of rain was predicted for the next several days and it was going to be dark soon. I was exhausted and had been working 10-12 hours per day on this for several days and nothing was going to stop me from getting this done before the rain.

Then the Lord said, "Get your head off of yourself and your project and go open that new box of tracts that just came in and don't miss this opportunity that I just sent to your door!" Ouch.

I had just ordered a lot of tracts for the Kentucky Derby this week-end and hadn't had a chance to open them up. Now was the perfect opportunity. My son had already raided the tract stash in an attempt to give one to this guy. He was unaware of the new ones that had arrived. We pulled out one of the celebrity millions and headed up to talk to this guy.

Our son is becoming more bold about sharing the Gospel and so he gave him one. It was a "Harrison Ford" million. He laughed and thought is was really neat as my son said, "Thanks a million." He then asked him if he had a religious background. He said, "Well yeah, my name is Micah!" We laughed and then he proceeded to tell us that his grandfather is a preacher in Virginia. Hmmm, just because grandpa is a preacher doesn't mean you're saved.

But, it seems to be the case for many I talk to in the Bible belt, they're all saved. I can't say whether he was a Christian or not nor was that even my goal. I just wanted to make sure that ultimately the guy was able to hear the Gospel before he left. My son told him to read the back of the tract. He did and was very kind but since it was late and he was trying to sell the rest of what he had on his truck, he couldn't stay long. We talked briefly about repentance and faith and he nodded in affirmation. He kept affirming what we were saying to him.

When I had opened the box to pull out my new tracts, I also grabbed a "Why Christianity?" tract by Ray Comfort. You can order this tract at www.livingwaters.com. It is an almost 20 page mini booklet that you can give to someone when sharing the Gospel. It begins by using the analogy of jumping from a plane. Would you want the Mona Lisa, a new Lamborghini, a million dollars, or a parachute? It then shares details of a heinous crime that was committed against a child, asks what the reader believes should be done to the murderer and then compares Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity. The complete Gospel is given at the end showing that Christianity is the only way.

I wouldn't hand them out indiscriminately because they are about 50 cents each. I love this tract and had never used it before. Micah started flipping through it and reading a little as we continued to try to see if he thinks he's good enough to go to heaven or does he realize that no one is good enough. Micah was very excited and said emphatically, "I'm going to read it as soon as I get in my truck!" We know he had to go, but I pray that the little my son and I were able to share was able to plant the seed in the heart of this young man if he was unsaved. I was really impressed with this tract and look forward to using it in the future. Oh, and uh, I got my project complete before the rain.

Getting Ready for the Derby!

2009-04-27T21:47:00.003-04:00

I have one prayer request: please pray for no rain this Saturday! I am going to be in Louisville for the Kentucky Derby on the corner of 4th and Central with my son handing out tracts. My movie star millions arrived today and I'm thrilled!

Also, a dear friend of the family lost his father after a long illness. My husband will be traveling to the funeral in a different city on Saturday.

Pray for travel mercies for us all and may the Gospel go forth!

Suffering to Learn

2009-04-27T15:11:00.004-04:00

This has been such a simultaneously difficult and very blessed season of my life. I think it quite providential that at the time that I have been drawing nearer to the Lord, I have seen this series of sermons, which amazingly, address the very aspect of the difficulty that I am currently experiencing.

In the Fall of 2008, I felt led to memorize the book of 1 Peter. My memory is horrible and I struggle to retain things after a car accident scrambled my brains in 1994. I'd never had the gumption to try to memorize a book before but I knew that I was impressed to learn this.

Then in early 2009, Pastor Mark Driscoll started a series on 1 Peter. Wow! How amazing that I had a primer on 1 Peter for 3 months and then the Lord allows extra exposition and practical application through this sermon series. Through this, I have felt the Lord's presence in ways I have never experienced and while I can't necessarily say that this is on the top ten list of things I would like to experience, it is so beneficial and I am thankful for what the Lord is showing me. Pastor Mark addresses the root of the difficulty that both my husband and I are experiencing during this season. This video addresses suffering when it is being committed against you and you are not committing any sin. You can start the video at 5:40 as this is where he begins the sermon.

May you be richly blessed, if perhaps, you are being sinned against for doing right and living with integrity and you don't know what to do with suffering.

Do you obey even when it seems stupid?

2009-04-23T07:54:00.004-04:00

I have been blessed by an incredible season of God using me in ways I couldn't have imagined. I don't say this with false modesty but, I really do blow it on a daily, sometimes an hourly basis with regard to my thoughts and actions as a Christian. So, I guess that is why I am really amazed that God has even allowed the opportunities He has.

The first one, began when I took my sons to get their haircut. There is a barbershop up the road from our house. A stylist whom I attended church with in another city almost a decade ago works there. She and I have always wanted to "catch up" but the last time I went in, I felt compelled to schedule a lunch time for fellowship. This wasn't the normal oh-I-want-to get-together-and-gab feeling this was a compulsion of necessity. I grabbed my calendar and scheduled a date. We had lunch on Monday. What a blessing! I got to know her better and she told me her story. She became a Christian after she had married. She has prayed for her husband's salvation for over 20 years. He is still unsaved. This is where the story get interesting. I scheduled the lunch date on the 15th. Unknown to me, she received a letter from their son the week-end of the 18th and we had lunch on the 20th. The news in the letter was devastating to both her and her husband and they wept that week-end.

On Monday, we met and I was able to equip her not only to share the Gospel with her husband but able to give her some tools for her workplace. She is a strong Christian and walks through difficulty well. Her gentle, quiet spirit will be winsome to her husband. Her words to me were that she didn't know how to share the Gospel and while she knows scripture, she is the ONLY light in her workplace. Her co-workers could be described as a bitter Catholic who is obsessed with performing rituals to make sure his salvation is in "good standing," a gay man who has frequent fights with his boyfriend, and the owner who commiserates with the gay man when she has a fight with her husband. She attends a questionable church that likes to read excerpts from books by Brian McLaren (one of the emergent church gurus).

My friend knows she has a mission field and she believes that every person that sits in her chair is an opportunity to share the Gospel. She just didn't know HOW. I gave her several examples and we role played several scenarios. I gave her a copy of Way of the Master and Hell's Best Kept Secret. I also encouraged her to attend an Academy out in Los Angeles. What a wonderful time of fellowship it was with this sister! Pray for her ministry opportunities and her personal family situation and the salvation of her husband and son.

Two days later, on Wednesday, I had to go to Sam's Club. I always like to see what they have in the back "clearance" corner. While I was there, I ran into a woman that I vaguely remembered. Our daughters attended the same preschool almost 10 years ago. She and I spied some Adirondack chairs and were curious about the price. Since I had arrived first, she asked if I was interested in them too. When I told her I was, she said that since I was there first she was going to go on shopping. She wasn't going to pursue them. The sales lady came with the price, but I decided against them.

So, I decided head to the check out. Again, there was a compulsion like I had felt when I knew I needed to schedule a lunch date and this time it was accompanied by what I like to call an "audible thought" that said, "Find her!" I thought, "That's ridiculous! This is Sam's Club and it's huge and packed and she probably didn't want them anyway." I pushed my cart further and was then told by the Lord, "You need to find this woman and tell her you don't want the chairs." I said, "Lord, if this is what you want, you will have to find her for me because I have to go and she already said she didn't want them." As I pushed the cart towards the check out what do you know, the next to the last aisle I found her. I went up to her and said, "Excuse me m'am, I just wanted to let you know that I decided against those chairs and just wanted to let you know." As soon as I said that, she remarked how that was kind and then began to tell me that they were trying to sell their house and she thought they would look good in her back yard to try to help sell her house. She then told me about some difficulty that she was experiencing and about job uncertainty with her husband as a major employer in our city just laid off over 300 people a few days before. About then she said, "You look familiar." I told her that I had remembered that our daughters attended pre-school together almost a decade ago. She then, shared a few more things and I then knew why I was there. I felt like I was to share a portion of the difficulty we'd been through recently.

I began to share with her the difficulty of the trials we had been through over the last 3 years and how they intensified over the last 8 months. I shared with her the wonderful things that resulted from these trials and that the trials brought us to the end of ourselves and our own self-reliance. Idols were torn down in our lives. I shared with her our own house woes having survived 22 months of double house payments and other difficulties and brought it back to how beneficial the trial was to my husband in particular.

As I began to tell her the things that changed in my husband as a result of the trial, tears welled up in her eyes. I gave her some resources to help her be encouraged in the Lord and I told her run to the Lord and stay there through this. She leaned forward and grabbed my neck and gave me a hug. All she could say was, "You have no idea how similar our stories are. I needed to hear this today because this morning I was at a particularly low point because we have many decisions to make. I think you were sent by the Lord."

I was stunned, but I believe I was too. I have to tell you, I don't normally go sharing such things with complete strangers or people I only vaguely remember from a decade ago, but I felt compelled. I truly felt that if I didn't find her and tell her about the chairs, that I would have been disobedient on an incomprehensible level. I know the chairs were only the mechanism by which the Lord provided so that I would be able to start a conversation with this lady. Even though my first thought was, "This is stupid," I know that it was orchestrated by God to encourage another sister in Christ.

It has also made me more mindful of obeying little promptings and not being so quick to dismiss them as just a capricious whim on my part. It also has made me to be even more faithful with Bible reading and memorizing the Word because I can not be used if I am empty.

I encourage you to train your spiritual ear to not only hear but obey the promptings that are placed within your heart even if they seem stupid or off the wall. I have had these things happen in the past, but not as often in the last 2-3 years. I believe it is because of the season that the Lord allowed us to walk through and with all the insights that He has given to me as a result of this time of refining, I believe that I can encourage others to run to the Lord. Keep your spiritual ears open and cultivate an obedient willing spirit that can be used be the Lord.

Ministry opportunities abound!

2009-04-20T17:05:00.005-04:00

Well, it's been a busy week-end. I went to a convention in another state and handed out lots of tracts. But, the exciting news is that no sooner had I posted about my spiritual obesity and needing to serve, God provided an opportunity!

He knows that I deeply desire to walk in obedience to Him and I also want to help in any way I can. I have been praying for so long that we would be able to serve in a church that wants to tell people about Jesus. I am truly convinced that chasing people down to make a decision for Christ is the least effective and downright least obedient route for sharing the Gospel. It is emotionally manipulative and creates false converts. However, if you do not have the infrastructure laid do disciple those who are new in Christ, then they are in danger of never making it past the spiritual milk/baby stage of the Christian walk.

We believe we have been led to a church where the pastor is truly committed to evangelism and wants people to be soundly saved. He called on Thursday of last week asking if I could take a person to the doctor whom he had been in contact with. It was a wonderful opportunity to touch base with this lady who is going through an extremely difficult time in her life. On our ride to her appointment, she shared that her husband is questioning if there is really a God. Please be in prayer for this couple and that as we share the full Gospel with them that the Lord would continue to draw them to Him.

The Derby is coming in a few weeks and I am getting very excited about sharing the Gospel! I've never been to the Derby because I have never had a desire to go just for the sake of the Derby. But, to share the Gospel will be incredible!

Are you a spiritually obese Christian?

2009-04-14T19:12:00.006-04:00

"If missions languish, it is because the whole life of godliness is feeble. The command to go everywhere and preach to everybody is not obeyed, until the will is lost by self-surrender in the will of God. There is little right giving because there is little right living, and because of the lack of sympathetic contact with God in holiness of heart, there is a lack of effectual contact with him at the Throne of Grace. Living, praying, giving and going will always be found together, and a low standard in one means a general debility in the whole spiritual being.” Arthur T. Pierson

I read this quote the other day and was struck by the truth contained within it. We are all called to missions- some to go overseas, some to within their own neighborhoods- but by and large it is a command that is largely ignored even by evangelical churches.

How many times do we live and behave as spiritual consumers? I have been just as guilty of consuming and consuming and not obeying or giving back. I may not have started out on a really good spiritual diet and at times the availability of good teachings were few and far between. But now, I am like the bloated, obese carcass of a beached whale. I haven't "arrived" nor will I ever spiritually, but I have enough knowledge and life experience to give back and help teach and encourage new Christians and to share the Gospel with the lost.

I have 4 children and the oldest will be a teen next month and our next child will be a teen next year and have learned what works and doesn't work with pre-teen children. Why am I not encouraging younger parents? I will be married 20 years next year and am relatively mature in my spiritual walk yet there is a tendency to just sit in church, week after week and consume. We as women need to become that Titus 2 woman to the younger women. You don't have to wait until your life is almost over to do this. So there is an opportunity to serve within the body of Christ. But what about sharing the Gospel with the unsaved within your community?

I find that there is a lot of lip service given within churches to "go and preach the Gospel" but in reality, very little is done within the community they serve. We pat ourselves on the backs for taking the Gospel to remote places in the world, but locally besides Easter egg hunts or 4th of July picnics labeled as "outreaches" very little of the Gospel is really shared within the local community. I am not against outreaches to the community, however we need to couple sharing the Gospel with action motivated by love.

My Academy roommate who lives in Arizona shared her frustration that the outreach in her church amounted to handing out bottles of water to strangers on the street but not sharing the Gospel; not even a tract was handed out. These are just worthless gimmicks that are a waste of time. If we hand out bottles of water, food, or offer to change oil in the cars of single mothers we need to give them the reason for the hope we have within. Our action demonstrates we love but if we fail to tell them why we love then we have gained nothing. If they die going home in their car with newly changed oil or they drink the bottle of water and die on the way home without repenting and believing in Christ, their fate is sealed forever. This should alarm us!

We visited a church last year and I was angered to the point I almost stood up and left. The minister came out, sat on the stage and played a video clip. The video clip had the sound removed and showed a man holding a large sign which had a message about sin and hell while he was speaking into a bullhorn. I don't know what the man was saying, but the preacher then used 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 and preached a horrible reductionistic sermon about how we are just supposed to love people into the kingdom by working and keeping silent! Here are the 2 verses:

11Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

He took these 2 verses totally out of context and used these verses to say that God's Word says that this is proof that we are not to be overt in our efforts. He asserted that they WILL come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ if we just work quietly side by side with the lost and just "smile and wave at them" like the penguins from the movie Madagascar. The icing on the cake is when he brought out a book by Brian McLaren, the emergent church guru, and started reading a bunch of heresy to complete his sermon.

I am not a fan of the "sign people" although I do consider them brothers and sisters in Christ. But at least that man in the video is not sitting in his church as a spiritually bloated consumer unable or unwilling to share the Gospel.

We need to have a balanced approach to sharing the Gospel. We all don't need to be on a box on a corner to be successful. Have you shared the Gospel with your neighbor? Bake them muffins or bread, mow their lawn or offer to watch their house when they're gone because you need a touch point, but at some point you HAVE to open your mouth. What about getting involved with a local jail ministry? Did you know that most public schools are looking for tutors for school children and that this relationship can last over the summer break? What an opportunity to make the difference in the life of a child or their families by introducing them to Jesus. Have you volunteered at a local food bank? Most communities have a Ronald McDoanld House for families with terminally ill children. Go volunteer there by cooking and serving a meal or driving the van to pick up families at the hospital. They always need help. Homeless shelters are also a wonderful place to make a difference and meet people who may not know Christ.

You can even share the Gospel within the church by teaching a children's class. I have a friend in California that teaches Kindergarten through 2nd grade in her church. She is sharing the Gospel with these kids each week. If you have children, your greatest mission field are your children. Have younger couples over to your home to encourage them in their marriage and in raising Godly families. But to willingly neglect sharing the Gospel message is in error when you know that these individuals are not saved.

We are looking for ways to be more deliberate with our neighbors and to not only be Christ to them by our actions but to share Christ with them by opening our mouths. I encourage you to make a list of 5 neighbors that you don't know and make it a point to meet all 5 of them within the month. That's about 1 per week. Take something over to them, say "Hello" and find out if they have a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Listen up, you professing atheists!

2009-04-13T09:12:00.004-04:00

I had the honor of filming my son reading the last part of Matthew 28-the Great Commission on Good Friday as he practiced open air reading of the Gospel. Three short years ago today, he had never heard of God, Jesus, or any of the other familiar Bible stories most children know. Three years ago he didn't even speak or read English.

Those first few months here, I communicated the truths of God and His existence. He told me that in Russia, he had asked many people how the trees got here? Where did the animals come from? Where did all the people come from? Everyone he asked, no one knew. But, he knew deep down there was something bigger in control. Even as a child in a godless country that had spent almost 100 years trying to erase any vestiges of God he, in theory, shouldn't have even ackowledged a Creator for none had ever been spoken to him.

The first book that we studied together was Romans. Romans 1:18-23 states:

18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

He would read in his little Russian Bible and I would let the truth of God's word soak in to his heart and soul. Without Sunday school or a preacher to teach him, ONLY the Word of God, and our discussions I asked him one day if he now had an answer to his former questions? He had only been home for 4 months and we still communicated primarily in Russian and I'll never forget his answer as his eyes lit up as he said, "Это Бог!" (It is God!)

He KNEW instinctively in his conscience there was something bigger than him that had to have put this planet and everything on it in motion. He just didn't know who or what it was. Oh the arrogance of the professing "atheist!" You can not say in your heart there is no God only because you deny the muffled screams of your deadened conscience that you suppress! Please, humble yourself and repent and place your faith in Jesus Christ!

The argument which states that you can't use the Bible to prove that there is a God is just not true. God's Word states that even without the Bible that ALL of creation is testimony to the creative hand of the Almighty God. It proved to be true in the life of this little boy who knew there was something bigger than himself and waited until God sought him and plucked him out of a desolate land and revealed Himself to him. Think about these truths and let it sink in.

Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This is what He did for all of us and especially for my son. While he was still a sinner He died for him and then because he couldn't seek God, God sought him.

Mission Good Friday 2009

2009-04-11T11:01:00.012-04:00

For Mission Good Friday, we headed downtown. We decided to go early because severe weather was forecast in the afternoon and for the remainder of the evening. I headed with my "team" complete with umbrellas and open air "boxes." This was across the street from our courthouse and in front of the central library. My eldest son was the camera crew, but at times it was a little shaky. Just listen to the audio, because the video isn't that important.

While I was reading, it began to rain. After it stopped, two gentlemen stood in front of me and listened to the whole reading. One was a homeless man named Paul and the other was Joseph. I was able to share the Gospel with them even though both of them professed Christianity. Paul said he was a bad Catholic but was a very good person. We were able to share law and grace and encourage him to not rely on his works to get him to heaven because there is nothing that he can do to get to heaven on his own. Joseph said he was a Christian and I asked him what he would tell me if I had a knife in my back and 2 minutes to live and wanted to go to heaven. He said call on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. I explained that repentance is key. I explained repentance and clarified the difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow and encouraged him to walk in obedience and if he had habitual sin he struggled with, to repent and God would give him the strength to escape.

I'm not some whack job out there wildly screaming at people and never explaining that they are sick. Until they see they are ill the cure will never make sense. I am just someone who is deeply burdened for the lost and feel the weight of responsibility God has placed upon my shoulders to walk in obedience. I am grateful for what the Lord has done for me by His death on the cross that I could barely maintain my composure when I had to read, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

I guaran-dang-tee you those men would not have darkened the door of my church or perhaps any church this Easter Sunday. There is a dying world that needs to hear the Gospel and if we are going to continue with the arrogant thought and attitude that we will just keep building more and more churches and they will come, we are deluded. God doesn't need my help. He needs my obedience and EVERY Christian has been given the duty of sharing the Gospel and making disciples. This job is not reserved "just" for the pastor of the church. The pastor should be equipping believers to GO OUT and share the Gospel and make converts as well as feeding the flock. The pastor of a church has a great responsibility placed upon his shoulders, but he is not the only "authorized" person to share the Gospel.

When we as Christians stop playing church and actually walk in obedience, churches will become vibrant centers where living water flows (John 4) from them to quench the thirst of a dying world and it will stop being a holding tank for converts who have become bloated carcasses who do nothing but consume.

Is abortion really murder?

2009-04-06T21:49:00.009-04:00

While this is primarily and evangelism oriented blog encouraging believers to share their faith, I believe strongly in the right of the unborn. Hollywood declares that this human being, an image bearer of God, is simply a choice- nothing more, nothing less. However, watch this video clip and see how far we have strayed from when this original movie was made to the time of the remake.

Over the holidays I had a conversation with my niece. She lives at a boarding school and graduates next month to go to college. In the name of having a "superior education" she has been indoctrinated by the post-modern, feminist, Darwinistic worldview which advocates survival of the fittest which was picked up by the likes of Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood. She is so educated she can't argue her way out of theological paper bag yet professes to be a Christian. It's sad. She actually believes that it's OK to abort a child up to a certain point because she reasoned that it can't feel and it is unconscious so it's excusable. However, when pressed to reveal that defining point in a pregnancy when it is OK to kill the child and when it is not OK, she couldn't answer.

In spite of being shown the video of Gianna Jessen (click here to see the video http://chipperfisher.blogspot.com/2009/01/in-honor-of-sanctity-for-human-life-day.html who was a survivor of a botched abortion attempt, all she could focus on was the fact that Ms. Jessen seemed to "talk meanly" to the men as she was exhorting the members of the Australian Parliament to vote against supporting a measure similar to the Infants Born Alive Act in Australia because she sharply admonished them, "to be men and act honorably and do what is right for the unborn, the weakest members of society because she was tired of doing their job."

After that, I became even more resolute about the education of my children and making certain that they did not become casualties of the culture. I am teaching them about the current world view that is so pervasive in America right now. They will be equipped to logically dismantle arguments that their peers try to use to justify a God-forsaken worldview.

A wonderful place for information on the current worldview and how to communicate these truths to the culture around you and equip your children is http://www.worldviewweekend.com. Attend a "Code Blue Rally" in your area and in a 3-hour seminar get an overview of the most dangerous philosophies invading the schools and the culture. I believe the information will also be very helpful when sharing the Gospel and you encounter the typical "atheist" (a.k.a. agnostic) who believes in evolution. It is imperative that you constantly expand the tools in your tool bag you use when evangelizing so you may be equipped to encounter the culture wisely.

The Biggest Evangelistic Opportunity of the Spring

2009-04-02T16:19:00.008-04:00

Kentucky Derby

If you've spent anytime at all in Kentucky, you know what happens the first Saturday in May: The Kentucky Derby. This will be a wonderful time to share the Gospel because so many people converge from all over the world to Louisville, Ky. Many trust in the money and their family name to get them into heaven.

Bill Adams of Sport Fan Outreach will be attending the Oaks and the Derby and has a schedule of events on his website. Click here to find the schedule of events. http://www.sfoi.org/?p=530 They will be here Thursday through Sunday. The Kentucky Oaks is on Friday and they have an outreach scheduled for that event and the Kentucky Derby is the next day, on Saturday. If you participate through the Sports Fan Outreach site they can arrange meals, and accomodations for you at Southern Seminary in Louisville. If you've ever heard anything about the Kentucky Derby, it's probably been about the Infield. The Infield is where every form of debauchery and the like takes place under the guise of "having a good time."

There are several people who have been to the Ambassador's Academy who are planning on attending. If you are in Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Missouri, or Kentucky please consider joining us.

If you are in the area, come join us for a concentrated time of witnessing and evangelism at an even where literally 10's of thousands of people will be.

Here is the official Kentucky Derby website which will give you more information about the event. http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2009/

The Biggest Evangelistic Opportunity of the Summer

2009-04-02T15:55:00.002-04:00

Ichthus Festival

If you want THE evangelistic opportunity of the summer, come to Ichthus Festival in Wilmore, Ky, June 10-13th 2009. Ichthus can't be explained, it has to be experienced. It used to be held every April until they moved it to June to try to avoid the rain. Of course, when it was moved to June it got deluged too. It is like a "Christian" Woodstock complete with mud-romps all under the guise of Christianity.

Every band in the Christian music world descends on this little town for this festival. This year will be the 40th anniversary of the festival. Approximately 20,000 people attend this event. That's right, 20,000! The size of the town doubles during that week-end.

While most of the people who attend are sincere, they are sincerely wrong. They have a form of godliness and they truly believe that they are behaving and responding as Christ would have them, but truth be told their hearts are far from God.

There are many anemic sermons given throughout the festival begging the youth to come to Jesus and give their hearts to him because there is a God-shaped hole that only he can fill. Hell is not mentioned and repentance isn't explained. Many who were asked to define repentance at Ichthus believe that repentance means saying you're sorry. This isn't a jaded observation on my part. Check out their "beliefs" page (below). There is no mention of repentance being necessary at all.

Beliefs

That the one God—eternal, holy, and all-powerful—exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
That Jesus Christ is the “only begotten” Son of God. That anyone who calls on the Father, in the name of Jesus, and believes that He is the Son of God, sent to bring salvation, will be saved.
That Jesus’ incarnation, life, death, resurrection, sending of the Holy Spirit, and final return provide everything necessary for human salvation, holy living, and an eternal life of ever-deepening worship, intimacy, and joy in God.
That the Bible—Old and New Testaments—is divinely inspired, without error in all that it affirms, and is the authoritative source of faith and practice imparted to every generation by the Holy Spirit.

If you are in the area or are interested in attending, a group of us are making plans now to attend. Please contact me via e-mail and I will include you in the communication and plan making. It will be here before you know it. Check out the video to get a feel for the wonderful evangelistic opportunity that awaits at this year's festival.

Suffering to Bless

2009-04-01T14:37:00.003-04:00

Since last year, our family has been going through difficulty and trial. We have learned much through this trial so it has been valuable. I just watched this video of a sermon by Mark Driscoll and it really helped focus my perpective and also challenged me to maintain the right attitude and perspective while we are walking through our valley. I really took some instruction from him showing the correct way we should respond. I have a tendancy to withdraw and not want to "bother" anyone with my problems. But, by isolating yourself, you may be depriving another borhter or sister in Christ from ministering to you and giving Christlike support to you. I also especially liked his perspective on evangelism. Around the 40 minute mark he addresses point #4 which relates to evangelism. Take an hour or so and listen to this sermon and be encouraged by the message.

While you're waiting for the weather to warm up...

2009-03-30T21:18:00.005-04:00

Well, it has been a difficult week and a half due mostly to illnesses but everyone is on the mend and I will post a video of me using the super-sized pink & blues. They actually worked! Pray that I don't have any further trouble with my video editing program.

It's Springtime and if you are waiting for the weather to dry up or warm up so that you can go to your old fishin' holes, try mailing out copies of Hell's Best Kept Secret to pastors in the area. This is just one of many ways you an be faithful in your area if you aren't blessed with warm weather year round. Your Chamber of Commerce or your yellow pages should be able to supply the names of the churches in your area. Also, don't forget to pay attention to signs on the side of the road advertising new church startups. In our area alone there are three new startups. These signs will include the website of the church where you can obtain contact information. Include a simple letter stating that you are certain that spreading the Gospel is very important to them and that perhaps this teaching will give them a perspective they have never considered before. Then pray that God softens the hearts of those that receive it.