Evangelism Memory Verse:

“Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.” –Psalm 34:14,15

Did you memorize last week’s verse? For a great aid for Scripture memorization, check out this FREE software here: www.memoryverses.org/smsw.shtml

Evangelism Quote:

“Peace of conscience is nothing but the echo of pardoning mercy.” –William Gurnall

Evangelism Opportunities:

1. Thursday, October 2^nd, 10:30AM-2:30PM: TLC Ministries will be doing evangelism at the University of North Texas in Denton. We have reserved a free speech area on campus, in front of the Student Union building near the bus stops (Free Speech Area A) and will pass out tracts, do one-to-one and open-air preach. You can find directions to the campus at www.unt.edu. If you would like to join us, please let me know.

2. Friday, October 3^rd, 7:30PM—11:00PM: State Fair of TX at Fair Park in Dallas. We will organize some open-air preaching and witnessing at a couple of the gates. We will focus on Gate #5, “Grand Gate”, which is off of R.B. Cullum Blvd. We will carpool to save money on parking. If you would like to carpool from Justin or Southlake, please email me at jon@lostcauseministries.com. Keep in mind that The Great News Network has established in court that the property in front of these gates is indeed public property and the police are well aware of that fact. This is a great opportunity to preach the Gospel at a venue where the right to preach the Gospel has been firmly established.

3. Friday, October 3^rd, 6:00PM–??: Northwest ISD home football game in Justin. First Baptist Church of Justin has a hot dog\refreshment stand offering free goodies to the football fans. This is a great opportunity to pass out tracts and witness while working at the booth. If you are interested in helping, please contact Tim Crawford at tim@lostcauseministries.com.

4. Sunday, October 5^th, 1:45PM—4:30PM: Gay Pride Parade in Fort Worth. If you would like to come to this event, please contact me at jon@lostcauseministries.com and I’ll give you the details on where we will be meeting. As you know, we did the pride parade in Dallas a couple of weeks ago and found a loving and uncompromised Christian witness to be effective in presenting the Gospel to the homosexual community.

5. Saturday, October 11^th, 6:00PM-9:00PM: Celebrate Roanoke festival in Roanoke, TX. TLC applied for a festival booth for this event and was denied a booth space in spite of having all of the paperwork properly completed, the fee paid in full, and submitted well in advance of the due date. However, this is an excellent event to evangelize; many believers have passed out tracts here with no trouble. Our plan is similar to the Grapefest outreach we just conducted a couple of weeks ago. We’ll go and pass out tracts and do one-to-ones. If the opportunity presents itself, we will do some open-air preaching near the entrances. We will meet at the parking lot of First Baptist in Justin at 5:30PM to carpool to the festival. If you are coming, please email me at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

Evangelism Report:University of North Texas, Denton:

On Thursday, a small group of us went out to UNT to give glory to God in evangelism. TLC Staff, Jeff Clayton and Anthony Crawford (no relation to Tim) set up in the free speech zone and did open-air, passed out tracts and had many one-to-ones.

The highlight of the day for me was when Anthony found us there and spent the day with us. Anthony is a new believer; a former false convert who we met a couple of weeks ago during an open-air. He’s been reading the Word, attending church, and now has a desire to share the Gospel with his lost family members. I spent a lot of the day yesterday discipling Anthony, teaching him about sharing the Gospel and answering his questions about the Bible. While I did that, Tim did a couple of open-airs and Jeff passed out tracts and did one-to-one.

During one of Tim’s OA’s, Anthony helped me form a small “rent a crowd”. A student from one of his classes stopped to chat with Anthony to see what was going on. It turns out that the student is a Muslim and they got into a deep discussion about Christianity. At one point, Anthony asked me for my Bible and he shared with this guy the Word. I tried to leave him on his own with this guy so that he could learn from the experience and to his credit, he didn’t ask for help.

After it was over, we did a little debriefing, but rejoiced with him because this was the first time Anthony ever witnessed! It wouldn’t be the last time that day.

Later, Tim was open-airing again when an angry atheist (and his wife) stormed across the street from the bus stop and started arguing with Tim. His wife sat on a bench nearby patiently waiting for the tirade to end. Without any prompting on our part, Anthony went over and sat on the bench next to her and engaged her in conversation.

The discussion the atheist had with Tim and a Christian friend named John from First Baptist Church of Briar, TX didn’t seem to go anywhere. The guy claimed he had been saved five times as a kid and used to be a “Bible thumper.” The discussion went around and around and Tim faithfully sowed the Word of God.

Meanwhile, Anthony spoke with the atheists wife. He said later that he was able to reason with her and she seemed more open than her husband. Please pray for her, that the Word which was sown in her will bear fruit.

We have strong reasons to believe that Anthony’s recent profession of faith is real. He’s not afraid to align himself with campus preachers when we’re not exactly the most popular people on campus. And now he’s witnessing! Praise the Lord!

Tim had many good one-to-ones, as did Jeff. I didn’t catch all of the details from them, so I can’t report on them. I had one tough one-to-one with another atheist named Richard. Richard knows all about WoTM and did not let me get very far. He’s been pretty well schooled in what’s called “Counter Evangelism”; there’s even a free book that’s been circulating on the internet. I spun my wheels with him for a long time. Finally, our discussion went like this:

Me: “Richard, I don’t expect to be able to reason you into Christianity, but that’s what you want.”

Richard: “Exactly.”

Me: “The problem is I can’t. I believe the Bible is true and since that’s the case, it teaches that you are dead in your trespasses and sins and can’t even respond to this message because you are born in sin.”

Richard: “You’re saying I don’t have a free will?!?!”

Me: “Exactly.”

Richard: (starting to catch on) “So, you think that God doesn’t choose some people for salvation and that’s why I’m not listening to this (expletive deleted)?”

Me: “Yes, the Bible teaches election.”

Richard: “That’s absurd! I could never believe in a God like that!”

Me: “Which just proves my point. It’s all about you. Unless God does a miracle and gives you life, you can’t even make the choice to repent and believe.”

Richard: “So why do you bother preaching?”

Me: “Because God uses the preaching of the Gospel to give life to those He has called. He uses His Word. We just come out here, preach, and see what God does.”

In the end we disagreed, but Richard took a business card and promised to email me to continue our discussion.

I wouldn’t usually preach Reformed doctrine while I’m evangelizing. However, in Richard’s case he needed to hear it. He was extremely arrogant and “intellectual”. He was ready for me when it came to the Law. Atheists need humbling and nothing is more humbling to the pride of man than the truth taught in Ephesians 1-2 (and elsewhere) that we don’t choose God; He chooses us.

I’ve read their counter evangelism book and they don’t prep their people for Reformed doctrine, so I gave it a whirl. Please know I’m not looking for a debate on this if you disagree. I do share it here so that if you are Reformed, you can use this when you run into atheists who are schooled in counter evangelism. They don’t know what to do with it.

May God get the glory for what He continues to do at UNT.

Mormon Visit (Justin, TX):

On Thursday night I was blessed with a visit from several Mormon missionaries and Margaret, the Mormon UNT student I mentioned last week, at our home in Justin. By the end of the hour and a half visit, six Mormons (mostly missionaries) stopped by the house. Margaret is not a missionary and another of the men (who was a little older) seems to be a teacher from a local LDS church.

The first part of the visit consisted of their standard presentation: their reasoning for the need of a modern day “prophet”, a passionate relation of the first vision that Joseph Smith had, and their testimonies to what they believe is the truth of this vision. Once this portion was done and it was time for me to ask questions, the female missionary and Margaret were quick to try to leave. Margaret is not a missionary and it’s likely that they didn’t want her to hear my questions, which definitely were not “faith promoting.”

Rather than give a blow by blow of what happened, perhaps it will be helpful to have a brief outline of my approach with them

1. Before challenging LDS beliefs, it is important to establish that your questions are important because the Biblical definition of faith is “trust in someone or something which is trustworthy”. By this definition, I cannot accept the claims of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the teachings of the LDS church (they are not all the same) because these claims do not match the Bible and have been proven historically to be false.

2. Before challenging their beliefs, I establish that I am aware of their history and have read both pro and anti-Mormon perspectives on their history. I have read the stuff by faithful Mormons such as Arrington, Juanita Brooks and Stegner as well as the stuff by Fawn Brodie, Vardis Fisher, and others. I tell them that I sympathize with them about the persecution they have faced everywhere they have gone: from Palmyra to Kirtland to Nauvoo to Carthage. The people who ran them out on rails, tarred and feathered them, and even killed them may have claimed to be Christians, but they were probably false converts (Matthew 7:21-23). I tell them that my point is not to persecute them by asking these questions, but to establish whether or not the Book of Mormon and the LDS church are worthy of placing faith in. It’s important to establish this because they view any serious questioning of their faith as persecution.

And here is a simple list of the points covered:

–The Book of Mormon has no archaeological evidence.

–The Bible clearly does not teach that God was once a man.

–Clarification of what their terms “repentance” and “faith” really mean (membership in the LDS church is expected in real repentance and faith).

–The Book of Mormon teaches the doctrine of the Trinity, although later “prophets” have explained this away in later editions’ footnotes.

–The Bible does not teach that man may become God.

–A presentation of the Ten Commandments, proving that we’re all liars, thieves and adulterers. How then can we become God, who is perfectly holy (Isaiah 6) and always has been?

–Establishing that the Church has always had a remnant of true believers who held to the true Gospel taught by the apostles, even through the Dark Ages. Paul said that anyone who preached a different Gospel is “anathema” (Gal. 1:8-9).

–Reminding them that the Lord Jesus told us that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church. LDS teaching insists instead that they did prevail, and thus the need for a prophet.

–Pointing out that the Book of Abraham Egyptian papyrus, the foundation for the book of the same name in the Pearl of Great Price, was discovered at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1967 and when translated, was discovered to be a common “Egyptian Book of the Dead” with no reference to Abraham or ANY of the contents that Smith claimed in the Pearl of Great Price. In short, it is evident that Smith knew nothing of Egyptian and translated nothing. His so called translation was a hoax.

–A challenge to ask them where the “corrupted versions” of the Bible are, because the thousands of manuscripts do not attest to such a corruption of the essential Gospel message.

–A presentation of the true Gospel.

May the Lord use this simple outline to assist you in your witness to the Mormons who come to your door.

State Fair of Texas\Lower Greenville Avenue:

On Friday night, TLC Staff met Jason Sides at the State Fair to do some evangelism. Only problem: the gates were just dead. No activity. So after we regrouped, we drove over to Lower Greenville Avenue and did one-to-one out there. Jimmy Reesman met us there as well and we had a good night of evangelism.

Tim had several good conversations. He spoke with a homosexual named Drew who was a bit resistant at first, but then warmed as Tim compassionately, reasonably and uncompromisingly presented the Gospel to him. This is the beauty of using the Ten Commandments to bring the knowledge of sin; it puts us all on equal footing and in equal need of salvation. He also spoke with Alan, a guy with a sweet motorcycle (Ninja), who did not want to take a tract at first. Tim engaged him in casual conversation about his bike (Tim used to race motocross) for about 15 minutes. As Tim got ready to leave, Alan asked for a tract! They had a good conversation about the Gospel, in spite of his initial reluctance.

My best one-to-one of the night was with a valet named Ryan. The conversation was pretty much “text book”; he was extremely open to talk and thanked me for taking the time to share the Gospel with him! His questions when we were discussing justification by faith showed that he was “getting it”. Please pray that the seed planted will bear good fruit.

Both Jason and Jimmy had good conversations as well. Jason spoke with a woman who, after hearing the Gospel, said, “Okay, what do I do from here?” Apparently this is the Lower Greenville version of the classic “What must I do to be saved?”. Jason carefully explained to her what she must do and she not only listened, but indicated that she will! Pray that the Lord will draw her unto Himself.

One Day Evangelism Training (Patillo Baptist Church)\Stockyards (Fort Worth):

On Saturday, TLC Staff traveled with Trish Ramos of Way of the Master Radio to Patillo Baptist Church near Lipan, TX. Rhonda Stroud, a dear friend from our days with The Great News Network, traveled up from Temple to take part as well. This was a fantastic seminar because of the participants. We had about 25 attendees, including the pastor and his wife! It is always a blessing to meet a pastor who cares deeply about biblical evangelism. Pastor Devin does not do regular street evangelism, but he is opportunistic about sharing the Gospel. He carries tracts with him everywhere and creatively engages strangers and friends in order to share Christ.

After the seminar, we traveled an hour to the Stockyards in Fort Worth. We gathered in front of the Stock Exchange and Trish did a great job using trivia questions to draw a crowd. The crowd of 15 from Patillo Baptist helped draw more interest. At that point, she turned it over to me and I offered to give $10 to anyone who could name the Ten Commandments. No one took me up on it and then I switched to the Good Person test and at that point we got a vet from the war in Iraq to give it a try. We established his (and all of our) guilt before a holy God, using the Ten Commandments. I finished with a presentation of the Gospel and Trish followed my presentation with a straightforward challenge about the demands of the Gospel.

After that, we split up the team. Me, Tim, Rhonda and Trish all took folks from the church to pass out tracts. They did a great job. The four teens I worked with stepped out of their comfort zones and approached people from a variety of backgrounds up and down Exchange Street. Hundreds of tracts went out and there were many good one-to-ones as well. We bless God for a productive partnership with Trish in this endeavor and an amazing church that took time out of their weekend to learn about evangelism.

Evangelism Resources:1. You may have noticed that Way of the Master Radio is not playing locally anymore. Please consider signing a petition to bring back Way of the Master Radio to 91.3 and 91.7. The petition is co-sponsored by Fish with Trish, Sovereign Joy Community Church and The Lost Cause Ministries. The company tries to trick you into making a donation, but it is not necessary. Once you have signed the petition (clicked the button) the signature is recorded. TLC, Sovereign Joy or Fish with Trish do not make any money on this petition. Here is the link.

<!–[if !vml]–><!–[endif]–>2. Fireproof opened this past weekend and was number three in sales on opening day (Friday)! This is an excellent movie on many levels. The acting is well done, the writing is tight, but best of all, the movie creatively shares the Gospel! It is a great movie for married couples and is a great reminder of how we need nurture our spouses. We (Jon and Kim) saw it Sunday afternoon; it’s one of the few movies I’ve been to where the audience applauded when it was over and did not move when the credits began to roll. Click on the image above to see where and when it is playing near you. But bring a box of tissues.

<!–[if !vml]–><!–[endif]–>3. It’s not too early to start thinking about Halloween! On October 31^st minions will be knocking on your door, begging for tricks or treats. We recommend giving them the biggest candy bars in your neighborhood AND a creative Gospel tract. Click the image at the left for a great deal on some creative Gospel tracts ($3.00 for a pack of 100). Kids WILL read them.

4. Here is a great overview of the Emergent Church by the apologist, Dr. Norm Geisler. You can read it here.

5. Here is a great thought provoking video on the duty of evangelism for the local church. Don’t miss this!

The Lost Cause Ministries & Missions:

TLC will be represented at First Baptist Church of Justin (TX) during their Missions Summit October 19-22. TLC will have a table at the Summit. Please stop by and say “hello.”

If your church is having a missions conference and would like to have a ministry representing the mission field in the United States, please contact me at jon@lostcauseministries.com to book us.

Speaking Engagement:

Jon Speed will be preaching on Sunday October 26^th at The Light of Denton while Pastor Tim Camp is away. The church meets at Faith Baptist School at 3730 E. McKinney Street, Suite 106 in Denton, TX (76208). The worship service begins at 10:00AM. Please stop by if you are in the area and are not attending elsewhere.

Praise

Friends of the ministry donated a total of twelve tickets for the Texas State Fair so that TLC representatives can go and present the Gospel there. These will enable us to go inside to use the bathrooms, get food, and covertly speak to fair goers one-to-one. We thank God for the Feucht family and for Randy Engstrom of DARR Equipment.

Recent Emails

Here are some recent emails we have received over the past couple of weeks, offered here without comment.

From a professing atheist:

“Hi Jon, this is __________. I’m not sure if you remember me, but I’ve seen you up at UNT twice now. I haven’t been around the past couple weeks because of my homework load, but I just thought I’d let you know that your speeches are still on my mind! I have actually started praying again, to see if it will do anything for my thoughts on religion.”

From a Gay Pride Parade attendee:

“________ you. Why do you feel the need to push your beliefs upon everyone else? You’re a great example of everything wrong with Christianity. Go to Hell.”

From another Gay Pride attendee:

“I am fairly certain I would not even be welcome to stand on the sidewalk in front of one of your churches and talk about issues of concern to gay people. Believe me, we all get your message. You have every right to spread the message of hate.”Evangelism Training Opportunities:1. Consider attending the Deeper Conference in Woodstock, GA on October 17-18. Deeper is sponsored by Way of the Master. The featured speakers include Kirk Cameron, Ray Comfort, Paul Washer, Ken Ham and Pastor Johnny Hunt, among others. After the conference is over on Saturday the 18^th, a group of Christians from the conference will meet in Atlanta, GA to spread the Gospel. Transplant Ministries is spear-heading this effort called “The 500”. TLC Ministries is assisting Transplant Ministries in organizing this outreach. You can find out more about the outreach and register at www.thefivehundred.org. 2. TLC Ministries is partnering with One Million Tracts and Sports Fan Outreach to do the Super Bowl Outreach in Tampa Bay, FL in January 29-February 1, 2009! Come to Tampa for intense, powerful Biblical evangelism at one of the best venues to do evangelism in the world! From personal experience, we can tell you this is a great opportunity to share Christ with the average Super Bowl fan, other partiers who attend the Super Bowl pre-game events, and celebrities. This outreach costs $325 (plus your own airfare\travel) and includes: two meals per day, lodging, evangelism speakers, travel throughout the Tampa area, formal and informal personal training, customized tracts designed especially for this event, a t-shirt, and a commemorative picture from the outreach. The following speakers have been confirmed for this event: Tony Miano (Living Waters\Ambassador’s Academy), Al Whittinghill (formerly of Precept Ministries and now of Ambassadors for Christ International, recommended by Kay Arthur, Steve Green, Johnny Hunt, Leonard Ravenhill, Richard Owen Roberts, Ravi Zacharias, Vance Havner, Larry Burkett and others) , and Dr. Elias Medeiros (professor of Missions at Reformed Theological Seminary). Prayer Update:

1. Pray for all those who heard the Gospel at UNT, Lower Greenville Ave. and in the Stockyards.

2. Pray for the six Mormons who heard the Gospel.

3. Pray for the upcoming outreaches.

4. Pray for finalizing details of The Five Hundred outreach in Atlanta on October 18^th.

5. Prayerfully consider attending the Super Bowl Outreach in Tampa Bay in early 2009.

6. Pray for the ongoing Texas Youth Commission ministry at McFadden Ranch in Roanoke. Pray that the kids will be obedient and that the kids in our Bible study will consistently walk with Christ (if they are Christians) or that the Lord would bring them to repentance (if they are not).

7. Pray that the staff of TLC will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

8. Pray that we will be men of God who lead our families in integrity.

9. Pray for wisdom as we consider future Evangecamps in various parts of the country.

10. Pray for the financial situation of TLC Ministries. We were informed recently that our annual financial support (salaries) will be cut by a third beginning in October. This places us in the position of raising financial support to make up the difference and shuffling our personal budgets accordingly in the meantime. Please pray for us while we make the adjustment and make plans for raising financial support. We thank God for the fact that we have been able to have our needs met to this point and we trust Him to continue to provide. He is truly Jehovah-Jireh. This is His ministry and He will sustain it.

Evangelism Memory Verse:

“One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let eachman be fully convinced in his own mind.” –Romans 14:5, 6

Did you memorize last week’s verse? For a great aid for Scripture memorization, check out this FREE software here: www.memoryverses.org/smsw.shtml

Evangelism Quote: “There is a conscience in man; therefore there is a God in Heaven.” –Ezekiel Hopkins

 

 

Evangelism Opportunities:1. Tuesday, September 23rd, 10:30AM-2:30PM: TLC Ministries will be doing evangelism at the University of North Texas in Denton. We have reserved a free speech area on campus, in front of the Student Union building near the bus stops (Free Speech Area A) and will pass out tracts, do one-to-one and open-air preach. You can find directions to the campus at www.unt.edu. If you would like to join us, please let me know.

2. Friday, September 26^th, 7:30PM—11:00PM: State Fair of TX at Fair Park in Dallas. We will organize some open-air preaching and witnessing at a couple of the gates. We will focus on Gate #5, “Grand Gate”, which is off of R.B. Cullum Blvd. We will carpool to save money on parking. If you would like to carpool from Justin or Southlake, please email me at jon@lostcauseministries.com. Keep in mind that The Great News Network has established in court that the property in front of these gates is indeed public property and the police are well aware of that fact. This is a great opportunity to preach the Gospel at a venue where the right to preach the Gospel has been firmly established.

3. Friday, October 3^rd, 6:00PM–??: Northwest ISD home football game in Justin. First Baptist Church of Justin has a hot dog\refreshment stand offering free goodies to the football fans. This is a great opportunity to pass out tracts and witness while working at the booth. If you are interested in helping, please contact Tim Crawford at tim@lostcauseministries.com.

4. Saturday, October 11^th, 6:00PM-9:00PM: Celebrate Roanoke festival in Roanoke, TX. TLC applied for a festival booth for this event and was denied a booth space in spite of having all of the paperwork properly completed, the fee paid in full, and submitted well in advance of the due date. However, this is an excellent event to evangelize; many believers have passed out tracts here with no trouble. Our plan is similar to the Grapefest outreach we just conducted a couple of weeks ago. We’ll go and pass out tracts and do one-to-ones. If the opportunity presents itself, we will do some open-air preaching near the entrances. We will meet at the parking lot of First Baptist in Justin at 5:30PM to carpool to the festival. If you are coming, please email me at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

Evangelism Report:University of North Texas, Denton:Anthony Makes Profession of Faith

Praise the Lord with us as we give Him glory for the fact that Anthony, the UNT student who thought that he was a false convert, has now (in his words) “crossed the line” and is in Christ! He has examined himself in the light of the Word of God and has committed himself to Christ after counting the cost. Please keep him in prayer; he has a strong desire to stay true to Christ and like many new believers, is apprehensive since he knows himself too well. He continues to read the Word daily (Book of John right now) and has been attending church both on Sunday mornings and on Wednesday nights. It appears to be a solid church, based on what they are teaching.

Anthony has an addiction to chewing tobacco and wants to quit. He’s begun weaning himself off of it, but he wants to make a clean break. Please pray that he will continue along this path. We’re providing him with some resources to help him as well.

Anthony sought us out on campus yesterday. We were forced to take a different free speech zone because another group reserved the spot we prefer before we could reserve it. Nevertheless, he managed to find us. He saw another group of UNT students (praise God) passing out Bibles near the Student Union and ran into James, who helped us with our outreach a couple of weeks ago, when Anthony first stopped to listen to the OA. James knew right where we were since he stopped by to say hello on his way to their outreach. Praise God for His Sovereignty in directing Anthony’s steps.

Pray for us as we attempt to fulfill the Great Commission in Anthony’s case. He needs discipling (Mt. 28:18-20). We’ll invite him to an upcoming one day WoTM crash course and continue to be available as the Lord works in his life.

Hindu Professor Hears the Gospel

We were blessed with a small team, but the Lord’s presence always makes a majority. TLC Staff was joined by Jeffrey Clayton, a dear brother who attends the same church that Mike Gendron, of Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries, attends. Mike has been training Jeff and Jeff has been attending the UNT outreaches as he can. He is a night security guard. He comes home from his shift, sleeps a couple of hours, and then comes out to UNT to join us. Jeff understands that he is a slave of Christ and is not his own. May his tribe increase.

We had a good day passing out many tracts and had several very good conversations. Tim Crawford spoke with a college professor named Ram (pronounced “Rahm”) who is a Hindu from India. He was unusual in that, although he is Hindu, believes that Jesus Christ is God incarnate. This may seem unusual to us, but some Hindus are willing to accept Jesus as a “god among other gods.” This in no way qualifies Ram as a Christian. Tim was able to share the Gospel with him and emphasized the exclusive nature of Jesus Christ and His exclusive claims. He also shared with him the message of justification by faith (2 Cor. 5:21). Please pray that Ram will repent of his dead works (and religion) and abandon himself to Christ ALONE.

Tim also shared with a student named Chris, who seemed especially tender to the Gospel message. He listened to everything Tim had to say and took tracts and a business card. Please pray that the Word will find good soil in Chris’ heart.

Mormon Encounters

I had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with a Mormon named Margaret who was willing to answer many questions about Mormonism. I have studied the history of Mormonism from both anti and pro-Mormon viewpoints and was able to gently ask her about some of the inconsistencies in their claims.

Although this will never bring conviction of sin, it does establish credibility on a college campus and opens the door for a good discussion on the Commandments. Margaret says that she has kept them all (!) but when pressed was forced to admit that she has not, but has obtained forgiveness through the LDS church and their practices. At the conclusion of our discussion, she asked if I would be willing to meet with her and two Mormon missionaries sometime to discuss this all further.

I am more than happy to do this: the two missionaries who seem to have been assigned to my neighborhood have marked us as “off limits” and they don’t come around anymore. I love to share the Gospel with Mormons. One of the missionaries called me last night, so I’m calling them back to set up an appointment for next week when my wife is able to be home with me. We’ll be meeting next Thursday night (Sept. 25th), so please keep this meeting in prayer.

Open-Air Preaching

I did one brief OA during the class change at noon. Several students stopped, including a group of atheists, but they wouldn’t take the bait I tossed them. One of the students used to heckle us last semester and drew big crowds, but he said yesterday that he’s tired of the debate. The bait I used was Francis Crick’s book (Crick mapped the DNA molecule with colleague Watson) on the theory of Directed Panspermia, which is the theory that evolution was started on Earth by an advanced society of aliens who sent the “spores” for life on a space ship across the galaxy. It crash landed on earth and lo and behold, here we are! It’s hard to believe this guy won the Nobel prize.

So, since there were a few students who at least stopped, I just preached the Law, Judgment, Justification by faith, repentance and faith and the Lordship of Christ. Praise God for His will being done in the OA.

Encouraging Christians

An important part of campus ministry is encouraging Christian students and staff. A Messianic Jewish student named Martha who heard us preach last semester stopped during the OA and listened to help try and draw a crowd. Afterwards we chatted and she has a desire to witness. She has the Way of the Master book I gave her last semester, but hasn’t had the time to read it yet. Please pray for Martha as she has the desire, but is very busy as a full time mom and part time student. Pray that she will make time to study Biblical evangelism.

A Christian bus driver also stopped by to see what we were doing. We had a great chat with him about evangelism; he shares the Gospel with his co-workers, family and friends. We gave him a copy of the two-in-one Hell’s Best Kept Secret\True & False Conversion” audio CD. He says if he likes it he will play it on the bus while he’s driving students around.

Sundance Square (Fort Worth, TX):

This report comes from Tim Crawford, who led some of the team out to Fort Worth on Friday night.

TLC had an amazing night of witnessing in Sundance Square Friday night. Myself, (Tim Crawford), Javier Rodriguez (a brother from Houston), Jeff Pitman, Chad Welty and Ron Martinez arrived in Fort Worth around 8pm. We meet up with Ted Winton and his group on 3rd and Houston where they were already witnessing. It wasn’t long and we realized there were too many people in this area (a great problem to have), so we headed down a block to Jamba Juice and set up next to the Holiness Preacher. I asked him if he minded if we preached on his corner and he said it was no problem.

I kicked it off and started open-airing to a crowd that gathered around a street painter on the other side of the street. It worked out well because everyone would stop at the light and then watch her paint these beautiful paintings, and hear the Gospel at the same time. Ron and Chad did an amazing job open-airing. Javier spoke to a group of guys for over an hour; talk about compassion! He is a constant reminder to me that we are dealing with the souls of people and their eternal destiny. We need to take as much time with people as they need. God could be drawing them and using the very words you are speaking to stir there conscience as He brings them to a place of repentance and faith.

We also meet up with a great bunch of guys from Deep Ellum; they were an unusual looking bunch, but they really love the Lord and it was great to see them again. I met Clay from the GNN days and his buddies were Andrew, Angel and some other guys. Clay was on fire and preached an amazing Gospel message that even had the Holiness preacher saying AMEN!!! This was a tough thing to do considering that he feels Clay is going to hell because he has tattoos from head to toe!!! I think his mind was changed after this one. I had the opportunity to speak with one of his friends who isn’t sure if he is saved because he is struggling with sin in his life, he is truly searching and examining himself, please pray for him.

After a few hours of open-air and one-to-ones we met back up with Ted and headed a few blocks over to the bar district. We were able to pass out a pile of tracts and do some open air until the cops shut us down. I did however have an opportunity to share the gospel with some guys who were over in front of the bars with badges and guns. I asked them if they were Marshals and they said no they were the Federal Beer Commissioners or something like that. It was their job to make sure the clubs aren’t serving any underage people and operating under the laws that are in place.

It was a blessing because they approached me in front of the club thinking I was handing out literature for the bar and that is a violation of code and policy. So it was a divine appointment for them to hear the Gospel since they came up to me and asked, “What is this?” Holding up a million dollar bill, showing them the front and the back, I was able to share the complete Gospel with them. After about 5-10 minutes or so they said, “It’s a good thing that you are doing” and “Go ahead and get back to what you were doing”;their polite way of saying, “Get lost!!!”.

It was about time to leave and we headed back across the street and apparently someone complained about the amplifier and they said it violated the city code on a noise ordinance (Funny considering that you couldn’t even hear us over the club music?). I asked him politely to show me where in the code it said we could not preach in the open air. He ruffled through his saddle bags on his little bike, frustrated that I would challenge our rights as a citizen. After a few minutes he pulled out the code and tried reading it and making it say something it clearly did not say. So naturally I pointed that out showing him he was wrong but told him we would comply with him because it was late and we were just on our way out. I am not advocating lawlessness but we sometimes need to call there bluff just so they know we have the same rights as everyone else and if done respectfully usually there wont be any conflict. So we gathered together for prayer and called it a night. I pray that God was glorified in all that we said and did.

Lower Greenville Avenue (Dallas, TX):On Friday night I (Jon) had intended on leading a small team out to Lower Greenville to do evangelism, but a stomach ailment got in the way of that. However, Jason Sides and Andy Waynick were faithful and went out and did some one-to-ones and tract distribution there. They had a couple of one-to-ones and were grateful for the opportunity to share Christ with the lost.

Alan Ross Memorial Gay Pride Parade (Dallas, TX):

On Sunday afternoon a small group of us went out to the Oak Lawn neighborhood of Dallas to attend the annual gay pride parade there. This was more of a scouting trip for all of us than anything else. None of us had ever been to a pride event to evangelize. The plan was simple: pass out tracts along the parade route and try to strike up conversations with some of the parade goers. Several hundred “Blood Donor” tracts from One Million Tracts were distributed and we had several good conversations with professing homosexuals.

I had a good conversation with a young man named Scottie from Colorado. Scottie was raised as a Baptist and claims that he has never been attracted to women. As is the case with many in the homosexual community, Scottie had a poor relationship with his father. He was also very familiar with the Scriptures. He could cite Scripture references for the verses I quoted and said that his concept of the Gospel came from his “quiet times” or his devotional study of the Bible.

We discussed the concept of false conversion at length, as well as the Scriptural teaching on repentance, which was foreign to him. We also discussed what the Scriptures teach about homosexuality, but were careful to do so in a way that made it clear that it is a sin just like any other. We used the Law of God to show him that he is just like everyone else; a sinner in need of a Savior. Scottie was offended at the message, but did say that we were presenting it in such a way that made sense. Ron video taped the interview and it should be available on his Youtube account sometime soon. When it is, we will let you know in a future update.

We also got an email response to our presence at the festival, through www.yougotourtract.com. You can read the email exchange with Annie here.

Some striking features of the parade, from the perspective of someone who’s never been before:

• The politicians who are eager to court the homosexual community for votes. Many politicians marched in the parade. Former Dallas mayor, Laura Miller, marched and was the Grand Marshall. Of course, Democrats were strongly represented, but there was a parade entry for the “Log Cabin” Republicans with a quote in support of them from an advisor to John McCain.
• Corporations are eager to advertise in the homosexual community. American Airlines, Pepsi, Sun Chips, Whole Foods Market, Kroger, Heineken, Jagermeister, Starbucks, Enterprise Rental Cars, and many more came to advertise.
• There were five or six churches in the parade. The denomination most strongly represented was the United Methodist Church. John Wesley would do backflips in his grave if he knew.

It was an eye-opening experience. These events are worth pursuing as legitimate evangelism opportunities and we will do this kind of event again in the future.

Evangelism Resources:1. Here is a good FREE audio file of John MacArthur teaching on the Roman Catholic view of the pope.

2. Here is a FREE audio teaching on evangelizing Mormons from Tom Beswick, elder at Countryside Bible Church. We will include these audios each week until the series is over. Here’s the first week’s link.

3. Here’s a great text resource from John MacArthur: “Why We Believe the Bible is True”.

The Lost Cause Ministries & Missions:

TLC will be represented at First Baptist Church of Justin (TX) during their Missions Summit October 19-22. TLC will have a table at the Summit. Please stop by and say “hello.”

If your church is having a missions conference and would like to have a ministry representing the mission field in the United States, please contact me at jon@lostcauseministries.com to book us.

Speaking Engagement:

Jon Speed will be preaching on Sunday October 26^th at The Light of Denton while Pastor Tim Camp is away. The church meets at Faith Baptist School at 3730 E. McKinney Street, Suite 106 in Denton, TX (76208). The worship service begins at 10:00AM. Please stop by if you are in the area and are not attending elsewhere.

Praise

We give thanks to God for the financial support of NACHO Ministries, which has supported us financially since January of this year. We also thank God for First Baptist Church in Justin, which has added TLC Ministries to their missionary family. A friend of the ministry, Steve Murphy, sent a generous donation to TLC as well. And we give glory to God for the Mews, who donated the ministry van. May the Lord be glorified as we work together to proclaim the truth to the lost.

Evangelism Training Opportunities:1. The Lost Cause Ministries is teaming up with Trish Ramos of Fish With Trish (heard on Way of the Master Radio weekly) to do a one day evangelism seminar at the Patillo Baptist Church in Lipan, TX on September 27^th from noon-3PM. After the seminar is over, we will go to the Stockyards in Fort Worth to share the Gospel there. The seminar is FREE of charge. You can get more information here. To register, just send an email to: onedayseminar@fishwithtrish.com. 2. Consider attending the Deeper Conference in Woodstock, GA on October 17-18. Deeper is sponsored by Way of the Master. The featured speakers include Kirk Cameron, Ray Comfort, Paul Washer, Ken Ham and Pastor Johnny Hunt, among others. After the conference is over on Saturday the 18^th, a group of Christians from the conference will meet in Atlanta, GA to spread the Gospel. Transplant Ministries is spear-heading this effort called “The 500”. TLC Ministries is assisting Transplant Ministries in organizing this outreach. You can find out more about the outreach and register at www.thefivehundred.org. 3. TLC Ministries is partnering with One Million Tracts and Sports Fan Outreach to do the Super Bowl Outreach in Tampa Bay, FL in January 29-February 1, 2009! Come to Tampa for intense, powerful Biblical evangelism at one of the best venues to do evangelism in the world! From personal experience, we can tell you this is a great opportunity to share Christ with the average Super Bowl fan, other partiers who attend the Super Bowl pre-game events, and celebrities. In 2007 celebrities such as Snoop Dog, high level execs of Playboy publishing, TV crews from E! TV, Hulk Hogan, Cato Caelin, Orange County Choppers, and others all heard the Gospel. This outreach costs $325 (plus your own airfare\travel) and includes: two meals per day, lodging, evangelism speakers, travel throughout the Tampa area, formal and informal personal training, customized tracts designed especially for this event, a t-shirt, and a commemorative picture from the outreach. The following speakers have been confirmed for this event: Tony Miano (Living Waters\Ambassador’s Academy), Al Whittinghill (formerly of Precept Ministries and now of Ambassadors for Christ International, recommended by Kay Arthur, Steve Green, Johnny Hunt, Leonard Ravenhill, Richard Owen Roberts, Ravi Zacharias, Vance Havner, Larry Burkett and others) , and Dr. Elias Medeiros (professor of Missions at Reformed Theological Seminary). Prayer Update:

1. Pray for all those who heard the Gospel at UNT, Sundance Square, Lower Greenville Ave. and at the gay pride parade in Dallas.

2. Pray for our upcoming one day crash course in Lipan, TX.

3. Pray for finalizing details of The Five Hundred outreach in Atlanta on October 18^th.

4. Prayerfully consider attending the Super Bowl Outreach in Tampa Bay in early 2009.

5. Pray for the ongoing Texas Youth Commission ministry at McFadden Ranch in Roanoke. Pray that the kids will be obedient and that the kids in our Bible study will consistently walk with Christ (if they are Christians) or that the Lord would bring them to repentance (if they are not).

6. Pray that the staff of TLC will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7. Pray that we will be men of God who lead our families in integrity.

8. Pray for wisdom as we consider future Evangecamps in various parts of the country.

9. Pray for the financial situation of TLC Ministries. We were informed recently that our annual financial support (salaries) will be cut by a third beginning in October. This places us in the position of raising financial support to make up the difference and shuffling our personal budgets accordingly in the meantime. Please pray for us while we make the adjustment and make plans for raising financial support. We thank God for the fact that we have been able to have our needs met to this point and we trust Him to continue to provide. He is truly Jehovah-Jireh. This is His ministry and He will sustain it.

 

Evangelism Memory Verse:

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, evento them that believe on his name. –John 1:12

Did you memorize last week’s verse? For a great aid for Scripture memorization, check out this FREE software here: www.memoryverses.org/smsw.shtml

Evangelism Quote:

“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.” –Shakespeare

Evangelism Opportunities:1. Thursday, September 18^th, 11:00AM-2:00PM: TLC Ministries will be doing evangelism at the University of North Texas in Denton. We have reserved a free speech area on campus, at the side of the Student Union building (Free Speech Area B) and will pass out tracts, do one-to-one and open-air preach. You can find directions to the campus at www.unt.edu. If you would like to join us, please let me know.

 

2. Friday, September 19^th, 9:00PM—1:00AM: Evangelism at Lower Greenville Avenue. If you are planning on coming, please let Jon Speed know (jon@lostcauseministries.com). Once we get there, we will pray, split up and do one-to-one and tracts throughout the area. The meeting location will be at the Whole Foods Market parking lot at 2218 Greenville Avenue in Dallas. We’ll enjoy some good pizza\wings and fellowship at the Greenville Avenue Pizza Company and then hit the streets by 10:00PM. Greenville just gets started at 10:00PM and really starts getting busy at 11:00PM.

3. Sunday, September 21, 2:00PM—4:00PM: Evangelism at the Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade in Dallas. This is the annual “gay pride” parade. We will focus on doing one-to-ones with parade goers. If anyone is interested in attending this event for the purpose of evangelism (we’re not “protesting”), please contact me at jon@lostcauseministries.com and I’ll send along meeting locations and times.

4. Friday, September 26^th, 7:30PM—11:00PM: State Fair of TX at Fair Park in Dallas. We will organize some open-air preaching and witnessing at a couple of the gates. We will focus on Gate #5, “Grand Gate”, which is off of R.B. Cullum Blvd. We will carpool to save money on parking. If you would like to carpool from Justin or Southlake, please email me at jon@lostcauseministries.com. Keep in mind that The Great News Network has established in court that the property in front of these gates is indeed public property and the police are well aware of that fact. This is a great opportunity to preach the Gospel at a venue where the right to preach the Gospel has been firmly established.

5. Friday, October 3^rd, 6:00PM–??: Northwest ISD home football game in Justin. First Baptist Church of Justin has a hot dog\refreshment stand offering free goodies to the football fans. This is a great opportunity to pass out tracts and witness while working at the booth. If you are interested in helping, please contact Tim Crawford at tim@lostcauseministries.com.

Evangelism Report:University of North Texas, Denton:

On Thursday we (TLC Staff, Chad Welty and UNT student Daniel) went out to the free speech area at UNT to open-air and witness. It was another very fruitful day of ministry, to the glory of God. The theme of the day was “follow-up”. Not in the traditional sense of us running around trying to follow new believers to prop them up in their faith, but in the sense that people we’ve witnessed to in the past following us to get more information on the Gospel.

In the last blog, I mentioned Anthony, who said he might be a false convert. He emailed me earlier this week and said he wanted to meet. On Tuesday I went out to UNT and met with him. He has listened to True & False Conversions and Hell’s Best Kept Secret four times. He now KNOWS he is a false convert. We met for an hour and he has now agreed to read through the book of John (one chapter a day) and he’s now listening to a Paul Washer series on the Gospel. It would be easy to get him to pray a prayer at this point, but he has said, “I’m not ready to lay all of my cards on the table”. In other words, he’s counting the cost. Considering the nature of true salvation, this is Biblical (Lk. 9:23).

I also mentioned Kelsey last week. She is a professing atheist. She came back yesterday while we took a break from preaching and asked if she could ask me some questions. She got Cahill’s book “One Heartbeat Away” last week and has been reading it. She had a list of about two pages of questions and she hasn’t even finished the book yet. She was not combative, she just sincerely wanted to know. She accepted each answer and went on to the next question. She was going to give the book back, and I told her, “No, it’s a gift. Keep reading and come back next week with more questions. I’ll be here.” She agreed. Please pray for Kelsey. She’s at the very least, open to study this out.

Stewart also came back. He’s the atheistic existentialist I mentioned last week. He stopped by briefly and said he read Cahill’s book as well. He has some deep questions based on presuppositions he holds about God and the Bible. I gave him my email address and told him to drop me an email with his specific questions and I’ll do my best to try to research them from a Biblical perspective. He emailed me on Friday and we’re beginning to dialogue about these issues now.

It was also a day when we ran into people we ministered to and with last semester. A Roman Catholic theistic evolutionist came back yesterday and we resumed our discussion right where we left off: carbon dating. He holds to theistic evolution, which is not theologically consistent with Romans 5 (among other things). I’ve told him that he needs to decide which he’s going to be: Catholic or evolutionist. He can’t be both. I asked him, “Do you go to church on Easter Sunday?” He said he does. I asked him, “Do you believe in the Resurrection of Christ?” He said he does. I said, “Why? Talk about a scientifically unplausable event! Man, you’re a hypocrite! If you want to be a Christian, be one. But don’t call yourself a Christian and an evolutionist!” File it under “shock and awe” one-to-one. I don’t talk to everyone I witness to like this, but keep in mind we’ve been having this ongoing dialogue since last semester.

While I was preaching, a skeptic stopped to listen and Tim Crawford ended up engaging him in a one-to-one. In essence, he stole my potential heckler, but it was a good thing. He said he hated my message and Tim began taking him through the Law. He became very convicted and dropped his head in shame as his sin was revealed. He stopped Tim and said, “Hey man, can I have one of those?” pointing to the tracts in Tim’s hand! Pray for him, that he will stop by next week. His name is Alec.

Praise the Lord for Biblical follow up. You preach the Gospel and the listeners begin to follow you around to learn more.

Grapefest (Grapevine, TX):

On Friday night TLC Staff (Jon and Tim), Chad Welty, Jeff Pittman, Jason Sides, Ron Martinez, Kristin Sidler, Hannah, Ben Moore and Connie Petering went out to the Grapefest in Grapevine, TX to share the Gospel. We took the “Blue Beast” (TLC’s ministry van) to the event; what a blessing to be able to share good fellowship while we traveled. Praise the Lord (again) for the generous donation of the van to the ministry!

This was an outreach we used to train some of the team members in open-air preaching. We were at the gate at the corner of Main Street and Dallas. With crowds of festival goers coming and going at that intersection, it was the perfect place to do what’s called “60 Second Gospel” preaching. Newbies like this because the “sermon” only lasts for a minute or so and it is challenging to get the basic elements of a Gospel message in during that time.

As the crowd waits for the light to change, we say something like this: “Folks, we’re here to remind you to please observe the “Don’t Walk” signal on the other side of the street. If you disobey, there are two consequences. You can be fined for jaywalking. Worse, you could get hit by a car and get carted away in an ambulance (thanks to Jeff Pittman for this springboard). Likewise, God has a set of Laws, the Ten Commandments, and if we violate them there are consequences.” And then we launch into a Gospel presentation using that springboard.

Praise the Lord, we had the following team members all open-air for the first time: Chad Welty, Jeff Pittman, and Jason Sides. Ron Martinez, Tim Crawford, Ben Moore and myself also all preached. It’s a blessing for us to see these guys all try it, and to see Ron Martinez do more open-air preaching as well.

We all passed out tracts as well; hundreds were given out in just a couple of hours. There were several good one-to-ones. Tim Crawford had a good one-to-one with a gentleman from New Zealand who would go back home the next day! Praise the Lord that he heard the Gospel before he went back home. He was very receptive and talked with Tim for quite some time.

Evangelism Resources:1. Here’s a FREE Spanish resource for those who would like to share the Gospel with a Spanish speaking friend. This is a video of Byron Porter doing an evangelistic sermon in the Dominican Republic. Here’s the link.

2. Byron has also written a great essay called, “Our Pursuit of Short Term Missions”. You can read it on my “Informed Evangelist” blog.

3. Here is another FREE video clip called, “No One Can Come to Jesus Christ Unless…” which explains perfectly why we see what we do when we’re proclaiming the Gospel, either publicly or privately.

4. Here is an audio of a bashful man named Richard doing an open-air message, who is actually encouraged by a lost person to go ahead and share the message! Thanks to Carolina Hernandez for passing this along. 5. Kirk Cameron is starring in a new Christian movie called “Fireproof”. The movie will be showing in Grapevine on opening weekend (September 26^th). You can find a theater near you here. The movie is produced by the same company that made “Facing the Giants” and should be a good evangelistic movie to invite unsaved friends to.
6. Here is a 12 minute video clip featuring Dr. Ron Carlson discussing the history of Islam. Here is the link. The Lost Cause Ministries & Missions:

TLC will be represented at First Baptist Church of Justin (TX) during their Missions Summit October 19-22. TLC will have a table at the Summit. Please stop by and say “hello.”

If your church is having a missions conference and would like to have a ministry representing the mission field in the United States, please contact me at jon@lostcauseministries.com to book us.

Evangelism Training Opportunities:1. The Lost Cause Ministries is teaming up with Trish Ramos of Fish With Trish (heard on Way of the Master Radio weekly) to do a one day evangelism seminar at the Patillo Baptist Church in Lipan, TX on September 27^th from noon-3PM. After the seminar is over, we will go to the Stockyards in Fort Worth to share the Gospel there. The seminar is FREE of charge. You can get more information here: To register, just send an email to: onedayseminar@fishwithtrish.com. 2. Consider attending the Deeper Conference in Woodstock, GA on October 17-18. Deeper is sponsored by Way of the Master. The featured speakers include Kirk Cameron, Ray Comfort, Paul Washer, Ken Ham and Pastor Johnny Hunt, among others. After the conference is over on Saturday the 18^th, a group of Christians from the conference will meet in Atlanta, GA to spread the Gospel. Transplant Ministries is spear-heading this effort called “The 500”. TLC Ministries is assisting Transplant Ministries in organizing this outreach. You can find out more about the outreach and register at www.thefivehundred.org. 3. TLC Ministries is partnering with One Million Tracts and Sports Fan Outreach to do the Super Bowl Outreach in Tampa Bay, FL in January 29-February 1, 2009! Come to Tampa for intense, powerful Biblical evangelism at one of the best venues to do evangelism in the world! From personal experience, we can tell you this is a great opportunity to share Christ with the average Super Bowl fan, other partiers who attend the Super Bowl pre-game events, and celebrities. In 2007 celebrities such as Snoop Dog, high level execs of Playboy publishing, TV crews from E! TV, Hulk Hogan, Cato Caelin, Orange County Choppers, and others all heard the Gospel. This outreach costs $325 (plus your own airfare\travel) and includes: two meals per day, lodging, evangelism speakers, travel throughout the Tampa area, formal and informal personal training, customized tracts designed especially for this event, a t-shirt, and a commemorative picture from the outreach. The following speakers have been confirmed for this event: Tony Miano (Living Waters\Ambassador’s Academy), Al Whittinghill (formerly of Precept Ministries and now of Ambassadors for Christ International, recommended by Kay Arthur, Steve Green, Johnny Hunt, Leonard Ravenhill, Richard Owen Roberts, Ravi Zacharias, Vance Havner, Larry Burkett and others) , and Dr. Elias Medeiros (professor of Missions at Reformed Theological Seminary). Prayer Update:

1. Pray for all those who heard the Gospel at UNT and at Grapefest.

2. Pray that we will get final approval to set up a booth at the Celebrate Roanoke festival in October.

3. Pray for finalizing details of The Five Hundred outreach in Atlanta on October 18^th.

4. Prayerfully consider attending the Super Bowl Outreach in Tampa Bay in early 2009.

5. Pray for the ongoing Texas Youth Commission ministry at McFadden Ranch in Roanoke.

6. Pray that the staff of TLC will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7. Pray that we will be men of God who lead our families in integrity.

8. Pray for wisdom as we consider future Evangecamps in various parts of the country.

9. Pray for the financial situation of TLC Ministries. We were informed recently that our annual financial support (salaries) will be cut by a third beginning in October. This places us in the position of raising financial support to make up the difference and shuffling our personal budgets accordingly in the meantime. Please pray for us while we make the adjustment and make plans for raising financial support. We thank God for the fact that we have been able to have our needs met to this point and we trust Him to continue to provide. He is truly Jehovah-Jireh. This is His ministry and He will sustain it.

Evangelism Memory Verse:

“You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

–James 4:4

Did you memorize last week’s verse? For a great aid for Scripture memorization, check out this FREE software here: www.memoryverses.org/smsw.shtml

Evangelism Quote:

“Wouldst thou know when thou hast been humbled enough for sin? When thou art willing to let go thy sins.” –Thomas Watson

 

Evangelism Opportunities:

1. Thursday, September 11^th, 11:00AM-2:30PM: TLC Ministries will be doing evangelism at the University of North Texas in Denton. We have reserved a free speech area on campus, in front of the Student Union building (Free Speech Area A) and will pass out tracts, do one-to-one and open-air preach. You can find directions to the campus at www.unt.edu. There is parking in the parking garage near the bus stop. If you would like to join us, please let me know.

2. Friday September 12^th, 7:00PM—11:00PM: Evangelism at Grapefest in Grapevine, TX. We will arrange the team outside of one or two gates and pass out tracts, do one-to-one and open-air preach. We will not go inside the festival since the event is gated and charges admission after 5:00PM. We will meet at the parking lots of FBC Justin and Countryside Bible Church in Southlake at 7:00PM and plan on meeting in Grapevine at 7:15 or so. For the meeting location in Grapevine, please contact me at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

3. Thursday, September 18^th, 11:00AM-2:00PM: Details same as #1 above.

4. Friday, September 19^th, 9:00PM—1:00AM: Evangelism at Lower Greenville Avenue. If you are planning on coming, please let Jon Speed know (jon@lostcauseministries.com). Once we get there, we will pray, split up and do one-to-one and tracts throughout the area. The meeting location will be at the Whole Foods Market parking lot at 2218 Greenville Avenue in Dallas. We’ll enjoy some good pizza\wings and fellowship at the Greenville Avenue Pizza Company and then hit the streets by 10:00PM. Greenville just gets started at 10:00PM and really starts getting busy at 11:00PM.

5. Friday, September 26^th, 7:30PM—11:00PM: State Fair of TX at Fair Park in Dallas. We will organize some open-air preaching and witnessing at a couple of the gates. We will focus on Gate #5, “Grand Gate”, which is off of R.B. Cullum Blvd. We will carpool to save money on parking. If you would like to carpool from Justin or Southlake, please email me at jon@lostcauseministries.com. Keep in mind that The Great News Network has established in court that the property in front of these gates is indeed public property and the police are well aware of that fact. This is a great opportunity to preach the Gospel at a venue where the right to preach the Gospel has been firmly established.

Evangelism Report:University of North Texas, Denton:

On Thursday TLC Staff (Tim and Jon), Jason Sides, Jeff Clayton and UNT student James Anderson went out to the free speech area in front of the Student Union to share the Gospel. We started with tracts and one-to-one and then ramped up to do some open-air preaching while the classes changed. We were a little apprehensive about the timing of our outreach since a very unbiblical open-air preacher had visited the campus just a couple of days before and used the very same free speech area. If we had know that, we would probably have rescheduled; we have no desire to be lumped together with this man’s theology or methodology.

However, the Lord used our time there mightily. In fact, He even used the bad preaching to enhance our effectiveness. We were careful not to appear self-righteous and simply proclaimed the Gospel as clearly as possible. The students responded well to it. While open-air preaching we had several students stop and ask good questions, including an atheist who was not really heckling, just asking good questions. Praise God, we were able to physically sit down on the grass and discuss the Gospel with several students, give out Mark Cahill “One Heartbeat Away” books, and a CD of Ray Comfort’s “Hell’s Best Kept Secret\True & False Conversions.” We also gave out many business cards.

Here is a list of students with some basics about the conversations we had with them.

• Gabrien (listened closely to Tim, and showing deep interest in salvation).
• Stewart (a very intellectual agnostic existentialist who chatted for quite awhile and took a Cahill book)
• Chad (spoke with Tim)
• Anthony (thinks he might be a false convert; gave him Comfort’s “True & False Conversions and a business card)
• Kelsey (an atheist who asked many good questions, took a Cahill book)
• William (chatted with Tim and came back again later to talk more; took a business card)
• Richard (chatted with Jason and is now emailing back and forth with him)

Lower Greenville Avenue, Dallas:

Ron & Carla Martinez went down to Greenville Ave. to do evangelism at this club district on Friday night. Ron had the opportunity to do a video interview with one of the clubbers that went for about 30 minutes. Once it is edited and posted on the internet, we will let you know. Carla passed out tracts as well. It’s always a blessing to see married couples doing street evangelism together.

Northwest ISD Football Game, Justin:

TLC Ministries has been invited by Chad Welty to assist First Baptist Church of Justin in serving FREE hot dogs and refreshments and doing evangelism at the home football games this season! Tim Crawford, Brandon Crawford, Tristen Crawford, Chad & Laura Welty, Jan Strader, Ben Strader, Zac Strader, Liz Sidler, Kristen Sidler, Seth Womack, Victoria Todd, Hannah Spears, John Latham, David Goggins, Robert & Renae Aycock, Andrea Aycock and Ashley Aycock all went out and passed out hundreds of Gospel tracts at this public high school football game! The next home game will be Friday, October 3^rd. If you would like to assist in this outreach, please email Tim Crawford at tim@lostcauseministries.com.

Please pray for this outreach, that we will be able to continue to spread the Gospel there. Praise God for a church which is evangelistic in more than theory only! This is a creative way to spread the Gospel locally while providing a valuable service to the community.
Evangelism Resources:

1. The “Behind the Scenes” TV show with Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron on TBN that we mentioned last week has been rescheduled. We’re sorry if you tuned in last week and were disappointed. The show will air twice this week: Wednesday night at 7:00PM Cental Time and Thursday at noon. You can watch it for free at www.tbn.org.

2. If you would like to assist the believers in Orissa, India (who we mentioned in last week’s update) in a hands-on way, you can do so by sending a respectful email to the head of police in Orissa asking them to come to the defense of Christians in that region. The email address is: cmo@ori.nic.in.

3. Here is a good video clip of Pastor Steve Sanchez doing an open-air message outside of the Labor Day Fiesta Hermosa in Southern California. Check it out here.

The Lost Cause Ministries & Missions:

TLC will be represented at First Baptist Church of Justin (TX) during their Missions Summit October 19-22. TLC will have a table at the Summit. Please stop by and say “hello.”

If your church is having a missions conference and would like to have a ministry representing the mission field in the United States, please contact me at jon@lostcauseministries.com to book us.

Evangelism Training Opportunities:1. Consider attending the Deeper Conference in Woodstock, GA on October 17-18. Deeper is sponsored by Way of the Master. The featured speakers include Kirk Cameron, Ray Comfort, Paul Washer, Ken Ham and Pastor Johnny Hunt, among others. After the conference is over on Saturday the 18^th, a group of Christians from the conference will meet in Atlanta, GA to spread the Gospel. Transplant Ministries is spear-heading this effort called “The 500”. TLC Ministries is assisting Transplant Ministries in organizing this outreach. You can find out more about the outreach and register at www.thefivehundred.org. 2. TLC Ministries is partnering with One Million Tracts and Sports Fan Outreach to do the Super Bowl Outreach in Tampa Bay, FL in January 29-February 1, 2009! Come to Tampa for intense, powerful Biblical evangelism at one of the best venues to do evangelism in the world! From personal experience, we can tell you this is a great opportunity to share Christ with the average Super Bowl fan, other partiers who attend the Super Bowl pre-game events, and celebrities. In 2007 celebrities such as Snoop Dog, high level execs of Playboy publishing, TV crews from E! TV, Hulk Hogan, Cato Caelin, Orange County Choppers, and others all heard the Gospel. This outreach costs $325 (plus your own airfare\travel) and includes: two meals per day, lodging, evangelism speakers, travel throughout the Tampa area, formal and informal personal training, customized tracts designed especially for this event, a t-shirt, and a commemorative picture from the outreach. The following speakers have been confirmed for this event: Tony Miano (Living Waters\Ambassador’s Academy), Al Whittinghill (formerly of Precept Ministries and now of Ambassadors for Christ International, recommended by Kay Arthur, Steve Green, Johnny Hunt, Leonard Ravenhill, Richard Owen Roberts, Ravi Zacharias, Vance Havner, Larry Burkett and others) , and Dr. Elias Medeiros (professor of Missions at Reformed Theological Seminary). Prayer Update:

1. Pray for all those who heard the Gospel in Dallas, at UNT and at the football game in Justin

2. Pray that we will get final approval to set up a booth at the Celebrate Roanoke festival in October.

3. Pray for finalizing details of The Five Hundred outreach in Atlanta on October 18^th.

4. Prayerfully consider attending the Super Bowl Outreach in Tampa Bay in early 2009.

5. Pray for the ongoing Texas Youth Commission ministry at McFadden Ranch in Roanoke.

6. Pray that the staff of TLC will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7. Pray that we will be men of God who lead our families in integrity.

8. Pray for wisdom as we consider future Evangecamps in various parts of the country.

9. Pray for the financial situation of TLC Ministries. We were informed recently that our annual financial support (salaries) will be cut by a third beginning in October. This places us in the position of raising financial support to make up the difference and shuffling our personal budgets accordingly in the meantime. Please pray for us while we make the adjustment and make plans for raising financial support. We thank God for the fact that we have been able to have our needs met to this point and we trust Him to continue to provide. He is truly Jehovah-Jireh. This is His ministry and He will sustain it.

Evangelism Memory Verse:You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment. –Mark 12:30Did you memorize last week’s verse? For a great aid for Scripture memorization, check out this FREE software here: www.memoryverses.org/smsw.shtml Evangelism Quote:

“Both the law and the gospel must be preached; the law to give birth to repentance and the gospel to lead to faith. But they must be preached in their proper order, first the law to bring repentance and then the gospel to work faith and forgiveness—never the other way around.” –William Perkins in The Art of Prophesying & The Call to the Ministry, page 105

 

Evangelism Opportunities:1. Thursday, September 4^th, 11:00AM-2:00PM: TLC Ministries will be doing evangelism at the University of North Texas in Denton. We have reserved a free speech area on campus and will pass out tracts, do one-to-one and open-air preach. You can find directions to the campus at www.unt.edu. If you would like to join us, please let me know at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

2. Friday, September 5^th, 9:00PM—1:00AM: Evangelism at Lower Greenville Avenue. If you are planning on coming, please let Ron Martinez know at starbucksman@charter.net or (817)-822-8252. Once we get there, we will pray, split up and do one-to-one and tracts throughout the area. The meeting location will be at the Whole Foods Market parking lot at 2218 Greenville Avenue in Dallas. We’ll enjoy some good pizza\wings and fellowship at the Greenville Avenue Pizza Company and then hit the streets by 10:00PM. Greenville just gets started at 10:00PM and really starts getting busy at 11:00PM.

3. Thursday, September 11^th, 11:00AM-2:00PM: Details same as #1 above.

4. Friday September 12^th, 7:00PM—11:00PM: Evangelism at Grapefest in Grapevine, TX. We will arrange the team outside of one or two gates and pass out tracts, do one-to-one and open-air preach. We will not go inside the festival since the event is gated and charges admission after 5:00PM. We will meet at the parking lots of FBC Justin and Countryside Bible Church in Southlake at 7:00PM and plan on meeting in Grapevine at 7:15 or so. For the meeting location, please contact me at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

5. Thursday, September 18^th, 11:00AM-2:00PM: Details same as #1 above.

6. Friday, September 19^th, 9:00PM—1:00AM: Details same as #2 above.

Looking Ahead:

State Fair of TX, September 26—October 19 at Fair Park in Dallas. During this event, we will organize some open-air preaching and witnessing at a couple of the gates. The Fair will be our focus on the weekends (Friday nights and Saturdays). More details TBA.

Evangelism Report:Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, AZ):

On Thursday, we (Jon & Tim) flew out to Phoenix and drove to Flagstaff to visit with our friends, the Mark and Rachael Mews and Elaine and Gary Barsness and their families. We also received a donation of a nice 1991 van from Mark’s parents, Randy and Debbie. We praise the Lord for this donation and our time there in Flagstaff. We will always remember it as a token of God’s grace to our ministry for many reasons.

We arrived in Flagstaff around 2:15PM and were able to meet Rachael and Elaine at the campus of NAU where they had a permit to pass out tracts and open-air preach from 1:00-3:00PM. We had brought some tracts with us and began passing them out and striking up conversations. Tim had a good one-to-one with a student named Zach and another student (whose name escapes me now) who grew up Muslim in an Islamic country. Tim explained the Gospel to him for the first time and he said, “So, what you’re saying is that I need to repent of my sins and trust in Christ alone for my salvation?”. He had never heard the Gospel before.

I had a witnessing opportunity with three students who were typical relativists, one of whom had a Jewish background. We chatted for about 15 minutes about the nature of truth, the reliability and uniqueness of the Bible, and the Gospel in general. They were willing to listen, but I wouldn’t characterize them as “open.” They were simply friendly, which seemed to characterize all of the students we met there. It makes for a very good evangelistic “fishing hole”.

We finished with a brief open-air message. We had a nice little crowd and the students listened closely. Some left, but those who stayed were interested in hearing the Gospel. NAU has not been contaminated by the brand of open-air preaching which focuses on preaching against sin and ignores the preaching of the Cross, at least to this point. This may not last since a group of this type of preacher is coming to the campus. Our prayer is that the students will not be hardened against reasonable Gospel presentations because of their actions. Praise the Lord that we were able to answer some questions about evolution and the nature of justification by faith as the Gospel was preached.

As always, Elaine and Rachael passed out many tracts and had many one-to-ones as well. These dear sisters in Christ, a mother and daughter team, have been faithfully proclaiming the Gospel in Flagstaff and with Mark Mews, have been training believers in biblical evangelism for several years now. The Lord is doing a work there and inroads are developing in local churches. Please pray for the Flagstaff evangelism team as they keep their hand to the plow and faithfully labor in the harvest field there.

Oak Creek Canyon (near Sedona, AZ):

On Friday, the Mews took us on a tour of the area, including this amazing location near Sedona. It is a 25 mile scenic drive through an amazing canyon. The whole region is full of evidence of a global flood; from the vast Grand Canyon, to the much smaller but more accessible Oak Creek Canyon, and other areas in the AZ\NM region (the Petrified Forest, etc.).

At “Sliding Rock”, we met a man named Peter who is an Irish Catholic from Bradford, PA. He and Tim Crawford were contemplating a 35 foot high dive from a cliff into a pool of water in the creek below. They decided not to do it (thankfully) and Peter came over to chat with Tim, Mark and myself. It was a pleasant surprise to discover he is from Bradford, which is not far from Buffalo, NY where we grew up. After some hemming and hawing and some “false starts” amongst the three of us, Tim finally shared the Gospel with him using one of the “What If?” tracts from One Million Tracts. He said, “Peter, ‘What If’ you did a back-flip off the edge of that cliff and broke your neck on a rock? Where would you go?”. A little bit unconventional, but it got the job done. Peter listened closely and interacted with the message, so it was clear that he was processing the Gospel. At the end of the conversation, he shook Tim’s hand and thanked him for talking with him! This just illustrates that even strangers are much more open to discuss the Gospel than most of us Christians realize. And yet we let our fear (or phobia) keep us paralyzed into inaction. Peter took a business card from Tim. Please pray that the Word finds receptive soil in his heart and bears fruit.

Lower Greenville Avenue (Dallas, TX):

On Friday night, Ron Martinez went out to Lower Greenville to witness there. Jeff Pittman, Jason Sides and a newbie (to us), Bill Hancock came out. Bill is familiar with Way of the Master. It is always a blessing to meet believers who understand the principles of biblical evangelism and desire to put them into practice.

The team had a good night sharing Christ with the clubbers in that venue. You can read the account of what took place on Ron’s blog.

Albuquerque, NM:On Sunday, we drove the donated van back from Flagstaff to Justin, TX. Our first gas station stop was in Albuquerque and just in time too; we basically coasted into the pump area. God is so good.

We got there in time for a divine appointment with a guy named Robin who is a recovering meth addict. He approached Tim at the pump and they had an excellent conversation. Robin and his girlfriend, Melissa, are attending church, but there were some reasons to be concerned about their salvation based on what he said. Tim shared an uncompromising Gospel message with him and Robin listened. We wanted to give him a Mark Cahill book, but we traveled pretty light so we did not have one to give him. Tim gave him a business card and told him that if he is serious, to call him and we’ll send him a book. Please pray for Robin’s heart to be truly open to the Gospel.

Thoughts on True Fellowship:

This past weekend with our dear brothers and sisters in Arizona has sparked some ideas regarding true fellowship. I want to develop this into a full length essay in the next couple of days over on the Informed Evangelist blog. In the meantime, please consider this: in most churches, we talk a lot about fellowship and its importance. But we have reduced fellowship to nearly meaningless activities like potluck dinners, church softball leagues, and trips to amusement parks. Sometimes we can experience a degree of fellowship during these events, but I have to say this: I have never walked away from a church softball game with hot tears streaming down my face because I can’t bear to part from my brothers and sisters. I have never come away from a church dinner thinking, “I have to say goodbye today, but there’s coming a time I will never have to say goodbye again. One day we will be together forever in Heaven, gathered around the throne, giving glory to Christ.”

Why is this? If we’re honest, it has something to do with the context of our fellowship. If it is based on trivia, our regard for fellowship (and the depth of it) will be trivial. If it is based on loving service to the Lord and to one another, it will be deep and meaningful. The people that I am closest to are those who I have served the Lord together with in evangelism. There is a bond there that is not easily broken. I can always go back to those relationships, even after many months of separation, and the bond is still there.

When Paul left the elders in Ephesus, he left them with tears streaming down all of their faces (Acts 20:36-38). It is a sweet sorrow because now, Paul and those believers are together forever in Heaven. And that is what we anticipate with all of those whom we have come to know the last few years in biblical evangelism, all around the world. As the cell phone commercial says, one day all of our “goodbyes” will be an eternal “hello.”

Evangelism Resources:

1. Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort will be on TBN TONIGHT doing a program called “Behind the Scenes”, which will focus on the upcoming Third Season of Way of the Master. The program begins at 5PM Pacific Time (or 7PM Central). You can watch the program live at www.tbn.org.

2. Here’s a good video clip of Ray Comfort preaching open-air on Huntington Beach, CA. Check it out.

3. Please check out this video clip from John Piper called “Abortion is About God”. This is such an awesome reminder for those of us who are concerned about this issue. Here’s the link.

4. Compelled to Tell is offering a FREE pack (50) of “Goodness Tracts”. You pay for the shipping. Find out about it here.

5. Download a FREE MP3 of Max Maclean’s reading of Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. I once had the full CD version of this and I can tell you that Maclean’s reading is amazing. This sermon is the most important sermon in American history and may be the most important sermon preached in the English language. Anyone who does biblical evangelism should listen closely to this message. Take the time to get the free download today.

Urgent Prayer Request for Believers in India:

This comes from Dale Sigafoos, a BCM church planting missionary in Germany, regarding the recent mass martyrdom of Christians in Orissa, India. This letter is from BCM president Rev. Martin Windle.

We are writing with heavy hearts asking for urgent prayer. While the USA is in election fever, wars are waging across our planet that our news seems to have no interest in covering. Little has been said of over 3000 Christians who have been burned out of churches and homes just in the last few days since Monday in Orissa, India. The catalyst was the killing of a Hindu extremist leader by Maoist rebels. Police and rebels acknowledged openly who was responsible for the hit, but radical Hindus promptly used the killing to call for mass reprisals on Christians, which in the last few days has far surpassed what did hit the US news on Christmas Day. Many of you prayed for our BCM pastor Dasarath Digal and his elders who were jailed Christmas Day for murder when a Hindu extremist fell to his death from the roof of their church while tearing down its cross. This morning we received word that Pastor Dasarath’s son has been murdered by the Hindu extremists. He has quite young children, so we aren’t even sure yet of the boy’s age. ALL BCM churches in the region are now destroyed, every pastor scattered. We have currently not been able to locate more than one or two of them. After Pastor Jonathan was beaten and left for dead last week, we received word of four more BCM pastors attacked, all by the same radical Hindu group. The police know exactly who is involved, but refuse to arrest them. Pastor Nayak, our area supervisor, is in hiding with his family. He has been listed at the top of a local Hindu hit list. As soon as the curfew lifts we will attempt to smuggle him and his family out before the radicals locate and kill him. We will keep them hidden and safe temporarily, regroup, and help them recover.Evangelism Training Opportunities:1. Consider attending the Deeper Conference in Woodstock, GA on October 17-18. Deeper is sponsored by Way of the Master. The featured speakers include Kirk Cameron, Ray Comfort, Paul Washer, Ken Ham and Pastor Johnny Hunt, among others. After the conference is over on Saturday the 18^th, a group of Christians from the conference will meet in Atlanta, GA to spread the Gospel. Transplant Ministries is spear-heading this effort called “The 500”. TLC Ministries is assisting Transplant Ministries in organizing this outreach. You can find out more about the outreach and register at www.thefivehundred.org. 2. TLC Ministries is partnering with One Million Tracts and Sports Fan Outreach to do the Super Bowl Outreach in Tampa Bay, FL in January 29-February 1, 2009! Come to Tampa for intense, powerful Biblical evangelism at one of the best venues to do evangelism in the world! From personal experience, we can tell you this is a great opportunity to share Christ with the average Super Bowl fan, other partiers who attend the Super Bowl pre-game events, and celebrities. In 2007 celebrities such as Snoop Dog, high level execs of Playboy publishing, TV crews from E! TV, Hulk Hogan, Cato Caelin, Orange County Choppers, and others all heard the Gospel. This outreach costs $325 (plus your own airfare\travel) and includes: two meals per day, lodging, evangelism speakers, travel throughout the Tampa area, formal and informal personal training, customized tracts designed especially for this event, a t-shirt, and a commemorative picture from the outreach. The following speakers have been confirmed for this event: Tony Miano (Living Waters\Ambassador’s Academy), Al Whittinghill (formerly of Precept Ministries and now of Ambassadors for Christ International, recommended by Kay Arthur, Steve Green, Johnny Hunt, Leonard Ravenhill, Richard Owen Roberts, Ravi Zacharias, Vance Havner, Larry Burkett and others) , and Dr. Elias Medeiros (professor of Missions at Reformed Theological Seminary). Prayer Update:

1. Pray for all those who heard the Gospel in AZ and in Dallas this past weekend.

2. Pray for the growth and strengthening of the Biblical evangelism team in Flagstaff, AZ.

3. Pray for the UNT ministry as we start up again after the summer break. Pray for wisdom as we open-air preach and do our literature table each Thursday, beginning this week.

4. Pray that we will get final approval to set up a booth at the Celebrate Roanoke festival in October.

5. Pray for finalizing details of The Five Hundred outreach in Atlanta on October 18^th.

6. Prayerfully consider attending the Super Bowl Outreach in Tampa Bay in early 2009.

7. Pray for the ongoing Texas Youth Commission ministry at McFadden Ranch in Roanoke.

8. Pray that the staff of TLC will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9. Pray that we will be men of God who lead our families in integrity.

10. Pray for wisdom as we consider future Evangecamps in various parts of the country.

11. Pray for the financial situation of TLC Ministries. We just found out last week that our annual financial support (salaries) will be cut by a third beginning in October. This places us in the position of raising financial support to make up the difference and shuffling our personal budgets accordingly in the meantime. Please pray for us while we make the adjustment and make plans for raising financial support. We thank God for the fact that we have been able to have our needs met to this point and we trust Him to continue to provide. He is truly Jehovah-Jireh. This is His ministry and He will sustain it. We thank God for your prayers in this regard.