Evangelism Memory Verse:“A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaks lies shall not escape.”
–Proverbs 19:5

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 an awakening. And I am going to say this with tenderness. Most men over 40 don’t even have a clue about it. Many of the young people who are turning back to the old men and the old ways and to truths that have brought awakening time and time again in this world, most of these young men are quite young. And they will go to their pastors, they will go to their leaders and say, “Look at this, what we have discovered. Look what happened in Wales. Look what happened in Africa. Look at this and look at this and look at this teaching. It is absolutely amazing.” And most of them will either turn it away or say, “It is nothing any different than what I have been preaching for 25 years,” when, in fact, it is completely different than what they have been preaching in 25 years.”

–Paul Washer in his message “Ten Indictments” (emphasis mine)

Evangelism Opportunities:

1. Friday, October 31^st: Halloween. TLC Ministries recommends that you stay home this night with your family and pass out tracts to the trick-or-treaters who come to your door. Whatever you do, DON’T skimp on the candy; if you are going to pass out Gospel tracts, don’t pass out toothbrushes, apples, or Tootsie Rolls. Be generous and mindful of what kids like. We like to be known as the most generous house in the neighborhood, so we pass out full size Snickers bars along with creative Gospel tracts. Don’t miss this GREAT opportunity to evangelize your own neighborhood.

2. Thursday, October 30^th-Sunday November 2^nd: TLC Ministries will assist TXARM with ministry at the Texas Motor Speedway during the NASCAR Dickies 500\O’Reilly Challenge race weekend. Ministry opportunities include passing out tracts at the main gates, assisting with the handicapped transportation, staffing the information booths, and various childrens ministries.

The schedule for literature distribution is as follows:

Thursday, October 30: Noon—7:30PM.

Friday, October 31: 11:00AM—8:00PM.

Saturday, November 1: 10:30AM-5:30PM.

Sunday November 2: 10AM-2:30PM.

3. Tuesday November 4th, 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 near the Student Union 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.

Evangelism Report:University of North Texas, Denton:

On Thursday, TLC Staff and Tom Sadowski of Providence Chapel in Denton went out to the campus of UNT to share the Gospel. We met Tom out at the West End during the infamous TX\OU game debacle when we were cited and Ron was arrested. It was a blessing to meet him there that night even though the circumstances weren’t the best. Tom faithfully preaches on the campus of UNT on Mondays or Wednesdays a couple of times per month and has spoken with some of the same atheists that we speak to regularly.

We played it very low key on Thursday since we were coming off a busy week in Atlanta and a missions conference at FBC Justin. Mainly we passed out MDB tracts from One Million Tracts. They went very well; we must have passed out four or five hundred tracts.

As usual, we had several good one-to-ones. Our friend Anthony came by and continues to follow Christ in spite of some tribulations that have come into his life. He is an encouragement to us every time we see him. A couple of atheists who have questioned us on theistic evolution and macro-evolution came by and were very nice to chat with. It was a blessing to be able to have an amiable conversation with them. If nothing else, it shows that we can be friendly even if we are on the opposite sides of the issues. Several female Mormon missionaries stopped by when I tried to hand them a tract. One of them was one of the missionaries (there were six) who came by our home a few weeks ago. Only one of the three would take a tract. Again, it was a pleasant conversation, but we did not discuss theology. I didn’t get the impression that they wanted to go there, and honestly, my goal was simply to be normal and talk about normal things. I had already blown her up when she came to the house that night and wanted her to see that I’m not just a rabid anti-Mormon. I’m sure we will see her again on campus and I can revert to my ferociousness then.

It was a great day to share the Gospel, even in printed tract form. Please pray for all of those who read the Gospel. One student told me later that her tract was getting passed around the English class during the lecture. That’s the beauty of creatively printed tracts; they get read by more than just those you hand it to.

Firewheel Town Center (Garland, TX):

On Friday night, I met Jason Sides at Lower Greenville Avenue, but due to a change in parking policy, we weren’t allowed to pay for our parking until 10:00PM. Rather than wait an hour, and since it was just the two of us, we went out to Garland to the Firewheel Town Center and passed out tracts and witnessed.

It was a scouting mission since we had never witnessed there before. We talked to several teenagers, using the Australian version of the Way of the Master “Smart Cards.” Those almost always work well with small groups of teens, and this night was no exception. It was a little late, so it wasn’t as busy as usual, but the conversations were still very good. The kids listened closely to the Gospel. Some were distracted easily, but the seed was sown.

We enjoyed a good time of fellowship at TGI Friday’s around some Buffalo-style chicken wings (of course) and Cokes. This is one of the blessings of doing organized evangelism; informal fellowship. I know my brothers and sisters better that I witness with from times like these than organized fellowship dinners and the like.

Northwest ISD Home Football Game (Justin):

This report comes from Tim Crawford.

We had another successful outreach at Northwest ISD Friday night. The traffic was a little slow compared to the last few games, but there was still plenty of people to witness to. We handed out free hot dogs and drinks to all who wanted them and gave out the Gospel to many including those who didn’t want it!!! I had several one-to-ones and some great group discussions with students and was encouraged by other believers. One gentleman come back and asked which church we were from. I was able to invite him to church with us. He said that we were a real encouragement to him and he was going to stop in and see us sometime.

My middle son, Brandon (6 years old), is becoming a witnessing/tract passing out machine!!! He came into my room Friday at 5:30 because I fell asleep and woke me up and said, “Hey dad let’s go somewhere and pass out Gospel Tracts!!!” I said, “OK, we are going to the football game in a few minutes and we will do it there.” He got so excited that he ran to the kitchen drawer where mom puts all of the tracts for her bills and grabbed a stack and ran out the door. I got ready to head to the game and Brandon jumped in the truck and started sharing with me how he gave this bully his special tract. There were about six kids out in front of the house playing football and Brandon witnessed to them all.

I found out later it was the 15 second good person test and when the kid failed it he started to cuss and use God’s name in vain and he told all the other kids not to listen to what Brandon had to say. So I asked Brandon, “Well, what did you say to him?” and he said, “Don’t use Gods name in vain; it is SIN!!! It gives you a dirty heart and separates you from God!” Apparently the kid needed to be rebuked and God sent Brandon out there to do it!!! I was so encouraged by this. I felt bad at first when he told me how the kid was cussing and telling the others not to listen to him, but when he shared with me what he said and how he gave all of them Gospel tracts anyway, it was awesome. “Let’s hit the streets for Jesus!!!” I was seriously dragging my feet about hitting the game until that point.

We headed to the school and before I could even park the truck Brandon was trying to jump out the door. He said, “Dad can I get out here please!!!” It was where we would be tailgating anyway and I would just have to park and meet up with him. He hit the ground running and must have passed out at least 300 gospel tracts himself!!! All that to say this; I know sometimes it is hard to get up and go, but like they say we can’t take the Go out of Gospel. This little six year old inspired me and the whole team when we didn’t have much GO left. He would literally sprint to the crowds and give them the Gospel tracts. It seemed as if everyone that came by us said, “We got one from that little guy back there” when we tried to give them one! We just had to ask them, “Did you read the back of it?” and then springboard into the Gospel. What a blessing it is to serve the Lord with my son and see the God-given passion he has to pass out Gospel tracts!!!

Isn’t it awesome to know that we can share the good news of Jesus Christ and be an ambassador for the Lord without carrying the burden of the results? Sometimes we think that we aren’t doing enough or this isn’t going as well as expected, but God is Sovereign and has complete control. His perfect plan is already laid out; all we have to do is be obedient and available. He will take care of the rest.
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. TLC, Sovereign Joy or Fish with Trish do not make any money on this petition. Here is the link. 2. If you missed it, here is a MUST LISTEN message from Paul Washer, delivered at The Revival Conference near Atlanta, GA last week. This is a longer version of a message that he did at Deeper (so if you think you’ve heard it already, you haven’t). It’s called “Ten Indictments: A Historical 21^st Century Message.” If you don’t listen to any other of the sermons that we recommend here, listen to this one!

3. With all of the hype from politicians, I think the real issues sometimes get lost in political season. Check out this video from the AFA for a reminder.

4. Desiring God Ministries (John Piper) is offering a great special on the book, “Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ”. Buy a case of 48 for $68.00 postage paid! This is a great deal and would make a great Christmas present. In fact, DGM is calling this their “Christmas Outreach Special”.

5. Here is a taste of what the attendees at the Super Bowl Outreach will hear in Tampa in January. Al Whittinghill spoke at the Revival Conference in Atlanta. His message was called “The Heart” and can be downloaded for FREE.

6. Keith Daniel is coming to Mabank, TX for three days of meetings November 7-9. Brother Keith is the preacher that the Lord used to bring Jon & Kim Speed to sound salvation almost five years ago. Central Baptist Church of Mabank is hosting the series. Meetings will begin at 7PM on Friday and Saturday and 10AM on Sunday. The Speeds are looking into nearby camping arrangements. If you are interested in a road trip (south of Dallas) let Jon know at jon@lostcauseministries.com. For more information on the meetings, call Tony Yardley at 214-226-7878.

7. Check out this blog post on Ron Martinez’s recent adventure\experiment in friendship evangelism. Lesson: it might not be effective, but at least it tastes good. When sinners turn down non-confrontational doughnuts, you can always eat them yourself.

*8. Ligonier Ministries is offering the Reformation Study Bible for any sized donation! A friend of mine got one for $5! Call Ligonier at 800-435-4343. This is a cheap way to provide a quality discipleship tool to new (and established) believers.

*9. Grace to You is offering a free book by John MacArthur called “Four Ways to Miss Heaven”. Here is a great evangelistic tool! Call 800-55-GRACE to get your copy.

10. Be sure to watch this 3 minute video clip of Paul Washer explaining the coming persecution of the American church. Sobering words, but very, very true.

*If these don’t appeal to you, why not get them and donate them to TLC Ministries for our use on the campus of UNT and elsewhere?

Speaking Engagements:

1. While Jon is in Australia next month he will be preaching at the following churches near Melbourne on Sunday November 16^th. Cornerstone Gospel Church in Frankston, during the morning worship service. Grace Community Bible Church in Endeavour Hills, during the evening service. Of course, he is also the keynote speaker at the Holy Epidemic Conference because he traveled the longest distance to get there (an important qualification for any keynote speaker). Pray for his strength as the schedule is packed (there will be a late night outreach scheduled on Saturday night in downtown Melbourne) and the trip is exhausting.

Evangelism Training Opportunities:1. The Texas Revival Series presents Mark Cahill! Mark is the author of “One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven”. He has shared the Gospel with celebrities like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Vanilla Ice, and Charles Barclay.

Join us for an evening of evangelistic motivation in Dallas, TX on Saturday December 6th! Afterwards, we’ll be taking it to the streets!

Schedule:

Saturday, December 6th (City Church International)

5-6PM: Session #1

6-7PM: Session #2

7:30-10:00PM: Outreach in Dallas, TX (location TBD)

Sunday, December 7th:

10:00AM: Mark Cahill speaks at City Church International worship service

6:00PM: Mark speaks at First Baptist Church Justin in the evening service.More information on this exciting event will be forthcoming in the next week or so. Registration will be FREE. If you can use some posters and\or postcards advertising the event at your local church or Christian bookstore, please contact me at jon@lostcauseministries.com to get free promotional items. 2. Reduced Price! Reduced Price! Reduced Price! 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 is now ONLY $225 (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) , Dr. Elias Medeiros (professor of Missions at Reformed Theological Seminary) and Andy Lapins (Transfired Ministries). Prayer Update:

1. Pray for all those who heard the Gospel at UNT, at the Firewheel Town Center and at the Northwest ISD football game.

2. Pray for Ron and Jon as they prepare for upcoming court appearances on July 30, 2009. Pray for the CLA as they prepare the cases.

3. Pray for the upcoming outreaches, especially the outreach at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend.

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

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

6. Pray for the financial situation of TLC Ministries. We are beginning to raise support for the time when our salaries are cut by 33% on January 1^st. We are confident that the Lord will continue to provide.

7. Pray for the salvation of a UNT student who is a former agnostic but who has been reading Mark Cahill’s book, “One Heartbeat Away”. This student has been asking some great questions by email and seems to be very close to repenting and believing. Pray for good soil in this student’s heart!

Evangelism Memory Verse:

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” –Mark 8:36,37

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:

“Indeed, this is one of the greatest mysteries in the world-namely, that a righteousness that resides with a person in heaven should justify me, a sinner on earth.” –John Bunyan

Evangelism Opportunities:

1. Thursday, October 23^rd, 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, alongside the Student Union near the UNT Eagle statue (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, October 24, 9:00PM-Midnight: 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. Friday, October 31^st: Halloween. TLC Ministries recommends that you stay home this night with your family and pass out tracts to the trick-or-treaters who come to your door. Don’t miss this GREAT opportunity to evangelize your own neighborhood.

4. Thursday, October 30^th-Sunday November 2^nd: TLC Ministries will assist TXARM with ministry at the Texas Motor Speedway during the NASCAR Dickies 500\O’Reilly Challenge race weekend. Ministry opportunities include passing out tracts at the main gates, assisting with the handicapped transportation, staffing the information booths, and various childrens ministries.

The schedule for literature distribution is as follows:

Thursday, October 30: Noon-7:30PM.

Friday, October 31: 11:00AM-8:00PM.

Saturday, November 1: 10:30AM-5:30PM.

Sunday November 2: 10AM-2:30PM.

Evangelism Report:

Youth Detention Work:

On Monday night I went out to the youth detention center with Ernie Black. We decided to do an evangelistic Bible study since the guys have been so unconcerned about the Bible lately. Clearly, it’s unreasonable to expect much respect for the Bible from guys who are not saved and do not have the Holy Spirit. We talked about the Gospel, using the Ten Commandments to bring the knowledge of sin. The three guys there really were very open to the Gospel. One of them had apologized for his behavior before and was already humbled. At the end I challenged them with, “If our eyes meet on the day of judgment, I am innocent of your blood. I have told you everything you need to know to be saved.” This seemed to sober them. Please pray for their sound salvation.

University of North Texas, Denton:

On Tuesday, I went out to UNT to share the Gospel. Similar to what Tim experienced a couple of weeks ago, I was a little nervous because Tim was not able to join me. He was busy assisting FBC Justin with setting up their missions summit. Needless to say, this was a good thing since it made me pray more and trust God.

When I got there, I started by just passing out tracts and speaking with students. It was good to see a student who I’ve spoken with before from Denton Bible Church. I also had a good chat with Johnny Eversole from FBC Briar. Johnny was a real encouragement to me. I was still feeling a little worn out from our experience the previous weekend with the Dallas PD. Thanks Johnny, for your time.

When the noon class change began I took a deep breath, made another prayer, and stepped up on the box to preach. I think this is the first time I’ve ever started to preach on my own. But the Lord is faithful and He brought James along, another Christian UNT student who has been a great encouragement to us. James helped draw a small crowd and did one-to-ones while I preached. My sermon was an explanation of the Ten Commandments. When I got to number six, “Thou shalt not kill”, a student began debating me on the injustice of miscarriages and accused God of murdering them. It was a classic example of a polemical argument. I challenged the students who took this tact (there were a couple) with, “If you are so concerned about the murder of babies in the womb, then I’ll expect to see you at the abortion clinic protesting sometime soon.” Of course, they are not concerned, not really. None of them seemed like that was something that they would ever do.

After that, I had a long chat with Richard, one of our regular atheists who come along to debate each week. Richard, like most atheists\agnostics in the Bible belt, has grown up in a religious home. If memory serves, he (again, like most others) was Baptist. He is carrying on email correspondence with one of our team members, Jason. Please pray for Richard and pray for Jason that he will have wisdom as he corresponds with him.

At about 1:30PM or so, I finished for the day. With the Five Hundred in Atlanta coming up, I needed to get back home and work on the final details. It was a profitable day, to the glory of God.

State Fair of Texas (Dallas):

Ron Martinez led a group of four out to the State Fair on its last weekend. They did some one-to-ones inside of the Fair and some open-air and tract distribution outside of the Fair at the gates. Ron, Byron Porter, Jeff Pittman and Jason Sides all went out to share the Gospel.

Here is a report from Byron Porter:

This weekend I went to the State Fair in Dallas with the guys from Lost Cause Ministries who couldn’t go to Atlanta for the Deeper Conference and 500. I really wanted to go to ATL, however God provided many witnessing opportunities.

The night started a little slow as we entered the fair grounds because we weren’t really sure how free we were to hand out tracts inside the gate. Ron Martinez, Jason Sides, Jeff Pitman and I milled around a bit until Jason opened us up by breaking the ice with the first drunk fairgoer that approached us.

It’s nice to have someone to be the opener in passing out the first tract to get everyone else going. After that we had a few folks to be witnessed to on camera. But after 45 min or so we decided that it was a little silly walking around in “stealth” mode to avoid getting kicked out, so we just went outside the gate on to public property.

We had large crowds of 20 – 30 people every 10 minutes or so that were leaving the fair and had to wait at the crosswalk for the light to turn green. So we tracted everyone in sight. We had to run around quickly to get everyone tracts, so while Jeff was passing out MDBs, I jumped up onto the street lamp and did a quick 1 minute open air! Then as I finished and the crowd moved on, I hopped down to pass out tracts while Jeff jumped up and we tag team OA’d.

And there was a bus stop a few yards away from us so we walked over and and OA’d some more. Everyone was out of tracts that night, and I was completely tapped of even reserve tracts. I have maybe a few Spanish tracts left, but now I need to replenish my supply.

Praise God that He provided so many encounters and gave us boldness to get up and OA, I am beginning to hunger for OA opportunities, this has been the second time to do so. And since I’m out of tracts for the time being, I may have to rely on OA till I purchase some more MDBs!

I am looking forward to going out with these guys again and hope to see Jon and Tim soon, they have been such a blessing.

Deeper Conference\The Five Hundred (Atlanta, GA):

What can we say about the Deeper Conference? In short, it lived up to its name. Sometimes Way of the Master is criticized for being shallow in its Gospel presentation from those who are more academic in the Reformed community. This conference obliterated that criticism. 2300 registrants heard solid apologetics from men like Ken Ham and Marshall Foster. Deep theology was expounded by men like Paul Washer and Todd Friel. Emeal Zwayne gave an excellent challenge to all of us to love God with our minds. Johnny Hunt delivered a passionate message on evangelism. The worship, led by Paul Washer and Scott Kripayne was absolutely amazing. Of course, Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron tied it all together with a direct plea to put all that we learned into practice.

As you have been reading here for some time, TLC was privileged to be able to serve by providing logistics for The Five Hundred outreach afterwards. There was some question all along whether we would reach that goal. We came to the conference with 350 registered. As the conference progressed, Emeal Zwayne did an excellent job of promoting the outreach. In between sessions we were swamped with people asking to be signed up and assigned to a team. We staged the event in the church’s old sanctuary and it became clear that we easily had 500, perhaps more!

Five teams were assigned different locations throughout Atlanta. Team #1 went to downtown Atlanta. This was the largest team and split into three smaller teams. One team of about 70, led by our own Tim Crawford and Marcus Pittman, went to the BET Hip-Hop awards. Another team of about 30 (led by Nathan and Mary Magnusen) was assigned the NHL Hockey game and a concert venue. I led a small team of 20 in Centennial Olympic Park.

Team #2 was assigned the Four Corners district, a bar\nightclub district near downtown that has a Hard Rock Café and Hooters. There were about 50 on this team led by Keith Higgins and Canyon Shearer.

Team #3 was assigned the MARTA or the subway system. I think we had about 100 on this team. They simply rode the subway all night and preached, witnessed and passed out tracts. Their leaders were Scott Rowe (an Atlantan who preaches on the subway), Chris Fontenot, Bill Frederick and Neil Collins.

Team #4 was assigned to Midtown, which is the gay bar district. There may have been 100 on this team as well. They were led by Walter Streeter, Frank Lyman, Carolina Hernandez and Spencer Hanley.

Team #5 was assigned to Little Five Points where there was a Halloween parade earlier in the day and a premier of the musical Wicked. This drew out about 30,000 people. The team was about 100 and led by Marv Plementosh, Joe Sprinkle, Erica Roy and Doug Pannenton.

Testimonies, video and pictures are all still coming in. These will be synthesized and put on the www.transplantministries.com website.

For now, here is one testimony from the conference, from team #2 (Hard Rock Café\Hooters):

My mother and I witnessed to a group of African-American boys outside of the McDonalds beside of Hooters:

Carlton: 19 year old with two children; has been involved in many illegal and dangerous acts; wants to give his life to the Lord, but finds it hard to live the Christian life due to his environment.

Pat: Friend of Carlton; 19 years old; claims to be a Christian but also believes that his sins are okay as long as he has good intentions; also believes that his good outweighs his bad; lives a life that requires him to break the law on a regular basis; trying to provide for his family, though he does not have a job.

Brian: Part of the same group of friends as Pat and Carlton; 19 years old with a child, trying to provide for the mother of his child and his baby; not remorseful over some of his past sins because he feels that they were necessary for survival; says he’s not ready to give his life to Christ because he feels that if he stops commiting crimes, he will not be able to provide for his son.

Mr.Smith: A homeless man who is trying to trust the Lord and stay away from temptation; needs food, warm clothes, and shelter; he was just given a new Bible…please pray that he reads it.

The Georgia Tech Campus: My mother and I went to the campus on Saturday night and passed out tracts. Please pray that the students would seriously consider what they read and give their lives to the Lord.

And here is another testimony from team #1, that went to the BET awards ceremony. It comes from Jennifer Good:

I met Shannon on the street. She was holding the hand of a rambunctious three-and-a-half-year-old boy, Tyler. Standing to the side was a very quiet girl, with her head down. Shannon wanted to know what the four of us were doing in this neighborhood. We clearly didn’t fit into this very dangerous neighborhood. I began to talk to her about her life. She told me that she lived on the streets. She said her little boy Tyler would be leaving next week to live with his father who was in the military.

We talked about sin and Hell and she listened intently. I noticed that the girl with her was also listening very carefully, with her head down. I asked Shannon if she was willing to pay for her crimes with her own soul. She thought a minute and said, “No.” I asked her if she ever thought about it before. She told me, “Many times…all the time.” I told her about the provision that God made for her. She knew about Jesus but when she realized that the demons also believe, she grew quiet. The young girl continued to listen keenly as I explained the difference between believing and trusting fully. I told them both that to repent you had to walk in the opposite direction from your sin. You could not come to your husband with your arm around your boyfriend. Shannon wanted to pray with me right on the street. I told her that I didn’t want to talk her into it. She assured me that it was something that she wanted to do. She told me that she had tried to get another woman to pray with her earlier in the day, but the woman had refused her. I looked at the girl and asked her if what I was telling them made sense to her. For the first time she looked up enough to meet my eyes then she nodded. I asked her name. She lowered her face toward the ground and told me it was Vanessa. I estimated her to be about 12-years-old. She was very dirty and looked very sad. We all held hands and Shannon prayed silently. When she was finished I looked at Vanessa and asked if she wanted to pray. She smiled and said, “I already did.” Hallelujah! Shannon gave me a big hug and Vanessa just sort of stood there. I asked her for a hug and she stood still while I hugged her. My heart broke. This area behind the civic center was not place for a little girl to be, much less spend the night. I asked Shannon if Vanessa was her daughter. She told me that Vanessa was a ‘friend’.

When we got home the next morning, I called the Atlanta Police department and asked if they could go find this little girl. The officer told me that there is a homeless shelter in the area. I told the officer that this was no place for this little girl to be and she agreed to try to find her.

May God give directions to these officers and may He provide a wonderful Christian home for this beautiful little lamb. May she grow to love Him and be a strong voice for Him!

Tim had a good one-to-one with a homosexual man at the BET awards who listened to the whole Gospel presentation. He asked Tim sincerely, “But what do you do about all of the filthy thoughts?”. Praise God that he was open enough to ask this question. Tim explained the new nature of a believer and the process of sanctification. Pray for this man, that he will come to true repentance and faith.

I spent most of my night helping the twelve year old son of a family that I paired off with near Centennial Park. He had never passed out a tract before. We had a lot of fun working together and by the end of the night he passed out about 14 tracts, in spite of being painfully shy. I had one homeless man ask for money. I told him I’d give him five dollars for a few minutes of his time and he agreed. He still held on to some self-righteousness after going through the Law and so I explained the holiness of God to him. We prayed together afterwards, praying for his alcohol addiction and for his son who is in jail. I had a great conversation with another homeless man who did not ask for money. After the hockey game let out, a few of us open-air preached to the crowd as they left.

Once we get a full report done and posted at www.transplantministries.com, I’ll be sure to post the link here.

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. There is a small charge involved to sign this petition, but it is simply to make a donation to the company that is handling the petition. TLC, Sovereign Joy or Fish with Trish do not make any money on this petition. Here is the link.
2. It’s not too late to plan for 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. Kids WILL read them.

3. Here is a video clip of our friend Joe Sprinkle open-air preaching on Saturday night in the Little Five Points neighborhood of Atlanta. It gives you a little taste of what that team endured in a very spiritually dark neighborhood. Please be warned: this video is unedited and contains filthy language from a few hecklers.

4. Here is the link to Todd Friel speaking about Deeper\The Five Hundred on Way of the Master Radio. Listen to it for free here.

5. Jonathan Anderson, family pastor at Countryside Bible Church, has written an excellent article on Evangelizing Your Children in Countryside’s “Parent Talk” email newsletter. If you would like a copy, I’ll be happy to forward you one. Just send me an email at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

6. Check out these messages from Randall Easter, pastor of FBC Briar, that he recently gave at the Western Slope Conference on Biblical Evangelism. Here is the link.

7. Here is a FREE video clip from Trish Ramos, “Fast Food Witnessing.”

8. And here is a FREE video clip of our own Jeff Pittman doing an open-air at a stop light in front of the State Fair of Texas. Thanks Byron, for making this available.

The Lost Cause Ministries & Missions:

TLC is represented at First Baptist Church of Justin (TX) during their Missions Summit October 19-22. TLC has 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 Engagements:

1. While Jon is in Australia next month he will be preaching at the following churches near Melbourne on Sunday November 16^th. Cornerstone Gospel Church in Frankston, during the morning worship service. Grace Community Bible Church in Endeavour Hills, during the evening service. Of course, he is also the keynote speaker at the Holy Epidemic Conference because he traveled the longest distance to get there (an important qualification for any keynote speaker).

Evangelism Training Opportunities:

1. 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, the State Fair of TX, the youth detention center, and in Atlanta.

2. Pray for Ron and Jon as they prepare for upcoming court appearances. Pray for the CLA as they prepare the cases.

3. Pray for the upcoming outreaches.

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

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

6. Pray for the financial situation of TLC Ministries. We are beginning to raise support for the time when our salaries are cut by 33% on January 1^st. We are confident that the Lord will continue to provide.

7. Pray for TLC as we work with a couple of local financial sponsors who would like to bring Mark Cahill to Dallas on December 6^th-7^th. Pray that all of the doors would open and that we would be able to promote this strongly throughout the area.

 

strong>Evangelism Memory Verse:

You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shall not commit adultery: But I say to you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. –Matthew 5:27,28

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:

“The man whose little sermon is ‘repent’ sets himself against his age, and will for the time being be battered mercilessly by the age whose moral tone he challenges. There is but one end for such a man—‘off with his head!’ You had better not try to preach repentance until you have pledged your head to heaven.” –Joseph Parker

 

Evangelism Opportunities:

1. Tuesday, October 14^th, 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 17^th, 7:30PM—10:00PM 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 Ron Martinez at starbucksman@charter.net. 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. Thursday, October 23^rd, 10:30AM-2:30PM: University of North TX. Details same as #1 above.

Evangelism Report:University of North Texas, Denton:

On Thursday, TLC Staff went to UNT to preach the Gospel. We were joined by Jeff Clayton and had a wonderful time sharing Christ with many students. Once again, many of our “regulars” came back to ask questions, including an atheist named Richard. He sat on the grass and chatted with Tim while they discussed some issues raised in Mark Cahill’s book, “One Heartbeat Away.” Richard has now spoken with me, Tim, Jason, and Byron. Please pray that the Word will find good soil in Richard’s heart.

Jeff had several one-to-ones and passed out many of the “Blood Donor” tracts from www.onemilliontracts.com.

I was encouraged by a conversation with Anthony, who is growing spiritually and has recently joined a Christian student group called Chi Alpha. This is always a good idea for any Christian student on a college campus. Speaking of student organizations, I had a chat with several of the missionaries from The Navigators, including a guy named Patrick who showed interest in coming out with us to share the Gospel. Another Christian student named Stephen also showed serious interest in doing the same. Our desire is to work with as many solid Christians as we can, knowing that we aren’t doing this job alone. UNT is a huge campus and when we agree on the essentials of the Gospel, our desire is to model and encourage biblical evangelism.

I spoke again with Stewart, the existentialist atheist (say that ten times fast). He asked me for a copy of a tract that was passed out the week before, the old “America, America” tract from Living Waters. He has asked some deep questions that I want to give a serious answer to, but honestly, I have been so busy I haven’t had time to address them by email. Stewart has been very patient. I promised to get him a copy of the tract at our next visit. Please pray that he will read it and that God’s Word will accomplish its purpose.

Unfortunately, something is wrong with the microphone on one of our amps, so I ended up preaching during only one class change without the amp. It was a little difficult, but a good discipline. Please pray for us if you are not able to join us: pray for continued favor with the campus administration, fruitful conversations, anointed preaching, and smooth working equipment.

Northwest ISD Football Game (Justin, TX):

Tim Crawford reports that the homecoming game at Northwest ISD in Justin was another great success! About 15 saints from FBC Justin passed out free food and drinks and about 800-1,000 football tracts from www.onemilliontracts.com. It is truly amazing what a group of teens and adults can do in a few short hours when they are motivated by the love of Christ and holy boldness. In one night, they reached more people than most churches reach in an entire year!

West End Marketplace (Dallas):On Saturday night, Ron Martinez, Jeff Pittman, myself and Brad Snow traveled to the West End Marketplace in Dallas to open-air preach and witness. Saturday was the TX\OU college football classic and the West End is usually full of fans celebrating after the game. We have done this event before with good fruit coming from it, and so we were excited about another opportunity to share the Gospel. It was not as busy as previous years, but there were still plenty of people around to witness to.

From 6:30PM until about 9:00PM we preached the Gospel, taking turns at the microphone. When we weren’t preaching, we passed out tracts and engaged those who stopped in conversation about eternity. It was a very productive night. I had a good one-to-one with a young man named Jason who works in a haunted house in the city. He listened carefully to the Gospel. When his friends tried to distract him, he ignored them and listened, which is unusual. When we finished, he thanked me for talking with him and took a tract. Please pray for him.

At about 9:00PM, I was ticketed for using an amplifier in the West End in Dallas (this in spite of the fact that we have never heard of a city code restricting their use in Dallas and the many police officers who heard our preaching throughout the night). Ron was arrested a few minutes later when he was trying to witness (one-to-one) to some Hari Krishnas. He was charged with public drunkenness (!?!?), held overnight in a detox cell and released Sunday morning. They did not read him his rights or administer a breathalyzer. He has been ticketed for public drunkenness and is scheduled to appear in court on November 2^nd.

Even mentioning this incident to you is difficult for us. We do not seek out confrontations with the police and highly respect them. In the vast majority of cases, the police officers we have had the privilege of speaking with on the streets have been very knowledgeable and supportive of the rights of Christians to share the Gospel. We’ve had discussions with police officers many times over the last four years and have never been ticketed, much less seen an arrest. As much as is within us, it is our desire to live at peace with all men (Heb. 12:14).

However, in this case, we have been unjustly accused of breaking the law. Clearly, the Dallas Police Department acted unlawfully, especially in Ron’s case. We have never heard of someone getting arrested while witnessing one-to-one on the street. Certainly, we have never heard of the charge of public intoxication being used against a Christian who is street witnessing! It is outrageous.

Currently, we are presenting the Christian Law Association with the extensive video footage of these confrontations and copies of our citations. We will seek their wisdom as to how we should proceed. Please pray for us and the attorneys from CLA.

Now, having said all of that, we think it is important to say something else. 1) We are not heroes. Our brothers and sisters in other countries face much more serious persecution every single day. We have not yet been resisted to the point of having our blood shed. We are not worthy to tie the sandals of our persecuted brothers and sisters in places like China, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, India, and elsewhere. 2) This kind of thing is a rarity and not a common occurrence here in America. We have never been ticketed for preaching until this point. We believe that our record speaks for itself in this regard and we stand by it unashamedly.

But we do not wish to misrepresent the matter either. In this day and age which sees pluralism and tolerance as a virtue, the bold proclamation of the Gospel in public (and private) will be persecuted and suppressed. The Lord Jesus told us to expect opposition. He didn’t say “if” it happens, He said, “when.” The Scriptures teach that those who desire to live godly lives in Christ WILL suffer persecution (2 Tim. 3:12).

Can we guarantee that if you come out with us to share the Gospel you will not be falsely accused? Absolutely not (Mt. 5:11). Can we guarantee that you won’t be arrested? No (Lk. 21:12-19). Folks, sharing the Gospel is not safe. It is not for those who want a comfortable, polite Christianity. The experience of the prophets, apostles, and 43 million martyrs over the last 2000 years of church history all attest to the fact that the Lord Jesus was serious when He said that if you want to follow Him it means taking up your cross (i.e. being willing to die, Lk. 9:23).

Of course, we don’t want to be contentious for contention’s sake. But neither do we wish to be disobedient for the sake of comfort.

Having said all of that, here is what we have learned:

1. We don’t pray enough before our outreaches. We are now taking steps so this won’t happen again. Each outreach will be preceded by a prayer meeting.

2. We need YOUR prayers. There are more than 230 recipients of our email update. The average outreach includes no more than 15 people and usually four or five. That leaves more than 200 who can pray each week for these outreaches. Please pray for our safety, for favor with the authorities, for receptive hearts and for an eternal impact. Please pray for these outreaches as you would for any other missionary who is about to embark on a dangerous endeavor for the Gospel.

3. We must strictly enforce staying in pairs. Ron was alone when he was falsely accused by the police. He was only alone for a few minutes. We don’t blame Ron for this; we have all wandered away from the group at one time or another. We all need to be aware of what can happen when we have no “back-up.” As Jeff said, “We don’t go swimming alone, so we shouldn’t go fishing alone.” Amen.

4. We must always be reminded that we are on the streets for the glory of God. This is not about us, TLC, or anyone but CHRIST. Knowing that changes everything, no matter what happens.

May Christ be glorified in all of our outreaches, no matter what the cost.

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. TLC, Sovereign Joy or Fish with Trish do not make any money on this petition.

<!–[if !vml]–><!–[endif]–>2. 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. Kids WILL read them.

3. Here is a great video interview of a woman who survived an abortion and now campaigns against it. Check it out here.

4. Here is a great resource from Monergism.com: D.A. Carson’s series on “Making Sense of Suffering.”

5. And yet another Monergism resource: the Gospel Coalition’s “Ask Gospel Coalition” series of videos. This is a great series of common questions that are asked by both the lost and believers. Answers provided by Mark Dever, James McDonald, Tim Keller, Ligon Duncan, John Piper, Joshua Harris, Erwin Lutzer, , D.A. Carson and many others!

6. Check out our friend Steve Murphy’s latest review of the movie “Fireproof.” You can read it on his blog.

7. October is “conference month” in GA. Sermon Index is hosting the Revival Conference near Atlanta October 21-23. Guest speakers include Dr. Henry Blackaby, Paul Washer, Al Whittinghill (who is also speaking at the Superbowl Outreach in Tampa), Francois Carr, Roger Ellsworth, Don Currin, Steve Gallagher, and others. If you (like us) cannot make it to GA for the conference, but you want to participate, check out the LIVE WEBCAST at Informed Evangelist, Jon’s “other” blog. IE is blessed to be one of several blogs that is carrying the conference via webcast.

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 Engagements:

1. Jon Speed’s preaching engagement on Sunday October 26^th at The Light of Denton has been canceled. The church decided to travel with their pastor to his speaking engagement in Blue Ridge. Now there is a church that loves its pastor!

2. While Jon is in Australia next month he will be preaching at the following churches near Melbourne on Sunday November 16^th. Cornerstone Gospel Church in Frankston, during the morning worship service. Grace Community Bible Church in Endeavour Hills, during the evening service. Of course, he is also the keynote speaker at the Holy Epidemic Conference because he traveled the longest distance to get there (an important qualification for any keynote speaker).

Praise

We thank God for a dear friend of the ministry who wrote a check for $5,000 to support TLC!! This enables the staff of TLC to remain at full support until the end of the year. Glory to God for His manifestation of Himself as Jehovah-jireh, the LORD who provides!

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, West End, and the Northwest ISD football game.

2. Pray for Ron and Jon as they prepare for upcoming court appearances. Pray for the CLA as they prepare the cases.

3. Pray for the upcoming outreaches.

4. Pray for finalizing details of The Five Hundred outreach in Atlanta on October 18^th. Pray for TLC Staff as they travel to Atlanta for Deeper and this outreach this week.

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 for Jon as he does an evangelistic Bible study on October 13^th.

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

8. Pray for the financial situation of TLC Ministries. We are beginning to raise support for the time when our salaries are cut by 33% on January 1^st. We are confident that the Lord will continue to provide.

9. Pray for TLC as we work with a couple of local financial sponsors who would like to bring Mark Cahill to Dallas on December 6^th-7^th. Pray that all of the doors would open and that we would be able to promote this strongly throughout the area.

10. Pray for Tim’s discipleship class which meets every Tuesday nights. They are studying the doctrines of grace.

 

 

Evangelism Memory Verse:

“Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer: and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” –1 John 3:15

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:

“It may justly be suspected that God is not Father of those who love not His children. Though they retain the communion of saints in their creed, they banish the communion of saints out of their company.” –Thomas Watson

 

 

Evangelism Opportunities:

1. Thursday, October 9^th, 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 10^th, 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.

3. Saturday, October 11^th, 6:00PM-10:00PM: SCHEDULE CHANGE. We are NOT going to the Roanoke festival this weekend. Instead, we will go to the West End Marketplace in Dallas. The college football classic TX vs. OU game is Saturday and the West End will be PACKED with thousands of fans. We will meet at the West End at 6:00PM, near the Spaghetti Warehouse. Car-pooling from the Justin & Southlake area will leave Justin promptly at 5:00PM. If you need a ride, email me at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

4. Friday, October 17^th, 7:30PM—10:00PM 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 Ron Martinez at starbucksman@charter.net. 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:

The following report comes from Tim Crawford. I had a meeting that I needed to attend and missed the UNT outreach last week.

The campus ministry at UNT went well on Thursday. I (Tim) showed up around 10:45 to hit the first major class change and was feeling a little bit intimidated without my side-kick Jon. I hadn’t really done much witnessing by myself on this campus, so I must admit I felt a little bit out of sorts. However I think it was really good for me because it stretched me and forced me to rely totally on God. I started to seriously pray because I was actually contemplating leaving (the flesh was so weak). I decided I need to get started and at least pass out tracts.

So I started passing out tracts and doing some one-to-ones and the next thing you know I was an hour into it and having a blast. I had many one-to-ones and some other believers stopped to encourage me and express there gratitude and thanks for not yelling and screaming at them like preachers in the past. I know the cross is offensive but if you will reason with these kids and share the truth without becoming some self-righteous sinless perfectionist they will listen. This is always encouraging to me and really shows me that we are having an impact on campus while preaching the truth in love without compromise. It seems each week there is a handful of students thanking us for the way we conduct ourselves through reasoning and discussion, as well as the preaching of repentance and the cross. I have heard this many times from believers and unbelievers as well.

Around noon a good friend of the ministry, Byron Porter stopped by to preach the Gospel and do some one-to-ones. He has never open-aired before and decided that today was going to be the day. He preached a great message on adoption and what it meant to be adopted into the family of God through repentance and faith in the Lord. I was blessed to see him step up and step out in faith for the glory of God. Please pray for the students at UNT, we have so many conversations with atheists and evolutionists and they come back week after week to debate, so we just pray that God will open there eyes.

State Fair of Texas:

On Friday night, myself (Jon), Samantha Speed, Ron Martinez and Jason Sides went out to the new main gate at the State Fair of Texas to pass out tracts. We had planned on doing some open-air as well, but the tracts and one-to-ones went so well, that we just kept at it until the end. We passed out hundreds of tracts and had several good one-to-ones. Jason had a long one-to-one with a guy named Oscar. Please pray that the seed sown in Oscar’s heart will find good soil and bear lasting fruit.

Northwest ISD Football Game (Justin, TX):

Here is another report from Tim Crawford on this high school football game outreach.

Friday Night Lights was another huge success!!! I (Tim) went over to the Northwest High School to assist Chad Welty and Josh Lewis in their outreach to all the students as they entered the home game. We had a great tailgate party!!! We grilled and gave away free hotdogs, hamburgers, chips and drink followed by some cool NFL Gospel tracts from onemilliontracts.com. Thanks Marv, they looked awesome!!! We had many one-to-ones and passed out over 1,000 tracts. We will have another home game this Friday, so please keep this outreach in prayer!

Gay Pride Parade (Fort Worth, TX):

On Sunday, Ron Martinez and I (Jon) went out to the gay pride parade in Fort Worth. The parade in Fort Worth is substantially smaller than the parade in Dallas. It was over in about half and hour and did not have political candidates marching or commercial sponsorships. This is a blessing and means that Fort Worth is substantially more conservative than Dallas.

Ron passed out hundreds of “Amazing Body” gospel tracts from One Million Tracts. Ron estimates that 80% of the attendees received a tract, so he did an excellent job of spreading the Gospel. I stayed back with a small group of believers from an anti-abortion ministry who wanted to preach. TLC supplied the amplification unit.

Just before the parade started, I got up and began a message which spring boarded off of the t-shirts from a homosexual church in Denton: the t-shirts read, “Would Jesus Discriminate?”. Of course, the answer is He would and He will. On the Day of Judgment He will exercise discernment and say to many who think they are saved (both homosexual and heterosexual) “Depart from Me, I never knew you” (Mt. 7:21-23). I was asked to preach first and when I did, several angry lesbians stormed across the street and began yelling at me. One made the ludicrous statement that Ruth and Naomi were lovers! The police came by and restored order and I was able to continue preaching without any further interruption. Every so often I alternated with another brother and we were able to keep up the preaching throughout the parade. Praise God, the whole Gospel was preached; it was not a condemning message of hatred, but a careful exposition of the holiness of God, the righteousness of His requirements and the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement to meet those requirements. Pray for all of those who received tracts, were spoken to individually, or heard the Gospel.

First Baptist Church (Justin, TX):

On Sunday TLC had the opportunity to set up the ministry display table at FBC Justin. Pastor Sidler just finished up a series on spiritual gifts and how important it is to use those gifts in the different types of ministry throughout the church. We had over 30 different booths set up and over 300 people attended, so we praise the Lord. Many stopped by our booth and were very interested in evangelism. We hope and pray for the opportunity to teach, train and equip more believers in the area of Biblical evangelism here in the near future as a result of this expo. God is so good to us and has opened many doors. Please continue to pray for us as we move forward with these ministries.

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. TLC, Sovereign Joy or Fish with Trish do not make any money on this petition. Here is the link. <!–[if !vml]–><!–[endif]–>2. 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 ($2.50 per pack of 100!). Kids WILL read them. 3. Here is a new video clip of Jon witnessing to a homosexual at the Dallas gay pride parade. It is an excellent example of the damage that the modern Gospel does amongst those who think that they have “made a decision” for Christ and are thereby saved. Please watch this clip prayerfully, on behalf of Scottie.

4. Whenever we get a chance to plug a movie about evangelism, we’ll do it! Check this website to see if the new movie, “Billy: The Early Years” is playing in your area. I’m sure that we won’t agree with much of the Gospel presentation, but there is an opportunity here to springboard into the full message of repentance and faith.

5. Here is another interesting video clip produced by Ron Martinez contrasting 60 second stoplight open-air preaching and straight-up street corner preaching. The clip features a couple of clips of Jon Speed and a brother named Clay preaching. 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. 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

This week we’re praising God for the donation of a bunch of TLC t-shirts from our friend Jason Sides. Jason took the initiative to have some black t-shirts printed with the TLC website across the front in white. On Friday night we broke these in at the Texas State Fair. Thanks, Jason!

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, the State Fair, the Northwest ISD football game and the gay pride parade.

2. Pray for Jimmy Reesman, who will share the Gospel with two Mormon missionaries on Thursday night.

3. Pray for the upcoming outreaches.

4. Pray for finalizing details of The Five Hundred outreach in Atlanta on October 18^th. Pray for TLC Staff as they travel to Atlanta for Deeper and this outreach.

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 for Jon as he does an evangelistic Bible study on October 13^th.

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

8. 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.

9. Pray for TLC as we work with a couple of local financial sponsors who would like to bring Mark Cahill to Dallas. Pray that all of the doors would open and that we would be able to promote this strongly throughout the area.

10. Pray for Tim’s discipleship class which meets every Tuesday nights. They are studying the doctrines of grace.