Love The Lost

Are You a Good Person?

2010-08-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

Witnessing Opportunities

2010-07-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

We have been going down to the Aliso Viejo Town Center on a fairly regular basis to preach the gospel, pass out tracts, and have one-to-one conversations. The town center has proven to be a great "fishing hole" so it's time to make it official... we will be at the Town Center Saturday nights between 7pm and ~8:30pm. If you would like to come join us, email me at Jeff@LoveTheLost.org and I'll keep an eye out for you.

Project Ezra - Aliso Viejo Town Center

2010-04-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

Now that Easter at the Bren has come and gone at Compass Bible Church and the street teams are taking a well deserved break (a short one mind you - more on that later), I have been once again feeling the call to preach the gospel in the open air. So, I have decided to become active once again in Project Ezra which is a group of evangelists who simply read the scriptures weekly in public and preach the gospel in the open air. I have chosen the Aliso Viejo Town Center as the location for this and plan on making this a weekly endeavor - every Saturday night at 7pm. So, if you feel like stretching your evangelistic wings, come join me any Saturday night at 7pm at the Aliso Viejo Town Center at the ampitheater. Prayer warriors are encouraged to come too and pray as the gospel is proclaimed!
Email me with any questions - Jeff@LoveTheLost.org

Prisoner Alert!

2010-03-18T19:22:00.001-07:00

I just read over at my friend Tony Miano's blog, The Lawman Chronicles, that a dear brother in Christ, Shawn Holes, is currently sitting in a jail cell in Glascow, Scotland for preaching the truth about the sin of homosexuality.

Click here to read the article and please pray for brother in Christ, Shawn Holes.

(03/19/20 8am) Here is an update from Jeremiah Cry Ministries via Jon Speed:

We were preaching today on the streets and experiencing much adversity from police. We were warned not to preach against homosexuality, and if we did we could get arrested. Brother Shawn Holes was preaching when a group of young people began to shout questions at him. One question that they insisted on getting an answer was the issue of homosexuality. Shawn told them it was a sin against God, and that he loved them, and this is why he was telling them the truth, After he stepped down from preaching he was arrested and taken into custody. He will be in jail until tomorrow. He will stand before the judge tomorrow, and see what will come of this. Apparently this may be the first time this crime has been brought before a judge in this specific manner. We went back out to the street and began to preach again!!! We will not stop; may the Lord be glorified.

Swallows To Catch Fish

2010-03-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

This Saturday (03/20), LoveTheLost team member Dave S. will be leading an evangelism team to the Swallow's Day Parade in San Juan Capistrano. The team will be meeting in the parking lot at SCCA at 8:30 am and will walk to the parade site from there. Come join us and help preach the gospel to every creature! Click here to read about last year's parade.

Evangelism Schedule

2010-03-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some upcoming dates that we will be going out to witness to the lost:

Saturday July 17, 2010 7pm-~8:30pm: Aliso Viejo Town Center
Saturday July 24, 2010 7pm-~8:30pm: Aliso Viejo Town Center
Saturday July 131 2010 7pm-~8:30pm: Aliso Viejo Town Center

If you would like to join us, or if you have any questions, let me know by email to Jeff@LoveTheLost.org

Door-to-Door Ministry

2010-02-23T20:11:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday marked the third Sunday that teams from Compass Bible Church hit the streets in Aliso Viejo and Irvine to proclaim the gospel via door-to-door ministry and one-to-one witnessing. I had the privilege of leading the door-to-door team in Irvine. We have been using our "Bren Bags" to break the ice. These bags contain an invitation to our Easter services at the Bren Center, a tri-fold that has a great gospel tract and information about our church, and an audio CD from Pastor Mike with the message "But I've Always Been A Christian".

This has been my first experience with door-to-door ministry but won't be my last! I was somewhat apprehensive about door-to-door ministry but an encounter this weekend has completely wiped that away. I now KNOW that God can use door-to-door ministry in a big way.

Me and my son walked up to a door and knocked. Following some advice I gleaned from fellow Ambassador's Academy grad Carl Kalbfleisch, I stepped back from the door a couple feet so as to not be right in the person's face when they answer. A young man came to the door and I told him that I was there for two reasons, the first of which was to give him an invite to our Easter services that we are having at the Bren Center which we have rented out this year. I then explained the contents of the bag briefly.

"The second reason I'm here", I explained, "is to share the gospel with you... may I ask you a few spiritual questions?"

He gave me permission to continue so I then asked him what he thinks happens after somebody dies.

The young man told me that he thinks that there is a Heaven and a Hell and that if you have faith in God then you will go to heaven.

I questioned him about what it meant to have faith in God and he explained that Jesus Christ died for our sins so that we could go to heaven.

At this point I was suspecting that I was speaking with a Christian so I asked him what he would tell me if I had only 3 minutes to live and wanted to know how to get to heaven.

He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts and then said that he would ask me if I believed in God and if I have been "seeking him". He then paused again and asked me how I would respond in that situation.

At this point I turned the conversation around and began to share the gospel with the young man.
I used the Law as a schoolmaster and showed him by looking at the ten commandments that he had broken God's law.
He admitted that he had lied, stolen, and taken God's name in vain.
I told the young man that Heb 9:27 says that it is appointed for man to die once and after that comes the judgment.
He agreed that he would be guilty if God judged him based on the moral law and that it would be right for God to send him to Hell for breaking his law.
I then shared the good news with the young man and explained that God the Father sent his Son, Jesus Christ, who is fully God and full man, perfect and without sin.
I explained that Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life that we are not capable of living.
I explained that Jesus suffered and died on the cross, taking the punishment upon himself that we rightly deserve - that we broke God's law but Jesus paid the fine in his life's blood on our behalf.
I explained that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day because he was sinless and death couldn't even hold him.
I then told the young man that God commands us to repent - turn from our sins and forsake them... cast them off like we would a filthy rag, and turn to God. I explained that God also commands us to put our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.
I asked the young man if he had heard the gospel presented like this before and if he had repented and put his faith in Jesus Christ.
He answered and explained that he had and that he was regularly attending a church in Irvine.
He then told me something that blew me away... he said that he had been recently praying to God to help him to share his faith. He said that our conversation was a direct answer to prayer because he really had no idea how to share his faith and our conversation was really helpful. We then had a rather long conversation about the gospel and the importance of sharing it in a way that is biblical and that rightly represents who God is.

Such a simple concept of putting some resources and an Easter invite into a bag and knocking on doors... but God can take the simple concept and use it in a HUGE way. God not only encouraged that young man, but also encouraged me that God can use the small things in a LARGE way. Soli Deo Gloria!!

Bible Verses

2010-01-31T08:00:00.000-08:00

The following is a collection of bible verses which are very helpful when sharing your faith. I like to keep a printout of these in my bible so that I can have them on hand for quick reference.
01/31/10 - Added Logos.com RefTagger code. Mouseover the verses and a handy window will pop up with the verse(s).

(updated 02/02/10)

Sin

Psa 53:1-3 - none does good
Isa 64:6 - filthy rags
Mat 5:29 - pluck it out
Rom 3:9-12 - none righteous
Rom 3:20 - not justified by law
Rom 3:23 - all have sinned
2 Cor 4:3-4 - Gospel is veiled, eyes blinded
Gal 3:10 – cursed are those who do not abide by the law
Eph 2:3 – children of wrath
Eph 4:17-19 – state of the unbeliever
Eph 5:5-6 – no fornicator
Col 1:21 – enemies in your mind
Jas 2:10 – guilty of all
1 Jn 1:8-10 – say no sin, deceive ourselves

Judgment

Acts 17:30-31 – judge the world in righteousness
Rom 1:18 - wrath of God revealed
Rom 14:10-12 - all will give an account to God
Col 3:5-7 – wrath is coming
Heb 4:13 - must give an account
Heb 9:27 - death then judgment
2 Pe 2:9 – punishment for the day of judgment
Eccl 12:14 - every deed, every secret

Hell

Rom 6:23 - wages of sin is death
1 Cor 6:9-10 - unrighteous will not inherit
Gal 5:19-21 - works of the flesh, will not inherit
2 Thes 1:8-10 – flaming fire taking vengeance
Rev 21:8 - all liars have their part
Mk 9:43-48 - worm never dies
Mt 25:46 - eternal punishment
Mt 24:51 - weeping & gnashing
Lk 3:17 - unquenchable fire
Rm 2:8-9 - wrath, fury, trib, distress
Jud 7,13 - eternal, utter darkness
Rev 14:10-11 - torment forever, fire & sulphur

The Way

1 Tim 2:5-6 - one mediator
Jn 14:6 - no one comes
Jn 3:16 - God so loved
Eph 2:8-9 - saved by grace
Jn 3:5 - regeneration
2 Cor 5:21 - Jesus became sin for us
1 Thes 5:9 – salvation through Jesus
Acts 4:12 – no other name

Repentance

Psa 51:1ff
Luk 13:3 - unless you repent
2 Pt 3:9 - come to repentance
Acts 20:21 - repentance & faith
Prov 28:13 - confess & forsake
Mk 1:15 – repent & believe
Acts 14:15 – turn from these worthless things
Col 3:8-10 – put off the old
2 Pt 3:9 – all should come to repentance
Acts 17:30-31 – commands all men everywhere to repent
Mk 6:12 – people should repent
Eph 4:20-32 – put off the old

God's Word

2 Tim 3:16-17 - God-breathed
Job 23:12 - treasure it more than necessary food
Ps 1:1-2 – meditate day & night
Jos 1:8 – meditate day & night
Heb 1:1-2 – spoke by the prophets and His Son
Heb 4:12 – living & powerful, sharper
2 Pt 1:21 – holy men spoke, moved by Spirit
Rv 22:18-19 – if anyone adds or takes away

Encouragement for the believer

1 Pe 4:14 - reproached = blessed
Prov 11:30 - wise is he who wins souls
1 Cor 2:1-5 - trembling
Luk 16:19-31 - Lazarus
Eze 33:7-9 - watchman
2 Cor 12:7-10 - perfect in weakness
Mk 8:34-38 - take up your cross
Col 1:28 - warn every man
Prov 28:1 - bold as a lion
2 Cor 3:5-6 - sufficiency is from God
Rom 13:11 - wake up!
Rom 1:16 - not ashamed of the Gospel
Gal 1:10 – man pleaser
Gal 2:20 – crucified with Christ
Eph 4:11 – some evangelists
Eph 4:15 – truth in love
2 Tim 4:2-5 – in season and out
Mt 5:11-12 - blessed when people insult you
Mt 9:37-38 – harvest plentiful
Mt 10:28 – do not fear those
Mt 10:32-33 – whoever confesses, whoever denies
Mt 10:37-39 – whoever loses his life
Acts 4:29-31 – boldness
Acts 5:29 – obey God rather than man
Acts 5:41 – rejoice when suffer shame
Rom 10:14-15 – how shall they hear
1 Tim 4:14-15 – do not neglect the gift
2 Tim 1:6-7 – stir up the gift
Jn 16:33 - overcome the world
1 Cor 1:17 - not words of eloquent wisdom
1 Cor 1:18 - folly to those perishing
2 Tim 2:24-26 - Lord's servant, not quarrelsome
2 Cor 10:4 - weapons of our warfare

Assurance

Jn 6:47 - he who believes has eternal life
Rom 10:9 - confess, believe, be saved
Rom 10:13 - call on the name of the Lord, be saved
1 Jn 5:12-13 - he who has the Son has life
Eph 1:13-14 – sealed with the Holy Spirit

Jesus is God!

1 Jn 2:22-23 - deny the Son & you also deny the Father
Mk 5:30 – Jesus knew power had gone out of Him
Rv 1:8 – Jesus is the Almighty
Mt 12:25 – Jesus knew their thoughts
Jn 10:30 - I & Father are one
Tit 2:13 - Great God & Savior
Jn 1:48-49 - Jesus is omnipresent
Jn 8:57-58 - Jesus is eternal
Heb 13:8 - Jesus is immutable
Jn 6:68-69 - Jesus is holy
Rev 19:11-13 - Jesus is just

For Believers / False Converts

2 Cor 13:5 - Examine yourselves
Jn 3:3 – born again
Tit 1:15-16 – profess to know God
1 Jn 1:6 – walk in darkness
1 Jn 2:3-6 – keep His commandments
1 Jn 2:15-17 – do not love the world
1 Jn 2:29 – practice righteousness
1 Jn 3:6-9 – whoever sins does not know Him
Rv 3:15-16 – luke warm
Mk 8:38 – ashamed of Jesus
Lk 9:26 – ashamed of Jesus
Rom 6:1ff – DIE TO SIN!
Jas 2:19 - even the demons believe

Use of The Law in Evangelism

Psa 19:7 - law is perfect, converting the soul
Rom 2:15 - law written on the heart
Rom 3:19-20 - stops mouths, by the law is knowledge of sin
Rom 5:20 - law entered so that the offence might abound
Rom 7:7 - not known sin but by the law
Rom 7:13 - sin made exceedingly sinful by the commandments
Gal 3:24 - tutor
1 Tim 1:8 - law is good if used lawfully
Jn 4:1ff - woman @ the well
Mat 19:16-22 - rich young ruler
Acts 28:1ff - Paul preaching the law & the prophets

Huntington Beach Pier - Saturday

2010-01-28T17:51:00.000-08:00

Come join us this Saturday (01/30) at the Huntington Beach Pier from ~12pm-2pm.

Ray Comfort will be there with his team preaching the gospel and we will be there to pass out gospel tracts and engage people in conversation.
If you have never heard Ray preach at the Pier, you're missing out! Come join us.
Email me at Jeff@LoveTheLost.org if you think you'll be there.

Train Station Sundays - One Last Time

2010-01-22T06:09:00.001-08:00

We have had an AMAZING time preaching the gospel at the San Juan Capistrano train station Sunday afternoons. God has truly blessed our efforts to reach out and love the lost in San Juan Capistrano. We have witnessed people respond in repentance and faith and have had the privilege to pray with several people. We have seen others encouraged by our witness and we have all become more bold in our witness together over the past year. Thousands of gospel tracts have been given out along with dozens of bibles. It has been truly amazing to see how God has blessed our simple obedience to the Great Commission.

This Sunday will be my last time at the train station on Sunday afternoons. I will be involved in a newly forming evangelism team at Compass Bible Church. We will be hitting the streets of Aliso Viejo and Irvine on Sunday afternoons starting January 31. My hope and prayer is that my brothers and sisters at SCCA will continue to go to the train station on Sunday afternoons so hopefully this will not mark the end of our witness at the train station... only the end of my involvement.

So, come join me this Sunday afternoon from 1:30-2:30pm at the San Juan Capistrano train station. We'll preach the gospel, hand out gospel tracts, and try to engage people in conversation.

San Juan Capistrano Train Station 01/10/10

2010-01-10T16:50:00.000-08:00

This afternoon Tracy and I, and the kids, were joined at the San Juan Capistrano train station by Sam, Bob, and Dave. We had an amazing time passing out gospel tracts, having one-to-one conversations, and preaching the gospel in the open air.

The Lord allowed us to have many one-to-one conversations today and many people were open to hearing the gospel.

Please pray that those who heard the gospel will repent and put their trust in Jesus alone for salvation.

Today I tried something different and broadcasted the preaching live via UStream. The train schedule was WAY off today so I just happened to time the preaching so that a train came along right in the middle of the gospel. I could tell that those who were listening were still able to hear me so I continued on.

Here's the UStream video:

Click here if you do not see the embedded video player above

Reaching The World For Christ

2010-01-04T19:41:00.000-08:00

Check out this sermon from Compass Bible Church entitled "Reaching The World For Christ, What It Means and Where to Start":

http://www.compasschurch.org/sermons/reaching-the-world-for-christ/video

I Got Off At George Street

2009-12-29T18:10:00.000-08:00

Here's a great YouTube video about Frank Jenner and how his obedience in sharing the gospel with strangers impacted many.

The Use of Tracts by R. A. Torrey

2009-12-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

The Use of Tracts

By R. A. Torrey

R. A. Torrey (1856-1928) was a Congregational evangelist, teacher, author, born in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was educated in Yale University and Divinity School. After a period of skepticism he trusted in Jesus Christ as Saviour. Soon after he pastored in Ohio and then in Minnesota. In 1889 Dwight L. Moody called Torrey to Chicago to become the superintendent of the school which became known as the Moody Bible Institute. He also served as pastor of the Chicago Avenue Church, now the Moody Memorial Church, for twelve years. Between 1902-1906 Torrey and Charles Alexander conducted a very fruitful evangelistic outreach in Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, India, China, Japan, Britain, Germany, Canada, and the USA. From 1912-1924 Torrey was dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles during which he pastored the Church of the Open Door. His remaining years involved holding Bible conferences, teaching at the Moody Bible Institute, and other endevours. (Adapted from "The Wycliffe Biographical Dictionary of the Church, Elgin S. Moyer, Moody Press, 1982)

The following is from Torrey's larger work, "Methods of Christian Work " (Chapter 5, pages 213-221):

Comparatively few Christians realize the importance of tract work. I had been a Christian a good many years, and a minister of the Gospel several years, before it ever entered my head that tracts were of much value in Christian work. I had somehow grown up with the notion that tracts were all rubbish, and therefore I did not take the trouble to read them, and far less did I take the trouble to circulate them, but I found out that I was entirely wrong. Tract work has some great advantages over other forms of Christian work.

I. Importance and advantages.

1. Any person can do it. We cannot all preach; we cannot all conduct meetings; but we can all select useful tracts and then hand them out to others. Of course some of us can do it better than others. Even a blind man or a dumb man can do tract work. It is a line of work in which every man, woman and child can engage.

2. A tract always sticks to the point. I wish every worker did that, but how often we get to talking to some one and he is smart enough to get us off on to a side track.

3. A tract never loses its temper. Perhaps you sometimes do. I have known Christian workers, even workers of experience, who would sometimes get all stirred up, but you cannot stir up a tract It always remains as calm as a June morning.

4. Oftentimes people who are too proud to be talked with, will read a tract when no one is looking. There is many a man who would repulse you if you tried to speak to him about his soul, who will read a tract if you leave it on his table, or in some other place where he comes upon it accidentally, and that tract may be used for his salvation.

5. A tract stays by one. You talk to a man and then he goes away, but the tract stays with him. Some years ago a man came into a mission in New York. One of the workers tried to talk with him, but he would not listen. As he was leaving, a card tract was placed in his hands which read, "If I should die to-night I would go to ______ Please fill out and sign." He put it in his pocket, went to his steamer, for he was a sailor, and slipped it into the edge of his bunk. The steamer started for Liverpool. On his voyage he met with an accident, and was laid aside in his bunk. That card stared him in the face, day and night. Finally he said, "If I should die tonight I would go to hell, but I will not go there, I will go to heaven, I will take Christ right here and now." He went to Liverpool, returned to New York, went to the mission, told his story, and had the card, which was still in his pocket, filled out and signed with his name. The conversation he had had in the mission left him, but the card stayed by him.

6. Tracts lead many to accept Christ. The author of one tract ("What is it to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?") received before his death upwards of sixteen hundred letters from people who had been led to Christ by reading it.

II. Purposes for which to use a tract.

1. For the conversion of the unsaved. A tract will often succeed in winning a man to Christ where a sermon or a personal conversation has failed. There are a great many people who, if you try to talk with them, will put you off; but if you put a tract in their hands and ask God to bless it, after they go away and are alone they will read the tract and God will carry it home to their hearts by the power of the Holy Ghost. One of our students wrote me in great joy of how he had at last succeeded in winning a whole family for Christ. He had been working for that family for a long time but could not touch them. One day he left a tract with them, and God used that tract for the conversion of four or five members of the family. Another student held a cottage meeting at a home, and by mistake left his Bible there. There was a tract in the Bible. When he had gone, the woman of the house saw the Bible, picked it up, opened it, saw the tract and read it. The Spirit of God carried it home to her heart, and when he went back after the Bible she told him she wanted to find the Lord Jesus Christ. The tract had done what he could not do in personal work. I once received a letter from a man saying, "There is a man in this place whom I tried for a long time to reach but could not. One day I handed him a tract, and I think it was to the salvation of his whole family.

2. To lead Christians into a deeper and more earnest Christian life. It is a great mistake to limit the use of tracts to winning the unsaved to Christ. A little tract on the Second Coming of Christ, once sent me in a letter, made a change in my whole life. I do not think the tract was altogether correct doctrinally, but it had in it an important truth, and it did for me just the work that needed to be done.

There is a special class of people with whom this form of ministry is particularly helpful, those who live where they do not enjoy spiritual advantages. You may know some one who is leading a very unsatisfactory life, and you long to have that person know what the Christian life really means. His pastor may not be a spiritual man, he may not know the deep things of God. It is the simplest thing in the world to slip into a letter a tract that will lead him into an entirely new Christian life.

3. To correct error. This is a very necessary form of work in the day in which we live. The air is full of error. In our personal work we have not always time to lead a man out of his error, but oftentimes we can give him a tract that can do the work better than we can. If you tried to lead him out of his error by personal work, you might get into a discussion, but the tract cannot. The one in error cannot talk back to the tract. For example, take people that are in error on the question of seventh day observance. It might take some time to lead such a one out of the darkness into the light, but a tract on that subject can be secured that has been used of God to lead many out of the bondage of legalism into the glorious liberty of the Gospel of Christ.

4. To set Christians to work. Our churches are full of members who are doing nothing. A well-chosen tract may set such to work. I know of a young man who was working in a factory in Massachusetts. He was a plain, uneducated sort of fellow, but a little tract on personal work was placed in his hands. He read it and re-read it, and said, "I am not doing what I should for Christ." He went to work among his companions in the factory, inviting them to the church, and to hear his pastor preach. Not satisfied with this, he went to doing personal work. This was not sufficient, so he went to work holding meetings himself. Finally he brought a convention to his city. Just that one plain factory man was the means of getting a great convention and blessing to that place, and all from reading that little tract. He was also instrumental in organizing a society which was greatly blessed of God. It would be possible to fill this country with literature on Christian work that would stir up the dead and sleeping professors of religion throughout the land, and send them out to work for the Lord Jesus Christ

III. Who should use tracts.

1. Ministers of the Gospel should use them. Many ministers do make constant use of them in their pastoral work, leaving well chosen tracts where they make their pastoral calls, handing out tracts along the line of the sermons that they preach. It is said of Rev. Edward Judson of New York, that he seldom makes a call without having in his pocket a selection of tracts adapted to almost every member of the family, and especially to the children. "At the close of the Sunday evening preaching service, he has often put some good brother in the chair, and while the meeting proceeds he goes down into the audience and gives to each person a choice leaflet, at the same time taking the opportunity to say a timely word. In this way he comes into personal touch with the whole audience, gives each stranger a cordial welcome, and leaves in his hand some message from God. At least once a year he selects some one tract that has in it the very core of the Gospel. On this he prints the notices of the services, and selecting his church as a center, he has this tract put in the hands of every person living within half a mile in each direction, regardless of creed or condition. He sometimes uses 10,000 tracts at one distribution, and finds it very fruitful in results."

2. Sunday School teachers. Every Sunday School teacher should be on the lookout for tracts to give to his scholars. In this way he can do much to supplement his hour's work on the Lord's Day.

3. Traveling men. Traveling men have a rare opportunity for doing tract work. They are constantly coming in contact with different men, and finding out their needs. A Christian "drummer" with a well-assorted selection of tracts can accomplish immeasurable good.

4. Business men. Business men can use tracts to good advantage with the very men with whom they have business engagements. They can also do excellent work with their own employees. Many a business man slips well chosen tracts into many of the letters which he writes, and thus accomplishes an effective ministry for his Master.

5. School teachers. It is very difficult for school teachers in some cities and towns to talk very much with their pupils in school. Oftentimes the rules of the school board prevent it entirely, but a wise teacher can learn all about her scholars and their home surroundings, and can give them tracts just adapted to their needs.

6. Housekeepers. Every Christian housekeeper should have a collection of well assorted tracts. She can hand these out to the servant girls, the grocery men, the market men, the butcher, to the tramps that come to the door. They can be left upon the table in the parlor and in bedrooms. Only eternity will disclose the good that is accomplished in these ways.

IV. How to use tracts.

1. To begin a conversation. One of the difficulties in Christian work is to begin. You see a person with whom you wish to talk about the Lord Jesus Christ. The great difficulty is in starting. It is easy enough to talk after you have started, but how are you going to start a conversation naturally and easily? One of the simplest and easiest ways is by slipping a tract into the person's hand. After the tract has been read, a conversation naturally follows. I was once riding in a crowded car. I asked God for an opportunity to lead some one to Christ. I was watching for the opportunity for which I had asked, when two young ladies entered. I thought I knew one of them as the daughter of a minister. She went through the car looking for a seat, and then came back. As she came back and sat down in the seat in front of me, she bowed, and of course I knew I was right as to who she was. I took out a little bundle of tracts, and selecting one that seemed best adapted to her case, I handed it to her, having first asked God to bless it. She at once began to read and I began to pray. When she had read the tract, I asked her what she thought about it. She almost burst into tears right there in the car, and in a very few moments that minister's daughter was rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour. As she afterwards passed out of the car, she said, "I want to thank you for what you have done for me in leading me to Christ."

2. Use a tract to close a conversation. As a rule when you have finished talking with some one, you should not leave him without something definite to take home to read. If the person has accepted Christ, put some tract in his hands that will show him how to succeed in the Christian life. If the person has not accepted Christ, some other tract that is especially adapted to his need should be left with him.

3. Use tracts where a conversation is impossible. For example, one night at the close of a tent meeting in Chicago, as I went down one of the aisles a man beckoned to me, and intimated that his wife was interested. She was in tears, and I tried to talk with her, but she stammered out in a broken way, "We don't talk English." She had not understood a word of the sermon, I suppose, but God had carried something home to her heart. They were Norwegians, and I could not find a Norwegian in the whole tent to act as interpreter, but I could put a Norwegian tract in her hand, and that could do the work. Time and time again I have met with men deeply interested about their soul's salvation, but with whom I could not deal because I did not talk the language that they understood.

One day as I came from dinner, I found a Swede waiting for me, and he said he had a man outside with whom he wished me to talk. I went outside and found an uncouth looking specimen, a Norwegian. The Swede had found him drunk in an alley and dragged him down to the Institute to talk with me. He was still full of whisky, and spit tobacco juice over me as I tried to talk with him. I found he could not talk English, and I talked English to the Swede, and the Swede talked Swedish to the Norwegian, and the Norwegian got a little bit of it. I made it as clear as I could to our Swede interpreter, and he in his turn made it as clear as he could to the Norwegian. Then I put a Norwegian tract in his hands, and that could talk to him so that he understood perfectly.

Oftentimes a conversation is impossible because of the place where you meet people. For example, you may be on the street cars and wish to speak to a man, but in many instances it would not be wise if it were possible, but you can take the man's measure and then give him a tract that will fit him. You may be able to say just a few words to him and then put the tract in his hands and ask God to bless it.

4. Use tracts to send to people at a distance. It does not cost a tract much to travel. You can send them to the ends of the earth for a few cents. Especially use them to send to people who live in out of the way places where there is no preaching. There are thousands of people living in different sections of this country where they do not hear preaching from one year's end to another. It would be impossible to send an evangelical preacher to them, but you can send a tract and it will do the preaching for you.

V. Suggestions as to the use of tracts.

1. Always read the tracts yourself before giving them to others. This is very necessary. Bad tracts abound to-day, tracts that contain absolutely pernicious doctrine. They are being circulated free by the million, and one needs to be on his guard, lest he be doing harm rather than good in distributing tracts. Of course we cannot read all the tracts in foreign languages, but we can have them interpreted to us, and it is wise to do so. Besides positively bad tracts, there are many tracts that are worthless.

2. Suit your tract to the person to whom you give it. What is good for one person may not be good for another.

3. Carry a selection of tracts with you. I do not say a collection, but a selection. Tracts are countless in number, and a large share of them are worthless. Select the best, and arrange them for the different classes of people with whom you come in contact.

4. Seek the guidance of God. This is of the very highest importance. If there is any place where we need wisdom from above, it is in the selection of tracts, and in their distribution after their selection.

5. Seek God's blessing upon the tract after you have given it out. Do not merely give out the tract and there let the matter rest, but whenever you give out a tract ask God to bless it.

6. Oftentimes give a man a tract with words and sentences underscored. Men are curious, and they will take particular notice of the underscoring. It is oftentimes a good thing to have a tract put up in your office. Men who come in will read it. I know a man who had a few words put upon his paper weight. A great many who came into his office saw it, and it made a deep impression upon them.

7. Never be ashamed of distributing tracts. Many people hand out tracts to others as if they were ashamed of what they were doing. People are not likely to read tracts if you hand them to them as if you were ashamed to do it; but if you act as though you were conferring a favor upon them, and giving them something worth reading, they will read your tract. It is often well to say to a person, "Here is a little leaflet out of which I have gotten a good deal of good. I would like to have you read it."

Hawthorne DMV Preaching

2009-12-16T18:04:00.000-08:00

This past Monday I joined Steve and Richard at the Hawthorne DMV to preach the gospel. This was the place where I first broke the sound barrier and preached in the open air for the first time one year ago. Here's the video from Monday:

... and here is the video from a year ago:

It has been a good year, Glory to God!

San Juan Capistrano Christmas Tree Lighting

2009-12-11T05:58:00.000-08:00

December 5, 2009 was the San Juan Capistrano Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in downtown San Juan Capistrano. Every year this event brings thousands of people to SJC to celebrate the season.
It was our pleasure to take part in the event this year by giving away 200 copies of Lee Strobel's "The Case For Christmas" along with hundreds of gospel tracts.

The word was read, the gospel was preached, books and tracts were passed out, Christ-exalting carols were sung, and the gospel was proclaimed in many one-to-one conversations. Glory to God!!

Here's a short video from the evening:

Click here if you do not see the embedded video player above.

Crosswalk

2009-12-02T12:21:00.000-08:00

(From The Lawman Chronicles)

Click here if you do not see the video player above.

San Juan Capistrano Tree Lighting Ceremony

2009-11-28T10:33:00.000-08:00

On December 5, we will be hitting the streets of downtown San Juan Capistrano during the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony to pass out gospel tracts and copies of Lee Strobel's The Case For Christmas booklets. We will also setup on a corner and sing carols, read the account of the birth of Christ from the book of Luke, and preach the gospel.

Come and join us for a fun night on the town!! We'll hit the streets ~7pm and will start on the corner of Ortega & Camino Capistrano in front of Starbucks.

Email me at Jeff@LoveTheLost.org and let me know if you're in, or if you have any questions.

Origin Into Schools UCSD

2009-11-27T06:17:00.000-08:00

On November 18, 2009 eight evangelists from three different churches took part in the Origin Into Schools project and passed out 1,000 copies of Origin Of Species on the UCSD campus in just under two hours. This was no ordinary copy of Origin but contained a fifty page introduction written by Ray Comfort containing the creation viewpoint and a gospel message. The books went like hotcakes!!

Below is a short video from our time on campus:

Click here if you don't see the embedded video player.

San Juan Capistrano Train Station

2009-11-21T11:39:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow we will be at the San Juan Capistrano train station from 1:30-2:30pm (this will be the new time going forward). If you want to come join in on the joyful task of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ then come join us!

[PRESS RELEASE] Militant Atheists Seek Details of Darwin Book Giveaway

2009-11-14T18:16:00.001-08:00

When 170,000 copies of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species with Ray Comfort’s Introduction are given away at universities around the country, atheists plan to be waiting for them. But they don’t know the identity of the universities the books will be given out. Comfort said. "The reason atheists are finding nothing is because every school that is being visited is a closely guarded secret. We don't want to cause a disturbance. We simply want to get books into the hands of students across the country." Others advised those who see the books being handed out said, “Cut out the intro in front of them, leave it on the table and take the book.” Another said, “Get them to sign [the] book, thank them, and then make some devastating point that will shatter them forever.” See http://www.livingwaters.com/origin/presskit “Press kit” for textual, audio, and video sound bites.

[PRESS RELEASE] Berkeley Students Threaten to Resist Origin Giveaway

2009-11-13T21:38:00.000-08:00

Some students aren’t too happy that 170,000 copies of a special edition of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species will be freely given away at 100 top

U.S.

universities this November. One student wrote: "efforts at UC Berkeley will be met with unilateral resistance." An atheist added: “You people are the scum of the earth. Your introduction is nothing but lies, misquotations, misrepresentations, slander and bias. I am personally donating every penny I can afford to help release a bible with a 100 page Introduction doing the same thing, we will hand this out at all your top religious universities and churches around the nation. If there was a hell you people would rot in it for eternity. With the utmost contempt, Shawn Truesdell.” See http://www.livingwaters.com/origin/presskit “Press kit” for textual, audio, and video sound bites.

San Juan Capistrano Train Station

2009-11-13T06:32:00.001-08:00

The gospel is still ringing out at the San Juan Capistrano train station on Sunday afternoons. Whether by gospel tracts, free bibles, one-to-one conversation, open air preaching, singing, or the simple witness of the "Are You Ready" cross, the law and the gospel is communicated.

This Sunday we will be at the train station from 1-2pm. Come and join us and see what the Lord will do.

[PRESS RELEASE] Atheists Threaten to Burn Darwin’s On the Origin of Species

2009-11-12T21:05:00.001-08:00

Atheists are fuming because 170,000 students across the country in

America

’s top 100 universities will be freely given a copy of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Atheist forums are saying "Perhaps we should just call for a book burning!", "In this instance, I would advocate book-burning.", "I'm not into burning books, but this one deserves to be." Greg Laden wrote: "Start collecting those bogus-ized copies of Darwin's Origin being distributed by Ray Comfort. We're low on firewood up at the cabin. It's not that I like burning books. But this is not burning books." Comfort, the author of the 50-page Introduction in Darwin’s famous book, said, “It would seem that atheists see themselves as the intellectual saviors of those who haven't the brainpower to think for themselves. It was Irish playwright and atheist, George Bernard Shaw, who rightly warned, ‘All censorships exist to prevent any one from challenging current conceptions and existing institutions.’” See http://www.livingwaters.com/origin/presskit “Press kit” for textual, audio, and video sound bites.

Dawkins Encourages Students to Deface Darwin’s On the Origin of Species

2009-11-11T20:37:00.001-08:00

Well-known atheist Professor Richard Dawkins encouraged a group of university students to take a copy of the special 150th edition of Charles Darwin’s famous book, and tear out the Introduction. There have been more than 140 different editions of On the Origin of Species and many have had Introductions, so why is he afraid of 170,000 students reading this one? See the official “Press Kit" at http://www.livingwaters.com/origin/presskit for textual, audio, and video sound bites.