a long list of exciting ministry
opportunities! ~ : )
Hey friends and fellow prayer partners, 06/12/2008
Thank you so much for your prayers last week!
Looking for good ‘fishing’ spots/ideas? : )
Our local team is gearing up for summer events like
the 3rd and 4th of July, and some other outreach events. Please pray for wisdom
and guidance as we plan.
This week, some of the YWAM team has been talking with us, working on ministry
opportunities/ideas for a few youth groups that are coming to FL from other
states. So, that sounds pretty cool ~ : ) . We’re hoping to join them for some
of those events! But, as we were praying and asking for ideas, we have been
realizing - it’s amazing how many areas we have around us for sharing the truth
of the gospel! Cranes Roost is a fun one. And then there is also Lake Eola. Then, there are also different places, like
soup-kitchens, and even the Flee Market! The Flea Market is a great ‘fishing
spot’ – lots of people and they love taking tracts and some of them talked with
us briefly too!! Anywhere there are people – there’s a great fishing spot! As
Mark Cahill puts it: ‘Let Satan gather them and we can
share the gospel with them.’ – With summer just setting in on our country, the
opportunities are endless! And ‘if they are breathing, they need Jesus.’
But more essential for us, with all the distractions and busyness around us,
with summer and distracting activities and entertainment – we need to remember
the most important thing > our focus, our goal, our source of spiritual
strength: spending quality time in His presence, and especially in these
perilous times. None of us can be effective at sharing His truth with those
around us without making sure we are spending time in God’s presence – seeking
His face, and getting more of His Living Word in us! It’s not us who plant or
water – but of Him who does the increase – the growth. Please, if you are
finding yourself distracted this summer, ask God to forgive you and to help you
to get back to focusing on pleasing Him as the top-priority, and looking for
ways to fill your time serving Him! Even though this is summer, we must not get
distracted. We continue to hear clues that there are hard times headed for this
country and we need to be having more and more prayer times across this
country.
My family loves finding more and more people who have a passion for God and His
Word and are passionate about taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone
they can! Please be praying for all of our fellow soul-winning teams as they
travel for mission trips and/or vacations.
Scott and Patte (from FL) are in New York – preaching
the gospel. They said that it is hot up there, and they would definitely
appreciate your prayers!
Please also pray for our dear friend Bart, as he is likely street-preaching in
Guatemala or another Spanish-speaking country. Also, please pray for Pastor
Duncan and his team of pastors in Malawi, Africa. They are hungry for good
teaching of God’s Word and they are linked up with a couple of evangelists. I
especially encourage you to pray for them, because we know Islam wants to
over-run Africa.
There are bunches of stories to catch up on ~ : ) . But first a couple more
gospel tracts we have found recently ~ : )
Are you absolutely sure that you will escape the wrath of God on Judgment Day?
Your eternal destiny is the most important thing in the world. Jesus said,
"For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his
own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark
8:36-37). Jesus warned, "Unless you repent you will all likewise
perish" (Luke 13:3, 5). The only way to escape the wrath of God is by genuine
repentance. What then is true repentance?
THE FOUNDATION OF TRUE REPENTANCE
1. Face your wickedness. Your sin has separated you from God. "But
your iniquities have separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2).
"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you" (Luke 15:18).
You personally have broken the laws of God intentionally, repeatedly and
without remorse. You have lied. You have stolen. You have been sexually immoral
in your heart. You have used his name as a curse word. You have dishonored your
parents; you have murdered people in your heart with your hatred. Do you admit
this?
2. Fear the fury of God. Do you understand that God is furious with you for
your sin? "God is angry with the wicked every day" (Psalms 7:11). "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men" (Romans 1:18). If you die
in your sin you will face the undiluted fury and fierceness of Almighty God.
For "he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is
poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented
with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence
of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever"
(Revelation 14:10-11). Flee from the wrath to come (cf. Luke 3:7)!
3. Fall before God's only solution. God, in his love, provides the only
solution to your sin problem. Jesus Christ died in your place to pay for your
sin. Good works cannot save you. They are tainted with sin. The good works you
may have done are an offense to God. "But we are like an unclean thing,
and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags"
(Isaiah 64:6). Christ died in your place to pay your penalty, "But he was
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the
chastisement for our peace was upon him, ...the LORD
has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:4-6).
THE DEFINITION OF TRUE REPENTANCE?
Repentance is essential before we can escape the wrath of God, so what exactly
is repentance?
1. Turning from Sin to Serve. "You turned to God from idols to serve the
living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven" (1 Thessalonians
1:9-10). Turn from sin to faith in Christ. True repentance is a total turning
of the total person from all sin, to submission to God. "Repent and be
converted that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19).
2. Turning in One's Mind. "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before
you" (Luke 15:18). True repentance agrees with God that sin is sin and
that God is the true God. The more one learns about God and sin the more that
person can genuinely repent. A person has not repented who merely quits a sin
because it is unhealthy, while not confessing that thing as sin (1 John 1:9).
"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let
him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he
will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).
3. A Turning of Emotion. "Blessed are you who mourn [weep and grieve over
sin]" (Matthew 5:4). Unsaved people enjoy their "guilty
pleasures" - sin. Repentant people are grieved by sin. We hate it and are
repulsed by it; "put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry
over all the abominations that are done" (Ezekiel. 9:4). True, in our
sinful nature we are still tempted by the deceitful pleasure of sin but the new
man is grieved over any hint of attraction to sin. We hate the fact that we
still desire sin! The Spirit of God brings powerful conviction (great blame and
shame) upon the Christian who falls into sin (John 16:8). We are ashamed of sin
(Isaiah 44:9), and we love God (1 John 4:19; 5:3).
4. A Turning of the Will. True repentance wants to stop sinning and start
serving God. A criminal may be forced to stop certain crimes like theft but
does not want to stop. The reality of a jail cell forces him to stop. A truly
repentant person cries out to God for deliverance and victory over sin, and
fully intends upon turning from sin to serve God (Romans 7:18,21).
5. A Turning of Actions. "They should repent, turn to God, and prove their
repentance by their deeds" (Acts 26:20). True repentance is proven by a
radically changed life. "Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance"
(Matthew 3:8). If there is no change, there has been no repentance. "Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire" (Matthew 3:10). Zacchaeus
the tax collector said to Jesus, "'Look Lord, I give half of my goods to
the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I
restore fourfold.' And Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this
house'" (Luke 19:8-9).
6. A Turning in Faith. Repentance is a turning away from sin to saving faith in
Christ, "testifying...repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord
Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21). Those who are trusting
their good works for salvation have not yet truly repented.
Repentance turns away from reliance upon works to reliance upon Christ alone
who died for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Christ died as our substitute in
our place! He died for our sin and rose again. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. Christ died to pay the penalty of death for our sin. "Truly,
these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to
repent because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world"
(Acts 17:30).
A Suggested Prayer
"God, be merciful to me a sinner! Lord Jesus, I repent! I believe you died
for me and rose again. I believe you are God the Son, the Savior. I now turn
from my sin to trust you alone for salvation. Save me please, by your grace. I
commit to obey You, be baptized and join a Bible
teaching church. In Jesus, name I pray. Amen."
"To you first, God, having raised up His servant
Jesus, sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you away from your
iniquities" (Acts 3:26).
"Unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3,5)
http://www.cornerstoneorla
>…>…>…>…>…>…>…>…>…>…>…>…>…
‘The dictionary defines a placebo as "a substance containing no medication
and given merely to humor or please the patient." Placebos have a
legitimate purpose in today's medical world. They are used in clinical research
to test the potential of real drugs to provide real cures for diseases. But
what if you were seriously ill and your doctor prescribed you a placebo instead
of the medicine that would cure you? What would you think of your doctor?
Today, millions of people are prescribed a placebo and led to believe they are
getting well, when in fact; they are terminally ill and drawing closer to death
every minute. This placebo, however, is not prescribed by doctors. It is
prescribed by some pastors and professing Christians. The placebo comes in the
form of an easy-to-swallow message. There are many spiritual placebos being
distributed these days. Here's an example: "God loves you and has a
wonderful plan for your life. He longs to have a relationship with you, just
the way you are. You're a good person, but you have a God-shaped hole in your
heart that only He can fill. Just pray a simple prayer and Jesus will come into
your heart. Then, He will fix your relationships, heal your diseases, get you
out of debt, and help you make the most of your life." If you have heard a
message like this, then you've been given a placebo—a message intended to
please you, but will do nothing to heal your disease. The disease is called sin
and, without a cure, it is fatal. Examine yourself and see if you have any of
the symptoms. Have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen anything? Have you ever
taken God's name in vain? Then by your own admission, you are a lying,
thieving, blasphemer at heart. When you die from this disease (sin) and stand
before God, He will find you guilty of breaking His commandments and sentence
you to eternity in hell. But there is good news. There is a real cure, and
there is only one. God doesn't want to send you to hell. So, He sent His
sinless Son, Jesus Christ—God in the flesh. He took upon himself the punishment
you deserve for your sins against God when He shed His innocent blood and died
on the cross. Three days later, He defeated death when He rose from the grave.
So, what must you do to be saved? You must confess your sins against God,
repent (turn away from your sins), and put your trust in Jesus Christ alone for
your salvation. Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, right now. Stop
taking the placebo. It cannot save you. Repent and believe the gospel. It is
the only cure and your only hope. Please carefully read Matthew 7:21-23 and
Mark 1:15.’
http://evangelismteam.com/
>…>…>…>…>…>…>…>…>…>…>…>…>…
Steven’s update:
As I said above, there are bunches of stories to catch up on ~ : ) . God keeps
bringing more and more soul-winners along and the fellowship is really cool!
And very encouraging! We are also finding that every preacher of righteousness
and soul-winner around us are feeling the spiritual pressure and warfare. If
you are feeling the warfare too, we encourage you to pray for and bless Israel,
and that God will tear down the efforts of the Bush team of trying to force
Israel to give up Judea, Samaria, and part of Jerusalem. Giving away land that
God gave Israel by unconditional covenant is of very big importance to God.
Thank you for praying. We know that our country is already in a lot of trouble
with God because of all the rebellion and abominations in our country. Please
pray that “the fear of the Lord” comes across this country and that people
clearly see that : )
Stories! : )
Last Friday evening, I talked with a group called ‘Anonymous’. Kind of an odd
group – almost looked like a drama group of some sort… Anyway, they were
handing out info flyers and brochures warning about the false religion:
Scientology. (‘Scientology’ is a ‘newer’ version of the demonic, witchcraft
“I’m a god” type thinking of the new age false gospel and teaching.) These
people weren’t Christians and weren’t coming from the Bible’s perspective, but
they were going after the hypocrisy and violence of the leaders of
‘Scientology’. Kind of odd, but we do appreciate them exposing a false
religion. And, we did have the privilege of talking with some of their team
about the gospel of Jesus Christ. They showed some signs of conviction, and we
need to pray for them.
We also met a traveling preacher named Kevin. He apparently travels all over
the United States preaching repentance. He is hoping to see us a few more times
while he is in the area. We were also delighted to see our fellow evangelist
friend, Robert and his friend Shawn. It was great catching up with them. Robert
isn’t able to join us much because he has a wife and a couple of kids, but he
travels around whenever he can, sharing the gospel at various events. It’s nice
to have the opportunity to get to know some of our fellow laborers in the
harvest. As often as you think of us and pray for us – which we greatly
appreciate, please also pray for our fellow laborers!
A couple of weeks ago, we ordered Mark Cahill’s ‘One Heartbeat Away’ tracts.
Those are very popular on the streets of downtown Orlando! Also, we just recently
found more tracts at www.evangelismteam.com and we encourage you to check their
selection out when you get a chance… Thought-provoking ~ : )
.
Please also pray for Paul and I, as we prepare to share the truth of the gospel
at a wedding this weekend ~ : ) . Two of our soul-winning friends are getting
married and they wanted us to share some verses about Jesus and the gospel
there. Very exciting, and we need God’s wisdom to communicate His truth
effectively and graciously.
Barbara’s update:
Hello everyone,
Bart the missionary has been praying for everyone that comes downtown and
passes out tracts or witnesses to whomever will listen. He has been praying
that God would raise up more street preachers that
will get on the microphone and share their testimony or read a scripture or
even sing a song to bring people to stop and listen to the gospel message. So
Bart says to me Barbara would you sing a couple of the songs God gave you and
share some of your testimony with the group, Please? I said Yes>>>
I told the crowd that the reason we are down here is because we want so much
for each of you to realize that one day we all will face God. Either we stand
in front of Him and He will judge us for our sins and we will be eternally
separated from Him in Hell or we will stand in front of Him as one who chose to
repent and turn from our sins and chose to believe Jesus to be our Lord and
Savior. And we want so much for each one of you to be in Heaven with God
forever for all eternity, so that is why we are here talking to anyone who will
listen. And when We face God nothing else will matter,
it won’t matter what house we’ve had or what job only that we repent and turn
to Jesus to pay for our sins. So then I sang:
“It ain’t gonna matter”
(God gave me this song at a time when I was stressed with trying to keep up
with earthly chores, and as I was cleaning house and thinking about things and
God gave me this song showing me what really matters. October
11, 2004 Barbara Henry.)
You see it ain’t gonna
matter
The houses that we’ve owned.
It ain’t gonna matter
The riches that we’ve grown.
No, it ain’t gonna matter
The knowledge that we knew
It ain’t gonna matter
When we get home.
You see Jesus sees the boy
Who has no home
Jesus looks at those
Who are broken and torn.
Jesus looks at those
Who need Him the most
Those are the things
That really matter.
You see it ain’t gonna
matter
The jobs that we’ve had
It ain’t gonna matter
What a happy time we’ve had
No it ain’t gonna matter
The famous people that we’ve known
It ain’t gonna matter
When we get home.
You see Jesus wants us to…
Help those who need.
Jesus wants us to….
Be planting His seed.
Jesus wants us to..
Teach others of Him
So one day they’ll be with….
Him in Heaven
No it ain’t gonna matter
The Stuff that we’ve stored away
It ain’t gonna
matter
That we had lots of time to play.
No it ain’t gonna matter
The popular things in life.
Knowing Jesus Christ
is what really matters.
Then Bart asked me to sing it again about 15 minutes later because he said this
is a new crowd they haven’t heard it. So I did.
As I was finishing 3 ladies stopped real close to get a picture with me and
wanted to talk. One was raised Catholic and one said she was an atheist and
homosexual and said God can’t ever forgive me. I said well Jesus died on the
cross for anyone who will admit that they have sinned and turn from that sin
and accept Him as Lord and savior. And there is an interesting static that 10
out of 10 people die, so all of us will die and face God, and we can choose Him
any time before that, but we don’t know our time and if we will get a chance if
we wait till later, so recommend that you talk to God as soon as you can.
Then our group went over to talk to Dina and she said “I heard you singing over
there and also you spoke and sang a song last Friday, can you sing it to me?”
So I sang “Purify my Heart Lord” the other song I sang that night and last
Friday. She said wow! I told her that each one of us is either getting closer
to God or farther away and we have to choose each day to have God keep
cleansing our lives or say I don’t need God I’ve got my own life to live. She
told us that she went to church last week and has been reading the Bible with
her daughter almost every day. Please pray for Dina, we talk to her often but
she can’t see how she can support her children as a single mom without this bar
job (pass out tickets). (We have talked about this too, but she needs to repent
and turn from her sins and turn to God totally.) She looks forward to seeing
someone from our group each week, we encourage her. Thanks to all of you that
speak to her and whomever will talk to you, each time you do that you are
making them think about where they are at with God and that’s what really
matters.
Helen our 87 year old prayer warrior was asking about you all and she is so
excited to hear the different stories of us witnessing to people downtown. She
prays for anyone we give her names of whom we’ve talked to and she prays for
all of us each Friday night. Please pray for Helen she is getting up there in
years and her body aches a lot. She really wants to go be with the Lord but I
told her apparently He still has work for her here.
Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud
of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily
ensnares us, and let us run with endurance that race that is set before us.”
David’s update:
Two weeks ago, I sent a very brief note about some false teaching of a local
church leader. We just finished transcribing his message from that morning and
included verses and notes pointing out verses that he took out of context and
other places where he was trying to manipulate the crowd into agreeing with him
rather than proving his points clearly from Scripture. In brief, he said
important words like repentance, but he totally ignored the point. Instead, he
was saying we should loosen up and let a spirit speak through us and seek more
feelings, signs and wonders. It was a smooth approach to endorse the attitude
of laughing at the Holy Spirit, instead of true repentance. If you have any
curiosity to see this transcripts and the notes and
verses, please email us – we would be glad to send it to you! We are also
sending it to several local leaders with this local church, but we don’t expect
to hear back from them. Please pray that God tears down the deception and false
teaching and that God helps these people break free from it and embrace the
love of the truth.
We have been invited by several evangelists across the country to go challenge
the fake revival in Lakeland. One of the notable features there in Lakeland is
laughing at the Holy Spirit and feeling drunk in the Spirit. If hearing about
that type of fake religion stirs you to stand up against that evil, please help
us plan a day that works with your schedule.
Thank you again to our fellow prayer partners. Thank you for being part of the
prayer team for the revival of this country and a repentance
in the churches: to flee idols and learn to be disciples of Jesus Christ.
Your friends and fellow laborers in Christ,
David, Barbara, Steven and Paul Henry : )
