Door to Door in Camas...

Sunday after church, I went with Paula door to door in Camas.  Although most people are fairly friendly at the door, and sometimes open to conversing about God, the very first door we knocked on gave us a rude awakening.  A lady came to the door, looked directly at the tracts I had in my hand, & pointed a finger at me and sternly & loudly said "NO!"   That level of animosity is new to me. 

But we soldiered on to the next house, where we were greeted by a lady who happened to be on the city council. She was friendlier & we conversed. As it turned out, she, like many we run into, seemed to have new age-ish beliefs. She accepted a tract,  so we hope the seed was at least planted.   As we continued on, we found many people home, & most were friendly, and about 50% were church-going.  And  a few people mentioned they were happy we were doing this outreach, as usually it's only the cults that they see door to door.

One of the last doors we knocked on was an attractive rustic log cabin.  No one answered the door, but they had this posted on their fence:  "SATAN Place". Bizarre!  to say the least.  They even had a full size guillotine on their front lawn. We left a tract on the door, so, once again, the seed was planted.

Dog Park & Door to Door...

Dog Park:
The closest thing to heaven, if you are a dog, is a trip to the dog park! Total endorphin & adrenalin overload. The happiness & total ecstacy some dogs show at the park reminds me a little of what we might feel the first time we enter through the heavenly gates. I think that's one reason I go there so often.

So, yesterday, I made a decision beforehand that I would go to the dog park specifically asking God to lead me to ONE person to witness to.  As my dogs played, I walked the grounds, looking for an opportunity.  After an hour,  I had managed to strike up short conversations, but nothing leading to an evangelizing opportunity. I decided finally to just leave a tract on the bench overlooking the hillside of the park. 

But as I neared the bench, I noticed a cell phone someone left.  After asking others at the park if they had lost a phone, I posted a "Found" notice with my number on the bulletin board there, & went home.

Later that evening, a lady finally called about the lost phone, & we agreed to meet at the park the next day. The next morning, when I gave her the phone,  she was very thankful so it was easy to also hand her a bible tract. It was a short conversation, but at least she got the tract to read, and I also had my church's contact info (Crossroads Community Church) on the back of the tract and suggested she might try visiting if she had nowhere else to attend for Easter.   To me, it really felt as though God had answered my prayer in guiding me to that bench which led to the witnessing opportunity.
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Door to Door:
Today (Saturday), I also went downtown, going door to door for about 45 minutes.  The most memorable conversation, was with a middle-aged lady at the third house I knocked on. She said "yes" she was raised Catholic, and was a believer.  But as we continued chatting, it became clear she had more of a "New Age" belief system than Christian.

For example, she believed everyone would ultimately get to heaven, regardless of what they believed, or how badly they lived their life.  When I tried to mention bible quotations, such as "No one comes to the Father except through Me", she said that she didn't really believe that part. She then went on to explain that she believed mainly what was in her heart.

That is a nice sentiment, & she is certainly entitled to her personal beliefs, but, whereas I seem to need a faith grounded on facts, many other people nowadays seem to be able to separate their spiritual walk from any grounding in any objective, factual foundation.

My reading of the bible, however, makes it clear to me that just as there are physical laws that run the physical universe, there are *also* spiritual laws that God uses to run the spiritual realm. For example,  if I jump off a building believing in my heart I can fly, I will still fall flat on my face & break some bones. The law of gravity still operates no matter how much I try to think to the contrary.  The same with the spiritual laws. If I disregard God's commandments & laws, I will suffer the consequences.  Likewise, if I obey the spiritual law of sincerely accepting Jesus as my Savior (the ONLY one Who can pay the price for my sins & shortcomings),  I get to enjoy the rewards of Heaven.++++++++++++++++

On Vacation!

I'm on vacation for a few weeks, so I have had ample opportunities to evangelize.  Since I'm a slow typer, I decided to be lazy and just post a link to a video blog I made recounting  short outreaches in the last week. Here is the link:http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d120/papersticker/?action=view&current=Evangelism.mp4

Finally Got to Evangelize Again...

Yesterday, I went with Saul & a few hispanic friends of his to an apartment complex in NE Portland handing out bible tracts.  This complex is in one of the poorer neighborhoods & has a mix of cultures, mainly hispanic & white.

One man I talked to at the door said, "Yes" he believed in God Jesus & heaven, & then went on to say that he also used to go door to door with his priest. I said "Oh, are you Catholic?"  "No" he responded, he was referring to Sun Myung Moon & the Unification church.  This church has many beliefs that are not biblical. One is that they believe Jesus rose from the dead spiritually, but not physically.  He didn't have time to talk, so we left a tract & went on.

Then we saw a couple of Jehovah's witnesses walking on the sidewalk, and talked with them. They don't accept Jesus as God in the flesh, but merely a creation (not the creator).  But since they accept the bible as God's word,  I brought up a scripture in the book of Revelation about Jesus:

Revelation 1:17-18 says:
"When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the First and the Last: I [am] he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and I have the keys of hell and of death."

I asked the man, who was it referring to when it said "First & the Last"?  He said that was a name & title for Jehovah. (which is true)  But then I asked "And who is referred to in the next verse where it says 'I am He that lives and was dead' "?     *CHECKMATE*   So I asked them to please think about that verse. That Jesus really was Jehovah.  They had no answer, but left me a copy of their literature & I gave them a tract.

As we were getting done, there was a man who appeared to be homeless digging through the dumpster foraging out what he could find, & loading it on his bicycle.  I approached him and gave him a tract with a dollar in it. (hoping to make it more acceptable to him). He said "Thanks, & thank you for this" he said,waving the tract.  Surprised at his openness & acceptance, I offered him a Gideon pocket New Testament.

"Oh", he said, "that looks exactly like the one my pastor gave me."  Surprised, I asked where he went to church. "down near 60th and Lombard" he said.  (which is Parkrose Deliverance Tabernacle). 

So, in retrospect, you never know about people.  My initial reaction seeing someone homeless or begging, is that they probably abuse drugs & alcohol.  But I'd like to be able to have an initial reaction to them or (JW's or anybody else), that they are just folks like me, someone that Jesus died for, and someone that God has a plan for & a future for.

Pioneer Square

On Veteran's day, I went back to Pioneer Square to hand out gospel tracts.  It was a typical cold, rainy Northwest November day.  Didn't see anyone I knew, but right after I got there,  an older lady came up & said,   "Do you know Jesus?"   I told her that was the very thing I was there for ---> to talk to people about Jesus. I asked her if she had tracts, and she said no; that she had forgotten to bring some.  So I gave her half of mine.  I know it was  God's timing that I was the first person she approached;  so that she would be well stocked with tracts to hand out.

After that, the next person I approached said  "Yes"  he was saved, and that he was at the Square with 50 people from his church to witness and evangelize around the Square! Apparently, "Horizon Fellowship" (which is located down in San Diego, Ca.), had decided to spend 3 weeks up here evangelizing at Portland State University & the Square & other Portland sites.

I then met the pastor of Horizon Fellowship, Mike MacIntosh, who had actually spoken at my church (Crossroads Community Church) years ago.  He's got an amazing  testimony.  He was a self-described beach bum who had dropped too much acid and "permanently" fried his brain back in the late 60's.  After being institutionalized for 17 months w/paranoid schizophrenia,  some pastors laid hands on him and prayed, &  he felt a sensation like electricity  go through his brain "connecting the dots".  His mind was healed  & he then went on to get  multiple college degrees & became a pastor. His story is told in the book, "For The Love Of Mike".  I read the book many years ago, and it was fun meeting Mike in person. Here is a link to his 10 minute video testimony:

http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=542db6dfb263e746c21c



Myself & Mike MacIntosh at Pioneer Square



Pearl Accepts Christ!

Sunday we went to Northeast Portland to an apartment building we had done a few years back. Most in the building took a tract but did not take time to talk.


We did talk, however, with one young lady that professed to be a christian, but didn't have a grasp on the salvation message of forgiveness in Christ.  She didn't know for sure that she was destined for heaven.  So we went through the message of salvation & especially assurance of salvation. 
 
Next, we turned down a short dead-end street, that was mostly Hispanic.  So Saul did most of the talking. Again,  most were too busy to want to talk, but took tracts. That's what I like about tracts.  People can read them at their leasure, if they can't talk with us at the door.  There were a few English-speaking residents that I talked with.
 
One young man, by appearance, seemed to be into the "punk" lifestyle. He had a mullet/mohawk hairstyle, and had mutiple piercings & tattoos.  He responded gruffly at the door: "No--you can keep your God!"
 
The last house on the block was answered by two young women,  who acted humored by our invitation to accept a tract.  They laughed when we tried to initiate conversation about God & Jesus.
 
Finally, we went to another nearby apartment complex in the area, & proceeded going door to door. A young girl named Pearl answered the door. She had a beer in her hand, but came out to talk with us.  She explained that she had just turned 21 and was celebrating with a beer.  However, when we proceeded to go through the 'Steps to Peace With God" tract, she seemed to be taking it seriously.  She had some church background, although she had never accepted Christ.  After praying to receive Jesus as her Savior, we shared that the bible doesn't condemn drinking, although we need to keep everything in  moderation.  We also left her with a New Testament as we always do.
 
In retrospect, these outreaches make it clear to me that Jesus wisely used "fishing" as an analogy to winning souls.  In fishing,  you don't always get a fish everytime you bait the hook.  Sometimes there's a nibble, but the fish gets away. Sometimes a turtle might gobble the bait. Sometimes the line might get snagged on some seaweed.  But if you keep fishing & don't give up, you WILL catch fish!

Another Good Outreach!

Today we went back to the same area of apartments in Portland to continue evangelizing. After we parked, there was a man and woman having a garage sale on the grass near the street, so we talked with them. The man said he didn't believe in anything he couldn't see. The woman seemed a little more receptive, but it seemed pretty obvious they both had a problem with alcohol & the conversation didn't seem to be getting anywhere. 

As we left there,  almost immediately, Saul approached  a young man walking down the street, & he stopped and talked to us. He said his name was "Junior."  As had happened last week, this 16 year old teenager also was  open to the Gospel, and after we went through the "Steps to Peace With God" tract, he prayed to ask Jesus to forgive him his sins and to be his Savior. We had him sign his name in the tract as a reminder of what he had done. Then we also gave him a New Testament.

We started to go door to door at one of the  apartment complexes, without much success, until we got to one apt. where the lady was obviously a Christian, and she was happy to talk with us.  But just as we were about to leave, she happened to mention the Jehovah's Witnesses who had also stopped by recently. She apparently had thought of them as Christians.  As our conversation continued it was clear that they had convinced her of their belief that Jesus was a created being.  This, of course, is a heresy according to the Christian church.

We then showed her scriptures in Revelation 1 and John 1, to make clear that Jesus, in fact, is "very God of very God" as the old Nicene Creed says.  

This lady had allowed a cult to deceive her about the most fundamental Christian belief; that of the nature of Jesus Christ.  I think there are many out there like her, who, though sincere, do not study & read the bible enough to ----as Ephesians 4 says:  "Henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.."