Gideon's Des Moines Bible Blitz

 This past week marked the Des Moines Gideon's International Bible Blitz where Professional Christian men and their spouses lovingly, graciously, and bravely distributed God's Word throughout the Des Moines, IA area. I was so blessed to be a part of this awesome en devour.

Throughout the different camps that attended we were met with alot of opposition, prayed, and the Lord helped us through. The opposition I am referring to was weather, and sickness. We were to experience a ton of snow in the Des Moines area at the start of the distribution. But looking at the weather report, even though it was cold, the snow went AROUND Des Moines, and not over top of us. Praise God for His mercy on us. Even though it did hinder those coming in from Minnesota area, we still were able to get the job done. Crunch time came at the end of our distribution and it was a beautiful 70 degree weather. Many of us, myself included, were faced with sickness throughout the time we spent together. Most of us pressed on and were able to get the job done.

The entire event was extremely successful. We set a goal of 30,000 scriptures to be distributed and I was told we overshot that goal by a few thousand! How awesome is God. Why is this number so important?  Gideon International spokesman Woody Murray said: 

"[Gideon Bibles] are spiritual staples of nearly every hotel room and the only item guests are invited to take. Our statistics show one-quarter of all travelers will read the bible in the hotel rooms and each bible has the potential to reach 2,300 people over its six-year life expectancy."

That number is quite amazing. The average amount of rooms for a limited amenity hotel in the USA is 114 rooms. That means in a 6 year period, just one hotel can have the potential to reach 262,200 people. According to an article from business travel news, in 2015 the hotel industry in the U.S. broke the 5 million room mark at 5,001,163 rooms. That is alot of people who have the potential to experience God's Holy Scriptures just in the U.S. alone and why this project is so important to reaching the lost and fulfilling the great commission.

But make no mistake...a bible can easily outlive its 6 year life expectancy. Once a bible gets decommissioned from a hotel room after its 6 years, if it is in good condition, it will be sent out to prisons, shelters, and other places it is needed. This is why programs like the Gideon Card Program is a great way to honor a loved one who has passed on, and a joy, investment, and a legacy in a living soul can be formed.

Though I am not allowed to include the specifics of this blitz, I will say that the men and women of Gideon's International are some of the most bravest, loving, caring, and especially focused people I know, fulfilling the great commission of Jesus to go into all the world and preach the gospel. In each and every one of our minds, as Gideon's, we know we have a job to do, and to distribute God's word to every person we are able to. It is, and always will be, and incredible sight, to see Gideon's come from all over and to walk hand-in-hand together as brothers, to distribute God's word. We may not do it fearlessly, but we overcome that fear because of love of the other person receiving it, and love for our God and creator. 

Please consider becoming a member, a "Friend of the Gideon's", or even giving through the Gideon Card Program so that more scriptures can be given out freely to those who need them. 

Updated: 4-Point Case for Christianity

Just an update to a previous post, "4-Point Case for Christianity." I'm adding a You Tube video that was broadcast live last night, of Frank Turek speaking at Eastern Tennessee State University. He covers the 4-point case in more depth in this presentation, plus he takes questions from the audience.

(Original post on 1/14/17) A quick 4-point case for Christianity from Frank Turek that I copied down from "The 5 Minute Apologist." Frank asks and answers the following 4 questions to make his case.
Check it out:

Point 1: Does truth exist?

The Bible cannot be true if there is no truth. (By the way, if there is no truth, neither can any other book be true, including books written by atheists).

Obviously, it pretty easy to say truth does exist: if someone claims “Truth does not exist”, we simply ask, “Is that true?” The Bible claims to be true.

Point 2: Does God exist?

We can’t have a word from God if there is no God. If there’s no God, throw the Bible away, and every other book that talks about God.

But there is much evidence that there is a …

• Spaceless
• Timeless
• Immaterial
• Powerful
• Moral
• Personal
• Intelligent Cause of the universe out there. 

One piece of evidence: the universe exploded into being out nothing. Once there was no space, no matter, and no time, and the entire space-time continuum leapt into existence out of nothing, therefore whatever caused space-time-matter cannot be made out of space, time, or  matter.

• Spaceless-Timeless-Immaterial – we just covered that.
• Powerful – to be able to create the universe out of nothing.
• Moral – absolute, existential morality exists. Is it ever right to molest children for fun? No matter where or when, we know this is wrong. Why? Because God is an absolutely moral being.
• Personal – impersonal forces can’t choose to create anything, only a person can.
• Intelligent – to be able to fine-tune the universe to the degree that it is.

Point 3: Are miracles possible?

Obviously, the Bible can’t be true if miracles are not possible. But there are very good evidences that miracles have occurred, and certainly the greatest miracle in the Bible has already occurred, in the first verse: “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” If that verse is true, then every other verse is at least believable.  We just went through an argument for this first verse in the Bible being true. If that verse is true, certainly every other miracle claim in the Bible could be true.

So when people tell me, “I don’t believe in miracles” I tell them, “Look around you – you’re living in one. This universe is a miracle.”

Point 4: Do the New Testament documents tell us the truth about history?

In other words, are they historically reliable? There is a lot of great evidence that they are telling us the truth. One of these evidences, certainly not exhaustive or conclusive in itself, is what is called “Embarrassing Testimony.”

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament are full of embarrassing details that no one would include if they were making this up. Moses argued with God to send someone else; Abraham was a liar; David was an adulterer and a murderer; the Israelites consistently refused to believe or trust God after seeing miracle after miracle; the disciples run away at the crucifixion, and who are the brave ones? The women! Is any man going to make that up? The men wrote these documents, and yet they wrote down that they were Mr. Sissy Pants, while the women were the brave one’s who went down to discover the empty tomb.

Now there’s other evidence too:

• Early testimony
• Eye Witness testimony
• Excruciating testimony (these people died for what they said they saw)
• Extra-Biblical testimony (other writers talking about this)
• Expected testimony  (dealing with Old Testament fulfillment of detailed prophecy)

7 Rules for Pilgrims & Strangers

FRESH BREAD!

I love it when a box of Bibles arrives: I call it a "fresh batch of bread." Can't wait to get these out to hungry souls. 

I look at these and wonder, what impact will the explosive Word of God have in the lives of the people who accept them...their children, and their grandchildren? 

 Jeremiah 23:29  

"Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?"

 In Heaven, will we see how God used His word to alter the course of history in peoples lives, for their good and His glory?

Something else to share with you today: 7 Rules for Pilgrims & Strangers, based on 1 Peter 2:11...

"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul" 

Here we go:
1. Travel "light"(Colossians 3:2)
-If we don't get to do everything we want in this life, it's not the end
2. Keep moving (1 Peter 1:4)
-we have a guaranteed inheritance in Christ awaiting us
3. Live for the destination (Hebrews 11:10)
-Live in this world like you would if you were sent abroad on "temporary assignment"
4. Live by the values of the Homeland (1 Peter 1:24,25; Romans 12:1,2)
-don't grovel for what the world has to offer
5. Don't expect to be treated like Permanent Residents (John 15:19)
-The Lord Jesus appeared, and was hated by the world. If He is your Master, do you expect better treatment?
6. Live like an Ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20)
-We are representatives of the King of Kings and must conduct ourselves to properly reflect our King
7. Don't try to be what you are not (1 Corinthians 6:10,11; Ephesians 5:8

Remember where you came from, who bought you, where you are headed, and why you are here. LIVE LIKE THAT!

Do People Have to Get Mad When You Share The Gospel With Them?

The 18th century Methodist preacher John Wesley told his evangelism trainees that, "...people should either get angry or get converted." I often wonder if that is the correct way to win souls to the Lord.

I agree though that people should be uncomfortable with the Lord. There should be a level of uneasiness when it comes to the creator of the universe who has the power not only to end my life, but also cast my soul into hell (Matthew 10:28). Even more uncomfortable than if we met the President of the United States. Conviction goes along way. But I got to thinking, did Jesus feel the need to always make people mad or converted? From what I read in the scriptures that wasn't always the case. No. He didn't intend to make people mad, it just happened. The anger didn't come from anything that Jesus intentionally said, the anger came from the one who received it. Their hearts.

Just like Jesus, it's not the goal of the preacher to make people angry. Anger is just the reaction of the person listening to the gospel. When I share the gospel, open-air-preach, share one-on-one, I'm not intentionally looking around and saying, "Now who can I piss off today?" But anger is just one form of emotion out of many from people who hear the good news. Along with anger came offense (Matthew 15:12), joy (Matthew 13:20,44), sadness (Mark 10:17-22), thankfulness (Luke 19:1-9), etc, etc, etc.

Why am I saying this? Because I really don't want to piss people off. Why? Because I want the Lord to be heard and not be the one that keeps that from happening. This happened when I met with the two Mormon Missionary boys Elder Leavy and Elder Crook. You can read what happened in my meetings HERE and another time HERE. After I decided not to continue the Precept Inductive Bible Studies and to focus on evangelism and discipleship, I prayed that the Lord would show me what I should do next and these two show up on my doorstep 10 minutes later. But after talking with them I just wanted to love these guys and really care about them. I love talking with Mormons, but in the past I wonder if the missionaries in the past really listened. I don't know, and will probably never know. But what happened while I was meeting these guys for two months by just loving these guys in truth, and sharing truth in love.

• They shared me their first names (John Leavy and Chandler Crook). 
• They took tracts from me and read them. 
• They enjoyed being there, and knew that I cared. 
• They got a better and honest understanding of what Christianity is, and what belief in that looks like. 
• They know and can describe the Trinity better than any of their professors or Bishops. 
• They didn't freak out when I brought out my Quad (Mormon standard works in one book). 
• I gave them both a Gideon Pocket Testament, kept them, and read them. 
• We had a dialogue and it was not a monologue. 
• In the end I gave them my card with my email and phone, and hugged each other. 

But these things happen when we both listen. Yeah, there was an agenda. They wanted to make me Mormon, I wanted them to see what it really means to be a Child of God. But we moved past it (or at least I did). What happened? They have a new and honest view of what a Christian is, and maybe they will consider reading the bible more, the Book of Mormon less; learning more about Jesus, and less of Joseph Smith. They told me that Christians have thrown them off of their porch. Cussed them out, damned them to hell...and so on,..and so on. Jesus cared, even for the Pharisees. I need to be like Jesus. I need to care, and to love like He loves. And I hope they contact me. I really do. 

The Weight of Glory.

The following is a section from a sermon entitled, The Weight of Glory, presented on June 8, 1942 to the Church of St. Mary the Virgin at Oxford, by well renowned author C.S. Lewis, who authored such books as Mere Christianity and The Chronicles of Narnia. In this message to the church, Lewis argues that there are no insignificant human beings, and no insignificant human encounters. That every single human being you meet will spend eternity in either suffering without hope or indescribable glory.

It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor. The load of weight or burden of my neighbor's glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken....It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities...that we should conduct all our dealings with one, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. 

 With that being said, should I as a Christian, "bear the weight or burden of my neighbor's glory on my back?" I don't think that Lewis regarded this entire burden to be placed on my individual shoulders. There are so many factors that come into play with a person's salvation. But if I were to ask him what he is getting at, I am pretty confident he would say he is trying to persuade the church to do the work of the ministry (  ). This should be one of the primary focus' of a Christian's thought, and motivation when gazing upon the human race; and gazing upon the Lord's glory when we are supremely focused on Him.

If you would like to download the whole sermon, you can find it HERE.

The Truth About Hitler (You Probably Will Never Hear About)

Atheists and others frequently use the actions of past historical figures to discredit Christianity, and slander our God. They set up a strawman argument, and then justify their willful rebellion against their Creator: sinful men standing in judgment of a Holy God! 

The Crusades are a favorite argument along this line. However, the Crusades were a product of the Roman Catholic Church, not followers of Jesus Christ, who commands us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), not put them to death. The Crusaders were following the Pope, not the Lord Jesus Christ.

Another argument is that Hitler was a Christian, and that the Holocaust was a result of Christianity. The following video answers this false claim, and shines the light of God's truth and history on what Hitler really believed and did. Please watch: