The Adversary

For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.

1 Corinthians 16:9

 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Ephesians 6:12 

I took a half-day of vacation on Thursday, July 3rd, and hit the downtown corner of Marshalltown to hand out tracts and share the gospel. I took my FREEDOM IN JESUS witnessing cross and, with permission from Mr. Zamora, leaned it up against the wall of his store near the corner.

The Budweiser delivery man was making his delivery when I took this picture. He was working for the King of Beers, and I was working for the King of Kings!

Handed out quite a few tracts to people walking to & from the downtown restaurants, and had a couple of brief conversations with some folks. But an interesting thing  happened around 12:40 or so: a man pedaled up on the sidewalk, and came over to stand next to me with a yellow legal pad on which he had written, "I'M WITH STUPID." Turns out this was the guy that butted in on a gospel conversation I was having with someone at the Octemberfest festival 2 years ago, claiming that Carbon dating proved the earth was millions of years old.

Now, carbon dating can do no such thing (half life of radioisotope C14 is around 5,600 years, so if the whole world was C14 it would be undetectable by 100,000 years). He walked away that time shouting "SCIENCE" over his shoulder, and he distracted from the truth I was sharing that night. 

Well, that's what he was here to do on Thursday: he said if he could just prevent one person from taking a gospel tract, he was successful.

I tried to engage him in a conversation, asking how he could know truth without God, but he could not seem to even focus on having a conversation. It was distracting him from distracting me, I guess. He wanted evidence to prove God exists. I told him he knows God exists, because God has revealed himself in him (Romans 1:18-20), showed him that he was relying on his ability to reason to determine truth, but that he could not prove that his reason was valid, apart from God. I did give him evidence for God (information, which cannot arise from matter, infused into every living cell in the form of DNA), but the problem is that he will just go home, Google "Information Science" and "DNA", and get some atheist rebuttal to this evidence to use next time he finds me out on the streets.

See, God has already given all men everywhere enough information so that they can turn to him. It's not that they DON'T have the information, it's what they do with the information the DO have. What we do is turn away from the 1 True God, and we worship idols or idolatrous ideas about God that are not consistent with scripture (Romans 1:21-32). This man does not want to believe in God...He doesn't want there to be a God. The anger and maliciousness in this man's heart appears to be way beyond what I normally see out on the street, and it is very likely that he is either directed by demonic forces, or is possessed by a demonic spirit.

But I know that this is a spiritual battle. 

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 

This man is not the enemy: Satan & his forces are the enemy, and this man has had his mind blinded (2 Corinthians 4:3-4), and I am praying that he will repent and turn to Jesus Christ before he steps into eternity. So I am asking brothers and sisters in Christ to do the following:

• Please pray with me for this man, for his deliverance and turning to Jesus Christ.
• Pray for me, that I would represent Jesus Christ well in the face of this opposition, and for wisdom from God that my adversary will not be able to gainsay (Luke 21:15). 
• Pray that the gospel witness will not be hindered by this man's efforts. He is mean-spirited and nasty, and may go to great lengths to disparage the gospel of Jesus Christ along with me.

Will you join with me in prayer? 

If so, please leave me a comment on this article - it would be a great encouragement to the believers here to know others are battling in prayer with us.

Thanks, and may God richly bless you who have turned to Him, who is life eternal (John 17:3).

Paul

 

Celebrating Freedom in Jesus Christ

Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

John 8:34-36

Our new "Liberty Pine"

Friday, July 4th, 2014.
Here in the United States of America, we celebrated our 238th year of independence from British rule, and it was a beautiful summer day here in Iowa.
To commemorate the day, we planted a white pine in our back yard, and christened it "The Liberty Pine." Long may it grow.

Mary and I did some shopping together and enjoyed the holiday. At Younkers, I happened across an LED light set on the yellow-dot sale table, and I put them to use later that evening by putting them on my FREEDOM IN JESUS witnessing cross and hitting the street corner by Wal Mart - my usual Friday afternoon spot - for a little twilight evangelism.

Marshalltown does have 4th of July fireworks at the fairgrounds, but there is no public area close by that you could do public ministry. Traffic was light, but in the hour I was out there, I gave away 6 Bibles, along with some tracts and "God of Wonders" DVD's. Had an excellent gospel conversation with a young woman named Jenny, and her parents Anna Maria and Rudolpho. Jenny walked over as I was packing up, just after this picture was taken, and asked for a Bible. Whenever a Bible goes out, the gospel goes with it. Jenny was of the opinion that most everybody goes to Heaven when they die.  I said, "No Hell?" She thought only really bad people went there, so we went through a few of the 10 Commandments to show how we are all guilty and deserving of Hell. I explained the simple gospel message, and it was a joy for me to show her 1 John 5:11-13 in the Bible I gave her. As a former Roman Catholic, I was taught that it is a sin to say that you know for sure you will go to Heaven when you die. But God's word tells us that, indeed, you can know that you have eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that just awesome? It is to me.

Please pray for Jenny, Anna Maria, and Rudolpho, that they would truly understand the gospel, and join us who have turned to God and placed our faith in Jesus Christ alone.

"There Is Hope...Make The Call"

White letters on a blue background. This sign is posted above phone boxes on & around the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, in an effort to prevent people from committing suicide by leaping off the bridge. Over 1,600 people have done so since the bridge opened, with a record 46 people last year. This past week, the Golden Gate Bridge Authority approved spending in excess of $70 million to install steel safety nets, to prevent or catch people who might attempt this in the future.

As a Christian, I know that human life is precious: we are made in the image of Almighty God, created by Jesus Christ to have a living relationship with Him. I also know that, while Jesus tells us that He came that we might have life, and that more abundantly (John 10:10), in that same verse he tells us that the Thief - that is, our adversary, the Devil - comes not but for to steal,and to kill, and to destroy. That is Satan's "wonderful plan for your life"...to get you so messed up in your mind both through sin and through living in this fallen, groaning creation (Romans 8:21-23) that you would run away from God, kill yourself without receiving the free gift of forgiveness in Jesus Christ, and end up in eternal Hell forever. So, I am all for installing a safety net under this landmark bridge.

AUDIO LINK

I used this piece of news as an illustration in my open-air message at the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market on Saturday: how that Jesus Christ is the "safety net" provided by God for all of humanity, to catch us up in his mighty nail-pierced hands, and save us from falling into Hell. While not a perfect analogy, it provided a framework to speak to my neighbors down on Court Avenue about sin, death, and Hell; the gospel and the finished work of Jesus Christ on Calvary; justification by faith alone in Christ alone, and the gift of eternal life. Click on the link above & listen. 

I also had 2 very good gospel conversations at the Market, with a Hispanic Roman Catholic family, and with 2 Hindu men from India who were enjoying the Market with their families. I really appreciated the cordial conversations we had, and if the audio is any good, I may post them later.

Feel free to post comments. Maranatha.

In Season, Out of Season

2 Timothy 4:1-2 

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Wow...Friday was a whirlwind day for evangelism & ministering under the blue sky here in Marshalltown. If you labor out-of-doors like we do, you know there are days when you can't get one single tract into someone's hand, or you can't get a gospel conversation started...and it is real easy to get discouraged. But, we keep on keeping on, knowing our labor in the Lord is not in vain no matter what (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Well, Friday as not like that. Over my lunch break I went downtown with my satchel full of tracts, and one Bible to give away. I ran into a couple, Molli &John, in front of Zamora's Fresh Market on
the corner of Main & Center Street. A Round Tuit gospel tract led to a 20-minute conversation about Heaven, Hell, the gospel, salvation, Bible doctrine vs. Roman Catholicism, sanctification & living as a believer. They took a Bible, too, and were very open to the things of God we were discussing.

I drove to my Wal-Mart corner after work, and set up the "Free Bibles...Need Prayer?" sign, and brought out a couple of different witnessing crosses to the corner. It was uncharacteristically calm for Iowa: I could hold the cross up on my shoulder which gives better visibility to south-bound traffic. Had several people stop, either to encourage me or for Bibles. Either way, I always share the hope that I have in Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:15), because I've found that many people who stop by to say thanks or to give a cold soda (summer) or hot chocolate (winter), many of these don't have assurance of salvation or a clear understanding of how to be saved. To those who do know the Lord, I usually ask them to pass along a gospel tract to someone they know who needs it, and encourage them to boldly share Jesus Christ with as many people they can, until He comes!

It was about 6 PM when I called Mary to let her know I was wrapping up and heading home. But after I hung up, a couple things happened: my phone battery died, cutting off communication with my wife, and the Lord brought 3 additional encounters my way.

Lorenzo came over as I was loading up my stuff in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Seems he is here from Romania, and was panhandling for money to get him & his family down to Arizona. We talked a bit; he said he needed enough money for 4 tanks of gas to get down there from here. I was able to bless him with $50 that I had on me for just such an occasion (Jesus says it is more blessed to give than receive, so I had that in an envelope, just waiting for an opportunity). But with the cash I also gave Lorenzo a "God of Wonders" DVD, which is sub-titled in Romanian, and also a deep discussion on the differences between his traditional Orthodox religion (as in Greek Orthodox or Russian Orthodox) and Biblical Christianity. Being raised a Roman Catholic, I can identify with much of his religion, plus I've read up on it a bit. He also took a Bible, and I shared with him some scriptures & we discussed how our religions were contrary to much of God's revealed word (Exodus 20, John 3:16, 26; 1 John 5:13, Philippians 4:6-7). He acknowledged his need to trust Jesus alone, and expressed that he was repentant and was trusting in the Lord Jesus right there. He wanted to give me a hug as we parted, and I pray he truly understands the gospel and is a now a new man in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17).

While we were talking, Terry, a local homeless man came up and hung around a few feet away. I met Terry a couple of years ago while out ministering, when I bought him a meal at Hy-Vee and shared Jesus with him. Terry has gone from a shaky situation then to just flat-out on the rocks since. I always greet him with "How ya doing?" and he always replies, "Not very good." I'm not the fountain of money for habitual panhandlers, so I usually point Terry to the House of Compassion for a meal when he hits me up. Not because I don't care, but because I don't want to help Terry keep on going down the destructive path he's on. This evening, when he replied with the usual, "Not very good!", I just sat in the open hatch of my car and started talking to Terry man-to-man: like what was he doing with his life, and what was he going to do to get on a better trajectory? Terry shared about how his drugging & alcohol had destroyed the fragile family ties he had, and that now none of his family would have anything to do with him. He said he hadn't just burned his bridges with his family, he'd blown them up!

I told him that first, he needed to get his life right with Almighty God, through genuine repentance & faith in Jesus Christ. Then, he needed to find any kind of work possible - how God created us men to work, and how that if a man wouldn't work, he shouldn't get food from people who do (2 Thess 3:10). By getting on track with God first, and then taking personal responsibility, I suggested he go to his family and seek forgiveness for being such a jerk of a brother, and that God was in the business of fixing even blown-up bridges. I ended up giving Terry some cash for a meal (violating my own rule!), and he took a New Testament & Psalms, saying he needed to get right with God, and that he wanted to know where my church was because he wanted to go there. Now I am no prophet, but Terry will not be showing up at my church building any time soon. But I do pray he will open his heart and mind to the truth of the gospel, and come to Jesus Christ before it is eternally too late.

Finally, as Terry walked away towards Wal-Mart, a couple came up asking for help finding a place to stay for the night. They'd been at the House of Compassion last night, but there were no rooms for Friday night. They were putting in applications to find work here, and needed to wash clothes and get cleaned up so they could land something. Aside from HOC, I couldn't think of any place, so I offered to get them a motel for the night. They insisted they didn't want charity, but I let them know that I knew of nothing else, and that God has blessed me with eternal life, and I wanted to bless them by helping out. So we went a couple blocks south to the Motel 6, and I got them 3 nights, to get them through the weekend, and gave them a "God of Wonders", a "One Second After" book, and a Bible. We talked about the gospel, and I let them know that they could eat a couple of meals at our friend Andy's China Buffet restaurant up the road, my treat.

I stopped at the China Buffet to arrange things, and it was after 7 PM, so I borrowed a phone to call Mary, who was now out looking for me, since I had told her I was heading home earlier, and had not responded to her text messages since then! Well, it is not always convenient, but when at all possible, we want to be ministering the gospel & demonstrating the love of God, so that others may come to know Him, whom to know is LIFE ETERNAL! (John 17:3) Convenience has nothing to do with laboring for our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh God, give me the desire, the strength and the energy to live a yielded life to you!

Friends, please join us in praying for these dear souls mentioned, and also pray for us, and for our brothers and sisters in Jesus around the world. Maranatha!

Another Response To Jared's Comment

Just as a reminder, this was Jared's comment on a blog post about me going to Manti, UT to witness to Mormons. 

If you are so enthused about your faith, why don't you preach it rather than tear down anothers? You are clearly targeting the faith of a specific church when you should be promoting your own. The Mormon church is called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormons clearly believe in Jesus Christ just like you do. I would suggest you focus on your similarities rather than your differences. You clearly don't believe what they do but they clearly don't believe what you think they believe. Would Christ have disputed with a group of people claiming to be his followers or would he have simply introduced himself to them? Your method of targeting the Mormons is sad and un christ like. There are many people that need the message of Christ in your own communities. I would suggest you start there and stop targeting any particular individual faith. Combining with other faiths that are not your own to tear down one that you all think is the weakest. That's what a group of bullies would do. Mormon's are good people that value families and serving their neighbor's and communities. Surely you can find someone better to preach your message to.

I have to admit I was a little taken back by the comment.  It described me as a person who hates Mormons and people of other faiths than my own.  That was not the case, and it couldn't be furthrer from the truth.  The fact is, is that I am deeply concerned for the Mormon people.  Enough to travel 2 days and over 2,500 miles on a stinky, cramped bus with many people I didn't know, to camp out and get eaten by bugs, and get yelled at by people who would rather see me crawl in a hole and die.  Sounds like a blast right?  But the reason I went was to share the real Jesus Christ with those who "claim" to know Him. 


Revelation 3:1 says, "“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,
‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead..."  Just because they have the name "Jesus Christ" in their title does not mean they are Chrisitian.  Do they worship, revere, and regard as divine Christ, the Son of God?  No.  In fact you will never see a cross on the steeple of a LDS meeting house, but a figure of the Angel Moroni.  They in fact worship angels, above the Son of God. 

And lets take a look at the tract that I purchased from the LDS bookstore in Salt Lake City, UT I had given those teens: 

Notice who's missing?  JESUS CHRIST!!!  If Jesus was so important to Mormons, why is He NOT in God's plan of salvation?  Christianity cannot exist without CHRIST!!!  Christ is Christianity.  I didn't write this, the LDS church did. 

Also, this sign was posted everywhere we went that was on LDS grounds:  Any why is that the case?   If we are the same, believe in Jesus Christ, and brothers and sisters in the faith, then why can't I evangelize and proclaim Him on LDS property?  Why would I be threatened with arrest if we both believe in Christ?  Love thy brother right?  The reason is, (and they know this) is that we believe in a different Jesus than they do.  Even their former prophet and seer Gordon B. Hinkley believed that, and stated it numerous times. 

In a nutshell, if you think that LDS is Christian, you have been duped Jared.  Maybe you were lied to by the Mormon Missionaries that came to your door.  Maybe you have a friend of family member share Mormonism with you and since they are so friendly they MUST be Chrisitan...right?  If you want a great and fair analysis between Mormonism and Christianity, please go to this website.  On the front page you will see a chart on the differences between Mormonism and Christianity. 


I also ask that you would watch this well done documentary called : The Bible Vs The Book of Mormon. It's a great start to show the differences between our faith. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this.  If you have any other questions please email me at:  Fchirico72@gmail.com