Dad's New Blog

Just wanted to let everyone know that my Dad has a new blog where he is posting some of his short stories. We used to have these stories available in book-form under the title "Soul-Stirring Stories", but no longer have them. Now, however, you can read them on his blog for free! He is also having a giveaway for the book "Saints Everlasting Rest" by Richard Baxter, so check it out! His blog is: http://www.soulstirringstories.blogspot.com
The giveaway ends Dec. 24th!

More Snow!

Well, we have a couple inches of snow now, and it is still coming down! According to the weather alert, people are supposed to stay off the roads today unless it's an emergency, as the storm is supposed to get worse. Thankfully we don't have it as bad as some areas, though. The kids are loving the chance to go out and sled, build forts, and have snowball fights. Today the snow is more of the powdery type, so they're have a harder time making snowballs!

First Snow Of The Season

Here are a few pictures of our first snow of the season! There's not much yet, but we are supposed to get a winter storm with lots of snow tomorrow and Wednesday!

A Week In Chicago

We have been in Chicago for a week now, and, as always, have had a great time. We pulled in last Wednesday in time for service at Garfield Ridge Baptist, and it was great to be back with our friends here! Pastor T. had asked Dad to preach, so Dad did a positive (one of only 3 that he has ever done!) message on Thankfulness. For Thanksgiving the next day we went to the T's house and enjoyed dinner and fellowship for several hours. Friday and Saturday we were on the street downtown for about 3-4 hours each day. Friday we dealt with 3 young people that were upset over the sign Dad had made regarding the new occultic movie New Moon. These professing "Christians" saw no problem in watching a movie that was so blatantly occultic, and also said that it was okay to drink alcohol, go to bars, and listen to rock music. They also said that long hair on men was okay, since John the Baptist was a Nazarene, and had long hair (John the Baptist aka John the Nazarene?!) Mom corrected him that Jesus was a Nazarene, and that it was a Nazarite who had long hair! While they were discussing this with Dad all I could think was "Is anything wrong or sinful to them?" Anything we brought up they took a very liberal stance on, and seriously, nothing was wrong according to their viewpoint! Towards the end of the conversation Dad brought up the King James Bible, and all of them started laughing. One of the young men said that it was a great scholarly work (I always thought it was God's Word, not just a "scholarly work") for it's time, but that the NIV was a much better translation. For example, he said that 1 John 5:7, the most powerful verse proving the Trinity (although not the only one), should not be in our Bibles, it was a mistake. When confronted with the facts that a lesbian was on the NIV board of translators, and that Westcott and Hort, the "fathers" of the modern translations were involved in occultism, his exact response was "So?" I actually started laughing, because it was so obvious, and yet he didn't realize how ignorant his stand was. "The KJV is imperfect, and has mistakes, but the NIV is perfect, even though it comes from a line of corrupted manuscripts, occultism and a lesbian". NOT! Anyways, we had to leave at that point, and told him that he was very backslidden, if he was even saved at all. Saturday started out a mild day, but after lunch the crowd was totally different. Many people got upset, including one woman who came up to Pastor T. and told him that Mormons were true Christians, and he shouldn't be picking on them. We also had a man come up that we had dealt with before, who is very messed up. He stood near us for several minutes spouting off things like "the were trees curved to the right; the leaves on top were red, and the leaves below were green. In James 5 and Isaiah 22 it prophesies of a foot cut off, but there is no blood. The foot was wearing a white sock and a black shoe." Like I said, he's very messed up! After turning both camcorders on him he took off, as he doesn't like being filmed. Overall it was a very good weekend of ministry, and, thankfully, the Lord gave us good weather. Although it was a little chilly, at least we didn't have the snow that was in the forecast for the weekend!

Video From GSU

Okay, sorry this took a week to get up. I haven't had internet access the past few days!
Anyways, here is a few minutes of footage from preaching at GSU. Quite a bit of it is muted, because of the vile language being used by the students. But, it still gives a good idea of what it was like out there!

Preaching At GSU

Today we preached on the Georgia State University campus in Atlanta, GA. (Some of the family were actually out yesterday too, but I had to stay back with the little girls, as it was pretty vile.) While the crowds weren't as big today as yesterday, there were still plenty of people out, and, as usual, many professing christians telling us we were doing it all wrong. One seventh-day adventist argued with us that he believed in salvation by grace, while in the next sentence he said you had to keep the commandments (especially the 4th commandment) to be saved! Josiah and I also dealt with him on the issue of the King James Bible. He claimed that although God promised to preserve His Word for ever (Psalm 12:6-7), the KJV was not perfect-only the originals are perfect. This SDA was so bothered by the preaching that he literally went around and argued with almost every preacher out on the campus, and then came back to us to debate again.
As always, the sodomites, pro-sodomites and the feminists came out to hold their own signs and mock the preaching. One of the women held a sign that read "Women are not just sandwich makers"! We had almost as many people upset at the "Women are to be keepers at home" sign (and the modesty issue) as we did sodomites upset at the "There is no such thing as a christian homosexual" sign.
I did have a good conversation with a student who said she was raised in a conservative christian home, and while she still claimed to be a christian, had left the "conservative" part behind. I talked to her for at least 20-25 minutes, and it sounded like she may have been saved. She asked several questions about our method of evangelism, and I ended up giving her my email to discuss some of these things with her. Standing on a campus surrounded by screaming students and trying to camcord any confrontations at the same time is not the best situation for having a long conversation!
I will try and get some video up of the preaching in the next day or so. We will be preaching for several hours again tomorrow, so I may not get it up right away.

Panama City

Okay, I know I am long overdue for a post, so here it is. We have been very busy the past couple weeks with traveling and packing, so not much worth writing about has been going on!

We have been back at our home church here in Panama City for almost a week now, and it is good to be back! All the little kids are growing so fast, and I finally got to see Joshua Channer in person, instead of just pictures. (He is adorable, and a very happy baby!) Dad has been helping out at the boys academy almost every day since we got here, which he always enjoys.

One of the nicest things about being here is going to our home church for Church services. There are a few Churches we go to that are like "northern home churches" as Dad says, but it is nice to be at Truth for church! Dad preached all 3 services today. For Sunday School he did a Bible quiz with 30 questions (quizzes are always such fun!).

Tuesday morning we will head out to Georgia, and then head towards Illinois. We will be starting a 6-7 week trek out west (in tents) to do some street preaching and hopefully get some churches out there started in the street ministry. Please pray for us as we will be doing more traveling than usual during that time, not to mention the possible snow and ice. We will try to update regularly, and should get some good pictures to put up!

Just A Quick Update

Well, it has been a long time since I have posted on here. We have been staying at a good friend's house for the past few weeks, and it has been nice. If you've never lived in a travel trailer, you don't realize what a blessing it is to have a regular kitchen to cook in (especially making meals for 9 people)! A full-sized stove/oven, and enough room for 2 or 3 people to work in the kitchen at the same time! I am not complaining at all; I love our ministry, but this is one of the things I miss about not having a house. However, the blessings we have received while in this ministry far outweigh any inconveniences we may have. I am truly grateful the Lord has placed us here...I love traveling, and it is a joy to see the Lord work in so many ways. We have seen so many lives changed. Christians getting a new vision for the lost, and start witnessing more fervently; families making choices to follow the Lord more closely; and people making a profession of faith, whether in the Church or on the streets. God is good!

We will be leaving here early next week, and head back on the road again. We have a 4 day revival meeting starting next Sunday, so please pray the Lord will work through that. The meeting is with some very dear friends of ours, and we always have a good time there.

A Week Of Life With The Owens...

This past week Charity and I stayed with some good friends, the Owens, while the rest of the family went to Pennsylvania. It was unplanned, but it has been a lot of fun. Monday and Tuesday we just hung out with Sally and Hannah.


This is Hannah. Isn't she adorable?!


Wednesday we attended Antioch Bible Baptist for church. Pastor Pawley preached a very good sermon about the Ark and the Altar (from Genesis 8), and it was nice to be able to visit with some friends there.

Thursday evening we headed to Buffalo to preach at the Thursday in The Square concert. When we got there we found out the concert was canceled due to the weather, but we decided to stay and preach anyways. It turned out to be a very good night. Since the concert was canceled you could actually hear when having a conversation with someone! I talked to 2 young people, Paige and Joseph, and they actually had some serious questions. One of them had a catholic background, and asked about the differences between Christianity and Catholicism. After a few minutes of discussing the reality of death and hell, I left them each with a Gospel tract, which they promised to read that evening. During a lot of the evening we had 3 hecklers out on the other side of the street. One of them would come up to Bro. Greg (who was preaching), get in his face, and the other 2 would pull him back. They finally left, but not before hearing the Truth of God's Word! We also had a good discussion with about 10 kids that came up to talk. On of the girls professed to be christian but said that we should not be preaching in public. After about half an hour of discussing the issue with 4 of us out there, we discovered her real problem...she said the Bible was not completely trustworthy, and we couldn't know for sure that it was God's Word.



Friday evening we were planning on going to preach outside another concert in Buffalo, but found out that afternoon it had been postponed as one of the singers had the flu. We went down to where it was supposed to be held anyways, and preached outside for a little while. There were still a few hundred people out there, who hadn't heard that it was canceled.

Saturday we went to a Canal Fest nearby, and preached for a couple hours. Thankfully the Lord held off the rain for a while, and we got a lot of tracts out. Hundreds of people walking by us heard the Gospel preached, and we actually had quite a few people say "Amen" or give us a thumbs-up. Not normal, but a nice change! The event staff did come up and try to tell us we could not be preaching or passing out pamphlets, and they eventually went to the police. An officer came out to talk to Greg, but there was really nothing they could do. He tried telling us we needed a permit, and even said that preaching there was like yelling outside someone's home, and they had the right to tell us to leave. Of course, this is not true (public sidewalk is protected free speech area), and after a few minutes of discussion, the officer walked off.


Today we went back to Antioch for church. It was, again, a very good service. It is a blessing every time we are able to visit a like-minded church, and hear some good preaching. (Of course a lot of the time we don't have to worry about the preaching, since Dad preaches at most of the churches we visit!)

Tomorrow we will be back home with the rest of the family. We will miss the Owens, but it will be nice to see the family again!

Camp Meeting and Street Preaching

This past week we have been very busy between a camp meeting, and a lot of street preaching. The meeting started last Sunday with Bro. Ron Williams preaching all day. We had services every morning and evening through Friday night. There were some excellent sermons preached! Dad and Bro. Ron each preached every evening (except Thursday when we were out street preaching), and other preachers took turns in the morning services. The meeting closed out yesterday with Dad preaching all 3 services.

Thursday evening we went out to preach at the rock concert in Buffalo. There were more people there than we have ever seen! We were told the band that was playing had not played in concert since 1973, so that explained the crowd. Within 1 minute of being out there, we had over 30 people surround us. Throughout the whole evening we had a crowd of people around (although, of course, most of them were upset). A couple people had some serious questions, though.

Saturday was the big day with 3 different events going on. First it was the Jehovah's Witness Convention in downtown Rochester. As always, they were not allowed to talk to any of the preachers, and the gauntlet was out in full force! For those of you who haven't heard us talk about this, the JW's are prepped a couple weeks before the meeting, and warned not to even look at the street preachers. To enforce this, they line men up along the sidewalk in front of the preachers (usually about 30 or more) so that if someone does try to talk, they can stop them. It is amazing to see how scared they are that someone will talk to a preacher and find out the Truth! After the JW's we had a couple hours to eat and rest before heading to the gay pride parade. Every year this parade seems to get a little shorter, but it looked like there were more supporters following the parade this year. As soon as we were done there it was off to the Hill Cumorah Pageant. This is a pageant put on by the Mormons where they basically re-enact what occurs in the Book of Mormon. It is held in Palmyra, NY, which is where Joseph Smith supposedly found the golden plates he translated into the book of Mormon. Dad and Bro. Dan had a good conversation with 2 young people who were there. We did have some trouble with a police officer who has been harassing the street preachers for years, but eventually he left us alone. All in all it was a good day, although a long one!

Lilydale

Well, it has been a couple weeks since I was on here. Last weekend we street preached outside of Lily Dale, which is supposedly the biggest spiritualist community in the world. When we found out that it was right near where we were staying, of course we had to go out! It was a good time of preaching, and rebuking those involved with the occult. Many people came out to talk to us, and every single one of them were brought back to one point-they were making themselves their "god". Almost all of them said they believed in God, but all of them had their own ideas about what their "god" was like. One of the men who got upset at us said he knew the Bible well, and knew more about it than we did. Of course, he couldn't answer how many books were in the New Testament, and said that the book of Hezekiah was definitely in the Old Testament! Another man we spoke to out there said he teaches at a Lutheran college, but he doesn't believe in the Biblical God...he thinks his "god" is in everything, and everyone is a "god". It was amazing to see how far astray people are led when they don't trust in the ultimate authority, God's Word, and make themselves the authority.

Nauvoo

I know it has been a while since I have put up a new post; we have been at a friend's house in Nauvoo, IL for the past 2 weeks. Nauvoo is one of the most important cities in Mormonism. This is the place Joseph Smith led the Mormons to after the "Mormon War" that took place in Independence, Missouri in 1838, and they were basically run out of Missouri. Of course, being in a Mormon town for 2 weeks has been interesting. Every time we go out we run into some "missionaries", so Dad has had fun here. This past week the Mormon church had a ballroom dance production going on, and some of the family went up a couple nights. We weren't able to preach, because it is held on the Church property, but it was a good example of how worldly they are. Obviously we know Mormons aren't Christian anyway, but it is amazing to see the worldliness of a religious group that tries to make it sound like they are Christian.

Tomorrow we will be leaving here, heading back to Indianapolis, and Charity and Elijah will get back on Wednesday. They have been down helping the Blackburn family at our home church for almost 2 weeks. It will be good to have Charity back; I have been doing most of the cooking since she left, so now it is her turn! (Just kidding!)

Indy 500 Video

Well, I finally have video to post from preaching at the Indy 500 last week. I have been working on redoing our website recently, so I didn't get the video up as soon as I would have liked. Anyways, here it is.

Indy 500 Pictures

This past weekend we were in Indianapolis, preaching at the Indy 500 parade and race. We had the biggest group ever at this event, and it was a great time of ministry. Pastor Teesdale brought a group down from Chicago, and other people came in from Ohio, New York, and Michigan. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Chicago

We have been in Chicago for the past 10 days or so, working with Independent Baptist Church. We started off with street preaching downtown last Saturday, and then went into a revival meeting Sunday through Wednesday. While on the street we had a young man make a profession. After Pastor Teesdale talked with him for over an hour, the young man knelt on the sidewalk and prayed. We gave him a Bible, and he asked for information about churches. He had been attending somewhere, but wanted to know what type of church he should start going to now.

The revival meetings also went very well. Many people were at the altar after every service, making commitments and getting things right with the Lord. A 14 year old boy who comes to church on the bus was under heavy conviction during the service last night. When the invitation was given, he went forward to talk to Pastor T, and ended up making a profession.

This week it is on to the Indy 500 parade and race. We have about 30-40 preachers and families coming in to preach at this event. Please pray for safety for everyone traveling, and for liberty with the police.

Kentucky Derby Video

Here's a video from street preaching at the Kentucky Derby. This doesn't begin to show how wicked it was out there. Anyone who says America is a Christian nation needs to go street preaching once and find out how wrong they are!

Kentucky Derby Blitz

This past weekend we hosted a street preaching blitz for the Kentucky Derby. We had about 32 people come, plus our family. Not bad for an event that only a few preachers show up at usually! The weekend started off with a church service Thursday evening. All day Friday and Saturday we were out on the streets. People walk in and out of the racetrack area from 9:00 in the morning, until the last race ends at about 6:30. Friday was a pretty mild day (not as big a crowd, since it wasn't the "big" race). One man that Bro. Kenny Chapel dealt with ended up kneeling down on the sidewalk (in front of hundreds of people walking by), and making a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. If that man was the only person who was affected by our ministry that weekend, it would all be worth it! But, although that was the only profession made, we talked to many other people, and have already received emails from some we spoke to out there. Saturday was a little more aggressive, even as the people were headed into the race. At 6:30 when they came out, many of them were drunk, and almost all of them were upset. We ended up having a mini riot at one point, and a woman (who had to have been demon-possessed) punched me (in the face), broke another sister's camcorder, and attacked one of the preachers. What a day we are living in when a woman gets upset at God's Word being preached, and attacks those who are standing for the truth! We praise the Lord no one was seriously hurt, because it could have been much worse. Overall it was a great time of ministry, and everyone really enjoyed it. I am putting up a slide show of pictures from the blitz, and I will try to have a video up by this weekend.

An Update and A Video

Well, we have been in Ohio for the past 10 days or so. The last 2 Sundays we have been meeting with some friends up here for church, and then street preaching afterwards. Dad preached a "short" (those of you who know Dad know what that means!) sermon this Sunday on the differences between a serious Christian and one who isn't really living it. The title was "Sober, Serious, Solemn, Sensitive, Separated and Satisfied; or Silly, Sleepy, Sad, Sickly, Slothful, Sinful and Shameful: What type of Christian are you?" It was the longest sermon title he's ever had, but not the longest sermon...although it was probably pretty close, at almost an hour and a half. It was very good, though.

I finally got another video ready to put up. I have been putting together some DVD's of street preaching for Dad, so I haven't had much free time. Anyways, this one is just a compilation of street preaching with our home church last month. Most of it is from spring break.

Fellowship Of The Unashamed

I just finished reading a book about soul winning called "One Heartbeat Away". The author had part of a poem in there that was written by an African martyr. I really liked the poem, and thought I would share it.

I am part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed."

The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.

The decision has been made. I am a disciple of

Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down,

back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present

makes sense, and my future is secure.

I am finished and done with low living, sight walking,

small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams,

chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.



I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position,

promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live by

presence, lean by faith, love by patience,

lift by prayer, and labor by power. My pace

is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my

road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few,

my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought,

compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back,

diluted, or delayed.



I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the

presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy,

ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander

in the maze of mediocrity.



I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until

Heaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know,

and work until He comes. And when He comes to get

His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.

My colors will be clear.



I am not ashamed of the gospel . . . Romans 1:16

Street Preaching Video

I was going through some old street preaching videos recently, and found some really good ones. I'll probably put a few of them up, but today I'll just do one from spring break last year in Panama City Beach, FL. This is our friend Rob dealing with a man who was either on drugs, or else just crazy! It's pretty funny. Enjoy!

Homesick

We are in Alabama now, and boy is everyone homesick! We miss the home Church so much. Anyways, we left P.C. after the wedding on Saturday, and came up here. Dad preached Sunday evening service at a Church here in Enterprise. Our Pastor and his wife, as well as another couple from our home Church, came up for Church Sunday evening. It was such a blessing to have them with us, even if it was only for a few hours!

Master Club Regionals

Well, the Master Club competition was this past Saturday. It was a lot of fun, and the kids did great! All of the kids won awards in different categories including Bible Storytelling, Bible Quizzing, Preacher Boy, Missionary Biography, Sword Drill, Poetry, etc. Our team won 1st place in 5 out of 6 Bible relays, and took 3rd in the other one. Here are a couple videos from the competition. Our kids are the ones in green!







Hopefully I will have some pictures to post by Wednesday or Thursday.

Street Preaching During Spring Break

We went street preaching today in Panama City Beach for spring break. Here are some pictures from the afternoon.

About half the group we had out



Our Pastor, Bro. Buddy



One of the M's. Doesn't she look cute in the hat?


Most of the family



Elijah preaching



Dad preaching


As expected, it was pretty wild. It seems every time we go out that more and more people are getting hard toward the Gospel, and it was that way today. I talked to several girls dressed (or undressed) in skimpy bathing suits, and they saw no reason why that was wrong, as long as they were comfortable. One of them told me that just because she swore, drank and dressed immodestly, didn't mean she wasn't saved! One group of about 5 girls came back 2 or 3 times to talk to us. Several of them were already so drunk they were staggering (at 3:30 in the afternoon). Seeing things like that makes me so thankful to have been raised in a christian family. One of the girls told us she felt sorry for us, since we had to stand out there holding signs while they were out having fun and partying. I told her I had eternal life, and she was headed for hell unless she got saved...she had no reason to feel sorry for us! Not to mention the better life we have while here on earth, instead of dealing with the consequences of all the sin they will be committing this weekend.
Anyways, it was a good time out preaching, and a few of us did have good talks with people.

Master Club

Well, not much is going on right now. This week I am helping some of the children in our church (ages 7-13) prepare for Master Club competition at the end of this month. Modesty and Mercy are both participating in this, and it is a good way for them to learn more Bible. Not to mention, they enjoy the time they get to spend with one of their best friends, Kelsey.
Other than that, we will be street preaching tomorrow in Panama City. Next week starts Spring Break, so that should be pretty wild. I will be posting pics next weeekend.