A Young Atheist

Last Sunday I had the privilege of reading the Word of God aloud and heralding the law and Gospel of Jesus Christ. I packed my open air box, the wooden cross, and my tracts and bible and headed to Pismo Pier. I arrived and setup near the mouth of the pier at around 3:30 PM. There was a fair amount of foot traffic. But I also know that the closer it is to sunset the more people come out to enjoy it.

Direct interaction with people while preaching was minimal for the first couple of hours. I read from Psalms, Romans and from the book of Acts. I preached the law and Gospel and did my best to speak of the Person of Jesus Christ – not only what He did to save sinners but also who He is.

As I said, as sunset draws closer more people come out. This day was no different. There was a group of 10 -12 teenage boys riding around near where I was preaching. I’ve had conversations with many of them before but this day I met a young man I’d never met before. As these guys rode around, a young man named Kevin yapped at me about “ramming religion down our throats.” This twenty-seven minute audio is an excerpt of the open air.


I believe GOD used this open air, and Kevin’s loud voice and opinions to draw in a group of people who stood around waiting for the sun to set.

WARNING: There is a lot of profanity in this audio.

One other side note: there were no Christians there. It was just the pagans gathered and myself. Maybe there were Christians there listening or praying but they didn’t make themselves known to me. But something that always blows me away is when unregenerate people defend me. When things heat up between Kevin, me and one other guy, several unregenerate people standing just behind me step up and come to my defense.

There is one other unexpected twist to this story – nothing earth shattering – but it also blows me away. You’ll hear me offer Kevin some tracts at the end of the audio. He was upset and just road off on his bike. A little while later I had the opportunity to spend a few more minutes with him and give him, “The Atheist Test” tract and one other old Evolution tract that Living Waters used to sell. God gave me the opportunity to reiterate some of the truths I had shared with Kevin during the open air. Except this time, with gentleness and a pleading concern for his soul. I put my hand on Kevin’s shoulder and looked him in the eye and said, “Kevin, I care about you. Please turn from your sin and trust in Jesus Christ. It’s time to get right with GOD.” He calmed down and talked quietly for a few more minutes. We even shook hands before he left. I thank GOD that He gave me those few minutes with Kevin.

Fast-forward to Thursday night (last night): I attended a local Farmer’s Market in San Luis Obispo. SLOtown is approximately eighteen miles north of Pismo Pier. It was around 9:45 PM. Another Brother and I were witnessing to the numerous high school kids that gathered just outside of Jamba Juice (a great place for 1-2-1 witnessing). I was in conversation with three fourteen year old young ladies when I heard a guy say, “Hey, I know you.” I didn’t think much of it because I didn’t think the guy was talking to me. He dropped his bike and came walking up to me and held out his hand. He said, “What’s up? Are you here doing the same thing you were doing in Pismo.” It was Kevin and he held out his hand to shake my hand again. I don’t know what GOD is doing in the hearts of people but Kevin was smiling and seemed genuinely glad to see me, even wanting to go over some of the things we had talked about on Sunday. Please pray for this young man.

I must leave you with two things. First, just because things might get heated in either a witnessing encounter or during open air, hang in there, GOD works during those times too. You never really know whose being disturbed or even called to repentance by the Holy Spirit. I’m not saying Kevin is saved by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems from my limited perspective, the Holy Spirit is doing something there. So don’t shy away from the heat of a passionate discussion and plead with them to repent and believe the gospel. Plead with them, preach the law and the gospel to them and don’t quit.

Secondly, after the open air kind of died down, maybe fifteen people or so stood around for another hour discussing spiritual matters, GOD, the Bible, Jesus Christ, etc. Sad to say, but I was all these pagans had. There were no other Christians there to minister to these people who GOD had brought there to hear the gospel. I’m not exaggerating, I had a girl asking me sincere questions and at the same time a guy who was just as sincere asked me questions about the Bible and GOD. Many of the others had questions and wanted to hear more too. I wasn’t able to talk at length with all of them. At one point, I had to tell the one young lady who had a ton of questions that I couldn’t have a conversation with her and the guy I was currently talking to. This really grieved me.

Chrsitian - If you are not engaged in regular, deliberate evangelism, not only are you disobedient to our Lord’s command but you're missing out on the joy of spreading His fame – preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Earth Day with Jared and the Reverend

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to attend the 2010 Earth Day celebration that took place at Mission Plaza, San Luis Obispo. It was a beautiful Spring day – the sun was out and so were the people.

My objective in attending this event was to communicate the law and the gospel to as many individuals as I could (glorifying GOD and loving people). I passed out tracts and engaged several people in gospel conversation.

After a couple of hours I ended up walking by one of the booths that I took a photo of earlier. I must admit, I was curious about what kind of literature they were offering. But still, I had no intention of engaging the people in the booth. I walked up the booth, grabbed a piece of their literature and started to step away.

Note the sign over their booth. The subheading of the sign states: “The San Luis Obispo Ministerial Association provides collegiality and spiritual support for religious leaders and builds bridges of understanding among our diverse traditions and in our pluralistic community.”

As I was stepping away from the table reading this piece of literature, from behind the booth table, a very soft-spoken gentleman asked me if he could answer any questions. I told him that I was just looking at their materials and expressed that the materials were "interesting." I then added that I too was attending the Earth Day celebration to engage people in conversations about spiritual matters. He asked me what "group" I was part of. I told him that I attend such and such a local church.

At this point, I'm not sure but it seemed that he jumped to conclusions about me rather quickly. I believe he thought I represented a church or organization and was interested in their "services".

So as not to add to the confusion, I reiterated who I was and what I was doing there that day. But I still didn’t tip my hat that I was a born again believer sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who are on their way to Hell in hopes that they would turn from their sin and trust in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ so they can be forgiven and have eternal life and enjoy GOD forever.

The gentleman’s name is Jared. He's a local Para-Rabi. Jared invited me to come behind the table and sit and chat with him. I chose not to sit in the chair he offered me but instead knelt down on one knee and leaned on the table just outside their booth.

If God was giving me the opportunity to witness to this man, I thought it best to not only speak humbly but physically lower my position so as not to give him any reason to feel I was standing over him - looking down on him. Then I asked him permission to record our conversation. He said “yes.”

I teased you with a snippet of this video in a blog post earlier this week. In it you’ll remember a reverend lady chases me away from their booth. She asks me to leave several times. Eventually I do but not before a small verbal struggle with her.

As you’ll see from the video, it was Jared and I who were having the conversation. The reverend wasn’t part of it. She, in my opinion, very rudely kept interrupting us. Note that each time she attempts to stop our conversation is when Jared ever-so-slightly raises his voice. I think it made her uncomfortable because these “teachers” (Jared) were there to promote “understanding among our diverse traditions.” But with the conversation Jared and I were having, it was clear that Jared wasn’t being very understanding about his personal sin or especially Jesus being the ONLY way to GOD. This was really what was upsetting Jarrod – sound familiar?

At some point the reverend sensed that I was trying to “proselytize.” That’s when she had enough and decided to engage me face to face.

Note that Jared never once asked me to leave. Had he, I would have left in a heart-beat (as I’ve done in countless witness encounters where a person asks me to leave them alone).

The only reason I stayed as long as I did is because the discussion I was having was with Jared and NOT the reverend. Yes – she repeatedly asked me to stop/leave. And maybe I resisted longer than I should have but my motive was to speak more with Jared – not to resist her.

In the end I really don’t know what to think about this strange encounter. I’ve thought and prayed about it all week. Did I do and say the right thing? What would you have done/said if you were in my position?

I know that as I was walking away from this encounter, OT Scriptures began to pour into my mind. "Why didn't you use that passage," I thought to myself. Then tons of NT passages came to mind. "Oh Allen, why didn't you quote that verse to Jarrod?" At the same time, I trust that the Holy Spirit was working in and through it all and ultimately, "salvation is of the Lord." He alone is in control of these matters. Still I do want to improve in my evangelism endeavors. So please, if you have something you think might help me for next time, leave your comments.

Earth Day 2010 - Rob

I met a very nice man named Rob at Earth Day SLO. He gave me a few minutes of his time and allowed me to capture his thoughts on Earth Day in this on camera interview. Then our conversation bridged over to discussing matters of morality (right and wrong); and then on to the Law and the Gospel.

The problem with these on camera interviews is I always feel the need to keep it short – in order to respect the person and their generosity in granting me a few minutes of their time. The good thing is that our conversation didn't end once the camera was turned off. As best I could, I expounded upon the truths of the gospel more fully to Rob and pleaded with Him to turn from sin and trust the Lord Jesus Christ.

Please remember to pray for Rob.

What Happened to Tolerance at Earth Day SLO?

What happened at the Earth Day Celebration at Mission Plaza, SLO when I was invited behind a booth to sit and chat about spiritual matters? Watch this 28 second teaser to find out.

Why was the Reverend unhappy with me? Come back later this week to find out.

Is this what you would call building bridges of understanding among diverse traditions?

Organic Congregations

Stone the Preacher is a blog written by Steve Sanchez. In regard to evangelism, his is one of the most encouraging blogs that I follow. Over the years I've read about his experiences in evangelism. Some of the most memorable though are his encounters while preaching open air to "Organic Congregations." I'll let him describe to you what an organic congregation is in detail if you're interested. But basically it's a captive audience. People line up outside of stores, sporting events, restaurants, etc. - and there just standing there waiting. People like Steve Sanchez take advantage of this Organic Congregation and preach the gospel to them.

Splash Cafe' in Pismo Beach, CA makes a famous Clam Chowder Bread Bowl. On weekends, there may be twenty to thirty people standing in line outside (wrapped around the side of the building) waiting to get their clam chowder. About every ten minutes or so there is a fresh bunch of ears just standing there waiting. This is our organic congregation.

On Palm Sunday 2010, Brother Al Martinez and Sister Kristi Walker came and spent the afternoon with me evangelizing in Pismo Beach. Upon arriving in Pismo we decided to take advantage of the crowd gathered outside of Splash Cafe'.

To GOD alone be the glory!

One Sunday Afternoon

Two videos that capture several gospel conversations I had with different people on the corner of Oak Park Blvd. and Grand Ave. in Grover Beach - one Sunday afternoon.

A few of these encounters seem to have no conclusion - like there's missing footage. Bummer! The battery on my camera gave out. So why include the footage? I wanted to demonstrate the variety of people and conversations you can have with them. In just a few short hours many heard a Biblical message that glorifies GOD. In just a few short hours many heard the message that our gracious GOD may use as a means to sovereignty, inwardly call them to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

There is nothing that hinders the sovereignty of GOD – nothing! His purposes will not be frustrated in the least, even if I’m derelict when it comes to evangelism. In fact, He doesn’t need me at all.

However, there is one thing that is hindered – our joy in Him. The Christian experiences great joy in Him when we’re obeying Him. When we are unwilling to obey we suffer the loss of the joy that comes from fulfilling the Great Commission – “GO.”

There is great joy to be had in obeying our Master. Evangelism is a labor too but primarily it’s a joy because in it you’ll experience Him. He is our joy! If you’re not experiencing the joy that Christians experience when evangelizing, I pray that you would begin to take steps to change that.

Christian, our Master gave us the Gospel. When was the last time you were obedient to His call to "preach the Gospel to every creature"? I’m not proclaiming that I’m Mr. Obedient here. I confess that I have tendencies to disobey the Lord Jesus and shy away from doing what I know I should. What I am trying to do is encourage you.

MY CHALLENGE TO YOU: Prayerfully set aside just one hour out of one Sunday afternoon for intentional evangelism. Glorify GOD and love people by being an obedient servant to the one who laid His life down for you.

The emphasis of the first video is sin, righteousness, and judgment (the context of the gospel). Then in the second video you'll notice the emphasis is on the Good News and a call to repent and believe.

THE PRECIOUS BLOOD

Before thy cross I kneel and see
the heinousness of my sin
my iniquity that caused thee to be 'made a curse',
the evil that excites the severity of divine wrath.

Show me the enormity of my guilt by
the crown of thorns,
the pierced hands and feet,
the bruised body,
thy dying cries.

Thy blood is the blood of incarnate GOD,
its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought.
Infinite must be the evil and guilt that demands such a price.
Sin is my malady, my monster, my foe, my viper,
born in my birth,
alive in my life,
strong in my character,
dominating my faculties, following me as a shadow,
intermingling with my every thought,
my chain that holds me captive in the empire of my soul.

Sinner that I am, why should the sun give me light,
the air supply breath,
the earth bear my tread,
its fruits nourish me,
its creatures subserve my ends?

Yet thy compassions yearn over me,
thy heart hastens to my rescue,
thy love endured my curse,
thy mercy bore my deserved stripes.

Let me walk humbly in the lowest depths of humiliation,
bathed in thy blood,
tender of conscience,
triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation.

taken from The Valley of Vision