40 Days of Prayer for marriage

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Carl

“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16)

Marriages are under attack. Within the tract club membership, at least one couple has divorced, one has divorce proceedings pending, several couples are separated. Just yesterday I heard of another couple that is struggling.  Satan would like nothing more than to break up marriages and destroy families.

Will you join us in 40 days of prayer for marriages. Specifically for tract club members and also members of the evangelism community at large, but also for all marriages.

If you have a specific request for your marriage you may post a comment below, or join the facebook event and post it on the event. Please for privacy reasons, don’t post requests for others that name anyone by name. Things like “pray for a friends” marriage might be ok if it is left generic.

If you’d like to make a personal private request, you can contact me and then my wife and I will pray for you specifically for you request. We would like to form a small team that these private requests could be shared with.

Prayer is powerful. Will you join us in standing for prayer for our brothers and sisters in Christ and for their marriages?

Please forward this event to others. Then be in pray for marriages especially from June 1 thru July 10.

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Judgment Day

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Carl

You may have seen a billboard recently that looks like the one below:

These were put up by a ministry called Family Radio headed by Harold Camping. Camping has made several false prophecies, including May 21, 2011, about when the rapture would occur. Now that May 21 is passed and we all know that Camping was wrong we might be tempted to poke fun. However, may I suggest several things that we can learn from this.

An opportunity to Witness

First of all, the billboards have presented an amazing opportunity to witness to people about Jesus Christ. For the last two weeks, I’ve been carrying a print out of the picture above. I encourage you to do the same. Leading up to May 21, I could show someone the picture and simply say “have you seen this billboard?”

They would answer yes or no.

Regardless of their answer, I could ask a follow up “whether or not May 21 is the day of judgment, do you think there is an ultimate day of judgment?”

Again they would generally answer yes or no. My rough survey shows that slightly more than half the people believe there is ultimately a day of judgment. This naturally leads to a conversation about spiritual things to find out what they think the judgment is about. This leads to Hebrew 9:27 and Romans 2:12 to talk about the fact that each person will die one day and be judged by the Ten Commandments. We will all stand condemned by God and deserve Hell. But fortunately, Jesus died in our place providing forgiveness of sin and life everlasting to all who will repent and put their trust in Him.

As we move past May 21st, I expect many people will continue to remember this event. Instead of laughing it off, use it as an opportunity to share the Gospel.

Be Compassionate

I have yet to meet anyone who actually believed the May 21 date. if you do, be compassionate with them. Remind them that the Bible teaches that Jesus himself said that no one knows the day or the hour. Help them to see that they need to have their trust in Jesus, not a man who predicts a date, or the date itself.

Advertising is powerful

The Lord has placed it on my heart to look at advertising as a means to share the Gospel. I don’t actually have the money to conduct such a campaign. But, as I drive around and see signs, I’ve often wondered how effective such signs would be. This past week has been very eye opening in this regard. A report on CNN indicated that Family Radio only has 20,000 listeners. However, it seems just about everyone knows (knew) about the May 21 “prophecy”. This attests to the awesome power of advertising. Now, let’s imagine that instead of advertising some false date of the end of the world, the advertising was to share a Biblical Gospel. Perhaps this medium, or a newspaper ad, ads in a local magazine are a way to share the Gospel. Let’s collectively pray for wisdom on how to use the resources that God has granted us to reach every person with the saving message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Got an idea how to do that? Please post a comment.

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Western Conference Finals

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Carl

The NBA Western Conference Finals started in Dallas last week. We had the opportunity to go and share the Gospel at Games 1 and 2 between the Mavericks and the Thunder. Big events are fun times to be apart of the electric atmosphere where everyone is all “a buzz” about who will win and by how much. It is a bit different from a regular season game, because there is much more on the line.

While open air preaching at the stop light prior to Game 1 on Tuesday night, I was able to remind people that 100 years from now, this game will be a distant memory in some history books and that no one who is in attendance will actually remember what happened. However, it is also a good reminder that 100 years from now each and every person will be in one of two places – Heaven or Hell. So we go out to these events preach the Gospel and warn people to repent.

Between the two games, we probably handed out 2,000 Dallas Mavericks Trivia tracts. While these big events are fun and exciting and an opportunity to reach thousands of people with the Gospel, what I’ve found is that the events make me more aware of opportunities to reach people every day “as I go”. Even while returning from the event, we had the opportunity to talk on on one with several people.

Since I’ve been doing evangelism, I’ve found that doing an event makes me more conscious of the people in my every day life that are dying and going to Hell. Perhaps you don’t feel called to go and stand on a box and read the Bible or preach a message. Perhaps you don’t feel called to go stand on a street corner and hand out a thousand tracts before a ball game. Don’t get me wrong, if you are called, then go. But if you aren’t then don’t. However, I believe that Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:19 are for all who call themselves believers in Jesus Christ.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

The motto of Bezeugen Minsitries is “as you go” and is taken from this verse. Jesus is literally saying “as you go” make disciples. An easy way to do that is the hand out Gospel tracts. I believe that everyone who calls them self a Christian should be able to do that. Enroll in the Bezeugen Tract Club. We will send you 30 FREE Gospel tracts per month along with the encouragement to hand out one each day. Come to our Basic Evangelism Training Seminar and learn to over come your fear of man to share the Gospel one on one. Even if you don’t feel like participating in an event, I invite you to come and see what we are doing. Hand out some tracts. Take some pictures. Or just pray for us. Your presence would be encouraging. See if the Lord does not work in your heart to develop a compassion for the lost to share the Gospel with them.

Game 5 is Wednesday night in Dallas. We plan to be there. If you live close by and would like to join us, please contact me and we will work out logistics.

 

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Biblical Mathematics

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Carl
Hello saints, all of those who have believed in Christ with all your heart and your life is one that desires to be obedient to the Lord and His word, that would be you! If that is not the case, then you may not be a saint. You can be a saint through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus!

I would like to share with you how the Lord has ministered to me over the years with what I am calling biblical mathematics, mainly addition. Here is how it works: The Lord will take a word from any place in the bible and connect it with the same word in one or more places and speak to my heart on a number of issues. The issues have included things like; perseverance in trials, knowing God’s heart, evangelism, temptations, the deity of Christ, strength for your Christian walk, etc.. I send these to you to encourage and edify His body, the church!

Here is an example: Problem: Is Jesus God? The answer of course is yes! There are many places in the bible that clearly declare Jesus to be God. John 1:1,14, Hebrews 1:3, 8 Isaiah 9:6, 7:14, Romans 9:15 and so on. We can also conclude the same thing through adding scripture to scripture. Here we go!
In Isaiah 42:3, in prophecy about Jesus Christ, the word says: “He will not fail nor be discouraged” The operative word here is fail. Add this to the verse in 1st Corinthians 13:8. ” Love never fails” Thus, Jesus never fails + love never fails = Jesus is love. Now add that to 1st John 4:8, 16 where the bible declares that God is love! Thus Isaiah 42:3 + 1st Corinthians 13:8 + 1st John 4:8,16 = Jesus is God!  / Jesus never fails + love never fails + God is love = Jesus is God!

See how that works! I must tell you that the Lord is the greatest of teachers in any subject, including math. However, God’s mathematics do not work at all unless you are reading His word and they work even better if you memorize His word. I will be sending more of these in the future!

God bless you all!

(Written by Todd)

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What is Hell like?

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Carl

image

We frequently here, “no” when asking people if they are concerned that by their own admission their eternal destiny would be Hell. Why? One reason could be that they don’t know what Hell is like. Many people think Hell will be some kind of party where all of their friends are. While discussing this at lunch last week we thought it would be good to have a tract to address this. Wally sent me the image and a number of verses. We put it together and got them printed. While we don’t expect to simply hand these to everyone we meet, they should be a good follow up for those that are unconcerned about their eternal destiny.

The front reads:

The Bible describes Hell as a place of Weeping and gnashing of teeth, Outer Darkness, Eternal Fire, Place of Everlasting Punishment, Eternal torment with no rest day or night, Bottomless Pit, Lake that burns with fire and brimstone, Worm does not die and fire is not quenched, Black darkness, Place where wickedness dwells, Place of torment,  A place where people cry for mercy, destruction. (Matthew 13:42, 8:12, 25:41, 46, Revelation 14:10, 20:1, 21:8, 15, Mark 9:46, Jude 1:13, Psalm 55:15, Luke 16:23, 24, Matthew 7:13)

The back of the tract reads:

Some people say they are not concerned about going to Hell. Perhaps you have even said that? Or perhaps you’ve said, “I don’t mind going to Hell, because all of my friends will be there!” Have you considered what Hell is like? (If not see the front of this card). So what do you have to do to go to Hell? Absolutely nothing. The Bible says it is what each of us deserves? Why? Because we have all broken God’s Law – the Ten Commandments. When you die, you will be judged by the Ten Commandments (Hebrews 9:27, Romans 2:12). Ever told a lie? Stolen anything? Hated someone? Jesus calls hatred murder. Looked with lust? Jesus calls lust adultery. By this standard, The Ten Commandments, will you be innocent or guilty? Heaven or Hell? God does not want you to go to Hell (2 Peter 3:9). Two thousand years ago God sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to earth. Jesus, being fully God and fully man lived a perfect life and fulfilled God’s Law. He willingly became the only acceptable sacrifice for your sin. Jesus rose from the dead defeating sin and death. If you will repent of your sin and trust in Jesus alone, you will have eternal life (Mark 1:15, John 3:36). Jesus alone can save you from Hell. Turn from yor sin. Turn to Christ and serve Him!  www.AfterLifeCatalog.com         80-BEZEUGEN             802-393-8436

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Prayer sign

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Carl

We took the Whiteboard to the Dallas West End DART at lunch today. We put the message “How can we pray for you?”

Whiteboard - prayer sign

While we stood waiting for people to come, we handed out some tracts. It was amazing. In an hours time we had people approach us for prayer for:

  • family members caught in homosexuality
  • broken relationships
  • jobs
  • to live a Christ centered life
  • to know Christ!

I shared the Gospel with two young men and then asked “which of your sins is worth going to Hell for all eternity?” One of the men said, “I can’t think of any!” He was going to go home and then get right with God! Praise the Lord!

Below are a couple of more pictures of Wally talking to some of the people we met.

image

 

image

Today we took the whiteboard

Posted in Whiteboard | 4 Comments

Garage sale Whiteboard

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Carl

On Saturday my church had a community garage sale. I brought my Whiteboard, a folding table, tracts, Bibles and other resources. I set up in a main traffic area. On the white board i put the question “Are you a good person?” in English and Spanish. I also attached my “lie detector” to the White Board so that after people gave their answer I could “test” them to see if they were right.

Whiteboard at garage sale

I handed out at least 100 each of English and Spanish version of the Are You a Good person tract. This turned out to be a good choice because rather than “profiling” people I could simply ask “English or Spanish?” They had to answer with one or the other then I handed them a tract.

I had a long conversation with a Muslim man. He even let me show him verses in the Bible where Jesus claimed to be God. I marked those verses and sent the Bible home with him. He had a couple of questions that he wanted to discuss further once he looked up a couple of verses. Please pray that he will call me as he said that he would.

Someone at the garage sale was selling a children’s Bible and a coloring book. One of our church members brought them to me to give them away. I talked with a single mom who had a couple of young children with her. The mom did not have much money. And desired to teach her kids about Jesus. So I gave those two resources to her.

Many kids and teens enjoyed checking out the “lie detector” and wondering why it always point to “no – not a good person?” It gave me the chance to share the Gospel with all of them!

The whiteboard seems to work fairly well at a garage sale like this. Would have been good to have at least one other person with me to bring people to the Whiteboard and slo would have been good to have it in a slightly different location, but the wind did not allow for that.

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CEF Banquet

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Carl

On Wednesday, May 5th, Bezeugen Ministries had the opportunity to be present at the ministry fair associated with the Dallas Child Evangelism Fellowship dinner. Ellen and Nita staffed the table. Several new contacts were made for people who may be interested in evangelism training.

Nita at Bezeugen table at CEF Dinner

We were inspired to learn about some of the many programs CEF has going, especially the after-school Good News Clubs — which take place IN THE SCHOOL BUILDING — once a week and reach many children with the Gospel.   Along the way, we were able to introduce a few attendees and staff to the ministry of Bezeugen. Many took the free tracts and promised to use them. Several signed up with an interest in either a seminar or the Tract Club. And so we encouraged one another. Also they were very gracious to invite us to dine with them and it was delicious! May God bless CEF Dallas with growing opportunities to minister to children and teens.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

National Day of Prayer Hobi

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Carl

National Day of Prayer - Hobi International

We celebrated National Day of Prayer at HOBI International on Thursday.  We had over seventy participants, including one of our vendors and someone that found the event on the NDP website.  We opened by reading Psalm 91:1-6.  We then had a time of prayer for some specific prayer requests that were left in the “prayer box” over the last month, as well as prayer for our country.  We were blessed with an impromptu choir that volunteered to sing a hymn (in Spanish) and a testimony from Jeremy an employee at HOBI.  Pastor Steve closed us with some words about what a blessing it is to live in a country that allows us to hold such an event in public and a prayer thanking all those that have sacrificed to protect those freedoms.  The next prayer event at HOBI will be Thursday, June 2.

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National Day of Prayer Carrollton

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Carl

Thursday, May 5th was the National Day of Prayer. It also marked one year of our First Thursday Day of Prayer in Carrollton, TX. The theme for this years National Day of Prayer was “A Mighty Fortress” based on Psalm 91:2. We started with that text and then used the ACTS form of prayer. Approximately a dozen people joined the event including the current mayor and a council member who are both running for mayor and another candidate running for city council.

A – Adoration – We read from Job 38 and then joined together in praying and praising our great God!

Fellowship after praying!

C – Confession – We read Psalm 51 and then joined together crying out to God to forgive us both individually and corporately as a country for our sin.

T – Thanksgiving – We read Psalm 107 and then prayed to God to thank Him for everything.

S – Supplication – We read Hebrews 4:14-16 to remind everyone that we can come boldly before God with our requests because of what Jesus has done by shedding His blood on the cross. We then read selected verses from Psalm 33. This was followed by prayer requests to God to guide our nation and our upcoming elections in Carrollton.

We concluded by singing together “A Mighty Fortress” by Martin Luther. Why not spend a few minutes meditating on those words now?

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be

losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own

choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:

The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;

The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:

Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

Our next prayer event will be Thursday, June 2.

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