SRJC mission trip #5

I was pleasantly surprised to meet another team member that Colin invited. I absolutely trust Colin for he is a man that depends soley on JESUS CHRIST. The man's name was John and he was curious as to our mission. We prayed as we approached the free speech area of SRJC and also discussed our battle plans. I say battle because we are in a real war. This war cannot be taken lightly and must be fought with prayer, preparation, and unity. I was the open air preacher, while Colin and John where on tract distribution and one=to=one conversations. I preached for ten minutes while students from the campus stopped to listen. There were no hecklers this time. We each had our share of one=to-one conversations in which the gospel was preached. In all things our goal is to lift up JESUS CHRIST that HE might draw all men unto HIMSELF. Praise HIM for the honor of knowing HIM

Book Fair

Not all events are the same. This day a friend and I went to the SR book fair. This was a sign event. I say that because most people were engaged in booths, so i walked around with my scripture sign proclaiming the name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST. We then walked to the bus depot were i preached to a crowd of people on the other side of the streets. As i began to preach about repentance...several hostile young homosexuals ran up on me and decided to get in my face. I firmly told them that there questions would be answered when my message was completed, and they stepped back. After i preached they came up on me again, but this time they were dancing and yelling nasty comments about our faith and LORD. I warned them of the day of judgement in which every word will be taken into account. As always..we point to JESUS CHRIST and the free gift of everlasting life HE gives..many are called but few are chosen. My friend Roger engaged a buddist priest dressed in full attire while I contiued down the street passing out tracts and preaching the gospel to groups of teenagers. One young man told me that he came from space dust..i simply told him about the foolishness of not believing in GOD and warned him of the dangers of rejecting JESUS CHRIST. As we were leaving we encountered a young atheist man..we engaged him for 20 minutes and prayed for him as we ended are conversation. It is so wonderful to proclaim what JESUS has finished!

Why Preach?

The LORD desires that none should perish..HE did come and die on the cross! That is radical love, and this love demonstrates HIS focus...to seek and save the lost! I desire to be about my FATHER'S business. I want to do HIS will on this earth, and I know HE is about saving souls. Therefore i pray to the LORD of the harvest that I might be sent forth. I believe HE uses every method possible to reach a soul before its entrance into eternity. These methods might include friends, neighbors, tracts, books, tv preachers, pastors, radio preachers, signs with scriptures, and street preachers. I personally will do whatever HE leads me to do...i can be gentle, and i can pull from the fire. The reason for preaching is because people are dying..i am dying, we are all dying. Eternity is no further than one breath away from each one of us..this is why. I will stand and give account for my life..i don't want to be ashamed of my life...in that i lived for myself..rather i desire to lose my life for HIS NAME and the gospel! PREACH THE WORD!

My young evangelist son!

Today my wife informed me that my oldest son Alec(6years of age) told her that he was bringing his bible to school, and that he was going to tell his entire class about how to get out of the lake of fire. My wife went to the womens group and all the ladies prayed for my son. When my wife picked up my son the teacher had something to say. She told my wife that Alec cannot talk about hell and eternal damnation anymore. The teacher stated the Alecs message was to offensive and was not allowed at public school. WOw! This kid really gets it! People are dying every day and entering eternity. He cares for their soul. This truly is the heart of our SAVIOR...to seek and save the lost. I praised my son for his boldness and encouraged him to share only at recess, so he won't be interupting the class time. This is the typical biblical reaction to someone sharing the gospel....hostility and an effort to silence the messanger...I think of Peter and John before the rulers and chief priests. Those bad guys tried to silence the message of CHRIST...but the apostles kept on preaching! Praise GOD for my amazing son!

My Beautiful Wife

I started working for the Safeway Deli in Petaluma shortly after recieving JESUS CHRIST. During this time i was attending Calvary Chapel of Petaluma. This was an extremely foundational place for me because this is where i became rooted and grounded in the WORD of GOD! I noticed that there were many beautiful women at this place, but none so beautiful as the amazing Elizabeth Mcdevitt. Of course I could never talk to her for she was out of my league...but I did wonder if GOD might give her for my wife. During this period a young lady came on staff in the deli. Her name was Olivia. Over the course of time she had heard me talk about the SAVIOR. I asked her one day if she wanted to believe on the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and she said yes. Her and I prayed right there in the deli and she became a born again christian. It turned out that this gal was actually cousins with the amazing Elizabeth from my church! When Elizabeth found out that some christian guy from Safeway had led her cousing to the LORD she was so excited. She came in to meet me ...even bearing gifts(she bought me a cross necklace). Right there in the deli i got her digits....4 or 5 weeks later we were married....talk about divine appointment!

Sonoma COUNTY Fair #2

It was late and Roger's family had just left my house. It had been on my heart all day...to go and preach the gospel at the fair. Roger had mentioned on our previous mission trip to the fair that preaching at closing time would be most effective. The idea of every person hearing the gospel brought joy and excitement to my heart. It brings such joy because it is the power of GOD that leads a man to salvation. HIS WORD is SPIRIT and LIFE..truly! So, i asked my wife and she said...GO! I hopped in my car on the last evening of the Sonoma COunty Fair and went. I set up my soap box and turned on my mic...i preached for 2 hours on sin, judgement to come, and the righteousness found through faith in JESUS CHRIST. I had many people come up to me to ask questions. I also had many people taking my picture. I assumed that they had never seen such a sight. I have found that GOD will use anyone, but we must step out. I being in the way....the LORD led me. So, i left that place knowing that GOD had used me to share the gospel with hundreds of people! How glorious is the KING OF HEAVEN that we would have the honor and priviledge of sharing HIS HOLY WORDS!

Sonoma County Fair Trip #1

I had been praying for the LORD to lead me in preaching the gospel, and the Sonoma County Fair caught my eye. Roger and I decided that the eastern entrance would be the best place to set up shop. WE had tracts, bibles, scripture signs, and a mic/with amp. We parked really far off and on our walk towards the fair grounds we encountered a small teenage group of what appeared to be possible gang bangers. We talked with the kids about sin and what JESUS did on the cross. I've come to understand that most people don't see sin as exceedingly sinful..but rather a small mistake....in actuality, sin is so horrible that GOD HIMSELF had to be nailed to a cross for us to be made right in HIS sight. We left excited that the LORD had a divine appointement scheduled for us before we even got to the fair! The LORD then led us right to a location designated "free speech zone." We then set up shop. Many people were standing in line and listening to us as we took turns preaching the gospel. Hords of people would come in and out of the fair every few minutes, and not to mention the many in the fair who had turned their attention to our message. We left super excited that the gospel had once again been proclaimed under heaven!

San Rafael Mission Trip

Our goal was to reach 100 people through preaching, one-to-one, tracts, and scripture signs. This goal was easily met. Roger and I marched down 4th st in San Rafael passing out tracts and talking with people. We ended up talking with a couple of groups of teenagers, and thus proclaiming the truth of GOD's WORD. We also pleaded with an athiest who was down on his luck. We poured out our hearts and shared the cross with this man, but still he rejected the truth. We almost always tell people not to wait until there last breath to call on the name of JESUS CHRIST because you just never know when that is. WHen will HE require our soul? That is why we go and warn people.
To my delight a line of people formed outside of a bakery co-op in the food court of downtown fourth street. So, i climbed up on the ledge and proclaimed mans wickedness in the sight of GOD and the love that GOD has shown on the cross of calvary. I proclaimed to these people that they would have to go before GOD and their books would be opened...and they would be judged according to what they had done. I warned them of the lake of fire and pointed to the only name given unto men by which we must be saved...the name of JESUS CHRIST.

Apostates at the door

It was a relatively quite day, and then there was a knock at our door. My wife answered and gently gestured for me to come to the door. WHen i arrived at my front door i was surprised to see that the LORD had specially delivered two mormon's for me to witness to. I didn't invite the men in, but rather closed my front door and stepped out onto the porch. The men told me they were out giving away the book of mormon, and then they proceeded to hand me the book. I politely declined and told them that the BIBLE is all I need. I then asked if they bumped into born-again christians alot. They said no and then i asked if i could share with them the major difference between us. I got the ok and then proceeded to explain to them that mankind(including them) was desperately wicked in the sight of GOD and there was not a single good work we could do to fix it. I then talked about the cross of JESUS CHRIST and how HE paid the penalty for our sins. I then told them to repent and put their trust in the risen GOD and SAVIOR or they would perish. I noticed that the leader was not feeling to comfortable having his platform taken out from under him. That's ok.....There is only ONE GOD and only ONE WAY...JESUS CHRIST!

SRJC adventure #4

This was the 4th adventure Colin and I had embarked upon at the SRJC. The day was a planned and prayed for endeavor. I took the free speech podium and proclaimed from Is53 about what CHRIST had accomplished and why HE had to do it. Colin circled the perimeter to give us an idea of how far my message would travel. In other words, how many people could actually hear what I was saying. My style and message attracted an agitated young man who disagreed with the open air approach. We began to dialogue for quite some time, and this attracted a small crowd of people who were curious as to what all the comotion was about. It was awesome because many people were hearing the logic behind my approach....that people are entering eternity every day and are in desperate need of the Savior. We often hear that are methods are ineffective, but that is wrong. I say this because we trust in GODS WORD and HOLY SPIRIT to convict men of sin and convince them of their need for JESUS CHRIST. Our mission is to warn men to flee from the wrath to come and find salvation In JESUS CHRIST. THere was a young gentleman who videotaped some of what happened and you can watch it under my video section. THE LORD will is so compelling in my heart. I am drawn to preach and share with people. I know HIM and what HE has done on the cross is so radical. I see no greater usage of time than to proclaim the name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST. Praise HIM forever!

THe PHOENIX

I began to pray for a partner to preach with. GOD sent me to a man who has known the LORD since 1942. Yep, that's way longer than i've been alive. I thought it quite the honor and shared with the man my heart for the hundreds of kids that go to the phoenix punk theatre every weekend. He agreed that we should go weekly and witness to these kids. We went many weekends and shared the gospel with many kids. The coolest experience was birthed out of this consistency. We met the owner of the phoenix...Tom. I decided to ask him if i could get on the stage, and that unannounced, in the middle of the craziest punk concert around. I wanted to preach the cross to people who didn't come for it, but rather for punk. He said Yes! We planned for 1 month out. I assembled a team of 7 petaluma calvarychapelites to assist me in bible distribution and one-on-one evangelism. Oh, my wife almost died during this 1 month waiting period! So, the night came and it was crazy! THe music was deaf metal...like screaming demons or something...and it was loud. There was about 80-100 kids there, and there was also a small moshpit. I was escorted to the backstage and instructed to run on stage as soon as the first band finished. So i did! As soon as i mentioned us standing before the HOLY GOD the crowd erupted. They spit in my face, cursed me, and chanted satan's name. Many tried to climb on the stage to get me. The security kept them away from me. I preached for about 5 minutes on the reality of GODS HOLINESS and our wickedness....and then i preached the cross! When finished i was scared to get off the stage, but i got an escort and made it out safely. 4 people came up to me after and shared how JESUS had touched their heart through the experience. Also, the team of 7 were all busy witnessing to the many kids. THis experience i will never forget.

THE SEBASTOPOL BARS

No, i don't drink anymore...but i'll go anywhere to warn people to flee from the wrath of GOD. Men often make light of heaven, but when faced with the reality of facing GOD on judgement day...wheeeeewww! I have met many christians or so-called at bars. I wonder...are these really christians? Are they super backslidden? OR are they tares? The reality is that i don't know, but i know the gospel. And so i share it and the reality of judgement day. These bar experiences yielded many one-on one encounters, and probably less business for the bar! The cool thing about stepping out and sharing the cross is that most people will engage you. And many of these people will let you pray for them...right there! WE shared and they heard...i wonder how many we'll see in heaven?

First time for signs

My wife and I see people waving signs everywhere! Stop the wars, sale, and carwash are the most common. This idea was birthed out of that. Lets get the gospel out on signs...for it is the power of GOD that leads a man to salvation. Who knows how GOD might use them. Perhaps a man driving reads my scripture sign that says whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved. So it is possible that this is the only scripture this man has ever read. Perhaps he is in a life or death situation and remembers..for it is the SPIRIT OF GOD who brings to our rememberance the things of JESUS. And so the man is saved before he dies...that was our thinking. So my friend and i suited up and headed for GUERNVILLE. We marched down the main strip proudly holding our banners for the LORD. We passed out tracts along the way and engaged many youth at the local bridge. WE hung out for about 1.5 hours and endured some harsh critisicm....but all for OUR SAVIOR JESUS.

PRISON experience

My dad is in prison for murder and has been there most of my life. My family and i often go see him and it is quite the undertaking. For starters you must be there at approximately 6:30 if you even want to get a number to get into the place. Once you have your number there is a long waiting period and most of it is outside. Well that's were this adventure was birthed out of. One time it was as though the LORD highlighted the crowd for me....you know..like a big flashing sign that says...tell us about the SAVIOR! Well, i went into the bathroom and got down on my knees. I asked the LORD that if HE wanted me to do this that boldness was needed. Well, GOD answers prayer! My son Alec and I walked up to this crowd of about 50-100 people and asked for their attention. The entire crowd went silent! I then preached about the reality of eternal damnation and the necessity of repenting and faith towards JESUS CHRIST! WHen finished i thanked the crowd and went on to my visit. I was so overwhelmed..i could hear people whispering about me in the visiting room....THe LORD had used a nobody.

Today's Salvation

In my little community are lots of youth. One benefit of having youth of my own is that it opens up doors to share with kids. Most recently i gave a young man a animated version of the entire bible in 45 minutes. This video emphasized the true nature of man...DESPERATELY WICKED and EVIL! It also revealed the true nature of my GOD....HOLY! Today the young man came to me and gave back the movie. I asked him if he was ready to give his life to JESUS CHRIST. The young man quickly responded with yes. I thought, yes! Yet, i knew that he needed to understand what he was doing. So, i asked him about what sin was...he replied "lying and murdering and doing bad things." I responded with a yes and emphasized how GOD is not like us in this way...in that HE never sins. I then asked him why JESUS died on the cross...he replied "for my sins." I said yes and emphasized that CHRIST was paying the penalty that we deserved. I then asked him if he believed JESUS was risen...he said yes! We then knelt and he asked JESUS to be his LORD. I'm praying that the LORD will establish this young man in HIS HOLY WORD and transform him into a disciple.

First Day of SCHOOL SRJC

My friend and I had decided that the SRJC campus was a spectacular mission field that was white and already for harvest. The fact that somewhere to the extent of 25000 students walked the campus throughout the week was drawing me. I myself being a student there know how antiCHRIST the campus truly is. The science teachers teach evolution and speak of the bible as of a myth. I hear of the so-called religous teachers who are rather satan's ambassador's...they mock christians and are aimed at disproving the bible...good luck! My friend went to his pastor to seek counsel on whether or not he should join me. What did he find...he was told that a group of them had been praying to the LORD about raising some people up and sending them to the campus! Talk about confirmation! So we went to the campus on opening day and set up shop at the crosswalk that divides the campus. Hundreds of students were passing by us every 10 minutes. I stood on the soap box and preached the message of the cross and that men should repent. My friend passed out tracts and held the picket sign. Many heads were turning, and we had many one on one conversations. We left so excited that hundreds of people had heard about how to escape the wrath of GOD.

Bohemian Grove Experience

One day i saw an advertisement for a Santana festival that would be happening in the ampitheater at Monte Rio. This place is called Satan's Layer because it is just below the notorious Bohemian Grove. My friend and I arrived at the place in anticipation of the show ending at 9 or 10. The layout of the town made it such that all the people from the festival would have to pass by us to leave, and this excited me. Our mission was to scatter GOD's HOLY WORD across the soil of people's heart, and then letting the HOLY SPIRIT OF JESUS due as HE pleases. WE set up our soapbox just outside the concert and each had a picket sign with scriptures on them. We also loaded up with prayer and tracts. Things went a little different then we expected. We thought that hundreds of people would pour out of this place at the end of the concert, but it was like a slow trickling stream of people. So, we spent much of our time handing out tracts and chatting with people one on one. We did encounter a guy who persisitently blashphemed the LORD and denied the infallibility of the WORD, but he heard the gospel......On a much better note two men recieved the LORD JESUS CHRIST and made a committment to live for HIM. We gave them bible literature and sent them off with prayers. We left excited that GOD had called us to such a exciting and scary mission!

Social Services experience

One morning at approximately 7:30 i was driving by the social services office in Santa Rosa. I was surprised to see a large line of people waiting eagerly to get inside. I then realized that this was a great opportunity to share the gospel. I found out that this is a regular thing..in that people have needs and they go to this place to get them met, and I knew that their greatest need was the salvation that JESUS CHRIST purchased for us on the cross. I was a little nervous, but knowing that JESUS was risen and was with me brought comfort and boldness. So, i planned for that same week. I got up at about 4:30 in the morning and spent time in HIS HOLY WORD and in worship. I was prepared but a little nervous. I drove to the place and arrived at about 7:30. I sat in my car for 10 minutes and watched the line get bigger and bigger...it reached the parking lot(50-100 people?) I then prayed and retrieved my soap box, microphone w/amplification, bible, and a bunch of tracs. I set up my box about 20 feet from the line and turned on my amp. I noticed heads turning in wonder as i stood up on my box. I then addressed the crowd from matthew chapter 6 about not worrying about everyday needs. The idea was to get across that man's greatest need was to obtain the righteousness that comes through faith in JESUS CHRIST. I recieved the crowds full attention with a few hecklers. When finished i got off my box and walked to the front of the line. I then handed out bible tracts to every person in line(minus the ones who wouldn't take them). I left that place with a great excitement. I was experiencing how wonderful it is to preach the CROSS of JESUS CHRIST.

My experience

My experience this adventure was one in which the Lord used my beautiful wife as an instrument of encouragement. It's been said that one's wife is the primary person God speaks to you through. Well for starters i felt as though a new demon had been assigned to me or something because of this new intimidation factor. My goal was to preach the gospel at the Santa Rosa Junior College...and this time it would be alone. I remember my wife telling me that if i didn't do it, then dinner would not be there for me. My wife being of one mind and heart only solidifies my sense of the Lord's calling to street preaching. I headed out for the college at approximately 10:30 A:m with the plan to preach for about 1 hour at the crosswalk that divides the campus. I noticed that there were not alot of kids migrating during this period, so naturally i got intimidated at the idea of standing up on my box for so few people. I then began to feel as though my prayers were wasted attempts..in that i prayed and didn't step out...for i had many hours in prayer in preparation. It's not a good feeling to pray for the Lord to use you...and then you do nothing! I then had a spontaneous idea to head to the area of the campus in which free speach was permitted from 12 to 1. I arrived at the location 30 minutes in advance, and yes i was still wondering if I was even going to do it. During this period i opened the Word and began to pick up where i left off that morning. I opened to the book of Mark and read 3 consequtive stories in which the Lord was speaking to me...the first was about not putting your lamp under a bushel...then...about the sower who scattered his seed, but didn't know how it was to grow...then about the JESUS calming the storm in response to the fear of the disciples....Here was the message i was hearing...Jim, don't be scared but let your light shine....scatter the Word and it will not be in vain...and don't be faithless because we've done this many times before. When 12 o'clock rolled around i noticed a man standing on the free speach podium and so i approached him. I asked him how long he would be, so i could have a turn. He in turn wanted to know my message...so we dialoged for approx. 10 minutes on the gospel and he absolutely rejected our Lord..but he heard. I then stood up on the podium and preached for 10 minutes on sin, judgement to come, and the righteousness which is by faith in JESUS CHRIST. I had two passing by hecklers, and about 50 students in the surrouding areas's curious as to what in the world was going on. I then engaged two students in which the gospel was revealed, yet they persisted to make light of the bible and those who believe it. I left that place with a great joy and peace in that God's Word was scattered and that He was working!