We've moved!!!

the end of the beginning...

Well, this is the last post on this site, we have now moved to "A Form of Sound Words". All the posts in this blog have been transferred to the new site, but I'm afraid I was unable to transfer the comments. I'll keep trying, but no guarantees.

So...come on and join us!

IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!!

we're on the move...

A Pattern of Sound Words is getting a make-over! It will soon be changing names and URL. Why? That will be the subject of my first post on the new site. What is the new name and URL? I'll let you know soon.

All previous posts will be transferred, so no past entry will be lost. I will leave A Pattern of Sound Words up for awhile to make sure my traffic is aware of the change.

Sorry for the inconvenience,

A Heart for the Lost - Part IV

the conclusion of the matter...

The parting shot for this series on having "a heart for the lost" is this: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Now I don't know most of the Christians who come to my blog, but I'll bet most of you do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING when it comes to mass evangelism. If you feel bad right now, that's a good thing. It's a good thing because that at least means that the Holy Ghost is convicting you of something you should be doing. If you have read these 4 last posts and don't feel at all bad about not taking part in mass evangelism, well, what can I say other than: that's pretty pathetic.

Let me echo the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 4:9-13, and allow me to edit the verses to my particular situation:

"For I think that God hath set forth us the evangelists last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day."

Now I praise God that, unlike Paul, I have never gone without food, clothes or shelter, but there is no question we've been buffeted, reviled and persecuted. And what have you gone through for the sake of the Gospel?

You know, there are thousands of born-again believers in my city. THOUSANDS! There are 3-7 men who do open-air evangelism. By my estimation, that's about 0.1-0.3%.

P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C!!!

Consider the Philadelphia 11. Now I have been told that there was actually 20 of them out there with Gospel signs at the homosexual parade. So let's go with 20. How many born-again believers are in Philadelphia? WHERE ARE THEY ALL??? Their Christian brothers are standing for the Truth against the vilest of sexual sins, and are being taken to the courts for it, and Christian Joe Average goes home from work at night, gets word of what is going on, shakes his head in disappointment, and then sits in front of a re-run of Seinfeld.

P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C!!!

Christian brothers and sisters, I don't want to guilt trip you into action. I'm appealing to your sense of compassion, solidarity and duty. We need you with us. WE REALLY DO! Every Friday night, it's me and two other men on one side, and the WORLD on the other. Now don't get me wrong, my faith is strong, I know that with God, one man can do incredible things (just look at Jonah's preaching to the Ninevites), but friends, why not comfort your brothers and sisters who evangelize in spiritual dry times.

In closing, I beg you, don't hide behind passages like 1 Corinthians 12. Don't say you don't have the gift for evangelism. The Great Commission is an unqualified statement. Christ did not say: those of you who have the gift, preach the Gospel. We are ALL to take part in the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Do I believe some have a spiritual gift from God that makes them especially proficient in evangelism? You bet I do! I go preaching with such a man every Friday. Does that mean that he should be the only one street preaching. NO WAY! I assure you, I have no "natural" talent for street preaching, but after 5 years, I've become better and better at it, and the Lord has blessed me.

So what will it be my friends? Will you continue neglecting your responsibilities to the lost? Or will you develop a heart for the lost?

A Heart for the Lost - Part III

time to get to work on one...

I became a street preacher out of a sense of duty, that's the plain truth. I didn't care about the people I preached to, I just cared about supporting my pastor in a difficult ministry. It took two years for me to learn a series of biblical doctrines/concepts that cause me to not only realize the importance of mass evangelism in all people who call themselves Christians, but to do it with compassion and zeal.

Here are some of the Bible doctrines/concepts in question:


1- God COMMANDS us to evangelize:


"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)

"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matthew 28:18-20)

Preaching the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to family and friends only? Uh...no. We are to preach to "every creature"!

With this point alone, Christians who don't evangelize are without excuse. God could not have put it any clearer. If you are born-again, you should be bringing the Gospel to the lost; it's called obedience to the Word of God my friends.


2- Obedience to the Great Commission is an act of love/affection to Christ.


"If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15)

The Great Commission is a commandment. Do you love God enough to present the Gospel to "all creatures"?


3- For the most part, the Gospel of Christ is NOT popular (get used to it!):


"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to DESTRUCTION, and MANY there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto LIFE, and FEW there be that find it." (Matthew 7:13-14)

If you, through evangelism, expect to save the world, YOU ARE HEADED FOR ONE HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. The Lord hasn't willed to save "the world", He has made clear that "few" will have eternal life. The Lord could bless you by bringing a revival in your part of the world, and you may indeed bring many to a saving knowledge of Christ, but even in the greatest revivals of the past, the number of unbelievers usually remained higher than the number of saints.


4- Preaching the Gospel brings persecution (I can personally guarantee this one):


I often have believers, who know I'm a street evangelist, relay to me stories of how they brought the "gospel" to their community and how wonderfully it was received. Following such a testimony, the question I immediately ask is: "so, the people repented?" If the answer is "yes", then praise God! If the answer is "no", then they weren't bringing the Gospel.

There are all sorts of gimmicks out there used by "Christians" that attempt to make the Gospel of Christ more palatable to the ungodly. You know what I mean: gimmicks like giving gifts/services to unbelievers as an "in" to bring the Gospel (isn't that deception? And yes, I was guilty of this with my "coffee ministry"); gimmicks like only using "sweetheart" bible verses when preaching to the lost; gimmicks like using wordliness to make the Gospel cool. These gimmicks are heresies, and these "Christians" are fools. The Bible says:

"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. " (John 15:18-21)

"For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?" (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)

The Bible makes it clear, if they persecuted the Lord Jesus because of His preaching, persecution will come to us who follow and preach His teachings. If the world approves your preaching, then you are not preaching the Truth.


5- God will save:


"For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." (1 Corinthians 1:21)

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" (Romans 10:13-15)

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)

What a blessing! You see it doesn't matter if you devote your whole life to evangelism without seeing one soul repent. Why? Because it is God who saves. How does He save? Through the preaching of His Word. Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9b), not of you, and not of "you + the Lord". Let me be clear here: If you preached the Gospel 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you wouldn't win over the soul of one single sinner that the Lord had not predestined to salvation.

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he SHALL save HIS PEOPLE from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)

"All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37)

So if the amount of evangelism, or devotion to evangelism, doesn't influence who goes to Heaven or not, why do it? Go back to point (1) and (2). Do you love God? Well, if you love Him, you'll obey Him; and through obedience to evangelism, the Lord may bless you in using you to bring other souls into the kingdom.


6- Remember how you came to know Christ:


If you are still wondering how to have a "heart for the lost", consider these verses:

"And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" (Zechariah 3:1-2)

"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1)

You see, you were lost once too. And the Lord surely used someone, or a group of people, to bring you the Truth of the Gospel. I'm sure you are thankful to these souls, and thankful that the Lord used this person (or group) to bring you into the Kingdom of His Dear Son.

Don't you think it would be good for you, now saved, to be a blessing to someone who doesn't know Christ?

(to be continued...)

A Heart for the Lost - Part II

you really need one...

It was three years later. A lot had happened. I had gotten married. My wife and I had moved to another city only to return a short time later. Spiritually, I had become convinced of the Doctrines of Grace and Ecclesiastical Separation, but my problem with evangelism remained.

Then, one night, the Spirit got involved. My wife and I were walking towards our car after having a good dinner at a Thai restaurant. We walked past the home of a pastor I knew who just happened to be a street evangelist. As we were walking by, I saw the pastor coming out of his house with a couple of gospel signs in one hand, and a small amplifier in the other. He looked quite uncomfortable.

"Hello Pastor", I called.

"Hello Rand, nice to see you again", he replied.

"Going out preaching tonight?" I, stupidly, enquired.

"Yep, going fishing for men!", he answered with a smile.

I smiled back, wished him well, and my wife and I started for the car again. And that's exactly when the Spirit got to work. You see, I would have been fine if I had just kept my eyes on my parked car, but you see, I turned around and looked at the pastor walking away.

There is NO WAY I can accurately described what I saw and the feeling that entered my heart as I watched my pastor-friend walking, with both hands full, towards the most wicked part of town on a Friday night. He was alone, he was going to bring the Gospel to a group of people who hated God, and me? I was going to my warm home, to have a relaxing night in with my wife. I couldn't stand it.

I stopped, looked at my wife and said:

"I can't do this, baby. I got to give him a hand."

"You really want to do this?", my wife enquired excitedly.

"No...but I still have to do it," I muttered uncomfortably.

I then yelled out to the pastor and offered to help him carry his signs. He gladly accepted my offer, and we all walked to the marketplace together.

THE NERVES!!! OH! THE NERVES!!! Everyone was looking at me. Some mocked and some cursed, but I wasn't looking to the right, or to the left, I was going to help my friend IF IT KILLED ME! Once we arrived at a street corner of the market, my pastor set his amplifier down, gave me some gospel literature to pass around while he preached the Gospel. I was sweating like Niagara Falls, and my trembling scored a 7.0 on the Richter scale, but I toughed it out.

Now you may think: "oh! that's how he developed a heart for the lost!" Let me assure you, you are WAY OFF! You see, on that particular night, I wasn't in the marketplace out of compassion for the unbelievers that were around me (to be totally honest...I pretty much loathed 99% of them), I was there to support and stand with my friend.

So how DID I come to be a street preacher? How DID I come to have compassion of the lost? Stay tuned...part III is coming up...

A Heart for the Lost

do you have one???

Compassion for those who are without Christ didn't come easy to me. My attitude, like way too many Christians today, was to be a witness to the people in my immediate surroundings, as in family, friends and neighbours, and that's it! I would wait for opportune times to mention something about the Faith, knowing that, at worst they would respectfully reject what I proposed, at best they would receive my testimony. Then I joined a church that had a MAJOR emphasis on missionary work.

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Matthew 28:19)

These verses, known as the "Great Commision", were posted everywhere in the church, and they had an impact on me. I realized that the Great Commission was an unqualified statement directed at all believers...and that included me. I also realized that just bringing the Gospel to the people around me was not the Great Commission; it was more like the "little endeavour".

So I started looking for ways to reach my community with the Word of God. I quickly dismissed any kind of direct mass evangelism, because I was WAY TO SCARED! I figured: anyone as petrified of public speaking as I was, just didn't have the "gift" for that kind of thing. I therefore opted to start a "coffee ministry". Two or three times a week, I would prepare a few thermos of coffee, and would bring the hot drink to street people on cold winter nights. I took the opportunity to get to know the poor souls and would attempt to reach them with the Gospel.

It was a good experience, but there was a problem: none of these guys wanted anything to do with the Gospel. So many Christian groups are involved with street people, that I found myself being the 1,003,349 person to try to reach them with the Gospel of Christ. I quickly realized that I most likely wasn't going to see a lot of people come to a saving knowledge of the Truth through my ministry.

That was a big problem for me. All this was going on before I came to an understanding of the Doctrines of Grace, so I actually believed that if I presented the Gospel right, if I reached out with enough "heart", then I would see many come to salvation. Well, I was going out several times a week, pleading the cause of Christ, and...well...nothing.

After a couple of years, I was really getting depressed over the whole situation, so, I gave up. I went back to my original position on evangelism, and there I stayed for about 3 years.

To be continued...

Friday Night Notes

Went fishing...for men...

Well, another cold Friday night of street preaching in the bag. We preached for 3 hours, bringing the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ through open-air preaching, Gospel literature and Gospel signs. My pastor and I were out tonight, and a pleasant surprise, one of our Lord's Day "regulars" came out with us for the first time tonight. He carried the Romans 6:23 sign around a distributed Gospel tracts. It was nice to have another man with us tonight; there is comfort in numbers.

Nothing really noteworthy took place though. There was plenty of mockers and hearts that were pretty hard against the Gospel, but the Lord kept us safe, and He made sure we spread His Word around downtown. It's a bit depressing seeing all those people reject the Gospel, but all I can do is preach the message, and wait to see what the Lord will do.

"It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD." (Lamentations 3:26)

Well, it's late, and it's been a busy day. Time for bed.

Good night, dear readers,

Part IV: Are you saved?

Are you one of God's children?

This is by far the most important question you can ask yourself. Did Christ save you from your sin? Or in different terms, are you born-again? You may have heard the term "born again Christian" before, but do you know what it means? Is it a reality in your life?

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3)

"Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)

You see, from these verses, that if you are planning on Heaven, being "born again" is NOT AN OPTION. Remember, in Part II, when I mentioned that we were sinners by birth, well that is why the Lord requires a Second Birth. You see, when you were born physically (from your mother), you were born under the condemnation of sin, you were therefore "spiritually dead". When a person is "born again", he is born spiritually!

"And you hath he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1)

"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses" (Colossians 2:13)

So how does a person become "born again"? How does a person get saved?

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19)

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Romans 10:9)

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

First thing you have to understand from these verses is that salvation isn't attained by any kind of work. You can't DO anything to save your soul. It is a gracious gift of God. Secondly, a person who truly desires to be saved understands he/she must "repent". Repentance means "changing your mind", more specifically, changing your mind about sin. A person who wants to continue sinning their way through life, doesn't want to be "saved". Thirdly, it is by faith, by believing in Christ that people are saved. Now this faith isn't just believing that there was or is a Jesus out there; even demons believe that there is a Jesus out there. No, no, believing here is more like saying: "I believe in you". Get it? When you tell a friend that you believe in him/her, you are not telling them that you believe that he/she exists, you are saying that you have faith in them, that you trust him/her. That's how you must come to trust Christ, both as Saviour and as Lord. But...

"How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" (Romans 10:14a)

In order to have faith in Christ, you have to know Him. Logical right? And if you want to know him, you'll have to...

"Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near" (Isaiah 55:6)

"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)

That's right, if you want to know the Lord, you'll have to seek Him. Now in this church age, God doesn't physically appear to any person. So where do you seek him? Easy...

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation" (Isaiah 52:7a)

"But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." (John 20:31)

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17)

The Bible my friends! Reading and hearing the preaching of the Word of God is how a man or a woman, today, can seek God. The Bible is the means by which we can know who God is, and what He requires of His children. The testimony of the Bible is what God uses to save His people from their sin.

So the conclusion of the matter, dear readers: do you know the Lord Jesus Christ (the Christ of the Bible, not some false concept of Jesus you may have learned from a false religion or philosophy)? Are you born again? Are you leading a HOLY, GOD-HONORING LIFE (in this life). Are you sure you are going to God's HOLY Heaven when this life comes to an end, to glorify God forever? Remember, there is NO PURGATORY. It's Heaven or it's the Lake of Fire: either the Son of God has saved you and you are going to Heaven, or the Lord Jesus Christ hasn't saved you, meaning you will suffer for your own sin in Hell forever.

If the answers to the questions above are "no" or "I'm not sure", don't waste your time. Seek God while you can! You don't know how long God will give you life, you don't know when Christ will return to judge the Earth in righteousness. Wipe the dust of your Bibles! Find and go to a Bible believing, Bible preaching church! Whatever you do, SEEK THE LORD!

Don't harden your hearts, friends. Don't put it off for a later time (a later time may never come). Take these posts SERIOUSLY, what you decide to do with all this will determine your spiritual destiny for this life, AND THE ONE TO COME.

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Galatians 6:7)