This last Saturday marked the beginning of the street market season in Portland Oregon! We were there to minister the gospel of our Lord to the crowds that came. I have to confess the weather at my house on the hill was foggy and rainy...I thought this would be a great day to stay home around the fire...But thank the Lord for my good Ukrainian brother, Paul, who had E-mailed these words to me ..., "Dear brothers, tomorrow Saturday Market will start! I'll be there ....Hope to see you! Luke 10:2!"
We began to arrive at the fountain at around 10:45am, gathered for prayer and set up our "Good News" station to preach the gospel. Brother Lafayette began the day with a message on the love of God extended to a lost world from John 3:16 and spoke of Jesus Christ as the only opportunity to receive the fullness of the Father's love. But if any man rejects the Son, they reject the only love God has provided for lost man."He that has the Son has life, but he that has not the Son has not life", 1John 5:12.
There were others who came to preach the gospel on the street. We had six different brothers sharing the speaking duties during our time there at the fountain! The Lord is raising up people to hold forth the gospel in this dark time. Brother Steve Dickensheets, who works in open air ministry with Ron Roman during the week at the Square, spoke the word more that once during the day. Brother Carlen, a brother I had met two weeks ago at the Square, also stood to preach very wonderfully a good Biblical presentation of the gospel with a clear voice and a fervent heart! It was wonderful to be there and witness the working of the Holy Spirit in so many 'regular folks' to reason out of the scriptures many times in the face of ridicule and mockery.
'Tracting'
I met Janelle, a young lady who came out with Christian bothers from her church to hand out tracts. She said that this was her first time out! We had many opportunities to speak to people one on one during the preaching. Many time people will stop and listen and seek out someone to speak to. There was one singular moment that happened while handing out tracts. I give out many different tracts, but there is one booklet that I offer entitled, 'What is a BIBLICAL CHRISTIAN?', by Albert N. Martin. Very few take these booklets as they have no interest in the subject matter, but I hold them out there believing that God works providentially to call people to Himself. A family passed by not showing any interest but after a few minutes past a boy of about ten years came running back, looked up asked me very clearly, "Can I have that book on Biblical Christianity?" You certainly can! And then he was gone as quickly as he had appeared. It makes you wonder what God is doing with this boys life!
Oh yea that verse Luke 10:2....speaks to this time...
Luke 10:2
Therefore said He unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
PSU Campus Ministry Report
Last week, on February 8th, we went to the PSU campus in Portland to pass out tracts and preach the gospel. I met with Pavel, his brother in law and a young lady from Saint-Petersburg, Russia, Nadezhda. Brother Pavel is from the Ukraine. We met him and his group last year while preaching down at the Skidmore fountain.
Brother Pavel preached the gospel in the face of sever mocking and ridicule for nearly an hour! I praise the Lord for this good brother who loves the Lord Jesus Christ and His kingdom. The young man that did most of the mocking took his place along side of Pavel, (Paul) and basically tried to disrupt the preaching of the gospel. But God granted Brother Paul grace to lovingly continue on preaching, talking and discussing with the people. Paul maintained a spirit of compassion and even respect toward the dedicated heckler! At one point the heckler asked to give Paul a hug! Pray for this young man (the heckler)...he has a great determination, that the Lord would call he him to life.
Lord, please glorify your name in this young man! Call him to life and ministry to magnify your eternal purpose before the unbelievers at the PSU campus!
Nadezhda, we would say Natasha, was out doing open air ministry for the first time! She reported to me that she felt the Lord calling her to travel and to do gospel ministry where ever the Lord would lead. Paul took the opportunity to invite Natasha to be with us and introduce her to biblical evangelism. She handed out tracts with an information page on the reasons to believe and to read the scriptures. The material was taken from Brother Ray Comfort's 'Evidence Bible'.
I was giving out material from the 'Back to Genesis' ministry, discussing the Mt St. Helen's eruption and how the evidence from the event support the record of Genesis 1-11. I even had a young man come back and thank for handing out 'substantive material'...the best he had seen and so on. I was quite shocked to be honest with you! PSU is very much in opposition to any thing Christian. Of course there was a gospel tract in each one with our church information. Every thing we do is an extension of the local church. We are striving to win souls and offer a church home for them to grow and serve.
Some may ask, "What kind of success do you have?" Well not much that we know of. I do not think we have had one person come to church as a direct result of street ministry. But we are not doing this for pragmatic reasons. We are preaching the Gospel in obedience to our Jesus Christ. We could ask the same question of Ezekiel, or Jeremiah! We are living in such times. Jeremiah was thrown in a pit for his faithfulness. But there is always a remnant of people who will follow the Lord. In this time of national sin and decline, it is important for the church to 'lift up the voice and cry out! God help us to be faithful to our calling. Time is Short!
So if you would like to come out with us, please contact me via e-mail. If you would like to pray for us in 'real time' while we are on the street please contact me via e-mail and I'll put you on our contact list...either e-mail or text. I hope to post some video of this event...it will be coming soon.
Stay tuned and pray for Portland....
Brother Pavel preached the gospel in the face of sever mocking and ridicule for nearly an hour! I praise the Lord for this good brother who loves the Lord Jesus Christ and His kingdom. The young man that did most of the mocking took his place along side of Pavel, (Paul) and basically tried to disrupt the preaching of the gospel. But God granted Brother Paul grace to lovingly continue on preaching, talking and discussing with the people. Paul maintained a spirit of compassion and even respect toward the dedicated heckler! At one point the heckler asked to give Paul a hug! Pray for this young man (the heckler)...he has a great determination, that the Lord would call he him to life.
Lord, please glorify your name in this young man! Call him to life and ministry to magnify your eternal purpose before the unbelievers at the PSU campus!
Nadezhda, we would say Natasha, was out doing open air ministry for the first time! She reported to me that she felt the Lord calling her to travel and to do gospel ministry where ever the Lord would lead. Paul took the opportunity to invite Natasha to be with us and introduce her to biblical evangelism. She handed out tracts with an information page on the reasons to believe and to read the scriptures. The material was taken from Brother Ray Comfort's 'Evidence Bible'.
I was giving out material from the 'Back to Genesis' ministry, discussing the Mt St. Helen's eruption and how the evidence from the event support the record of Genesis 1-11. I even had a young man come back and thank for handing out 'substantive material'...the best he had seen and so on. I was quite shocked to be honest with you! PSU is very much in opposition to any thing Christian. Of course there was a gospel tract in each one with our church information. Every thing we do is an extension of the local church. We are striving to win souls and offer a church home for them to grow and serve.
Some may ask, "What kind of success do you have?" Well not much that we know of. I do not think we have had one person come to church as a direct result of street ministry. But we are not doing this for pragmatic reasons. We are preaching the Gospel in obedience to our Jesus Christ. We could ask the same question of Ezekiel, or Jeremiah! We are living in such times. Jeremiah was thrown in a pit for his faithfulness. But there is always a remnant of people who will follow the Lord. In this time of national sin and decline, it is important for the church to 'lift up the voice and cry out! God help us to be faithful to our calling. Time is Short!
So if you would like to come out with us, please contact me via e-mail. If you would like to pray for us in 'real time' while we are on the street please contact me via e-mail and I'll put you on our contact list...either e-mail or text. I hope to post some video of this event...it will be coming soon.
Stay tuned and pray for Portland....
Monday, August 9, 2010
Ministry in Portland at Skidmore Fountain -Update
We have been preaching and handing out tracts at the Saturday Market near the Skidmore fountain. See the preaching on my YouTube channel. If you would like to join us we meet at the fountain at 10:30am each Saturday.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Thanks to My Partners on the Streets of Portland
It has been over a year since I have written a post. This is mostly due to my lack of enthusiasm for the work. It is very easy to grow cold towards the work of the ministry, especially the open air ministry of the gospel.
If you have read my earlier entries you know that my partner in ministry was Daniel Balter. Daniel made it clear to me last year that he did not believe in the diety of Christ....Yeh, you read that right. I love Daniel and pray for his repentence and salvation, but it has taken me a little while to return to the streets to minister. It should not have been that way but it was.
The Lord sent them out two by two to preach the gospel. There are reasons for this. First, I think that we need the support of a partner to encourage us when things get tough. Also, there is the training factor and then there is the 'watch my back' factor. It is always comforting to have a partner to watch out for the one who would disrupt or even attack the person preaching! And then there is the imprtant task of praying for each other and others on the street taking part in the gospel ministry.
The Lord has given me a brother to stand with on the street. Barry Gorter is very faithful to come down town and hand out tracts and keep an eye on things. This last week I was comtemplating whether or not to come down to the Saturday Market and I had just about "talked" myself out of it (I had to work that afternoon and I was worried about Rose Parade traffic) when Barry dropped a text on me, "Dost thou intendest to go down to Vanity Fair and listen to the Ruskies preach to the commies?" After calling Barry I learned that the Parade was not until next week.
Thanks for the encouragment Barry.
In addition to Barry, my sons Jim and Jon have come down to hand out tracts this year. We are usually at the Skidmore Fountain at between 10:30am and 10:45am, on Saturday.
If you have read my earlier entries you know that my partner in ministry was Daniel Balter. Daniel made it clear to me last year that he did not believe in the diety of Christ....Yeh, you read that right. I love Daniel and pray for his repentence and salvation, but it has taken me a little while to return to the streets to minister. It should not have been that way but it was.
The Lord sent them out two by two to preach the gospel. There are reasons for this. First, I think that we need the support of a partner to encourage us when things get tough. Also, there is the training factor and then there is the 'watch my back' factor. It is always comforting to have a partner to watch out for the one who would disrupt or even attack the person preaching! And then there is the imprtant task of praying for each other and others on the street taking part in the gospel ministry.
The Lord has given me a brother to stand with on the street. Barry Gorter is very faithful to come down town and hand out tracts and keep an eye on things. This last week I was comtemplating whether or not to come down to the Saturday Market and I had just about "talked" myself out of it (I had to work that afternoon and I was worried about Rose Parade traffic) when Barry dropped a text on me, "Dost thou intendest to go down to Vanity Fair and listen to the Ruskies preach to the commies?" After calling Barry I learned that the Parade was not until next week.
Thanks for the encouragment Barry.
In addition to Barry, my sons Jim and Jon have come down to hand out tracts this year. We are usually at the Skidmore Fountain at between 10:30am and 10:45am, on Saturday.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
A Great Day on the Streets of Portland
Today was a great day to be on the streets of Portland! The sun was out and hundreds of people received a gospel tracts. I was able to speak to a several who expressed some interest in perhaps visiting church. Joanna spoke to an elderly man that said flat out said that he would visit, but you never know just how serious they are.
I met groups from two other churches who were out sharing tracts with others today. We were encouraged and exchanged information for a possible 'big' tract day in the future.
Pray for those who received the tracts that God would use them to fulfill His perfect will.... Read More
Again I want to thank each and every one who came out!
I met groups from two other churches who were out sharing tracts with others today. We were encouraged and exchanged information for a possible 'big' tract day in the future.
Pray for those who received the tracts that God would use them to fulfill His perfect will.... Read More
Again I want to thank each and every one who came out!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Join the Easter Week End Mission
Join the Easter mission on the Square Saturday, April 11th, 2009. We are meeting tomorrow at the Starbucks corner at 12:00pm, Pioneer Courthouse Square. You can come to watch, pray and/or to pass out tracts with us. Dress for cool temperatures, showers with sun breaks (we hope) in the forecast. We generally are out til 1:30 -2:00pm.
Come out if you can, but by all means please pray us during this time, that the word of the gospel is received and that the Lord would grant to us boldness to offer the gospel in written and in spoken word as the opportunity arises.
Come out if you can, but by all means please pray us during this time, that the word of the gospel is received and that the Lord would grant to us boldness to offer the gospel in written and in spoken word as the opportunity arises.
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