July 4th - Independence Day - Ritter Park

The day started out with a bang...out of the gates I went..solo this time to Ritter Park. My goals for today were to honor my word that was given to Project Ezra and to those brothers and sisters around the world in Christ engaged in the public reading of Scripture and to share the gospel with as many as I could. Needless to say I was very nervous and wished I had some back-up. I then remembered that God was my back-up!! I started handing out tracts as people walked or ran around the park. Then I read 1 John publicly. People heard the Word proclaimed as they went by. After that I handed out more tracts around the park. Then I broke out some amplification for the open air time. (My first open air in Huntington, WV.) While doing my first session a guy named Chris walked up, sat and listened to the gospel being proclaimed. After I finished he walked over to me and we talked for quite some time. Chris thought because he went to church that made him a Christian. He understood he had broken God's law ...ect. He was very humble...I encouraged Chris to get right with God. He knew he needed to repent of his sins and put his faith in Jesus Christ. Hopefully I will get an e-mail from him soon. Pray for Chris. I then continued to open air two more times and was encouraged by several people. There was no better way to start the day then sharing the gospel on Independence Day....sharing the truth that God doesnt want people to live their lives independent of Him.....Keep Fishin!!

Freds Devotional - Acts 19: 18-20

Acts 9:18-20

There fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus. Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

This passage does not say that Saul "immediately" launched on a missionary journey around the Gentile world. It does not say that many people believed his testimony and were saved. But it does say that "immediately" (eutheos) after his conversion and baptism, Saul began to teach the truth of God and to make into students of God's truth those he contacted right where he was.

Here is another example of the carrying out of the terms of the Great Commission. Saul had not been there when Jesus told His followers, "Wherever you go (poreuthentes), teach (matheteusate) all people . . . to observe whatever I have commanded you" (Matt 28:19-20). But, filled with the Holy Spirit, he instinctively began to be a witness to the truth of God:

You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me. (Acts 1:8)

It has become clearer than ever to me as I have been reading the book of Acts, that it is filled with examples of the carrying out of the Great Commission. Acts gives us one convicting incident after another of the early Christians doing just what Jesus had commanded them to do. I find that I am repeatedly forced to ask myself whether I am carrying out the Great Commission. "Wherever I go" do I teach--as Saul did--the truth of God concerning the Deity and the sacrifice for our sins of God's Messiah?

There fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus. Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

Keep Fishin!!!

Biggest Team Yet

Wow, How amazing it was that all four of us were able to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ on Wednesday afternoon in downtown Huntington!! Bill Sikes, Dan Stokley, and Ben Craft and myself were the most fisherman that we had out on one day....actually able to hand out more tracts and talk to more people....we were very excited. Bill and Ben were able to talk to several people. Ben handed out a ton of tracts. Dan spoke with Vince, Keith and Sunny. Please pray for them. I had several conversations but the one I will mention here is with a guy named Kyle. Kyle was very open to hearing the Law and the Gospel. He understood it and said he would definitely think about it. I hope to see him again. Please pray for Kyle. Hopefully in the weeks to come I will be able to post some audio clips and maybe even some video. Until then ....Keep Fishin.

Fishing with Ben

Ben Craft ( who was on his first fishin trip ) and I made our way to downtown Huntington. He had a desire to to biblical evangelism in action. He also had "Did you get one of these?" down. He was excited and ready. As we were walking through downtown to give a tract to one guy, he turned around and told us to "get out of here with your Jesus stuff and stop doing what you're doing!". He was upset, so we replied that we were on a public sidewalk and that we would keep telling others about Jesus. Ben saw his first "heckler".
We first spoke with David. As we went through the Law, David tried to take us on a few rabbit trails..we quickly addresses those issues and came right back to the Law. As we spoke Davids countenance changed...he became less aggressive and saw we had a burden for him by the way we spoke to him with compassion and concern for his eternal destiny. He admitted to breaking the Law and said that He would spend eternity in Hell. He then said that he was very concerned about spending eternity in Hell because he didnt want to go there. We were able to share the gospel with David and He understood the message said it made sense to him and that he would not put his head down on his pillow without thinking about how he needed to repent and put his faith and trust in Jesus Christ for his eternal salvation. Pray for David.
Ronnie was sitting on a chair on the sidewalk downtown writing on his note pad. Described himself as a deep thinker and a good person. We went through the good person test and found out that ......He's just like the rest of us. He knew if he died tonight he would go to hell because he sinned against a holy God. He was concerned and was able to hear the gospel. He said that wasnt any sin in his life that he loved so much that he would spend eternity in hell for. He thanked us for sharing the message of the cross with him and said he would definitley think about what we said and that he knew he needed to repent of his sin and put his faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
I spoke with a big group of teenagers who all told me they were saved Christians. Of course, I asked them to tell ME how I could go to heaven if I had three minutes to live. Nobody could help me. I then able to share the gospel with one of them and the other four took off. Pray for this young man that he would think about what we talked about.
I went through the good person test with Tiara. After finding out that she was like the rest of us, Tiara still proclaimed that she was a good person and that God knew she was a good person. I shared Romans 3:10 with her and explained that she was creating a god to fit her beliefs...which is idolatry. She was concerned about spending eternity in hell and said she would think about all that we discussed. Pray for her.
We were walking by City Hall and the Mayor of Huntington ( who is a Mormon ) walked by us. We were able to talk with him for a moment about our city and let him know that we were praying for him..and of course, give him a million dollar bill. That was exciting.
We spoke with Ashley and Patti at the community college. We took them through the good person test and like everyone else, they failed too. They were concerned about spending eternity in hell and thanked us for sharing the gospel with them.
On our way back to the truck, I had a chance to meet James, a Huntington police officer. I was able to give him a copy of Tony Miano's booklet "Running Beyond Inspiration".
It was great to have Ben with me today at the pond. He said that he is looking forward to coming back. God was glorified today. Keep fishin!

Downtown Huntington

I woke up this morning thinking that there wont be too many people at Marshall today because finals are over. We drove through downtown looking around and didn't see too much activity. We decided to just park and check it out on foot. As soon as we got out of the truck, put our quarters in the meter people were just coming from the right and the left. Dan and I first spoke with Matthew who claimed he believed in a goddess and would be reincarnated. He admitted to breaking Gods Law...but in the same breath denied Him. He said he would be going to hell anyway since he led an alernative lifestyle. We stayed our course on the Law with compassion for Matthew but in the end after speaking with us for about 10 minutes threw the tract back at us and walked away. Please pray for Matthew.
Dan conversed with Chris who was on his smoke break. Dan would come to find out the Chris had a patchwork theology. He took what he liked from each different religion and made his own. We told him that was idolatry..making a god in your own image. His co-workers called him in.......He took two Obama Millions. Pray for Chris.
We made our way towards the Big Sandy Arena and spoke with Tara and her two friends. It felt like a mini-open air. They were very receptive to going through the Law and the Gospel. Tara's whole demeanor changed going through the Law then the Gospel. "I understood and it made sense", she said!!! In fact her two friends were shaking their heads and agreeing that they too understood and thought it made sense. Tara and her friends said they would consider what we talked about. They thanked me for sharing the gospel with them. Praise God and pray for Tara and her friends.
Our last conversation took place in front of Huntington Community College. Spoke with Tiffany, Classy, and another young man. Mini open-air. Two of them admitted if they died right now they would go to hell. All three people were very receptive to the Law and the Gospel. They all understood what they heard. Tiffany and I spoke for several minutes. She asked if I knew of a good church that she and her son could go to. I gave her the name of my church and I hope she walks through the doors on the days to come. Please pray for Tiffany, Classy and the young man. All in all on a day when I thought not much was gonna happen (because of most of the college kids going home)...God had other plans and He gave us a wonderful day to proclaim the story of redemption and forgiveness to a lost world. Its all for His glory....Keep Fishin.

New Fisherman At Marshall....Dan Stokley

We had a great day at "The Pond". I was able to meet up with fellow fisherman Dan Stokley. Ya'all know that I have been praying since before I left Jacksonville, FL for some faithful men who just love Jesus like nobodies business and want to proclaim the truth of the Gospel to the community. So over the past two weeks I have had both Bill Sikes and Dan Stokley with me out on the pond at Marshall University. What a blesssing these two guys have been to me. I just get so excited just watching them in action...sharing the most awesome message that the world will ever hear. Whether by word or simply handing out a tract...they are Glorifing God!! Thank you for your prayers. Keep Fishin.

Proclaiming the Truth

Me and Bill hit the pond today desiring one thing...that God would be Glorified with our words and the way we present the Gospel. We desire to speak that truth with a compassionate heart. We started off sharing with a group of guys....two of them engaged in conversation. Jonathan grew up in a Christian home, went to church growing up and then joined the military. When he got back from serving he found some things had happened to the church that he didnt like..he said he was let down and hurt. He described himself as living dangerously kinda guy. He didnt try to play Christian..He knew he wasnt one and said he would not pretend to be one like he had seen so many others do. Man will always let you down....you can tell who the play actors are.... Dont put your faith in men.
Jonathan heard the law and the Gospel and knew that he was living life under his own authority and not Gods authority. Please pray that Jonathan would think about the things we spoke of and repent of his sins and put his faith in Jesus.

We spoke with James next and were able to go through the Law and Gospel with him. He understood and we gave him a Bible. Pray for Jonathan and James. Keep Fishin