Streetfishing links and personal journal

Are You Ready?

2009-09-19T22:34:00.000-07:00

Are You Ready for Judgment Day?

The Bible says that everyone will stand before God to give an account of every word, thought, & action. Will you be innocent or guilty on Judgment Day?

Let’s look at the Ten Commandments to see if you meet God’s standard. Is God first in your life? Do you love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? Have you ever lied, stolen, hated, or dishonored your parents? Have you looked with lust and therefore committed adultery in your heart? If you have broken just one of these laws, then you have sinned against God. The Bible says “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The penalty of sin is death and eternal torment in hell. The good news is that God provided a way out. Jesus Christ took your punishment when he suffered under God’s wrath and died on the cross. He defeated death by rising from the dead.

God now commands you to repent (turn from your sins) and trust in Him alone to save you. Nothing you can do can please God. No amount of good works will get you to heaven. Repent and trust in Him today. You may not have tomorrow! Read the Bible daily and obey what you read. Please visit www.TheGoodPersonTest

Class Comments

2009-01-31T06:35:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for attending the evangelism class we recently had at Calvary Chapel Queen Creek. I enjoyed having you all there. Please leave comments, questions, suggestions, or concerns by simply clicking "comments" at the bottom of this post. If you wish, you may remain anonymous. My goal is to learn from this experience and know how I can do it better.

Thanks again,

Robert

Disclaimer: Please Read

2008-08-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

As one of a zillion bloggers on the web, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that we are a community that LOVES to talk (write) about just about anything. StreetFishing is primarily interested with personal evangelism and issues effecting today's evangelical christian church. We link to many other blogs and web sites that share our interests. Part of the reason to do this is to increase circulation of this blog. In return, those blogs and web sites often return the favor by linking to us, thus increasing their circulation. Just one of those things us bloggers do to help us get heard.

Although I take a good amount of care in being selective in what blogs and web sites I link to, I cannot be in any way responsible for what they post. Neither this ministry, nor I personally necessarily agree with or endorse all comments, blogs or articles posted by those entities that I link to. This includes any and all contributing authors.

Please use your own God-given discernment with what you read. If you find anything objectionable or what you may think is inconsistant with this blog/ministry, by all means pass it along to Robert for further review and possible removal.

Good to meet you!

2008-03-18T16:21:00.000-07:00

If you are visiting because someone handed you a million dollar bill and said "Did you get one of these," Read on for some important information.

Chances are, you had a pretty interesting conversation with me or someone on our team. If so, it's our hope that the message you received was clear and revealing to your conscience. If you have repented and trusted Jesus Christ as your savior, please take a look at this link for some practical steps that will help you grow.

If you got a million dollar bill as you past by me and your here out of curiosity, please click here for an honest self-examination of your standing before a righteous and holy God.

You can also email me directly with questions or comments at th3zs@aol.com

Thanks for visiting,

Robert--also known as

Why Donate?

2008-03-07T00:51:00.000-08:00

Up to this point, I have funded StreetFishing from my personal finances. However, as we expand and continue to reach out to our community, even the "little" things can become expensive; Tracts, water bottles and refreshments (for skate/bike park and basketball court outreaches) as well as homeless care kits etc. can all get expensive after awhile.

The quickest way to donate would be to use paypal (see the "donate" button at the top right side of this page) although this is not tax deductible. Any donation is greatly appreciated and will be put to good use. Don't forget that the best "donation" you can give is your continued prayers for this ministry.

Exciting News!

2008-02-14T06:23:00.000-08:00

I applied for the Amabassadors' Alliance training from Living Waters not really expecting to get a callback. They are only accepting fifty applicants per session and this will be the very first one. Much to my surprise, I got a call from AA's director Tony Miano informing me that I had been accepted. It will take place at the end of April. There will be three days of intense training from Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron, Tony Miano and others at the ministry. This will include a great deal of the time being spent "on the streets" witnessing and street preaching open air! Please pray that God will be glorified in this training and that I will learn much from this experience. Please also pray for the leadership over at Living Waters in this new ministry indeavor.
--Rob

Giving An Answer

2007-03-28T07:02:00.000-07:00

Many times when streetfishing, I run into professing Christians. When I go to hand them the tract they'll say, "Oh, I'm already a Christian." "Great!" I reply. "If someone were to come up to you and ask you what it means to be born again, what would you tell them?" That's were it gets a little complicated. Originally, I asked this question to probe deeper into their profession of faith as there are more and more false gospels being taught. But I quickly found out that even solid believers stumble over this question. For a quick example of this, click here to listen to a recent conversation I had with a Christian bookstore clerk.

... The purpose of this "experiment" is not to make people doubt their salvation...

Before putting all of my friends and family to the test, I decided to write this article as an encouragement. The purpose of this "experiment" is not to make people doubt their salvation although it might be evidence of just that for some. I realize that catching someone off gaurd and asking them a question like this really puts them on the spot. Especially if I have a microphone stuck in the their face. My hope is that it serves as a refresher. In a world where the gospel is becoming increasingly watered down, we need to have a solid understanding of what the truth is.

What it boils down to is four basic questions: Who is God? Who are we? What are the consequences? And what is the answer for man?

Who is God? God is righteous, soveriegn, perfect and holy in everything that he does. He is the center of everything and the creator of everything and the very definition of goodness and perfection.

Who are we? Man was created in God's image and for His glory. Because of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden and the resulting curse, We have a sinful nature. We have offended God by breaking His laws in many ways in thought and deed.

What are the consequences? Because God is righteous and holy, His standard is absolute perfection. God is also eternal, and even the "smallest" of sins are of eternal significance to Him and eternally punishable. That is why Hell is a reasonable and just punishment for mankind. Because sin is such an offense to God, no amount of good works can undo my sinfulness.

What is the answer for man? Because God is so good, and knew that I would sin, for His glory, He provided a plan that was merciful and kind. This was the salvation He made possible by coming to the earth Himself; Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, living a perfect, sinless life so that He could be made the perfect sacrifice for my sins once and for all. Only God Himself could pay such a debt. By doing this, God has accounted or imputed to us His righteousness so that we can stand before Him and go to Heaven. It is the free unmerited gift of God; His grace.

We receive this gift through repentance and faith. By repenting, or turning from our sin and placing our trust in the Savior, we are forgiven not because we are now good, but because we are bad people who have been forgiven by God.
_________
Some of this was adapted from an explanation Todd Friel gave on Way Of The Master Radio

To listen to all of my audio witness encounters, go to streetfishing.blogspot.com

Robert

Done with me

2007-02-11T18:34:00.000-08:00

I’ve just finished witnessing to a man. Assuming I’ve given him a clear, biblical presentation of the gospel, what comes next? What does it mean to be “born again.” I want to make sure that it’s clear before we part ways. After all, I’ll probably never see this person again.

Some of this I’ve learned from the various teachings of The Way of The Master, others witnessing and from my own experiences. If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m not a big fan of using the “sinner’s prayer” or working to get “decisions” on the spot. You can read more about that in my last article “What about a sinner’s prayer.”

What I think I must do though, is give him an idea of what the process is. I might say something like this:

“Okay, we’ve been through the commandments to really define sin. Now think about all the different ways you’ve offended God. Your thoughts as well as your actions. Then think about Jesus Christ, God Himself, having been beaten, scourged, spat upon and mocked, gasping in unthinkable pain dying on a cross for you and me. It should break your heart that you have offended the God that has given you everything; life, food, family, health, a job…everthing. Tell Him you are sorry and repent (turn from, forsake, abandon your sins) putting your faith and trust in Jesus alone. This is what it means to be “born again” (John 3:3). I t is a complete death to self. An ‘I am done with me and my sins!’ If you throw yourself on the mercy of God, He will hear you and forgive your sins and He will begin to change you from the inside out.” Then you will be forgiven not because you are a good person who is working their way into God’s favor, but a bad person who has repented and been forgiven by God through His Son’s perfect payment for your sins.”

They may want to pray on the spot and if so, that’s great! I will tell them to just talk to God right now and then pray for them afterward. If they don’t want to do that however, I will always send them off urging them not to let another day pass without considering the cost of rejecting God’s offer. I sometimes suggest Psalm 51 as an example of repentant prayer. After they leave, it’s time to pray and trust that the Holy Spirit is at work.

Each time I go out to witness, I feel fear creeping in and so will you, but that’s okay. It just a reminder to be totally reliant on God for strength and courage. The great evangelist Charles Spurgeon said this: “All men who are imminently useful are made to feel their weakness in a supreme degree.” Every time we share our faith, it’s so important that we have already bathed it in prayer because the flesh is weak and self serving. Preparing by calling on the God of the universe will give you the strength you need.

What about a sinner's prayer?

2006-12-25T16:28:00.000-08:00

The question has come up as to why we don’t use the sinner’s prayer when we are witnessing to people. Especially those who seem to have been convicted and seem like they are open to Jesus. Let me say that I have never felt comfortable in leading someone in that prayer. My experience with it left me feeling like I had left something unfinished or that I hadn’t quite closed the encounter just right. I did a little research and I can’t quite pin point when this became part of the evangelism encounter though it looks like it’s only been around about 150 years or so. We certainly do not find it in the bible, and that is where I think the problem lies for me . In any case, it’s safe to say that it is a method with an honest intention of helping lead people to Christ, which may include the danger of leading someone into a false assurance of salvation. It is safe to assume that the perspective of this modern tool is the result of recent tradition and not from any biblical precedence.

Some treat it as the authoritative formula for conversion. That is “If you say this prayer, and really mean it, you’re saved.” We know of course that it is the act of repentance and faith. Coming before God with the knowledge of our exceeding sinfulness and need for a savior is the required “heart condition” for true conversion. Actually, as an evangelist, the realization of this freed me from the pressure of feeling like I wasn’t doing my duty without a neatly packaged close. Lately, it would not be unusual for me to simply plead with someone to really think twice about letting another day go by without carefully weighing the truth of the Gospel message, thanking them for their time and leaving it at that. I can trust the Holy Spirit to do the converting. If I suggest any prayer model at all, it would probably be Psalm 51 which is an excellent model of repentant prayer. But I would not read it aloud and ask them to repeat it. I would present it as an example of repentant prayer and that if they wanted to reach out to God this way, they certainly could.

I don’t know what is going on in a person’s heart during a witness encounter. I can observe body language and tone of voice, but ultimately, it’s between them and God. What I’m observing may be emotions, feelings or even misunderstanding of the Gospel. We are called to preach the Word and call people to repentance and faith but nothing is said about “closing the deal.” Todd Friel of Way of the Master radio, states it like this: “Our theology informs our methodology. We preach the Word clearly trusting that God is going to do the converting and if He is indeed saving them, they are going to find a quiet place where they can repent and trust in the Savior.”

No one has to pass a theology test to become a Christian. I am sure that many have begun their Christian lives with a sinner’s prayer and have gone on to serve God faithfully. But the truth remains that this would be the result of a right understanding of the Gospel and a trusting faith in the Savior and not because of a prayer in and of itself.

--Robert

Here we go!

2006-12-15T14:12:00.000-08:00

One of the ideas I had been throwing around in my head since the original outings with the class from church, was going out to the various college campuses. It took me awhile to get up the courage to actually call Maricopa community college district to see what their policies were concerning us being on their campuses. It took me even longer to set up some dates for us to go share Jesus there. The people in the student life center at Chandler/Gilbert CC were initially kind of irritated with what we wanted to do there but I think after seeing that we didn't carry megaphones or sandwich boards that read "TURN OR BURN," they eased up on their presuppositions about us.

I was encouraged by the response from students. The rudest reaction we got was merely being ignored or waved off with an "I'm good" from a quickly moving speed walker. Actually, the conversations were engaging. I think that college age people are more willing in general to discuss life issues and controversial subjects. Whatever their reasons for giving us the time of day, we were there for one reason: To preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.