Dover Center and Center Ridge in Westlake - 9/16/09

Today, I went back to the intersection of Dover Center and Center Ridge. I originally posted this as Dover Center and Detroit- I apologize for that. I have three places on Dover Center I like to go to. The last time I was at this intersection was about 2 weeks ago, on 9/3/09. Today, I went at a different time- from 1:15 to 2:45. It was a very windy day and it was a bit chilly- fall is definitely around the corner.

Today was a quiet day as in I didn't talk to anyone, but I did give a wave or two in support. I also heard someone yell out to me what sounded like, "Grow up!" A woman walked by and I asked her if she got her million dollar bill. She said, "I don't think so." She looked at my cross and asked me, "What are you doing?"

I said, "Promoting the Gospel."

She responded with a long, drawn out, "Ohhhhh...."

There was an elderly woman walking with a cane that went into a local drug store and I wanted to give her a tract on her way back across the street, but I miscalculated which way she was going to cross the street and lost my chance.

Someone also cursed at me at they drove by. It is now hard for me to understand why the world hates God and Jesus so much because of the things He has done for me, but I need to remember that even though I thought I never "hated" God, I was in rebellion against Him for a long time.

First Time Stoplight Preaching With the Cross

Today, John, an elder from church, came over to pick me up and we went to intersection of Dover Center and Lorain in North Olmsted. We arrive around 12:30. I loaded up my camera backpack with my ESV New Testament and the Evidence Bible and completely forgot the backpack.

We had two signs today: my cross and another sign that read "NEEDGOD.COM" with about 7 inch lettering. John pointed out it was a little hard to read since both words butt up against each other, so I will have to make an adjustment to it. We took turns holding each sign, depending on who was stop light preaching.

John wanted me to start stop light preaching, which I have never done. I told him to go first. He took my cross and read the stop light preaching message I had typed up and taped in the reverse side of the cross:

"Listen up! Have you ever told a lie? Stolen anything? Taken the Lord's name in vain? Lusted after another? We've all done these things. We're all lying, thieving, blaspheming, adulterers at heart. We will all stand guilty before God on Judgment Day, and He would rightly send us to Hell for all of eternity. Here is the good news. The Bible tells us that if we repent of our sins- that is, to turn away from them- and place our trust in Jesus Christ, we can be saved from the fires of Hell and have eternal life in Heaven. Please go to NEEDGOD.COM to read how to be saved."

Here is the audio of John:


I also took my cross and read the same message to a different set of cars stopped at the light another time. We only had about 30 seconds before the cars in the turning lane got the green arrow.

Here is the audio of me:


I'm glad John went with me today, because he pushed me to do stop light preaching. It wasn't as hard as I thought once I started doing it. There was a moment when I was reading right before we left when a dog with its head stuck out a window starting imitating me talking. We used to have a lab mix at home growing up that used to do the same thing and I couldn't help but start laughing as this dog was doing this.

We handed out a total of five tracts today.

A Conversation With 2 Jehovah's Witnesses

I arrived at Dover Center and Lorain around 3:30 yesterday. I soon handed out two tracts to two teenagers, and one told me she had seen the same tract at work and tons of them! She works at a local fast food burger restaurant.

Around 4:15, I saw two women across the street from me. They crossed in the cross walk and came over to talk to me.

I gave her a tract and asked her if she knew what was going to happen when she dies. She said, "Yea, I do, as a matter of fact. What do you think?" She then started reading the tract aloud:

"Will you go to Heaven when you die? Here's a quick test. Have you ever told a lie, stolen anything, or used God's name in vain? Jesus said, "Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Have you looked with lust? Will you be guilty on Judgment Day? If you have done those things, God sees you as a lying, thieving, blasphemous adulterer at heart. The Bible warns that if you are guilty you will end up in Hell."

She then stops, and says "Ohhh... I see. What church are you affiliated with?"

I told her I don't do this as a part of my church, but that I do go to a church in Rocky River and that I do this on my own.

"Oh, well it shows that you have a zeal, and that's good. Not many young people today have that zeal for God. Where do you derive your zeal from? What makes you want to do this?"

At this point I started tripping up over my words a little, talking about Living Waters and the Way of the Master course, but I quickly went back into the law. I told her that God sees us as lying, thieving, blaspheming, adulterer and murderer in the heart, and you are going to face God on Judgment Day. Based on that, would He find you innocent or guilty?

Completely ignoring the question, she says, "I was looking at your Scripture that is on there- Mark 1:15."

I quoted the verse: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

"We are Bible students, actually, and this is why we came across the street, because we wanted to talk with you."

She continues, "Mark 1:15, 'The appointed time has been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Repent, YOU people, and have faith in the good news."

Ok, I think, it's not exactly the ESV, but I figure it's close. I explained that so many people that are Christians who just profess to be Christians and not repent.

She explained that "repentance means that you feel sorry for the wrong that you've done and that conversion turning away from it and not doing it anymore. Absolutely, we believe in that truth."

I explained the parachute analogy. At this point, everything seems good. She says, "It talks about something interesting- it says that 'the kingdom of God has drawn near.' Have you ever wondered what that 'kingdom of God' is?"

I state that it says it has drawn near. It hasn't come yet. I told her that when I look at the verb tense, it says that "has drawn near," which tells me it's close, but it isn't here. I told her that we are in the end times and we are waiting for Jesus to return- it's just a matter of when.

"Yes, this kingdom that it talks about here in Mark, that has drawn near- Jesus taught His disciples to pray for that very kingdom. Something you pray for probably. 'You must pray that then this way: Our father in Heaven, that your Name may be sanctified. That your kingdom come.' Jesus says when we pray this prayer, it was for conditions in Heaven to be on the Earth. 'Let your kingdom come, that your will be done, on Earth, as it is in Heaven.' So, from the study of the Bible- and there's another Scripture in Daniel 2:44 that talks about the government. There is a prophecy in Daniel about the end times and it talks about this image of gold that Nebuchadnez´zar saw, and it tells you in Daniel 9, it represented all the governments of the time from the world powers of Egypt and Syria, all the way down to our day- and so that kingdom, that the Bible talks about is a government in itself..."

"Daniel 2:44: 'And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.' So it talks about that kingdom of government of God that will put an end to all human governments. When you pray the Lord's prayer, that's what you pray for."

This went on a little more and she said she wanted to come over and share with me. We talked a little more and I asked her what version of the Bible she had- because all of the previously quoted Scripture didn't seem right. "New World Translation. It is the most accurate translation of the Bible."

I ask, "Are you guys Jehovah's Witnesses?"

"We are Jehovah's Witnesses. Have you ever talked to Jehovah's Witnesses before?"

I say, "No, I have not." Not in depth anyways.

She said, "People say JW's have their own Bible, but if you go to Google and type in 'What is the most accurate translation of the Bible.,' it will bring up the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. It's actual fact. It's not the JW's have their own Bible, but it's because we put back the name of God the way it was meant to be in its original text." That doesn't mean anything. If I titled this blog post "Pigs Can Fly," it also would come up in Google eventually. That doesn't make it true.

I ask, "OK, let me ask you- what must I do to get to heaven, from your perspective?"

"Well, I won't tell you what- first of all, I can't tell you whether or not you go to Heaven or you will be here on Earth."

I say, "I can tell you exactly what you need to do to get to Heaven."

I also asked, "If I had 3 minutes to live, what would you tell me?" They hesitated and couldn't provide an answer.

I told them, "I can tell you exactly what you need to do. You need to repent of your sins, turn away from your sins, and place your trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation."

Our conversation went into other things, also- about working out endurance and about how faith without works is dead. I told them that our works are done in gratitude to what Jesus has done for us. I told them how Scripture says our works are nothing but filthy rags in the sight of God. There is nothing I could possibly do to add to Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

At this point, I made sure to read my version of the Bible whenever Scripture was quoted- not to rely on the New World Translation.

I kept going back to my 3 minutes to live question, telling them they need to repent of their sins and place their trust in Jesus. I said, "If someone gets in a car wreck here, I could run out and say, 'Please, repent of your sins and place your trust in Jesus Christ.'"

She said, "OK, how does he repent of his sins 3 minutes before he dies?" I told them that he turns away from his sin and apologizes to God. Granted, there won't be the rest of his lifetime to see if that repentance is true- that's why waiting to the last minute to repent is so dangerous- it may not me true repentance and faith.

We also got into a brief discussion about the Trinity. She told me Jesus grew up as a man and He went to John the Baptist to be baptized. When He was being baptized, the Heavens opened up, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove came down upon Him, and a voice was heard from Heaven, saying, "This is my Son."

She asked if Jesus was part of the Trinity, it would mean that God was presenting Himself to be baptized, God was speaking from the Heavens, and God was appearing the form of a dove on Jesus, all at the same time, and Jesus would be deceiving everyone around Him, because He would be saying that He is the Son of God, but He was actually God. How could God be poured out on Him and also His voice be heard from Heaven? I told her this isn't something I understand and I won't ever understand. She left me with a booklet that says, "Should You Believe in the Trinity?"

She said, "If I see you out here again another day, I'll stop by. Take a look at this and tell me what you think."

I told her, "I can tell you right now, I'm not budging."

She said, "You seem like a guy with an open mind." I may have let her speak her mind out of courtesy, but that doesn't mean that I am open to her beliefs. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father expect through Me." That doesn't leave any negotiating room.

She encouraged me to go online and look up some of things she gave me. I told her I didn't need to- I told her I have the truth- Jesus. At this point she realized she wasn't getting anywhere. I told her I have the truth- His name is Jesus Christ. I told her, "I know what is right- and you're not."

She said, "I respect your belief. I do respect your belief."

I told her, "It's not what you believe, it's what's true."

I don't know if I handled this conversation the best way, but at least I prevented 2 Jehovah's Witnesses going door to door for at least 30 minutes and brain washing someone who doesn't have a firm foundation.

Dover Center and Lorain in North Olmsted - 9/12/09

After earlier going to the Komen Race for the Cure with my cross, later in the day I went to the intersection of Dover Center and Lorain in North Olmsted. I arrived around 6:15 and after taking the picture above, I moved to a different spot across the street. It was a beautiful night with clear skies.



I stayed until 7:30. Traffic was light to moderate, I handed out one tract and was flicked off once. I've noticed that I've come to expect the best of society lately, which is not the case at all. I know I am in a moderately safe area, but I still have to remind myself that crime does exist and there wouldn't be a need for the police if it didn't.

Komen Race For the Cure - Over 20,000 people

Today, I went to Downtown Cleveland for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. The University Hospitals' website says more than 20,000 people participated this year.

The race started at 9:15 AM and I found a spot along the race course on Lakeside near East 9th. I was met by an early comment of "Inappropriate!" Granted, this is a race for breast cancer, but the Gospel is more important than that. This is from the Komen Website:

"Breast cancer is the most common cancer to affect women. In 2009, it is estimated that there will be approximately 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in the United States, along with 62,280 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer. An estimated 40,170 women will die from breast cancer this year. It is estimated that 1,910 men will be diagnosed and 440 men will die of breast cancer during 2009."

Did you know Komen supports Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions? Looking back, I am wondering if I should have had a sign against this, also. Planned Parenthood performed 305,000 abortions in 2008. Abortion is murder. That dwarfs the 40,000 who will die of breast cancer. Again, I am not discounting breast cancer as a disease, but this is inexcusable.




150,000 people die everyday, and the majority of them are going to Hell. Why is that statistic not published more widely and why don't we have "Races For Heaven" like we have "Races For the Cure?"

I am not discounting the battle against breast cancer, but Jesus Christ is more important than that. Today, I had an opportunity to reach around 20,000 people today. I was not going to let this opportunity pass by.

I just stood silent as the entire race passed me by- and there were a ton of people in it, as expected. A few people told me they were ready, but no more than a dozen or two at most, I would say. I gave out one tract to someone who passed by and inquired about the cross. A few others asked what the Scripture verse was and I told them.

A few people thought my sign was a mile marker for 1.15 miles (it says "Mark 1:15). Afterward, I realized I was in between the mile 1 and mile 2 markers. I attended handed out tracts at the Komen Race for the Cure in Columbus earlier this year- it was my first major tracting experience. I handed out about 400 tracts to the estimated 40,000 participants. That was 1% of the participants. I feel the cross being visible to the entire race participants is far more effective.

I noticed a man with a camera directly across from me on Lakeside with his camera lens pointed right at me twice during the race. I do not know if he was a part of the media or not, but I was hoping he was and would come over and ask me about the cross. If a picture gets published somewhere of the cross- that's just more people that would be able to see it! No one needs to know about who I am, just as long as they see the cross. A few people also stopped to take a picture of the cross.

As you can see in the first picture, I added a dowel rod to the base of my cross so I could hoist it up in the air an extra 2 feet. The wind picked up shortly after the race participants starting coming by me, so I was limited to by how high I could hold the cross with my hands without it blowing away. Below is a picture someone took of me from inside the race as they passed by.



I did not take my cross around the area where the vendors were set up before the race, nor did I stay after the race to display my cross. The cross had already been seen and I didn't want to get into any verbal confrontations.

Again, I am not discounting the fight for breast cancer, but everyone needs the Gospel. I would venture to think some of the people who saw me today have seen me around town before with my cross. Perhaps they will see me in the future and remember me. My hope is that they will and that they will inquire about the cross and I can witness to them.

When I returned home, I ran into my new neighbor and found out that he attended a church in the same denomination as my church. He saw my cross and asked if I was a pastor. Not assuming the he was saved, I went through the law and gospel quickly and gave him the parachute analogy- being on an airplane that is about to crash and having a parachute that can save you. Merely "believing" in the parachute won't save you- you have to strap on the parachute and jump from the plane. In the same sense, we need to strap on the Lord Jesus and jump from our sinful lifestyle.

I am trying to make it my habit to witness to people who even say or they appear to be saved, just to make sure.

I know Scripture says, "For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matthew 7:14), and “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness'" (Matthew 7:21-23).

I gave out 2 tracts today - 1 at the race and 1 to my neighbor.

A Conversation With Mike, Jason, and a Few Other Happenings

I joined my pastor at 1:00 at Lakewood Park as he open aired. I did not get on the box today, but while my pastor was open airing, a man came up and asked what was going on. I told him Pastor Paul was open airing and I gave him a gospel tract.



At 2:00, I was in front of Madison Park in Lakewood near the intersection of Grace and Madison. Vehicle traffic was light, but pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk was moderate. At one point, a young man rode by on his bike, looking at my cross. After he passed by, he turned around and came back and asked what my sign meant. I told him, "Scripture says, 'It is appointed for a man once to die, and then comes judgment' (Hebrews 9:27). Do you know how you are going to be judged by God?" He replied, "No." It didn't seem like he wanted to get involved in a discussion, so I gave him a tract and told him to read it when he got home.

At another point, a lady walked by and asked me, "Have you said your prayers today?" She then asked if I prayed the rosary. I said, "Absolutely not!" She told me I should pray to Mary.

A little later, Mike walked by and engaged me in a discussion. He told me he was wondering about this. He said he had heard things about 2012 coming up. December 21, 2012 is when the Mayan calendar ends. I told Mike that Jesus said that not even He knew when the end would be- only the Father knows. I told him that if Jesus doesn't know, there is no way infallible man can possibly know. I told Mike that we are in the end times, it is just a matter of when and "are you ready?"

Our conversation was taking all sorts of different paths. Mike had researched several religions and told me that all the different religions were all praying to the same higher human consciousness. He was talking about how religion and science kind of parallel each other. I let Mike talk about these things, but I kept bringing it back to the Gospel.

I explained imputed righteousness to him and why Christianity is the only religion that makes sense. It is the only one that provides for a complete removal of your sins through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Mike said that Christianity decided they "weren't going to do sacrifices anymore. We're not doing that anymore." I explained to Mike how in the Old Testament, the sacrifices were a way to cover sins, but that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Jesus provides for a completely removal of sins, not just a covering of sins. Jesus was the final sacrifice for all.

Mike and I talked about a few other things, but before he left, I asked him to remember this: it doesn't matter what we think is true, it is what is true.

As the second hour was wrapping up, Jason and Emanuel passed by. Emanuel had already been taken through the law and the gospel before by either me or John (an elder from church), but Jason had not. Jason told me he was Russian Orthodox. He said he didn't actually go to church, though, and had never been to his church. Brushing that off, I quoted Hebrews 9:27 and asked him if was ready to be judged by God. He said, "Not really."

I asked Jason if he would consider himself to be a good person. Jason thought he was, but Emanuel was quick to say, "Jason is not a very good person at all!" Emanuel had already been through the Good Person Test so he knew the outcome!

I took Jason through the law and gospel. I explained the parachute analogy and the necessity of repentance and being reborn. The parachute analogy is this: being on an airplane that is about to crash and having a parachute that can save you. Merely "believing" in the parachute won't save you- you have to strap on the parachute and jump from the plane. In the same sense, we need to strap on the Lord Jesus and jump from our sinful lifestyle. I gave Jason a gospel tract and told him to read it over, as it went over what we talked about. Emanuel already had a big money tract at home.

I handed out between 15 and 20 tracts today, including the one at the park to the man who came to see Pastor Paul open airing.

Tomorrow is the Komen Race for the Cure and I will be there with my cross. Over 20,000 people are expected to participate. Check back later tomorrow for details.

A Conversation with Megan and Her Friends

Today, I went back to the intersection I was at on Sunday- Dover Center and Lorain in North Olmsted. This time, I arrived around 3:15. The first hour and a fifteen minutes was pretty quiet. I handed out a few gospel tracts to people passing by on the sidewalk.

One man in a car asked me, "Ready for what?" I quoted Hebrews 9:27 (It is appointed for a man once to die and then comes judgment.) I then asked, "Are you ready to be judged by God?" He told me that he was ready. He was stopped at the stoplight- looking back I should have gone through the law and gospel really quick to confirm he really was ready. One person from a car on Dover Center asked to see my sign (at the time it was pointed toward the moving traffic on Lorain).

At around 4:30 is when Megan and her friends passed by on the opposite side of Lorain Road. I saw them standing at the opposite corner waiting for the light to change so they could come to the corner I was at.

They asked me, "Ready for what?" I quoted Hebrews 9:27 and asked if they knew where they were going when the die. One girl flat out told me, "I'm going to Hell!" Great- I don't even have to go through the law! As if it were that easy...

I asked her if that concerned her. "Nope!" I asked her again if that honestly didn't concern her. "Nope!"

She told me she knew she was going to Hell and it didn't bother her. I told her that Hell was a "lake of fire." I again pushed her about it- "It doesn't bother you that you are going to burn in a lake of fire? A lake of sulfur?"

At this point it seems like they are just teenagers looking to entertain themselves by talking to me. I asked, "Have you ever put your hand in fire?" She told me she had and that it hurt. "Could you deal with that forever?"

She asked me where I was going. I told her I was going to Heaven. She asked me if I knew that for a fact- I told her I did. This is when Megan asked me, "Can I ask you something? What makes you believe in Heaven and Hell?"

I told Megan I had the inspired Word of God- the Bible. It has proven itself to be true through prophecies and through Jesus Christ.

Megan's friend told me that I don't have video evidence of Jesus rising from the grave. I told her I did not. She asked me if I had proof that Jesus was really the Son of God. I told her I did. I asked her if she had evidence that the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. Just because there wasn't a video camera there doesn't mean it didn't happen. I told her there were 500 witnesses who saw the risen Christ after His death.

At this point I gave them all gospel tracts and encouraged them to read them. I thought they were leaving at this point, but our conversation picked back up.

Megan asked me if I had a Bible she could have. I told her I didn't have an extra one on me. She told me her brother took her's and used it to roll joints and smoke them. Her friend joked, "A holy joint?" I apologized I didn't have any but that I would get her one. I directed her to the Internet and a website that has the Bible online and I recommended the New Living Translation.

Megan told me she "didn't believe in God because if there was a God, He would make life perfect." She referenced all different types of evil in the world. I told her I understood, but also that the world was perfect at creation- it was through the fall and all the resulting evil was a part of it. I told her when Jesus returned, He would make it perfect again.

Megan asked me if I believed in reincarnation. I flat out said no. I asked her what she meant by reincarnation and she told me that "your soul lives in Heaven or somewhere for a little bit and if you did the right things..." I asked if she meant earning our salvation, to which she said yes, and I told her that is not what the Bible teaches. I told her the Bible teaches you are justified by faith in Christ alone. I told her part of that faith has to include repentance.

I asked Megan if she had trouble believing in God. I told her that all of creation testifies to God's existence. Take the human eye- it has 137 million light sensitive cells- do you mean to tell me that just happened by accident?

The other problem she had was who created God? I told her that is a problem a lot of people have. I told them that God created time and that God exists outside of time. It's not something that we understand, but I also don't fully understand how the concept of the Trinity works. I know God is three persons in one, but none of us fully understand how it is.

I encouraged them to read the tracts once more. Megan's friend told me that she doesn't really believe in Heaven and Hell, and she believes that just about everyone is going to Hell except for babies and a very few very good people. During her saying this, Megan interjects with, "What makes you believe in Hell?"

Aha- if there is a Hell, there must be a Heaven. I have not seen any witnessing conversations where the reality of Hell was certainty and Heaven was debated- it is always the opposite.

I told her friend that it didn't really matter what we believe to be true, it is what is true. I told her about these two guys that came by on Sunday that ignored the traffic light and rode into the intersection and almost got hit. Just because they believed they could use the cross walk at that time doesn't mean the car isn't going to hit them.

I gave Megan a card with our church's website on it and told her to read the "How to Get to Heaven" post. I asked them if they had a minute or if they had to run, and they said they had a minute, so I took them through the law and gospel presentation. They said they thought good people would go to Heaven, so I asked them if they would consider their selves to be good people. They said, "Good people who make bad choices."

After asking them if they had ever told a lie, stolen anything, blasphemed, lusted, and hated, I told them that God sees them as liars, thieves, blasphemers, adulterers and murderers at heart, and they need to face God on Judgment Day. Based on your breaking His law, would He find you guilty or innocent? Megan said guilty. Heaven or Hell? "Hell" I asked her if that concerns her. I told her it should. I told her Hell is described as being the weeping and gnashing of teeth, a lake of sulfur, a lake of fire. Someone said, "A lake of sulfur doesn't sound too nice!"

I explained how we need to repent of our sins and place our trust in Jesus for our salvation. I explained the parachute analogy- being on an airplane that is about to crash and having a parachute that can save you. Merely "believing" in the parachute won't save you- you have to strap on the parachute and jump from the plane. In the same sense, we need to strap on the Lord Jesus and jump from our sinful lifestyle.

Someone asked if Jesus would get mad if we spent our entire lives not believing in Him, or would He understand. I flat out told them that if they die in their disbelief, they are going to Hell. "That sounds kind of harsh!" I said, "But, you've broken His law."

Megan's friend asked, "So, it's kind of like jail?" I said,"No, this is forever!"

Someone said, "I did once believe there was once a God, and He was a good person, but I don't believe He is still watching over us."

They asked about other people of other religions and all the other gods. I told them those other gods don't exist. "So they're going to Hell?" Yes.

"But don't you think the people who believe in Hinduism and Buddhism think the same thing about us? That their god doesn't exist?" I told them those religions don't have the proof the Bible provides.

I said to them, "I'll tell you why Jesus is the only One who makes sense. You've all admitted you've sinned, and sinners can not go to Heaven. Jesus came to this earth and lived in the flesh with all the desires and never sinned once. He was put to death for our sins. If we repent of our sins and place our trust in Him, His righteous, His unsinful state can be applied to us and then we can be viewed by God as righteous and go to Heaven. All the other religions, you have to work your way."

I told them that narrow is the gate and few will find it. I told them that there are a lot of professing Christians who continue to live in sin- and I used to be one of them. I used to confess my sins and think I was OK. I then took them through the court room analogy of being before a judge. Just because I confess my sins to a judge doesn't negate the punishment I deserve.

"So, Jesus is the judge and we are in His court?"

I told them that if someone commits a crime, someone has to pay the price. Say, for example,
someone committed a crime and the penalty was a $1 million fine. There is no way I can pay the fine. The judge says, "Unless someone comes in with $1 million, you're going to jail for the rest of your life. At the last minute, someone comes in and right before the judge slams the gavel, puts down $1 million. The judge looks at the money and says 'you're free to go.' That's what Jesus did for our sins. He paid the fine for our sins, if will repent of our sins and place our trust in Him- we can go to Heaven, too."

I told them there is no way outside of that. It's not Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam.

Megan asked, "Do you believe if you don't believe in God, He will make your life worse?" I told her no, not necessarily. They asked if I believed in karma- I told them no, because there was no Scriptural basis for it.

I told Megan if she had any questions she could email me through the church website (via a form- my email address is not directly published on the church website). I showed them the Big Money tracts and asked them if they want those, also. They gladly took them.

Megan said to me that even people who have a worse life believe in God. I told her that's the problem with religion. A lot of them will tell you that you need Jesus because He will make your life better. The reason we need Jesus is because we are sinners and the only way we can get to Heaven is through believing. I referenced the Book of Acts and many of the Apostles' fate.

I told them to remember the reason they need Christ is not because they need a better life, but because we have all sinned and have all fallen short of the glory of God.

I asked them if they would be around this area regularly and they said yes. I told Megan I would get her a Bible and be out there Monday as long as it doesn't rain. I gave out 10 regular money sized gospel tracts and 3 Big Money tracts plus the 5 tracts I handed out earlier today.