September 12 – 13, 2008
I went to Skid Row for the second time tonight. I think we had even more people this time, somewhere around forty people. We went to Del Taco where I had some fun putting together a makeshift mariachi band with some friends, making different instrument sounds with our voices and yelling occasionally like mariachis do! After that I got back on the road with my buddy Blaise and two other gents, Travis from TMS and Tim, and we headed down to City Union Mission. I appreciated his patience with me as I cruised the radio stations for quality Mexican jams. It was fun times in the “pod” (aka Honda Element).
I got to be in a group with Travis, Ashley (from Mexico City), and Savannah. We prayed then headed up to the street. Once again, it seemed so foreign and surreal in a lot of ways, tents lining the streets, people milling about. It was a quieter night. A lot of police were patrolling the area, which might have had something to do with it.
As soon as we began our walk we saw two transvestite men lingering by the side of the road. We offered them tacos and they accepted. We didn’t stop to talk with them, and it’s been bothering me all night. I admit that I was repulsed, but these guys weren’t on drugs or alcohol, and would have been coherent enough to understand what we had to say, regardless of their openness to the gospel. I’m praying hard that God would show me wisdom in handling that sort of situation in the future. I want to love people enough that no matter how repulsive or frightening their sin, I will still reach out to them and share the truth with them.
About then, I saw a man I recognized. His name is Chris, and I had the great pleasure of making his acquaintance last Friday. Chris is a believer who spends his nights preaching to the homeless people on Skid Row. He is uniquely qualified for this task because he used to be one of them. I don’t know much of his history, but from what I hear he has an apartment in the area.
What was so funny is that Travis, the seminarian, didn’t know Chris, and started sharing the gospel with him. It was actually another man that pointed to Chris and said “You should tell him about Jesus”. Chris totally pulled Travis’ leg, saying “Jesus – who’s that?” He kept looking my way and grinning – actually, he’s always smiling but he had that look in his eye like “Yeah, you know it”! Travis started sharing about Adam and Eve, and sin, and Chris kept throwing him curveballs ("Adam and Eve?", "You believe God told a bunch of men to write that book?"), seeming to be a very lost soul to Travis but totally playing “devil’s advocate”. I was trying not to blow his cover, but then one of our TMC guys walked by, looked back and said “Chris, he’s preaching to you?” and started laughing. About that time a bunch more people walked by, giving Chris hugs and saying hey. So the cat was out of the bag. Chris tagged along with us, and spent much of his time discussing the method of evangelism with Travis. They didn’t see eye to eye – it was interesting to me to see the seminarian meet the street evangelist, and to see how their respective Scripture knowledge compared/contrasted. I tried to soak up what I could from Chris’ experience on the streets and how he approached people with the gospel, with gentleness and with boldness, the balance of the two looking different depending on the situation.
We made it a little further down the road this weekend. I passed Clarence’s tent but it was zipped up. We crossed the street and kept offering people tacos. I actually saw the man who came up and asked Siona and I to pray for him when we were praying for Clarence. He was smoking a cigarette and didn’t appear to be on drugs. I didn’t get to talk to him. I’m not sure he remembered me, but he did raise his hand to me when I did so to him. We tried to offer a taco to a girl sitting on the sidewalk with her back to the wall. She refused, to hazed by the drugs she was smoking. Chris preached the gospel to a man standing next to her. It was so cool! He was very direct and confrontational, but the man was very open to listen to him, perhaps because of Chris’ ever-present smile.
About that time we met a lady named Maria. We offered her a taco and actually talked to her for the rest of our time there, probably an hour and a half or so. Ashley and I spoke to her in Spanish, Savannah tried to keep up the best she could listening. Maria is from Sonora, Mexico. Skid Row has been her home for ten years, out of the forty she’s been in the States. She is a house cleaner but doesn’t get paid regularly. She spends her nights inside at 38th and Broadway, but tonight she was trying to get in to a mission in the area we were at. She said most likely she’d have to sleep outside. After chit-chatting for awhile, we asked her if she attended a church, she said no. She said that she’d tried to commit suicide on the train tracks a couple of times and was rescued. Some of her attempts at suicide had left her almost dead in the hospital; three times she told us she’s felt herself “fading”, only to come back before dying.
I was able to share a very thorough gospel presentation with her, talking about how Jesus is our hope and telling her the story of how in Him we can know the end of the story (either Revelation 7 or 20 – eternal life worshiping the Father, or eternal suffering in the lake of fire). I explained how Jesus came to earth to show us the Father, and to die for our sins. Even though we explained that eternal life and peace and joy are found in following Him as Lord, and that a life without hope that ended in eternal suffering was to be found without Him, she wasn’t really interested. She said she didn’t think she could really do it and be faithful. She said she didn’t really think God forgives sin over and over. My heart broke for her, because even though we were showing her these things from God’s Word, the eyes of her heart were very clearly blinded and unable to see them (2 Corinthians 4:4). We prayed for her, that God would save her from the streets, but more importantly that she would repent and turn to Him. After that we talked for quite a bit longer. She warned us that further up the street it’s “really bad, that’s where they inject drugs into their veins”. I hope that our group has the opportunity to reach out to those people as well, as I know some have in the past.
As we were talking to Maria, a fight broke out in front of a mission we were near, a guy walked by and laughed, “free for all, just like the wild, wild west”. Periodically as we talked to Maria, people would walk by and say “Get out! Take your lies somewhere else!” cursing and hurling insults at us and the God we represented. It was an honor to receive these insults for the sake of His name.
A black man walked up and began to rant and rave, repeating over and over “Lies! Lies!” and going off about how white people used this religion to enslave his people. His language was foul and his attitude dripping with hatred. Chris, who is black, stepped in and was actually pretty funny as he countered the man’s assessment of Christianity as “white lies”. The man pointed out all the cops, and Chris made a fake “duck and run” laughing and eventually ignoring the man, explaining to Travis as he did so that sometimes it’s ok to just let people talk. After the man finally left, Chris told Travis, “Even though I don’t like you, God told me not to let the man walk all over my brother like that. I don’t like you – cuz you’re from Oregon, and you’re a Beaver (college football), but you’re my brother and I love you”.
That was the end of our night. Every time I go I can’t wait to go back. Every minute down there is worth it, and the benefit that it has been to my own faith and my own desire to dig into God’s Word even more has been incredible. We serve Jesus Christ, our hope ( 1 Timothy 1:1)!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Skid Row - Part 1
A dear brother in Christ, Dan, is a senior at the Masters College in California. This semester, he's been involved in a ministry that goes out to the notorious Skid Row area in Los Angeles, to share the Gospel of Christ. They go out on Fridays and Dan writes an online journal on Facebook afterwords. I asked him if I could post these here because they've been very insightful and eye-opening. Enjoy.
9/7/08
Hey everybody,
I'm going to start posting notes about Skid Row. These are not in any way for bragging or looking good, but just to share my experiences down there with you. I hope that it is encouraging and challenging. Please pray for the groups that go down every Friday night!
Skid Row – September 5-6, 2008
Tonight I stepped into what felt like another world. At about 9:00 PM I stepped out onto Skid Row. Skid Row is where the greatest concentration of homeless people is found in L.A. From what I am told, it is the greatest concentration of homeless people anywhere in the United States. A group of college students from TMC goes down every Friday night to pass out tacos from Del Taco and talk with people, trying to show Christ’s love physically while at the same time pointing them to the Gospel and their spiritual need for a Savior. This was the first night that I went.
We parked in the underground parking lot at City Union Mission. After praying together, we took an elevator up and exited the building. The word that comes to mind that best describes the atmosphere is “surreal”. The street was lit well enough to see but the poor lighting cast a strange tinge on everything. Tents and cardboard boxes lined the sides of the street. As the night went on I realized that however strange and removed this place seemed, it was very much a reality and filled with people who desperately need the Lord.
I was in a group with Siona, Corrie, and Katie. We talked with a gentleman named “Si”, “Like yes in Spanish”, as he said to us. He was sitting in his tent selling cigarettes and paper flowers in plastic tubes. I didn’t realize until just as I was writing this that these plastic tubes were the same tubes being used to smoke crack. The girls kneeled down to share with Si and his companion, a woman, in the back of the tent. I stood and kept an eye on all that was going on around us.
Siona was to my left being approached by a man with an almost-empty bottle of Jack stuck in his sweatpants. He began to tell us about how we were doing things all wrong – that we “needed to be living like the people, in tents, smoking crack, etc. etc. etc. because that’s how we would be in tune with the truth and communicate love”. I can’t recount everything that he said, both because of the blasphemy and the language and the utter confusion of his theology. He was funny at times, and Siona and I did laugh at some of the statements he made. The sad thing was to see someone who knew so much about the Bible, and so many true facts, but at the same time be so utterly lost and blasphemous in his drunken state. Corrie attempted to counter his false utterances, to no avail. I suspect that in situations like that it is better to listen, learn, and pray for the unreceptive spirit demonstrated. He continued for a good twenty to thirty minutes.
As all this was going on I was struck with the feeling that I was in a whirling cloud of wickedness. A couple feet away was a panel van, and men were coming in and out of it every couple of minutes. I suspect that it was either drug related, or prostitution. Three feet behind me a car played loud music, and several men were gathered around the car “getting their groove on”, very drunk. A very tall transvestite walked up and began to say the most grossly immoral things I’ve ever heard someone say. I didn’t turn around and see all that was happening, but just the thought that directly behind me a man was propositioning himself to men, directly to my right a man was drunk and blaspheming and twisting truth and Scripture and mixing it with utter lies. As we continued listening to Israel (the man with the bottle of Jack and the grievous understanding of Scripture) a man behind me apparently tried to make a move on the transvestite, because I was bowled into when the transvestite shoved the man into me, almost creating a domino effect and sending Corrie and I into Si’s tent.
Eventually Israel left, and I talked with Siona about what had happened. He told me that in situations like that he is constantly praying for grace and wisdom when to speak and when to keep silent. I told him that even though Israel was so lost and blasphemous, some of his comments had some truth. If we are going to reach these people for Christ, can we do so by coming from Santa Clarita once a week, only to return to our warm homes with internet access and soft pillows? When we prepare for foreign missions, we learn to live in the geographical and cultural reality, and trusting God to protect us in his sovereignty, we go. We send people to China, Baghdad, Northern Africa, and hostile tribes across the world, where death, disease, and hunger are very real prices paid for sharing the Gospel. However, I can remember being told on many occasions things such as “Oh, you’re going to downtown KC? Keep your windows rolled up!” Would I be willing to learn to live among the thousands of homeless people in L.A., risking my life and health, in order to share the gospel? Would any of us? If not, are we being inconsistent? Prejudiced? Cowardly?
After Israel left, we moved a couple feet down the sidewalk and were able to talk to a man named Clarence and his wife who were from Tucson, vacationing! He told us of his belief in God, and what he knew. The girls told me later that the woman was a believer, as far as they could tell. She suffered from a football-sized tumor and bleeding ulcers, causing her incredible pain. We were able to give them tacos and pizza. Siona and I saw the girls praying for the lady so we asked Clarence if we could pray for him. I placed my hand on his shoulder and began to pray for him, thanking the Lord for his belief in Him, and asking that God would continue to reveal himself to him and that he would become His child if he was not already. Instantly a man who I’d seen walk by before with a couple people ran up, and joined our “prayer circle”, asking us to pray for him to quit smoking. He was quite noticeably high. He placed his hand on mine, which was on Clarence’s shoulder. Siona prayed for that man. I kept my eyes open, keeping an eye on the girls, and saw that a man was hunched down right behind our prayer group, between the wall and Clarence’s tent lighting a plastic tube filled with drugs. I saw his hazed look almost instantly. It was incredibly sad, because the look I saw in his eyes a hopelessness, a “now what” expression as the drugs took over.
We moved over a couple more feet to talk to a young man named Louie, sitting on a suitcase wrapped in a blue blanket. I had seen him roll up and settle in, with a look of feeling all alone in the world in his eyes. We gave him tacos and conversed with him. He was from L.A. He was less than 24 hours sober, really hoping to get out of drinking and off the streets. I was a little concerned with the way we interacted with him, but I think that he heard a clear presentation of the gospel. He said that he had been saved and baptized. I don’t think he was a believer. I asked if I could pray for Him, and again prayed that God would be merciful and that he would come to know Him as Savior.
By now we had spent three hours talking with people, making only about 30 feet of progress or so down the sidewalk from when we began. The other groups were starting to come, so we finished for the night and headed back to TMC. We arrived on campus around 1:00 AM, but sleep didn’t come until 3:00 or so, because my roommates and I were debriefing our experience together.
I’m looking forward to going back as often as I am able. While maybe I didn’t feel safe, I certainly didn’t feel unprotected. God was with us. I’d like to write some more about what evangelism (around Santa Clarita as well) has started doing in my walk with God, but for now I wanted to get this out there so that 1) I wouldn’t forget the details, 2) You will pray for us as we do this and 3) You would think over some of these things that are rarely thought of.
9/7/08
Hey everybody,
I'm going to start posting notes about Skid Row. These are not in any way for bragging or looking good, but just to share my experiences down there with you. I hope that it is encouraging and challenging. Please pray for the groups that go down every Friday night!
Skid Row – September 5-6, 2008
Tonight I stepped into what felt like another world. At about 9:00 PM I stepped out onto Skid Row. Skid Row is where the greatest concentration of homeless people is found in L.A. From what I am told, it is the greatest concentration of homeless people anywhere in the United States. A group of college students from TMC goes down every Friday night to pass out tacos from Del Taco and talk with people, trying to show Christ’s love physically while at the same time pointing them to the Gospel and their spiritual need for a Savior. This was the first night that I went.
We parked in the underground parking lot at City Union Mission. After praying together, we took an elevator up and exited the building. The word that comes to mind that best describes the atmosphere is “surreal”. The street was lit well enough to see but the poor lighting cast a strange tinge on everything. Tents and cardboard boxes lined the sides of the street. As the night went on I realized that however strange and removed this place seemed, it was very much a reality and filled with people who desperately need the Lord.
I was in a group with Siona, Corrie, and Katie. We talked with a gentleman named “Si”, “Like yes in Spanish”, as he said to us. He was sitting in his tent selling cigarettes and paper flowers in plastic tubes. I didn’t realize until just as I was writing this that these plastic tubes were the same tubes being used to smoke crack. The girls kneeled down to share with Si and his companion, a woman, in the back of the tent. I stood and kept an eye on all that was going on around us.
Siona was to my left being approached by a man with an almost-empty bottle of Jack stuck in his sweatpants. He began to tell us about how we were doing things all wrong – that we “needed to be living like the people, in tents, smoking crack, etc. etc. etc. because that’s how we would be in tune with the truth and communicate love”. I can’t recount everything that he said, both because of the blasphemy and the language and the utter confusion of his theology. He was funny at times, and Siona and I did laugh at some of the statements he made. The sad thing was to see someone who knew so much about the Bible, and so many true facts, but at the same time be so utterly lost and blasphemous in his drunken state. Corrie attempted to counter his false utterances, to no avail. I suspect that in situations like that it is better to listen, learn, and pray for the unreceptive spirit demonstrated. He continued for a good twenty to thirty minutes.
As all this was going on I was struck with the feeling that I was in a whirling cloud of wickedness. A couple feet away was a panel van, and men were coming in and out of it every couple of minutes. I suspect that it was either drug related, or prostitution. Three feet behind me a car played loud music, and several men were gathered around the car “getting their groove on”, very drunk. A very tall transvestite walked up and began to say the most grossly immoral things I’ve ever heard someone say. I didn’t turn around and see all that was happening, but just the thought that directly behind me a man was propositioning himself to men, directly to my right a man was drunk and blaspheming and twisting truth and Scripture and mixing it with utter lies. As we continued listening to Israel (the man with the bottle of Jack and the grievous understanding of Scripture) a man behind me apparently tried to make a move on the transvestite, because I was bowled into when the transvestite shoved the man into me, almost creating a domino effect and sending Corrie and I into Si’s tent.
Eventually Israel left, and I talked with Siona about what had happened. He told me that in situations like that he is constantly praying for grace and wisdom when to speak and when to keep silent. I told him that even though Israel was so lost and blasphemous, some of his comments had some truth. If we are going to reach these people for Christ, can we do so by coming from Santa Clarita once a week, only to return to our warm homes with internet access and soft pillows? When we prepare for foreign missions, we learn to live in the geographical and cultural reality, and trusting God to protect us in his sovereignty, we go. We send people to China, Baghdad, Northern Africa, and hostile tribes across the world, where death, disease, and hunger are very real prices paid for sharing the Gospel. However, I can remember being told on many occasions things such as “Oh, you’re going to downtown KC? Keep your windows rolled up!” Would I be willing to learn to live among the thousands of homeless people in L.A., risking my life and health, in order to share the gospel? Would any of us? If not, are we being inconsistent? Prejudiced? Cowardly?
After Israel left, we moved a couple feet down the sidewalk and were able to talk to a man named Clarence and his wife who were from Tucson, vacationing! He told us of his belief in God, and what he knew. The girls told me later that the woman was a believer, as far as they could tell. She suffered from a football-sized tumor and bleeding ulcers, causing her incredible pain. We were able to give them tacos and pizza. Siona and I saw the girls praying for the lady so we asked Clarence if we could pray for him. I placed my hand on his shoulder and began to pray for him, thanking the Lord for his belief in Him, and asking that God would continue to reveal himself to him and that he would become His child if he was not already. Instantly a man who I’d seen walk by before with a couple people ran up, and joined our “prayer circle”, asking us to pray for him to quit smoking. He was quite noticeably high. He placed his hand on mine, which was on Clarence’s shoulder. Siona prayed for that man. I kept my eyes open, keeping an eye on the girls, and saw that a man was hunched down right behind our prayer group, between the wall and Clarence’s tent lighting a plastic tube filled with drugs. I saw his hazed look almost instantly. It was incredibly sad, because the look I saw in his eyes a hopelessness, a “now what” expression as the drugs took over.
We moved over a couple more feet to talk to a young man named Louie, sitting on a suitcase wrapped in a blue blanket. I had seen him roll up and settle in, with a look of feeling all alone in the world in his eyes. We gave him tacos and conversed with him. He was from L.A. He was less than 24 hours sober, really hoping to get out of drinking and off the streets. I was a little concerned with the way we interacted with him, but I think that he heard a clear presentation of the gospel. He said that he had been saved and baptized. I don’t think he was a believer. I asked if I could pray for Him, and again prayed that God would be merciful and that he would come to know Him as Savior.
By now we had spent three hours talking with people, making only about 30 feet of progress or so down the sidewalk from when we began. The other groups were starting to come, so we finished for the night and headed back to TMC. We arrived on campus around 1:00 AM, but sleep didn’t come until 3:00 or so, because my roommates and I were debriefing our experience together.
I’m looking forward to going back as often as I am able. While maybe I didn’t feel safe, I certainly didn’t feel unprotected. God was with us. I’d like to write some more about what evangelism (around Santa Clarita as well) has started doing in my walk with God, but for now I wanted to get this out there so that 1) I wouldn’t forget the details, 2) You will pray for us as we do this and 3) You would think over some of these things that are rarely thought of.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Some refrigerator art...
Sophia colored a couple of neat pictures this month, so I thought I'd share. This first one is of me and Sophia in front of our house.
This one is a picture of the building I work in.
I love how Sophia chose to draw my friend-Tony-when she drew my work. She must have heard me talking about him, because I don't think she's met him in person. So I guess you could say that this is a visual representation (through my 7-yr-old's eyes) of what I have said about Tony. I think she did a fantastic job, looks just like him!
Perhaps this is something like when we try to talk about Christ and demonstrate 'Christ-likeness' in how we live life. We want to paint an accurate picture of who He is because He is so significant in our lives! I want people to "ooh and ahh" when I hold up Christ-as our pastor pointed out in today's fantastic sermon. I am doing my best to describe His majesty and indescribable, unsearchable ways, yet my best efforts are so basic and elementary! However we have the best set of paintbrushes available! Nothing can better inform our speech about Christ than God's Word:
This one is a picture of the building I work in.
I love how Sophia chose to draw my friend-Tony-when she drew my work. She must have heard me talking about him, because I don't think she's met him in person. So I guess you could say that this is a visual representation (through my 7-yr-old's eyes) of what I have said about Tony. I think she did a fantastic job, looks just like him!
Perhaps this is something like when we try to talk about Christ and demonstrate 'Christ-likeness' in how we live life. We want to paint an accurate picture of who He is because He is so significant in our lives! I want people to "ooh and ahh" when I hold up Christ-as our pastor pointed out in today's fantastic sermon. I am doing my best to describe His majesty and indescribable, unsearchable ways, yet my best efforts are so basic and elementary! However we have the best set of paintbrushes available! Nothing can better inform our speech about Christ than God's Word:
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Rom 11:33-36)
Friday, September 19, 2008
10/4/08 - D.A. Carson is only a 4-hour drive away!
Thought I'd let everyone know about a conference in Omaha in a couple of weeks. We're praying about whether to go to this day-long conference hosted by Omaha Bible Church, and featuring the amazing Don Carson!
You may remember Carson from my 'daily Carson' posts that went up after I read his book A Call to Spiritual Reformation.
The conference takes place October 4th, (the Saturday after I return from a work trip in Boston--so the timing is poor.) But, we might just go anyway!
Here are some reasons why:
- DA Carson
- Cheap! $15 for an individual, $25 for families!
- Very interesting and relevant subject matter
- It's close. 4 hour trip aint bad!
- DA Carson
- completely 'kid-friendly'. They have daycare for young kids and offer a tandem conference for little ones
- catered food for breakfast and lunch!
- DA Carson!
- I hope to meet Erik Raymond-Pastor of Preaching- South Campus OBC-aka the Irish Calvinist
- Have I mentioned DA Carson?
If you think you might go, drop me a line and perhaps we can coordinate our trip (if we end up going)!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Employee Network Fair - 9/10/08
Thanks for praying for the employee network fair we had recently in Kansas City! We had a table setup and got a lot of traffic (thanks in part to all the cookies and brownies that BSG members brought in!)
Almost 40 handouts about the BSG were given out, nearly 40 books and CD's were given away (including 14 Bibles), and 14 were added to the d-list, resulting in at least half of those coming to the meeting last Thursday. We also gave away a lot of our magnetic memo boards.
Seth's experience sums up the day well:
During our shift at the Employee Network Fair, Brenda and I got to talk to about 10 different people. A lot of people ... stopped by the table because they wanted to say "hi" to Brenda. One lady ended up taking some information about the BSG, one of the Bibles, and a couple CD's. She really seemed interested in the group. A few other people stopped by and looked at the material that we had, and a couple people ended up taking either Bibles or CD's. A couple people were really interested in the Jim Elliff CD, and we were able to tell them a little bit about the Elliff book that we had studied. I think it was an encouragement for a lot of people to see that there is a BSG that meets at State Street.
What a blessing to have the opportunity to let people know the Bible Study Group is here in KC and that we value God's Word, through which is ETERNAL LIFE!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
B.B. Warfield on the Gospel
"There is nothing in us or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ's sake, or we cannot be accepted at all. This is not true of us only when we believe. It is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be true as long as we live. Our need of Christ does not cease with our believing, nor does the nature of our relation to him or to God through him ever alter, no matter what our attainments in Christian graces or our achievements in behavior may be. It is always on His blood and righteousness alone that we can rest." - B.B. Warfield
Monday, September 8, 2008
Baptism - Aug 31, 2008
Thank you Lucas Chasteen for the great job on the video! I don't like to watch it, but perhaps God will use it to point to Christ. It's a little long ... notice Pastor Mike at times appears "painted on" to the baptistery...
Here are the notes I tucked in my Bible for the testimony.
My name is Mike Bonham and I’m here because Jesus is LORD and He is my Savior!
I made a profession of faith in Jesus at four or five. So I grew up convinced I was a Christian. Outwardly I had it all together (for the most part), but still there was a pattern of sin that I couldn’t reconcile with what I believed. Certainly there were times of zeal and excitement when emotions seem to be there, but I couldn’t gain victory over certain sins and I didn’t appear to be growing or bearing any fruit.
Around the year 2000, when the world was breathing a collective sigh of relief that we’re still here, in many ways my world was coming to an end. I began to pursue fulfillment. My secret life of sin began to bubble up to the surface. Sin led to sin and was compounded with even greater sins. I stopped going to church and threw off Christianity, proudly asserting I would no longer be a hypocrite. I began to read Atheistic philosophers like Camus and Nietzsche (who was famous for declaring the death of God). Like those Paul described in Romans 1, I suppressed the truth I knew about God. I denied Him so I could live how I wanted. But without God, if there is no God, Everything is permitted.
Eph 2 and Titus 3 describe where I was at spiritually.
Many were praying for me, though. It was these prayers that kept our family together. Looking back it’s clear how God was at work in my life.
The whole world remembers where they were on September 11th, 2003. I came home that day with new priorities. I didn’t seek the Lord, but I did start going to church with my family; church at Countryside. So God used this tragedy as a wake up call for me like he did for many people.
In the summer of 2006, around the time of the missionary conference, I remember Pastor Mike was preaching. I don’t remember the main text but he was preaching that genuine Christians are not on the sidelines. If you are a Christian you’ll be up out of your seat and actively following Christ. So as he prayed the closing prayer, I silently committed my life to Christ.
It wasn’t until later that I could be alone with God and read through Psalm 51.
I prayed many of these verses from my heart.
Before, I always tried my best to live like a Christian on my terms. For the first time I was willing to take up my cross and follow him. I had assented intellectually to the facts of the Gospel. I had even had times of being emotionally persuaded. But this was the first time that my WILL was involved and I actively committed my life to Christ knowing that I would obey whatever He wanted from me!
Going back to Eph and Titus. The most powerful word in the Bible, the most magnificent transitional word is “BUT”.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— (Eph 2:5)
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, (Titus 3:4-5)
“But God”. Not “But I (did this or that) … BUT GOD! Spiritually, I was …
God is holy – It all starts with God. I picture God like he was described in Isaiah’s vision in Isaiah chapter 6. Something like the Lincoln memorial. He is on his throne, high and lifted up. The train of his robe fills the whole temple. The angels are saying, “holy, holy, holy.”
Man is sinful. While man is made in God’s image to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, He has turned to sin. Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. No one, no not one, is righteous (Romans 3:10).
Jesus Christ is the solution. He lived a perfect life that we could never live. He bore the sins of everyone who would believe in Him while on the cross.
Our response is to repent and believe in Christ (Mk 1:15).
What if I’m already a Christian? I encourage you to do what Paul says in 2 Cor 13:5, “examine yourselves to see if you’re in the faith”. Read 1 John as a way to test your heart compared to what God requires.
In 1 Peter we read that angels long to look into this Gospel. They lust over it. They obsess to know it! I want to spend my life learning more and more about this great Gospel!
Here are the notes I tucked in my Bible for the testimony.
My name is Mike Bonham and I’m here because Jesus is LORD and He is my Savior!
I made a profession of faith in Jesus at four or five. So I grew up convinced I was a Christian. Outwardly I had it all together (for the most part), but still there was a pattern of sin that I couldn’t reconcile with what I believed. Certainly there were times of zeal and excitement when emotions seem to be there, but I couldn’t gain victory over certain sins and I didn’t appear to be growing or bearing any fruit.
Around the year 2000, when the world was breathing a collective sigh of relief that we’re still here, in many ways my world was coming to an end. I began to pursue fulfillment. My secret life of sin began to bubble up to the surface. Sin led to sin and was compounded with even greater sins. I stopped going to church and threw off Christianity, proudly asserting I would no longer be a hypocrite. I began to read Atheistic philosophers like Camus and Nietzsche (who was famous for declaring the death of God). Like those Paul described in Romans 1, I suppressed the truth I knew about God. I denied Him so I could live how I wanted. But without God, if there is no God, Everything is permitted.
Eph 2 and Titus 3 describe where I was at spiritually.
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Eph 2:1-4)My sin came at an enormous price. My reckless spiral almost cost me my family and ultimately would have cost me my own life. Because I was quickly seeing the emptiness and meaninglessness of living for my self and for my own pleasure.
3For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. (Titus 3:3)
Many were praying for me, though. It was these prayers that kept our family together. Looking back it’s clear how God was at work in my life.
The whole world remembers where they were on September 11th, 2003. I came home that day with new priorities. I didn’t seek the Lord, but I did start going to church with my family; church at Countryside. So God used this tragedy as a wake up call for me like he did for many people.
In the summer of 2006, around the time of the missionary conference, I remember Pastor Mike was preaching. I don’t remember the main text but he was preaching that genuine Christians are not on the sidelines. If you are a Christian you’ll be up out of your seat and actively following Christ. So as he prayed the closing prayer, I silently committed my life to Christ.
It wasn’t until later that I could be alone with God and read through Psalm 51.
I prayed many of these verses from my heart.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,Through a flood of tears I poured out my heart to God in true repentance and brokenness. I was made to see the gravity and weight of my sin and the IMPOSSIBILITY of doing anything that could please God in my own strength.
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
Before, I always tried my best to live like a Christian on my terms. For the first time I was willing to take up my cross and follow him. I had assented intellectually to the facts of the Gospel. I had even had times of being emotionally persuaded. But this was the first time that my WILL was involved and I actively committed my life to Christ knowing that I would obey whatever He wanted from me!
Going back to Eph and Titus. The most powerful word in the Bible, the most magnificent transitional word is “BUT”.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— (Eph 2:5)
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, (Titus 3:4-5)
“But God”. Not “But I (did this or that) … BUT GOD! Spiritually, I was …
- dead – But God gave me eternal life
- blind – But God opened my eyes to His truth
- lost – But God sought out this lost sheep
- a slave to sin – But God bought my freedom
- God’s enemy – But God adopted me into His family
- destitute/poor – But I now have an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for me
- naked – But God clothed me in the righteousness of Christ.
God is holy – It all starts with God. I picture God like he was described in Isaiah’s vision in Isaiah chapter 6. Something like the Lincoln memorial. He is on his throne, high and lifted up. The train of his robe fills the whole temple. The angels are saying, “holy, holy, holy.”
Man is sinful. While man is made in God’s image to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, He has turned to sin. Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. No one, no not one, is righteous (Romans 3:10).
Jesus Christ is the solution. He lived a perfect life that we could never live. He bore the sins of everyone who would believe in Him while on the cross.
Our response is to repent and believe in Christ (Mk 1:15).
What if I’m already a Christian? I encourage you to do what Paul says in 2 Cor 13:5, “examine yourselves to see if you’re in the faith”. Read 1 John as a way to test your heart compared to what God requires.
In 1 Peter we read that angels long to look into this Gospel. They lust over it. They obsess to know it! I want to spend my life learning more and more about this great Gospel!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Access to God only Through Christ
"Rest assured that there is no meeting with God on our part except through Jesus Christ our Redeemer. I am of Luther's mind when he said, 'I will have nothing to do with an absolute God.' God out of Christ is a terror to us." - Charles H. Spurgeon
- For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim 2:5)
- Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)'
- For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb 4:15-16)
- My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2)
Friday, September 5, 2008
Great John Calvin Quote
Look to Jesus
from The Life Word by Doug McMasters
"So then, from this we must gather that to profit much in the holy Scripture we must always resort to our Lord Jesus Christ and cast our eyes upon him, without turning away from him at any time.
You will see a number of people who labor very hard indeed at reading the holy Scriptures -- they do nothing else but turn over the leaves of it, and yet after ten years they have as much knowledge of it as if they had never read a single line. And why? Because they do not have any particular aim in view, they only wander about. And even in worldly learning you will see a great number who take pains enough, and yet all to no purpose, because they kept neither order nor proportion, nor do anything else but gather material from this quarter and from that, by means of which they are always confused and can never bring anything worthwhile. And although they have gathered together a number of sentences of all sorts, yet nothing of value results from them. Even so it is with them that labor in reading the holy Scriptures and do not know which is the point they ought to rest on, namely, the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
John Calvin, Sermon on Ephesians 2:19-22 (1559).
from The Life Word by Doug McMasters
"So then, from this we must gather that to profit much in the holy Scripture we must always resort to our Lord Jesus Christ and cast our eyes upon him, without turning away from him at any time.
You will see a number of people who labor very hard indeed at reading the holy Scriptures -- they do nothing else but turn over the leaves of it, and yet after ten years they have as much knowledge of it as if they had never read a single line. And why? Because they do not have any particular aim in view, they only wander about. And even in worldly learning you will see a great number who take pains enough, and yet all to no purpose, because they kept neither order nor proportion, nor do anything else but gather material from this quarter and from that, by means of which they are always confused and can never bring anything worthwhile. And although they have gathered together a number of sentences of all sorts, yet nothing of value results from them. Even so it is with them that labor in reading the holy Scriptures and do not know which is the point they ought to rest on, namely, the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
John Calvin, Sermon on Ephesians 2:19-22 (1559).
Monday, September 1, 2008
Pray for India
Please take a minute and read this post about the rising persecution of believers in India
http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2008/08/pray-for-india.html
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