I am so very excited to be able to serve my LORD and my church in this way.  On February 25th, I will be putting on an Evangelism Seminar teaching people Biblical Evangelism.

This seminar is free, and even includes a FREE LUNCH (there is such thing)!  We will be covering basic principles taught in the Bible about sharing the Gospel simply, effectively, and biblically, the way Jesus did.

If you're in the Phoenix valley, and would call yourself a Christian, please don't miss this event.  Registration is required. (click here) Even if you would say that you already know evangelism, I recommend that you come and I prayerfully consider brining a friend to learn also.

I arrived at Mill Ave while Tom was up "on the box" open-air preaching.  He was talking to some girls that sadly couldn't any less about what Tom was saying… or at least it didn't appear to me that they cared.  They were four lesbian girls that simply cared about getting a glow stick neckless from Tom.

We give away glow stick necklaces to people to encourage them to take the "good person test."  This is the primary tool that we use to get to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The good person test walks a person through several of the 10 Commandments showing them that they are not good compared to God's standards.  We offer people a glow-stick necklace if they can prove that they are a good person (of course we know that they aren't good enough).

After taking a person through the test, we advised them that like God, we will show them grace by giving them the necklace even though they don't deserve it.  Just like God gives us Grace in that we get salvation, even though we don't deserve it.

I had the pleasure of meeting Brian and his son on Mill Ave.  He stated that he was a Christian but that when it came to sharing his faith, the Gospel, with others he took a less direct approach.  That is, he lived his life in a way that people would see Jesus in him.  He said he was "timid" when it came to sharing his faith.

Two thoughts on that… 1) Of course we should live our lives in a way that others would see "Jesus in us," but Jesus said to go into all the world and "PREACH" the gospel to every living creature… it seems only reasonable that we could preach the gospel to humans that are around us.

2) The fact the he was timid to share the Gospel also makes sense.  I would be timid to share the Gospel if I didn't know how.  But I do, and moreover I've made it a goal to teach other Christians to do the same. There are a couple of Evangelism Seminars coming up soon. One I am helping with, and the other I am putting on.  If you're interested, keep an eye on this blog or my Facebook posts. This seminar is free… and it will change the way you think about evangelism for good.

by God's Grace
~ brandt dary

Many think of Tim Tebow as the greatest football player in the NFL. In addition to many thinking that he's a good football player, which may be correct, many also may think that Tim Tebow is a good person. Sadly, there are possibly ten reasons why Tim Tebow is not a good person, certainly not good enough to go to heaven.

Tim Tebow has likely broken God's Law by violating each one of the ten commandments, multiple times.  The 10th Commandment is that you shall not covet, Tim Tebow has likely violated this commandment.  Tim Tebow has likely lied, breaking the 9th Commandment.  The 8th Commandment is not to steal, Tim Tebow is likely guilty of stealing. The seventh commandment is not to commit adultery… Jesus said that when you look at another with lust, you are committing adultery in your heart.  Tim Tebow is likely guilty of breaking the 6th commandment, 'thou shall not murder.'  Not because Tim Tebow has taken the life of another but because Jesus said to hate someone without cause is to commit murder.  The fifth commandment is to honor your father and mother.  Tim may have been a decent kid, but he has likely violated this law, at least once.  The fourth commandment of God is to honor the sabbath, to keep it holy - Tim Tebow didn't always keep this commandment.  He's likely used God's name in vein which is a violation of the 3rd commandment and he's likely broken the 2nd and 1st commandment by making a god in his own mind to worship and he hasn't always put God first in his life.

Did you notice all the "likelys" above… why are those there?  Because I don't know what Tim Tebow has and hasn't done.  But even Tim Tebow knows that he has violated God's Law.  That's why Tim Tebow is not good enough to go to heaven.  But what about you?  Do you think you're good enough? If Tim Tebow is not good enough, and even Tim Tebow would tell you that he knows he deserves to go to hell... where does that put you?

Tim Tebow would tell you this… there's good news for you!  If you've read the 'guilty' paragraph above and understood that YOU are guilty and you deserve hell when you die, then listen to this.  Tim Tebow would likely tell you that God demonstrated His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ died for your sins - Jesus was then buried, but God raised Him from the dead.  You broke God's law and deserve death, but Jesus suffered and died on the cross to pay your fine.  Now God commands all men everywhere to repent and trust in the work of Jesus Christ.  God so loved the world that He gave His only Son (Jesus) so that whoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have their sins forgiven and have everlasting life.

You lived a sinner's life and Jesus lived a sinless life.  Not only will your sins be forgiven, but you will get the righteousness of Christ credited to you. That means when you die, you'll be seen as an innocent righteous person before God and you'll get to avoid hell and live in God's holy presence for ever.

Tim Tebow won't get to go to heaven because he's a good person, or a good football player, but rather Tim Tebow (and you) will get to go to heaven because you're a bad person, who's been forgiven by a good God by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

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First Friday of the month, and year.  Last night was an event in downtown Phoenix called First Friday.  For some, they go down to see art and walk the streets… I go to reach those people with the Gospel.

My wife and I got there about 8:00 pm.  Right away, I thought it would be interesting to have a little competition with my wife to see who could hand out a pack of Million Dollar Bill gospel tracts the fastest.  There are 100 gospel tracts in each pack.  I realized that people would take them if the person in front of them took one, and generally people wouldn't take one if the person in front of them didn't.  So I started advising people that "the person in front of you took one… and then most of them took one.  I beat my wife in our little competition, but the great thing is that we handed both packs out in about 20 minutes.

Isn't that great!  The Gospel of Jesus Christ was freely given to over 200 people in just a short period of time. Of course some of those people will throw it to the ground or in a garbage before they ever read it, and others will quickly discard it after they realize it's about Jesus -- but still, the Gospel was given out.

After handing the tracts out, I got up on the stepping stool to preach the Gospel open air.  My friend Tom has some glow sticks that he brings for the purpose of giving away.  I tell people that they can have a glow stick for free if they pass the good person test. Of course, no one proves to be a good person (by God's standards) because they have all lied, stolen, lusted, blasphemed, etc. But to show a small example of Grace, we give them one anyways after we share with them the good news. The good news is that despite the fact that they are guilty and deserve hell, God demonstrated His great love towards them in that He sent Jesus Christ to suffer and die on the cross to take the punishment that they deserve. They are thankful and they walk away with a glow stick, and something to think about.

At one point I offered to give $20 away to the next person that could prove to be a good person.  I had no intention of giving the money away, since I assumed that Jesus would not be taking the test.  A child about 8 years old came up and took the test with his father and a few others standing by him.  On a side note: I always am amazed that parents are willing to let their little children listen to 'just some random person on the street.  But then again, God is sovereign and maybe it's something that he wills to happen.

I gave the little kid the good person test and of course he failed, even though I'm convinced that he was not always being honest with me… this child claimed he had never told a lie or stolen anything.  I asked if he had always honored his father… he looked at his father… so I looked at his father and the father shook  his head no. I advised the kid that he had actually broken God's law by dishonoring his father.  Even though I normally don't give out money (at least for someone being good), I wanted to make an impression on this little kid.  So I gave him the money and used it as an example of grace - getting something you don't deserve.  I know that even if the kid won't remember that night.

After we were done myself, my wife, Tom and one of Tom's friends Matt and another guy named Sean went out to Denny's to both fellowship and talk about the truths of God.  I'll do another blog about what we talked about later...

Saved by Grace,
~ brandt dary