The Lost Cause Ministries

Evangelism Memory Verse:

“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”

Romans 1:21,22

Evangelism Quote:

“

No wisdom of men or angels is able to search the veins of this mine, to tell all the threads of this web, or to understand the lustre of it; they are as far from an ability fully to comprehend it, as they were at first to contrive it.  That wisdom that invented it can only comprehend it.”  

–Stephen Charnock

Regular, Weekly Outreaches:

1. Truck Stop on I-35 W, north of Fort Worth: Thursdays, from 7-9PM. Truck to truck witnessing. Contact: Ron Martinez (ron@lostcauseministries.com).

2. Day Laborer Camp (Mckinney): Saturdays from 7-8AM. Witnessing to the Hispanic community. Spanish tracts and one-to-ones. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

3. Skate Park (Allen): Saturdays from 10-11PM. One-to-ones with skaters. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

Special Outreaches:

1.  Thursday, April 1st, 10AM-2:30PM:  TLC Ministries will take the gospel to the campus of University of North Texas.  We will be in free speech area 5, the area south of the Willis Library.   We will be passing out tracts, doing one-to-ones and open-air preaching.  Come celebrate National Atheists Day on the campus of University of North Texas! If you are planning on coming to this, please email Jon at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

2.  Saturday, April 3rd, Noon-5PM:  TLC Ministries will take the gospel to the Deep Ellum Arts Festival in the Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas, TX.  This is a great time to do one-to-ones and pass out tracts.  We might try some open-air preaching, Lord willing.

3.  Sunday April 11th,  2PM-5PM:  TLC Ministries will take the gospel to the Main Street Arts Festival in downtown Ft. Worth.  We have done this festival every year since 2005 and it is always a great blessing and a challenge.  The last couple of years, the organizers have hired a bag-piper to try to drown us out when we preach on Saturday.  Other believers will be there on Saturday; last year we discovered that we could preach on Sunday afternoon with very little resistance.  Therefore, we will focus our efforts on Sunday afternoon again this year.

4.  Thursday, April 15th-Sunday, April 18th:  TLC Ministries will be assisting TXARM with ministry at the Texas Motor Speedway during the Samsung Mobile 500 NASCAR weekend.  TLC usually assists with ministry opportunities including handicap transportation and literature distribution at the main gates,but there are opportunities for childrens ministry, service ministry to track employees, and more.

To be involved you MUST: 1) fill out the necessary forms available at the TXARM site and bring them with you, 2) purchase (or bring with you) an official TXARM shirt (this identifies you as being with the ministry so track officials recognize you), and 3) sign in EACH DAY at the TXARM ministry site (this is for liability reasons for Texas Motor Speedway).

Tentative TLC Schedule at TMS:

Thursday, April 15th, Noon:  Arrive at TXARM site to sign in for literature distribution.  Handicap rides begin at noon as well (arrive earlier if planning on doing a ride-along). Pass out tracts and TXARM literature until 3PM.  Jon Speed will leave and return around 5PM to pass out tracts at the gates for the NASCAR practice session.

Friday, April 16th, 11AM:  Arrive at TXARM site to sign in.  Handicap rides begin at 9AM (arrive earlier if doing a ride-along).   Literature distribution from 11:30AM until 2PM.  Jon Speed will leave and return around 5PM to pass out tracts at the gates for the ARCA Rattlesnake 150.  Ministry events will take place at the TXARM site from 8:30PM until 10PM or so.

Saturday, April 17th, 9:30AM:  Arrive at TXARM site to sign in.  Handicap rides begin at 9:30AM (arrive earlier if doing a ride-along).  Literature distribution from 10AM until 2:30PM at the gates.  Jon Speed will not be there on the 17th due to a prior commitment at UNT.

Sunday, April 18th, 9:30AM:  Arrive at TXARM site to sign in.  Handicap rides begin at 9:30AM (arrive earlier if doing ride-along).  Literature distribution from 10AM until the Samsung Mobile 500 begins at 2:00PM.  Jon Speed will be speaking at the chapel service at TXARM’s infield ministry location at 10AM, but will not have extra infield passes.

5.  Friday April 23rd,  7PM-11PM:  TLC will take a team to the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival in Denton to pass out tracts and do one-to-one at this festival.  We do NOT have a booth this year, but we are planning on hitting this festival with the gospel.  For more information, contact Tim Crawford at tim@lostcauseministries.com.

6.   Saturday, May 1st:  TLC Ministries is applying for a festival booth at the Denton Cinco de Mayo Festival in Denton, TX.  We will set up our 10 x 10 booth and do one-to-ones throughout the day.  If you speak Spanish, we could especially use your help at this festival.  English speakers will do fine here as well. TLC will provide the booth space, scheduling, water, free tracts and Bibles: all you need to do is show up!  This is a great opportunity for anyone who is new to evangelism.  If you would like to sign up for a two hour shift, email Jon Speed at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

Evangelism Resources:

1.  We highly recommend Living Waters’ School of Biblical Evangelism!  Check out this promotional video.

2.  Here is a great resource on theology, church history, Biblical studies and more!  It is an archive of lectures by R.W. Glenn, the guy who partnered with Todd Friel to do the series on hermeneutics.

3.  Shawn Holes was recently a guest on Tony Miano’s Ambassador’s Alliance Radio show.  He tells his story of being arrested in Glasgow, Scotland for preaching against homosexuality in the open-air there.

4.  This is a sermon I recently preached at Sovereign Grace Bible Church in Flagstaff, AZ.  The text is 2 Timothy 3:10-17.  I include it here with the hope that it might be an encouragement to you to be faithful to the Word of God above and beyond all else.

Is Jesus God? Debate at University of North Texas

This is a Dialogue in a form of a Academic Debate taking place between Muslims and Christians. There will be three representatives for each side. The people on the Christian panel are Jon Speed, Yuce Kabakci, and Tyler McNabb. The Muslim panel will be Brother Khalil Meek, Brother Yaseem Black, and Ali Jahan.

The debate takes place on the campus of University of North Texas and will be open to any who would like to observe. The date is April 17, 12PM-1:30PM.

For more information, contact Jon Speed at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

Psalm 119 Conference:

We will be running The Five Hundred event in conjunction with this conference.  The goal, as always, is to try to get 500 people out on the streets sharing the gospel at the same time.  Usually, we do this in conjunction with Living Waters’ Deeper Conference in Atlanta.  On Saturday, May 15th, we will do it right here in Dallas\Fort Worth.  Registration for the outreach (only) is FREE.

Evangelism Memory Verse:

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork.”

Psalm 19:1

Evangelism Quote:

“The damned shall live as long in hell as God Himself shall live in Heaven.”

Thomas Brooks

 Regular, Weekly Outreaches:

1. Truck Stop on I-35 W, north of Fort Worth: Thursdays, from 7-9PM. Truck to truck witnessing. Contact: Ron Martinez (ron@lostcauseministries.com).

2. Day Laborer Camp (Mckinney): Saturdays from 7-8AM. Witnessing to the Hispanic community. Spanish tracts and one-to-ones. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

3. Skate Park (Allen): Saturdays from 10-11PM. One-to-ones with skaters. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

Special Outreaches:

1.  University of North Texas:  Friday March 12th, 9:30AM-2:30PM.  We will preach on the grassy area facing the entrance of the Student Union closest to the bus stops.   We will pass out tracts, do one-to-ones, and open-air preach.  If you are coming, let us know at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

2.  Fort Worth Stockyards St. Patrick’s Day Parade:  Saturday March 13th,  2:30PM–6PM.  We will hand out tracts, do one-to-ones and open-air preach before the parade begins and when it concludes.  The carpool will leave FBC Justin at 2:30PM.  To get a ride, contact Jon Speed at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

3.  Southlake Town Square:  Friday March 19th, 7PM–10PM.  We’ll pass out tracts, do one-to-ones, and open-air preach.  We’ll meet in the square behind Brio’s Restaurant at 7PM.  The carpool will leave Justin at 6:40PM.  To get a ride, contact Tim Crawford at tim@lostcauseministries.com.

Evangelism Report:

Winter Olympic Games (Vancouver, B.C. Canada):

This report comes from Tim Crawford:

I received a phone call from Bill Adams from Sports Fan Outreach International and was invited to spend the week with them proclaiming the gospel at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC.  I was a little bit tired having just come off the Super Bowl trip to Miami and then a weekend at the NBA ALL Stars but I knew that I shouldn’t ever pass up the opportunity to preach the Gospel, so I was obedient (to my wife Allison and ministry partner Jon Speed) and went.

I flew into Vancouver on 2/21 and got there in the afternoon so we had almost a full day of evangelism right off the bat. I meet up with a great brother in Christ Andy Schmelzer and we immediately got to work. After a quick bite to eat we were headed to the town on the city public transportation and newly built Airbus. As we were leaving the airport and heading to the bus we were able to give the Gospel in tract form (Million Dollar bills) to the CZECH Republic Olympic team!!! What a blessing as well as a great way to start off the trip! I thought to myself wow this is going to be a great trip, but really I had no idea all the things God had in store for me and how amazing this trip was going to be.

We were greeted in Downtown Vancouver by Brother Bill and his team Jason and Chap making the team a total of five. I could not believe how many thousands of people were in this town. I know that the Olympics are a big deal but this event was like the Super Bowl on steroids!  The streets were full of singers, street performers and various types of cultic things like fortune tellers, etc. The crowds were huge and everyone was partying and having a good time. As I surveyed the crowd I noticed all the different nationalities being represented.  Flags and colors everywhere and people cheering and screaming for their teams!  This venue was every evangelist/street preachers “DREAM”!!! I mean people from every tribe, tongue and nation all in one location.   It was like a world mission trip without having to travel the world. We had the opportunity to witness and preach to people from countries I have never even heard of. It was like fishing in a stocked pond with every variety of fish you could imagine (salt water and fresh water) from all walks of life and from various continents all in one location or pond if you will. I have a much better understanding now of the verse found in Luke 10:2 “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest”. We could have used another 1,000 evangelist or laborers to cover the vast amount of people there in Vancouver!

I do not have the time or energy to write to you all of the details of this trip but I can tell you that God gave us many divine appointments. We were able to pass out well over 10,000 gospel tracts and witness, one-to-one and preach to thousands of people over this week-long evangelism trip.

I was blessed to see that the proclamation of the Gospel is the same no matter who you are sharing it with.I think that this cross cultural stuff (let’s be creative and change up the presentation) is a myth and has no effect on the way we present the Gospel. The GOSPEL is the GOSPEL whether you are speaking to a pygmy in Africa or a gang-banger in NYC. The law is written on everyone’s heart and apart from Christ everyone is dead in their trespasses and sins. I noticed on the streets that everyone I spoke with (various ethnicities and different backgrounds) understood the moral law of God. They also understood that they had broken it and deserved judgment. This message of the law preparing the way for the Gospel transcends culture and language barriers and does its perfect work in the heart of all people no matter what their background. I was truly blessed to see it in action as people were confronted with their sin and shown their desperate need for a Savior. I saw the verse in Galatians 3:24 come to life as those who thought they were good people heard the moral law of God (Ten Commandments) and were broken, as the schoolmaster pointed them to their need for Jesus Christ.

Over all it was a great trip I was blessed to see some come to repentance and faith in Christ as well as to see other believers encouraged and to share their faith. One particular guy I meet on the fairy named Ernie spent the day with us preaching the Gospel and he sent me this e-mail when I got home.

Hi Tim.  I praise God for arranging our meeting on the ferry to Vancouver and the way He opened the way to share the gospel with others around us.  Thank you for asking me to join the team.  I was really blessed.  I have been asked to share in my home church the way our Lord worked out this meeting.  Thanks for praying for Chap and I and praying for me when I left.  I have read parts of your webpage and am glad to see Christ in the centre of your statement of faith and your evangelism memory verses and quotes.  I have read CH Spurgeon’s Ten Sermons on Repentance and know he was a great preacher.  I know that I must make some repentolutions myself.  I have been a member of a pin collecting club in Vancouver for several years and have tried to convince myself that I had liberty in pursuing it as a hobby but I have also been convicted by the Lord that I have made them worldly treasures and carried away in conversations with other members about getting an elusive pin to complete my collection.  I have bid for some on ebay and been willing to spend unreasonable amounts to acquire certain ones.  I feel nervous and apprehensive over winning or losing an auction.  I believe that the Lord has been trying to chasten me in His love but I have disobeyed His promptings and put my heart in the world.  I want to follow His command of Matthew 6:20 to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…..”  Thanks for the pin you gave me that puts the others in perspective and gives me a means to share the gospel.  I am asking God to make me obedient to His call on my life to be a witness for my Saviour.  I will uphold you in my prayers.  God bless you!  Ernie

I hope this report will encourage you to share your faith on a regular basis and please if you are ever interested in hitting the streets come out and join us. We have the privilege of living in a free country where we can preach the Gospel and there are so many events like this where there are thousands of people gathered that need to hear the truth. TLC ministries are out almost every weekend publicly proclaiming the great Gospel of Jesus Christ and we certainly could use some faithful laborers to join us!  Thank you all for your encouragement and prayers and we look forward to serving with you in some way soon. May God bless you all as you serve Him faithfully. Galatians 6:9.

University of North Texas (Denton, TX):

Last Tuesday we were given 35 signed copies of Ray Comfort’s edition of “Origin of Species”, 100 copies of Todd Friel’s DVD, “The Big Question”, and a bunch of tracts (thanks to Trish Ramos for the books and tracts, and thanks to Marv Plementosh for the DVD’s).  We passed all of the books and DVD’s out in short order and did some open-air preaching there.  Our team included Tom Sadowski, Veronica Speed, myself (Jon) and Nick, a UNT student who came to Christ under the preaching of the gospel last semester.  He’s getting discipled and is solidly plugged in at Providence Chapel in Krum.  It was a blessing to see evidence of God’s grace with just one of the students.  We hope he is a first fruits of more to come.

Ambassador’s Academy #13 (Los Angeles, CA):

Last Wednesday, TLC Staff (Tim Crawford and Jon Speed) traveled to Los Angeles for Ambassador’s Academy #13.  We were privileged to be asked to lead two teams out on the streets after a day of training.  As always, the training was excellent with lessons on love in evangelism (Emeal Zwayne), open-air preaching (Stuart Scott), using tracts (Mark Spence), the use of apologetics (Kirk Cameron), perseverance (Tony Miano), and of course, Ray Comfort spoke as well.  Ray previewed episode #2 of the 4th season of Way of the Master for us (Belgium).

On Friday, we toured the Living Waters headquarters in Bellflower and practiced stoplight preaching in their parking lot.  From there, we traveled to Hollywood Boulevard where the town was abuzz with excitement about the upcoming Academy Awards.  Large Oscar statuettes (idols) adorned the red carpet area in front of Kodak Theater, a block was shut down for the grandstand area, and the streets were crammed with idol worshipers.  There was even a girl who was being interviewed by many media outlets because she had a sign that asked Brad Pitt for a date to the awards.

We open-air preached at the stoplight on Hollywood and Highland for about an hour and a half and most of the team open-aired there several times.  We even had a heckler who kept challenging, “Where’s the love?”  When John 3:16 was quoted to her and she was commanded to repent and believe the gospel, she responded with profanities.  She didn’t seem to get the irony when the same comment (Where’s the love?) was turned around on her.  I had a chance to witness to a group of Mexican college aged kids at the stop lights.

We moved to the front of the new wax museum and were not appreciated since the management brought out a big sound system blaring pop music trying to drown us out.  We adapted by moving our station closer to Graumann’s Chinese Theatre where the sound could be better heard.  We moved part of the team directly across from Graumann’s, without an amp, and were able to preach into their courtyard and bounce the sound off of the back wall.  We were able to share with Catwoman and one of the Darth Vader character performers here, which a local news crew filmed.

We finished across from the subway station where several open-aired and did one-to-ones.  After this we got on the bus and drove to Glendale, where we spent the night witnessing and preaching.  Nathan Frost ended up getting a good heckler here and the crowd grew accordingly.  Tony Miano did a great job finishing up with the heckler and preaching the gospel.  In all of this Christ was glorified and His gospel proclaimed as it deserves to be: with boldness, passion and compassion.

Saturday morning, we traveled to Huntington Beach.  Our team did a couple of open-airs on the pier after lunch and a few more below the pier.  Most had some good one-to-ones.  I had one with a lady (didn’t write her name down) who has been having family problems and was checking in to a Christian camp that day.  We were able to give her a Bible, pray with her, and share the gospel.

In the afternoon, we were joined by Paul Adams of Open Air Campaigners who demonstrated the OAC method of open-air.  I suspect many will engage in their training.  Afterwards, Ray Comfort came out and also did some open-air.  This was very encouraging for the teams and instructive.   Tim Crawford had a good conversation with some goth teenagers who were hanging out while Ray Comfort witnessed to one of their friends.

All in all, it was an excellent time.  The attendees were encouraged to become students of the Word, sound doctrine, and Biblical evangelism.  TLC and One Million Tracts were blessed with the opportunity to give each attendee a copy of Evangelism in the New Testament, which we hope will be helpful in building biblical evangelism teams in communities around the country and the world (there were attendees from Canada and France).

Evangelism Resources:

1.  Christianaudio is offering a great FREE downloadable audio book this month.  John Piper’s “Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die”.  This is an excellent resource to give to an unsaved friend, or to study yourself as you prepare to open-air preach over the Easter season.  Simply go to www.christianaudio.com, place Piper’s book in your cart, and enter the following code when you check out:  MAR2010B.  

2.  This is a very sobering video that’s been making the rounds on the internet.  It’s graphic footage of Christians being beaten and martyred near Orissa, India.  Please be careful that children do not see this footage.  At the same time, let it motivate you to pray for our brothers and sisters in India and to live a life that is godly that we might suffer persecution.

3.  Here is a great tract for Easter.  The Who is Jesus? tract is available from One Million Tracts for only $3.00 per pack of 100!  It’s not only a great tract, it’s a great ice breaker.  Hand them out and ask, “Who is Jesus?” as you do.

4.  Here is an excellent sermon from Pastor Randall Easter on the issue of persecution as taught in 1 Peter 3:13-17.  This one is a life-changer.

Easter Week Meetings:

FBC Briar is hosting their special Easter Week Meetings again this year.  Guest speakers include Dr. Mudliar (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary), Pastor Brett Beasley, and Pastor Jeff Noblitt (Grace Life Church of Muscle Shoals, AL\Anchored in Truth Ministries).  The dates are March 29-April 2 at 7:00PM.  Meals will be available at 5:30PM for a donation.

Last year several connected with TLC Ministries attended and were greatly blessed.  Please mark your calendars now and plan on attending.  This will be food for our souls.

Psalm 119 Conference:

Evangelism Memory Verse:

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”

–Romans 5:12

Evangelism Quote:

“Let them pretend what they please, the true reason why any despise the new birth is because they hate a new life.”

–John Owen

Regular, Weekly Outreaches:

1. Truck Stop on I-35 W, north of Fort Worth: Thursdays, from 7-9PM. Truck to truck witnessing. Contact: Ron Martinez (ron@lostcauseministries.com).

2. Day Laborer Camp (Mckinney): Saturdays from 7-8AM. Witnessing to the Hispanic community. Spanish tracts and one-to-ones. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

3. Skate Park (Allen): Saturdays from 10-11PM. One-to-ones with skaters. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

Evangelism Report:

Super Bowl Outreach 2010 (Miami, FL):

From Feb. 3-8, TLC Ministries traveled to sunny Miami, FL to share the gospel with the fans at the Super Bowl.  Tim Crawford, Tristen Crawford, Jon Speed, Samantha Speed, Ron Martinez, Jose Muniz and Tom Sadowski all made the trip.  We drove non-stop there and back and even stopped at New Orleans on the return trip to scout it for a future outreach with Jose Muniz and Jesus Crew Ministries.  About 80 believers from around the nation joined together to get equipped with Biblical Christ-focused messages each morning and then did evangelism at various locations in the afternoon and evening.  It was a blessing to be joined by Nathan and Mary Magnusen, Andy Schmelzer, Scott Smith, Ed Rivera, and Frank Lyman as we hit the streets each day, mostly in South Beach.

Here are some reports.

Samantha Speed:

We went to South beach and we passed out tracts…well i passed out Tracts. Dad street Preached. It was a good learning experience. I learned not to look where the crowds looked, the hard way. I also learned to be faithful in that trip. Even if some of the people did weird things that I cannot understand. I pray for those people every night before bed time.

Then we went to the Super Bowl. That was also a good experience. I learned about how far those people would go as a fan.  They painted a helmet on their heads if they were a Colts Fan and if they were a Saints Fan they would say “Who Dat?”  By the end of it you felt like saying, “Who cares?”  

Tom Sadowski:

Probably the most salient moments of the entire time in Miami, for me, was when I was preaching on Saturday afternoon to this Mardi Gras-like crowd, and became quite overcome in my spirit as I beheld the devilry in front of me, contrasted with the “excellencies of Christ,” as had just been preached to us that morning by brother Matt Johnson from Georgia. I believe it was especially the thought that this same divine, SINLESS Lord Jesus Christ had DIED—horrifically under the wrath of God—for the likes of such miserable, wretched, hell-deserving sinners (as we ALL are) … that so moved me. Jon Speed told me afterward (best as I recall) that one among the crowd had been videotaping me to put on YouTube for him and his friends to get a big laugh out of later on. But once the effects of the inebriation (drunkenness) and so forth wore off, we believed, hoped, and prayed that some of these guys and gals watching would end up being saved. As I said to one fellow out there, when preaching later on that same night, who cursed and mocked as he passed by, IF he would fear God, repent, and trust in Christ, he could in short time very well be out on such streets himself, proclaiming and defending that which now he despised.

Ron Martinez:

The Super Bowl festivities were nothing short of wild.  The Saints and the Colts would compete in one of the most watched Super Bowls of all time.  My Super Bowl weekend was spent with like-minded brothers in Christ.  Two days on Miami Beach (ALL day long) and one day at the game doing street evangelism.  Talk about rewarding!

The atmosphere was rowdy on Ocean Drive just off the beach.  I think it was because approximately 80% of those present were Saints fans–the sin factor was up at an all time high.  Getting in and out of the “party” area required a lot of patience due to the incredibly thick traffic.  Once we arrived there though, it was time to pull out the tracts, the amps, and for some not so like-minded, the signs.

I will elaborate more at Gospeltotheperishing.com  about some of that, but for now I will do the reader’s digest thing.

Parish, Gorry, Patty, and Ronnie have caused me to reflect a lot on our various conversations.  Gorry, was a guy with a mouth full of gold teeth.  He prayed with me after I explained the gospel.  Our time of prayer was right there in the thick of all that skin, drunkenness, cussing, and whatever you could imagine.  Parish, was a cop guarding the Tide demonstration (huge area) and loud music.  He remembers when he, a black man, could not get onto Miami Beach.  Patty was a hitch hiker, a loner, and a wonderer with a sharp mind.  She could have been on any Cosmopolitan Vogue magazine cover, but she would rather live like she was doing.  She traveled with her dog and a beaten up guitar.  As I was speaking to her, I could tell she had been beaten up a few times.  She told me when she was a teenager that she had been raped by a pastor her parents trusted.  So even now, men ravage her if they can get away with it.  She was not a whore, just a loner.  That night I saw where she was going to sleep when things would finally die down–on the street, under a little patio area.  Then there was Ronnie who was at the game as a limo driver.  He just happened to be hungry at the same time that I was hungry.  I ordered my mini pizza, and then turned to look for a table (which happened to be in a gas station) and asked him if I could sit at his table with him.  Of course, because God ordained it, Ronnie said, yes.  He was from Canada.  He spoke French and claimed to be an atheist.  By the end of our 30 minute conversation, we were friends.  Not only friends, but he was willing to read the book of 1 John in the Bible that I gave him.  Think about that for a minute.  An atheist holding a Bible on his way to read it!

Once the Super Bowl started we left, packed up our belonging, and made our trek down to the French Quarter in Louisiana to confront more sinners.  God is good!  I have many reflections of sadness at times from our Miami trip, but I have to know my Lord does much better than I to convert a sinner to His saving faith.

NBA All Star Weekend (Dallas, TX):

This report comes from Tim Crawford:

TLC ministries teamed up with Bill Adams (SFOI.org) for the NBA All-stars weekend here in Dallas and had a great weekend of ministry. We started out Friday night at the American Airlines Center, Saturday we were at the Dallas Convention Center and American Airlines Center and we ended the event Sunday night at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium with over 108,000 people in attendance! In spite of the foot of snow and the freezing weather the crowds were huge and the outreach was literally unhindered by the crazy Texas weather.

Friday night we took the team and headed out to the AA center for the Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam. God showed us supernatural favor with the authorities and we were able to set up preach and distribute tracts at all the gates without any interference or confrontation from authorities. This was really awesome considering the issues some have had in the past preaching or distributing tracts. Bill Adams, Ron Martinez, Keith Higgins, Chap, Casey French and I arrived there at about 6pm and were set up at the main entrance gates on each side of the event. This gave us maximum coverage and exposure even though there were only 6 of us. I was greatly encouraged by Casey who is newly saved and on fire for God tracking and witnessing to everyone possible. I could not believe how many students were bused in for this event. Many inner-city students and youth were corralled inn and we were able to tract and witness to them as they came off the bus. We had many great one to one’s and were able to pass out 1,000’s of tracts and I am sure God was glorified. Please pray for these young students and all the rest who heard the word and received Gospel tracts.

Saturday afternoon the 5 of us (minus Casey) headed to the Dallas Convention Center for the NBA All-Star Jam session. I was confronted immediately with opposition from those policing the parameter of the event. I was told that even though it was public property I wasn’t able to distribute anything to anyone or I would get a citation. I thought about this for a moment prayed and figured that God must want me somewhere else. It was really cold outside and I couldn’t pass out tracts so I figured I would just walk inside the event and witness in there. Well needless to say God must have made me invisible and I walked into this event without any tickets, they didn’t even put me through the metal detectors! I had the privilege of going into this Jam session and distributing tracts freely without opposition to as many people I wanted. I gave Gospel tracts to several professional basketball players and a lot of inner city kids and it was awesome! I couldn’t believe it but I will post pictures because I don’t know their names and I don’t follow basketball. I only knew that they were famous because of their entourage and everyone trying to get their autograph. It was really a God thing because I would walk right up to them through all the crowds and hand them a tract and they would look at me and say thanks or that’s cool and put it in their pocket! After about 3 hours of tracking and witnessing inside the Jam session it was time to head over to the American Airlines for round two @ the NBA ALL-Star night.

We headed over to the AAC for the NBA All-Star night and meet up with Jeff Pitman, Tom Sadowski, Tyler his wife Pricella and Carl Kalbfleisch from Bezeugen ministries and several from his team. This event was huge and we definitely could have used more laborers but God is sovereign and we know from His Word that laborers will be few. We immediately split up and set up at the different gates and preached all night without any issues. The best part about this was that we were able to preach at the gates where all the people were lined up and waiting to get in. They were stuck in line and not going anywhere so it was a great opportunity to preach the whole Gospel to them. Many listened intently and were encouraged and many took tracts and seemed to be very open to the Gospel, praise the Lord for another great event!

Sunday we went to the Dallas Cowboys Stadium for the NBA All-Star game. There were over 108,000 people in attendance and it was an incredible outreach! I know that many had to stay home for Valentine’s Day but for those who joined us I truly thank God for you and your faithfulness. There are so many opportunities to preach the Gospel and so little interest from God’s people to do so?  I really never understand this but we must continue to pray that God will send forth laborers into the field. I am so thankful for those of you who join us on a regular basis and would like to encourage all of you to invite your friends out to these events. We need to be disciplining and training up others on a regular basis to do what we do on the streets. This will allow us to cover more events and be more effective in reaching our Jerusalem with the Gospel of Christ. Please continue to pray for all who have heard and received the Word this weekend. God bless you and we thank you for your prayers and support.- Soli Deo Gloria

This report comes from Tom Sadowski:

I just now checked: the attendance for this event was 108,713. Amazing. And it did indeed seem like it, as people kept streaming in even as we were leaving, after a number of hours out there preaching and passing out tracts and talking to people in the bitter cold. The Word of God is so wonderfully relevant and instructive: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world … for the world is passing away … but [the one who] does the will of God will abide forever.” It was such a blessing, beyond words really, being out there on Saturday and Sunday with the many brothers and sisters, both from Atlanta and locally, too many to mention by name here … but I will anyway: Bill, Chap, and Keith from Atlanta, and, locally, Tyler and Priscilla, Mike and Alma (met for first time), Manuel and his father (ditto—Manuel actually now lives in France), Carl and his son Eric, Tim, Jeff, Ron, Tatiana, Randy, and I (Jon in NY). If I overlooked someone, please forgive me. Twice on Sunday, once w/o amplification w/ Chap to a moving throng (nearly losing my voice), and later just before we left with amplification to the many huddled around the stadium waiting to enter, I preached to many from this record crowd, among other things, about one famous former basketball player, whom they all likely had heard of—Pete Maravich—who before he died had come to repent of his sins and become a devoted and serious follower and spokesman for Jesus Christ, his eyes being opened by God to see that basketball is just a shadow, but faith in Christ the reality, and substance, of life.

This report comes from Ron Martinez:

This past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were filled with activities here in Dallas for the All Star Basketball game.  On Sunday it was extremely cold, I mean, frigid cold.  The only question you need to ask yourself while at home, nice and toasty warm is this, and “Will the sinners be out there?”  If yes, then the evangelists should be there to meet them.  To make it short for a testimony, I share this sure fire moment.  On the corner of a busy intersection of foot traffic and auto traffic I was reading Isaiah 40 aloud.  I was getting all kinds of reaction from “Idiot” to “Preach it brother!”  This one man of great stature (a modern Goliath) walked up to me.  I looked up because I could not ignore him.  I looked into his eyes and knew he had kindness.  I greeted him with a, “Howdy!”  He said that he really appreciated that I was reading from the Scriptures and to keep it up.  He shook my hand and gave me a “God bless you” and went on into the game.

I praise my Lord for allowing me to do the work He set up for His chosen to do.  Many new friends were made that were strangers to start.  I guess that’s friendship evangelism.

Snow Camp Retreat (Amboy, NY):Kim and I traveled to NY to do a Snow Camp retreat for Genesee Country Church (Oakfield, NY).  About 25 people were there and we had a great time snow shoeing, cross country skiing, hiking, sledding, and just plain old fellowshiping.   I taught a three part series on “Faithfulness.”  We started with the doctrine of the faithfulness of God, followed it with a study of what the Scriptures say about the faithfulness of man, and then preached the parable of the talents (Mt. 25:14-30).  This teaching had a big impact on several including some a couple that is newly saved and a deacon from another church in the Rochester, NY area.  We all were struck with the faithfulness of God and our dependence on Him for any faithfulness in our own lives.

Evangelism Resources:

1.  Here is something we hope will help you in witnessing to Mormons.  It is an overview of how I witness to them when they come to the door (or elsewhere).

2.  Here is a great audio clip of A.W. Tozer teaching on “The Omnipotence of God.”  This is essential in evangelism.  If we did not believe in an omnipotent God, our gospel has no hope.

3.  Here is a two-part teaching on the Great Commission by Dr. John MacArthur.  Part One.  Part Two.

4.  Here is a video clip of open-air preaching on Mill Ave. in Tempe, AZ and other locations.  Some dear friends of ours have been faithful to bring the gospel to this godless district for the last four years or so.  Please watch it and be encouraged to be bold for Christ.

If the Lord has no other calling for me than to preach the gospel on the streets, I am of all men most blessed.   It is a wonderful trust, one I am not worthy of.  Thank You Lord, for being gracious to me to call me to the streets to preach.

The Five Hundred @ Psalm 119 Conference in Keller, TX:

We are pleased to announce that The Five Hundred, the outreach we’ve been doing the last couple of years with Transplant Ministries (Marcus Pittman), is coming to the Dallas\Fort Worth area!

For more information on the Conference, go here.

To register for the outreach for FREE, go here.

TLC @ The Olympics!

Please keep Tim Crawford in prayer next week as he travels to Vancouver, B.C. to share the gospel at The Olympics.  Tim has an opportunity to travel with Bill Adams of Sports Fan Outreach and will be flying out on Sunday and returning on Saturday.  This is a wonderful opportunity for the gospel to be proclaimed at an event that draws thousands of people from every tribe, nation and tongue.  Pray that the gospel will be preached with power.

Evangelism Memory Verse:

“For thus says the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

–Isaiah 57:15

Evangelism Quote:

“The Law may express sin but cannot suppress sin.”

–Thomas Adams

Regular, Weekly Outreaches:

1. Truck Stop on I-35 W, north of Fort Worth: Thursdays, from 7-9PM. Truck to truck witnessing. Contact: Ron Martinez (ron@lostcauseministries.com).

2. Day Laborer Camp (Mckinney): Saturdays from 7-8AM. Witnessing to the Hispanic community. Spanish tracts and one-to-ones. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

3. Skate Park (Allen): Saturdays from 10-11PM. One-to-ones with skaters. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

Special Outreaches:

1.  Friday, January 29, 7-10PM:  TLC Ministries will travel to Sundance Square in Fort Worth and share the gospel there.  If you would like to carpool from Justin, please contact Jon at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

2.  Saturday, January 30:  Harlem Globetrotter’s Outreach in Dallas.  Carl Kalbfleisch of Bezeugen Ministries will be taking a team.  They will be meeting at the corner of Olive and Houston Street at noon on Saturday.  You can get the details at Carl’s blog.

3.  Feb. 2nd:  University of North Texas, 10AM-2:30PM.  If you would like to join us, contact Tim Crawford at tim@lostcauseministries.com.

4.  Feb. 3-8:  The TLC Team will be on the road at the Super Bowl Outreach in Miami, FL.  Please pray for safety as they travel and for a fruitful outreach.

Evangelism Report:

University of North Texas:

Last week TLC was blessed to have not one, but two opportunities to preach the gospel at UNT.  Due to an error in the Dean of Students Office, we received a permit for Tuesday AND Thursday, under the sponsorship of the Coalition for Free Speech.  We were blessed when James Anderson, Tom Sadowski, Jeff Clayton, Jeff Pittman, and Chad Welty all joined us at one or the other of the outreaches.

Both days saw us have some atheistic hecklers, lots of tracts distributed and many one-to-ones.  We even got the following email in response to a tract:

“I received your pink card the other day and I was curious about the first question on the card. I thought I knew all of the answers, but realize now that I do not. The question I refer to is this, “When I die where, will I go?” Please let me know the answer at your earliest convenience.”  Bobby

Please be in prayer for this student.  We’ve emailed him back and are awaiting a reply.

Justin, TX:

Here’s a great example of what the Lord has been doing locally here in the town we live in, Justin.  This testimony comes from Tim Crawford:

I just wanted to say “praise the Lord” for His mercy and grace and give Him thanks for another blessed year! The holidays have passed and 2010 is here and TLC ministries have witnessed God’s work in the lives of many people. We are so thankful for the privilege to serve God in the capacity we have and for that we rejoice. As I sit in my office and reflect back over the year I can’t even begin to tell you how many God ordained encounters we have had. We have had the privilege to teach, train, equip and disciple God’s people and have seen many come to know Christ.

Please pray for Ronnie and Rosie as they begin their walk with the Lord. They are a couple who showed up at FBC Justin on a Wednesday evening out of the blue. I had the privilege to meet with Ronnie and share the Gospel with him in my office and we just seemed to hit it off. A dear friend of the family of Marian Temple had the same opportunity to meet with his wife and shortly thereafter they both professed Christ and are now walking with the Lord. They are attending church regularly and getting plugged into Bible study and discipleship classes (Ronnie will be with us on Tuesday and Rosie with the ladies group on Friday) Please pray for them as they are in Florida with Ronnie’s mom Vicenza who has cancer. We are praying for a chance for them to share the Gospel with their extended family who is Catholic while they are down there.

Another couple that received Christ was a young man named Casey and his girlfriend Misty. They has also been radically changed by God. They have turned from a life of drugs and alcohol and appear to really be walking with the Lord! They too are already getting plugged into Bible studies with us on Tuesday’s and attending church regularly (Wednesday and Sunday nights) it sure is refreshing to see people who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Please pray for them as they put off the old and put on the new. Casey and Misty both hit the streets Friday night with Jeff Pitman to share their faith with others and told me that it was awesome!  They have been evangelizing and sharing the word with there family members and have already brought three of them to church. Another young man that Casey brought to church on Wednesday night also gave his life to Christ so please pray for Juan. He to has heard the Gospel and professed Christ and said he was repenting and surrendering his life to Christ.

The last individual I am requesting prayer for is a young man named Stephan. He has been attending our church with his girlfriend for a short period of time and God opened the door for me to speak with him after a service last Sunday. He was clearly broken and realized for the first time that it wasn’t about him and it was all about Him! He told me that he was going to repent and get right with God. After about a 30-40 minute conversation he told me that it finally all made sense to him and he needed to get right with God. I said yes you do and gave him my ministry card and told him to call me when he got right with God. Well needless to say the next week he wasn’t in church so I thought I had scared him off but the following week he showed up and was looking for me. He came up to me and gave me a big hug and said thanks for helping me find God and then he said he got right with Him on Tuesday night!

Needless to say I am rejoicing at all the Lord has done and asking that everyone who receives this newsletter would commit to praying for these dear folks. Each one is a miracle from God and without going into long story I assure God has done some miraculous things with each one. I pray that you would join us in praying for Ronnie, Rosie, Casey, Misty, Juan and Stephan as they begin their new life in Christ. Please pray for growth and protection from all the enticements this world has to offer. Please also pray for their spiritual growth as they read and study God’s word and as they learn to trust and obey Christ. Please pray for us as we disciple, teach and counsel them on a weekly basis. God is so good and He is faithful.

Amen, Tim.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  There are times to plant, tend and reap.  The Lord has been very gracious.

Evangelism Resources:

1.  We’ve listed this here before, but it’s worth seeing again.  Pastor Rob McCurley, a pastor from South Carolina, on open-air preaching.

2.   Paul Washer on seminarians who claim they want to preach in a pulpit.  Excellent advice.  Find a street corner without a preacher and preach.

The Five Hundred @ Psalm 119 Conference (May 14-15)

We are pleased to announce that The Five Hundred, the outreach we’ve been doing the last couple of years with Transplant Ministries (Marcus Pittman), is coming to the Dallas\Fort Worth area!

For more information on the Conference,  go here.

To register for the outreach for FREE, go here.

Evangelism Memory Verse:

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

–Isaiah 64:6

Evangelism Quote:

“Assurance is the fruit that grows out of the root of faith.”

–Stephen Charnock

Regular, Weekly Outreaches:

1. Truck Stop on I-35 W, north of Fort Worth: Thursdays, from 7-9PM. Truck to truck witnessing. Contact: Ron Martinez (ron@lostcauseministries.com).

2. Day Laborer Camp (Mckinney): Saturdays from 7-8AM. Witnessing to the Hispanic community. Spanish tracts and one-to-ones. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

3. Skate Park (Allen): Saturdays from 10-11PM. One-to-ones with skaters. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

Special Outreaches:

1.  Saturday, January 9th, 4-7PM:  TLC Ministries will take the gospel to the NFC Wild Card NFL game at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX!  We will leave the Justin area at 3:00PM.  If you would like to join the carpool, please email us at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

2.  Tuesday, January 19th, 10AM-2:30PM:  TLC Ministries will begin this semester’s outreach at University of North Texas on the 19th.  If you are planning on joining us, please let me know at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

Evangelism Report:

Big D NYE (Dallas, TX):

On New Years Eve, TLC Staff joined believers from Sovereign Joy Community Church in Keller and Liberty Lighthouse Church of Sherman in downtown Dallas to share the gospel.  It was a great way to end 2009 and begin 2010.  This is a typical “ball drop” celebration, with loud music and lots of drinking.  The organizers expected 40,000 party goers.  I don’t think that there were that many there, but there were many; probably more than 30,000.

Because of the noise, we focused on passing out tracts.   A couple of thousand tracts were distributed and we had many one-to-ones.  I spoke with a student from Texas Tech who, while holding a beer, declared that she is a Christian.  We talked about the gospel, what it is and what effect it should have in our lives.  I don’t think she “got it”, but she heard it and took one of the new 2012 gospel tracts from One Million Tracts.

The others had to leave early because of other commitments, but we (Tim and I) stayed and preached from 11:00-11:30PM near one of the gated entrances.  We preached with the amplifier and were heard mainly by the people waiting in line for the porta-potties.  A security guard tried to stop the preaching and said, “This is not the time or the place.  You have to leave.”  I told him that if he got a police officer to tell us that we were standing on private property, we’d be glad to leave.  We were standing on the public sidewalk and so he left us alone.

The gospel was preached.  We leave the results in the hands of our very capable, Sovereign God.

Cotton Bowl (Cowboy’s Stadium, Arlington):

On Saturday, TLC Staff was joined by Ron Martinez and Tom Sadowski as well as the folks from Bezeugen Ministries (led by Carl Kalbfleisch) at the Cowboys Stadium and we preached for about two-three hours at the Cotton Bowl.  It was refreshing to preach at this event since it was in the morning and people were not very drunk overall.  We passed out 2-3,000 tracts (with Carl’s total) and took turns preaching.

It was an excellent time.  Ron preached from many places in the Word.  I read Luke 10 and preached on it.  Tom also preached the gospel.  Again, it was a very good time of fellowship, service and trusting the Lord for the results.

Evangelism Resources:

1.  Monergism.com is offering three FREE e-books.  Dabney’s “Christ our Penal Substitute”, Dickenson’s “The True Scripture Doctrine” and Brown’s “The English Puritans.”

2.  Here is a NetFlix for Christians: Puritan Picks.  It offers a wide range of solid DVD viewing for Christian families.

3.  Check out this great new tract from One Million Tracts!  Easy to hand out: “Did you get your man card?” Follow up with, “Do you know what God requires of man?” Easy spring board to the gospel! Only $3.00 per pack of 100.  

Psalm 119 Conference

Wretched Radio is doing an important conference right here in Keller, TX May 14-15! The Psalm 119 Conference will feature Phil Johnson, Todd Friel, Dr. Peter Hammond, Justin Peters, Paul Taylor (Answers in Genesis), and Emilio and Trish Ramos. The early bird registration is $69.00 and the student price is $49.00. There is a 10% discount for Wretched Club members.

TLC Ministries has been asked to help coordinate an evangelistic outreach immediately after the event on Saturday (similar to The Five Hundred event after Deeper). Please keep this in prayer as we make plans to mobilize hundreds of believers to take the gospel across the Dallas\Fort Worth area.

TLC’s Financial Condition:

Thank you for praying with us about our recent support cut.  Our salaries are currently at 50% of what they were just a few months ago.  If you can help, please send donations to:

The Lost Cause Ministries  P.O. Box 1125  Justin, TX  76247

Thanks!

Evangelism Memory Verse:

“I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

–Revelation 1:8

Evangelism Quote:

“We are sure that only those who are ordained to eternal life will believe, and that God alone can add to the church such as shall be saved.  Nevertheless we cannot but observe with admiration that Paul, the great champion for the glorious doctrines of free and sovereign grace, was the most conspicuous for his personal zeal in the work of persuading men to be reconciled to God.”

–William Carey (sometimes called “The Father of Modern Missions”)

Note: We must agree with Carey.  In fact, if we agree with the first part of his statement regarding his theology and fail to imitate his example of following Paul (as Paul followed Christ), then we miss an essential element of New Testament Christianity.  May the Lord help us to have the theology of the Apostle Paul while having his passion for the gospel.

We can find many who have one or the other, but it is rare to find a man or woman who has both.

Regular, Weekly Outreaches:

1. Truck Stop on I-35 W, north of Fort Worth: Thursdays, from 7-9PM. Truck to truck witnessing. Contact: Ron Martinez (ron@lostcauseministries.com).

2. Day Laborer Camp (Mckinney): Saturdays from 7-8AM. Witnessing to the Hispanic community. Spanish tracts and one-to-ones. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

3. Skate Park (Allen): Saturdays from 10-11PM. One-to-ones with skaters. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

Special Outreaches:

1.  Sunday, December 20th, 3:00-5:00PM: FBC Briar will be doing a Christmas caroling outreach at the Walmart in Azle. 500 Christmas gifts will be given to customers while the members sing. We have permission from the management to be there and they are supplying us with electricity for an amplifier and a keyboard. The gifts will contain a booklet from John Piper, a gospel tract, candy, and an audio CD of Pastor Randall preaching the gospel. In between songs, Pastor Randall Easter and Jon Speed will give short open-air sermons springboarding from the songs.

Pastor Randall has asked me to invite you all to come out and join in this outreach. As you know, a crowd always draws a crowd. Perhaps this outreach will provide the spark for you to do something similar with your own church next year.

If you are coming, please let me know at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

2. Thursday, December 31st, 9:00PM–?? TLC Ministries will take the Gospel to the Big D NYE event in Victory Park in Dallas, TX! We hit this event last year and it was awesome. Let’s close out a fantastic year sharing the Gospel with a full fledged effort to proclaim it with passion and boldness as Dallas turns out to party. This event will draw about 40,000 people who MUST be reminded that there is a God and that they are accountable to Him. Let’s exalt Christ! Carpools will leave the Justin TX area at 8:00PM. For carpooling info, contact Jon Speed at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

3. Cotton Bowl Classic Outreach: Saturday, January 2nd, 2010, 10AM-1PM. The Cotton Bowl comes to the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX. Ole Miss vs. OSU. The carpool will leave FBC Justin at 9:15AM. Once we are parked, we will set up an open-air preaching station across from the Walmart. We will pass out tracts, open-air preach and do one-to-ones. If you want to carpool, please contact me at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

Evangelism Report:

Last Friday night, TLC Staff was joined by Tom Sadowski and Tim Crawford’s sons, Tristen and Brandon.  We met Ted Winton, Ron, and some other believers out on the streets in Sundance Square and had a good night sharing the gospel with the lost.  I was especially blessed as Brandon and Tristen took turns quoting Scriptures into the amplifier in between open-air preaching.  That might seem like a simple thing, but it’s a huge step for a couple of eight and nine year olds.

We had a couple of hecklers.  I was heckled by a drunk guy coming out of a bar.  When he saw Brandon standing next to me, he assumed he was my son, and told Brandon not to be brainwashed.  We hear this from time to time when we bring our kids with us out on the streets.  Anyone who is bold (or crazy) enough to open-air preach must be in some kind of cult, because after all, only people in fringe cults go out and preach the gospel (which is a commentary in and of itself on the “Christianity”, so-called, in the Bible belt).

A few observations I have used in the past that have helped defray this lame argument:

1.  “Where are your kids?  Don’t you want to bring them with you when you get drunk?  No?  Which is worse; letting a kid see his dad preach the Word of God or seeing him stumble through the door wretching his guts out?”  This would be the subtle approach.  Have your running shoes on and tied tight if you want to try this one.

2.  “My daughter is obeying the fifth commandment: Honor your father and your mother.  She is honoring me right now by telling people about the gospel.  She is honoring God by obeying His commandment to evangelize.  How about you?  Are you honoring or dishonoring your parents right now?”  This would be the guilt trip approach and is pretty effective.

3.  “God has established the authority of parents over their children.  When you disobey your parents, you disobey the authority God has established in your life and you are rebelling against Him.  When you disobey the government, you do the same thing (Rom. 13).  Repent of your rebellion and come to Christ.”   This just shuts them up because they’re usually too drunk to follow the argument.

Tom had a heckler who was a bit unusual.  At the risk of sounding completely non-P.C., I will describe him as an angry midget.  I guess the P.C. term these days is “a little person”.  In other words, he was inordinately short.  He came back a couple of times, paced around and yelled at Tom, “That’s not the gospel.  I know because I’m a Pentecostal and that is not the gospel.”  You never have a video camera around when you really want one.  It was one of those surreal moments in open-air preaching that I wish I could have recorded for posterity.

Believe it or not, we have fun when we go out because you just never know what is going to happen.  Most of the time, God shows up and does amazing things.  Sometimes people show up and do stupid things.  Merry Christmas to us.

Evangelism Resources:

1.  Here’s a good Christmas tip from our friend, Trish Ramos, of Fish with Trish.  If you have people at your church that don’t feel equipped to witness, but they can sing, recruit them for some door-to-door Christmas caroling and hand out some Christmas gifts as you go.  Check out the video here.

2.   You can get a FREE copy of Richard Wurmbrand’s book, “Tortured for Christ” at ChristianJobs.com.  Details are here.

3.   This is an interesting video clip of our outreach at UT Austin when we did the “Origin into Schools” outreach last month.  At the 2:18 mark, you can see some open-air preaching we did afterward, complete with atheistic, evolutionist hecklers.  Watch as the attitude of the Jewish student changes from animosity to respect.  Thanks to Betty Taylor for sending along this footage.

Road Trip:

It’s officially time to start registering for this year’s Super Bowl Outreach in sunny Miami, FL! This year, the NFL is combining the big game with the Pro Bowl. Both will be held the same week in the same venue, making the Super Bowl an even bigger event for Biblical evangelism! So, at this year’s outreach you have an option. You can come for just the Super Bowl during the last half of the week (Feb. 4-7) or you can come for the whole week and hit both games (Jan. 29-Feb. 7). The “short camp” will be $199. The “long camp” will be $399. Accommodations will be at the Gold Coast Christian Camp. To pre-register, a 25% down payment is required to hold your spot.

The TLC team is planning on going for just the Super Bowl outreach itself. To sign up for the carpool, email jon@lostcauseministries.com.

Psalm 119 Conference

Wretched Radio is doing an important conference right here in Keller, TX May 14-15! The Psalm 119 Conference will feature Phil Johnson, Todd Friel, Dr. Peter Hammond, Justin Peters, Paul Taylor (Answers in Genesis), and Emilio and Trish Ramos. The early bird registration is $69.00 and the student price is $49.00. There is a 10% discount for Wretched Club members.

TLC Ministries has been asked to help coordinate an evangelistic outreach immediately after the event on Saturday (similar to The Five Hundred event after Deeper). Please keep this in prayer as we make plans to mobilize hundreds of believers to take the gospel across the Dallas\Fort Worth area.

Prayer Requests:

It’s official: our big pay cut has hit our paychecks effective this week.  We’re committed to keeping this ministry going no matter what comes, but if we do not receive the donations we need, it will be difficult to continue doing ministry on the same scale we’ve been able to the last two years. These are just the facts.

We have a lot planned for 2010: coordinating outreaches for the Super Bowl, the Psalm 119 Conference, Deeper Conference, another Texas Revival Series Meeting, assisting Ambassador’s Academy with team leadership, festival booths, NASCAR ministry, parades, college campus ministry across TX and OK, event evangelism, and our regular weekly outreaches.  Hundreds of believers will be mobilized, many others trained, and thousands will hear the gospel.

Jon is also currently working on two new books.  The working titles right now are: “Taming the Lion: How to Manage Your Fear” and “Confessions of a False Prophet”.  A study guide for group discussion is also planned for “Evangelism in the New Testament.”  He is also continuing to edit and write tracts for One Million Tracts.  Through this writing ministry alone, thousands will either get the gospel or be trained to share it.

At the same time, we face the reality that we must provide for our families.  Currently, neither the Crawford nor the Speed families have any debt outside of our mortgage payments.   Our salaries are being cut down to $30,000 a year.  Originally, we were getting $60,000 a year, but that amount was cut in July to $50,000 a year.  We can live on $50,000 a year in the Dallas\Fort Worth area and do the ministry we need to do.

We know that there are a lot of viable ministries out there.  An elder at a local church recently said to us, “You guys do more evangelism than all of the missionaries our church supports put together.”   We see that as a sad state of affairs, but we’re privileged to have this ministry from the Lord.  It is an evidence of His grace.

We’re not ones for mincing words.  We’ll make it simple and straightforward.  We need your help.  Preferably on a monthly basis, but every donation is welcome.

You can donate to the ministry using PayPal or by mailing a check to us at:

The Lost Cause Ministries  P.O. Box 1125  Justin, TX  76247

This ministry will continue no matter what.  The only question is, on what scale?  The Lord knows and we are content to trust Him.

Evangelism Memory Verse:

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him.”

–Colossians 1:16

Evangelism Quote:

“It is hard to carry a full cup without spilling and a full estate [wealth] without sinning.”

–Thomas Watson

Regular, Weekly Outreaches:

1. Truck Stop on I-35 W, north of Fort Worth: Thursdays, from 7-9PM. Truck to truck witnessing. Contact: Ron Martinez (ron@lostcauseministries.com).

2. Day Laborer Camp (Mckinney): Saturdays from 7-8AM. Witnessing to the Hispanic community. Spanish tracts and one-to-ones. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

3. Skate Park (Allen): Saturdays from 10-11PM. One-to-ones with skaters. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

Special Outreaches:

1. TONIGHT, in downtown Fort Worth, 7-10PM:  We will meet on the corner of Main Street and 3rd Street at 7PM and do open-air preaching and one-to-one in Sundance Square in Fort Worth.  If you’d like to join us, and would like to carpool (leaves Justin at 6:15PM) then please contact me at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

2.  Sunday, December 20th, 3:00-5:00PM:  FBC Briar will be doing a Christmas caroling outreach at the Walmart in Azle.  500 Christmas gifts will be given to customers while the members sing.  We have permission from the management to be there and they are supplying us with electricity for an amplifier and a keyboard.  The gifts will contain a booklet from John Piper, a gospel tract, candy, and an audio CD of Pastor Randall preaching the gospel.  In between songs, Pastor Randall Easter and Jon Speed will give short open-air sermons springboarding from the songs.

Pastor Randall has asked me to invite you all to come out and join in this outreach.  As you know, a crowd always draws a crowd.   Perhaps this outreach will provide the spark for you to do something similar with your own church next year.

If you are coming, please let me know at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

3.  Thursday, December 31st, 9:00PM–??  TLC Ministries will take the Gospel to the Big D NYE event in Victory Park in Dallas, TX!  We hit this event last year and it was awesome.  Let’s close out a fantastic year sharing the Gospel with a full fledged effort to proclaim it with passion and boldness as Dallas turns out to party.  This event will draw about 40,000 people who MUST be reminded that there is a God and that they are accountable to Him.  Let’s exalt Christ!  Carpools will leave the Justin TX area at 8:00PM.  For carpooling info, contact Jon Speed at jon@lostcauseministries.com. 

4.  Cotton Bowl Classic Outreach:  Saturday, January 2nd, 2010, 10AM-1PM.  The Cotton Bowl comes to the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX.  Ole Miss vs. OSU.   The carpool will leave FBC Justin at 9:15AM.  Once we are parked, we will set up an open-air preaching station across from the Walmart.  We will pass out tracts, open-air preach and do one-to-ones.  If you want to carpool, please contact me at jon@lostcauseministries.com.

Evangelism Report:

Dallas Christmas Parade (Downtown Dallas):

Last Saturday, TLC Ministries teamed up with Carl Kalbfleisch of Bezeugen Ministries  and we took the gospel to the annual Christmas Parade in Dallas.  All told, we had about 20 believers there passing out tracts and doing one-to-ones and several open-air preached as well.

From TLC we were blessed with a strong turnout: TLC Staff were joined by Byron Porter, Ron Martinez, Reuben Martinez, Jeff Wortham, Jeff Pittman, Chad Welty, Tyler & Priscilla McNabb, and Tom Sadowski.  This doesn’t include Carl’s team which included Jerad Shipman, Steve Dossin and his wife, Debra Fuhrman, Roy Cadow, and several others whose names I cannot remember.  Darrel Rundus set up a prayer stop at the City Hall venue with Chris Owen and Trey Rundus.

The team with TLC and Bezeugen passed out more than 11,000 tracts in just a few hours.  We set up on corners near the parade route and gave out Christmas tracts to parade goers as they came.  Others went out to the parade route and walked it as people waited for it to start.  We gave out Reagan Million Dollar Bills and Christmas tracts to the thousands of people who were waiting.  The organizers estimate that 350,000 people come to this parade every year.  After the parade concluded, we stood on various corners and continued passing out tracts as people left.  Tyler McNabb open-air preached to the crowds at the stop light.  When it was all over, we met at the Subway restaurant near the library for fellowship and a meal.

Please pray that those who received the gospel will respond to it.

Atheist Ministry:

Over the last couple of weeks, the Lord has been blessing us with opportunities to meet with fairly serious atheists about the gospel.

Last week, Jon and Tom Sadowski met at UNT with an atheist named Schilling who is a prominent atheist.  Schilling is extremely logical, which is ironic since in order for there to be logic, there must be absolute truth.   We talked for about an hour and a half about the gospel and some apologetics.  Schilling is considering working to sponsor us to come and set up a public debate on the existence of God.  Ironically, if this works out, he will be the second atheist to offer to sponsor our ministry at UNT now that the school has changed its free speech policy.

This week, Jon and Kim met with Elizabeth, who was one of the organizers of the LGBT “Kiss In” at the Fort Worth Stockyards back in October.  She is also a post-grad student at UNT.  Elizabeth had a need for food and several of us got together and pitched in to get some food for her.  About $400 was raised and it bought A LOT of food.  We talked for about 2 1\2 hours over dinner at a mall food court, and then went out to the car.  Elizabeth was overwhelmed at the generosity of Christians towards an LGBT activist.  She says that the words “thank you” don’t seem like they are enough.  We had a wonderful visit with her.

Please pray for Elizabeth’s salvation.  Her Christian background is from a large seeker sensitive church and she is dealing with a lot of hurt over the way she was treated there, where people are numbers that feed the church growth machine and the church is a program.  Elizabeth’s story ought to serve as a warning to pastors who rationalize massive church growth because they help so many people.  When the church loses its character as a family, the body of Christ, and a temple, and becomes a corporation, it can only hurt people and not help them.

Evangelism Resources:

1.  Wretched Radio is doing an important conference right here in Keller, TX May 14-15!  The Psalm 119 Conference will feature Phil Johnson, Todd Friel, Dr. Peter Hammond, Justin Peters, Paul Taylor (Answers in Genesis), and Emilio and Trish Ramos.  The early bird registration is $69.00 and the student price is $49.00.  There is a 10% discount for Wretched Club members.

TLC Ministries has been asked to help coordinate an evangelistic outreach immediately after the event on Saturday (similar to The Five Hundred event after Deeper).  Please keep this in prayer as we make plans to mobilize hundreds of believers to take the gospel across the Dallas\Fort Worth area.

2.  Here is  a great video report from our friends at Jeremiah Cry Ministries from their recent trip to Dublin, Ireland.

3.  Here is something that should make you squirm.  There is a doctor here in the Dallas area who is a former ordained Baptist minister who now performs late term abortions and justifies it because he “prays that their souls will return to God.”  He claims that he knows he is killing viable human life, but thinks it is okay because of his good wishes for the souls of the babies.  Watch the TV news report here.

4.  Here’s an inspiring, sobering video on counting the cost.   Easy believism is heresy.

Road Trip:

It’s officially time to start registering for this year’s Super Bowl Outreach in sunny Miami, FL! This year, the NFL is combining the big game with the Pro Bowl. Both will be held the same week in the same venue, making the Super Bowl an even bigger event for Biblical evangelism! So, at this year’s outreach you have an option. You can come for just the Super Bowl during the last half of the week (Feb. 4-7) or you can come for the whole week and hit both games (Jan. 29-Feb. 7). The “short camp” will be $199. The “long camp” will be $399. Accommodations will be at the Gold Coast Christian Camp. To pre-register, a 25% down payment is required to hold your spot.

The TLC team is planning on going for just the Super Bowl outreach itself. To sign up for the carpool, email jon@lostcauseministries.com.

Prayer Requests:

TLC’s financial support has been cut 50% since July. Essentially, this means that we need to raise $40,000 to cover the loss to two salaries. This amount will bring us back to the post-July cuts. Please prayerfully consider whether you might be able to support this ministry.

Evangelism Memory Verse:

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

–John 8:31,32

Evangelism Quote:

“O be not too quick to bury the Church before she is dead.”

–John Flavel

Regular, Weekly Outreaches:

1. Truck Stop on I-35 W, north of Fort Worth: Thursdays, from 7-9PM. Truck to truck witnessing. Contact: Ron Martinez (ron@lostcauseministries.com).

2. Day Laborer Camp (Mckinney): Saturdays from 7-8AM. Witnessing to the Hispanic community. Spanish tracts and one-to-ones. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

3. Skate Park (Allen): Saturdays from 10-11PM. One-to-ones with skaters. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

Special Outreaches:

Saturday, December 5th: 6:00AM–About noon:  TLC Ministries will join Bezeugen Ministries (and others) at the Capital One Bank Adolphus Children’s Parade.  This is a massive Christmas parade in downtown Dallas that will draw more than 350,000 people!  This is a “gift wrapped” opportunity to share the gospel as people wait for the parade to begin.  We will pass out tracts, do one-to-ones and open-air preach.

The carpool will leave FBC Justin at 6:00AM.  If you want to reserve your spot in the carpool, please let me know at jon@lostcauseministries.com.  Please bring money for breakfast on the road, and lunch (if you want to eat).

We are planning on parking near the corner of Main and Akard Streets and doing ministry at intersections near the main parade route (along Commerce).  Because of the size of the crowd, and the policies of the Dallas Police Department for this parade, it is very difficult to work Commerce Street prior to the parade.  We can easily work the side streets.  When the parade concludes, we will be able to work Commerce Street as people leave for their cars.

TLC, let’s plan on hitting this parade hard.  I know it is a busy time of the year, but this is probably the largest parade in DFW throughout the entire year.  If we miss this opportunity, we miss a golden one.

Evangelism Report:

Fort Worth Christmas Parade\Tree Lighting:

On Friday night, I traveled down to Sundance Square to do some witnessing in Fort Worth.  Unbeknownst to me when I scheduled this outreach, the Fort Worth Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting was scheduled for the same night!  Thousands of people crammed downtown Fort Worth.   It took me an hour to get down Belknap Street and parked.

Dan George met me there, along with Ted and Linde Winton and some others who do outreach there fairly regularly.  The parade was over by the time that I got there, but there were still many people in line to talk to Santa Claus and just wandering the streets.  We were able to open-air preach with a lot of freedom and people stopped to listen from time to time.  It was the usual crowd: many heckled half-heartedly, mocking as they passed by.  One college aged kid stopped on his bicycle to mock one of the guys from Jeremiah Cry Ministries as he preached.

But there were also people who stopped to sincerely listen, including Christians who were greatly encouraged by anyone having the boldness to step up publicly and proclaim the gospel.  One lady listened patiently while I preached the gospel and stepped up afterward to encourage us.  She asked us to keep being faithful because if one person is reached with the truth, then it is so important to that one person.  She said that she had also been a false convert and that she had come to Christ in reality.  Her husband came back a little later and handed me a $20 bill.  I tried to give it back, but he would not take it.  As I shared with some friends from church later, if we get money when we’re preaching it’s because people are usually throwing pennies AT us rather than giving cash TO us.

We also passed out hundreds of gospel tracts and had some one-to-ones.  The Lord was glorified and the gospel was preached.

Thanksgiving Basket Distribution:

I hesitate to mention it on this blog since it was not an official TLC outreach, but I do want to include it for your encouragement and as an idea for others.  Last Saturday, my wife and I helped with the Thanksgiving Basket Distribution at FBC Briar.  The church gathered at 9:00AM to assemble the baskets which included a turkey, pie crust, pie filling, dinner rolls, cans of vegetables, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc.  We also included an ESV outreach New Testament, an invitation to come to the church’s annual Thanksgiving dinner, an audio message on CD proclaiming the gospel from our pastor, and a gospel tract called “The Problem and the Solution.”

The members of the church submitted names of people in their neighborhoods who might be blessed by this gift.  A total of 20 baskets were distributed.  We (me, Kim and a friend from church) took a basket to a dear family in Azle and had the chance to briefly share the gospel with them.  Then we brought two baskets back to Justin and delivered them to a couple of our neighbors.  It was a blessing to be able to give, through the church, both a tangible help during this season, as well as a thorough presentation of the gospel.

On Tuesday night, the church had their Thanksgiving Dinner and several who received baskets came out to the dinner.  Beforehand, there was a brief service where Pastor Randall presented the gospel.  Some who were visitors also heard the gospel in personal one-to-one conversation around the table.

I share this here because this is a simple outreach any church can do for a fairly small amount of money.  While we tend to highlight fairly intense contact evangelism on this blog, I think we need to remember that sound servant evangelism exists.  These were not turkeys given out without the gospel; in that case, they would have only been turkeys and stuffing.  But this was a meal that was given with the gospel in its fullness: the New Testament, the gospel CD, the tract, and the invitation to hear more.

I believe that a solid local church outreach plan will include both street evangelism and community servant evangelism, but it is not evangelism unless the gospel is included.

Road Trip:

It’s officially time to start registering for this year’s Super Bowl Outreach in sunny Miami, FL! This year, the NFL is combining the big game with the Pro Bowl. Both will be held the same week in the same venue, making the Super Bowl an even bigger event for Biblical evangelism! So, at this year’s outreach you have an option. You can come for just the Super Bowl during the last half of the week (Feb. 4-7) or you can come for the whole week and hit both games (Jan. 29-Feb. 7). The “short camp” will be $199. The “long camp” will be $399. Accommodations will be at the Gold Coast Christian Camp. To pre-register, a 25% down payment is required to hold your spot.

The TLC team is planning on going for just the Super Bowl outreach itself. To sign up for the carpool, email jon@lostcauseministries.com.

Prayer Requests:

TLC’s financial support has been cut 50% since July. Essentially, this means that we need to raise $40,000 to cover the loss to two salaries. This amount will bring us back to the post-July cuts. Please prayerfully consider whether you might be able to support this ministry.

Evangelism Memory Verse:

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

–2 Peter 1:20, 21

Evangelism Quote:

“He that doth not believe that there is a God, is more vile then a devil.  To deny there is a God, is a sort of atheism that is not to be found in hell.”

–Thomas Brooks

Regular, Weekly Outreaches:

1. Truck Stop on I-35 W, north of Fort Worth: Thursdays, from 7-9PM. Truck to truck witnessing. Contact: Ron Martinez (ron@lostcauseministries.com).

2. Day Laborer Camp (Mckinney): Saturdays from 7-8AM. Witnessing to the Hispanic community. Spanish tracts and one-to-ones. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

3. Skate Park (Allen): Saturdays from 10-11PM. One-to-ones with skaters. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

Special Outreaches:

Friday, November 27th, 7-10PM:  TLC Ministries will be doing evangelism in Fort Worth, at Sundance Square.  The carpool will leave FBC Justin at 6:15PM.  If you want to carpool, you MUST contact Jon Speed at jon@lostcauseministries.com before Friday.

Evangelism Report:

University of Texas, Austin:

Last Wednesday, about 20 volunteers from DFW and Austin converged on the campus of UT Austin to distribute Ray Comfort’s edition of “Origin of the Species.”  We were armed with 2,000 copies of the book and a wide assortment of gospel tracts.  TLC thanks God for the following volunteers:  Alex Chen, Thomas Umstattd, Ted Winton, Tyler McNabb, Priscilla McNabb, Tommy Grider, Chad Welty, Byron Porter, Carl Kalbfleisch, Tom Sadowski, Andy Taylor, Betty Taylor, Chelsea Taylor, Juan Santos, Katie Townsend, Guillermo Miranda, Joel de la Garza, and several other student volunteers from UT.

We arrived at about 9AM on Guadalupe Street and quickly unloaded the van.  Once we gave out instructions and prayed, we began the distribution, which began around 9:40 or so.  We split the team up into three locations on Guadalupe and passed out all of the books in about two hours!  Of those books, only one had the introduction torn out by an angry atheist.  Richard Dawkins had recommended to students that they tear out the introduction.  In fact, they had intended on having more organized opposition, but they thought that we were planning the outreach for the 19th instead of the 18th and this simple change in strategy resulted only in minor opposition.

One biology professor and a few of his students had some anti-Comfort bookmarks and handouts that they scrambled around trying to give everyone who got a free book.  It seems that this professor did not have much confidence in the students at UT to discern truth from error.  Tyler McNabb and Priscilla ended up speaking with him for almost one hour over coffee after the distribution was over.  He could not account for the existence of ethics in his world view.  Tyler faithfully shared the gospel with him.

The first copy went to a prominent faculty member who claimed to be a Dean of one of the Science departments.  He just “happened” to be there while we unloaded and he knew what the outreach was about.  He did not want to take the book at first, but when we showed him respect for his title, he seemed to warm up to us.   When he began chatting about his rare collection of 19th century Darwin books, I was able to speak knowledgeably with him since I’ve sold used and rare books for about 15 years, including a first edition of Darwin’s Descent of Man.  This changed the conversation completely, and we ended up having a nice chat.  At the end, he still refused to take the book, until we suggested he add it to his collection, at which he brightened and said, “Yes, thank you, I will do that.”

After the books were gone, we began open-air preaching.  It wasn’t hard to draw a crowd since they knew why we were there and wanted to start arguing about evolution.  Many members of the team open-aired.  I was surprised at the number of hecklers who thanked me for preaching the way I did; we disagreed, but there was respect all around.  One young man who was Jewish (and asked some difficult but good questions) said that he could see that I respected him and loved him.  I was relieved because sometimes in the heat of the argument, it can be hard to communicate that.

Many of the team members had some very good one-to-ones.  In spite of the confrontational atmosphere, the gospel was communicated clearly.  God was glorified.

University of North Texas (Denton):

This report comes from Tim Crawford:

We had the privilege of participating in the Origin of Species project this last week and successfully distributed around 2,000 books in about 90 minutes on the University of North Texas campus. We had a team of about 15 people and they were sold out for Christ and all about bringing Him the glory He deserves. The UNT team was a wonderful bunch that truly had a heart to serve and a genuine love for the lost.

God showed us favor from the beginning and I knew that it was going to be an excellent day. I arrived on campus a little early  (about 8:30am) that morning to get the permits and make sure everything was set up prior to the teams arrival at 9:30am. I was a little nervous heading up to the Deans office to pick up the permits due to a change in the free speech policy. A week ago UNT had shut the doors on free speech to all outside groups and in order to get on campus now you must have a student group to sponsor you or you are not allowed on campus. We tried to contact them prior to the event to see if they were going to honor our permits because we had applied for them prior to the change in regulations.

By the day of the event we hadn’t heard back from any one. We did have a back up plan , if the permits fell through we had rented a vendor table that was set up right at the door of the Student Union where the foot traffic was very good. So I went up to the UPC office and picked up my vendor permit, got the tables set up and then headed up to the deans office and asked for the permit for free speech and she just pulled out the book and handed me the permit and said have a nice day!!! Praise the Lord!!! As I walked away I was thinking  WOW!  I now had both permits in my possession without any controversy or issues!

I headed to the parking garage to meet the team. It was approximately 9:30 and just like clockwork the phone began to ring and the teams were right around the corner.  We gathered around for prayer and I shared some brief instructions with the team and we were off and running. Everyone took a couple of cases and headed over to the free speech area and the vendor area.
After about the 3rd trip (I was out of breath and almost dead) I thought there has to be an easier way. Wouldn’t you know it, by the providential hand of God here comes two guys in a one of those gator on trash duty for UNT!   I said,  “Hey guys you got a few minutes to help me out?” I just have a few books here in my pickup truck that I need to get over to the free speech area. They said it was no problem and I thought thank you Jesus and I knew that either God was showing me mercy or I had just manipulated two guys to get out of the physical labor of carrying 2,000 books across campus!  Either way I am thankful they were willing to help me out and I was able to get everything over there and set up just before the first class change.

We had a blast and couldn’t get the books out of the boxes fast enough!!! I told everyone “make sure to read the introduction and see what the Crazy Christians are saying about Charles Darwin”. Many students were like thank you so much we really appreciate this. So many students are hardened to the things of God and anything to do with Christianity. We heard everything from thanks for the book and I am so happy it isn’t a Bible!!!
Some thought it was a horrible thing that we were doing and others thought it was great. Either way. the whole event was a success and God was glorified. The books were gone in about 90 minutes and we actually had people coming up to us asking us if we had more books but we were out.

After all the books were gone we all started passing out Gospel tracts and witnessing to everyone. It was great to see so many one to ones going on all over the place. Many atheists stayed around to talk and I had the privilege to speak with three very angry ones at length (30-45 min) and  the Lord really blessed the conversation. In the end they all shook my hand and left hearing a balanced presentation of the Gospel and being silenced by the law.After the conversation it  really seemed that there anger was gone and they understood better why we do what we do. Praise the Lord for a great day and thanks to everyone on my team for your labor of love and all of you back home who were praying for us! To God be the glory for the great things He has done!

Evangelism Resources:

1.  Here is a great gift for anyone.  Our friend, Abigail Miller, has released a NEW CD of her music.  The CD is called, “I Can Go In”.

2.  Way of the Master Ambassador’s Academies are coming up!

The Academy registration price includes all of the above, plus four nights stay in the beautiful Cypress Woodfin Hotel, 4-6 meals, training materials, and special gifts from Ray Comfort and Living Waters. In addition, all participants become full members in the Ambassadors’ Alliance Fellowship—the Alliance’s online community.This year we are opening the applications for all our 2010 dates. Now you can plan far in advance the date you would like to attend. Select the date below that works best for you.

Road Trip:

It’s officially time to start registering for this year’s Super Bowl Outreach in sunny Miami, FL! This year, the NFL is combining the big game with the Pro Bowl. Both will be held the same week in the same venue, making the Super Bowl an even bigger event for Biblical evangelism! So, at this year’s outreach you have an option. You can come for just the Super Bowl during the last half of the week (Feb. 4-7) or you can come for the whole week and hit both games (Jan. 29-Feb. 7). The “short camp” will be $199. The “long camp” will be $399. Accommodations will be at the Gold Coast Christian Camp. To pre-register, a 25% down payment is required to hold your spot.

The TLC team is planning on going for just the Super Bowl outreach itself. To sign up for the carpool, email jon@lostcauseministries.com.

Evangelism in the New Testament Review:

You can check out this fairly balanced, non-WoTM review of Jon’s book here.

Prayer Requests:

1.  TLC’s financial support has been cut 50% since July. Essentially, this means that we need to raise $40,000 to cover the loss to two salaries. This amount will bring us back to the post-July cuts. Please prayerfully consider whether you might be able to support this ministry.

Praise!

Last week we mentioned that our ministry might be ending at UNT since the university changed their free speech policy.  On Thursday we preached there again and mentioned the change in the message.  A guy who most of us have witnessed to several times, Stewart, asked some clarifying questions, made a phone call, and then offered to help us get a student group sponsorship.  The kicker?  Stewart is an atheist!  We thank God for Stewart and his willingness to help us get access to the university until we can find a Christian student organization to sponsor us.

Evangelism Quote:

“A minister may fill his pews, his communion role, the mouths of the public, but what that minister is on his knees in secret before God Almighty, that he is and no more.”

–John Owen

Regular, Weekly Outreaches:

1. Truck Stop on I-35 W, north of Fort Worth: Thursdays, from 7-9PM. Truck to truck witnessing. Contact: Ron Martinez (ron@lostcauseministries.com).2. Day Laborer Camp (Mckinney): Saturdays from 7-8AM. Witnessing to the Hispanic community. Spanish tracts and one-to-ones. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

3. Skate Park (Allen): Saturdays from 10-11PM. One-to-ones with skaters. Contact: Byron Porter (byron@lostcauseministries.com).

Special Outreaches:

TLC will be doing street evangelism as a follow up to the one day training at FBC Briar on November 14th. We will be at the Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth from 6-9PM. We will meet on the corner of Commerce and Third Street, in front of the Barnes and Noble. The carpool will leave Justin at 5:00PM.

Evangelism Report:

NASCAR Dickies 500 (Texas Motor Speedway):

For an excellent report on this outreach, with photos, please visit Ron’s new website.  Thanks for this update, Ron.  4,000 tracts distributed, one-to-ones with police officers, hippies, and more!

Skate Park (Allen, TX):

This report comes from Byron Porter:

A rather large disturbance broke out at the skate park this week.  There was a fight that broke out as soon as Jeff and I arrived. It seemed that a 20 year old decided to choke a 14 year old teen after which the police arrived to maintain peace.

There seems to be a trend that the police arrives during evangelism locations I’m at as this is the third time to encounter such situations.

We made our way to the teen who was choked and began to use what happened as a segue to spiritual things but I think he was more willing to have adults around him as comfort rather than talk about God. So the conversation really did not get anywhere. Everyone was so keyed up, that Jeff and I escorted the boy out of the park till his parents arrived.

However this gave us opportunity to run into a few skate boarders who recognized us from the previous weeks. German, his cousin Alex and Jose approached us and recalled that we are always talking about “God Stuff.” German then showed us a small metal cross he carries with him always. He said it keeps him safe and represents how godly he is.

German has had a difficult life and though this relic gave him a sense of purpose, I mentioned that I makes him an idolator. What followed was an hour long talk about God’s Law in the scriptures.

Though German and his friends had a form of godliness, it took explaining point by point from scripture that idolatry is the default inclination of mankind. It was difficult for him to release the image he had formed of his god.

We gave him a Bible and he said he would read it. Please pray for German that God would show him truth and he would forsake idolatry.

Evangelism Resources:

1. We’re very excited about this new tract that has been developed as a coordinated effort between TLC Ministries and One Million Tracts. It is a 2012 tract, springboarding from the popular upcoming movie and using Revelation 20:12 to preach the gospel. The cost is only $2.50 per pack of 50. These are postcard sized and contain a full gospel message. We think that these tracts will have a life well past the premier of the 2012 movie–perhaps right up until December 12, 2012!

2. Speaking of tracts, it is time to start thinking about what gospel tracts you are going to send out in the mail with your Christmas cards. Here’s a fun tract from One Million Tracts: Naughty or Nice? The cost is only $3.00 for a pack of 100 business card sized tracts.

Evangelism Training:

Saturday, November 14th: TLC Ministries will be doing another one day training at First Baptist Church of Briar (Azle, TX) from 9AM-1PM. We will do an outreach that evening from 6-9PM in Sundance Square (Fort Worth). If you are not from the church and you are planning on coming, please email me at jon@lostcauseministries.com

Road Trip:

It’s officially time to start registering for this year’s Super Bowl Outreach in sunny Miami, FL! This year, the NFL is combining the big game with the Pro Bowl. Both will be held the same week in the same venue, making the Super Bowl an even bigger event for Biblical evangelism! So, at this year’s outreach you have an option. You can come for just the Super Bowl during the last half of the week (Feb. 4-7) or you can come for the whole week and hit both games (Jan. 29-Feb. 7). The “short camp” will be $199. The “long camp” will be $399. Accommodations will be at the Gold Coast Christian Camp. To pre-register, a 25% down payment is required to hold your spot.

The TLC team is planning on going for just the Super Bowl outreach itself. To sign up for the carpool, email jon@lostcauseministries.com.

Prayer Requests:

1.  TLC’s financial support has been cut 50% since July. Essentially, this means that we need to raise $40,000 to cover the loss to two salaries. This amount will bring us back to the post-July cuts. Please prayerfully consider whether you might be able to support this ministry.

2.  The University of North Texas has officially changed their free speech policy.  TLC will no longer be allowed to come on campus unless we get sponsorship from a recognized Christian Student Organization.  Please bathe this in prayer since UNT has been one of our best venues and this semester has been the most fruitful in our experience.