pocket full of tickets to Heaven on St. Patricks day

Well I just got back from going downtown on St. Patrick's Day on my lunch break. I felt so nervous and prayed the whole way there, I just knew that there would be divine encounters. As I proceeded to hand out Gospel tracts to people I could feel the Lord really helping me get out of my comfort zone. As mobs of people dressed in green approached it was interesting in the different responses I got. One group would say "thanks", another would yell out"what the heck is this"?

Anyways I got into a conversion with a man who wanted to know what I was handing out, and as I gave him one he asked what it was. Well I told him what I tell people when they ask, its a Gospel tract sir. He didn't what what that was, so I told him the Gospel is good news on how you can get to Heaven. He smiled but still wanted to know that a tract was.

That made me laugh a little bit because I don't think I had ever been asked that question before. I explained to him that it's information, and information on how he can get to Heaven. Then he said he already knew of a way to get to Heaven, but was open to another. How interesting, he took the Gospel tract and as he turned to walk away he told me that he would read it and thanked me. And here I was really hoping it would be pouring rain just to keep everyone away from the bars and got to plant a seed.

Then another man who was wearing a green top hat walked by me and it looked like he was carrying a Bible with one of those Bible cases enclosing it. Before he could step off the street and into a coffee joint I handed him a Gospel tract and as he start to read it he put his head down into a sluggish stance. I could tell something wasn't right, and as he walked away not even going into the coffee shop I begin to pray for him too.

Well it seems it's getting crazier each year in our college town and the number of those who have been drinking seem to be going up. Lets keep praying for the Gospel to radically impact this town for Jesus Christ.

Also be in prayer for our law enforcement officials in Butte and Glenn counties as they plan DUI patrols in connection with St. Patrick's Day.  Many of our officers are working overtime patrolling our streets in the Chico area, looking for and arresting impaired drivers and are underpaid as they are put in harms way not knowing if they will be returning home to their families.

Gospel for Chico on St. Patricks day

I got to go downtown on St. Patrick's day, where I went with a good friend to hand out tracts and to get into conversations with people on the street. It was an exciting time, and we were able to pass out over 200 Gospel tracts within an hour. The spiritual darkness there was unbelievable.

I use to go bar hopping many years ago when I thought I was a "good person" and still going to Heaven when I die, however this time it was a totally different experience (thank God I repented and place my trust in Him). I handed tracts to the bar bouncers, people going in and out of bars (green dressed folks), and also just the everyday people downtown who were there to eat lunch.

It was wild, it was crazy, it was like looking back into time at a modern Sodom and Gomorrah. So many people hurting who where trying to drink away their problems. However there were also people who were looking for truth, and stopped to read the tract. When there is great darkness it can become very easy for a believer’s light to shine very brightly.

I got to talk to a man who wanted to talk, and he even stopped and then put down his things to see what we were about. He was wanting to know what proof we had for Christianity, and had a lot of very in-depth questions about God. He hadn't really thought about the eternal side of life, but did get a degree studying the world religions. About halfway through the conversation, he told me that was "born-again" once but now considered it all to be rubbish.

I then asked him if he had repented and trusted in Jesus, but immediately he told me that he didn't understand why Jesus was the only way. I was able to explain to him that the Bible speaks of false conversion, in which many receive the Word with joy and gladness, but when tribulation, temptation, and persecution comes that they then fall away.

I was able to take him through a few of Ten Commandments, and then into the message of the cross, and the necessity of repentance and faith in the Savior. We had a great conversation and I was even able to leave him with a Why Christianity? Gospel tract which he said he would read, as he loves to read. I didn't want to end things on an awkward note, so I shook his hand and thanked him once again for talking to me.

From there we went toward more of the bar section of downtown and got into a conversation with another guy who considered himself to be spiritual but not religious. So we started talking and asked him a few questions, and even when through a few of the Ten Commandments as well. He had admitted to lying, stealing, and looking with lust. That's when the conversation got strange.

You see he had told us that he didn't lust after women but after men, and that the desires that were within him were completely normal. In fact he even told us that he embraced his flaws which he considered sin. I didn't want to loose this guys so I brought up civil court, and that this excuse would not work on Judgment Day. It is human nature to try, but it doesn’t work with God.

I was able to tell him that it is natural for all of us to desire sin and to be tempted to do things that God says are wrong. From there we talked about absolute truth vs. relative truth, and after asking him if what Hitler did was wrong he agreed that there must be some absolute truth. However, he didn't want to talk much further or take a tract from us. We still thanked him for his time and shook his hand before we left.

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The million-dollar question: Will you go to Heaven when you die? Only God can set us free from our sinful nature (Romans 7:23–8:2). Please tell someone today to repent (turn from sin) and God will grant them everlasting life to all who trust in Jesus. If you haven't done any witnessing let me ask you a question...Why don't you want tell the whole world about the best news ever?

Witnessing Downtown at Lunch

I got to go downtown again on my lunch break and got to talk to a guy who works at the Orland Farm Sanctuary with all different kinds of animals raised on today's industrialized farms that are abused from what they call factory farming. He was not sure what happens when we die, and said that he will find out when he gets there.

I got to share with him about the Bible, Christianity and Jesus Christ. He was very interested and there were a lot of things that he didn't know about. Like he didn't know that we could be saved and what that really meant. It was really an awesome conversation to talk about being secured in Jesus and knowing that we can be in Heaven.

I also got to talk to some Spanish speaking guys at the Jesus Center who were talking about Michael Jackson's death and wanted to know how he died. I told them he had died of a heart attack. If you haven't heard about Michael Jackson's death your living under a rock. The man I had met before I got to encourage again and hand him the Gospel of John to take home and read.

Witnessing at the Downtown Plaza at Lunch

Met up with Raymond at the downtown plaza and we prayed together before stepping out in faith. I got to talk with a guy who is a believer in Jesus. He is out of work and looking for a job. He still has some personal struggles and temptations and allowed me to pray for him. We had an awesome talk about the Bible, the Gospel, and I got to give him a tract, and share my personal testimony about how Jesus has changed my life.

Before in our conversation he had said that he didn't have a pocket Bible, so I asked if I could get him one. Well I didn't have one on me or even in my car, but found a recovery Bible at a local bookstore downtown. When I gave it to him he was so thankful, and had said that he had one of these before but not as small as this one. Remember to do crazy things like buy Bibles for people we don't even know, it impacts people and can change there lives. What a wonderful day I had.

Downtown Plazza at Lunch - teacher from Brazil

So, I thought that I was going to be "Bold For Jesus" and go downtown with my friend Jon Talley, however the Lord had different plans. Oh, I still went down town and talked to people about Jesus, only I was being "Bold With Jesus". From the moment I sat down with a man who the Lord had already been working on his heart. Please pray for divine appointments and to God for people before we talk to people about our God. And remember we are to have conversations with people about Jesus not presentations.

He was a teacher from Brazil and just got his working visa because his friends invited to America. We talked about how nice the day is and then about our jobs for a little bit. Since he is a teacher looking for a job I asked him what he thought about the school shootings and so we talked about that for a bit. I then asked him what he thought happened to those people, did they just walk off the face of the earth are did they go somewhere.

We talked about what is on the other side of this life and how do we get to a place better than this. We then talked about the Ten Commandments and how no one can keep them, and about how we cannot erase our past. But I was able to tell Him about Jesus, and what he did for us, and how we can be with him after this life. By the end of the conversation he asked me if I needed to get back to work, and I told him that I would. Be willing to go the extra mile it means so much to people for them to see that you care.

I told him that I was there to talk to him about my faith and what I believe in because God told me go and talk to him. He was very surprised and told me that I wasted my lunch break on him, and I so disagreed. You will want to make sure in heaven that there are some strangers (although they will be strangers no more) that will thank you for taking the time to share with them what Jesus did for them. We serve an Amazing God! Don't be afraid to step out in faith.