Trunk Or Treat

MINISTRY PROFESSIONS OF FAITH

OCT 26 TRUNK OR TREAT 32
OCT 30 COURT SQUARE 24
OCT 31 JAMES MADISON 25
NOV 01 CROSS LIGHT 00
NOV 02 TRUNK OR TREAT 12+

Yes, it was another amazing week sharing the gospel. Five events with many volunteers. Favorite pics and stories follow. Enjoy!

ALUM SPRINGS BAPTIST TRUNK OR TREAT

Rob Gilmer, Johan Weiss, Karen Brooks, and yours truly traveled together to Culpeper, Va to assist the Alum Springs Baptist Church in their annual Trunk or Treat outreach to the community.

Cars brimming with treats for the kids lined the parking lot. Food and games for the children filled a newly constructed outdoor pavilion. An outdoor trail was even made in the woods, with posters along the way, illustrating the conversion of the Apostle Paul. Our ministry was happy to assist the church in their attempt to reach the lost.

INSTANT FRUIT

Even before we finished setting up our booth, the Holy Spirit brought Diana to hear the message. Like most people, she was trusting in her goodness. Karen and I were able to lead her to faith in Christ.

WHOLE FAMILY ALL AT ONCE

Richard (dad) sat in the back as I shared with his children Kierra, Kaitlyn, and Alyssa. Most children, like adults, are trusting in their own goodness to get to Heaven. After hearing our children's presentation, the kids wanted to trust in Christ alone. Even dad agreed to pray.

WHOLE FAMILY ONE AT A TIME

Xavier (left) was the first one I shared with. Then, Christian (Spider Man) came along. Finally, I got to share with their mom, Angel. Johan had already shared with Jayden. Everyone wanted to trust in Christ as their Savior.

DOWNTOWN COURT SQUARE

GOOD DEEDS

Edwin thought his 'good deeds' would get him to Heaven. He heard the gospel and trusted Christ instead. After trusting Christ we prayed together and Edwin told the Lord...

"I TRUST YOU."

RELIGIOUS WORKS

C.J. thought his religious works would get him to Heaven..."I live for the Word." After hearing the gospel, he understood that he had been trusting in himself. It is not what we do, it is what God has already done for us in Christ.

C.J. told the Lord..."Thanks for saving me." He told me his heart felt..."very, very warm and thankful." C.J. had come all the way from New York. His mom listened in the background as I shared. She was really antsy at first, but what she saw what God was doing, she relaxed.

'HOPING' FOR FORGIVENESS

Skye told me, "I try to do right. I've changed a whole lot. He forgives." Many people are just like Skye. They are heading in the right direction, but they are not saved.

Skye was 'hoping' God would forgive her. She had no idea why He would forgive her.

After hearing the law, Skye understood that her 'doing right' and 'changing' would not justify her before God. After hearing about Christ, she understood that God would justify her and forgive her if she only placed all of her trust in Him.

"I TRUST IN GOD AND HE SAVED ME."...Her heart felt..."OPEN AND BRIGHT."...Then she said..."AWESOME SAUCE!"

FROM NOTHING TO EVERYTHING

Rob Gilmer got to share the gospel with a young man named Logan. Logan initially hoped he would get into Heaven because he 'was good'.

Here was a young man who did not even know that Christ rose from the grave. Rob explained that the babe in the manger whom we celebrate at Christmas, was the same one who rose from the grave on Easter.

When Rob got to the end, he said to this young man...

"God will save you if you are willing to transfer your trust from yourself to Christ alone." Logan wanted to, and prayed with Rob...

"I HAVE BEEN SAVED...I FEEL REALLY GOOD...I'M 100% NOW...BECAUSE JESUS DIED FOR ME."

Rob told me...

"The extraordinary thing is that he didn't know anything and yet at the end he wanted to trust in Christ."

'KINDA' LIKE CORNELIUS

Joseph had served our country in the Navy for 15 years. When I asked him our initial diagnostic question, he responded, "I have heard that before."

Joseph was 50% sure he would go to Heaven because of his 'good deeds'. Like Cornelius in the bible, here was a sincere man who just needed someone to share the truth with him.

It was a real joy to give back to someone who had already given to me, and lead this man to Jesus...

"HE SACRIFICED HIMSELF FOR ME AND CAME INTO MY HEART. I HAVE ETERNAL LIFE."

When we prayed he told God...

"THANKS FOR COMING INTO MY HEART AND GIVING ME ETERNAL LIFE."

MORE 'GOOD DEEDS'

Travis was trusting in his 'good deeds'. Once he heard the truth, he was eager to instead trust in Christ alone...

"HE SAVED ME. (MY HEART FEELS GOOD) KNOWING HE ACTUALLY DID THIS."

When we closed in prayer he said...

"THANKS FOR COMING INTO MY HEART."

JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY

This was Halloween on a Thursday, the day we had the severe storms and tornado warning. Because of the weather, our trunk or treat at the Nazarene Church in Front Royal was rescheduled for Saturday.

I usually spend Thursdays sharing at J.M.U. anyway, so I headed there for the day. For the first part of the day, it would rain for a brief period and stop. Once it started to get dark, it really began pouring.

I have three umbrellas. One was for me, one was for Johan Weiss who came out to help, and one was for the students we shared with.

You would have had to see it to believe it. Students were standing in front of me, hunkered down under the umbrella, wind blowing and the rain pouring, listening to me share the gospel. I even had to instruct them to hold the umbrella at a certain angle so it would not blow away.

I can't remember one student who did not stay to hear the gospel because of the weather conditions. I had 25 who responded, so the weather did not affect that at all. When God wants to move, He does. Unfortunately, we limit Him by our unbelief.

Once it really began to pour, I could not get any pics, so here are a few from earlier in the day...

EYES OPENED

Here is Baileigh and Rachel. Rachel went along with it, but I believe Baileigh (next to me) really got it...

"HE OPENED MY EYES TO TRUSTING IN HIM."

GROWING IN THE LORD

I had shared with Ian several weeks ago. He told me that things were different since he trusted in Christ. He has been reading his devotional and growing in the Lord...

'I AM THE WAY'

Colin told me...

"HE GAVE ME A WAY INTO HEAVEN BY DYING FOR MY SINS."

A CHRISTIAN?

Mitchell initially got excited and said, "I'm a Christian." When I asked him our initial diagnostic questions he told me, "I'm 80% sure because I'm a good person."

Salvation is trusting Christ alone, not our goodness. Maybe Mitchell had understood earlier in his life, but at this point, he needed to place his faith in Christ alone...

"HE TOOK MY SINS. (MY HEART FEELS) FULL AND GRATEFUL."

When we prayed, he confidently told the Lord...

"I BELIEVE YOU AND I PUT 100% TRUST IN YOU."

A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP?

Brian told me he was 90% sure of going to Heaven because of..."a personal relationship." So, I asked, "What is the one thing that gets you to Heaven?"...'I spread His Word and I pray.'

Unfortunately, Brian wasn't relying upon Christ alone. Instead, he was relying upon his works. I really sensed a true change in Brian as he moved his faith from what he was doing, to what God had already done for him.

"HE CHANGED MY HEART....(MY HEART FEELS) A LOT BETTER."

RIGHT OVER THERE!

This is Jerry. He told me that I had shared with him last year, and then he pointed, 'right over there'.

So I did our diagnostics, and thankfully, Jerry was still 100% because 'He believed in Christ.'

So I asked him, "When did you believe?"

Jerry pointed back to that spot...

'RIGHT OVER THERE!'

AND THEN THERE WAS ONE

I initially started sharing with two students. The Spirit was moving in them, and then another student, Alonzo, came up to listen. He too appeared to be understanding the truth.

A fourth student came up, who began to interrupt me and argue. I was able to hold him at bay, until the first three prayed with me. Because of his spirit, the first two became uncomfortable and left. Then, he too left.

I was left alone with Alonzo. He told me that God had been recently working in his life to bring him back. I realized that God had drawn him back tonight. He thanked me and then apologized for how the other student had treated me.

"HE SAVED ME. (MY HEART FEELS) AMAZING."

THE SMILE HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

Chris was trusting in himself and his goodness. The change that came over this young man as he understood the gospel and put his trust in Christ was nothing less than miraculous.

"HE PUT LIGHT INTO MY EYES AND NOW I HAVE MY COMPLETE TRUST IN HIM." (MY HEART FEELS)...AMAZING!"

Look at the smile on his face...in the middle...

CROSS LIGHT

I was not able to share the gospel with anyone this time, but listen to a testimony from one of the panhandlers I met this day.

GROWING IN THE LORD

Here is Nathan. I had shared the gospel with him six weeks previous downtown court square.

When I saw him out on the median last Friday he told me he was still 100% sure because Jesus died for him. Then he told me...(Paraphrased)...

"After we spoke downtown and I started trusting in the Lord, everything began to change. Two weeks later I married Erica. (I had shared with her downtown that same day). Things have been going really well since I have been trusting the Lord. Tomorrow I start work as a front-line chef at Jimmy Madisons"

TRUNK OR TREAT FRONT ROYAL NAZARENE

Many Christians have conflicting views on Halloween. Without getting into too much detail, I think ultimately it is a matter of conscience and choice as summarized in Romans 14.

Why not use the day as an opportunity for outreach? I am thankful there are churches that do 'Trunk or Treats' as a way of using the day to reach the lost for Christ.

Our ministry joined the Front Royal Church of the Nazarene on Saturday night to reach their community for Christ. Because of the bad weather on Halloween, the outreach was postponed until Saturday.

Just like at Alum Springs Baptist, many volunteers from this church came out in their cars and lined the church yard in a semi-circle with trunks open filled with candy. We set our booth up in one of the spots.

I'M A GOOD PERSON

The first person I shared with was a young man from the church named Nolan. When he initially said he was 100% sure, I thought he was already saved. However, when he gave me the reason...'because I'm a good person', I realized otherwise.

We talked about sin. Nolan understood that our punishment was hell, but did not realize that we deserved hell. So many people in the church think we deserve Heaven. This is human pride.

How could Nolan get to Heaven now? He told me, "I will start doing good." Our default setting is 'doing good'. He started off by saying he was 'good', and then after realizing he was 'not good', said that he would start 'doing good'. Many people in the church today are stuck right here.

Thankfully, Nolan already understood that Jesus had taken his punishment and that Jesus is indeed God himself. Nolan just needed to start trusting in Him. We prayed and Nolan told the Lord...

"THANK YOU FOR WASHING ALL MY SINS AWAY AND COMING INTO MY HEART."

PREACHING ON A TABLE

The rest of the evening, I stood on a table for two hours and shared the gospel with about 200 people. I probably shared 15 or so times with groups as small as five to as large as 15 -20. I shared our children's presentation and then invited people at the end to pray with me and place their trust in Christ.

Many of these people repeated the salvation prayer. God knows how many placed their trust in Christ. Here are a few comments a received...

"YOU SOUND LIKE JOEL OSTEEN!"

"GOD HAS BEEN LEADING ME BACK TO HIM. I AM NOW BACK."

"THAT WAS POWERFUL!"

At the end, Pastor Steve Guizar (dressed up all in white as a beekeeper) told me the following story...

"A LITTLE GIRL CAME UP TO US AND WAS VERY EXCITED. SHE SAID, 'NOW I AM GOING TO HEAVEN!'...

THEN SHE LOOKED AT HER MOM AND SAID, 'ARE YOU GOING TOO?'HELP FROM KAREN AND JOHAN

Here is Johan Weiss standing in front of our table. He and Karen Brooks worked the front, and invited people to come sit down and listen to our message. They also passed out the bracelets and tracts at the end.

A SMALL GROUP

Here I am sharing with a small group. Thanks for the pictures Karen...

A LARGE GROUP

Here is a larger group...

AN ASSIST FROM JOHAN

Here I am on the table preaching with Johan assisting to my left.

All in all, there were over 500 people who came from the community. Over 200 heard the message, with some of those trusting in Christ.

All 500 experienced the love of Christ freely given via the body of Christ at the Front Royal Church of the Nazarene.

ALL GLORY TO GOD!