Las Vegas Outreach Team Newsletter
July & August 2008
Worship in Spirit and TruthJohn 4:23-24
Our family, over the last three months, has been memorizing a scripture passage each week. First, we memorize a question, then we memorize the answer to the question, and finally memorize the scripture that answers the question.
Recently the question posed to our family was, "Who is God?", and the answer was "God is Spirit". From there the family memorized John 4:24. As I worked on memorizing this scripture I found myself drawn to the last part of the scripture that describes how people are to worship God. This began to challenge me to look at how I worship God and am I doing it in truth?
The area where I see the largest corruption of truth, is on the streets of Las Vegas. Today with the religious pluralism people have created wrong views of God. I've come to an understanding that a wrong view of God is like writing a unauthorized biography. There might be sections of truth about the person, but any false testimonies will mislead the reader and are a lie.
On the streets the most common thing I hear from people is that, "God is all loving and forgives all". That statement has some truth in it, but in its entirety it is a false statement. God does love and will forgive, but His love and forgiveness is saved for the elect who are made righteous through redemption by the blood of Christ.
To counter this statement I ask the person to judge me on this analogy. Lets imagine that one of my children was kidnapped and brutally tortured before the police found and rescued the child. Now that the police have the individual in custody and I have my child back, I decide to take the child and confront the criminal. As my child and I enter the room the criminal sneers and begins to tell me horrid details on what he did to my child. It is clear to both my child and I, that this criminal loves the wicked things that he did and has no remorse. Next, to the amazement of everyone, I walk up to the criminal and tell him that its all okay because I love him and I give him a big hug.
At this point, I ask the person on the street if I am a good and loving Father by doing this. Each time I have given this analogy, the person says I would be a wicked father. I tell the individual that the first mistake they've made, when saying God is all loving and forgiving, is they've removed the importance of the relationship. God is all loving and forgiving to His children. But we are not adopted by God as a part of his family until we have been regenerated by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:15). And we cannot be regenerated until we accept the gift of grace that God offers through His son Jesus Christ. And through the belief and faith in Christ Jesus, we receive the Spirit of Life that conquers death, which is God's demonstration of love and forgiveness (Romans 8:1-2).
The second mistake a person makes in saying that God is all loving and forgiving, is to think that God does not consider the life a person lives on earth. For the person who is carnally (worldly) minded they will continue to justify their sin without remorse. But for the child of God they not only have remorse but through their Godly sorrow they naturally repent of all their sins (II Corinthians 7:10). And for those people who have not received the Spirit of God, but instead are carnally (worldly) minded they are unable to please God (Romans 8:7-8).
I also point out, that because of the wicked crimes the criminal committed, we know that this individual has little love and regard for others or God. If someone loves God they demonstrate that same type of love in how they treat other people (Mark 12:30-32). For someone to be loved by the Father God, they will love the Father and do the things that will please the Father (John 14:21). The behaviors that each person shows is evidence of the type of relationship they have with God.
Brothers and Sisters, we can know God, but to do so, requires that we read His autobiography, the Bible. When you develop the proper knowledge of God and begin to proclaim the true gospel, then you will properly worship God in Spirit and Truth.
Battle Until You Are Called Home,
Doug Koch
Las Vegas Outreach Team Video
For the past year the Las Vegas Outreach Team (LVOT) Coordinators have wanted to develop a video. The video we wanted would help the church, in Las Vegas, understand how we share the gospel on the streets and help train believers to evangelize. There were several times, that the coordinators threw around the idea of filming and editing our own video, but we knew that we didn't have the knowledge or equipment to make a good video.
As we talked to Scott he told us his greatest need was obtaining gospel tracts, and we told Scott our greatest need was having a video done. When we told Scott that we had just received an order of 50,000 tracts we decided to help each other out. LVOT provided Scott and his team with over 8,000 tracts and Scott's team agreed to produce a video.
The Las Vegas Outreach Team video was filmed during the months of June and July, and we now have the finished product. We hope you will be blessed and may this all be for God's glory.
Visitors From Afar
On June 27, LVOT welcomed a brother from Connecticut, Steven Barry. Steven is a computer software programmer who also is the Director of Alpha-Omega Outreach. Steven was in town for a convention and when Friday came, he was able to meet the Las Vegas Outreach Team at the prayer meeting, and then head out to the street. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and sharing how God is leading the ministry.
The next weekend, many out-of-town brothers came to Las Vegas for the Fourth of July celebration. One brother who came was Kevin Farrer who lives in Northern California and is the Director of Cry To God Ministry. Kevin has been a faithful proclaimer of the gospel for many years, and has been an encourager to many of the LVOT members. While in town Kevin interviewed several of the people who live in Las Vegas and faithfully go to the street.
The final visitors were two brothers, Jesse Boyd and Bishnu Shrestha. Jesse Boyd is the Director of the Full Proof Gospel Ministry, and has worked as an evangelist all over the world. While in Nepal, Jesse met Bishnu and through their friendship they began Project Jagerna. This project was developed to print and distirbute sections of the Bible for the people of Nepal. As Bishnu told LVOT, the sections of the Bible that had already been translated were done by individuals from outside of Nepal. The people who did the translating, although well meaning, created texts that were out of context. Through the grace of God, Bishnu and Jesse were able to produce an accurate translation of the Gospel of John and the Book of Romans for distribution at only $0.14 per copy. Jesse and Bishnu were traveling through Las Vegas, between their speaking engagements at churches that supported Project Jagerna.
After meeting with all of these brethren, the LVOT was surprised to hear from each of them what a great place Las Vegas is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Brother Steve Barry reported that for the past six months he and others had been harassed by police, all along the east coast, when they preached in public. Often the police officer would threaten to arrest them and admit that it would be a false arrest since they were protected by the First Amendment. For Brother Jesse Boyd, he and his brother Matthew were arrested in their hometown of Hickory, North Carolina, on June 27, as they passed out gospel tracts. If you go to "Arrested in Hickory", at the bottom of the page you will find the video that was taken during the arrest. The charges of "Trespassing In Public" were eventually dropped. A lawyer from the Christian Law Association, who represented the Boyd brothers, submitted a letter about First Amendment rights along with the video from the arrest to the City Lawyer. After a review of the law and video, the charges were dropped and a promise to expunge their records.
While persecution seems greater for preaching the gospel in the US, we in Las Vegas have just received more freedom. For the past few years a loyal street preacher, Jim Webber, has been waiting for a law suit to reach court against the Clark County Government. The law suit is over an ordinance that restricts the size of signs used to preach from. Brother Jim, has been using signs to preach for over forty years and was arrested in 2004 in front of the Bellagio. In April 2008, the County Commissioners changed the language of the ordinance (Article) and shortly afterwards Brother Jim dropped the law suit. The changes in the ordinance, now allow for signs that are wider than your body width, and also allow for easels and tables if they do not obstruct the flow of pedestrian traffic. This new found freedom is attracting more people to preach on the Strip, and Lord willing will allow more people from every tongue, and nation to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this freedom we praise our God, who brings our brethren from afar.
Prayer Meetings
Fridays 7:00 - 8:00pm August 8, 15, 22, & 29 Church on the Street
Team Meeting
Sunday 2:00 - 4:00pm August 24th Koch House
This will be the last Team Meeting before the San Gennaro Feast.
San Gennaro Feast
Tuesday through Sunday September 9-14 San Gennaro Sign-Up
Prayer Needs
That God’s name will be praised throughout the city of Las Vegas.
That the Las Vegas Outreach Team will find a local church that is
like-minded, and will provide leadership and accountability to the ministry.
Endurance and zeal for both Frank Francesco and Drew Petitti, since they are on the streets of Las Vegas full-time.
For the company that puts Frank Francesco on the streets full-time, Level-X, will be blessed by their faithfulness to support Frank.
That we will receive the additional $550 that are needed for the San Gennaro Booth by August 18.
That the brethren will have wisdom when sharing the gospel at
- The Strip
- Fremont Street Experience
- Abortion Clinic (Killing Place)
- Sunset Park