Another Angel from Heaven
many of you who know me, know that I am not the most organized person in the world. Well, I recently realized that in order to reach as many people for Christ as possible, in every way possible, I would have to sharpen up on my organizational skills. I realized that in order to manage even one person effectively, I would have to be able to manage myself.
I was telling a friend today that I have experienced so many things in life. For example, I Lived on haight ashburry, lived on a boat in sasolito, was a traveling tattoo artist, done every drug, played in a kick in rock band, lived on the beach in Huntington, met many famous people, lived on the streets, been to prison. However, through out all these experiences I have never been able to bring order to my personal life. This concept is very contrary to my very nature, yet so essential to the mission of reaching our generation for Christ.
It's funny how God has chosen to change this area of my life. First he removes me from the limelight (a place I love to be), then puts me under the direction of someone younger with 10 times less life experience (although a better personal manager and much smarter), then he hooks me up with the most introverted person I know to help write our evangelism philosophy. Finally He blesses me with someone I just led to the Lord through my space to assist in my every day personal organization.
I consider all of these individuals angels in my life. An angel is someone sent by God with a message or task and boy what a task these people have... trying to deal with me..... I have honestly been impacted mostly by My new sister in Christ Raquel. I have been doing ministry now for about 7 years and have seen many lives changed by the gospel. There is something different about Raquel. let me tell you her story.
A couple of months ago I posted a blog called "a my space conversion" (July- archive). A guy in our church met Raquel through my space. They both mutually decided to hook up on a date. while on the date the guy from our church shard about sandals and talked a little about God.
Well, I'm so glad My home girl was listening to more than just owls in the night and two hearts beating.
After the date she came across my my space page and read my testimony. After she commented about the testimony I began to share Christ with her. After many discussions she decided to give her heart to Jesus.
I've had the privilege of leading a couple thousand people to Christ and I don't know that I have ever seen someone become transformed as fast as Raquel. I cant wait to see what God is going to do with her. She is so very talented. funny.....funny.....funny. She would be a great preacher. She could totally use her humor to share the gospel. She is also a very task oriented person. Just like me she tells it like it is. I am very blessed to be working with her. Look out x generation I've got a fiery Chicana on board.
authenticity (the greatest evangelistic tool)
"The Wanna be", is probably one of the most common pet peeves of our generation. We make fun of them, play jokes on them, and to be honest we just don't like people who are trying to be something they are not. Maybe it has to do with growing up seeing our parents pretend to be upstanding perfect people and yet finding a porn mag, or a sack of weed hidden under the bathroom sink...ouch. I don't know, but whatever it is,we just want people to be real.
As an evangelist (a messenger of Gods plan of redemption) I have realized this to be one of the most important principles in reaching the x generation (24 to 42 years old) for Jesus Christ. Some people may think that the 777 manufactures hard looks, tattoo's, and the gangster vibe to reach people. The truth is even though we have been changed on the inside, we see no need to change the way we look or dress. If God is only concerned with what happens on the inside, why put on a suite and tie? We enjoy the freedom of looking cool and reaching people we grew up with.
Now, if I were to throw on a suite and tie and tried to reach out to a stock broker, they would smell me coming a mile away. The one cool thing about our generation is that as long as you are completely honest about who you are and you show love and present God's truth, your words will be heard. Ironically this cuts against the grain of the traditional missionary principle that suggests you speak, act, and dress, like the people you are trying to reach even though it may be foriegn to you. This may work in other countries, but it doesn't in ours.
Triple 7 is the real deal. We may look a little hard on the outside, because of our previous life, but inside we have more love than most. Many souls are being redeemed by the power of Jesus Christ through authenticity and I am believing God for thousands more. Black, white, red, brown, upper class, lower class, educated, uneducated, tattoos, no tattoos, churched and unchurched..... it doesn't matter... the key is authenticity. Let people see the real you and they will meet Jesus.
A good time to preach
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Israel's forces
will not leave Lebanon until a U.N.-led multinational force arrives,
"even if it takes months," Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan
Halutz said Wednesday.
I'm not much of an escatology (end times) buff, but many Christians
believe that the end is very near. from what I understand the fact
that Israel is at war is a key sign to the end of the world. All I
know is that Jesus said to be prepared. He said ,"I will come
like a theif in the night".
Saturday I was at the Harvest crusade and was amazed at the response
for people to get right with God. I think now is a great time to tell
everyone you know about Gods message of redemption. The bummer is, I bet that many of you dont even know what that message is. There are many people who call themselves Christians and yet Have never explained to someone Gods plan of redemption. Jesus clearly said that you would recieve power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and that you would be his witnesses.
If you cant articulated this message please let me know so that I can teach you some key principles to use. Please be honest about this. Eternal souls and you standing before God are at stake here. I would love to help.
A myspace conversion
Here is a note I got from my friend Raquel whom I led to the Lord through myspace. This is what God has been doing in her life.
Hey T.J.
Thanks for listening and talking with me today. I cried the whole way
home from church today. I wasnt scared today at all. For the first time
in like ever, I was crying because i'm soo happy and blessed. I know
that my life has always been blessed but today i really felt it. So
much of my life i've looked to a man or to men to give me love. I never
had that love from my father or my stepdad. I somehow always felt like
a bastard. But today i realized that i do have a father. God will
always, always love me. Here He has given me that unconditional love
that i thought i was seeking through meaningless relationships. It's a
bit overwhelming that one person could love and care soooo much about
me and i dont have to do anything to get that love. Its soo beautiful
to me. I'm in awe of his....everything. I truly feel like he is with me
every second of every day of my life. He will continue to love me
regardless of what has happened in my life. That fills my heart. I am
so grateful to be experiencing all of these feeling right now. I know
understand that even though horrible things did happen to me as a child
and teenager, it didnt lessen His love for me. God cannot control my
actions or the actions of others. So I know that He never meant to hurt
me. Yet all the times when my life was so dark and my will was sooo
weak, he was right there with me. His Son suffered right there along
with me. I'm soo thankful to be 25 years old and to understand his
love. It's so amazing. I used to be scared when i would think about my
future because i would feel lonely but i dont think i will continue to
have those types of thoughts anymore. How can one be lonely knowing
that they are loved unconditionally? Thank you, Thank you, Thank you
for being. Thank you to Pastor Matt Brown. Thank you to Justin. Thank
you to your wife (whom I've never met) Thank you to Stephanie (even
with the anxiety attack). Thank you to myspace (minus the
perverts).Thank you to Sandals church. Everyone is soo full of God's
love that it has allowed me open up my heart and accept God's grace and
glory.
Chat with you soon!
Raquel
"he who began a good work in you will cary it on unto completion" Keep praying for my sister Raquel...
my 2 best friends (bill and chris...big bear tattoo)
One of the hardest things about my Faith for me to accept is the reality that my 2 best friends may not spend eternity with me in the kingdom of God. Although I trust the Lord Jesus completely, I cant bring myself to accept this. Yet Jesus clearly says "you must be born again to enter the kingdom of God". I know for a fact that my 2 best friends have not yet been born again and probably wont be anytime soon. So How do I handle this situation?
These two guys I have experienced all that life has to offer with good and bad. Chris Self ,on the far right, has been my best friend since 1977. almost 30 years. As far back as I can humanly remember he has been there.
I will never forget in kinder garden when we were taking a test with ear phones on and he wrote me a note saying "I cut one". He then tried to erase it off of his test and although he did a great job on the test when he took it home to show his mom I guess it didn't erase off very well cuz instead of saying, "good job" she said "I CUT ONE!!!!?????? " It's so weird how funny farts are when your 5. Anyways, we experienced our first everything together. From smoking in the bathroom, to looking at dirty magazines, to sneaking out at night, to throwing lemons at cars, to our first buzz of alcohol, to sexual encounters with girls, to beating people up, to lighting the river bottom on fire. ..... boy I guess mostly bad things.... having said that.... I love this guy.
Bill carlson on the other hand, in the middle, is just one of those people in life who are just meant to be your best friend. we met in high school through mutual episodes of knocking someones teeth out. We both had a pretty good right cross. He became like a brother to me. he lived with me and my family just out of high school, we were in a band together, he taught me to tattoo, we partied like rock stars, and always had each others back. We were like blood brothers even to this very day.
I don't know that I could ever find true happiness knowing that these two guys aren't making it to heaven. Please help me to pray for them. They need to know Jesus. Much of my motivation in life, next to my blessed family (kim, Steven, Alyssa, Jessica) is about reaching these guys. That is why 777 soles even exists. It was birthed out of my passion for these two. I can honestly tell you there is a whole generation just like them. And we will reach 10's of thousands to get to these two best friends.
Sandals on 700 club
I have to say that I couldn't ask for a better job Than Outreach Pastor at Sandals Church. Then... to see some of the fruit of your labor in Christ is such a blessing. This week Sandals was chosen Church of the week on 700 club and specifically our Outreach ministry "pasos". We are working on getting the video clip to show, but for now here are a few pictures of Matt, Myself, Jason tannery, and pastor Daniel on the show. Thanks Sandy Henes for Getting the Pasos vision to Sandals. God Bless you.
Good fruit from My-space
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog called "my-space.... heaven or hell" and I was just talking about how myspace can be a danqerous place to be. I also talked about how it can also be a good place to reach out to people. Anyway, this a comment someone left me after reading my page.
Hi I ended
up on your my space from my friends page and i just want to say thank
you for sharing your story and that you just put god back on the top of
my list of things to do.....
thanks
I always know it's a God thing when someone gives their life to him. I am confident in what I blogged about concerning myspace. if you want to re-read it go for it. (myspace.... heaven or hell) in April's archives
Image, authenticity, and the Gospel
Would it be possible for this man in our culture to effectively lead someone to Christ? could he walk into a bar, or attend a triple kegger party looking the way he does and still effectively preach the gospel?
It would seem that the question would be obvious. No!!!! nobody would even pay attention to this guy other than to laugh at him.
The ironic thing is that I came from a party lifestyle and when God touched my heart and revealed my sin to me, I would have dressed up like Mother Theresa if I had to. My old life was full of pride and having to be cool and when God set me free I would have been glad to throw on a suite and tie if that was what it meant to be a christian. I thank God that he gives us the freedom to dress however we feel comfortable as a Christian, but I don't think it really matters that much. What matters most is the gospel. The Apostle Paul said,
"I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words of wisdom.... my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
I believe what Paul is saying here is that he did not try to pretend to be someone he is not. He did not depend on the craftiness of the Greek philosophers of the day. He was just being himself. He depended on the power of the Holy spirit and the truth of the transforming message. He was careful not to depend on special tactics for fear of leading people into the power of men rather than the power of God.
I think in our culture today we depend so much on the glamor and lights of the world to reach people for Christ. It's a shame because rather than producing disciples rooted in life changing truth willing to die for what they believe, we produce Christians that are comfortable living a life not much different than their old one. I'm not saying we have to become an old heavy sweaty Baptist preacher, but I am saying lets be careful not to lean so hard on image and being cool to reach people. We just have to be who we are and allow the Holy Spirit to do His job through the real us. If the man in the picture was sincere in loving me and I could tell he cared for me no matter what he looks like, I would listen to him. He could have come to my tattoo shop in Rubidoux, sat down in the chair next to me as I did a tattoo and I would have listened to him.
vision
- "Dying for Change"
