Kevin Johnson, Coconut Cream Pie and Eternal Hell

kevinjohnson1

When I have preached on or taught about the Doctrine of Eternal Hell, one objection I have heard often is this: “How can God send someone to Hell for all eternity for something as small as lying, stealing or lusting?  Isn’t that a little harsh?  That doesn’t sound like something a loving God would do.”  That’s not an EXACT quote, but that’s essentially how the objection goes.

In essence, the people who make these kind of objections are saying that sending someone to an eternity in Hell would be unjust of God to do.  BUT, what standard of “justice” are they using to say such a thing?  Whatever standard of “justice” we have must be derived from God’s Holy Word.  Any other standard of “justice” is simply arbitrary. If our definition of “justice” doesn’t line up with God’s Word we are guilty of idolatry – making up a God who is “just” according to our own arbitrary definition of what “justice” is.

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A Comparison: Christianity vs. Islam From the Bible and the Quran

IslamVsChristianity

Recently, a brother in Christ (and close friend) and I have had an increasing burden to reach out to Muslims more.  We have created two gospel tracts in response to this burden.  You can find them at the following links:

http://store.gospeltract.org/Muslim-Gospel-Tract-br-Islamic-Dilemma-br-Pack-of-50-Tracts_p_424.html

http://store.gospeltract.org/Islam-vs-Christianity-Comparison-Gospel-Tract-br-Pack-of-50-Tracts_p_485.html

The second link from above is the most recent one and the subject of this blog post.  It focuses on comparing Islam with Christianity on 5 different topics (see below).  We basically just gave quotes from the primary source texts from each religion, on these five different topics.  Then, at the end of the tract we give a gospel presentation.

These tracts are good for just about anyone.  They are good for non-Muslims in order to educate them on the difference between Islam and Christianity.  They are good for Christians, to help them understand one of the greatest foes to Christianity at our present time.  They are obviously good for Muslims because we want to reach them for Christ’s sake.

Here is the content of the tract, on the five different topics:

Muhammad Was A Sinner
Bukhari 8:319 Narrated by Abu Huraira: I heard Allah’s Apostle saying. “By Allah! I ask for forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day.”Bukhari 9:482 Narrated by Ibn Abbas: “…O Allah! Forgive me the sins that I did in the past or will do in the future, and also the sins that I did in secret or in public.”Surah 40:55 “So be patient, surely the promise of Allah is true, and ask forgiveness for your sin and praise with your lord’s praise evening and morning.”Muhammad’s Final Words…

Bukhari 5:724 “O Allah! Forgive me, and bestow Your Mercy on me, and let me meet the companions.”

 

The Consecrated Communication of the Open Air Preacher (& ALL Christians)

Consecrated Communication

As a Christian and as an open air preacher, I’m constantly trying to memorize and meditate upon more Bible verses/passages.  Besides personal purity (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 119:9-11, Philippians 4:8), I do this because I want to be able to address the things that I see and hear in the open air, directly with the Scriptures.  One thing that comes up quite often is the filthy speech of the sinner.  Often times, they say a lot of gross sexually explicit things, that reveal the depravity of their hearts and that their minds are probably filled with porn.  Their mouths are constantly pouring out cuss/curse words and taking God’s name in vain, as well.

So, I’ve been attempting to memorize more Scriptures concerning such things.  Some of the passages that I have been working on are Matthew 12:33-37, Ephesians 4:29 and Ephesians 5:3-4 and Colossians 3:8.  As I studied these passages and went to the Greek to get a deeper understanding of some of the words being used, I saw some things that are definitely applicable to those who preach in the open air.  I want to share what I have found with you.

In recent years, it seems like the standards of speech for some open air preachers has “gone down the drain”…literally.  All manner of things are said by some open air preachers and even if such things aren’t said by most individual open air preachers, many of the ones who aren’t saying such things justify those who are saying them.  Or maybe the ones who don’t say such things just remain silent in correcting those who do, thinking that it’s not that big of a deal.  Telling filthy, sexually explicit stories is supposedly ok for an open air preacher.  Using curse/cuss words is supposedly ok for the open air preacher.  What’s next?  Will taking God’s name in vain be ok, as well?

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Bible Verse Memorization – Open Air Preaching Bible Verses

BibleMemory

Throughout the years, I’ve had dozens of people ask me about Bible memorization in open air preaching.  I’ve been asked questions about how to memorize the Scriptures (techniques) and what Scriptures to memorize. So, I figured I’d write a blog post on it, so that I have something to point people to when I’m asked this question in the future.

There are all sorts of methods people use, to memorize Scripture.  My advice is to take part in as many techniques as possible.  This way, you have a better chance of solidifying the Scriptures in your mind, that you are attempting to memorize.  Here are some principles that I use, when memorizing Scripture:

1) Don’t overdo it – Don’t start out trying to memorize 20 verses a week.  Such an extreme plan like that, typically leads to someone giving up, due to failure  Start small, with maybe one verse/passage every two weeks.  You could always increase how many verses you memorize every 2 weeks, later on.  YET, If you are consistent with that plan (1 verse/passage every two weeks), you will have memorized 26 verses/passages in the first year.  After 10 years of doing this, you’ll have 260 verses/passages memorized!  Think long term, instead of short term. Be consistent and be faithful.  The goal is not to be able to say, “Look at me, I have lots of Bible verses memorized!”  The goal is to retain the verses in your memory, obey the verses and preach the verses.

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