We are currently on sabbatical until May 3rd and plan on returning refreshed and excited to share more about the work of Jesus to reach the nations around the world. Stay tuned for what He has in store.

May Jesus be your singlemost treasure and the Holy Spirit your Power.

For the Fame of Jesus,

MissionaryRoad.com

While I was in Los Angeles, I wanted to stay in a hostel in the hollywood area, not only because it was pretty affordable at $20/night, but because I wanted to meet people from other countries. And, I was not disappointed, as I met an Australian, Swede, Brit, and African.

We chatted for a while about different things, but the conversation allowed me to share why I was staying in the hostel that weekend. I told them I was going to a Christian Conference, which led one of them to ask what it was about. Their curiosity amazed me. I then posed a question about their spiritual background, which opened the door to their beliefs…

Religiousness in the Church

One of the British guys I talked to was not interested in church. His dad, he said, was “born again” and tried to get him to go to church with him. We talked in depth about this, and I could clearly see his negatively toward the religiosity of the church. This allowed me to share my personal discontent toward religion, and also how Jesus calls us to follow Him not a religious system. After sharing all his frustration toward rules and the hypocrisy he saw in church, I left him with a question to ponder,

“What would keep you from following Jesus and him alone, not a church or a religious system?”

He was stumped. I don’t believe he had ever been asked that before, but now he was left to examine his views of Jesus and not make any more excuses about how other people have kepted him from meeting the Living God.

A Swede, Sex, and God

The next night, I had a long 4 hour conversation with a Swede over sex and God. This person thought I was absolutely crazy for staying a virgin, while they had sex with multiple people by the age of 18. I explained that I was waiting for marriage and even though it wasn’t easy because we are bombarded by sex all over the place, I wanted to honor both my future wife and my God. Their view of God was one of absence. It was not possible for them to believe in God. Their lives were about partying and sex period. They were now looking to experiment with same sex attraction just because. The one thing I will take from this conversation for a long time is their view of sex below:

“I have kissed very few people, but I’ve had sex with more.”

What does this statement speak to you? It speaks to me of a lack of intimacy in sex to me, that they view kissing as more intimate than they would allow their partner to have with them. This broke my heart, and it should everyone who reads this.

Hostel Takeover: Creating a new Hostel Environment

As I was reflecting on my time at the Hollywood hostel, I began to see the possibilities that could exist if a Christian were to start a hostel in the area. Think about the opportunities! Many International travelers looking for shelter and community are at your fingertips. What an opportunity to be a light, to demonstrate true community, to share God’s love with them, to offer bible studies to those that might be interested. I don’t know yet how you control their desire for sex and drinking, but I pray God would stir peoples hearts as they read this.

I would love to see Christians around the country starting Hostels so that this can become a reality. Think of the Influence. These International visitors can get a true picture of a Loving, Living God and take it back to their Countries.

If anyone reads this and wants to find out more or would like to partner with me in this, I trust God will bring someone along with a similar desire and a location to start a hostel.

There used to be a hostel in Orange County, but it’s still a great place with the popularity of the OC. And, even though L.A. already has at least 8 hostels already, It could definitely benefit from one more, especially one that is focused on loving these International travelers and displaying the Greatness of Jesus.

What kind of experience do you have with International Travelers? How has this influenced you to love them more?

Ledbetter states on his page that his political views are “conservative” and that he is a Christian. “I’ve wondered about if students don’t share my political affiliation or religion, would that ever be a barrier?” He says he has wanted to post religious thoughts for members of his church, but decided against it. “Would that be appropriate for current students to read?” he asks. “Possibly not.”

Why did this set me off so much? As I’ve been reading about persecution around the world and seeing missionaries sacrifice their lives oversees to share the Gospel in the most dangerous of places, I can say without a doubt that I have more respect for this lesbian’s courage than I would for this overly cautious Professor. I don’t even place this professor’s decision to not share his “religous thoughts” as an attempt to be shrewd with his students. I see this as another compromise by Christians around America to conform to the false tolerance of our day. In fact, this is such a common occurence in Christian circles to not want to offend in workplaces or among nonchristian friends, that more education needs to be done in the Church to prevent this.

Would reading the blog about the Persecuted Church, Persecutionblog.com, change your views on whether you should be bold enough to stand up for your faith in the workplace or with nonchristian friends? Would checking out this Map of worldwide Christian Persecution challenge you to get out of this false mindset of tolerance that runs rampant in our American culture today.

Maybe the American Church should focus less on becoming the next mega church and more on sharing these truths about having the boldness Paul had to Proclaim Jesus Christ and Him Crucified:

1 Corinthians 2:1 When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

May God change the hearts and minds of the American Church to embody the verse above, and may God grant us repentance as we confess believing the lies of this world.

“God I pray that you would get my phone back to me somehow in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth!”

The rest of the night I felt rather naked without my trusty gadget - a pda, camera, and modem all in one that I could check email, take pictures, make calls and view websites with. Maybe God wanted to use my misfortune to remind me that all the technology in the world shouldn’t be the reason I’m filled with joy every day.

Last night I was checking my email and ran across a message from a friend. Here is what the email said:

Hey Ken!
I know who found your cell phone…well kind of…i have their info. They actually purchased it from a kid on the street. Tell you the story later. Please give me a call so I can contact you guys…..
The couple that has the phone does not speak english…they contacted me because of my LAtino last name….funny stuff…..Hope you get this soon.

God Bless!
Pricilla.

After finding myself in utter shock, I went to bed a very thankful man that God is faithful to answer our prayers, even if it’s about a stupid cell phone.

Well, today, I’m happy and awe-filled to report that I am sitting here with my phone and all the precious phone numbers I’ve collected over the years! Long story short, the guy who took my phone sold it to a hispanic lady for $160. She was scrolling through the numbers and ran across my hispanic friend to contact her about the phone. I just met up with her husband, who told us the whole story, and thanked him for his honesty and willingness to return the phone to me. I shared with him about how I had prayed to Jesus to get the phone back, and he responded that it was a blessing to see that God answers our prayers!

My faith has grown from this whole experience, and I pray that telling stories like this will encourage you in your faith and in the Power of GOD. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus is alive and the Author of Life. I hope this does not come off as a message about prosperity; no this is so much bigger than any prosperity gospel and all the televangelists in the world. Read Jesus’ words for yourself and ask him to give you insight into this verse:

John14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Lord Jesus, increase our faith much more than we can even ask or imagine. Teach us how to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified alone. Use us as your ministers to set captives free from sin and death, from the strongholds of satan and his kingdom. Show us how to live as Peter and John did in Acts 3, trusting in Jesus to heal and to save:

Acts 3:1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

I’m Pumped. Jesus is LORD.

Proclaim him to all creation friends while you still have time!

For His Fame,

Ken

This site is dedicated to encouraging Christians around the world to live as Missionaries and to spread a passion for the fame of Jesus around the Globe and to the most unreached peoples in every land for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission.

See the online presentation here: http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl/

There is a critique of this booklet on Pulpit Magazine’s blog here: http://www.sfpulpit.com/2007/02/16/two-ways-to-live/

About the Two ways to live summary of the gospel

“At the most basic level, Two Ways to Live is simply a memorable summary of the Christian gospel. Or to put it more accurately, it is the Christian gospel including some of its necessary presuppositions and background.

In the New Testament, the word ‘gospel’ usually refers to the proclamation of Jesus Christ crucified. It is the announcement that God’s kingdom has arrived in the person of his Son, the powerful Messiah, who inaugurates his worldwide reign by dying and rising again so that repentance and forgiveness can be preached to all nations. This Jesus Christ now rules at God’s right hand, from where he will come again to judge.

In other words, Jesus himself is the focus of the Christian message or ‘gospel’. However, Jesus does not arrive in a vacuum. He arrives as the culmination of God’s plans, and their outworking in history. He comes and dies and rises, “according to the Scriptures”. He arrives in the context of all that God has already revealed about himself and humanity.

All this is part of the background or ‘worldview’ that the biblical authors took for granted, but which many modern (or postmodern) people do not share. If we are to know and tell the gospel in a world where these basic assumptions about God and human guilt are no longer shared, or even common, then we need to fill in some of the rest of the story. We need to provide some of the background.

This is what Two Ways to Live seeks to do. It fills in some of the wider story of the Bible, some of the biblical theology, so that the message about Jesus makes sense.

If you are completely new to Two Ways to Live, you may like to pause at this point and read through the basic text of the outline, as found in the online presentation of Two ways to live. You will see that the six points not only provide a brief summary of the whole story of the Bible, but fit logically together as a coherent set of propositions.

1. God the creator; humanity ruling under his authority.
2. Humanity rebels, wishing to run things its own way.
3. God judges (and will judge) humanity for this rebellion.
4. In his love, God sends Jesus to die as an atoning sacrifice.
5. In his power, God raises Jesus to life as ruler and judge.
6. This presents us with a challenge to repent and believe.

Notice that there is a clear and easy-to-follow movement through the six points, not only logically but historically. At one level it is a set of six ideas or propositions, one leading naturally and logically to the next. However, these propositions are not abstract or removed from history. They represent in miniature the whole history of the world.

In other words, for those in these postmodern times who share very little with us in terms of Christian assumptions, Two Ways to Live provides a simple way to tell the whole story, to communicate (in brief) the whole Christian worldview.

The drawings that accompany Two Ways to Live are designed to make this communication process easier. They serve at one level to help Christians learn and remember the Two Ways to Live gospel outline. At another level, they can also be useful in making the message clear and memorable as we share it with someone. The drawings may not be used in every circumstance, but they are an important part of the overall package.

Another advantage of the presentation is that it leads naturally to challenging someone to become a Christian, then and there. As the great American chess master Bobby Fischer always maintained: the first thing to learn about chess is how to get checkmate.”