Hallelujah!

Standing in awe of Jesus! :) Came to a little coffee shop today to study and the Lord turned it into a divine appointment. As I ordered a cup of coffee I got to talking to the cashier, who is a young girl about my age. She simply asked, "What are you doing this weekend?" I said, "Preaching the Gospel." and she said "Whats that?" Can you believe that? This girl had never heard the Gospel before! But Praise God that we crossed paths. After she made my coffee I stayed up at the counter for about ten minutes telling her about Jesus. I shared with her my testimony that I had lived 18 years of my life for myself, stuck in bondage to this world and Jesus Christ set me free. I also got to share with her how that Old Testament was written way before Jesus came, yet predicts him!! Hallelujah! She listened with open ears and an expression of true curiosity and interest on her face! She simply had never been told about Jesus.  This broke my heart but also brought me great joy to know that my God is not a liar when he says "Today is the day of Salvation!" (2 Corinthians 6:2) The good news was spread! And our conversation ended with her saying that she is going to start reading the Bible!! So simple :)) All it takes is a willingness and obedience. I beg you on this day to Repent and turn to Jesus! And if you know him, please do not hold the truth from anyone. You might be passing by that one person who needs to hear the Gospel, deny yourself and Preach! Hallelujah! Jesus is Lord and he is on the throne!! All Glory to God!!! If you are reading this and would like to help share the Good News come out to the Tenderloin tonight about 9pm we will be sharing the Gospel with many lost and dying people!

Be Bold

I got out of class today and was super hungry. I went to the nearest cafe and got a sandwich and went to eat it on a bench nearby. Again, I found myself in a spot that I'm usually not in very often. I was tired, hungry and just wanted to finish my food and get on the bus home. This guy came up to me and asked if I was in his class. I asked what class (it was calculus) and I laughed and said no. He was a fairly awkward guy and kept talking to me. In my head I'm thinking okay thats great but I was just enjoying the sunshine and don't really want to talk to you. Then I remembered the scripture "Whatever you did unto the least of these you did unto me." Matthew 25:40 He asked if he could sit down, I said sure and he asked what I was majoring in. I thought okay how can I turn this conversation back to Jesus. So I asked him "How are you doing with Jesus?" He chuckled a little bit and then started quoting a few scriptures like John 3:16. I asked him if he was a Christian or if he grew up in the Church. He said he used to be a Christian and grew up in the Church. I then asked him how he fell away from the Lord. This was his answer*** He said "Because I loved darkness rather than light because my deeds were evil." (John 3:19) I proceeded to tell him what the Bible said about that, preached to him and told him that he could not serve two masters. He then said he loved God, he was studying philosophy and started naming all these man made hollow philosophies. I rebuked him and told him those were lies and that he needed to Repent and get right with Jesus. He said he was "surprised at my fanaticism for God." He asked me a few times if I was serious and I said yes. He then said they he had spoken with a Christian guy who was the leader of one of the Christian clubs on campus and said that he was shocked because I sounded more "fanatic" than him. He must have told me about 5 times that I was a fanatic and that I was bold. I showed him more scripture and told him that if you are not a slave to righteousness you are a slave to sin, in the same way you can only serve Jesus or the devil. I told him to choose today who he  would serve, and he left making it pretty clear he wanted to choose the devil. Heartbreaking. Last Days! What was shocking was his first comment though, that he "loved darkness rather than light because his deeds were evil." The bible tells us that that will happen and it has. This guy was fully conscious of his sin and did not have any fear of God before his eyes. Even though this guy was fully rebelling against God I praise God that I got to talk to him because he heard the un-compromised Gospel of Jesus Christ! And he just proved the word more true by admitting that he loved darkness, when God says that is what men will do. How are you doing with Jesus? Are you walking in the light or darkness?

John 3:16-21 "For God so loved the word that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him in not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believe in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict; Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has  been done through God."

1 John 1:5-7 "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." (NIV)

1 John 3:8 " Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the work of the devil. (ESV)

1 John 3:9 "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the Children of the devil are." (NIV)

Silence is Deadly

The other day I got out of class, it was about noon, and I walked over to Trader Joe's to grab some groceries. After, I decided to go home before my next class which I wasn't planning on doing, so I walked to the nearest bus stop. This was an unusual time for me to be be at Trader Joe's and at this particular bus stop, but God used it for a reason. I sat down and started eating an apple that I just bought and was just praying while I was waiting for the bus. There was a elder lady sat a seat down from me who had just come from the grocery store as well. I sat there thinking, "Should I say something to her? Talk to her about Jesus?" I really was not in the mood. I was tired and just wanted the bus to come so that I could get home, but I felt the Lord tugging on me to speak up and talk to her. I went back in forth in my head for about 3 minutes wondering if I should engage in a conversation with this lady. Finally, I realized how dumb that was to get scared or anxious about talking to this Lady about Jesus, it was totally the devil just telling me to 'Keep quiet.' So I looked over to her and said "Hi Ma'am, do you know about Jesus?" She looked a bit puzzled and said, "No." I persisted by introducing myself and then saying, "Well I am going to tell you about him." I went on for about two minutes summing up the gospel and explaining to her who Jesus is. This was her reply, "Wow, that sounds very nice, I have never heard that before." I said, "No one has ever told you about Jesus before?" and she said, "No, but that sounds very well, thank you very much." The bus came and our conversation ended soon after that. My heart was broken thinking about how this lady has lived nearly 60 years of her life and no one had ever told her about Jesus, and I was almost going to be just another Christian who crossed her path and kept the redeeming message of Jesus Christ from her. We are in a time where people are being deceived by this idea of 'Just keep quiet', 'People will know my your actions', 'Just "love" on them and listen to them.' Folks those are lies straight from the devil himself. That is exactly what he wants you to do, keep your mouth shut and not share Jesus with someone. What if I didn't listen to God that day when he told me to speak to this women? She had already gone 60 without anybody tell her about Jesus! and she was so thankful to hear the Gospel! Preach!

Mark 16:15 "He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."

Romans 10:14-15 "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

Matthew 10:32 "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."

Looking back at the course of the week, its amazing to see what the Lord has done.  I'm beginning to believe more and more (and continually be reminded) that God is transformer, healer, and lover of your soul.  Crazy things happen when we just repent and believe the Gospel!  Last week out at the Tenderloin we got to see a beautiful woman restored to God--when we met her she was angry at God, talking about the horrors of her past with hurt on her face--be transformed, you can see joy in her face and she's trusting in Jesus.  

Some of us were able to meet up with her yesterday at a doughnut shop at 9th and Irving and her entire demeanor is changed.  She is truly that "new creation" that the Bible talks about in 2 Corinthians 5:17--anyone in Christ is a new creation, the old has passed away, behold the new has come!   There is new life in Christ!  

Testimony from Lauren Raffi (19 UC Raven SLO)

This weekend we made a trip to the tenderloin of San Francisco, which was an absolute blessing. The crew I came with drove up from San Luis Obispo, and the trip was awesome from start to finish. The moment that still sticks with me is when we walked into the Tenderloin and saw the crew of people standing by the cross, and I realized that rather than people to preach to, they were Preachers, Harvesters, and men and woman standing for Jesus. Tears came to my eyes a few times just looking around and seeing brothers and sisters ministering to others in love, and with the truth. 

The tenderloin has such an interesting combination of people, and I talked to people from homeless men who knew the truth, and needed some prayer and encouragement, to a young many who was lost by the worlds lie that we have to accept all religions. My heart also broke while holding a young baby boy, who doesn’t have a place to call home. Church, if we’re called to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and there are people on the streets that love Jesus, then what are we doing? It’s time to rise up, and truly be the body of Christ.

I was also so encouraged to see the team from UC Davis out on the streets. I had spent time (and so had much of our team) praying for more harvesters to rise up on that campus alongside Benny, and suddenly, there the stood before me. They also are incredible men and woman of God, who went out and preached the truth without much hesitation at all. Praise God, for my Jesus is one who answers prayers, and is raising up a generation of men, woman, and children who will not compromise the truth. I was so blessed by everything I saw, and I want to encourage all of you to continue to stand for Jesus, and don’t look back. He is worthy!

Newly Married Brittany England gives a Testimony from the Tenderloin Outreach!

This weekend was my fourth time ever going to the Tenderloin Outreach. The environment has always been heart-breaking and severely influential. There are lost, hurting, and dying people left and right. I was able to talk to a woman that was very stuffed up in her own beliefs and pride, yet appeared, from a worldly standpoint, to be a gentle and "good" person. She wanted to put herself at a level with Jesus of him being her "brother" not her saviour. After hours of listening to her story and sharing scriptures, Gracie joined and reminded her of the urgency to repent and come to Christ fully before it's too late. She seemed receptive and wanted prayer so Gracie and I prayed for her and she was blessed. Her face and attitude changed after prayer and it was awesome! Then, after listening to my husband tear it up on the PA, preaching, I got on the mic and preached on the testimony of the cross and intimacy with Jesus. Afterwards, I talked to a girl standing by listening and she was encouraged to know that serving Christ makes you holy not happy. She was restored back to prayer and Jesus after I prayed for her. Hallelujah! We may not get to talk to every single person that walked by and heard the preaching of the gospel, but that just makes it more encouraging to know that fruit is being produced out there from God's faithfulness through us that we don't necessarily get to see! Keep going guys! Rise up, Christians and preach!! :)

Tenderloin Testimony from mother Lori Gonzalez (Raven Santa Rosa)

Every time I go to the San Francisco Tenderloin my heart breaks. This time was no different. Tomika is a mother of two and my husband Pastor Rudy led me to her. She was sitting near the fountain holding her baby. When I asked her how I could pray for she looked into my eyes and started sharing her story. Similar to many of us, she has a past. She was ready to trust something other than what this world had to offer because doing things her own way has only resorted her to losing her kids, spending time in prison and being held in addiction.  When I told her my testimony and the reason why Jesus died, she clutched my hands so tightly, she just couldn't get enough. My friend Heather was there for the very first time with me and so, mother to mother we were able to call upon the name of the Lord during her time of trouble. It didn't take a bulletin, a nursery, a building, a sign up sheet or a fee. I didn't have time to walk her through a sixteen week discipleship class or lead her to a home group. No. The Spirit of the Lord gave me utterance, the tears swelled in our eyes and our hearts were filled up with the only peace that transcended our environment, our abilities, the mountains that she is facing. Beside us sat Daniella. A 38 year old woman whose heart and mind was restored to Jesus earlier that evening, holding Tomika's son while we prayed, then offering her a phone number hoping they could meet together in the tenderloin this week or at the shelter to read their bibles together. After we embraced and joined the rest of our team in worship and prayer,  I remember seeing my son Anthony and friend Heather walking her with her children to the bus. Satan stand back in Jesus name! Tomika and her children are not yours. They belong to the Lord!