Luke 15:11-32

The Prodigal Son

 ¹¹And He said, “A man had two sons.

 ¹²“The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me  the share of the estate that falls to me .’ So he divided his wealth between them.

 ¹³“And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.

 ¹⁴“Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.

 ¹⁵“So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

 ¹⁶“And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

 ¹⁷“But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!

 ¹⁸‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;

 ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”‘

 ²⁰“So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

 ²¹“And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

 ²²“But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet;

 ²³and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;

 ²⁴for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

Pig Sermons

In the Scriptures whenever pigs are mentioned, they are repugnant animals.  They are, to a great extent, viewed in the same manner as the foolish son from the above parable.  He was described as a son who loathed his father so much that he willingly embarrassed him by demanding all the inheritance that would be his. Since the father was neither dead nor dying, the son’s demand of inheritance money was looked upon by the society just as if he wished his father were dead, out of the way. 

The parable of the prodigal son is one of the most well known from the Scriptures.  It is the parable that causes me to reflect in many ways on the countless number of the churches that surround us today.  Many churches are nothing more than pig styes suitable for the swine, and goats.  Very few of these “churches” provide the necessary surroundings for a wayward son that would cause him to desire the presence of his father over the filth of the world.

In the vast majority of the churches today, a myriad of sermons are spewed forth Sunday after Sunday.  Sermons that have had little or no preparation, little or no time meditating on the Scriptures, little or no time in prayer.   They are fashioned to be sugar-coated, or ear-ticklers.  These are what I label as pig sermons!

But why do I label them as “pig sermons” you may ask.  Think of it in this light.  Pigs are filthy animals.  They love to wallow in the mire.  They can be taken from their mire and slop, washed and cleaned, manicured, and even have perfume and lipstick applied.  Try as they may, the pig is still a pig and will run directly back to the mire the first chance it gets.  Pig sermons are just a cover up, not sermons that provide the necessary sustenance to keep one from starving to death spiritually.

Pig sermons are just like taking a pig from its mire.  This type of sermon can be taken from a host of pre-written sermons from the internet, composed by anyone, Christian or non-Christian, on any subject or topic.  It can be just a 15-minute talk on something in the news.  These pig sermons can be “cleaned up and manicured” to be presented to an undiscerning congregation who may never realize the “slop” that they are being fed.  These sermons are still, and will always be, filthiness in disguise.  These types of sermons do not challenge the church attendee to examine their lives through the eyes of the Scriptures.  They do not want to make anyone feel uncomfortable about the foulness of their sin.  They are nothing more than worldly stories from a pulpit that can do little to cause one to reflect on their state of “filthiness,” or to reflect on the fact that if the world is flocking to it, it more than likely is not the nutritious meat of the Word of God. The non-thinking “convert” lacks the fortitude to demand sound doctrine because they have never tasted more than the “pig slop.”  They feel no condemnation when listening to the pig sermons. 

Pig sermons can be beneficial for those in charge of the styes.  They are profitable in the form of vast revenues.  The revenues are gleaned through filling the pages of books with syrupy slop, CDs and DVDs filled with nauseatingly malnourished feed.  They do not see the final outcome of this diet.  They feel good in their own “righteousness.”

We are called to arise up from the mire of pig sermons; sermons which have one outcome, destruction.  The destruction is in the form of eternity in the lake of fire.  Just because a sermon looks good, sounds good, makes one feel good, it means nothing in the eyes of a Holy God.  We are called to be discerning, to search the Scriptures to see if what is being taught lines up squarely with the Word of God.  Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thought and attitudes of the heart.”  Paul warns in Galatians 1:6-9, “I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:  which is not another, but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.  But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.  As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel to you than that you have received, let him be accursed.”

It has been a long time since Paul wrote those words of warning.  Those words of caution are all too often allowed to sound hollow to those of the Emergent Church, Catholics, Jehovah’s Witness’, Mormons, Muslims, many Baptists, Presbyterians, Assemblies of God, Lutherans Independent church attendees, Bible Church attendees, the followers of Benny Hinn, Todd Bentley, Juanita Bynum, TD Jakes, Joyce Myer, Medina Pulling, John Wimber, Joel Osteen, the Crouchs, Bush, Obama, and the list goes on.  People have become complacent.  They have become tainted by sin, like a drop of arsenic in a glass of water.  It is lethal!  They have been given over to pig preaching.

When the prodigal son finally came to his senses (became discerning), he realized that all his life he had listened to pig counsel and pig teachings.  He realized that he had been listening to pig doctrines.  He began to comprehend his need to repent and ask the forgiveness of his father.  He desired to be in the presence of his father as a slave more than to be in the mire and slop of the pig sty.  Humbly and repentant he returned home to a waiting father.

The parable illustrates what our heavenly Father has done for those that repent.  It represents a loving Father that patiently awaits the return of His child.  It represents a Father willing to forgive, and celebrate the return of a wayward son.  This is our heavenly Father’s acceptance of us, His prodigal children.  It is an acceptance that extends beyond any human understanding or reasoning.  I love this parable.

A word of caution:  be on the alert for pig sermons.  These sermons are meant to destroy you through a pseudonym love.  It is a faulty love pat on the back which endeavors to provide a false assurance that your time spent in the mire is actually good for you.  Beware!

There are countless reasons I could come up with as to why I should not go out in the cold, on a Thursday night knowing what would confront me when I arrive at the truck stop, better known as the “stop”.  Throughout the summer it is hot, stinky, noisy, and dirty.  There are prostitutes there to lure truckers to their doom, mobile porn dealers with their “smooth “sounding pitch to buy 3 videos because they are cheaper than buying only 1.  During the colder months it is stinky, noisy, and dirty, but you have wind that seems to whip right through you.  Truckers are in a zip code to themselves. 

Truckers have no post office box while they are out on the road, and no place to relax outside their truck. What they do have is a lot of television, videos, and internet to pass their down time away.  This is but a minute description of the world in which they subsist.  This is all they experience until evangelists intrude upon their world.

For a couple hours each week several of us from around the metroplex step out in faith attempting to make the most of their time on this earth, and to fulfill God’s purposes according to Ephesians 5:16, “making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”  Since the days are evil, what better way to combat the battle of evil than to go to a stinky, dirty place where sin proliferates?  Note: Not all truckers are of the devil.  There are a few that put into practice righteousness.  Very few!

This past Thursday, Jeff, Jeff, Bryron, of Light Pursuit, David, and Ron, of Gospel to the Perishing, descended on the Pilot Truck Stop like Texas thunderstorms.  By God’s grace each was able to have conversations of biblical proportions, conversations that bothered consciences and caused mouths to be stopped.  Our Lord is doing a work at the stop.

David has been able to come out with us for about 4-5 weeks now.  He is full of the Spirit, and God is working in his life to grow in Him who is True and Faithful. 

David had witnessing contacts with four men, even one that was not at the stop.  Here are his highlights:

Ron, from NC, fooled David temporarily.  Ron is a sinner who is trying to break away from alcohol.  Psychologists label it “alcoholism” and identify it as a “sickness” to make people feel better about themselves.  But they are not sick.  In truth, they are sinners who love their sin.  Ron was able to fool David briefly because AA utilizes “Christian” lingo in their 12-step program.  In reality, Ron was anything but a Christian”.  At one point Ron mentioned, “God is not a God of wrathand punishment”.  However, David stuck to his guns.  Whenever someone says something like that, you can tell them they are right, “your god is not the god of wrath and punishment.”  Your god is not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Your god is a god of your own making. 

Another contact, Nathaniel, was possibly a Christian with wrong theology.  But warning flags were waving over his head.  At the end of the conversation, he thanked David.

Here is David’s account his contact with a man named Solomon:

Solomon was from Jamaica.  He was not sure what to think of God, but he felt like he had been good enough to go to heaven.  I quoted Proverbs 21:2 for him, asking if he knew how God weighs the heart?  Solomon replied that he did not know.  We then went through the 10 commandments and what Jesus Christ said regarding lust and anger.  It really bothered him that God would judge him even on his thoughts.  I was able to explain how God cannot be good if He did not punish sin.  There appeared to be a tear is his eye.

Solomon listened intently to how Christ bore the punishment of sin for him.  I explained God’s salvation plan, the only way he could be right before God is through repentance and faith.  I was completely caught off guard by his next question: “But I am a truck driver.  How can I go to church?” I replied, “Church attendance does not save you!” He said, “No!  You do not understand.  How am I supposed to be with other Christians to help me walk right?”

Is this not possibly the evidence of someone coming to Christ? (2 Tim. 2:19, 1 John 1:6)  Only God judges the heart. I was surprised how quickly a person went from justifying themselves to demonstrating the possible first fruits of repentance.  He says he has a Bible and will be reading.  I gave him my contact information; perhaps I will meet Solomon again either in this life or the next.

The others in our group:  Jeff Wortham was able to engage in numerous conversations. 

 I (Ron) was able to speak with Kenny and Brian for just under 2 hours.  Kenny knew nothing of the Gospel.  Brian knew different things about the Bible, but had problems linking them together.  I do not know if Brian is a Christian, but Kenny is not. 

I am not sure who Byron and the other Jeff spoke with, but they enjoyed the visit to Fort Worth to help us “thunder through the truck stop.”

The cost of the Gospel Message in America

Yesterday many of us went out to proclaim Christ Jesus on the one year anniversary of both Jon Speed’s bogus ticket for amplified open air preaching, and my arrest on false, trumped up charges, at the West End in Dallas, Texas.  Christ had His hand on us in the events that led to several Dallas police officers intrusion into our lives.  Jon’s expensive ticket was dropped!  My ticket and charges, dropped!  All that remains to be done is to get the arrest expunged from my record. 

Last night was the evening after the famous Texas OU football game.  If you care about such things, Texas won again.  Jeff, Tim and  Jon, Josh and Heath from from Australia, Chris from Jeremiah Cry Ministries, Chris from Christ for the Nations college, Tony, Melvin, and others I know I am missing.  I counted about 15 people whose concern last night was to be a witness for our Lord.

Did God do somethng last night at the West End?

We packed up between 9-10 p.m. to go home.  We walked back through the area where all the sinners were suppose to be partying.  What we found was amazing!  The West End last year was packed sidewalk to sidewalk.  Eating and carrying on like it was going to be lint the next day.   This year was a merchant’s nightmare.  The place never brought the numbers of party goers it did last year.

My thoughts about the low turnout:  I believe that due to the way we were treated last year (tackled to the ground by Dallas police officers and falsely arrested, ticketed for using a small, hand-held amplifier), God cursed that area.  Understand this, the hari krishnas were allowed to use 2 huge amplifiers while they hopped around like fools.  The establisments used large PA systems to crank up and spew forth wicked music broadcasting the worldly doctrines of man.  Our small amp could not even be heard across the street. 

So by the end of our night there at the West End in Dallas, we had nothing but praises for the many people we spoke to, and the many who heard our open air message.

Again I am playing catch up from the last two Thursdays at the truck stop (“the stop”).  Remember that I now have help from Jeff and David.  All contacts are not recorded by me.  Most of the time I just mention the ones I have talked to out there.   Too, I do not mention all of my contacts as there far too many. 

Last Thursday went well, I thought.  David was already talking to a trucker by the time I arrived at just before 7 p.m.  I waited for Jeff to make sure of our logistics.  The three of us in the last two outings have been able to cover just about 100 percent of “the stop.”  Because of our method of dividing the entire stop campus into thirds, we are better able to keep from overlapping one another. 

Diary part:  I talked to Gary and older gentlman, kind in spirit.  I know if anyone would meet with him their heart, like mine, would go out to him.  I wonder how a man could go through life without knowing the basics about the Scriptures.  Gary knew very little and nothing at all about the Gospel.

In short I explained the Gospel fully to him and bid him farewell. 

Ronnie, was a man who thought he knew the Gospel.  His explanation of it proved to me that he was far from the true knowledge of it.  Sure there are people out there who claim as long as you feel that God is in your heart then you must be saved.  This was the case with Ronnie.  Holding onto a hope in a feeling is how he explained his “gospel”.  His gospel was a feeling, faith in a feeling.  My friends, feelings change like the wind.  Whose feeling can you say counts for eternity?  God is not a feeling.  He is Jesus Christ in the flesh.  Jesus Christ who created feelings never said in the Scriptures to trust in them.  He said to trust in Him alone.

God's Creation

For God alone my soul waits in silence:  from Him comes my salvation.

He only is my Rock and my Salvation, my Defense and my Fortress.

 I shall not be greatly moved.

…My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him;

 for my hope and expectation are from Him.  He only is my Rock and my Salvation;

He is my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be moved.

Psalm 62:1-2, 5-6

The above Psalm  is not a feeling.  Oh, it generates plenty of feelings but, the feelings are not telling us anything.  God is doing the talking, not the feelings.  Trust in Him alone.

I was thinking about the phrase “caught in the act”.  It is a phrase that everyone has heard. It is a phrase that is always used with negative implications.  I began thinking about who this could be linked to with spiritual significance.  As I reflected on this, the picture that came to mind was of those who proclaim Christianity, yet are sorely lacking in knowledge of who the “I Am” truly is.  When the day comes to “cash in,” or to “give account,”  there will be people who will find out that they have made the greatest egregious error of their entire life. The “cash in” will turn into the realization of the utter sin-debt they owe to Christ. A debt so vast that it will take eternity to repay. These people will be caught in the act of playing Christian, playing church, playing God. Caught in the act will net them eternity with the satan who is the god of their church and their Christianity.

Genesis 19:24, 25

This past weekend brought my attention, not only to those that are false converts, but also to the sodomites who claim Christ for themselves.  They take Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible and twist them all around to make “a god of their own choosing.”  On Sunday Jon Speed and I took off to the LGBT parade. LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual. Those terms are all a perversion from the normal perversion of “normal” sinners. Whatever normal is, it is not any of those four terms.
We met up with other believers who love to witness, and some that like to hold up signs. I do not care for the use of signs unless you have to be in a place where you would not allowed to speak with anyone. Only then will I hold up a sign, a very specific sign

We arrived at the parade site around 2:00 p.m., just in time to set up. We were within 50 feet of the Master of Ceremony.  We began open air preaching! One lady decided she was going to complain to the cops about ruining the parade. The cops came by, she complained, they told her we had the right to be there, and that they could not tell us to move.  Jon and I looked at each other and grinned.  I turned it up and open aired and Jon followed.  Sodomites across the street heard the message very clearly.  We joyfully did open air preaching throughout the entire parade. The individuals participating in the parade and on the floats stared in disbelief at us as though they could not believe what they were seeing and hearing (hearing for sure).
As I mentioned previously, these folks will be “caught in the act.”  They claim to attend church, they claim to have a relationship with God, and claim many other Christian things. In the end they will claim, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we…Matt. 7:22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
Matthew 7:23, “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you;

Jon and I spoke with man named Thomas, a church-going-sinner.  The church he attends is not a church that is Christ’s bride, pure and spotless, but is under Christ’s wrath.  It is a full tilt church of perversion.  Thomas was very cordial to us and listened to what we had to say. He learned he was a liar, thief and, what jolted him into reality was, that murder was pinned on him as well by our Lord.  Pray for Thomas.  Jon also had a conversation with the manager of a local hang out for sodomites on the parade route.  The manager claimed a lot of things, but in the end he was in the same position as the rich young man in the Bible. He needed to give up the things he wanted to keep. I think his name was TJ.  He needs a lot of prayer for his salvation.

Praise, honor and glory alone be to the Lord Almighty!  Going to the parade was worth pulling our ox out of the ditch on the Sabbath

A solid Preacher

The week of September on the 26^th and 27th was the Texas Revival Series II. It was hosted by the First Baptist Church of Justin, Texas.  The featured speakers  were Keith Daniel from Cape Town, South Africa, Mike Gendron from Dallas, Texas, Randall Easter from Briar, Texas, and Mack Thomlinson from Denton, Texas.

Due to the fact that the TRS conference was way out of town for Keith Daniel, he needed a place to stay.  As one of the main coordinators for the conference, Jon Speed sought a peaceful refuge for him to lodge.   To my extreme delight, Jon called me to ask if my family would put him up during the conference and provide him transportation. Whoa!  Here is Jon calling me to ask if we would keep one of the world’s most influential evangelists.  Keith Daniel, a man obviously chosen by God to speak for Him, whose uncompromising message has caused thousands to fall under the conviction of sin.  Keith Daniel in our home! Aaaaaaaa? Um, well, I had to think and pray about it for at least 2 seconds. Actually, I had to ask my wife if we had anything scheduled for that weekend.  I kept thinking whatever it is, cancel, cancel, cancel, oh please, cancel it!  Praise God, Jon asked us. We were blessed to have this opportunity.  Well, enough of the background for now.

Friday night, my gracious wife and I left home to pick Keith up at DFW airport.  His plane was due to arrive around 8 p.m . I dressed to welcome him Texas style–dressed in my cowboy boots and hat.  After all, the conference name is Texas Revival isn’t it?

We passed through the parking gate, and I gave the attendant a gospel tract.  He said he was a Coptic Christian.  A what? Leaving there, we arrived at the terminal and waited.  We finally saw people coming through the glass revolving door. Yep, it was the flight for which we had been waiting. After seeing almost everyone pass by we still had not seen Keith. Following a long pause we finally saw him bolting out of the corridor from the plane. He did not even get close to the revolving doors and abruptly veered to the right!  Uh oh! My wife looked at me, and I at her. At this point we could not get his attention.  He was behind some very thick security glass.  He quickly disappeared around a corner.

What do we do? I took off going the same way Keith had, but with no way of contacting him After walking a ways I turn back.  My wife had not seen him return, so we just waited at the glass. After about 6 minutes he reappeared. We waved to him and he went through the doors.  We greeted him with a hardy “howdy.”  Being the last person off the plane, he explained that he did not know which way to go. Come to think of it Keith is into evangelism, not airports. We got his bags and packed them into the Sierra (my cowboy vehicle) to head off to the sun that had already set.
We arrived at home, settled in and basically chatted for a few minutes before saying our goodnights.  The following morning, Keith made some tea with lots of milk in it, (why)? I guess it is like putting milk in coffee (why)? The world would be boring if it clicked around me.  Over my coffee and his tea, we chatted awhile until he excused himself to the room for prayer, study and more preparation.  We ate around 1:00 p.m. We enjoyed a meal that most people might look at and judge before they even taste.  Yet, almost everyone that has tasted and eaten this choice dish, called poppy seed chicken, made by my wife, has always dipped into second and third servings.  The taste is delightful!  Keith ate and loved the meal. I would like to say that maybe jin ust a tiny way my wife helped him preach the fire from God that he delivered that night by feeding his belly.
Keith’s time to speak was not until 6:30 p.m. From that morning to the very last minute to leave he was preparing for the sermon. At the last minute we took off for the church. He politely asked that we have no conversation on the way to the church.  He still needed time to think through the things he had to say that night.  I praise God he raises men up that I can truthfully say feel that “I fall way short of the mark.”  Keith’s entire sermon was nothing but the Scripture memorized in a way to bring out a meaty message. Did you catch what I said? The entire sermon was nothing but memorized Scripture!!!  Over 100 memorized verses!
After the meeting was dismissed, there were many people that wanted to speak to him. He was very kind and gracious to answer questions and pray with people. The first night came and went without fuss.  The next day, Sunday, would be a decisive blow to a church body that has not known preaching from the likes of Keith Daniel. We had some light dinner and chatted more and bid our goodnights.
Sunday morning came quickly for all of us. My wife and youngest son attended our home church, and I took Keith to the main Sunday morning service at Justin Baptist.  I think we arrived at about 10:15.  Keith likes to stay in the back until they are ready for him. He loves the great hymns of old yet, not with the addition of drums. The plain sound of a voice is what he enjoys.  The sermon he brought forth was of the same material, but not the same message. More of the Scripture was memorized for the Sunday morning sermon.  Keith has a voice that has the sound of authority. When you put the authority of the Word with Keith’s thundering voice and the amount of preparation and prayer he devotes to one sermon, what you get is a congregation that will be divided instantly.  JBC was not impressed.  JBC enjoys the watered down gospel.  They proved it by how many came back to hear Keith for the evening service. From a full gymnasium/”worship center of 300 plus people to maybe 100 that night. It was even less than the 100 because most of the people that came back that evening did not even attend that church. I know there are Christians attending JBC, but have you ever heard of the narrow gate?
Keith preached his heart out to just a few of us that night with the same results.  Many people desired to speak and pray with him after the message. Even though Keith is in his 60’s many young adults follow what he is doing and pray for his ministry continually. About an hour after the service we left the church and officially closed down the Texas Revival Series II Conference. It was well attended by outsiders, (those that don’t attend JBC), with impressions that will last a lifetime.
We had one last dinner with Keith and the Speed family. The night of fellowship was soothing to me. How grateful I was to be able, by the hand of God, to have friends over for food and fellowship.  I was glad that Jon finally had some time with Keith.  You see, Keith had a monumental impact on Jon’s life which, of course, spread out to his wife and children.
Keith had to leave Monday morning.  Jon picked him up to take him to the airport, and I had to go to my mundane job wishing that one day I could work full-time in ministry.
Things for memories sake: Keith said that any desert is called “pudding” in Cape Town.  Saturday morning I went to get my Bible from the counter to read, and it was not there. I asked my wife where it might be.  She had no clue.  I reluctantly pulled out a KJV to read with my coffee. A little later Keith came out in his bathrobe with my Bible. I said, “Oh, you solved the mystery of my Bible.”  He responded in his British accent, “Oh sorry for that. I wanted to look at what these Bibles had in them.”  It was my MacArthur Bible he was holding. I told him it was okay and that I pulled out my KJV to read.  Keith remarked, “Isn’t that good, my brother.  My trip here wasn’t wasted if I could say I had a part in getting you back to the King James Bible!”
Keith will not commit to Reformed theology or Aminian theology.  I say he is actually more Reformed. He will preach a reformed message, but only refers to men in the “Weslyan camp to make a point. His message is reformed, but his references are Weslyan. Does that make sense?  I was treated to his humorous side when I found out that his next stop was in Springfield, Missouri.  I told him he would like it in Springfield because there were a lot of Weslyans. “They like drums”.  He smiled and said it must be a good city.
Again, I thank my Lord for allowing me a peek into a no compromising life of the evangelist Keith Daniel. I didn’t get any pictures of him and my family, but his memory is etched on my mind.  We were blessed!

Jennifer Daniel, Keith’s wife has published a book of her poetry “Just a Whisper”.  I will blog some of her poetry soon.  Order her book through Godly books

The first post after leaving blogger.  This will be pure experimentation at first.  Have patience as I try to understand this powerful new (for me) way of blogging. 

This is a site about subjects pertaining to Christ.  More specifically over many other things this site will feature adventures in street witnessing.  There are many to share that havn’t been, and many I will import from blogger.  Don’t know how they will be formatted once they arrive here.  Hang in there all my 10′s and 10′s of readers.