A ONE MAN CRU
March 17, 2014, Fresno State University,
As soon as I arrived on campus Jacob, from CRU, warmly greeted me and asked, "Do you remember me from last year?" It is unusual for us for members of this evangelical organization to be happy that we are on campus. He reminded me that CRU had a major outreach during the time I was on campus last year.
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"Come now, let's reason together."
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Cindy started the meeting and preached hard for thirty minutes while the flow of traffic was sparse. I usually wait until a class break before I start preaching. Gradually, students gathered at a distance but did not interact. When the classes passed at 11:50, more gathered. However, at noon gals from the women's studies department presented a play. We decided to stop until they were done. About half of the play was in Spanish. So we did not get much out of it which was just as well because a female began by talking about her vagina. Then others talked about the vanity of being young and shapely because most women eventually get fat and lose their figure.
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Bro. Jed challenged the professing Christians to read the Bible.
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After the play was finished I started preaching and gathered about 10-12 students, which were inquisitive and had an open attitude. Two girls professed to be Christians. Eventually, I turned the meeting to Cindy and she was able to gather an audience of close to one hundred. One fellow had a duck call with him and started blowing it. He was good at making different sounds. He was surprised when Cindy reached into her purse and started blowing Uncle Si's duck call.
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Islam was an issue today. Bro. Jed asked a Muslim, "What is it about the teachings of Mohammed that are better than the teachings of Jesus?"
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Cindy turned a crowd of about 75 over to me. The students generally behaved themselves except for a black guy who kept interrupting. He was a nuisance. Several times he asked me if I loved him. I finally answered, "In a way." Although he was bothersome he was not hostile. About 3 PM I changed from preaching mode, sat in my chair and said, "Come now, let us reason together." This move calmed the students; however, a good number left but I had good dialogue with the remaining ones.
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Bro. Jed explained that our God, Jesus Christ is the suffering servant of Creation, and in contrast the God of Islam is a tyrant.
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I asked a Moslem, "Why do you prefer the teaching of Mohammad over the teachings of Jesus?" He answered, "That is how I was raised." I said, "I was also raised a Christian but spent years in unbelief." Then he said, "I have faith in Islam like you have faith in Christianity." I retorted, "But why? What is it about the teachings of Mohammed which are better than Jesus?" He had no answer so he threw the question back at me. I took him on, "Our God is a suffering servant of his creation. Your God is a tyrant." He did shake my hand before leaving.
I challenged a Christian girl to get busy since after being a Christian for four years she had not completed reading the Bible. When some of the students objected to my frequent references to Hell, Jacob boldly came to my defense. He said, "Brother Jed believes the Bible which teaches that unbelievers go to Hell. That is what he should be teaching."
At 3:50 I turned the meeting back to Cindy hoping that she would build a larger crowd during the break. It must have been bad timing because all that happened is that the students with whom I was talking left. We decided to shut down at 4 PM since we did not have an audience and there was little pedestrian traffic. Jacob took time to encourage us and say what a good job we had done. Jacob was our one man CRU, who helped make us have a successful day. When one Christian stands up to defend us, it can change the whole tenor of a crowd.
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"THEY HAVE THE STUDENTS' ATTENTION"
March 18, 2014, Fresno State
Yesterday, late in the afternoon an administrator asked us to register with the Student Activities office. Today, I picked up our signed permit as Sister Cindy started the preaching at 10:45. She drew a small audience which was sitting on a wall beside her, which furnished the opportunity to build a larger crowd. However, within 30 minutes an administrator politely asked us to relocate away from a student group, who had reserved the area. We complied; however, our audience did not follow so Cindy had to start all over without the benefit of a class break. Cindy is persistent and not easily discouraged. She soon drew another crowd, which was standing at a distance in front of the library. Cindy advises preachers not to be too anxious to get an audience or students will discern the preacher's anxiety and not stop. Cindy is the master at drawing a crowd, especially without the benefit of a provocative banner or sign. We sometimes use banners and signs and fully support those who use them all of the time.
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Jacob, the Christian student with CRU was witnessing on campus all week. He got names of six students who agreed to meet with him later and discuss the Gospel.
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A girl admitted to Cindy that she was clinically depressed and had been on anti-depressants since she was ten years old. Cindy referenced authors who have research showing that depression is not the result of a chemical imbalance. When I took my turn, I spent a significant amount of time explaining to this girl how she could overcome depression without drugs. I explained that just as we need basic things like food, clothing and shelter for our physical well-being, we need faith, hope and love for good mental health. She admitted that she had no hope beyond the grave. Without hope of life after death, there is no
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"Students, faith, hope and love are key ingredients for good mental health," Bro. Jed.
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reason to have hope in this short life. No wonder she was depressed. I advised her she had to start putting others first, especially God and the unfortunate. If she would focus on others, her own bad situation would fade into the background. She asked me to define love, which was evidence that she did not have love. How can one love if they do not know what it is? I explained that everyone has faith in something but for faith to be mentally beneficial one must put their faith on God. I explained a guilty conscience can result in depression. Since she denied having a guilty conscience, I warned her that she may have a seared conscience. I gave her many remedies for overcoming depression including listening to and singing uplifting songs. I sang for her, "This Little Light of Mine" and "The Joy of the Lord is my Strength." Cindy also suggested the girl go out buy some new clothes. Although this girl was not dressed badly, most students dress like slobs, which can be depressing. All the while students were listening to my exhortations with little objection to my practical advice. I suppose there were others in the crowd on anti-depressants; I may have been ministering to them more than the outspoken girl.
At one point a Finnish girl interrupted me claiming that she was a Satanist. I asked her to list the teachings of Satanism. As she listed them, I countered them one by one. She seemed to be listening to my answers. There is not much faith in Finland. She had likely never heard a Bible and reason centered preacher. Later Sister Pat had a long and productive conversation with the Satanist. It should be noted even though she calls herself a Satanist, she did not believe Satan is an actual being.
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Bro. Jed debated a female Satanist today and she listened intently.
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Jacob, the leader of Cru, was out again today. He was active in talking to individuals and small groups. Cindy overheard him defending us to a group saying, "At least they have students' attention; people are listening; what they do and say are necessary to gain the attention of this generation." Later Cindy heard one of the girls to whom Jacob had defended our message and methods saying the same thing to other who were opposing us. Several Christians encouraged both Cindy and me.
There was a break at 1:45 and Cindy turned her crowd over to me. However, most people started leaving. I suppose they were going to class. Some stayed around but they did not seem to be paying any attention. I had to be careful in my content since there was a child selling Girl Scout cookies in front of me. I stopped preaching around 2 PM and we left campus at 2:30. We were informed today that most of the traffic on this commuter campus is from 11AM to 1 PM.
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THE SAINTLY SIX
March 20, 2014, Fresno State
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Six high school seniors from Riverdale Christian Academy witnessed with us today at Fresno State.
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In the morning I was the speaker at the chapel service of the Christian Academy established by my host church. I spoke from Proverbs 4:7, "Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore, get wisdom and with all thy getting get understanding also." Cindy and Sister Pat both testified. Scores of youth answered the altar call asking for the wisdom of God. It was refreshing to see the girls in uniformed skirts and the boys wearing white shirts and ties, ranging from first grade through senior high. Public school pupils are usually slobs and their teachers are not much better. We pledged allegiance to the American, Christian flag and to the Bible. I reflected that as much as I loved my schools growing up, I was essentially raised in a heathen academic environment. Still, I am thankful for all my teachers, some of whom were Christians.
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Bro. Jed spoke on wisdom in the Wednesday chapel service. Get wisdom!
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We got to campus in time for the noon break and Cindy managed to gain the attention of about 80. Six senior girls from the Academy joined us. They stood out with their hair flowing below their waists and uniform skirts. Someone asked, "Are these your daughters?" One of the girls testified to God's saving grace in her life and proudly named their school. Before the afternoon was finished the girls were surrounded by the college students asking them questions. One boisterous female with a male's voice (We all concluded she was demon possessed) verbally attacked one of the Christian girls. The foul female was so wicked that the students were supportive of the Christian girl, who calmly and lovingly responded to the possessed female.
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Riverdale student explains her faith in Christ.
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We finished the day at 3:15 since we had a church meeting in the evening. Shortly before we left, Ben introduced himself asking if I remembered him. He said, "Because of your ministry last year I experienced a renewal of my faith. I was a cursing backslider. When I saw your boldness, I was provoked to get right with God. I am now a youth pastor in my church and preparing to become a full-time pastor. You made the difference. Don't be discouraged; keep up the good work."
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Talking about God's saving grace!
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In the evening church service Cindy introduced the girls from the Academy as the "Saintly Six." They testified concerning their ministry on campus. I taught from 1 John 3. Once again scores of youth and some adults filled the altars at my call to holiness.
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What would our nation be like if the public schools had chapel services?
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There is joy in knowing and loving the Lord Jesus!
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Pastors, Rev. and Mrs. Charles Spencer are blessed to have all their five children plus a multitude of grandchildren and great-grandchildren serving God in their church.
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Riverdale students pledging to obey God's Word.
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CULTURAL SHOCK
March 21, 2014, Fresno State
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Duck call competition!
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When Cindy was preaching, the guy with the duck call returned to attempt to counter the preaching with his noise.
He continuously blew his duck call while Cindy preached. Cindy blew back with Uncle Si's call, which made for a bizarre and humorous encounter
At one point he was leaving and Cindy called him back, "Hey, why are you leaving I want to talk to you."
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Later Sis. Cindy and Sis. Pat had a fruitful one-on-one with the duck call student who admitted that he had been looking for our return all year!
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At the time I wondered why Cindy called him back; I was glad to get rid of him. However, Cindy ended up connecting with him. Later in a private conversation with Cindy, he admitted, "I have been waiting all year for you and Brother Jed to return so I could heckle you with my duck call. I was so surprised when you pulled out your duck call the other day. I had to laugh. I have been telling everyone how you commanded sinners with your duck call."
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"This is culture shock!" Pastor Chuck.
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He taught Cindy how to blow her duck call; we had been using the wrong end. Cindy encouraged him to read Phil Robertson's autobiography, "Happy, Happy, Happy."
We started again today at 10:45; Cindy quickly gathered an audience of 75; however by 1 PM Sister Pat was only speaking to an attentive group of ten. It looked like things would die out by 2 PM, which was OK because I wanted to prepare for speaking in a church meeting tonight. At 1:30 Cindy got a call that the students from the Riverdale Christian Academy were on their way. So at 1:45 Cindy jumped up to catch the passing classes break so we would have a larger audience when the Academy youth arrived. She stopped many college students in their tracks.
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Sis. Twila, a teacher at the Academy, gave a bold testimony in spite of the rude heckler on the right.
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The Academy students on their arrival got involved in witnessing. One of the Academy girls witnessed to a second cousin, who had been heckling us all day. She had only seen him occasionally over the years and they only briefly greeted one another but they had never had a conversation. The heckler tried to convince his cousin and her friend that we had the wrong approach and were turning people off. After almost an hour long conversation the Christian girl said, "Look, you and I have never before had a conversation all of our lives. I have been talking to you for an hour about the gospel. If it wasn't for Brother Jed, this conversation would never have taken place and we would have merely greeted one another as we have always done in the past."
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Another teacher had a long conversation about the Gospel with her cousin, a Fresno student.
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Chuck, the youngest son of the Pastor, who is a teacher at the Academy, said to me, "This is cultural shock for me." His life centers on the church and the Christian Academy in a small rural town, which is isolated from much of the bad cultural influences of our day. He admitted that bringing the students to the University was good for them. It was even better for the college students, who had the opportunity to hear several from the Academy boldly and unashamedly declare their faith in Jesus Christ.
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Witnessing at Fresno State was a good experience for the Riverdale students.
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At 3:30 an English professor brought his class out to listen. The professor led the questioning asking me, "What is the line between free speech and hate speech?" He connected rebuking sexual immorality with hate speech. I countered, "We can still speak out strongly against lying, stealing, cheating, pride, selfishness, etc. without being accused of being hateful. However, sex outside of marriage has become taboo to reprove in contemporary society. The fact is we should hate all expressions of sin." He countered, "You should do it in a way not to make people feel bad." I replied, "I am trying to prick their conscience and make them feel guilty. The last of my concerns is that I make them feel bad. They should feel bad because they are bad."
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An English professor brought his class out and he debated Bro. Jed for about an hour.
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Jacob reported that this week he has gotten six phone numbers from students to whom we have preached to do follow up work.
We left campus at 4:30. I taught on God's Conditional Love in the evening church service speaking from passages in John 14 and 15.
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It is amazing what God will use to capture the attention of careless sinners.
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Taking pictures to show friends and family. Sometimes when we go inside we overhear students quoting us to their friends. The are unknowingly spreading the Truth.
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CREATION TESTIFIES OF THE CREATOR
March 22, 2014, Fresno State University
Our host pastor offered to take us to Yosemite National Park today. In all of our travels I do not remember taking a day off for sight-seeing. I decided I could not start now. However, since it was Friday on a commuter campus, we decided we would start and stop earlier than usual so we could both preach and go to Yosemite.
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Casual Friday: Sis. Cindy in "You Deserve Hell" t-shirts.
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Cindy drew a crowd at the 10:45 break; it wasn't long until three policemen arrived to observe the scene. Evidently, they have been getting a lot of complaints about our preaching; nevertheless, we preached without their interfering with our ministry to the students.
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"Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, students."
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As Cindy was preaching to an audience of about 25, Sister Pat was witnessing to a group of 12 on the sidelines. Jacob told Sister Pat, "Last year I initially opposed you; however, I soon realized that you were fighting the devil. How could I side with the devil?" Indeed, according to 1 John 3:5, 8, Christ was manifested to take away our sins and destroy the works of the devil. Yet, everyday professing Christians defend sin in the name of the Lord and side with the devil, who brought sin into the universe. Then he wreaked havoc in the Garden of Eden by tempting Adam and Eve.
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Bro. Jed setting the feminists straight.
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Cindy turned the meeting over to me around noon. I addressed the responsibilities of men and women, especially husbands and wives. There were several contentious feminists in the audience. I explained that God is a necessary truth. I had a good session with about 20 until I called upon Sister Pat at 1 PM. Within 20 minutes the crowd was cut in half. I decided we had had a good two and one-half hours and there did not seem to be a lot of students around to pick up another crowd. Our host Pastor arrived to take us to Yosemite; we had an inspiring time seeing the giant sequoias and the El Capitan and the water fall. We saw God all around us as we also had a good time of fellowship.
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Sis. Pat sharing the scriptures with her sideline group.
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"Are you a Christian?" Sister Pat asks this question to everyone! Whether they answer yes or no she will speak a word of truth to their hearts.
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Professor said that we should not be interfering in the students' personal lives.
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Great Northwest Mission
and S. California
May 4th Praise Chapel, Boise, ID.
May 5-9, Boise State University
May 11, Pastor Mike Wiley, Portland, OR,
May 12, Portland State University
May 14-16, University of Oregon
May 18, Gresham Family Worship Center, Gresham, OR
May 19, UCLA
May 20-22, UC Santa Barbara
May 23 Stanford University
May 25 Praise Chapel, Yuba City,
May 27-30, UC Davis
June 2-6 UC campuses in Southern California
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Contact Us
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573-999-0347
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CMUSA
PO Box 3845
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47803
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