Steven Losee - Christian Scribe

    It was in the mid-seventies.  I was part of a church that was doing an evangelistic outreach in the back room of a caterer (the same one that had done my wife's wedding shower).  It was the second or third night when a young unsaved man wandered in from the front room.  He had a lit cigarette and a baseball cap on.  I was across the room so I couldn't speak to him, but I was delighted to see him.       Someone who WAS close to him was a local pastor who had joined us for the outreach.  He invited the young man to join us, and our visitor stepped a few paces in.  Then it happened.     First the pastor insisted he put his cigarette out.  He did, reluctantly.  But then the pastor also insisted he remove his hat.  That was too much for our visitor.  He turned and left.       Thus, a soul was lost because of one man's pre-WWII mores.       I was frustrated and...

 REACHING OUT     In the Book of Acts, all the Gospel preaching is done outside the churches, in marketplaces and where sinners were found.  Inside the church meetings, they were taught, and everyone was able to share something from the Lord. This concept was lost over the centuries.  "Reaching the lost" was reduced to "Come to church" where the Gospel was preached to a largely saved congregation, who remained largely untaught.       When churches are challenged to reach out, very few respond effectively.  That's why we now have so many "para-church ministries", and I'm certainly not against them.  After all, they're doing what we've all be told to do.       I once overheard two people reminiscing about Sunday School.  I asked what they were taught.  "We memorized the names of the Books of the Bible", they said.       "That's it?" I said, hoping to hear more.     ...

       When Pilate said that (John 18: 38), he either didn't want to hear the answer or didn't care...or both.     Many years ago I wrote an evangelistic broadside tract with the title "I'll Believe What I Wanna Believe!"  The idea had been brewing in my mind ever since a teenager had said, "I don't want somebody to tell me what to believe.  I wanna believe what I wanna believe."       The basic message of that tract went something like this:     "A lot of people feel that way these days.     Perhaps you feel that way.     This kind of thinking helps us feel good about ourselves.  It helps us feel:     Strong     Intelligent     Independent     Courageous     Strong  and especially       Comfortable.     But there's a problem with that kind of feeling.  People who say that are actually saying, "I'm not really ...