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Preachers of All Ages – Maryland @ tOSU Outreach

October 9, 2017 by Michael Coughlin

The God we serve is infinitely amazing. He graciously gave us a wonderful day to minister the gospel of Jesus Christ before Ohio State trounced overcame a tough Maryland football team! Here is a photo of the men who joined me Saturday except for Mark Seward who had already left by the time the photo was taken.

We began our ministry at 1pm by singing a couple hymns together and then praying for our time. I really believe the corporate worship benefits each of us before (and after) the ministry time.

LtoR Kurtis Gould, Chase Vendley, Caleb Davenport, Joshua Richards, John Rataczak, Joe Conkle, Fred Triplett & Michael Coughlin

One of the neat things that God does here in Central Ohio is pull people together to this ministry from all ages and walks of life. On Saturday, Oct 7, 2017, we had a preacher in his teens, thirties, forties, fifties and sixties.

But what a joy it was to see so many people take turns preaching. One of my hopes is that for several hours there will never be a break from people hearing the preaching. With so many willing men, that’s a possibility!

Along with preaching, we handed out at least 1,000 tracts and held up a wooden cross

This day brought more vocal opposition than usual. A man came up to me as I was preaching and told me to preach about love, not sin. He said that’ll attract more people.

I cannot read another person’s heart, but his eyes and his spirit appeared haughty to me. It is impossible for me to say for sure, of course, but it was the impression I got. I told him to stick around and listen a little (because I do, in fact, preach the love of God demonstrated in the crucifixion of His Son), but he sorta patted me on the arm and said, “just preach love,” while smirking. I asked him if he was offering me correction, and he said yes, not seeing the irony in the encounter.

Caleb Davenport preaching.

Another piece of new of note is that someone from one of the other church groups came up to Fred and told him no one could get saved from reading our tract. Fred asked why not, and he told Fred, “It doesn’t contain the gospel.” Rather than confronting the man, we chose to continue our ministry. Nevertheless, if this man cannot see the gospel in our tract, we are left to wonder what he thinks the gospel is, which makes us fear for his soul! Imagine showing up at Buckeyes games week in and week out, peddling a message to people, suffering shame, and not yourself being born-again! Pray for this man that his eyes may be opened.

While I was preaching a young woman approached me and engaged me. It is important to know that I was preaching the righteousness of God found in Jesus Christ, the sinfulness of man, and the exclusivity of faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. This woman comes up to me and says, “All I hear is you’re [me] such a good person and we are not.”

What???  Is that really what she heard? Yet we are not surprise because the Word of God tells us

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
(1Co 2:14)

and

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
(1Co 1:18)

So we do not lose heart (2 Cor 4:1), but we continue! This same woman told me she wasn’t a bad person after I corrected her and told her we are all bad people, and then she proceeded to proclaim her own goodness (Prov 20:6). She told me she had never stolen or murdered anybody. I asked her if she’d ever hated anyone and she said she had not. So I asked her if she was pro-choice, and she replied yes.

Then I informed her that by being pro-choice she is approving of murder and is a murderer at heart. She immediately played the “what if someone was raped” card and tried to convince me that killing Hitler or Stalin when they were infants would have been a good thing. This is the irrationality of the godless worldview, nothing makes sense, so anything makes sense. She told me I had a blind faith and it was stupid to believe God talked to Abraham…then told me she was Jewish. I guess she meant that was her nationality? 🙂

John preaching with Joe standing by.

Eventually, I chose to just keep preaching instead of let her distract me from preaching any longer. Like I said earlier I want someone on the box at all times, and I didn’t feel like getting off to talk to her would have served the mission. But my favorite part of the whole encounter was when she said

You’re just one of those preachers who wants to say what you want to say, but you don’t want to listen to what anyone else has to say.

Since I was already on the defensive with her a little, I was getting ready to retort, but then I just said, “Exactly. Yes, that is exactly my goal here. I’m here to proclaim the truth today.”

For many people that sentiment will seem wrong, or, at the very least, impractical. But that is the nature of preaching, is it not? Are we to be ashamed of the method prescribed by God for spreading His Word because his enemies loathe it? Shall ambassadors for Christ be concerned with the opinions of those with whom we are sent to command to make peace with our King? God forbid! May the Lamb of God receive the reward for His suffering! I am actively recruiting people to join me for the Super Bowl in Minnesota, click here to see how you can help!

Kurtis preaching to the crowd!

Filed Under: Gospel, Open Air Preaching, Theology, Witnessing Tagged With: Bible, Christ, church, glory, God, Gospel, Grace, Holy, humility, Jesus, leadership, Open Air, people, preaching, pride

How to Protect Yourself from Deception

August 27, 2015 by Michael Coughlin

I preached this sermon this week at church. Here are the images which are referred to therein:

Picture1

Picture2

Picture3

Filed Under: Gospel, Love, Theology, Witnessing Tagged With: apologetics, Bible, Christ, church, Courageous, discipline, glory, God, Gospel, Grace, Holy, leadership, Mercy, pride, Righteous, sin

I am a “C”

February 19, 2015 by Michael Coughlin

Many folks will recognize the reference to the “camp song” in the title of this post. I am a “C”. I am a “C-H.” I am a “C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N.” And I have “C-H-R-I-S-T” in my “H-E-A-R-T” and I will “L-I-V-E E-T-E-R-N-A-L-L-Y”!

It’s catchy. If you don’t know the tune, click here to check it out.

More on that later.

Today I took the first of a much needed two day vacation. My children have a snow day, so it is family day at the Coughlin home. I sat with my eldest 3 children to do a devotional today. I wanted to communicate to them why we have discipline for our youngest, Wesley who is only 1. Often I find my older children giving in to his mildly tyrannical demands, a trend I don’t want to see continue. I also don’t want my older kids who are just trying to help and who are genuinely trying to love their little brother to be discouraged.

So I turned them to 5 verses, studied in the following order.
Proverbs 13:24;22:15;29:1523:13-14
prov1324
In this verse we noticed the stark contrast between parents who are loving (provide discipline) and haters (neglect discipline).

prov2215
 

 
In this verse, we saw the nature of children (foolish) and the remedy (discipline).
 

 
prov2915
Here we saw the use of the rod bringing the opposite of the innate foolishness of a child, to the child. We also see the unfortunate effect of a foolish child. Shame to Mom! May I confess my own personal sin in that area for which Jesus (and my Mom) have graciously forgiven me.
 

 

prov2313-14
Finally, we saw this wonderful promise that proper discipline will not harm the child, but rather, it will provide him/her with life. It is this type of discipline which loving parents apply to their children which allows children to see the personal promise which is offered when they obey their parents. (Exodus 20:12). We saw how parents and children work together to eliminate foolishness from the child’s heart God’s way.

So I asked my children, what is the proper heart response to parents who are trying to discipline according to the nurture and admonition of God? They responded that it should make them feel good; they realized there should be an acknowledgement that they are inherently foolish in their hearts and that they should actually crave discipline…so that they may reach the point where they are no longer fools.

Any child who claims to be a Christian ought to be challenged to believe these Scriptures and respond as if they really believed them which would look like gratitude, affection toward parents and ultimately, obedience.

Then I thought of this song referenced earlier and I asked my children to each write a new song with the truths they learned. I gave them a starting point, here are the results to the tune of “I am a ‘C.'” Say capital letters individually, not as words.

Bailey – 14
I am a C, I am a CH, I am a CHILD.
and I am FOOLISH in my HEART and if I am not disciplined I will DIE!

Alexandra – 10
I am a C, I am a CH. I am a CHILD.
and I have FOOLISHNESS in my HEART and only DISCIPLINE and CHRIST can SAVE me!

Nicholas – 12
I am a C, I am a CH, I am a CHILD.
and I have FOOLISHNESS in my HEART and I will need DISCIPLINE!

Special thanks to LOGOS Bible software for the cool verse images and Daniel J. Phillips and his book God’s Wisdom in Proverbs.

Filed Under: Gospel, Just me, Love, Theology Tagged With: attributes of God, Christ, church, Forgiveness, Holy, humility, leadership, logic, Love, people, power, pride, sin

How to be Good

January 18, 2015 by Michael Coughlin

Be content with God’s goodness toward you and be thankful for the abundance as it is not owed to you.

1 Timothy 6:6–8 (NASB95)
6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.
7 For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.
8 If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

Goodness is that quality in us which the Holy Spirit produces whereby we desire moral purity and to give charity toward the brethren and the heathen; it is the heart attitude by which our outward behaviors must be judged.

Are you patient or kind or peaceful because you are Good? Or do you try to do those other things to make yourself Good? Your legitimate kindness toward others, your self-control, your gentleness and humility are to be tempered by your Goodness: your moral uprightness as defined by God’s statutes revealed in His Word.

Proverbs 3:27 implies that God, who is always good and knows our need before we do, may seemingly withhold some good thing from us, like a wife or a husband, a job, a position at work or the church. He may let you have a dead child or spouse. He may not save family members as quickly as you’d like, but He is always good and thus, does not withhold good things from them to whom they are due. Therefore, the goodness you expect is either not due to you or it is not what is good for you at that time in His infinite and perfect wisdom.

There’s a preview of today’s Sunday School lesson I’ll teach at Berean Baptist Church where my views may or may not reflect the views of the church :).

Filed Under: Gospel, Love, Theology Tagged With: attributes of God, God, Gospel, Grace, humility, leadership, Love, preaching, Righteous, Scripture, self-control, sin

OSU vs Indiana Outreach Report

November 23, 2014 by Michael Coughlin

Greetings! On Saturday, November 22, 2014, Fred Triplett and I rode down to Ohio Stadium together to meet newly ordained apostle evangelist, Joe Conkle.

Joe brought 3 men with him who were all eager to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Kelly, Johan and David.

Here's the gang from the Ohio State vs Indiana game today. Thousands heard the Word and received tracts in Columbus! pic.twitter.com/GAUnXqSmJ4

— Michael A. Coughlin (@ABereanOne) November 23, 2014

We ministered for about 2 hours, from the end of the 3rd quarter to when the crowds died down at Lane and Olentangy River Road. I preached the gospel for about an hour, and thousands of people heard the Word.

While preaching, I read from 1 John 4, Colossians 1, Romans 1 and Psalm 34. As a point of conviction and rebuke to you, dear reader, did you spend that much time in God’s Word yesterday? There are days I have not, to my shame!

I don’t know how many tracts were distributed, probably a thousand or more. I had my share of hecklers and yellers. I did my best to come back to them with winsome, rational comments. Hopefully, someone saw the fault in the anti-God worldview. One guy yelled “Shutup” to me. I replied by asking “Why don’t you?” Afterward, I wondered if it came across as rude or “seventh-gradey,” but I meant it as a serious inquiry into his logic. He didn’t respond.

God protected us from inclement weather and evildoers. That corner is covered in Police directing traffic which makes me feel very safe. After preaching for half an hour, I caught a glimpse of one of Columbus’ finest who was on the corner closest to us. He is a man I have known for years as he is a Christian and the brother of one of my best friends.

We brought a box of 20 Bibles and only gave away 1 of them. This is one area where I want to do better. I ought to be more prepared and have a sign that says “FREE BIBLES.” I suppose if people don’t know we have them, they aren’t going to just ask for a Bible. What was interesting is that while preaching, I mentioned that we had Bibles to give away. Shortly after, a man who overheard me, named Chris, approached asking for a Bible. I shut down the microphone for a few minutes and listened to him tell me about his life, and I was able to share the gospel with him.

Dear Christian, will you please pray for Chris? He’s engaged and has 2 daughters. His appearance was humble, but only God sees the heart.

On a side note, for those of you who don’t think open air preaching “works,” I’ll answer a fool according to his folly and point out that a man heard the gospel one on one and received a copy of God’s Word because he heard a preacher with a microphone mention that he could receive a free Bible.

There was one other instance to note: A drunk man was seemingly mesmerized by the preaching, (once in a while you catch someone who is CLEARLY listening and engrossed in the preaching). His friend kept trying to get him to move on, but he remained focused on me. I asked him, “Do you want forgiveness?” And he nodded in the affirmative. His friend urged him on, but he heard the message. Maybe God will use it to convert him!

May you bless God for his graciousness to me. Five men showed up to minster the gospel with me and without any conflict deferred to me as the leader and authority in the group. It is a responsibility I accept as one which was foreordained by God. I only hope that I will humbly serve, even those who submit to me, as my Lord Jesus did. May God be glorified because He is worthy and His Word was exalted and the name of Jesus was magnified.

Special thanks to Sports Fan Outreach International who encourages us, inspires us and prays for us as we labor to the crowds in Ohio.

P.S. Midway through my preaching, a couple of young ladies stood about 20 feet in front of me and held up a camera phone. I assumed they were recording me (for what purpose, I have no idea). Am I vain that I sucked in my stomach? Maybe that’s a sign I need to be more disciplined! 🙂

Filed Under: Gospel, Love, Open Air Preaching, Prayer, Witnessing Tagged With: attributes of God, Bible, Christ, Forgiveness, Gospel, humility, Jesus, leadership, logic, Love, Mercy, Open Air, people, power, prayer, preaching, pride, Righteous, savior, Scripture, sin

Prayer, God’s Sovereignty & Praying in the Name of Jesus

December 28, 2013 by Michael Coughlin

Listen to the conclusion of the teaching on witchcraft in regard to “the prayer of Jabez.”

Some questions to consider when reviewing the disciple’s prayer:

1. Is it okay to repeat yourself in your prayers?

2. Is it okay to pray in public? Can we pray with others?

3. Why pray if God is sovereign?

4. What does it mean to pray in the name of Jesus? Is a prayer not a prayer if I forget to say “in Jesus’ name?”

Listen for biblical answers to these good questions which genuine Christians can have!

Scripture references includes Isaiah 46:6-10; Daniel 9; Matthew 6:5-10; 1 Chronicles 4:10; John 14:13

Filed Under: Love, Prayer, Theology Tagged With: Christ, church, Forgiveness, Grace, Jesus, Joy, leadership, Love, Mercy, prayer, preaching, Scripture, self-control, sin, witchcraft

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