2ND post for the day - Couldn't help it.

SO many people ask me questions or insinuate questions like
"Where do Calvinism and evangelism meet?"
"If God has decided already who will be saved, why do evangelism?"

One main point that I should make is that the modern mission movement started by God-loving Calvinist-doctrine-loving people.
Surely, I'm still working out how prayer fits in, but I do know that God has ordained the end as well as the means to that end.


Acts 18:9b "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people."

My mentor and her husband love the Lord unlike anyone I've ever met. Their kindness and humility towards the friend, the visitor and the stranger is the most amazing thing to behold.
They are trusting the Lord who said that HE would be with them, and they believe at God has many people in Minneapolis who belong to God. I call them closet Calvinists......because they preach the bible and the Sovereignty of God straight from the word beautifully.

I read this recent update from about their latest ventures and....well, tried not to cry too much at work.........
Bit o'background:
Due to the firmness of the grip on the heart of James Mullen, the family started their missionary work prior to raising enough support even to make their mortgage payment.....talk about faith.....but wait, it gets better.
Below I retyped one of the articles from a recent missions update........yep, the one that made me cry. Good luck.

IT MUST BE GOD
Armed with fliers declaring that "Satan wants you to be ignorant; God wants you to know Him in TRUTH" James and a group from our church took to the streets of our neighborhood in north Minneapolis Thursday evening, 7/19 at 6:15pm. The purpose was to invite people to a service at the church that would begin at 7pm. Spontaneity marks the lives of many who believe here.

That was the inaugural meeting of "The Cross and the Community" an evangelistic outreach partnership between our church, Family Baptist (Girard Ave N and 22nd Ave)
and Christ Satisfies Ministries. This new ministry opportunity aims to reach those in our community who are out and about and bring them into the church for a time of hearing the truth of God's word, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and enjoying fellowship and food. James and Pastor Lee will share preaching responsibilities with the focus being various aspects of Christ's work on the cross.

Unaware of how this approach would be received by people, we began to pray that the Lord would bless the meeting and bring at least 10 people from the community. We asked friends and ministry partners around the country to pray and appealed to the body at our church to be on their knees.

Just after 7pm with many fliers distributed and most of those from the church who had done the inviting returned and ready to hear the word, the worship time began and James headed up to the front of the sanctuary ready to preach about Jesus, the suffering Servant, prophesied about in Is 53. As he took the podium there were a couple of guests from the community along with those from the church, seemingly not the 10 neighborhood people for which we had hoped. Beginning to get discouraged, he bowed his head in prayer reminding himself that this was God's show and not his own and trusting the Lord could and would see fit to use His Word preached to convict and rescue sinners whether 1 or 100 were present. Upon looking up after his opening prayer, James was amazed to see many, many more people from the community filling in the seats in front of him!
Even some of the gang members/drug dealers that he ministers to throughout the week and whom he invited were sitting there in the church. "The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made." Ps 145:33b
Between 15-20 people from the community were present along with our brothers and sisters for a total of about 40. Praise the LORD!

When the service was finished, the group retired to the gym for pizza. Many of our neighbors and people from the streets were able to talk with believers and ask serious questions about Jesus, sin, death and their own future. A teenage mom who was there approached James with a broken and humble frame asking what she should read from the Bible. Not only was he able to direct her to the Gospel of John, but he was also able to point her to an older woman in the church who walked this young girl through the scriptures sharing details about the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. Before the evening was over, she came back to James with tears rolling down her cheeks to share that she had repented of her sins and received the Lord Jesus. God is so good, so gracious and kind. A young man from the streets who is pretty hard and tough talked with James afterwards and said that he would be back the following week.

With great rejoicing Jame, our pastor and all involved were blessed to be vessels of Truth in the lives of some of our neighbors in north Minneapolis.

This past Thursday, 7/26, at the second meeting of "The Cross and the Community" the Lord once again demonstrated His Love for men through the gospel invitation. Again, we prayed for many to attend the service and enlisted the prayers of others to that same end. With fliers in hand a group of brothers ans sisters took to the streets once more on foot and with vehicles.
James, along with another man and his wife drove one of the church's large vans up and down and in and out of the nearby streets handing out fliers, offering rides and inviting people young and old back to Family Baptist to hear about Jesus.

Near Lowry and Lyndale a woman, perhaps in her fifties, said that she would attend with some of her grand kids and asked James to come back and pick them up. When he returned she, a girl around 11 and several young children piled into the van. Her daughter, the kids' mom, didn't make it in time for the van ride but later showed up at the church having taken the bus to get there!! The group then went off to one of the nearby streets to a house where many young men and women constantly hang out. Several hopped in and a full van headed back to the church.
This time the Lord blessed upfront, and many from the neighborhood were there at the start of the worship time. As the upbeat strains of the acoustic guitar launched into "Jesus, My Only Hope." voices rang out in song to the King. "Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker" Ps 95:6

James had the privilege of preaching again, this time on the doctrine of justification - our being acquitted and declared innocent in God's sight in addition to our being declared perfectly righteous - all through the sacrifice and work of Jesus Christ, the Father's gracious, indescribable gift to all who trust and believe. Hallelujah!
An amazing 56 people from the community who had no affiliation with the church were present!!
The time following the service was sweet as brothers and sisters were again able to minister Christ's love and the truth of God's word to our neighbors. The Lord was working. One homeless man who was pretty low in his circumstances expressed a great desire for change and intently listened with a tear stained cheek as a brother shared about the New Hope Center, a Christian-based recovery program which has a very strong biblical structure. Pray that he would submit to the Lord as his Savior and seek to put on a new life.

A teenage girl who rode along in the van with James and his group expressed a clear understanding of what had been taught. Pray that the Lord would move that knowledge beyond her intellect and into a saving knowledge and faith by the power of the Holy Spirit.