Sinners Repent And Turn To God On The Streets Through Open Air Preaching!

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RECENT OUTREACHES TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY I joined up with Brother Jed Smock, his wife Cindy, and their friend Sister Pat for a few days of preaching in San Marcos and Austin Texas. Brother Jed has been preaching on campuses for 40 years and has been a great inspiration to me. Brother Jed had been kicked off the campus in San Marcos the day before I arrived and was working on getting that trespass warning removed. A student had made an unreasonable accusation and complain, saying that she felt “theatened” by what Brother Jed  was preaching. The year before the administration kicked us off campus for the noise of the crowd so I believed that they were simply capitalizing on this complaint to remove Brother Jed. When I showed up on campus the students already had two days of preaching from Brother Jed and his team. It wasn’t long before I had gathered a crowd. I always enjoy preaching on this campus because it is relatively easy to draw a large audience for the gospel. I uploaded about an hour video of my preaching to my OpenAirOutreach Youtube account. Two friends of mine also came out to join me on campus. Kyle is one of the leaders of a local Christian group on the UT San Antonio campus. He also leads open air outreaches on their campus. And Chris from East Texas also joined me. Chris first started watching some of my YouTube videos a little over a year ago and he now wants to go full time into campus ministry. It was great to see other brothers publicly standing up for Jesus. Brother Jed was successful in having the trespassing warning lifted by appealing to the Chief of Police. He joined us later in the day on campus. At the beginning of the day, due to the trespass warning, Bro Jed decided to go to UT Austin. While there, he said there was one person who had repented right there on the sidewalk after hearing the preaching! Praise the Lord! After preaching on campus in San Marcos we all went out to eat. Brother Jed offered to pay for the meals of the first five college students who wanted to join us. It made me think of Jesus who often ate with sinners. I thought more students might take Brother Jed up on the offer but only two came out. However, we had very good conversations with the two of them over dinner about the Lord.  UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN The University of Texas in Austin is the largest and most liberal campus in all of Texas. As you can see, the Secular Humanists (Atheists) came out and protested the preaching. They were giving out free condoms to encourage fornication. Many in our society today want sex – sex without marriage and without children, which is not how God designed us. Fornication is selfish, irresponsible, and unnatural. Secular society views children as the curse of sex which should be avoided through condoms and abortion, rather than viewing sex as the means through which married people were designed by God to reproduce. Sex is reduced to nothing more than a recreation completely detached from procreation. That a “Secular Humanists” group would go around passing out condoms just goes to show their hostility and enmity with God, as they are endorsing and encouraging fornication. The Secular Humanists had called some kind of local news to tell them about our presence at the campus and their counter protest. The woman with the news had interviewed the Humanists and then recorded Brother Jed preaching. I listened to the interview of the student and there was nothing of substance or intelligence in what he said. I am not sure where this video footage aired but I suspect it might have simply been campus news. Another camera that was out filming the outreaches belonged to a secular film student named Kevin from North Carolina. He was doing a 45 minute documentary on me called “Brother Jesse” for his thesis for school. He is also going to submit the documentary to various film festivals. I have watched the thesis version and am excited to see the film shown to secular audiences at film festivals. There were two perverts who came out, stripped off much of their clothing, and started dancing around us. I suppose that they are trying to hurt our cause with their mockery but in reality all they do is make themselves look foolish while drawing us a bigger audience. Some preachers may get offended or upset when things like this happens but I rejoice knowing that a larger crowd for the gospel will be the result. God can work all things for good. When I was preaching they circled around me and started dancing on my sign. At that point I cried, “Sexual harassment” and a Police Officer who had been monitoring the situation came and talked to the boys. After that they did not dance on my sign anymore. This crazy man with the mask has come out and heckled me the past couple years that I have preached in Austin. In the past he has worn other masks like that of an animal. He always has his shirt off and sometimes gets severely sun burned as a result. He also has brought a whip to whip himself. He is an odd fellow but is not really a “bad” heckler. He really only helps us in getting more attention. His verbal mockery is minimal so it is not disruptive. I have talked to him afterwards and am glad that he comes out every time because we are being a continual witness to Him. Throughout our outreaches on campus many students heard the word of God. We told them that their sin puts them in danger of hell, that they must repent of their sins, and that there is forgiveness through the atonement of Christ available to them. One girl came up to me afterwards and could hardly speak because of emotion. She had tears rolling down her face. When she did speak she said, “I just want you to know that if you didn’t reach anyone else today, you reached me.” She was very convicted of her sin and so we continued to minister to her. She ended up repenting and getting right with God! Praise the Lord! TYLER JR. COLLEGE I took a team out to Tyler Junior College for an outreach. A local pastor and some other brethren joined me. Some of them had seen open air preaching before but for some it was a first time. The students were relatively hostile. In the past ten years of open air preaching, I have dealt with many hostile crowds. But as of late I have sensed an increase in the extremity of their hatred for God. I noticed that even though my message was full of hope, mercy, forgiveness, and love the students still rejected, ridiculed, and hated my preaching. Ultimately if a person does not humbly acknowledge that they are a hell-deserving sinner, even the message of mercy will be insulting to them. A message of mercy implies that they deserve damnation. I certainly wish that more people in the crowd would humble themselves and turn to God but ultimately that is not my choice to make; the choice is theirs. All I can do is what God does, present the truth to their hearts and minds in the hopes that they will yield to it and be persuaded by it. There was one man with a motorcycle that insisted that I stop preaching and leave. When I continued to preach he started revving his engine. The noise was very loud. It was very hard to preach over and was hurting my ears. The Tyler Junior College and Tyler City Police that were on scene monitoring the situation did nothing about it. I went and complained to them that this guy was disturbing the peace. The campus Police said, “He has the right to start his motorcycle.”  I said, “He is not starting it. He is ripping it.” Again the Officer said, “He has the right to start his motorcycle.” I said, “Can I go get my bullhorn and preach with that?” They said, “There is a noise ordinance and we will measure your volume and ticket you if you violate it.” I said, “You guys really aren’t going to do anything about his disturbing the peace are you? You really are sin-loving God haters.” The Officer then proudly said, “YES WE ARE!” I couldn’t believe that this Tyler Junior College Police Officer publicly admitted that he hated God and was therefore discriminatory in his enforcement of the law. The outreach and the conversation with the Police were recorded on video and uploaded to my OpenAirOutreach Youtube account. The video was called, “COP ADMITS HATING GOD TO STREET PREACHER JESSE MORRELL.” I continued to preach over the loud noise of the motorcycle and eventually the man with the motorcycle left. Some student reporters came out with a video camera and asked me for an interview. They wanted to know who I was, what I was doing, why I was doing it, etc. I am not sure if they used the footage or not. And as much as the students said that they hated me and wanted me to leave, they continued to stay and circle around me for hours the whole time that I was preaching the gospel. TRIP TO CONNECTICUT The film student that I mentioned earlier, who joined us in San Marcos and Austin, also had me fly to Connecticut to capture some footage for the documentary he was making. He had already made a short 15 minute documentary for one of his classes but now was making a longer version for his thesis and film festivals. He wanted us to go to Connecticut to film locations that I had mentioned in my audio interview relating to my childhood, testimony, ministry, etc. We went to the house I lived in as a child, the prison where I was locked up as a young teenager, and the park bench where I first started open air preaching. While in Connecticut I was also interviewed by a Casting Producer who had contacted me about doing a Reality TV show on evangelism. The interview went well and they already had an agreement with a major network to do the show, but at the last minute the network pulled out. I was willing to do the show because God has given me a message that He wants me to preach to as many people as possible. I believe that video and media is a great way to get our message to the world and even though the show fell through, I am still more than content with utilizing Youtube. TRIP TO MICHIGAN Some very precious friends of mine in Michigan, the McKenzie’s, had me come up and join them on an outreach to Kalamazoo College. Once a year Kalamazoo College has a “Chrystal Ball” where students come and party dressed in drag. The event is a type of homosexual prom designed to support homosexuality and desensitize the students to sin. It promotes identity confusion and sexual perversion. Last year we preached outside of this event and I was very happy to return again this year to do it again! The administration has always seemed frustrated at our presence. They have called the Police on us multiple times in the past to try to have us removed. But while Kalamazoo is a private school, the streets that go through it are city property. I preached, “There is a reason that Barbie doesn’t come with Ken’s clothing.” And, “God created you male or female. Be the man or women that God designed you to be.” I preached to one Lesbian who was going to the Chrystal Ball and told her that I had some Christian friends that I knew who had come out of homosexuality. I encouraged her to repent of her sins. She said that they were living contrary to who they really were. I objected and said that is exactly what she is doing. God created her a woman and yet she wants to live and act like a man. Homosexuality, like any sin, is not human nature but human choice. And as a choice it is something that God can justly punish but also something that men are capable of repenting of. The crowds that came to the event of course mocked us and opposed us. We had many conversations throughout the night. One sinner came with a bottle filled with what smelled worse than urine and secretly dumped it on the shoes of one of our team members. Despite their hatred for God and us we continued to love them by calling them to repent of their sins and turn to God. During the day after the night time outreach to the Chrystal Ball, we preached the gospel again to the students. Two girls walked by and showed their opposition by holding hands, flaunting their lesbianism. When I rebuked them they said “Judge not.” I said, “The Bible tells us to judge righteously. I can assure you my judgment is righteous. So don’t judge my judgment.” Another girl said to us, “You can’t stop sinning.” She also said, “You are not supposed to judge.” I said, “Is judging a sin?” She said, “Yes.” I said, “Then I can’t stop judging. If a person can’t stop sinning and judging is a sin, then I can’t stop judging.” This was said sarcastically of course, but she got my point. Her thinking was inconsistent with itself. She said that we were supposed to love people. I said, “But if you can’t stop sinning, you cannot love people, because love is the opposite of sin.” She seemed to hesitantly agree. I find that many college students have not really thought through their worldview and Christians especially often lack coherency in their views. I preached to the students that the supernatural revelation of the Bible is in perfect accordance with the natural revelation that we have. Apart from the Bible, we know that God loves us. That we have an immune system shows that our Creator cares about our health. That a broken arm will naturally heal shows that our Creator cares about our well-being. And through our own conscience we know that selfishness is wrong and benevolence is right. Not only is homosexuality a sin which is contrary to our nature, but all sin is contrary to our human nature. You naturally feel bad about yourself when you know you’ve done wrong and you naturally feel good about yourself when you know you’ve done right. Your own nature condemns you if you sin or commends you if you do right. That God created us with a nature that is opposed to sin shows that our Creator did not design us for wickedness but for virtuous living. One man came out with a camera and interviewed me about the Chrystal Ball. He said that there was nothing wrong with a man wearing a dress since “it is just cotton.” I explained that it is not just cotton but has a meaning behind it. The drag of the Chrystal Ball is meant to show support for sexual perversion and it is a confusion of identity. He inferred that we were “hateful” and I responded that it is propaganda to assume anything anti-gay is hate. I do not oppose homosexuality because I hate those people but because I care about them. I said, “I don’t want them to die of Aids and go to hell.” One man came up to talk with us and said that morals were just a social construct. He said that people get their morals from society. I asked, “Where does society get morals from?” He said, “from people.” So people get their morals from society and society get its morals from people. I said that if morality did not transcend society, no society could be morally wrong. I said he could not condemn the witch hunts, inquisitions, crusades, cannibalism, or Nazism. He said that morality was relative. I asked him, “Is it always wrong to rape a woman?” The crowd responded, “Yes!” I said, “So morality is absolute?” The crowd said, “Yes!” I said, “Well, this guy disagrees with you.” After our conversation he said, “Well, I guess we just have a disagreement.” I said, “No, the problem is that you are wrong. You do not have a coherent system of thought. The reason you contend for morality being relative is simply because you want to live by your own standard and do not want to live by the standard of God.” I was also able to share my testimony with some girls who came up and spoke with us and then later preached my testimony for all to hear. The students were very respectful and listened. There were no real hecklers. Some of the students shook my hand and said that they respected me and saw that I had good motives even though they disagreed with me on some points. My friend Joey came out and preached with me. He is a young Christian and getting out to share the gospel I think will do him much good. It is when we share our faith and our faith is challenged that we develop strong convictions and are we challenged to study our faith thoroughly. The weather was very nice on this particular day so many students came and sat on the grass as we preached throughout the day. SHARING YOUR FAITH CONFERENCE Open Air Outreach hosted its first Sharing Your Faith Conference this year in Tyler Texas. The theme for the conference was “Theology Consistent With Evangelism,” designed to raise up evangelists that are sound in their doctrine. I lectured on: The Doctrine of Sin and how it relates to Evangelism, The Doctrine of Free Will and how it relates to Evangelism, The Doctrine of Regeneration and how it relates to Evangelism, The Doctrine of Atonement and how it relates to Evangelism, The Doctrine of Holiness and how it relates to Evangelism, The Doctrine of Perseverance and how it relates to Evangelism, The Doctrine of Election/Predestination and how it relates to Evangelism, How to Handle Opposition in Evangelism, How to Draw and Keep a Crowd for Open Air Preaching. I am in the process now of getting all the videos from these lectures uploaded to my BibleTheology Youtube account. We were very excited that people came from all over the country to participate in this conference. Brethren came from North Carolina, Arizona, Michigan, Oklahoma, and from all over Texas for this two day event. And most of those who participated in the lectures also joined us on the outreach! Many of those who had joined us on the outreach had never really done an outreach like this before. Armed with Bibles, Christian t-shirts, and “TRUST JESUS” signs we went out to the streets of Shreveport for some open air preaching to their nightlife. What was great was that there just so happened to be a special event going on with lots of sinners hanging out on the sidewalk, drinking alcohol, etc. There were plenty of people out there on the street for our large group to witness to! When we first arrived and stood on the sidewalk in front of this event, the crowd of sinners saw our Jesus signs and started chanting loudly together, “SATAN! SATAN! SATAN!” There were many Police that showed up but they didn’t not talk to us. They simply watched the situation. I was glad because I have had many problems with the Shreveport Police before. The crowd was very hostile at first but as we stood our ground and continued to minister God’s word, the crowds eventually calmed down. Eventually everyone broke up into small groups. What was great about using these signs and banners was that we didn’t have to approach anyone, the sinners were coming up to us and they talked with us the entire time that we were there! And there were a few reports of people repenting and getting right with God. One man in particular repented and declared to everyone that he was going to live for the Lord. He was the man in the green shirt in the pictures below. Since there were so many pictures from the outreach and I was not involved in all of the small groups and conversations that were going on, I am simply going to post all the pictures below without giving a description for all of them. As you can see, we had a very active night! Praise the Lord! We gave out our contact information to those who had repented of their sins and decided to follow the Lord. I pray that they will contact those who had witnessed to them so that they will be able to exhort them and encourage them, as the Apostles did in the book of Acts, to continue in the faith, to continue in the grace of God, and to keep themselves in the love of God. We know that the Bible warns about the possibility of departing from the faith, being cut off, and becoming a castaway. There is no perpetual justification based upon a one time moment of faith but men must persevere in faith and holiness unto the end to be saved. One of the major problems with modern evangelism is the idea that all a person has to do is repent, believe, and say a prayer and then they are once saved always saved or eternally secure, and no fellowship or exhortations to continue in the faith are necessary after that. The Bible teaches us the exact opposite, that it is possible to lose your justification by falling away from the faith back into sin and that it is necessary to exhort and encourage new converts to persevere unto the end. These are some of the encouraging testimonies people sent to me about the Sharing Your Faith conference: “The conference provided clear and consistent Theology to some of the most controversial topics such as sinful nature, perseverance, predestination and Holiness. I’m so glad the Lord put this conference on brother Jesse’s heart so more preachers can use these biblical Truths “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 26:18) The outreach event was a wonderful opportunity to proclaim the Gospel and to vindicate the good Theology from the early Christian Church. I was very inspired by the preachings and testimonies of my brothers and sisters in Christ. We were all united in faith, prayers and guided by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Word of God with boldness and faithfulness but with a compassionate heart and love for the lost. All praise,  honor and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ for his grace and mercy! God bless you and your family!!” – Miguel “Before I really got to know the Lord and His perfect will for my life, I was always very “thin-skinned,” and introverted. So, it is a bit ironic that the Lord would have me partake in open air preaching, a ministry where the opportunity to both give and take offense is immense. March 13, 2013 is the day that the Lord called me to proclaim His word in the public sector for the first time. Being inexperienced, I was naturally nervous and excited about what this new season of confrontational evangelism would bring. I began occupying a local campus’s free speech area with the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, it was not until the Shreveport Nightlife Outreach that I really got to experience the reaction to the gospel from the general public, and it was nothing more than sheer hatred for the things of God. But praise the Lord, through our team’s joint efforts, God was definitely glorified outside of that nightclub. From the teachings, to the fellowship, to the outreach, the “Sharing Your Faith Conference” was pivotal in my development as a soldier out on the frontlines. -Kasha “I really enjoyed the fellowship, and testimonies of Brothers, and Sisters with a desire to share their faith. Watching them stand for Jesus was a blessing. Many of them have only preached a few times. Some of them were preaching for the first time! Praise Jesus!” – Tracy “I thought the conference was wonderful, it really blessed me. Everything was in a timely manner. I loved how questions were directed at the end of the day during the Q and A sessions. The lectures were very informative and thought provoking. The lunch’s were great. I liked how we stayed on site during lunch and got to fellowship with fellow brothers and sisters. You all did a fantastic job organizing the event. The outreach to Shreveport was the icing on the cake. I believe Sharing Your Faith Conference will enrich your knowledge and enhance your witnessing for Jesus to others. I mainly minister at our local county jail and the conference really assisted in that area of my ministry” – Scott

AN ENCOURAGING EMAIL I received this encouraging email from an ex-Calvinist in the Netherlands: “My name is Ralph, 38 years old and iam from the Netherlands. First of all, I wanne let you know that iam very thankful that i came across your ministry and excellent articles and video’s which you have made. You have a real gift of explaining these theological issues on the freedom of the will and salvation which I have never read before, sinds I myself iam an ex- 5 point Calvinist for 15 years, and I preached the doctrine sof Calvinism from the pulpit, but by the grace of God my eyes got opened (through the writings John Wesley) to see my own heresy and I turn away from it. Sinds I came out of Calvinism, many friends and brothers in faith thought that i was deceived, but iam thankful that I can now explain to others the rich and Biblical doctrine of man’s ability (by Gods grace) to be responsible, and also the heresy of imputed righteousness. Sinds I read your articles I also started to understand more indept what Paul and John means when they wrote in Philippians 2:12.”..work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…” and John 5:6..”.. If a man abides not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned… With Calvinism i was always struggling with these scriptures verses, but now I can see them in the light of mans ability and responsibility, by Gods grace. In our country there are a lot of Calvinistic and Reformed churches, were freedom of the will is considers as a great heresy, so I hope (with Gods grace) to reach more of my friends from these traditions, with the word of God but also with the wonderful books and resources that you are providing.” PRAISE THE LORD! I was very encouraged by this email. It is very exciting that our ministry is having such an international impact!

SOME THEOLOGICAL THOUGHTS HOW DOES CALVINISM NEGATIVELY EFFECT EVANGELISM? By Jesse Morrell An attorney asked me in an email, “How does the Calvinist theology change the gospel they preach? As an open air preacher, how does your approach and sharing of the gospel differ in practical ways from the gospel of the Calvinist open air preacher?” I answered: Calvinists cannot tell sinners on the street that Jesus died for them, that God wants them to repent, that God wants them to get saved, etc. That is because they don’t know if He doesn’t or doesn’t. They say that God only wants an elect few to repent and be saved and that Jesus only died for them. Jesus did not die for the vast majority of mankind and that God wants that vast majority to remain impenitent and die in their sins, so that they will be damned for the glory of His justice. Therefore, they cannot truly love their neighbor as themselves because they cannot want everyone to be saved if God doesn’t, because as Christians we are supposed to be imitators of God. If God wants the vast majority of mankind to sin, remain impenitent, and go to hell for eternity for the glory of His justice, we should want the same. Calvinists cannot urge the masses to believe the gospel, because in their theology there is no gospel for the masses to believe. Jesus only died for a few, not for all. If the non-elected believed that Jesus died for them, when in fact he didn’t, they would be believing a lie. To tell the masses to repent and believe the gospel is, in Calvinism, to tell the masses to believe a lie. They also believe that man is incapable of repenting and believing, that these are gifts that God gives to His elect, and therefore they cannot consistently urge sinners to repent and believe as if it were in their power to do so. They also, essentially, blame God for the unbelief and impenitence of the world and cannot consistently blame sinners for it. Calvinists also teach that we are born sinners and are damned for the sin that Adam committed. They say that we either existed and acted in Adam, or that Adam acted as our Representative so that we are held accountable not only for our own sins, but for that sin that occurred without our knowledge and without our consent. Calvinists also teach that it is impossible to stop sinning, that believers cannot help but to sin every day in word, thought, and deed, and therefore teach justification in sin. Sinning every day in word, thought, and deed is a lifestyle or habit of sin and therefore they are teaching salvation while remaining in a lifestyle or habit of sin. They teach that a man is saved and on his way to heaven, even while in the commission of rebellion against God. Their idea of justification by faith is not a biblical faith that results in an obedient and holy life, but a justification in sin while merely believing in a set of doctrines. On the other hand, when I witness and preach I tell all sinners that Jesus died for them, that God wants them to repent and be saved, but that the choice is theirs. They are capable of repenting and believing and God will blame and damn them if they do not. I can love my neighbor as myself by wanting everyone to repent and be saved, while also imitating God because God wants this too. I tell sinners that God is just and will hold each individual responsible and accountable for their own sins, which they have chosen out of their own free will. I rebuke sinners and tell them that their sinful condition is not a necessary result of their birth, but is their own fault – that they are sinners by free choice and therefore rightly deserve damnation and wrath and are in great need of a Savior. And I tell sinners that repentance, or a change of mind about sinning that will result in a life of obedience, is a necessary condition of God’s forgiveness. If they become believers and sin in the future, they must repent and persevere unto the end or be damned. There is no justification by faith while in sin, as faith is inconsistent with a life of sin. _________________________________________ SCRIPTURAL PROBLEMS WITH CALVINISM By Jesse Morrell Calvinism grieves my heart and it disturbs me to see so many Calvinistic posts on Facebook and Calvinistic materials and preachers being so popular in our day. Scriptural problems I have with Calvinism: 1. Calvinism says that God decreed all sin when the Bible says sin breaks the heart of God and wills holiness and obedience from His subjects. 2. Calvinism says that men are under the wrath of God for the sin of Adam when the Bible says that the son does not bear the iniquity of the father and we will all give an account for our own deeds. 3. Calvinism says that man’s free will was lost by Adam’s original sin when the Bible never says this but instead continues to appeal to man’s free moral agency after Adam’s fall. 4. Calvinism says that all men inherit a sinful nature from Adam when the Bible never even says that Adam’s nature was sinful but instead asserts that God forms our nature in the womb. 5. Calvinism says that all events are the eternal will of God when the Bible represents God as grieved, disappointed, and surprised over many events that have occurred. 6. Calvinism says that God has irresistibly decreed all events from eternity past, when the Bible says that God has canceled and reversed some of His own prophecies and teaches that the future is not yet entirely fixed and settled. 7. Calvinism says that God has given man a moral law which He is incapable of keeping when the Bible says that God is just, never allows us to be tempted above our ability, and only obligates us to love Him with all of our ability. 8. Calvinism says that Jesus Christ came and took our punishment when the Bible says that our punishment is eternal hell. 9. Calvinism says that Jesus Christ came and paid our debt when the Bible says that God forgives us our debt. 10. Calvinism says that Jesus Christ took the punishment of our sins when the Bible says that God forgives us our sins. 11. Calvinism says that Jesus Christ came and took the wrath of God when the Bible says that God still has wrath after the atonement, that sinners are not saved from God’s wrath until conversion, that the atonement was instead a justification of His mercy, and that believers who return to their sins return to the wrath of God. 12. Calvinism says that Jesus Christ became sinful and guilty on the cross when the Bible says He died the just for the unjust and offered Himself without spot or blemish to God. 13. Calvinism says that those for whom Christ died can never perish when the Bible warns that those for whom Christ died can perish. 14. Calvinism says that Christ only died for a few elect when the Bible says that Jesus died for the world and all men. 15. Calvinism says that God wants most sinners to remain in their sins and die and go to hell, to somehow glorify His justice, when the Bible says God wants all men to repent and be saved. 16. Calvinism says that men cannot repent and believe when the Bible commands men to repent and believe and blames them if they do not. 17. Calvinism says that men cannot repent and believe because they are born spiritually dead because of Adam when the Bible says that men are dead or alienated from God because of their own trespasses and sins and says the prodigal son was able to return to the father even though he was dead to the father. 18. Calvinism says that God predestined individuals for heaven or hell when the Bible says that God has chosen to offer salvation to the Jews and the Gentiles, grafting in some and cutting off others based upon their faith or unbelief. 19. Calvinism says that God predestined some for Heaven and most for hell according to the pleasure of His will, when the Bible says that God sent Jesus to die for all, commands all men to repent and believe, is drawing all men unto Himself, is not willing that any should perish, and takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. 20. Calvinism says that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to believers when the Bible says that our faith is imputed as righteousness. 21. Calvinism says that God doesn’t see believers if they sin, but see’s imputed righteousness instead, when the Bible says God is omniscient and nothing is hide from His eyes. 22. Calvinism says that true believers will persevere unto the end when the Bible exhorts believers to persevere, warns of damnation if they do not, and speaks of some who have departed from the faith. My list can go on and on but these are just some of the major points. _________________________________________ THREE MAJOR THEORIES ON THE ATONEMENT OF CHRIST By Jesse Morrell There have been three major views on the atonement throughout Church history: The Ransom Theory of the atonement taught that mankind was the captive of the devil and that the atonement was a literal ransom paid to Satan for mankind’s release. The devil chooses to release mankind in exchange for Christ. However, this ransom to the devil atonement model cannot be found in any of the Old Testament foreshadows of the atonement. How could the atonement fulfill those foreshadows in such a case, when those sacrifices were offered to God and not Satan? Also, the Scriptures represent the atonement as a necessary condition for the exercise of God’s mercy, but what connection is there in this view between the atonement and the remission of our penalty? The Penal Theory of the atonement taught that God cannot forgive sin because that would not be just. Therefore, justice demands that God punishes all sin. Retributive justice demands that sin be punished according to its demerit, and if it is not, God acts unjusty. If He does not punish sin in us, He must punish sin in Christ as our substitute. Therefore, our sins were literally transferred to Christ, He became a sinner on the cross, and He was punished by God’s wrath for being a guilty sinner. All the punishment that our sins deserve were received by Christ, therefore, it would be unjust for God to punish those for whom Christ died. We are, therefore, saved by strict justice and cannot in any way perish no matter how many more sins we commit. Jesus satisfied God’s wrath for all of our past, present, and future sins, and therefore, no matter how often or how horribly we sin we can never again be under the wrath of God. There are many problems with this view. First, God is capable of forgiving sin by His mercy and has demonstrated this time and time again. The phrase “remission of sins” literally means to remit penalty and God, in forgiveness, turns away from His wrath. Second, retributive justice demands the death of the soul that sinned, not that of a substitute. Third, the punishment we deserve is eternal hell, not mere physical death or crucifixion. Fourth, Jesus Christ never became a sinner but is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Fifth, those for whom Christ died can still perish. God is not obligated to save anyone. When a person is saved through the atonement, it is an act of grace not justice. Sixth, neither justice or mercy is satisfied in this view. Retributive justice is not satisfied as the soul that sinned did not die, and mercy is not satisfied because no sins are actually forgiven. The governmental theory of the atonement says that God is merciful and loving and wants to pardon mankind, but not in such a way as would dishonor His law or encourage its transgression throughout His moral universe. Therefore, the atonement of Christ was a substitute for the penalty of the law that we deserve, which upholds the law just as the penalty would have. The atonement, therefore, renders the penalty of the law remissible. Rather than being a satisfaction of His wrath, the atonement is a justification of His mercy. The atonement justifies God in turning away from His wrath and remitting the penalty that we deserve. Christ died for everyone, but only those who are converted actually have their penalty remitted. The moral influence of the atonement is such that it subdues the hearts of sinners and brings them to repentance. We love God because of His sacrifice and consequently obey Him. The atonement is the means through which God mercifully and graciously pardons repentant sinners, while also upholding public justice, or remaining just to His law, just to His character, and just to His universe. Through the atonement, both mercy and justice are satisfied.

NEW BOOK! DOES MAN INHERIT A SINFUL NATURE? A Scriptural Discourse on the Human Constitution By Jesse Morrell “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made men upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” Ecclesiastes 7:29 “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.” Romans 1:26-27 “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.” Romans 2:14-15 “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” Romans 6:13 The question, “Does man inherit a sinful nature?” is a question that has been discussed throughout Christian history. In our day, this question is very important and relevant. We live in a society that primarily does not take personal responsibility for moral actions. Criminals are victimized and excused through philosophies of circumstantial, mental, and genetic determinism. Sinful musicians sing songs justifying their sin by saying, “I was born this way.” The sin excusing philosophy of the world is nearly identical to the sin excusing theology of the church. As I travel the country preaching in the open air, calling sinners to repentance, both professing Christians and unbelievers declare together in perfect harmony, “I can’t help it. It’s my nature. I was born this way.” If sin is ever justifiable or excusable, the entire system of the gospel is destroyed and an understanding of salvation is entirely distorted. Augustinian theology has taught the church that sin is unavoidable and inevitable, being a necessity of the nature that we are born with. The result is a victimized mentality that excuses wicked behavior, relieves the mind from the weight of guilt, and makes impossible the conviction of personal responsibility that justifies accountability and shows the need for pardon through Christ. Natural inability to obey God, rooted in the notion of an inherited sinful nature, is the most common excuse for sin. More times than I can count have I heard sinners declare, “Sin is my human nature.” Instead of taking full responsibility and blaming themselves by saying, “Sin is my free choice,” they blame their Creator by saying, “Sin is my nature.” Instead of humbly admitting that sin is the choice of their will, they comfort themselves by saying that sin is the defect of their design and constitution. If the Christian church is going to see genuine converts, who repent of all their sin and turn to Christ for salvation, the excuses of unbelievers must be overcome. We cannot have genuine revival otherwise. There can be no genuine conversion without genuine conviction. Conviction is a legal term, when all the evidence in the court of law results in the verdict of guilty. Conviction in the legal sense is when the mind of a sinner is convinced of their guilt and deservingness of punishment. There can be no genuine conviction if the mind holds on to an excuse that removes personal responsibility. As long as men try to convince their minds that sin is not their fault, they will never admit that they deserve eternal punishment and, consequently, need God’s merciful pardon through the atonement of Christ. Since only those who deserve wrath are in need of mercy, and since only those who deserve damnation are in need of salvation, sinners must be shown and convinced in their minds that they deserve the wrath and condemnation of God if they are going to be genuinely saved. Those who are convinced that sin is not their personal fault, but is the defect of their inherited nature instead of the deliberation of their own free will, must be shown and convinced otherwise if we are going to have revival. If men think that they are victims of sin, rather than criminals through sin, they will not look to Christ for merciful pardon but will think that they deserve liberation from any penalties on account of sin. Salvation will only be seen as an act of grace and mercy on God’s part, if sin is seen as entirely and completely inexcusable and unjustifiable. And sin is only inexcusable and unjustifiable if sin is not inevitable but entirely avoidable. The Augustinian doctrine of a sinful nature, however, gives sinners the greatest excuse they could ask for. Alfred T. Overstreet said, “Can a man really be guilty for possessing the nature with which he is born? Can God show him mercy, and pardon his guilt if it is true that he has suffered the misfortune of being born into this world a sinner? What kind of grace would it be that would save a man from the misfortunate of being born into this world a sinner? It would not be a grace that would save him; it would be justice. And how can a man sincerely repent and condemn himself for his sins if he believed that he was born a sinner and could not avoid sin because of an inborn sin nature? All the fundamental doctrines of the Bible are emptied of their meaning and become contradictory and confusing if the doctrine of original sin is accepted.” 211 pages $12.00 To Order: Click Here ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jesse Morrell was radically converted to Christ in 2000 out of a life of drugs and crime. After beginning an open air street ministry in 2002, he became a full time missionary in 2005. He has preached on 105 university and college campuses. He has lectured at Liberty University, Teen Mania Ministries, Youth With A Mission, and in various churches across the nation and abroad.

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POSSIBLE FALL ITINERARY Hello Everyone My family and I are planning our fall itinerary and are thinking about traveling from Canada through Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, to Texas. If any of you are in these states, are near a public university or college, and would like to host us for a few days, please let us know. We are also looking for churches to speak in along the way. God Bless, Jesse Morrell

Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare to tour to minister the gospel this summer and fall. For those of you who can give financially, your help is greatly appreciated and needed. Our car has been having many problems lately so we are taking it into the mechanic shop to prepare for our travels. We are unsure exactly what the problems are or how much it will cost to fix it, but as it is right now it is unfit for the road. We know that the Lord will provided what we need, when we need it, as He always has. HOW YOU CAN HELP SUPPORT THE MORRELL FAMILY “…as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15 The Morrell family serves as full time missionaries to the United States. We are supported by personal gifts from individuals. The financial support we receive from the body of Christ makes it possible for us to continue to travel and preach the Gospel full time. All personal gifts from $5 -$500, either monthly or one-time, makes a huge difference. Will you consider being a monthly supporter, giving as little or as much as you can? Paypal: Click Here Physical Mail: Jesse & Krista Morrell P.O. Box 1527 Lindale TX, 75771 Special thanks in advance to our supporters. THE BATTLE IS ON! We couldn’t do all of this without you!

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