Monday, January 21, 2008

JURY DUTY -- UPDATE!


For a quick post today, I am to report for JURY DUTY tomorrow (tuesday). Do any of you have experience as a juror? Tell me about it if you can.

I went for my jury duty today! We met down in the basement of the courthouse around 9:15am. They took roll call (none of the rolls answered, but I heard a biscuit reply!!) and then they gave us our instructions. They said we would go upstairs to meet with the judge and the two lawyers and they would ask us some questions. They were going to keep 14 people and the other 76 could go home. The judge came down to talk to us and he explained a lot of what was about to happen. He said there were three cases coming up but if we waited long enough, it was possible that one or two of them would either be dropped or some kind of plea agreement would happen. He went upstairs and said for us to wait. he was going to start calling people upstairs around 11:20am. When that time came, no one came downstairs. 11:30-- nothing. 11:40, he finally came downstairs and apologized for taking so long. He said that one of the cases was a DUI and he sentenced him to 365 days in jail. The other case was dropped so that left one case to go. It was a sexual abuse case against a minor. He said they did a plea agreement and lowered the charge to aggravated battery. That man got 5 years on top of the original 18 years he was going to serve. The judge then said, "That's it, you can all go home. you have fulfilled you public duty and will not have to worry about jury duty for at least a year now!"

Wow, just like that it was over. I got a good nap in down there as everyone fell asleep waiting on him. I got paid from work for going plus a whole $15 from the courthouse!!

How many people do you suppose, think they will be able to make a plea agreement with the Ultimate Judge? I know Mormons think they can. Since they believe you can be baptized after you die, then they think that anyone can be saved even after death. Catholics think so too. That is what purgatory is all about. There are no second chances. You are appointed once to die and after that the judgment. How much clearer can it be?? The Bible does not say you can have a second chance after you die. We are told to repent of our sins. What kind of repentance can a dead man have? "I have a problem with stealing things. I die." would I need to repent once I die? Why should I? I am dead and do not have the ability to steal any more. let's stop all of this nonsensical teachings. You need to repent of your sins, NOW! If you wait till you die, it will be too late. You will face a God of wrath. Do you understand that? hell will be waiting for you. You will be cast down into the burning lake of fire! God's Word should be all you need. Do not base your life on traditions of man. Do not listen to false prophets (do you hear me Mormon friends). Put your faith and trust solely in Jesus Christ to save you. Repent of your sins and be obedient to His Word.

When you face God...
will it be holding hands with the accuser?
or will it be clinging to our Lord and Savior for your salvation?
Whom will you serve?

The notice is in the mail for jury duty.
Are you ready? Are you nervous? Are you scared? Are you bored?

Jesus is coming back soon.
Are you ready?
Are you nervous? Are you scared? Are you bored?

Repent now, put your faith and trust in Jesus and walk with Him. He says, Come, follow Me!

26 comments:

michelle said...

I did it once years ago...sat around most of the day and then got sent home... take your Bible... you'll have plenty of great opportunities to share the Gospel! =]

pastorbrianculver said...

what a great way to contrast civil court with God's court! I am taking my tracts with me.They might take the Ten Commandments out of the courthouse, but I am taking them back in, in a way that they cannot remove. I will place it in the ears of the hearers!!

Anonymous said...

haha I always get out of it!!!!! I got called again last year (I was called to serve in Indiana even though my voter registration was changed back to NY for over a year!!) and I was in Taiwan. I get called like every year it seems!

do what Michelle said...then do what God said to do... :)

have fun!

pastorbrianculver said...

I can't wait!! Bad thing is, I still have to go to work at 5am before going to court house. makes for a pretty long day! Do you suppose if the case is about a boy being disobedient to his parents, I can yell, "STONE HIM!!!!"?

stella said...

hey! that's how you can get out of it too!!! just give them your Biblical convictions on the matter...they will think you are bias and therefore send you home (maybe...) :)

stella said...

hey, isn't it tuesday and time for jury duty?!?! let us know how it goes!!

im done procrastinating...im going to bed.

pastorbrianculver said...

read the update on how the jury duty thing went today!

michelle said...

so did you get to share your tracts?

j razz said...

Brian,

We got into a long discussion about the death penalty and jury duty on Tim's blog if you care to read through all of the comments on it.

Here is the link.

j razz

pastorbrianculver said...

thanks! I'll check it out!

pastorbrianculver said...

I did! I was able to hand out three tracts. Even though there were many people there, I got into a good conversation with one man in particular. Once I was talking to him a couple of other people came over and got in to the discussion. It was awesome. Only one of them was a Christian (not a true follower of Jesus, just a "believer")

Thoughts From Jeff said...

* shakes head *

pastorbrianculver said...

Jeff, I'm not sure what your problem is. Does evangelism make you sick or something. You are a youth pastor, and yet, you shake your head at someone who tries to reach the lost. You have insinuated hate on my part because I mention sin. Yes, I do mention sin to people. I love them enough that I do not want them to go to hell. Hey, and guess what? Out of the hundreds of people I have witnessed to, I have only had one or two people who actually acted offended. EVERYONE else appreciated me talking to them. You will not convince me to do otherwise. I will continue to reach out to the lost. I won't compromise God's Word for the sake of not wanting to offend anyone. As a pastor, you will be judged by God in a more strict manner, so maybe you should consider what it is you are teaching people. There is nothing, absolutely nothing that is not biblical in the way I reach out to the lost. I have been patient with you enough, but no more. When you start shaking your head against evangelism, then it is time for you to move on. You have been told and shown biblical references. You have taken things out of context and have come to the site to promote...
Actually, you are only promoting love. Same message the Mormons promote. But then again, you feel they are Christians too. In the other post, you mentioned that when you hear Christians talk about homosexuality...
So, you are basically saying you are not a Christian?? Satan has a way of destroying the Word of God. There is a part of the message that he does not want the world to know about. It is about putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation and it is about repenting of your sins. It is about being obedient to His Word. What did He tell the disciples to do (Which is the same calling for all Christians) Go into all the world preaching the gospel to every creature. WE ARE TO EVANGELIZE! That is called being obedient to God's Word. The truest sign of love is to evangelize. The truest sign of love is to love your neighbor so much that you do not want to see them go to hell. That is TRUE LOVE Jeff! If you have to shake your head against that, then your love that you are spouting is a selfish love and not a God-filled love.
Good day sir!

pastorbrianculver said...

Hi J razz, I tried to post a comment on that site, but it didn't have a comment section for me to write anything. Are the comments closed?

Tim Brown said...

Brian:

I think it's great that you were given the opportunity to witness. And even better that you did follow through with it.

As for Jeff Greathouse, one must wonder: "Does he deny that people really die and go to hell or is it that he doesn't care".

The "seeker" or "relevant" methods of "sharing" are so presumptuous. I challenge any of them to give the date anyone will die...so "friendship evangelism" is just sheer presumptionism, at the eternal expense of the lost.

You are right. Such "leaders" will be more harshly judged.

pastorbrianculver said...

I see he is reading a book, here is something he wrote on his blog.

Statemen number one: Biblical Community is the life of Christ on the earth today (page 22). I believe that this statement is true and that it is very accurate when we examine what he considers to be biblical community. I have a true desire for Christ to "be on" earth today; thus I need to be experiencing Biblical Community so the life of Christ can be lived out on the earth today.

What do you think of that?

stella said...

bell, hybels, warren, olsteen?...if those are the source, then there's nothing more to say.

did you give any tracts to the judge or lawyers? i wonder what that would be like to walk up to the judge and say something like do you know there is a judge who is greater than you and he is not sitting on the bench in the supreme court.

(some of our family friends are judges...sometimes they can have a bit of an ego...slightly)

:)

Tim Brown said...

Brian:

At first blush (not having read the Willow Creek material), and based on my own assumptions, it sounds like they are busting their britches to say the patently obvious. Shallow.

It depends on what they mean by "community", among other possible things. If they mean "body life" as in what happened in Acts, then ok. But why not just use the text from Acts???

The statements about community not being "just about you and your family" leaves me with the thought of "Gee, ya think?".

Unless I'm missing something, the best I can say is "shallow".

pastorbrianculver said...

the guy that wrote that book has no clue on what he is missing. Unfortunately, he is misguiding all his readers along with him!

pastorbrianculver said...

no, i didn't have a chance to talk to the judge. That would be an interesting conversation though. I am not eligible for jury duty now for at least a year, so unless I do something really bad, I most likely won't be seeing a judge any time soon.

Anonymous said...

someone made a comment about my future plan...she was asking about my experience with mormons. perhaps you'd like to put some more money into the pot? i also sent her to your domain.

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12372567&postID=9039929222111457168

7:15pm....one more class to teach...one more hour....aahhh!!

pastorbrianculver said...

I would be happy to Stella! I will check it out on my next break

Thoughts From Jeff said...

Tim:

As this develops, you will see that this is anything but shallow. That it is "very deep" and that it is getting us back to the Acts church.

pastorbrianculver said...

This will be interesting! I can't wait to hear your arguments on friendship, love evangelism according to Acts!

j razz said...

Yes. That thread topic extended the life of the thread so Tim closed it down.

I am glad you had a good experience there.

j razz

pastorbrianculver said...

I had to serve jury duty down in Jacksonville, FL where I live now. Pretty much a wasted day again as nothing actually went to trial. The only difference is this. We are one day closer to the return of Jesus. ARE YOU READY?