As you can tell, I have let my journal slip for the last 3 months. When I last communicated to you, it was after having been served with foreclosure papers on my house. This took a lot of wind out of my sails and I fell behind in my reporting. I felt tied to the homestead, and left off most traveling so that I could be close to home in case something had to be done. My attention was strongly diverted, and I found myself spending more time in prayer.

I did, however, keep ministering throughout all this ordeal. Even though I did not travel, I was on campus at Penn State or nearby every day that weather permitted. Some I will touch on pictorially below.

If I did a detail report on these intervening weeks of ministry, the journal would be very large, cumbersome, and unreadable. Instead, I am going to update you on my housing situation, go over some highlights of the last 3 months, and then pick up with the last two weeks traveling with Jed Smock.

The House

I refinanced my house in 2007. The mortgage company sold me on a pay back amount that was a lot less than I was paying. After the first payment, I noticed that the amount being escrow for taxes and insurance was far too little. I contacted the mortgage holding company and informed them, and they raised my payments by over $500 per month. Two months later I was laid off of my job, and I decided to try to return to the full time ministry. (I was originally in full time ministry from 1976 through the spring of 1984).

I had a "safety net" and hoped that it would last long enough for me to build up some support for my ministry. I continued to pay the excessive amount for a year and a quarter, until my safety net was gone. By that time, Obama had passed the program to help people whose situation had changed to stay in their homes. I informed my mortgage holder that I was going to have to default, and then hired an attorney firm to represent me to the mortgage company in the renegotiation process.

After waiting six months, and having been assured over and over again that everything was moving along nicely, I was suddenly served foreclosure papers. I went into distress mode, and inquired about what my attorney firm had been doing on my behalf. I found out that they were doing nothing at all. I started to try to get on top of the situation. As soon as the mortgage was turned over to the attorneys for collection, I knew I was in trouble.

I fired the first company, and hired a new attorney. He was able to stave off the court date, and to start negotiating with the mortgage company's attorneys. We have sent them a proposal that would be very beneficial to them, if they would allow me to go ahead with the Obama plan restructuring. Unfortunately, there are now two lines of communication open - one to the attorneys, and the other to the loss mitigation department of the mortgage company. On both sides, it seems my request is being reviewed. Still I had hoped for a much earlier resolution, since I fit the Obama criteria exactly. I fear that the enemy has been trying to derail my efforts. I guess I do not believe in coincidences any more.

Next three months

For the last two years, I have had a fleece out before the Lord. If He wants me to not work and to focus on ministry, then He must prevent any jobs being offered to me. On the other hand, if He wants me to work, the job must be brought to me and presented to me out of left field. Even though I sent out hundreds of resumes, not one produced a scintilla of interest for 24 months.

As I face a very difficult winter financially, I have been praying for the Lord's leading on how He would have me handle my situation. As I awaited His answer, I could see at least a half a dozen financial problems arising in January - credit card run up by the last month's traveling expenses, heating a house and three apartments with the price of propane and coal soaring, having all my rentals open at the same time, having to do major repairs on my car, having to do major repairs on 2 apartments to rent again, a leaking roof on one building that must be replaced, on and on. Suddenly, out of left field, at the culmination of this long list of looming financial blows was a job offer - a three month contract in Columbus Ohio. The rate was not great, but it wasn't too bad either. I believe the Lord provided this open door to get me through the winter, and preserve the homestead.

That fleece has essentially been operative for 25 years, and it's fulfillment has always been the same. A job I was not looking for was and had no inkling of it's existence was always suddenly thrust upon me. I would have liked to have continued full time ministry, but unfortunately I have not "caught on" or "been discovered" like many big name ministries. Nor have I had a long enough time to slowly build up support.

So, dear friends, from Jan 4 until April 2, I will be returning temporarily to my computer skills to replenish my safety net, and to start something new. This new thing is really what I think the Lord has been trying to get me to do for some time. I have been wearied lately with writing a book. There are oceans of books being written, but none I fear as important as what I have to tell.

Over the years, the Lord has shown me His mind on street preaching. What it is supposed to do, how it accomplishes God's will, what wisdom of God is manifested in it. I have been greatly burdened lately over one piece of the puzzle. And that piece is that I believe that the church has entered into the time of it's own judgment.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Many believe that we are in the last days, rushing toward judgment day. If that is true, then before that comes the judgment of the church. I believe I have come to know what the judgment of the church is, how it is accomplished, and why the judgment happens as it does. The amount of scripture alone is mind boggling. For the last two years I have been increasingly burdened to warn the church worldwide how we are entering into the time of her judgment, and what will be required of them. I dwell on it for long periods of time, sketching out how to word it, how to structure the message. I've written it in my mind a thousand times over.

Dear friends, if you could see what I see, you would weep as I do for the multitudes that will be judged and lose whatever they think they might have because they have been found unworthy of Him. No one judged unworthy of Jesus will still be rewarded with entry into the Kingdom. The problem is that their judgment has begun, and the church is completely in the dark, ignorant of the judgment. Oh, there might be a few who are seeing it, but even among us preachers, I am apparently alone in this vision.

I have prayed and prayed on how to gain access to the church at large - me an insignificant flea of a preacher. It is more than I can imagine doing. I keep coming back to two things. The first is to write a book containing the scriptures and the theological underpinnings, and then to produce a DVD of the message, financing the distribution of the message by the sale of the books. Maybe along the way I will find someone who would feel called to help me to distribute this vision. I have lined up a company to help me to distribute the books and DVD's. Now I just have to write it.

I think that is why the Lord is pulling me back from the front lines. In the strange land of Columbus Ohio, I will have much more time to be able to work on it. Please pray for me that I can be clear in my thinking and writing. As the book unfolds I will be sending out chapters as part of my journals. I hope that you will read and critique my work. My greatest fear is that I will miss some critical part. In my mind it is settled and very clear. But in the mind of the average Christian, who can tell how they have constructed their theology. I feel like I have been unraveling in my understanding a gigantic puzzle for 30-something years. Now, at the end of that process, I can see a very clear picture of what is happening right now, and soon going to be happening worldwide.

Those of you who have contributed to my ministry, I ask you to please continue. All money given during this three month period will be deposited in an escrow account for when I return to full time ministry. Full time traveling ministry is very expensive. This last two weeks preaching averaged a little over a hundred dollars a day in expenses. Over the last month, I have run up my credit card by about $2500 dollars. I really need to pare that down. I am hoping to replenish my safety net, but even that will not last a long time. Please help me out if you can. Any help you give will be greatly appreciated.

Also if any of you feel lead, I will have publication costs when the book is completed. Lulu.com has been recommended to me as a print on demand publisher. One interesting thing about the job thrust upon me - it is for a book publisher. I may have an inside path to getting the publishing done without extreme costs.

One other thing, if any of you know of a good book agent or publicist, I will be needing one.

For a preview of the book, some of what I have to warn the church about is contained in a old Youtube post of a message I gave to the Kingdom Builders in Mansfield PA. Click here to view playlist.

From the Media

A fellow preacher came to PSU on Sept 14 by the name of Shawn Holes. Hailing from New York, he preaches in the New England theater of war. We refer to him as "Shawn the Baptist". He was accompanied by about 12 others, consisting of preachers, family, and friends. The group were a great testimony of modest dress and behavior. He made a big splash at Penn State, for which there was an editorial. The editorial was worded in such a way that the reader at first thinks that it is against the preacher. But another read through shows that it is indeed against the hecklers and mockers in Shawn's audience. Click here to read the editorial - Sept 14, 2009

A short video was produced by The Philadelphia Inquirer about the preaching at Willard Building at Penn State. It is a little buried on the page. Go to http://college.philly.com/, then scroll down to the bottom of the page, a window entitled "Latest Videos". Scroll that window down till you come to the video entitled "Penn State students engage in heated religious debate". Oct 2, 2009

In October, the 13th through the 18th, I attended and spoke at a street preachers conference in Atlanta Georgia. The title of my presentation was "Evidence for a Young Earth". Dick Christensen, the conference's organizer, did a really great job of editing my talk. It was posted November 26th. Click here to view the playlist.

October 14th, about half the preachers descended on Georgia Tech. You would think that a school that has a reputation of being very high scholastically would produce some learned debaters. You would be wrong. Often is the case that the more "intellectual" a school is, the more profane, and intellectually bankrupt the students are. Click here for Georgia Tech.

On October 15th, the entire preacher contingent went to the downtown campus of Georgia State University. That campus had been shut down for many years because of the illegal behavior of the police towards preachers. This year Jesse Morrell sent the school, their attorney, the chief of campus security, and the city police a well written letter informing them of our intention to preach, and our attorneys description of the state of first amendment law concerning what we do. When we arrived (this was on the 14th) they were prepared for us, and did not interfere with our preaching as their history showed. But the students were so stirred up, so boisterous, that we decided on the 15th to hit them with all of us. The day was one of great turmoil.

The sodomites, the fornicators, the drug users, the drunks were all out in full force to defend their sins and to condemn righteousness. The second day is on tape, and I offer it to you as an eye opener as to what the college campuses are really like. Click here to view the video.

Some of our brothers went over to Oslo to preach at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies. Ruben Israel (Los Angeles), Larry Keffer (Tampa), Larry Craft (Los Angeles) and Petar Keseljevic from Norway were arrested and jailed for eight hours before having all charges dropped and all evidence of the arrests destroyed. Here is a good article about the arrests, and a much broader report on the events at this blog spot.

From the Mailbag

Dear bro. Cope.....i really enjoyed your journal ....the answers you gave to that person on the free from sin question ...not to sin was answered in a simple understanding way like I have never heard before ...thanks bro. it gave me a better understanding in a new light and I have been preaching for 38 years ...but I'm smart enough to still be teachable ...bless you and your ministry bro. in JESUS name ... bro. Painter - Sept 15, 2009

You don't know me. I am a Mansfield student and Kingdom employee. I am still kind of on the fence about your method and things you say to be honest. But I believe your intentions are good. I'm sorry to hear about your current challenge. All is possible Bro... you are in my prayers. Hope to see you on a bench in South Hall Mall soon! Carolyn K. - Sept 29, 2009

Here is an interesting item that was sent to me from a fellow preacher, John Gronley. This cartoon was thought to be far fetched in 1948. How about now? Cartoon - Oct 28, 2009

A fellow preacher by the name of Bill Hamilton, who is preaching and training others to preach in Brazil, sent me a suggestion:

Last year I heard about campus preacher Tom Short putting up posters on the campuses he was to visit. I made the attached poster up for Bro Cope - rough draft. Maybe some of you campus preachers will find this idea helpful in stirring things up even more on the campuses you preach on.

Click here to view the poster

While the weather was still warm, I took Jean M and Pat McD up to Mansfield. I started off low and easy, since this was the first time since the police tried to stop me. A police woman showed up but stood in the background, and never spoke to me. The issue of the day was ceasing from sin.

There was always a ring of Christians standing around declaring how much they loved God, yet with the same mouth confessed openly that they continued in sin. This always riles me up good. It is like a man telling his wife that he loves her but he has to have his strange women. No one would put up with that kind of behavior, yet most

Christians think that this is "normal" Christianity. Any one who believes that Jesus came only to remove our punishment, while condemning us to continue to wallow in the mire of sin for the rest of our lives is actually denying the very thing that Jesus came to do. The "good news" is not that the punishment has been nullified. While this is true, it is only true when a person has chosen to be delivered from the sin that incurs God's just punishment. If we will stop sinning against God, He will forgive us all our past sins.

One fellow came out with his Bible. That always tells me that someone is about to quote the Bible out of context. I was right. He quoted 1 John 1:8 which says If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. That is always used by those who still sin against God as their excuse for not stopping. To them this verse makes ceasing from sin an impossibility. The only problem with this is that it isn't true. In the first two chapters of 1 John, there are actually 4 places where lying is talked about.

The second place is 1Jo 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. If we stopped there, indeed it would seem that ceasing from sin is not a possibility. However, if we look at the other two places in the context we find two verses that indicate the exact opposite meaning.

1Jo 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

John was addressing those who think that even though their actions are sinful that they really aren't sinning against God. It is called the Gnostic heresy. Reading through the book of 1 John, especially chapter 3, puts the sledgehammer to the argument that a Christian can't stop sinning.

1Jo 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. 7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God

This is an argument I fight every day of preaching. The majority of Christians I encounter on college campuses have been subliminally seduced by the enemy's lie that we can not be free of his control. He whispers in their ear you can't be free of me, boasts of his power, and then points to their weakness. They believe the lie that they can never be free from their sin.

The church is in a prison that has no bars and no doors, but because they believe there are bars and doors, they never attempt to leave. Their wrong belief is their only jailer. Anyone who thinks they can never be free of sin never will be free of sin. Anyone who believes Jesus as God can do all things (He is omnipotent) can not be held captive by the one Jesus defeated on the cross.

Later this same fellow brought out his trombone and tried to blast me out. I guess it is only logical that if he can't trip me up by misquoting scriptures, then the next best thing is to try to be a lot louder than me. Nonetheless, the crowd for most of the afternoon was attentive and listened intently. I felt like I was really getting through to them.

At one point my voice began to get pretty ragged, so I called on Pat Mcd to jump up and do a little preaching. The crowd dissipated rather quickly. Later I did get a chance to instruct him in some of the technical aspects of street preaching. In particular, the transition between speakers can be tricky. The new preacher has to come on strong so as to transfer the attention of the crowd to himself. When the attention span of a crowd is broken, many will walk away. The new preacher has to aggressively snatch their attention back to him. He also must make the message personal to the audience. Talking about someone somewhere doing some unnamed sin against God will not hook anyone's interest. Making the message personal gives it meaning to the audience. They are the ones who are in danger of Hell, not some unnamed sinner somewhere in the world.

While Pat was preaching I talked to a young Christian who was sincerely questioning my methodology. He was very open and understood everything I told him about what the preaching is supposed to do. Another Christian girl then came up to correct me in how to preach, and the young fellow turned to defend me. He told her that "She just didn't know what she was talking about". It is encouraging when someone takes a stand so quickly after learning the truth.

Toward the end of the day, I had a very productive talk with Jean M, who had lingering questions about my style. We spoke for some time and I was able to put her questions to rest.

I decided to try to preach at Cornell University. Jed told me that it was a quasi-private university. I went on campus on Ho Plaza to a nice open area, and began in a low keyed manner. Within 15 minutes the police showed up and told me I had to have a permit to preach on campus. The officer told me where to go to try to get a permit. I followed his directions, and found myself in an administrative office building I can only describe as Hogwarts School. There were stairs going up and down in strange places, floors between floors, and hallways that resembled the Roman catacombs. I wandered around to several offices getting shuffled around. Finally, after much frustration, I gave up, and left. I looked up Cornell online, and found out that they were a land grant school part of New York's University system. I contacted Alliance Defense Fund to see if they would assist me in challenging Cornell's claim to being a private university, but they declined.

Ithaca Commons was my next target. It is a beautiful "T" shaped closed off street, surrounded by quaint stores and shops. It has much in the way of street preaching potential - lots of seating, trees and shade, and a stage. I picked a spot at the junction of the "T", see the middle picture below. The left picture is to the left of the "T", and the right picture is to the right of the "T".

I started out low keyed because there was little foot traffic. I preached a while and spoke to several people on the commons. Two encouraged me and thanked me for preaching. One girl walking by stopped and stared at me. She said, "Are you... Are you... Are you...". I said "Yes, I am Bro Cope". She said she used to listen to me back in the 80's at Penn State. She excitedly told me she also has a brother who used to listen to me. She couldn't wait to get home to call him to tell him who she ran into on the Commons.

Ithaca has been sued multiple times for violating preachers constitutional rights on the Commons. I wanted to see if they had learned their lesson, or if they would be so stupid as to continue breaking the Law. The last judgment was filed on Feb 12, 2009. Here is the judgment:

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

JAMES DEFERIO,

Plaintiff, v.

CITY OF ITHACA; EDWARD VALLELY, individually and in his official capacity as Chief of Police for the City of Ithaca;....
Defendants.

CONSENT JUDGMENT

Final Resolution of this matter and controversy having been settled by and between the parties, and accepted by the Court, as reflected herein,

IT IS on this 12th day of February, 2009, upon Stipulation of the parties ORDERED AND ADJUDGED AS FOLLOWS:

1. Judgment is entered in favor of plaintiff against the defendant City of Ithaca.

2. Defendant City of Ithaca, and its agents, are permanently enjoined from applying a twenty-five foot (25') standard in the enforcement of City of Ithaca Municipal Code § 240-4, § 157-8, or any other ordinance or policy against anyone in any public place engaged in unamplified speech that can be heard at a distance of twenty-five feet on the public streets, public sidewalks or public ways in the City of Ithaca.

3. Defendant City of Ithaca is ordered to inform and train all current and future police officers employed by the City of Ithaca, on a regular basis, that they may not apply a twenty-five foot (25') standard in the enforcement of any city noise ordinance against anyone in any public place engaged in unamplificd speech that can be heard at a distance of twenty-five feet on the public streets, public sidewalks or public ways in the City of Ithaca.

4. Plaintiff is awarded a total of $4,000 for nominal damages. Plaintiff is further awarded $13,000 for attorney's fees and costs.

5. All causes of action against the defendants Edward Vallely, J. Nelson, Scott Garin, A. Navorro and Richard Niemi arc dismissed with prejudice.

6. The Court retains jurisdiction of this case solely to enforce this consent judgment.

SO ORDERED this 12th day of February, 2009.

BY THE COURT: GLENN T.SUDDABY United States District Judge

After preaching for a while, I was tired and sweaty, so I stopped and sat down before leaving for home. After about two minutes, I saw a police officer hurrying up the sidewalk looking wildly around for something. Could they really be so stupid? The injunction is probably the most strongly worded injunction I have ever read. Clear, all inclusive, and very firm. I am looking forward to the spring. I am hoping to take a team out to the Commons on a Friday or Saturday night. It should get interesting. I have already spoken to the Alliance Defense Fund about it. They are ready to go if the police show up again.

Charlotte is a good campus for me. I went on campus and the day was cool. The classes were toward the end of the semester. This always affects how a campus responds.

The first day I preached, I bombed out good on the first break, around noon. So I sat down and began to pray. I was sitting on the tower's base. Before less than 10 minutes, to my surprise a crowd slowly began to form. I was just answering questions from students, and suddenly I heard from behind me, at the base

David Scott and two of his friends (1) accompanied me to Mansfield State University. By November, the weather had turned pretty cold. I started out preaching (2) but had little success in drawing an audience. After about three quarters of an hour, my voice was not liking the cold weather much. I asked David to take a turn preaching (3). David also had no traction. I took back over around 2:00 (4), and was able to get 7 or so students to stop. I was however not really able to connect them to the preaching event. Before too long, they wandered off.

The lower right hand picture (6) shows a little of what we are up against on campuses these days. The occult, witchcraft, and atheism are becoming ever more bold. We must continue to stand up against these deceptively innocent appearing activities. It is easily sold to these kids who are ignorant of the demonic powers they are flirting with.

David's friends worked the fringes of what little crowds (5) we were able to draw. Winter time in the northern states is always hard. Most of the time leading up to Thanksgiving was spent on Penn State, Mansfield, and Lock Haven Universities. The preaching was ineffective because of the cold weather. I guess I was just killing time until I could go down south with Jed.

I apologize for letting my reportage slip. I will do better this winter. I still have one more journal to send out, hopefully in the next week or so. It will cover from Thanksgiving until the end of the year.

As I said above, I will be working for 3 months in Columbus Ohio, in order to get my finances in better shape. I hope my supporters don't drop off. If you will continue to contribute, it will go only for ministry after winter is over. I will be sending out receipts to all those who have contributed before January 10th.