Saturday 05-01-10

Tom and I met Alan, Leigh, Joe and Doug on Mill Ave. We messed around with Alan's new PA system for a while and then we prayed and got busy handing out tracts. People didn't seem to be as receptive as they were last week, but we still got a few of them distributed throughout the night, and had some great conversations.

A man named Michael stopped with his family to watch as Tom and I threw a red light back and forth across the sidewalk. This is a great illusion that has been attracting attention lately. People will stop, often with their children to watch, and then we can pull a coin out of the air and give it to them. It has the Ten Commandments on it, and then we give the adults a million dollar bill and we're able to transition to a spiritual discussion.
Tom spoke with Michael and his family, and I continued handing out tracts.

Next, Theodora, Peter and Gelly stopped to check out the light throwing illusion and we talked to them for a while. They were Greek Orthodox. Theodora seemed to have a good understanding of the Bible, as we went through the Good Person Test, she saw that she would be headed for hell if judged by God's standard of the Ten Commandments on Judgment Day. Peter was pretty quiet, and Gelly said she'd go to heaven because of her belief in Jesus Christ. We explained further, the need for repentance and trust in Him alone in order to make that sacrifice pertain to us. We left them with a few tracts, including a "Save Yourself Some Pain", which goes more in depth and can be found at LivingWaters.com

I did an open air trivia and three young guys stopped to take the Good Person Test. Gens, Gordon and Corey (who stayed in the background and was pretty quiet). Gens looked a bit convicted, as he went through the test, but I'm not sure he was ready to make any change in his life just yet. We left them with a couple of "Are You Good Enough to get into Heaven" tracts to hopefully read later.
You can catch a video of this and the following encounter at Tom's blog, by clicking the title of this post.

Tom did an open air and a man named Chris stopped with his girlfriend. He stayed to talk more afterwards, even though his girlfriend actually tried to physically pull him away. But he stayed as he enjoyed discussing spiritual subjects. His girlfriend wouldn't wait, though, and she said she'd just meet him wherever they were going.
He had a Catholic background, and Tom (who also has a Catholic background) was able to talk to him for quiet a while. When he was done, Chris hung around and talked further with Joe.

The night had gone pretty well up to this point. Marcus, Phil and Walter came by a bit later to do some open air at the corner. It was interesting that, throughout the evening, the same message was being preached, but reactions were quite different.

One particular young couple, who had been standing nearby listening to an informal debate between Walt and an atheist, looked interested, so I asked them what they thought. They said that both sides were wrong, and that they should not be out there. They didn't like it, but hung around and listened anyway.

I tried to talk to them a bit, but the PA was pretty loud, and it seemed that they had been drinking and believed that "all paths lead to the same place." They just didn't realize that place is the Judgment Seat of Christ, and it's where you go from there that really matters.

They started cursing at us and calling us names, while professing to be Christians themselves. I should have walked away at that point, but stayed and continued to argue with them. That was a mistake, it is not why we're out there and it was not glorifying of God. Those who are angry and not open to having a dialog about the subject will only waste our time that could be better spent speaking with someone else. If God hasn't opened their eyes, they're still blinded by Satan and the things of this world.

These two were very angry, and as Marcus and I continued to try to get our point across, they continued making derogatory comments, and the guy threw his drink on me. Then an atheist from nearby stepped in between us to help "protect" them from us, as if we were going to start some sort of fight or something. I think he was probably more help to us than to them. Marcus was video taping, which really seemed to aggravate the woman a lot. They finally left, and headed down the street.

Please keep all of these people in prayer - the atheists as well as the believers (some have never heard the Gospel presented in a way that really makes sense before), and all those who received tracts or heard the Gospel - that God would open their eyes, convict them and draw them to Himself for their salvation and His glory alone.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. - Ephesians 6:12

Later on, another guy came up to talk with Walter and Phil. He also said he was a Christian, and that he heard a lot of street preachers out there condemning people and pointing fingers at them. But he said that he appreciated the fact that they were not doing that. Completely different reaction than the previous one.
It just depends on who God is working on, so we continue to go out in obedience to the Great Commission.

I recently read a quote (from the Way of the Master Minute, at the bottom of this page) by LeeRoy Beatty. He said, "Jesus said, 'Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.' If you are not fishing, you are not following."
Interesting quote, and a bit convicting.

He also said, "Silence is not golden, it's yellow." So, don't be yellow, be bold, get out there and do some fishing. ><((('>

Soli Deo Gloria.