S.O.W.E.R.: Saturday 06-11-11

Saturday night started out kind of slow. We prayed and began handing out some tracts.

Brandt showed up with his sign, and people were already coming and asking about it before we had it completely set up. The sign asks, "Who's Right?" and lists some differnt religions in order to start a discussion.

It works quite well, sometimes people are angry, even though the sign does not imply any religion over another, it just asks the question.

Joe saw a couple of people that he knew, Jose and Jeanine, so he introduced them to Tom, who took them through the Good Person Test. They claimed to be Christians, but were angry at hearing the Law before Grace, claiming their own self-righteousness (see Prov 20:6). Then they asked if Tom had ever heard of the WOTM with Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort, claiming that their church had gone through some of their teachings. They had no idea that Tom has been offering these free seminars every month for years, equipping people to be able to share their faith. It seemed to be their pride that got in the way.

They left, not liking what they heard, even though Tom took them straight through it just like Ray and Kirk do. I’m not sure what they saw in the teaching from their church, because they didn't comprehend the very basic teaching of the WOTM, that none of us are good on our own when held to God's moral standard.

I like the way that I heard John MacArthur once answered the question of whether or not he considered himself to be a good person. He stated that he had an alien righteousness. I like that answer, it sums it up nicely.

I did see the two of them hanging around in the background while Brandt was preaching later, but didn't get a chance to talk to them, so I have no idea what they thought of that.

Brandt did some Open Air Trivia, and drew a crowd pretty quickly. One guy was irritated with the conversation and kicked the stool that Brandt was standing on as he left. We would end up seeing that guy again later.

I spoke with a man named Jess, who was pretty drunk. He was standing near the back of the crowd as Brandt was speaking, and he seemed like he wanted to talk. He asked me what I would say to someone like him, someone who wasn’t sure, but was no longer denying God, either. He said that a few years ago, he would be mocking us like a couple of atheists were, but now that he was older (25), he was reconsidering things. Even in his drunkeness, the Lord was working in this guy.

I explained the difference between Christianity and every religion in the world, that they all teach that you have to do something, while Christianity says there’s nothing you can do, no possible way to earn your way into God's good graces. I told him how it’s already been done for us, that God has actually paid the fine for us, and that the good works which follow are solely out of gratitude, not attempting to earn our way. All that's left for us to do is repent and trust in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation. I gave him a “Why Christianity?” tract, which briefly explains this difference. He said he had a Bible, but I gave him a book of John anyway, since it’s small and easy to carry. I also gave him an “Are You Good Enough to Get into Heaven?” tract.

He wanted to know more, so I took him through The Good Person Test. He admitted his guilt and could understand his need for a Savior. He shook my hand and gave me a hug, saying that he was glad that I had taken the time to explain it to him. I told him that I’d keep him in prayer, and would ask everyone reading this to do the same.

As Brandt was talking with a crowd of people that had stopped, a man jumped out of the passenger side of a car on the street, ran up and threw his drink on him, splashing many in the crowd as well. Brandt was pretty quick with a response, as he said, “Thank you, sir, but I ordered a diet drink!” Kat said it was the same guy from earlier that had kicked the stool. She got the license number on the car, but we dried off the mic and speaker and let it go.

Later, the same guy came walking up from a different direction and threw a cup of water on Brandt. Marcus and I grabbed the guy and took him down to hold him until the police could get there. Brandt was calling for the policy over the loudspeaker, and Kat called them from her cell phone. The guy was trying to get away, but two other big guys came up. It turns out that Kat had asked them for help, and they had seen the previous encounter with this guy. One of them held his legs, while the other put his leg across the guys shoulder and stretched his arm out in an arm bar, rendering him immobile until the police arrived and arrested him for assault. Brandt is still hoping to get a tract into his hands when they go to court.

A couple of other saw Tom's sign and stopped to ask us about the Good Person Test. I took them through it, and when we got to the part about hell, they said they'd be concerned if they believed in it. I told them that their lack of belief does not make something untrue. If they stood out in the middle of the street in complete disbelief of cars, it wouldn't prevent them from being hit by one. We all put our faith into something, some put it into God, others put theirs into man. They were pretty knowledgeable about the Bible, but didn't believe it. I gave them answers to some of their objections, such as the "two different creation accounts" which is pretty common. It's actually a single account: the "first" one is a general overview and then it goes back and gives a more detailed account of the same thing for what people call the "second"one.

I couldn't answer all of their questions and objections, but we had a pretty good discussion. Then one of them got a phone call on his cell and they had to go. I pray that they would consider the subject more, and find some better sources for their information. They stated that they didn't believe that there was any proof that Jesus existed at all, which most unbelievers who have studied will concede is untrue. There is simply too much evidence to say that He never existed, yet many still refuse to believe that He is God. Unless the Lord converts them, they will never believe on their own. Pray for their salvation to God's glory alone.