Saturday 07-09-11

I headed out to Mill Ave alone this week, but Marcus, Kat and Alex showed up shortly after. It was a little windy, which was actually nice because it cooled the temperature down some from the heat of the day.

A couple wandered by, looking at the "Are You A Good Person?" sign. It seemed that they were curious, but went over to the side to discuss it amongst themselves first. Finally, they asked how to know if they're good or not. I explained that I'd ask them a few questions based on the Ten Commandments, which is where I encountered my first resistance. They said, "You mean your interpretation of the Ten Commandments?" and I said no, just the Commandments themselves, which is God's moral standard in outline form.

I mean, how many different ways can one "interpret" you shall not murder, steal or lie? But TJ and Jessica were unbelievers who liked to debate. When asked what they would call someone who told lies, they said, "a human being." Really? Hey you human being! Not real specific there, is it? They said it would have to be habitual to be a liar, and I told them that would make a person a habitual liar. Or someone with a problem might be called a pathological liar. But we're talking about a regular teller of lies. How many lies do you think one would have to tell in order to be labeled a liar? One lie will transgress God's law, and Rev 21:8 tells us that "all liars will have their part in the lake of fire." All liars. All. But, I guess others may want to "interpret" differently. I would call it lying to themselves.

Anyway, we got a bit sidetracked with all the different objections they had obviously not researched very thoroughly. Misplaced faith in the silly arguments that they'd rather believe, instead of seriously searching for truth. They even brought up the "Jefferson Bible", which I explained was not exactly what they thought it was.
Jefferson Bible Link

A guy named Richie stopped by on a bike. He claimed to have spent some time in a Mexican prison, where someone showed him this one particular verse in the Bible that is supposed to be the "key." In speaking with him further, this apparently meant that he could ignore everything else. The verse was John 3:21, which he said allows him to act righteously, keeping him from watching pornography, fighting or doing drugs, although he continued to lust over women while talking to me. I even asked him what he was doing while he was staring at girls walking by, and he said that he was showing them that he was interested in a couple of them. Yet he held that he was a good person, doing no wrong.

He wanted me to tell him that he passed the Good Person Test, but we didn't even get through it. He seemed to think that he could be good enough on his own, per his "key" verse that he had showed me. He claimed that he had learned in the Mexican prison about not wanting to be harmed, so he harmed no one. Kinda sounds like the old Wiccan saying to me. This guy was extremely lost and not open to the Gospel, I pray that God would work in his heart, convicting him of his sins so that he might repent and believe.

The drummer from last week returned and had a friend with his own drum set, so it was twice as loud. We handed out tracts, but weren't able to get into to many One 2 One conversations or do any Open Air.

Later, Melissa (the woman with the URL's) showed up, blowing bubbles and debating her idea of science with us. I'm not sure why she comes out there. Just as the "atheists" used to come out, she comes to debate because she hates our message. It would seem that people would simply avoid things that they dislike, rather than search them out to argue about them. I guess it's a good sign that she's hearing the Word every time she comes out. Maybe one of these days the Lord will reach down and take away her objections, showing her that none of these things matter in light of eternity.

Soli Deo Gloria