Friday Night Notes

the night of the Romanists...

The weather was quite mild tonight for our customary three hours of street preaching. I still wore my winter jacket, my gloves and my boots, but for the first time, I can honestly say: I wasn't all that cold.

Things were much quieter in the marketplace tonight. I welcomed this quietness after that nasty "St-Patrick's Day" last week; a day that should be renamed "drunkenness and debauchery day". Oh! There was plenty of wickedness going on tonight (I did walk right by a drug deal), but nowhere near the intensity of last week. The people were still quite cold to the Gospel, but not too many overt expressions of their disdain for the Truth.

My pastor was really "in the zone" tonight. Just like a hockey player, on some nights, my pastor is just so passionate in his Gospel presentation, it really is something to see. He doesn't go all emotional like some actor. No, no. Rather, his preaching becomes clear, direct and incredibly convicting. Here are some of his "highlights":

1- A Romanist (with the distinct smell of alcohol on him) came by and asked my pastor if he was having a good "lent". This is how my pastor handled the situation:

"What is your faith," my pastor inquired.

"I'm Eastern Catholic," the man answered.

"Catholic..." my pastor began, "I knew you'd say that. I knew it because instead of inquiring on the Gospel, you came to me and inquired about the tradition of lent."

"Tell me," my pastor continued, "do you read the Bible?"

"Oh yes!" the man answered.

"Everyday?" my pastor asked.

"Everyday," the man replied.

"Do you pray to Mary?" my pastor asked pointedly.

This question shook the man. He started stuttering and searching for his words. Finally he struggled to get this out:

"We pray to Mary to get closer to god..."

"You HAVE to be a minister of Satan," my pastor immediately replied. "To read the Bible everyday, and still be wicked enough to bow the knee to someone other than God... to read all about how to serve the Living God through the Bible and still manage to hold on to doctrines of demons... you truly have to be under the complete control of the devil."

The Romanist tried to justify his false doctrines but my pastor wouldn't give him the time of day. He finally gave up and walked away. God have mercy on his soul.

2- Another Romanist walked up to my pastor with some questions. My pastor was holding up our 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 sign:

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."

"Well, I'm a Catholic," the man began, "and my religion always led me to believe that even if I was guilty of drunkeness, or if I have some marijuana, or if I'm immoral, I'll still be able to go to Heaven."

"Oh! I'm sure your religion will tell you that you will still go to Heaven," my pastor replied. "Problem is, I can guarantee you God doesn't care at all about your religion".

"So how do we know what to do to go the Heaven then?" the man inquired.

"God gave us a Bible to read and obey," my pastor answered.

"So we have to follow the Bible literally? That's tough, man!" the Romanist concluded.

"You find it tough because you're not born again," my pastor said. "Before the Lord saved me, I couldn't even stop smoking, much less give up on sin! But when the Lord saved me, I didn't WANT to do the things God hates anymore. Cursing, drinking, immorality... it all had to go."

The man and my pastor continued for awhile. My pastor explained that faith in Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, was the key to eternal life, and that the only way one could truly have faith in this Jesus, is to know Him; and the only sure place to go to learn about Jesus the Saviour is the Bible, the written Word of God. Let's pray our Romanist friend will turn away from his dead religion and embrace the God of the Bible.


And that's the notes for tonight. It's time for bed. Remember me in your prayers, dear saints, as I will be preaching the evening service this Lord's Day. Good night.


Rand