Friday Night Notes

vain words...

Even with cooler temperatures, the masses were out in the marketplace again tonight. It felt good to have my pastor back for our usual three hours of street evangelism; it's good to have someone covering your six.

We distributed a good number of Bible tracts tonight, and had a number of one-on-one conversations with the unconverted. There was still plenty of mockery and cursing, but we also got mercy drops here and there from souls who were favorable to our ministry. So all and all, a good night; here are some of the highlights:

The Good:

A group of young men walked by me as I was carrying the Gospel sign late in the evening; they laughed when they saw me, so I just kept walking. I was a whole block away when the same group of men came up behind me. They were all out of breath.

"Hey! hang on, man," one of them exclaimed.

"Listen," another one began, "we ran all the way up here to talk to you... we don't want to give you a hard time, we just want to see your sign and know what you're about. I know we're kind of drunk, but we're serious... we're not being jerks here..."

Well, I let them read the sign and I explained to them that I was displaying the Word of Truth to everyone in the hopes that some would convert and come to a saving knowledge of Christ. I then reminded them that they too, needed saving. I said:

"You know guys, if you all died tonight, all of you would meet God as drunkards."

I would say there was about 6 young men, two of them seemed to be taking what I had to say VERY SERIOUSLY. They told me they were military, and that they were on leave; I wasn't sure if they were honest with me, so they began to show me their Canadian Forces cards. At that point, I realized that they weren't trying to make a spectacle out of me, so I challenged them to seek the Lord. It was a good conversation.

They said they might come to church on Sunday... do I ever hope they do!


The Bad:

Several times tonight, and I mean SEVERAL, people would walk by me, see that I was either preaching, distributing or simply holding Gospel literature and this is what came out of their mouths:

"Jeeeezusss!"

"Jeezus Christ!"

"What the Hell?"

"Oh my God!"

Unreal! They respond to the Gospel with the very words found in the Gospel, but the words are vain. They don't even realize what they're saying. It got me wondering: will their responses to my Gospel preaching be replayed for them one day? Can you imagine? Watching themselves take the Lord's name in vain right after reading a part of the Gospel! Hearing themselves use the word "Hell", but never actually thinking about what this place is all about.

I wonder.


The Absolutely Insane:

So a man came by tonight while I was preaching, and he was going to educate me in the Scriptures. You see, denominations (as in all of them), are 100% of the devil according to him, that's why he doesn't go to church. He worships in his house with his wife and his mother-in-law; so he says. Also, the apostle Paul wasn't a man, he was an angel. Oh, and the end is extremely nigh, so enough of this street preaching, it's time to prepare for the Rapture.

Now this guy was seriously far out! His hand gestures, his tone of voice, along with his bizarre doctrines made that abundantly clear. So, trying to cut in his diatribe to try and get him off my case, I said:

"Sir, you are mistaken about a whole lot of things... you are in a bad way."

Well, let me tell ya, that didn't go over to well. The look of fury that came over his face was something to behold.

"If you do not receive my teachings," looney toons began, "then you are sinning against the Holy Ghost! And that, as you know, can not be forgiven."

At this point, I couldn't hold it in any longer. I started laughing, which just further infuriated the man. I quickly refocused, regained my composure and kept repeating "sir, have a good evening" until he realized I wasn't going to fight or argue with him any longer.


And that's the notes for tonight. I'm going off to bed now for a well deserved night of sleep. God bless you, dear readers. Have a blessed weekend, especially the Lord's Day.

"Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (Revelation 22:20b)


Rand