Friday Night Notes

where have the foundations gone?


As I made my way towards the downtown core for our night of street evangelism, I drove past a Convention Baptist church (our most liberal/unbelieving Baptist denomination). It had a sign on the front lawn:

Laughter: a tranquilizer with no side effects.

Now that's a Gospel message! I don't know why in the world I go out preaching the Bible every Friday night. I mean, if there was a better quote in the Bible than the "laughter" quote, surely they would have posted it, right? (written with tongue firmly against cheek)

Not wanting the people of my city to only have the "laughter" quote for a Bible teaching, pastor Tim and I went out for our usual 3 hours of Bible preaching in the marketplace. We didn't speak much on laughter... our message rather centered on repentance to God, and faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. There were no shortage of people who declared to us that they would much rather have us speak on laughter and other "positive" concepts, but alas, call us miserable, we stuck with "repent and believe on the Gospel of Jesus".

It was a pretty rough night for me, though I can't say I let any of it get to me. Call it the "old, battle-hardened soldier of the Cross" effect. I had a woman who professed faith in Christ, shout in my face that I was an unloving, judgmental pharisee. Another woman told me that I should be ashamed of myself for carrying a Gospel sign with John 3:36 on it; apparently, according to her, that was the last thing God wanted me to do. I had a man shout out that I should be a Jehovah's Witness, like him. I answered that I WAS Jehovah's witness, and that I served a God who's Name was above all names (Philippians 2:5-9). Another woman actually threw her shoe at me as I walked by her with my Gospel sign (that is a first... I had food, drinks, even cigarettes thrown at me... but not a shoe...).

The only kind word I got tonight was from a Pentecostal who witnessed the "shoe-throwing" incident and walked with me for awhile as a show of support. The Lord bless him.

Don't worry, I'm not going to whine. Like I mentioned above, I took it all rather well tonight; thanks be to God for His grace. The following passage did come into mind though as I realized just how hostile the response was to the Gospel:

"If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3)

All too often, I feel like we are treading water in our evangelistic efforts. We work... we preach... we explain... but the foundations are destroyed. The most basic and obvious moral standards, the most rudimentary Biblical teachings are so warped (if they are not missing completely), that no one understands the Gospel, nor does anyone care to learn anything about the Truth that is in Christ. If the Lord doesn't work a mighty work of grace in my city/country... and I mean a work of grace from scratch... we die.

"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." (Psalm 9:17)

Please pray for a mighty work akin to the revival and awakening the Lord caused in Nineveh in the days Jonah. Hey! to quote king David: "who can tell what the Lord will do?"

Please continue to pray for pastor Tim, that the Lord would heal him of his lung infection. Also, pray for me, I have had some health problems of my own.

God bless you all, dear brothers and sisters-in-the-Lord.

Dear readers, have a blessed weekend... and a holy Lord's Day.


Rand

Labels: Friday evangelism