Friday Night Notes

the usual North American apathy...


Three hours of street evangelism done tonight, and nothing much to show for it. We declared the Gospel of Truth in open-air preaching, we offered Bible literature, and we walked in front of all the downtown bars and pubs with our Gospel signs, and the response: pure apathy.

I have been through several nights like tonight. Nights where us preachers are no better than a lamp post. Oh! it's not like we were totally ignored by one and all. We were mocked and scorned by many, but even the souls who dished it out didn't even look or care to listen at anything having to do with the Lord. It's not like they actually read the signs or listened to the preaching. They just had to hear the words "Bible", or "Jesus", and we were given signs of exasperation and frustration. Truly sad, but I suppose the Scriptures are once again vindicated:

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)

The night wasn't a whole waste though, I did deal with three Muslim young men, and things went rather well. It's not like I witnessed anything like conversions, but I did share the Gospel with them and they all appreciated what I had to say. With all three men, their chief objection with Christianity was that those who call themselves Christians are terribly carnal; they pointed to the hypocrisy of Romanism and then the half-dressed women walking around downtown who called themselves "Christians". I pointed out to the men that Christians are those who actually followed the teachings of Jesus Christ, and that pretty much ruled out Romanists and the half-naked hypocrites in the marketplace. I gave them all a Gospel of John. Please pray that the Lord would move them to read His precious Gospel, that they may come to the knowledge of the Truth.

The most aggravating moments tonight came when I was faced with two wicked, hypocritical false professors. The first was a young man who was waiting for a bus. He saw me walking down the street with my 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 sign and after reading it, he scoffed and laughed. I told him that he wouldn't be scoffing of laughing when stood before God, with that verse condemning him to Hell. He again scoffed and said:

"Bah! I believe in God"

"No, I don't think so, my friend," I answered.

"F#*$ you! you..." the young man replied.

"You believe in God, but you curse like a devil," I replied.

The young man continued to curse, albeit in a lower voice. I think even he was realizing the extent of his hypocrisy. The Lord have mercy on him.

The other aggravating moment came in the form of terribly dressed (or perhaps I should say "undressed") young woman. Dear readers, I assure you, she won the "wardrobe malfunction" prize for tonight. She was wearing a dress that was probably two or three sizes small for her; the thing was so tight and tiny, her bra was sticking out of the top AND the sides. Anyway, she walked up to me as I was preaching, and if memory serves the last thing I said before she interrupted me was:

"... we are all wicked sinners by birth and by choice."

"Hey! I'm not wicked!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, you are," I answered.

"No, I'm not," she obstinately claimed.

"Miss, look at how you are dressed," I said, totally exasperated.

And then I witnessed the saddest, most pathetic scene of the night. She continued to claim that she was righteous as she attempted to stuff her bra back under her dress. AS IF I COULDN'T SEE WHAT SHE WAS DOING!!! Oh my...


That's all I've got tonight, dear readers. I'm going to bed. I have a really, REALLY busy weekend ahead of me, so I need my rest. Please remember me in prayer, dear saints of God, that the Lord would continue to give me boldness to proclaim His Truth, and that He would give me the strength and power to live out His Truth every moment of every day.

God bless you all!


Rand

Ps: I just uploaded last Sunday night's sermon. In it, pastor Tim deals with the word "world" in the Bible, and the necessity of the believer's separation from the world. The Bible Text at the beginning of the sermon is 1 John 2. It is quite good. Just CLICK HERE to hear it (yes Jean, this is the sermon).

Labels: Friday evangelism