Friday Night Notes

so many... serving the devil...


Same old... same old. Three hours of street preaching the Gospel of Christ in the marketplace; three hours of warning of the consequence of sin, reminding all of the coming judgment of God, and finally, pointing to the Saviour. The result was the sad usual: mockery, vile rejections, blasphemies and threats.

Toward the end of our evangelistic time, I found myself staring at the dirty sidewalk where we do most of our Bible preaching and I thought to myself: "What in the world are you doing here?" Please don't attempt to answer this question in the comment box. Whether friend or foe, I really don't need anyone to tell me why I am out in the marketplace every Friday; I know all too well why I'm there. Still, I often find myself in absolute awe at the various circumstances and workings of the Holy Spirit which have brought me to stand on a street corner, the asphalt stained with decades worth of dried chewing gum and all manner of alcoholic beverage, giving our (or attempting to give out) the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In my flesh, that is, of my own self, I could think of only 1,234,354 places I would rather be spending my Friday nights, but praise be to God, He has saved me from the vanity and wickedness of my sinful flesh.

Other than a few curious souls who have taken Bible literature from me, I was mocked and maligned all night long. Pastor Tim had the opportunity to share the Gospel in a civil, respectful conversation with two men, but I got nothin'. Three hours, thousands of souls, and only one civil, meaningful conversation. How heartbreaking...

I was truly impressed with the level of demon/devil worship surrounding me tonight. No one bowed down to statues of demons, or openly prayed to the devil, but the worship of evil was all around me tonight. From bus loads of drunken University students chanting obscenities, to a couple talking about "spiritual" experiences they enjoyed while high on drugs, to the men who cursed at me for simply holding a Bible sign. It was there. All around me. Evil. Demented. Oppressive.

A few fresh memories from tonight's work:

-One of my workmates walked by me tonight as I was passing out Bible tracts. He and I are on the "Emergency Response Team" at my workplace (it's a first aid response team). He was less than 5 feet away from me, and never said "hello", he didn't make any gestures, he didn't even look at me. I was totally, 100% ignored.

-After reading my 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Bible sign, a young man asked me if I ever ate shellfish. Knowing full well that he was making allusion to the ceremonial law of Moses in Leviticus, and was trying, of course, to discredit the condemnation of homosexuals, I explained that the passage he was referring to was Old Testament, and that 1 Corinthians was in the New Testament. I insinuated that he would profit more by obedience to the Word, than to amuse himself with inaccurate and foolish anti-Bible punchlines. He just mocked me to scorn.

-On my last turn at street preaching, a group of young men stopped and listened to what I had to say. I could tell that they were mocking me amongst themselves, but I pressed on, hoping that the Holy Spirit would open their hearts to the Gospel I was preaching. Well, that didn't happen. The young men eventually walked past me, dropped some change at my feet (treating me like a street beggar), and walked away laughing. By the grace of God, I turned their evil act into good, by picking up the change, and dropping it in our church "Rice Fund Jar" (a literal jar in which we collect spare change to buy bags of rice for those who suffer famine in other countries).

-The Lord drew my attention to the sad plight of a street beggar tonight. I've known this particular beggar for years now, and I have watched him progressively waste away. Tonight, the man couldn't even stand straight, nor walk straight. I walked over to him and pleaded with him to end his self-destructive way of life. I told him that if he didn't put an end to this soon, he would end up being just another statistic; just another homeless street beggar found dead of an overdose, or exposure due to alcoholic intoxication. All I got as a response was: "I know... I know." He, however, continued to beg for money for the next bottle/hit.


I'm going to stop now, because my soul is vexed, and my heart aches. It doesn't help that I'm terribly tired, so I'm going to turn in now.

Remember us in your prayers, dear saints of God.

Dear readers, have a blessed weekend, and don't forget to give the Lord's Day to the worship of the Lord.


Rand

"Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness." (Psalm 29:2)

Labels: Friday evangelism