Friday Night Notes

won't be a moment too soon...



It was a strange night a street preaching. The usual was present: the mockery, the hatred, the occasional interest. I suppose it was my own perception that was slightly off... or perhaps it was "on"... I just don't know. I promised long ago that I would never let myself think this way because too many saints in the last 2,ooo years thought the same thing and were wrong; but tonight, I just couldn't help it.

Surely, the Lord's return is imminently close.

The apostasy is so generalized, so pervasive (2 Thessalonians 2:3). So many clinging to doctrines of demons (1 Timothy 4:1) and wicked conjectures to excuse their wickedness (2 Timothy 4:4). The same embrace wicked men (Romans 1:32), heaping them up as great leaders/teachers (2 Timothy 4:3), and now words like "morality" and "uprightness" have absolutely no meaning whatsoever.

Then there's the church.

There is a Bible doctrine that supposes that the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 are actually seven ages or time periods that the church will go through prior to the return of the Lord. I will let you read these chapters, dear readers, and will let you tell me which of the seven churches best describes the modern church and where that puts us in church history.

These thoughts rolled around in my mind continuously tonight, and the souls I dealt with only helped my "imminent return" inclination. From the young lady (who couldn't have been more than 15 years of age) who gave me the finger, repeatedly (her parents right there next to her!), for simply holding up a Bible sign, to the man who claimed to have read the Bible and "believed in God", but who was drunk as a skunk, to the young lady who hadn't the foggiest (nor cared really) what sin and repentance really was... they all together drew a picture of generalized, chronic apostasy and ungodliness.

Anyway, there you have it. I think it's all coming down soon. Maybe I'm wrong. One thing is for sure, the Lord knows. A second thing is for sure, the day will come, sooner or later, that Rand will no longer be freezing on a street corner, preaching the Gospel to an ungodly and untoward generation; Rand will be at peace with his Lord.

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In closing, I'll share a couple of absurd conversations I had tonight.


Absurdity #1:

I hadn't even started preaching. Not one word had come out of my mouth. I was getting my Bible tracts out of my pocket with one hand, and with my other hand I held a Bible sign with John 3:36 on it. A man walked by me and said:

"The Bible says: 'Judge not lest ye be judged.'"

"Okay, well done, you know Matthew 7:1," I replied. "Do you know what the verse means?"

"It means God will judge, and you're not to do judge me," the man replied.

"Fair enough," I said. "For the record, I didn't say a word to you, much less judge you."

The man quickly walked away, probably realizing that the only person judging him, was himself.


Absurdity #2:

A man walked up to me, visibly displeased with the sound of my preaching and said:

"I don't want to believe in what I want and not have any one else's religion preached to me."

"Okay, then keep walking," I replied

"You're just writing me off like that," the man said with a shocked look on his face. "I just want to have the right to walk around and not be taught any one else's religion."

"Yep, I just want to have the right to preach my faith," I replied.

The man was in brain-lock at this point. He clearly saw that for him to have a right at the expense of my right was... well... not right.

"You find me annoying, my friend?" I inquired. "Well, I don't want to annoy you, so just keep walking. Then we are both happy."

Still muddled by my logic, and somewhat ashamed of himself, the man tried to make amends by claiming to know God and desired to shake my hand as some sort of peace gesture. I shook his hand to show that there was no ill will, and sadly, he walked away.


And that's the notes for tonight, dear readers. Have a blessed weekend and restful Lord's Day.


Rand

Ps: Pastor Tim was preaching and I was offering tracts on the other side of the street when Dany Heatly walked by me. He tried his best to ignore me and didn't take a tract. You'd think with the way the Ottawa Senators have been playing lately that he'd be looking to Heaven for some help! ;-p

Labels: Friday evangelism