Friday Night Notes

pretty grim...


Honestly, I don't know if this is a good thing, but I feel remarkably alright. You see, up until very recently, when I came back home from a tough night of Gospel preaching like the one tonight, it would take me a day or so to get over the heartache of it. Just watching so many souls hate and curse the very concept of God... the hard speech... the foolish mockery, and the just plain folly of ungodly living... it would trouble and depress me. Tonight, however, I'm somehow able to just put it all to rest. I don't know if this is a fluke, or if I'm somehow getting hardened to the constant hardships involved in spiritual warfare. I should pray about this.

It was a strange night of street evangelism...

Some hated us silently, some with bitter and vile words.

I stood amazed at the sheer number of people who silently cursed when they got a glimpse of our Bible signs or heard something of our preaching. Most of these would, amongst their curses, take the name of the Lord in vain. Amazing. It never ceases to amaze me just how much the people of my city hate the Gospel, and/or anything that has to do with God.

As far as the more vocal cursings and mockeries pastor Tim and I endured tonight, I'll spare you the details, dear readers.

Some showed us mercy, others, empathy.

There were a few bright spots in what was otherwise, a pretty grim night of street preaching. There was a waitress who had come out of one of one of the restaurants near our preaching spot to have a cigarette. After listening to our preaching for a couple of minutes, she offered to get us some coffee/tea to help us keep warm. The Lord show her mercy for her kindness as He had shown the Shunammite woman mercy (2 Kings 4:8-37).

A few other souls came by to show us some sympathy, recognizing that our work was difficult, and righteous. A group of young men who had definitely been in church at some point in their past thanked me for my faithfulness. All and all, I don't think they wanted any part of the Gospel, but somehow they both realized the truth of it, and that my preaching of it was, at the very least, admirable.

Some who were hopelessly lost, came with scornful mockery.

A young Muslim woman walked up to me and said she wanted to know what my preaching was all about. When I explained that I was preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ she stiffened her neck and claimed that she was part of the fastest growing religion in the world, and that somehow signified that her religion was the way to go. Oh dear. To be fair to this Muslim, I've met lots of Romanists that have made similar statements. Again... oh dear....

Moments later I met a man who asked me if what the Bible had to say about artificial intelligence. To this very moment, I have no idea if the man was just mocking me, or if he was actually asking me this question. Artificial intelligence... I would have settled with just plain intelligence.

A lost soul came seeking.

A man named James came by to speak to me when I was preaching the Gospel. He claimed to be a born-again Christian but he admitted that he was struggling with substance abuse and wasn't part of any local church.

"Dear friend," I said, "if you are a born-again Christian, then you have been free from the bondage of sin. If sin still rules in your life, then you really have to examine whether you were ever truly converted."

I then told James to zealously seek God in His word, and to meditate on God's Word day and night; it is, after all, "the incorruptible seed of the new birth." I then encouraged him to find a local church and to seek Christian fellowship and discipleship. I invited him to our meetings on the Lord's Day, and he thanked me profusely for my words and my invitation. He said he would surely come to worship with us. I hope he does.


And now, a tired preacher will be heading for bed. That's the notes for this week, dear readers. It was a difficult night of preaching, but the Lord was glorified, and that's all that matters. Praise, glory, honour, power and majesty by to His Holy Name, now and forever, Amen.

Remember to pray for us, dear saints of God.

God bless you all,


Rand

Labels: Friday evangelism