Friday Night Notes

seriously... no rain...

This was the first Friday night of evangelism in some time now where there was no trace of rain. That was nice. Only problem (weather wise) was that it was unusually cold tonight; by 10pm, I was starting to shiver.

While we did have a number of conversations with sinners tonight, I'm afraid that the weather wasn't the only thing that was cold in the marketplace; hearts were frozen cold to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There was a fair bit of mockery and scorn, but I thank the Lord that none of it turned to violence or even, the threat of violence.

One of the saddest moments for me in tonight's evangelistic endeavour was when a man stopped by my John 3:36 and read it out loud, in a mocking tone of course, and dozens of people gathered round to get in a good laugh at my expense. It's not that they hurt my feelings, or that I felt humiliated in any way... rather, I saw the whole event as such a powerfully sad commentary on the spiritual, moral and ethical state of my city. In short, I live amongst an ungodly, sin-hardened, and ill-mannered people. Lord, have mercy!

Pastor Tim had a long conversation with a group of Muslims, but he said he didn't get to far with them. He tried to explain to them that without a sacrifice for sin, their hope of peace with God is dead; a sacrifice that Islam doesn't have. The old "well God will forgive if the person is really, really sorry". Imagine using that one in an earthly court of law...

"I know I stole from the store, your honour, but I'm really sorry about it, so case dismissed, right?"

I had a long enough conversation with a liberal "Christian". He asked me why I was preaching the Gospel and shared with me that it would seem more logical to him for me to be doing that kind of work in some "Third-World country". In my mind I said: "What!?!?" Out loud however, I said:

"Dear sir, I don't think most so-called Third-World countries need evangelists as much as this country does. The way things are going, Canada is going to need some African evangelists and missionaries!"

It became clear, very very quickly that the man had no time for Bible doctrine and teaching. To him, the Bible was a book made by ancient man, for ancient man. When I made it clear I disagreed, we shook hands and he left. The Lord open his eyes to the Truth, God's Word is Truth.

Moments later, as I was handing out Bible tracts, a man rejected my offer and claimed he didn't worry about sin, because he was a Jew. Again, in my mind I said: "What!?!?" Out loud, I said:

"Okay, my Jewish friend, what is tonight?"

"Ah... it's sabbath..." he answered slowly.

"What are you doing in the market after sundown?" I continued.

The man wouldn't answer since, very obviously, I had exposed his hypocrisy. Walking away with an uncomfortable smile on his face, I added:

"They say that a Jew isn't necessarily one by flesh, but rather, one that is a Jew in heart."

Had the man stuck around for an extra minute, I would have shared with him the words of the Lord Jesus Christ:

"Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." (Luke 3:8)

Minutes after that encounter, I had a good conversation with a photographer who made it clear he didn't have much time for my faith, but that he admired "my guts". He did request a Bible tract, though, so I'm hoping that the Holy Spirit was working in his heart. I guess time will tell.

Pastor Tim and I finished off the evening of street preaching, having distributed a fair number of tracts and having shared the Gospel of Jesus to hundreds, if not thousands of souls. The Lord use our efforts as he sees fit.


Good night, dear readers. Have a safe and holy weekend.

Dear saints of God, have a glorious, restful Lord's Day.


Rand

Labels: Friday evangelism