Friday Night Notes

back to work...

After missing several weeks, it was good (so to speak...) to be back street preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the marketplace of my city. It's incredible how rusty one can get at it if one takes too long of a break. I was fighting fear for the first half hour... cold sweats and everything! Finally, found my groove after a couple of hours of preaching.

Nothing much has changed in market in the last few weeks. I found it as I left it, filled with sinners with no interest in the Gospel and who are quite prepared to announce just how much they hate the Lord Jesus Christ. Before I even started preaching tonight, a woman saw me walk by with my John 3:36 sign and said:

"Argh! Enough with the whole Jesus stuff!"

I doubt the woman had been exposed to a whole lot of Gospel... I guess that means that any exposure to the Truth is too much for the wicked in my city.

There was no shortage of mockery, no shortage of scorn directed at pastor Tim and I. From the man who claimed that "there was no such thing as God", to the fool who yelled out "judge not lest ye be judged" upon hearing me quote John 3:16... it was another night in which that powers of darkness ruled in the marketplace, with all the evil and demented folly they produce. How frustrating it gets to watch the wicked speak amongst themselves, comforting one another in their wickedness and unbelief, after hearing the Word of God. Reminds me of the following Passage:

"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 'Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.'" (Psalm 2:1-3)

There were also some pretty sad conversations tonight. Both pastor Tim and I dealt with souls who had hit rock bottom, and despite knowing the Scriptures, are still lost and have no real desire to call out to the Lord. These souls really saddened me. To be in such a wretched condition, and know the Way, but nevertheless choosing to remain in wretchedness... it boggles the mind. When the Bible says that before conversion, men are spiritually dead, it's no joke. These souls were spiritually blind and dead! The Lord have mercy.

Despite all these hardships, we gave out lots of Bible tracts tonight; far more than our usual amount. I can even remember two souls who read the tracts upon receiving them. I'm always encouraged when people take a tract. One never knows if and when the Lord will you that literature.

There was also another interesting event as our night of evangelism wound down. A young man approached us and asked why we were carrying Bible signs. When we explained to him that we were just concluding a night of street preaching the Gospel, he asked:

"Do you do this often?"

"Every Friday night," I answered.

"How long have you been doing this?" he continued.

"20 years," Pastor Tim answered.

"10 years," I answered.

"Whoa! Hey! I'm a journalism student," the young man said, "I would like to write a story on you guys. Would that be okay?"

Not knowing anything about the young man, pastor Tim and I didn't really know what to answer. Pastor Tim gave the young man one of our church business cards and we asked him to contact us if he was sure he wanted to write something about us. I don't know if the young man was for real, or even if dealing with him would be a good idea. Something to pray about, I guess.

With that, I close this edition of the Friday Night Notes. It was much cooler tonight than the last time I was out street preaching. I guess it will soon be time to get the winter gear out... how time flies.

Have a blessed weekend, dear readers.


Rand

Labels: Friday evangelism

Fall 2009 - Camping Trip

I know... took me awhile...


As promised, dear readers, here are a few pictures I took when my kids and I went to camp last week:

I want to thank my good friend Frank, who kindly shared his super 70-300mm lens. It would have been impossible to get these shots without it.

Can you tell I've fallen in love with photography?


Rand

Labels: Personal

Sadly Again... No Notes

taking care of the kids...

There are no Friday Night Notes again this week. I took my kids on a fishing trip this week and only got back tonight.

Tomorrow I will be leading a devotional at a church outdoor meeting. Please pray for me.

I will work on posting some pictures of a recent trips shortly.

God bless you, dear readers.


Rand

No Notes

just got back...

There are no Friday Night Notes tonight, dear readers. I've just returned from a camping trip with my eldest son. We had a great time. I'll be posting some pictures soon!

God bless you, and have a safe and blessed weekend.


Rand

Friday Night Notes

back to the Great Commission...


Okay... I'm going to do my best to write these Friday Night Notes, but be advised that I'm doing so without the use of my left hand; my newborn son needs his daddy to hold him. This is going to be alot of work...

Due to my wife's remarkable recovery from last week's delivery, I was able to take a break from playing "Mr.Mom" in order to go preach the Gospel in the market. There were hundreds, if not thousands of souls in the market area tonight, most of them unsaved and up to absolutely no good. You can well imagine, dear readers, just how badly I stuck out with my Romans 6:23 sign and my Gospel tracts.

It had been over two weeks since I had gone out street preaching (I even missed the cursed Pride Parade), so it took a little longer to find my groove. I had to fight my nerves for the first half hour, but then did better. It's always intimidating being alone (pastor Tim couldn't come out tonight) with a Message hardly anyone today wants to hear, but I soldiered on in faith.

I was greeted with a whole lot of mockery from the get-go, but a few souls were genuinely happy that I was out evangelizing (all of them, no doubt, saints). I met a man from the Netherlands who came to speak with me; he said he was happy to meet a Canadian he would undoubtedly meet again in glory. That was nice. Moments later, a young man walked towards me and said that there was "no Lord". I answered that he would soon find out if his assertion had any merit. That exchange wasn't so nice.

Funny moment took place as I was walking around the restaurant patios with my Bible sign. A young man walking past me tripped on a crack in the sidewalk concrete. The following Scripture immediately came to mind:

"Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed." (1 Peter 2:7-8)

I spoke to a Middle Eastern man who wanted to know why I evangelized and why I did it the way I did. I explained to him that the Lord Jesus Christ had given us a Great Commission to fulfill, and that's why I was evangelizing. He said he appreciated that answer, but wondered if my approach was the best way to "reach people"...

"I don't have such doubts, dear sir," I began. "I proclaim God's Word, and I leave it up to the Holy Spirit to use the testimony of His Word as He sees fit."

The man again seemed content with my answer. I don't know if he agreed with me or not, but he thanked me for my time and left. The Lord be gracious to him.

Finally, I had a short conversation with Noel tonight. He's a street beggar and heroin addict. He's dying. Slowly, but surely. Pastor Tim and I both tried to speak to him about the Lord Jesus Christ, but the little faith he has is in the god of the WatchTower (what some call Jehovah's Witness). I encouraged Noel to seek the Lord with all his heart, and he said he would. Problem is, when I asked him what he would do with the money he had collected thus far, he said: "crack." Lord be merciful to this lost soul.


That's the notes for tonight, dear readers. Remember me in your prayers, dear saints of God. The baby is adding a whole new dimension to family life!

God bless you all.


Rand

Labels: Friday evangelism