Friday Night Notes

urgent need for prayer and fasting...


Just prior to going out for my customary night of street evangelism, I watched a short video on YouTube in which Paul Washer speaks on fasting, weeping and preaching the Word of God. What a blessing brother Paul's teachings have been to me! In the video, the good preacher states: "... the judgment of God is not going to fall, it has fallen! And we need, and all of our fellow humanity must realize our dire need that we are in. But again, that come back to preaching, and the informing of the people. The Law of God must be rediscovered in the Temple!" I can verify brother Paul's assessment that God's judgment has indeed fallen on the land. Oh, it's not famine, war or plagues. It's worse. It's a complete void of the knowledge and fear of God.

I must admit that having the words of Paul Washer fresh in my mind, I was under severe conviction. When I looked upon the faces of those I attempted to minister to, I realized that I had never seriously prayed for my fellow man. Never seriously fasted. Never seriously wept. One can get so hardened, so used to the misery of an extreme sin-culture, that all urgency to call out to God for His salvation has been dulled down. The reality is: things aren't getting bad. Things are bad. Extremely bad. Now is the time for prayer, fasting, and yes, serious weeping. The Holy Spirit save me from my carnal callousness.

There were a lot of souls to preach to tonight due to the start of Winterlude, an annual winter festival in my city. Despite the larger crowds pastor Tim and I gave out very few tracts and only had a couple of one-on-one conversations. The only conversations I had were with a kind saint who thanked me for my efforts, and the other was with an old wicked soul I have dealt with on several occasions in the past (he mocks me with all manner of blasphemies and mockeries, but he usually has a friend with him who genuinely listens to me).

We lost about 45 minutes of preaching time during our three hours of evangelism due to very loud fireworks, which was part of the Winterlude festivities. The bangs were so loud, car alarms actually went off all over the place in the market. Preaching was essentially impossible. So pastor Tim and I both stood on separate street corners with our Bible signs and offered tracts to any who wanted to receive one. It didn't take me too long to start getting cold from just standing around in the frigid wind offering Gospel literature, but the Lord helped me and I was able to carry on.

After the 45 minutes of noise and flashes of light, both pastor Tim and I went back to preaching the Gospel. Our efforts, during that last hour, were met only by mockery and scorn. The hostility demonstrated to us when preaching repentance and faith in Christ never ceases to amaze me. From exasperated sighs, to threatening glares, crude mockeries to all manner of blasphemies, we bore it all tonight; and that, without complaint or the slightest inkling of retaliation. I thank the Lord for His work in my life... I slowly (very slowly) learning to be longsuffering toward my fellow man.

That's all I've got for tonight dear readers. It's been a busy week, and it's time for some rest. Remember Pastor Tim and I in your prayers, dear saints.

Have a blessed weekend everyone,


Rand

Labels: Friday evangelism