Friday Night Notes

new partners...


Pastor Tim was unable to come out for our customary night of street evangelism again this week (he needed more time to prepare his Sunday sermons), but unlike last week, I wasn't downtown by myself. Brother Rod and his son (new members of our assembly) came out to give out Bible tracts and hold up the Word of Truth. It was good to have three evangelists in the marketplace, our sphere of influence was definitively larger, many sinners were reminded of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Gospel tonight. The Lord show mercy to whom He will show mercy, and harden whom He wills.

As far as Friday night evangelism goes, tonight went pretty smoothly. I think Brother Rod was taken a bit aback at how vile some of the responses to our efforts were. I didn't think the mockery and scorn was too grievous tonight, but then again, I've no doubt developed a thick skin over the years. That said, I must point out that the men performed admirably in their first open-air evangelistic effort in Ottawa's marketplace. They walked all over downtown with Bible signs and were quite zealous at offering Bible tracts to all who would walk by. Brother Rod even preached a bit near the end of our time of evangelism.

The marketplace was very busy tonight, with many souls taking tracts; though few stuck around to talk about the Gospel. Brother Rod seemed to have had a number of conversations, but he made it clear that most weren't too promising. Still, who knows what the Lord will do?

I have to say it felt strange to be the "senior evangelist". On a number of occasions, I found myself giving pointers to my two comrades... instructions on how to survive in the wicked mess that is the marketplace nightlife. Never would have thought I would have grown so accustomed, so familiar and even, more or less, comfortable with this street preacher's life. The Lord indeed works in mysterious ways (and He undoubtedly has quite the sense of humour).

Other than the novelty of having a couple of newbies with me, tonight's endeavour was a lot like last week. No shortage of nonsense, mockery, hatred, vanity and other sinful conversations, but I had much rougher nights. I only had two one-on-one conversations, both with professing believers (if I'm not mistaken, both were charismatics). They both had kind words of encouragement for me; they were genuinely happy to see me preaching the Gospel. The Lord bless them and help them out of the doctrinal error they're in.

With that, I'll close this edition of the Friday Night Notes. I need to get some rest... tomorrow we will be celebrating Pastor Tim's birthday. I'll be nice and keep his age under tabs!

God bless you, dear readers, and thanks again for keeping up with my street preaching escapades.

Have a restful weekend, and a glorious Lord's Day,


Rand

Labels: Friday evangelism