Friday Night Notes

busy streets...

Tonight was the busiest I've seen the marketplace this year. Thousands upon thousands of lost souls walking the streets looking for some vanity, some foolish and destructive activity to indulge in. It truly is heartbreaking to watch.

Due to an uncooperative experiment in the laboratory where I work, I was late in getting downtown for our customary night of evangelism. When I got there, Pastor Tim was already setup and preaching the Gospel. He was facing annoying resistance from three young panhandlers who were begging for spare change across the street from our usual street preaching spot. They yelled out obscenities from across the street, and on a couple of occasions, they walked up to him only to yell and mock. After 30 minutes of that nonsense, the young sinners realized that the good preacher wouldn't be intimidated, so they remained quiet for the remainder of the night.

During my preaching shift, I was able to share the Gospel with a young man who claimed to have studied the Bible. The conversation wasn't a long one, but I gathered the young man, while religious, wasn't saved. I handed him a Bible tract and encouraged him to prayerfully consider the words therein. The Lord be merciful to him.

Shortly after that exchange a young woman walked by me, surrounded by her friends. All of them were dressed provocatively, which always presents a challenge for an evangelist. The young woman read my John 3:16 Bible sign and professed to believe. I was about to point out her lack of modesty, but she walked away before I could utter a word. The Lord however would give me another opportunity. Moments later, the same group of women walked by as I was preaching...

"The Bible says the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good," I began, "what is God watching you do tonight? What words is God hearing you speak? What kind of clothing (or lack thereof) is He seeing on you? What secret thoughts do you have, that He is fully aware of?"

There was no doubt the young women felt conviction. They quickly turned their guilt into a joke and walked away laughing. What folly.

I spent a good portion of the night simply standing on a street corner with a Bible sign in one hand, and Gospel tracts in the other. With the crowds in the market, the noise level was so high (from music, chatter, and car traffic), it was difficult to preach. It was so noisy it was difficult to think! However, I did hear a lot of mockery directed at me, and in some instances, directed at God Himself. Only one man, driving a taxi, rolled down his window and said: "God bless you, my brother." The Lord bless him for his kindness.

We preached the Gospel to a whole lot of people tonight. A good number of souls have Gospel tracts in their pockets. Surely amongst all those souls, we've had some contact with some of God's lost sheep. The Lord use our efforts as He sees fit.

With that, it's really late, and I'm sooooo tired. Goodnight, dear readers.


Rand

Labels: Friday evangelism