Sunday Afternoon Notes

the worse Lord's Day of the Year...

After 72 hours of viral agony, I was finally able to get out of the house this morning, for the Lord's Day morning service. I knew right from the get-go that this wasn't going to be a pleasant day, for this is the day my city put up the cursed Pride Parade. I was afraid I might not physically be able to go protest the wicked parade with Pastor Tim (I hardly ate anything for the last three days), but backing out felt cowardly and wrong, so I played the man, and the Lord kept me on my feet.

The wind was howling today (probably leftovers from Hurricane Irene). That was a big challenge for us evangelists, since our main witness during the parade are large Bible signs. When Pastor Tim and I made it to the street the parade was going to come by, we struggled greatly just to keep our signs upright. Providentially, the Lord sent Brother Tim, a fellow saint who is in the habit of showing up at the cursed parade to help us. The two Tims held one sign in place, and I went a little further to find a spot that was somewhat sheltered from the gusty wind. That was quite a task. I eventually found a bus shelter where I could lay my Bible sign against, and I then put all my weight (those of you who know me, don't laugh!) against the sign, keeping it from blowing off in the wind.

I was concerned at first that I wasn't visible enough. I wanted to move to a spot where I felt more people would read my 2 Peter 2:6 sign, but I knew I simply didn't have enough in the tank to fight against those winds. That really bummed me out, but I was eventually comforted when I heard several voices cursing at me and was on the receiving end of projectiles.

I don't really want to describe the wicked parade itself. It's as bad as you can imagine (perhaps even more so). I try not to focus on anything in particular in the parade (too disturbing/disgusting), but I do have to keep an overall view for safety's sake. On a few occasions, what was before me was just so wicked, I just looked further down the street.

So many thoughts went through my mind as I watched waves and waves of immorality walk by me. Thoughts like...

- how did it ever come to this?

- is this all the result of idleness?

- banks, libraries, politicians, police, radio stations, school boards... all manner of people and organizations who feel that walking alongside people dressed in leather thongs is a good thing... and none of them would feel it appropriate to participate in anything Christian...

- how is it that anyone could come to the conclusion that bringing young children to an event whose central theme is sexuality is a good thing?

- how can the Lord not judge this wickedness severely?

Pastor Tim also shared a thought with me after the parade was over. We had both seen a man carrying a terribly outdated sign that said: "Time to get out of the closet and into the streets." Pastor Tim pointed out that the sodomites were very much in the streets, and the Christians are in the closets.

What a mess.


Rand

Labels: Evangelism