Friday Night Notes

weak... but still preaching...


I've discovered over the last few weeks that stress is a chief contributor to my health woes. The bright side of this discovery is that by managing my stress level over the last two weeks, I've felt much better. The downer is that street preaching is a huge source of stress for me; I get nervous hours before going downtown, and I'm on edge the whole time I'm there. So today was a difficult day... but I was and am determined to continue preaching the Gospel.

I prayed all day and night for the Lord to strengthen me and help me through the night of evangelism and I praise Him and thank Him for answering my prayer affirmatively. I wasn't comfortable out there for a good chunk of the night, but I was strong enough to both preach and distribute Gospel literature for three solid hours.

I also thank the Lord for giving me a relatively quiet night. I was mocked repeatedly and many souls sighed great sighs of frustration at my preaching, but I was not threatened by anyone, nor was there the slightest bit of violence. I was able to preach, and preach loud enough to raise above the high noise level of the market. Many souls heard something of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ tonight. Many read our Bible signs. A fair number took Bible tracts and pastor Tim had a few conversations with souls that seemed to have a sincere interest in the Gospel.

On my end, all the conversations I had were with mockers and scorners. I'm not saying that the Lord couldn't use these conversations to work a mighty work of salvation, but let's just say things didn't look too promising. I also had a pretty sad conversation with a man who claimed to be a "biker-Christian" (in my experience, I have found that these guys are more often more biker than Christian... and I don't think I met an exception tonight). The man tried hard to convince me that I needed to use less Scripture and more "real-life application stuff" to make the Gospel relevant to people. I tried to reason with the man that the Scriptures were the incorruptible seed of the new birth, and therefore, more Scriptures and less humanism was a good thing. Sadly, I didn't get anywhere. It was like we weren't talking the same language, and both of us eventually gave up trying to deal with each other.

This is all I have to report for this week. I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to get some rest now. I ask you all, dear brothers and sisters-in-the-Lord, to continue praying for my health. Next week is Canada Day, and it is my custom to be downtown all day, preaching the Gospel to the hundreds of thousand souls who are there to party. I really don't want to miss this special day of evangelism.

Have a restful weekend, dear readers, and a blessed Lord's Day.


Rand

Labels: Friday evangelism

FYI

giving myself a chance...

It will probably be a couple of weeks before the next "Friday Night Notes". I'm on a self-imposed reduced stress lifestyle, and I will most likely remain in this mode until my health improves significantly. If you wish to know more about what is ailing me, send me an e-mail; I don't really want to post medical details on my blog.

Last weekend and earlier this week was terrible. I spent the day and part of the night at the ER on Monday, and that was no fun... I assure you of that.

On the bright side, I have been feeling better these last couple of days. The hope is with less stress, better diet and perhaps a few meds (nothing nasty), I'll be back in top shape again.

I thank you all for your prayers.

Sincerely,


Rand

Quite Aggravating

and without a doubt... disappointing...

I started feeling a bit ill this afternoon, just a couple of hours before our usual evangelistic effort. I thought I'd be able to tough it out, so I made my way downtown with pastor Tim. I made it to the edge of the marketplace, and it was there that I knew for sure that I would be unable to continue.

I was and am very annoyed with myself.

It's hard to know for sure, but I don't think this is anything serious. Nevertheless, I would ask all you brothers and sisters-in-the-Lord to continue to pray for my health. Lately, its been quite fragile; as you all well know.

Lord willing, I am going to preach both services next Lord's Day, since pastor Tim will be away at a revival conference. So again, your prayers, dear saints of God, are much appreciated.


Rand