Friday Night Notes

a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence...

I was a block or two away from Pastor Tim's house when my cellphone rang.  I had just left the lab and all the instruments were running fine, but the call I was receiving was a text message from one of our mass spectrometer; it was telling me telling me that it was no longer fine:

"Problem Service Alert: LTQ Mass Spec/nanoAquity is CRITICAL."

I decided to proceed to Pastor Tim to figure out how to best deal with the problem at work, and still make our night of street evangelism.  After prayer, I decided to run back to work, deal with whatever issue was messing with the mass spectrometer, then run back downtown to catch up with the good preacher.  Needless to say, I was a bit annoyed at having to go back to work at 7:30pm.

The instrument was in real bad shape when I walked in the lab about 15 minutes later, so I went into NASCAR pit crew mode, and serviced that instrument with lightning speed and precision.  I thank the Lord for helping me because I fixed the instrument problem in half the time it usually takes me, restarted the sample analysis runs that were scheduled to run over the weekend, and took off for downtown.  It was roughly 8:30pm when I caught up to Pastor Tim, and the night of evangelism for me finally started.

There was a fair amount of people in the market, so the Gospel was ministered to a considerable number of people.  Overall, the reception was rather cold, sadly, but as David so brilliantly put it: "Who knows what the Lord will do?"

A few Christians were around the marketplace.  A beautiful woman drove by in a van near where I was holding a Bible sign and handing our Gospel tracts.  She made it a point to stop, and bless me with kind words of encouragement before continuing on her journey.  We also had a short visit with two young Christian acquaintances of Pastor Tim and I named Jonathan and Eli.  A few years ago, these young men handed out Gospel literature on Friday nights, but they more of less fell off our radar the last few years.  I hope the Lord will again use them as faithful evangelists.

Pastor Tim had a couple of conversations with sinners tonight, but all in all, they were mostly unprofitable.  I didn't have any really.  I did, however, notice that several times as I was preaching or handing out tracts, sinners would notice my Bible sign, and as they began to read, they would stumble in their walk.  They would be so absorbed by the Scriptures, they lost their sense of direction.  I couldn't help but remember the verse:

"Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed." (1 Peter: 2:7-8)

The Lord be merciful and gracious to those we ministered to, and may His great Name be maginified and glorified, now and forever.

Amen.


Rand

Friday Night Notes

cold and quiet...

Forgot the gloves.  This time of year in Eastern Canada, the cold weather subtly moves in, and I thought I was prepared for a night of open-air evangelism.  Two sweaters, a vest and a jacket.  I thought I was good to go.  One hour into our night of evangelism, I could hardly feel my fingers.

The frigid air probably was probably partly to blame for the low turnout in the market tonight.  Still, Pastor Tim and I preached the Gospel to hundreds of souls for three hours... the Lord be glorified by our efforts.

With the small turnout, persecution was light, which was a welcome change.  I only had to pick up our Bible signs from off the ground on two occasions (after sinners kicked them down).  There was also little by way of blasphemy, and just a bit of mockery.  One man, seeing my Bible sign, exclaimed "Seeeeriously?"  In response, I asked him if he was a 12-year-old girl.  His friends got a real laugh out of that.

The highlight of the night was a conversation Pastor Tim and I had with three young Muslims.  Muslims are so difficult to deal with because their imams fill their heads with misconceptions about the Faith.  When they come to speak to you, they think they have all the facts and their going to show you how crazy Christianity is.  I've heard it all.  God the Father having sex with Mary, three gods, if one is white and North American they're Christians (no matter how they live their lives)... etc.

What's really sad about Muslims also, is how ignorant they are not only of Christianity, but of their own faith, Islam.  In our conversation tonight, we were being told, by the three young men, that Muslim respect Christians, and call them brothers... and that, throughout the Muslim world.  Pastor Tim asked the men how many churches were in Saudi Arabia, the home country of Mecca.  The answer is obviously: none.  I also pointed out the many instances of Christians being imprisoned and tortured in the Muslim world.  The response was mostly silence.  Despite their obvious contradictions and paradoxical views, the young men left saying they would pray that we would one day understand that Islam is the one true religion.  Yeah... sure...

Pastor Tim had a long, pleasant conversation with a Jewish shop owner.  They spoke about many things and by the end of the conversation, the man said something like:

"You are welcome for coffee here anytime!  And by the way, the shop next door is closed and empty, feel free to set up in front of it and preach the Gospel."

After three hours of evangelism, my fingers were aching from the cold and we made our way home.  On my way to the bus terminal, I saw Brother Layton and Brother Marcel of the Open-Air Campaigners.  This was their last night of evangelism; they don't go out in the winter time.  It was good to see the brothers again.  Brother Layton looked tired... he and his wife have been quite sick recently with grave illnesses.  I think it's taking its toll.  Remember Brother Layton in your prayers, dear saints.

Pastor Tim and Brother Rod will be heading downtown tomorrow morning with Bible signs to present the Gospel at the Santa Clause Parade... remember them in your prayers also, dear brothers and sisters-in-the-Lord.

God bless you, dear readers.


Rand

No Notes

too much work!!!

I wasn't able to make it out for evangelism tonight... I was stuck at work until 8pm, and actually went home to work for another couple of hours.

Pastor Tim carried on without me.

Remember us in your prayers, dear saints.


Rand

No Notes

birthday wishes...

There are no Friday Night Notes tonight.  I stayed home for some family time, since it is my eldest's birthday today.

Have a safe and blessed weekend, dear readers.

Rand