Are They Holding You Against Your Will?
Ministry Update June 25, 2017
Friday night Allen, Aaron and I were joined by Serenity and Desi witnessing downtown. While the three guys were preaching, the girls handed out tracts. A couple of women walked up to them and the one asked Serenity and Desi “Are they holding you against your will?” Desi told them no, that Aaron was their pastor.
Then the woman wanted to know if she was afraid to cry in front of us and Desi again responded no. The woman wanted to make sure that we weren’t holding them against their will and she even pulled her cell phone out and offered to call the police. Desi again told the woman that we were not holding them against their will. We’ve experienced a lot of strange things out witnessing over the years, but this was a first.
We started the night singing hymns. The Aaron and I both brought messages. He preaches hard and I plead with people to get right with God. We both had the usual mockers and scoffers. Again, Serenity and Desi had a guy from James River Assemblies of God question them. They answered his questions correctly and biblically.
So then Daniel came over and talked to me. He wanted me to know that his heart just didn’t feel right about the way we were sharing the Gospel. He proceeded to tell me that he was getting ready to go in to the Outland Ballroom (the very bar we preach across from) and he was going to show people the love of Jesus. I asked him if he’s going to drink while he’s doing this and he said no.
But sadly he quoted me the verse that says evil corrupts good fruit, but instead he thinks good fruit brings out the good in the evil. So by his own words, his own admission, he’s twisting Scripture! He’s going directly against what God says, yet some how we are the ones who are wrong for sharing the Gospel in the streets. Our hearts just aren’t right.
What Does Showing The Love Of Jesus Look Like?
I’ve asked many people who say that we should just love people to Jesus how this looks. I tell them pretend I’m in the Outland Ballroom. I’m lost. What do you say when you come up to me. Pretend also that I’m rich, have the wife and kids, nice home, and I’m a successful business owner. What do you say to me? Almost every single one goes just like Daniel said. Hi, God has great things in store for you and He loves you. I want to tell you about the love of Jesus. I respond, I don’t believe in God. I don’t need your God or His plans.
Daniel comes back again about how you don’t know what you are missing out on. God loves you and will make you happy. I said it’s great that you need this crutch, but I’m successful and happy, I don’t need your religion. Daniel then replies, cool, is it ok if I pray for you? No, I don’t want your prayers. Daniel didn’t say anything else. I said is that it? He said, yeah, I’d just leave and pray for your anyway. I said so if I walk out of the bar, get hit by and drunk, where would I go? He said you’d end up in Hell. So that doesn’t bother you? Well, I planted the seeds. Some plant, some water. I never could get Daniel to see that he never shared the Gospel.
This is the frustrating part to me when professing Christians come up and say we are witnessing wrong, yet they aren’t sharing the true Gospel. I asked him if he knew the first message Jesus preached and he admitted that he didn’t know. The sign I happened to be holding says Repent and Believe the Gospel (Mark 1:15). I asked Daniel if he thought people were happy back then when Jesus said they needed to repent? He said probably not so much, but Jesus showed them His love. I’m going with what Jesus said and He said repent and believe the Gospel. If it was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me.
Allen Preached About God’s Love
Allen preached after Aaron and I and Allen did preach about God’s love. The sad thing is I think he had more people flipping him off than Aaron and I had mocking us. People were yelling out of the car windows, flipping Allen off and he was preaching about the love of God. One wicked man pulled up in his diesel truck and made a huge cloud of black smoke come out of his exhaust. It was so bad, we all had to walk away. But what the man intended for evil, God used for good. Allen just moved a half a block down and now he was right directly in front of the people standing in front of the Outland Ballroom. Several yelled questions to Allen from across the street and Allen answered their questions.
Andre also joined us most of the night and he held Aaron’s large banner sign. We handed out tracts and 15 New Testaments. Then we ended the night singing several hymns. There was a little hiccup when we were trying to pack up and leave with Allen getting his van back to us to pack up his keyboard and belongings, but we got it worked out and headed out. I stopped at a convenience store on the way home and handed a couple of tracts to a couple parked right next to me. As I drove off, the young man had the tract turned over and he was reading the back. So if Allen hadn’t made us five or ten minutes late, I would have missed handing tracts to this young couple. Our Lord is a sovereign God.
Pizza Delivery At Planned Parenthood
On Wednesday, Aaron and I were joined by friend Doug witnessing at Planned Parenthood. Aaron and I brought messages and Doug held Aaron’s large banner sign. We sang some hymns and brought messages to the workers inside. The pizza delivery guy was about the only person who drove into the parking lot (at least until we left). He drove away recording Aaron preaching and the young man was smiling and recording the preaching. I think he was doing so mockingly.
I told Doug that you can tell whether the people honking as they drive by are for or against us. If they are against us, they lay on the horn and hold it down the whole time they are driving by. When they are for us, generally they give a toot, toot. I told Doug that I wasn’t really keeping track, but I think we had more for us than against us and he agreed. As we were packing our things up and getting ready to walk back to our cars, a young woman pulled in and parked right in front of us. She started walking toward the building so I yelled “Jesus saves.” I couldn’t hear what she said back, but I’m pretty sure she did so mockingly.
(These updates are provided to encourage fellow believers to share their faith in Jesus Christ with others)