Can I Pray With You Real Quick?

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Can I Pray With You Real Quick?
Ministry Update November 19, 2024

It was a soggy day at MSU last Wednesday. I only handed out around 15 or 20 tracts before it was raining enough the students wouldn’t take anymore. So I brought an open-air message. I had been there about 15 minutes when a student walked up to me and asked, “Can I pray with you real quick?”  “Sure” I replied. I told him my name and he put his hand on my shoulder and then the young man said the most encouraging prayer that I’ve ever had a student pray. After he finished, I told him that he doesn’t know how encouraging that was. Praise God!!!

Then toward the end of the message a girl noticed my recorder and asked, “Are you practicing or preaching?” I didn’t catch her question, so she repeated it again. I told her that I was preaching, but thought to myself it must not be very effective if she’s asking me if I’m practicing. So I stopped the message and talked to her. I asked her how she came to faith and she said that she was an atheist who grew up in an atheistic home. But praise God that He reached her even then. She wanted to know how to share her faith with her friends. I pointed her to Ray Comfort’s Hell’s Best Kept Secret link and to the Way of the Master Videos. May God bless the young man that prayed for me and may He show the young lady how to share the Gospel.

One of Five Encouragers

The week before that, I had five encouragers during that one witnessing time. Three young men walked up and shook my hand and told me to keep preaching. One girl nodded and smiled as she walked by and one young man yelled, “Jesus Christ is Lord!” I was open-air preaching, so I didn’t catch it. I really thought he was a mocker. So I asked him what he said and he repeated it again. I said “AMEN!”.

Many students have taken tracts this year and a few weeks ago a young man stopped to talk while I was handing out tracts. He was afraid that he was a false convert. After talking to him, I think he is too. But I quoted scriptures to him and encouraged him to read the Bible and for him to cry out for God to reveal Himself to him. Earlier this year, a student heard Anand’s dad open-air preaching and got convicted. Anand’s wife witnessed to him. I’ve been going to the college since 2011 and I’ve never seen anything like this and I’m hearing this from other evangelists around the country. Some tell me they still get more mockers, but  more friends than not are seeing the same thing I’m seeing. May God save many of these young people!

Spiderman

Friday night Doug, Joshua and I were joined by Anand and three of his kids as well as Conner and three of his kids. Unfortunately it was a really quiet night. We had a great group and some good discussions amongst ourselves, but there just weren’t that many people downtown that night. Everyone handed out tracts when we had the chance. When I told the guys that I was going to head home, I spun around and there were two guys walking by me. One of them was wearing a Spiderman (full face) mask. I handed them both tracts.

Spiderman wanted to know what it was. I told him a Gospel tract. He didn’t say anything. So then I said, “It tells you about Jesus?” He still didn’t say anything. Then I asked, “Do you know Him?” Still no response. So then I asked him if he died tonight, would he go to Heaven? He replied, “I hope so”. I asked him how you get there and he didn’t know. I told him that I could clearly see that they were headed somewhere, but there’s nothing more important than your eternal soul. They both listened as I clearly shared the Gospel with them.

Afterwards, I asked him if he has a Bible at home and he said he does. I encouraged him to start in Matthew and read the New Testament, asking God to reveal Himself to him. Then I asked the young man his name and he replied, “Spiderman.” Even though I don’t know his name, God does and may the Lord save the young man and his friend. The friend never said anything, but he listened the whole time.

These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share the glorious Gospel with others. Not all encounters are encouraging, but you just keep witnessing!

Weeping On The Campus

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Weeping On The Campus

Ministry Update September 5, 2024

I thank the Lord that hundreds of tracts were handed out at Missouri State University on Wednesday August 28, 2024. After handing out tracts for 30 minutes or so, I did a little open-air preaching. Unfortunately, I turned the ringer off on my phone and didn’t realize that Moses was trying to reach me. I only got to witness with him for 15 or 20 minutes before I had to go back to work. But Moses, his wife Mercy, their daughter-in-law Prasanna and her two oldest daughters got to witness after I left.

Moses sent me an update about an hour later and said there was weeping on the campus. Here’s what his message said: Please pray for Logan who was wrought upon and was weeping when I was preaching at Missouri State University. Sister Prasanna is speaking to him! I immediately started praying for Logan and we all have been praying for him since that time. Brother Moses exchanged numbers with him and is staying in touch with Logan.

Read The Bible Every Night To Our Children

Moses, Anand and Anand’s two oldest daughters and I witnessed downtown Friday night August 30, 2024. I pretty much missed them again. I was the only witnessing before they got there, so we only got to fellowship for a few minutes. A group of three people asked me what church I attend. They said they were believers too, so I asked them to pass the tract on after they had a chance to read it. It was a pretty quiet night, but after I’d been there for a while, a young man came across the street and asked me what I was handing out. I told him they were Gospel tracts and he took one. When I asked him if he knew Jesus, he said that he does. He told me that he’d been in prison and had a bit of a rough life, even though he’d grown up in a Christian home. I asked him if he had a Bible and if he reads it. He told me, “Yes, my wife and I read the Bible every night to our kids”. That was the best conversation that I had Friday night.

Anand sent me this update later on: After you left brother Dennis, we went to the square and my Dad (Moses) open-air preached some. There was loud music, but some people heard my Dad. One woman said she was ready to face God’s judgment in a casual way. Another couple walked away as my Dad spoke against adultery and fornication, but a bit later took Gospel tracts from my Dad. May God bless the tracts and the open-air preaching.

(These updates are given to encourage Christians to share their faith in Jesus with this lost and dying world)

Raucous Crowd

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Raucous Crowd

Ministry Update August 27, 2024

Joshua, Anand (and two of his daughters), Anand’s dad Moses, Nancy, Justin and I witnessed downtown Friday night. Justin wanted to head the other direction, so he went by himself. The rest of us headed toward the square a couple of blocks away, but we never made it there. We ended up about a ½ block short of the square and witnessed to a raucous crowd waiting in line at The Regency to see Waka Flocka Flame. I’d never heard of him, so later on I tried to listen to one of his songs on Youtube. I didn’t even make it 30 seconds, but it did shed some light on the wild crowd.

Brother Moses had a small amplifier with him, so as soon as he saw the crowd, he started open-air preaching. Some of the people in the crowd immediately started going crazy, especially three women. They started cussing Moses and flipping him off. One of them even ran across the street and started twerking right next to him. But he didn’t miss a beat and kept on preaching! After a while the police showed up and told Moses that he couldn’t use amplification downtown. I’d forgot about the ordinance.

After the police shut him down, I started open-air preaching. I’ve only been handing out tracts the last couple of months, so it had been quite a while since I brought a message. But I really think it was righteous indignation that took over. The police weren’t rude or mean about the amplification, but it always bothers me when the Gospel is hindered. So I brought a message for as long as my voice held out. The crowd didn’t like that either. One the three women that heckled Moses, kept flipping me off and saying f-you. I told her “No thanks, I’m a happily married man.”

After I brought a message, brother Moses went right over next to the long line of people waiting to get into the show. He stood on a concrete platform that was right next to a temporary fence that the venue had set up. He preached right next to them. I love his boldness for the Lord. Moses is a soft-spoken person, so there was no way his voice was going to carry across the street, so he came up with the perfect solution.

Anand and his daughters, Nancy, Joshua and I all handed out tracts while Moses preached. We had a lot of rejections, but some people took them. Joshua got into a conversation with a young man that I had talked to a couple of times earlier. The young man was raised Amish and his girlfriend was raised Mormon. He took tracts and was willing to talk. He just kept saying that he doesn’t believe what he did when he was younger. Justin got into an hour long (plus) conversation with a person.

The raucous crowd reminded me of how witnessing downtown used to be. I have to admit that I enjoyed it. But mainly we pray that God will bless His truth that went forth through the Gospel tracts and the open-air preaching. Justin and I witnessed the two weeks prior and there wasn’t much to report except on Aug 9th we witnessed during the Route 66 Festival. There were so many people downtown that Joshua was there somewhere too, but Justin and I never even saw him. Justin and I handed out a lot of tracts. It was great seeing the crowd. Several of our group has been witnessing the last few months, we just haven’t posted about it.

Quiet First Week at MSU

I handed out tracts at MSU on Wednesday last week. Another group had a permit near Trottier where I had a permit. But MSU is adding onto or remodeling a building right next to the football stadium, so there literally was no traffic at the spot where I was at. Since the other group was where the students walk by, I moved up to different spot. It turned out to be a good place to hand out tracts. I gave out over 200 tracts in 30 minutes. I commented on the cross necklaces that some students wore and I also commented on any Christian t-shirts that I saw. I want to encourage them to be bold in their faith in Jesus. One student took a tract and took a few more steps as he walked away. He flipped the tract over and realized what it was and he gave out a hearty “Amen!” I really appreciated his willingness to speak up in public.

(These updates are given to encourage Christians to share their faith in Jesus with others. You may never open-air preach on a street corner, but all believers can hand out Gospel tracts and/or share their testimony with others.)

Is Jesus In All Of Us?

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Is Jesus In All Of Us?

Ministry Updates for June 14, 2024 and June 7, 2024

Doug, Michael, Justin and I witnessed downtown Springfield, MO on Friday night June 14, 2024. The weather was great and there was a good breeze. The statement of the night was from a non-believer that said, “Jesus is in all of us.” But prior to that, Doug and I walked around downtown handing out tracts. We handed out several of them on the square. We walked down South Street, but it was really quiet, so we went back to the corner where we started. Doug and I both ran into professing Christians that said they were believers, yet didn’t attend church. We explained to them that attending church doesn’t save you, but as believers, we want to fellowship with other believers. I love evangelizing downtown, but I enjoy the fellowship with my brothers in Christ just as much as I enjoy sharing the Gospel with unbelievers. It’s so important to be connected to a local (biblical) church. [Read more…]

Whatever Happens, Happens

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Whatever Happens, Happens

Ministry Update April 13, 2024

Conner, Doug and I witnessed downtown on March 29th. Doug got into a couple of conversations, but I couldn’t hear what they said. Conner talked to a guy who says that he grew up in a home where one parent was a Christian and the other one was a Muslim. He basically believes in Chrislam, that all roads lead to the same God. Conner tried to speak truth to the man, but he wouldn’t listen. Sadly, he only wanted to spout off his twisted beliefs. I only had one real conversation that night and it was with three skaters. The one that did the most talking said the he believes “Whatever happens, happens.”

All three of them were standing next to each other. I could tell the guy in the middle was around 6’3 or 6’4. So I asked him how tall he is and he said 6’4. The young man to his right was 6’2” and the guy to his right was much taller. So I looked up at the tall one asked how tall he is and stated that he’s 7’1” tall. I knew he was tall, but didn’t realize that he was that tall. After that, I asked them if they grew up in religious homes. The kid in the middle said that he grew up in a Christian home, but that he didn’t really believe anything. When I asked him what he thinks happens after we die, he replied, “Whatever happens, happens.”

I gently told him that Jesus says in Revelation 21:8 that all liars will have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone. That waiting until we die is too late. I kind of went through the good person test and they all admitted they had lied, etc. I could tell that they wouldn’t stick around long, so I shared the Gospel with them. Then I asked them if they would read a Bible if I gave them one. Sadly, they all admitted that they wouldn’t read it. But then Doug handed them all Million Dollar tracts and told them it had a summary on the back of what I had just shared with them. They politely thanked us and skated off.

Different Christian Reactions

The following Friday, April 5th, the three of us witnessed downtown during Art Walk. Conner talked to someone trying to get people to sign petitions. But other than that, it was really hard to get anyone to stop and talk to us. The woman that Conner talked to was out seeking people to sign a petition to ban the current Missouri Abortion Ban. She claimed to be a Christian, but believes in a woman’s right to choose. Conner talked with her for quite a while, but she didn’t budge. I didn’t get into any conversations. But Doug had some interesting interactions while he handed out tracts, especially with professing Christians.

Two ladies that go to the largest church in the area, both refused tracts. So while they waited for the light to change at the cross walk, Doug suggested that they take the tracts, read them and pass them on to someone who needs them. The both refused. One woman said that her hands were too full. She was holding a cup of coffee along with an Art Walk flyer in one hand and the other one was empty. The other woman also refused to take a tract. It’s always sad when professing Christian can’t think of one person to hand a tract to. We all have unsaved family, friends, co-workers, etc.

But then Doug had a couple of different reactions. A young couple also said no to the tracts and told us they go to Hill City Church. So I said, “Oh, the one that used to meet here at the Gillioz Theatre (right down the street from where we were).” They both smiled and said yes. But then Doug suggested that they take the tracts, read them and hand them to someone else and they both gladly accepted his offer. (This reactions seems more normal for a true believer). Then we walked around later on and a lady refused the tract because she didn’t need it. She said something to the effect that Jesus is already her Lord and Savior. When Doug stated that she should take it and read it and then before he could finish she interjected, “And then hand it to someone else.” Yes! This is a Christian who gets it. Handing out tracts isn’t the only to share your faith in Jesus, but it sure is an easy way to do so.

(These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share the glorious Gospel with others)

Am I Welcome At Your Church?

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Am I welcome at your church?

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Am I Welcome At Your Church?

Ministry Updates for March 22, 2024 and March 15, 2024

Conner, Joshua, Michael and I witnessed downtown on Friday March 15, 2024. We were out there for about two and a half hours and mainly handed out tracts. Joshua got into a couple of conversations and I had a short one with one young man. But we spent most of the night talking to one guy. He was out trying to get signatures for a petition, but none of us wanted to sign it. He got into a conversation first off with Joshua, then Conner and myself and then kept bouncing back and forth between us. His main contention was that the Bible was written by men and his other burning question was, “Am I welcome at your church?”

Joshua engaged him first in a conversation. The young man wanted to know how the God of the Bible was the real one when there are so many gods out there. I think he said that he worships the Norse gods. He kept going down one rabbit hole after another. Conner also engaged him in a conversation, but he kept going back to these same things. Finally, I told him that I’m really out here talking about Jesus Christ and I started witnessing to him. That’s when he told us that he’s bisexual and lives with a man. He wanted to know if he’d be welcome to come to my church. I told him that he is welcome to come there. I will call the young man C. He said that he’d be there Sunday morning. Sadly, he didn’t show up.

I wanted to make sure that he didn’t misunderstand me, so I pointed out that God doesn’t approve of his lifestyle. The Bible doesn’t, I don’t and my church doesn’t. But everyone is welcome to worship at church.  Then he wanted to know where the Bible condemns homosexuality (not counting Leviticus). So I read to him Mark 10:6-9 where Jesus says that marriage is between a man and a woman. Conner directed him to Romans 1:18-32. Later on, we also had him read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.

Written By Men

He kept going back to the Bible was just written by men. But the Bible was written by men that were inspired through the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21, 2 Timothy 3:16). I point out that we know the Bible is true because we see it time and time again when we are street witnessing. He kept denying God and the Bible, so I kept pointing him back to Romans 1:18 where he suppresses the truth in unrighteousness. At one point he said that he lost someone really close to him and that he begged God to show him a sign. He said even if the wind had blown, he would have counted it. But nothing. Then he brought up how God gave Gideon a sign three times. I gently reminded C that Jesus said an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign (Matthew 12:39).

I told him that I was sorry that he lost someone close to him and that God didn’t comfort him through that time. I told C that I also lost someone close to me and I know it isn’t easy to go through. Then I asked him if I could pray for him and he said yes. We all gathered around him and I prayed for him and for his salvation. C told us that he grew up in a Christian home but was no longer a Christian. We pointed out to him that we don’t believe that he was ever truly a Christian because you can’t walk away from Jesus if you are truly saved because Jesus never leaves or forsakes us (Hebrews 13:5). Then I asked him if he had a Bible at home and he said no. I asked if he’d read it if we gave him one and he said yes. Michael quickly handed him a Bible.

We had C read Scripture several times after that. I told C that I was praying that he’d start reading the Bible that very night. He replied that I would have an unanswered prayer then if he didn’t read it. I pointed out to him that he was correct. That I would have an unanswered prayer, but that if he continues  rebelling against God, that he’d be the one who dies in his sins and would spend eternity in Hell. I pleaded with him to read Romans since we had quoted from there and then I encouraged him to go back and read the Gospels starting with Matthew. We hope and pray that he will read the Bible and that God will save him and his friend.

Hope I Go To Heaven

Friday the 22nd of March was quite windy and cold. Anand, Michael, Conner, one of his daughters and I witnessed downtown. We were handing out tracts and I handed them to a couple of Hispanic guys who said they live in Carthage. They wanted to know what I handed them and I told them, “They are Gospel tracts. They tell you about Jesus.” I asked if they know Jesus and the one wearing a cross said yes, they know Him. So then I asked them if they are saved and they both said yes. Then I asked if they are going to Heaven and one said yes, but the other one said, “I hope I go to Heaven.”

I told him that I wasn’t picking on him, but I wanted to know how hope gets you to Heaven. He shrugged his shoulders. His friend said that you get there by going to church. So I gently said, “I’m not picking on you either, but how does going to church get you to Heaven?” Then he replied that we get there by doing good. At that point, I asked them if they had kept the 10 Commandments. They both acknowledged that they had broken them. So you really can’t go to Heaven by being good since we’ve all sinned against God and we’ve all broken the 10 Commandments. At that point I shared the Gospel with them. I asked them both to read the tracts. They shook our hands and headed on their way.

Not long after that, Conner got into a conversation with another guy out trying to get petition signatures. This time it was for “Women’s Reproductive Healthcare”. Conner engaged him in a conversation. The young man kept talking about rape and abortion being necessary sometimes to save the life of a mother. Conner was the only one he talked to, so I didn’t interrupt. But I’ve heard several doctors say that they never once had to kill a baby in order to save the mother’s life. I would also point people to the Bible where Joseph’s wife Rachel, died during child birth (Genesis 35:16-19). God didn’t tell Joseph to kill Benjamin in order to save Rachel’s life. It’s very sad when a woman dies during childbirth, but murdering a child is never right. Michael got into a long conversation with an older gentleman. I didn’t get an update on that conversation, but we pray that God will save both men as well as others who received tracts.

(These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share their faith in Jesus with others)

Break His Legs!

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Break His Legs!

Around six years ago or so, my wife went out witnessing with me a few times. Several of my closest friends and even some acquaintances have done the same and just like my wife, they all say the same thing. They just can’t handle the God-mocking, blasphemy and cursing. At first, I didn’t understand this attitude, but after years of street witnessing, I have come to realize that God hasn’t called all of us to be street evangelists. I really thought so when I first got saved. I thought if you are truly saved, you would be out here witnessing. But now I realize that not everyone can handle the God-mocking, blasphemy and cursing. My friends and I that do street ministry don’t like hearing these things either, but we understand that lost people will act like lost people. But I want to share about one time when my wife was with me and she prayed, “God, break his legs!”

If you knew my wife, you’d know that she is one of the most gentle, kindest people that you’ll ever meet. I can’t even kill most bugs in our house. She only wants me to kill flies or ants, but any other bug, she wants me to catch it and take it outside. I’m sharing this with you because her praying “God, break his legs” was very out of character. But that’s how upset she got about a blaspheming, God-mocking young man that was skating around me. I was open-air preaching one Friday night in downtown Springfield, Mo about six years ago and it was truly a circus-like atmosphere.

Like An Annoying Mosquito Or Gnat

While the young man was skating around me, trying to distract me while he was cursing me and blaspheming God, there was a God-hater in a pickup truck right in front of me that kept revving his engine and backing his truck up, rocking it on the curb in front of me. Frankly, I was more worried about the guy in the truck. His tailgate was down and I was preaching on a step stool. All I kept thinking was if he jumps the curb and comes at me, I’m going to jump up into the back of the truck instead of letting him hit me. Thankfully, he never did back fully at me, but I was leery of him. So, he was my main concern at the time. The guy on the skateboard was tough to listen to his blasphemy, but overall, he was more like an annoying mosquito or gnat.

But my wife saw it differently. She didn’t perceive the guy in the truck as a threat at all (maybe because I had a different viewpoint in that he was going to come right at me if he really jumped the curb). But the annoying skateboarder really upset her over him constantly blaspheming God. That’s why she prayed, “God, break his legs!” Again, this is very out of character for my wife, but I think it shows that she had righteous anger over him blaspheming God.

After the night was over and we headed home, she confessed that she prayed that way. I was shocked. I said, “Honey, we aren’t like the sons of thunder (Mark 3:17); the apostles James and John that wanted to call down fire from Heaven against those that opposed the Lord.” She just continued that the blasphemer made her so angry. Then she said that she doesn’t know how I handle the God-mockers and haters all the time. Again, I don’t like it either, but it’s just to be expected when you do street ministry. All we can do is share God’s truth with them and pray that God will break their hard hearts of stone instead of their legs.

Go On To Hell

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Go On To Hell

One of my all-time favorite preachers is Rolfe Barnard. Brother Barnard brought it when he preached. I’ve listened to over 400 of his sermons online. But when I recommend him to my family and friends, they all say the same thing. They can’t take the yelling. I admit that I hate it when he yelled, just because that’s when he was trying to make the main point and I can’t hear what he saying because he’s yelling too loudly. But in the next breath, he’d plead “Why don’t you come to Jesus” and you can hear the pleading in his voice. But one of the most shocking things he’d say is “Go on to Hell, that’s where you want to go anyway.”

Brother Barnard used to preach a lot of revivals back in the 1950’s and 1960’s and I believe the Holy Ghost convicted many souls back that then. He tells the story that one time he was asked to preach for 3 or 4 weeks and the only condition was that he couldn’t give an altar call until the end. Rolfe readily agreed to that. He believed that we tried to soothe unbelievers with an easy-believism salve when they needed was to fester and be convicted by the Holy Ghost. So for three weeks he preached his heart out and at the end of each night he’d end by saying, “Go on to Hell, that’s where you want to go anyway.” We’ll after 3 weeks of being convicted by the Holy Ghost, people couldn’t stand it any longer and they begged Brother Barnard to give an altar call which he finally did.

Star Dust And Other Nonsense

I’m relaying this story because I think I’ve only ever used that line one time while out witnessing. I was witnessing with some friends on the square in downtown Springfield, Mo and a cocky Atheist started talking to me. I’m not an apologist. I don’t have the patience for it. No, I’m an open-air preacher and a street evangelist, but no apologist. I don’t like getting into long debates. I just want to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll listen to your star dust theories and that everything came from a tiny dot that exploded, etc. But after you tell me what you believe, I want to share the glorious Gospel with you.

That night, this Atheist told me that we are all just star dust and other such non-sense. I kept trying to steer him back to Jesus, but he kept wandering off various rabbit trails. So after about 30 minutes or so of this, I finally said, “Look, it’s obvious that I could talk to you till I’m blue in the face and you aren’t going to change your mind. So have a nice life. Eat, drink and be merry and then go on to Hell because that’s where you want to go anyway.” You should have seen the look on his face. He started stammering around saying, “You can’t say that?” “Why not?” “Because you’re a Christian!”

I explained to him that what I was saying is was true. Nothing I said or was going to say was going to change his mind. The Bible says unbelievers know that God is real (Romans 1:18-22), but they pretend that He isn’t because they love their sins (John 3:19-20). Because they don’t want to be responsible to God (Matthew 12:36). So they act like God doesn’t exist. But they know that He does exist and they know that they will be accountable to Him. The young man walked away still saying that I couldn’t say that to him. But I did and who knows, maybe God wanted to shock him out of his complacency. Again, I don’t think I’ve ever used it any other time, but I did that time.

Religious Stuff

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Religious Stuff

Ministry Update August 7, 2023

Praise God that Michael and Anand witnessed downtown last Friday night. Here’s the update Michael provided: “Anand and I walked around and attempted to pray for and talk to a few people in the square and gave out tracts. We walked down our normal way after that and continued handing out tracts.

There was one family that came out of a place that I think was an art studio. It was a man and woman with a maybe 10-12 year old girl. I don’t know if they were parents or grandparents, but the man refused a tract and the girl asked “what is it?” And I said “it’s a gospel tract”. She said “what’s that?”, I said something like “it talks about Jesus”. The man said “it’s religious stuff” and the woman told her “just take one” so she took one. After that Anand and I prayed for the girl, that God would save her and her family. I think it’d be good for us to continue to pray for her.” Yes, we pray that God will save the little girl, her family and the others that received tracts Friday night.

(These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share their faith in Jesus with others)

Righteous Indignation

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Righteous Indignation

I think it was around 7 or 8 years ago that I was witnessing downtown in Springfield, MO and I was pleading with unrepentant sinners to repent of their sins and turn to Christ and live. About that time, a young man walking away from me and across the street, turned around and made an obscene gesture and started gyrating like he was having sex and yelled, “This is my god!” To the day I die, I believe that it was truly righteous indignation that filled me at that moment. I fully believe this.

So, I stopped my message and replied to the young man that his god can’t save him. That he’s sowing the wind, but will reap the whirlwind and I kept going on quoting various Bible verses to him. But admittedly, my tone wasn’t the best. In fact, I was angry with the young man. I was filled with righteous indignation and I was sharing truth with him, but not in a Christ-like manner. You’ll never guess what happened next. My boss happened to drive by at that exact moment. He and his wife had eaten dinner at a downtown restaurant and they were driving down the street at the exact moment.

My Boss Only Saw My Reaction

On Monday, my boss told me that he saw me open-air preaching downtown Friday night. To which I replied, “Oh really.” He said yes, and boy you were really letting somebody have it. I told my boss what the young man said and did and my boss said he understood why it upset me. But he pointed out that he didn’t see or hear the young man. All he saw and heard was me yelling at the young man. I have to admit, it was a great lesson for me.

Yes, I was filled with righteous indignation over what the young man said and did. But my tone was not Christ-like at all. It was also a good lesson in the fact that others don’t always see the whole picture. They may only see part of it. Kind of like when a ref sees the second player retaliate during a game, but misses the first offender. Do I always respond with kindness and gentleness to mockers? Sadly, not always. But I do always pray that I won’t return evil for evil or reviling for reviling while I’m out street witnessing (1 Peter 3:9). Just sharing my experience with other evangelists so hopefully you won’t make the same mistake that I made.