Do All Roads Lead To God?
Ministry Update August 5, 2018
As Pastor Joshua was finishing up the first message of the night, three Muslims came up and started talking to us. The young man that did most of the talking said at one point that all roads lead to God. We politely tried to tell him that all roads do not lead to God. Jesus said that He is the way, truth and life and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Jesus is very exclusive and He is the only Savior.
The same Muslim that talked the most, kept trying to say that there are different Bibles around the world. That we need to read all of them because they don’t say the same things. We tried to explain that there are different translations, but that wasn’t what he meant. He literally meant that a Bible in Africa says different things than our English Bibles. He also kept trying to say that Jesus said there would be another prophet after Him (implying that Jesus was referring to Muhammad). So I told him that Jesus never said that. Moses was the one who said God would raise up another Prophet and they were to listen to Him – Deuteronomy 18:15 (and of course Moses was talking about Jesus).
Psychology Expert
Pastor Joshua ended up talking to the psychology expert that asked the most questions. I’m glad he did because the guy asking the questions asked me something I couldn’t answer. While they were talking I was talking to the gentleman in the middle and Erica talked with the guy standing in front of her. I have to admit, it was great to see three conversations going on at the same time. They brought up the usual questions about the Trinity. Pastor Joshua pointed them to John 1:1 and Erica pointed them to 1 John 5:7. I didn’t get a chance to ask Pastor Joshua how his conversation went, but the Muslims Erica and I talked to seemed open to hearing about Christianity. All three of them took New Testaments and the guy Pastor Joshua talked to also took a full Bible. We encouraged all of them to read the Bible.
Conner and I both brought messages after that and I only remember Conner having one heckler and I don’t think I had any. Ironically, Erica, Conner and I sang a few hymns to end the night and we had more mockers during the singing than we did the open-air preaching. One young woman stuck her fingers in her ears. Then a driver put his hands in the air like he was directing a choir or something. But it was a great night of witnessing. May God bless the messages, the conversations and the Gospel tracts that were handed out.
Why Are You Yelling At The Building?
On Wednesday at Planned Parenthood, Polly and I only had one young girl say anything and all she said was that she was against abortion too. I should have asked her why she was going in there. I wouldn’t want to give Planned Parenthood one red cent. But overall it was quiet until the very end. That’s when a guy came flying into the parking lot, jumped out his car wearing a Christian Schools T-shirt and wanted to know “Why are you yelling at the building?” “No one is there” and “They can’t hear you inside there.”
After his rapid-fire questions, I assured him that they can hear and he replied no they can’t. So I challenged him to go inside and test it out. He refused my offer. The he told me that he’s a Christian and in fact he’s a seminary student at Denver Seminary and this isn’t how you reach people. That they won’t listen by yelling at them. To which I explained that I prefer to use a little 25 watt amplifier but when I do, the people inside call the police. Then the police come and tell me I can’t use it there. (Which is wrong because the Supreme Court has ruled three times that low amplification is protected under the First Amendment). But instead of arguing, I just lift up my voice without amplification.
Plead For The Unborn And Preach The Gospel
I also explained to the young man that I’m there for two purposes: 1. To plead for the lives of unborn children. 2. To preach the Gospel. Frankly, I can’t remember what his next objection was, but he said something that made me direct him to Matthew 7:21-23. Surprisingly, this seminary student didn’t know these verses so he had to use my Bible to read them. While he was doing that another man came over to also tell me that I was wrong for witnessing there. I’ve seen this before when someone starts getting aggressive against open-air preaching, it seems to embolden other mockers too. The second guy argued that it was ok to get rid of a clump of cells, that it really doesn’t matter.
I explained to that man that Planned Parenthood actually murders babies there now. He didn’t believe me, but I assured him that they do kill babies in the womb right here in Springfield. Then I took him back to his comment and asked him to explain to me how it isn’t a real baby when the baby’s heart starts beating in 18 days, sooner than most women even know they are pregnant. He said he didn’t come over to debate that. Evidently, he just wanted to join the other guy in telling me how wrong I was to yell in front of Planned Parenthood.
Matthew Was Written To The Jews
About the time the second guy left, the first guy read Matthew 7:21-23 and his response was “Who was Jesus talking to?” Of course Matthew was written to the Jews, but guys like this, especially highly educated guys like this crack me up. Just because Jesus was talking to the Jews does that mean His truth doesn’t also apply to the Gentiles? I asked the guy that question and he just kept arguing it was for the Jews. Sadly, my own brother argues this same argument. Well, I’m here to tell you that when we stand before Jesus on Judgment Day, I’m fully convinced that many Gentiles as well as Jews will be told by our Lord, “Depart from, I never knew you, you worker of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23).
The seminary student constantly badgered me with questions about why I thought this was the right way to witness. I told him that Jesus said in Matthew 10:27, “What you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim from the roof top.” I kid you not, without missing a beat, this professing Christian wanted to know what Jesus is whispering in my ear. How does He speak to me? I told him Jesus speaks to us through the Bible. (Wouldn’t you think a seminary student would know a fundamental Christian truth like this?). At that point I could tell the conversation was going nowhere so I told him that I had to go back to work and for him to have a nice day.
Stalker Like Actions
He kept pestering me and wouldn’t let me leave. So finally, I looked at my wife and said let’s go. Unbelievably, when we got to our vehicles and we were standing there saying goodbye, the stalker drove up and badgered me some more. He kept insisting that we go have some coffee sometime so he can teach me about hermeneutics. No, he just wants to tell me how any Bible verse I use witnessing was for the Jews and not for the Gentiles. I’ve been round and round with people like this for over 9 years street witnessing and no thanks.
I work full time and do ministry in person and on-line most of the rest of the time. I prefer to preach the Gospel, not debate people. There are many Christian apologist out there (including my friend Kelly that witnesses with us on Friday nights), but that’s not me. I share the Gospel with people, whether they accept or reject the truth. We are called to share the Gospel (Mark 16:15) and the results are totally up to God. No one comes to Jesus unless God draws them (John 6:44).
(These updates are given to encourage Christians to share the Gospel with others. You may not have all the answers and you won’t always have pleasant encounters. But Jesus commanded us to go and preach the Gospel, so we need to go.)