Flag Burning, Transgender, Catholic, Atheist and Satanist

Ministry Update November 13, 2016

Flag Burning, Transgender, Catholic, Atheist and Satanist

It was an honor to witness on Veteran’s Day at MU in Columbia, MO with several brothers in Christ from Kirksville and Rolla, MO as well as some from Illinois. We had a great day of witnessing on campus, even though some students were still protesting Trump’s victory by burning an American Flag. This happened before I got there, but my friends told me about it and the local news covered it too.

It was very sad, especially on Veteran’s Day. I’m grateful for every man and woman currently serving our country and for all who have served in the past. Because of your sacrifice, we still enjoy our freedom in our nation, so thank you for serving! 

Transgender Man

One of the most colorful students was a transgender man who is biologically a woman. She called herself Cameron and she kept asking about God being all powerful and all benevolent. She was stuck on God being all loving. She debated with at least four maybe five open-air preachers. I wish I would have thought of it at the time, but I should have pointed out to her that God said Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated (Romans 9:13). Basically, she wanted to justify her sin and wanted to think that God is alright with it. The Bible is clear that God is not ok with transgenderism. I tried to point out to her that she (the created being) is telling the great Creator that He made a mistake.  Cameron took the tract I handed her and threw it on the ground. I asked her if she’d reconsider and pick it up, but she refused.

Catholic

I spent quite a bit of time talking to a young Catholic lady named Taylor. She struggles with the tough parts of the Bible and frankly attributes them to just being written by men thousands of years ago. I pointed out to her that she’s putting herself in place of God, but she didn’t see it that way. I also encouraged her to go back and read the Gospels (mainly because they are the Gospels and because she likes those books) and for her to see how Jesus affirmed the Scriptures. He constantly quoted Scripture and referred to the Old Testament. He also said not one jot or tittle would pass (we might say not one i dot or t cross would disappear).

She also struggles with a wife submitting to her husband and that he is to be the spiritual leader of the home. I pointed out to her that my wife and I have been married 21 years and that I am to love my wife like Jesus loved the church. If I’m loving my wife in a way that I’m willing to die for her, then I am in no way abusing my spiritual leadership. Taylor never could get past this.

She also admitted that she didn’t know whether she was saved or not so through our whole conversation I kept pointing her to the need for repentance and to put her trust in Jesus and in Him alone for salvation. At the end of our discussion I asked her if I could pray for her and she said that I could. I prayed for a couple of things that she specifically mentioned and then I prayed that she would read the Gospels with an open mind, crying out to God to save her. May the Lord graciously convict and convert Taylor.

Christianity Is Not A Religion

It was right at 60 degrees on Friday so I just wore a t-shirt most of the time and didn’t put my jacket on until late afternoon. My shirt said “Christianity is not a religion” on the front and it explains that religion is man trying to reach God and Christianity is God reaching down to man on the backside. So, an Atheist and Satanist came up to me and asked about my shirt, what it meant. So, I turned around and let them read the back of it. They accused me of trying to trick people. I assured them that I wasn’t trying to deceive anyone, that the shirt states the truth.

Satanist

The Satanist was wearing a Satanist t-shirt so I asked Emily about her shirt. She said that she doesn’t really worship Satan, but that she thinks all religions are alright (even though she rejects Christianity). She grew up a preacher’s kid of a Southern Baptist preacher and said that science made her lose her faith. (She said the sinner’s prayer when she was six years old). She told me that she saw a harsh side of Christianity that didn’t match what she read in the Bible. I told her that I was sorry to hear about that part.

I asked her how science made her no longer believe in God and she tried to explain virtual particles to me. She really couldn’t really explain it and I really didn’t understand it, so I asked her where the virtual particles came from. She couldn’t explain it, but was sure that quantum physics could do so. Then I said basically you believe that nothing created everything. She said yes. I said earlier you told me that you believe in science and logic, don’t you see how illogical it is to believe that nothing created everything? She said no, she believes it. I challenged her to create something right here for me out of nothing. She laughed and said I can’t do that, I’m merely a human. I said exactly. You are a human and you can’t create something out of nothing, so how can you believe nothing created everything.

Atheist

Shawn the Atheist jumped in at this point and said he doesn’t even go there. He just wanted to know how I could be so sure that Christianity is real. I thank God that he asked this question because I was able to briefly share my testimony with both of them. I explained how God saved me, the verses He used to convict and convert me and I shared how it is supernatural. That the Holy Spirit lives inside of me. He then wanted to know if there was anything at all that could change my mind and I told him absolutely not. Because of the supernatural Holy Spirit lives inside of me and nothing could ever take that away.

Then Emily jumped back in and wanted to know how she was able to walk away from her profession in Christ at six years old. I told her that she was a false convert just like I had been as an 11-year-old child. She seemed to understand that. Shawn’s friend came up behind them and said that he had to get to class. So, I asked them if I could take a picture of them before they left and they agreed. I don’t know anything about the friend in the middle of the picture, but Shawn the Atheist and Emily the Satanist are beside the guy in the middle. Shawn and Emily both took tracts from me. May God soften their hearts and may He draw both them to Himself.

Good Conversations

Throughout the day, many of the evangelist got into good conversations. I noticed Del, Jeremy and Dave talking to a lot of students. I’m sure there were many others, I just didn’t see them. One student got really loud a couple of times. He disagreed with what we were preaching. From the best I could tell, he thinks God is love and everyone is alright. Obviously, he is very wrong. A couple of preachers tried to reason with him, but to no avail. I caught the young man sitting by himself later on and I handed him a tract. He took it. There was also a Muslim that just stood in the speakers circle and he had sign around his neck that said something like “Am I What You Are Afraid Of” or something similar. Many students walked up and hugged him. The Muslim had ear plugs in, but I hope and pray that he still heard the Gospel that was preached many times while he was there.

Cup Of Coffee

Most of our group left in the afternoon, but Jeremy and I stuck around a little longer. Jeremy did open-air a few times and even though the students thinned out, he drew people over to talk to him every time. It was great to see. I mainly handed out tracts and did one last message before I had to leave. After that I handed out tracts. A young lady came up to me and took the tract and at the same time handed me a coffee. She told me she saw what I was doing and just wanted to bring me a coffee. I thanked her and she said that she was praying for me. She was so appreciative. We encounter a lot of mockers doing street witnessing, but we also see genuine believers who appreciate the proclamation of the glorious Gospel. This young lady will probably never know how much of an encouragement she was to me. When I left, Jeremy was the last evangelist there.

Three Encouragers and Two Mockers

Last Wednesday Aaron and I shared the Gospel at MSU and we encountered two mockers and three encouragers. Both mockers came by while Aaron was preaching. They both told him to shut the f up and the last one stated that they pay tuition and that they don’t want us there. She has a right to her opinion, but we will obey God rather than man.

We also had three people that encouraged us. A young woman walked by while I was bringing a message and said thanks. Then later while Aaron was preaching, a young man didn’t take a tract (presumably because he is a believer) and he said you guys are good preachers. But the most encouraging of all was when I finished I stated that if the students had any questions or prayer requests or wanted a Bible to come on over to us. A woman came over who has encouraged us in the past and said that she knows a new believer in Christ and wanted to get a Bible for her. I handed her one and Aaron offered to pray for the new believer named Claudia, which he did.

(Christian, please pray for the lost souls that we came in contact this week and may you boldly share the Gospel with those you encountered.)