Harsh Message

Harsh Message

Ministry Update June 3, 2018

Conner, Kelly and I were handing out tracts Friday night before we started open-air preaching. I tried to hand tracts to two guys walking by and they refused the offer. I asked the one guy where he’d go if he died tonight. He replied, “I’m not going anywhere you are concerned.” The three of us just looked at each other. The gentleman couldn’t have been more wrong. We are concerned about where people spend eternity. That’s what compels us to go out witnessing. 

I started off with the first message and I knew it would rile people up because it was a harsh message against abortion. Seeing all the pictures and videos of women in Ireland being giddy and joyful over the right to abort a child breaks my heart. Since the message was about the evil of abortion, it did stir people up. The angriest guy was also the vilest. He rode up on a motorcycle and yelled at me for using an amplifier. He wanted to know why we didn’t just preach on Sundays and that nobody wanted to hear us outside of church.

I Can Do This All Night

I pretty much ignored him and kept bringing the message. Conner and Kelly walked over and tried to reason with him. After a while, Conner went back to handing out tracts, but Kelly probably talked to him for about 30 minutes. The guy kept revving his engine to drown out the message. One time he said, “I have a full tank of gas, I can do this all night.” But eventually he left.

During the same time, a guy in a truck drove by twice and yelled out the window both times. The first time he honked and stopped right in front of me and said, “It is her body her choice mother______.” I told him that science is on our side. Sometimes the baby has a different blood type. It is not her body. It is another body inside a woman’s body.

Another person across the street was with a group of people. He made inappropriate sexual gestures as he walked away from us. One gentleman rode up on his bicycle and he supported what I was saying. He asked me how many babies have been aborted since Roe V Wade. I told him around 60 Million and he agreed that sadly, it’s been that many. I think he appreciated that I was speaking against abortion.

Confirmation Didn’t Mean Anything

After I finished up, I walked over to a guy sitting near us. He thanked me for sharing the Gospel. Jim had taken a tract from Conner earlier. We talked for a while and I asked him about his spiritual background. He told me that he was raised Catholic and that his dad rushed him through confirmation when he was six years old, even though most Catholics go through it when they are 12 years old. Jim said that it didn’t mean anything to him.

But years later when he was in the military, some Southern Baptists shared the Gospel with him and his need for a Savior made sense to him. I asked him where he goes to church and he said that he had been going to Ridgecrest Baptist but wasn’t attending anywhere at the moment. So I handed him an Invite card to Crossway Baptist Church and told him that we are Southern Baptist too. I hope and pray that Jim will visit one of these days.

Tone Too Harsh?

Conner started open-air preaching while Kelly was still talking to the angry motorcyclist that kept revving his engine. Thankfully, the guy rode off while Conner wasn’t very far into his message. Things quieted down, so I went across the street to hand out tracts. A woman that had been standing there most of the time refused a tract because she’s already a Christian.

She told me that I was too harsh, that my tone was too harsh. We talked for a while and she said that I needed to be kinder like Conner. Then she went over and told him that his tone was nicer than mine. She may have been right. I was bringing a harsh message about abortion, some of the people were very vocally opposed to it and maybe I was too harsh. May the Lord forgive me and may He use the truth of the heinous act of killing a baby in the womb to convict pro-choice people to support life instead of being pro-murder; even if my tone was too harsh.

I’ll Take One After All

Kelly and I were handing out tracts while Conner preached and one guy politely refused a tract from Kelly as he walked by. Shortly after that, Kelly handed a tract to a woman walking by from another direction. About that same time, the guy who refused a tract, walked back over and said, “I’ll take one after all.” We love it when that happens.

After Conner finished up, Kelly preached on the reality and horrors of Hell. Of course, this wasn’t a very popular message either. Two different drivers yelled at Kelly while he was preaching. But toward the very end of his message, a woman turned the corner right in front of us and she gave him a big thumbs up. That was a nice way to end the open-air preaching. Afterwards, we walked up to the square and briefly handed out some tracts. Three guys were pushing their motorcycles to the square and all three took tracts. They had ridden by earlier and their bikes had multi-color lights on them. It actually looked cool while they were riding in front of us.

Mutual Encouragement

On the Saturday during Memorial Weekend, my wife and I went to Brown State Park in Indiana. We were walking around the tourist town of Nashville, Indiana while waiting on my oldest daughter and her fiancé to meet us for lunch. I was pleasantly surprised to see a guy standing on a busy corner with a cross, handing out tracts. As I approached him, I told him that I’m a street preacher from Missouri and how encouraging it was to see him out witnessing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone doing that while I’ve been on vacation. He told me his name is Thomas and he liked hearing that I witness where I live.

Thomas was on one street corner and he had a stand with some tracts and Bibles across the street from him, but nobody was taking anything. Since my daughter was running late, I told my wife that I was going to go over hand out tracts while we waited. The majority of people took tracts and they were very friendly. Thomas came across the street and we visited a little while.

He told me that he’s never had anyone stop and hand out tracts before. I shared with him that I’d never seen anyone out witnessing where we were vacationing. God brought us together that Saturday to mutually encourage each other. God’s ways are so much higher than our ways that we usually don’t even know what He’s doing. But it is a real blessing when we get see little glimpses like this. May God be praised above all.

(These updates are given to encourage Christians to share the Gospel with others. Please share your testimony with others and/or hand out tracts.)