I Gotta Stop With The Devils Lettuce
Ministry Update April 7, 2019
With these updates, many times I say what a blessed night we had witnessing downtown, and Friday night was no exception. I say this frequently because it is true. Every night is different and we never know what we are going to see and hear. Friday night we were blessed with several encouragers, several mockers and a great conversation at the end. The best line of the night was “I gotta stop with the devil’s lettuce.”
Pastor Joshua stared off with the first message and he preached on how Jesus said there’s rejoicing in Heaven over one repentant sinner more than the ninety-nine that need no repentance (Luke 15:7). He pointed out that none of us are righteous, so we all need to repent. As he brought the message, four people stopped across the street to listen to him. As they walked away, all four gave him a thumbs up. About that same time the four were encouraging Pastor Joshua, a mocker in a white truck drove by and blew black smoke out of his exhaust. The mocker did this on three different occasions during the night. The encouragers and mockers at the same time would have been a great picture, but unfortunately, I was having technical difficulties with my body camera at that time.
Fancy Dresses
I was handing out New Testaments while Pastor Joshua preached. Three women wearing fancy dresses were walking toward me and I held out the New Testament. The woman closest to me was holding a small child. As they came toward me I really didn’t think any of them would take a New Testament, but to my surprise, the woman with the small child stopped and told the little boy to take it, which he did. It was pretty well mixed the rest of the time between those who took New Testaments and those who said no. A young man on a skateboard thanked us for being out there witnessing. He told me that he attends a house church in Springfield.
While I was bringing a message, Pastor Joshua was across the street handing out tracts. I think a lot of people took them and a few people stopped to talk to him. A guy named Justin talked to Pastor Joshua. Justin says that he’s a Christian that he was out sharing the Gospel with people downtown. Pastor Joshua asked him where he goes to church and he said that he doesn’t go anywhere. So Pastor Joshua invited him to his church and told him that we are not to neglect gathering with fellow believers (Hebrews 10:25).
Believers Should Be In A Local Church
He also pointed out that Christians are to be under the authority of a local pastor (Hebrews 13:17). After I finished my message, Justin came over to encourage me and I asked him the same question about where he goes to church. When he told me that he doesn’t go, so I asked him if Pastor Joshua invited him to his church and Justin said that he did. If a professing Christian doesn’t attend anywhere, we want to see them get plugged into a Bible believing, Bible preaching church. As Justin was walking away, I asked if he had any tracts. He said no, so I offered him some tracts and he gladly accepted. I gave him some of the Do You Know Jesus Christ? tracts from Chapel Library and he was especially glad to hear that they will send you tracts for free.
I also had several drive by mockers while I was open-air preaching. One guy cussed as he drove in front of me. Another driver yelled as they were driving away. The driver yelled something, so I replied, “God bless you young….person.” I couldn’t tell if the driver was a man or a woman, so I ended up saying young person. Another time two guys in a truck stopped at the stop sign looked over at me. The passenger waved so I waved back. Immediately they cranked the stereo up really loud trying to drown out the preaching.
Best Mockers Of The Night
But the “best” mockers of the night were the sign holders. It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen them, but I recognized both of them from past interactions. The man held a sign saying “You Are Amazing” and the woman’s sign read “You Are Wonderful”. So I incorporated that into my message, no, we are not wonderful, we are not amazing. God is wonderful and amazing, we are not.
We are sinful creatures that have rebelled against God and you don’t need someone trying to pacify your guilt over your sins. Their signs actually worked hand in hand with my message about how a false god cannot save you. The best part about these mockers were that they drew a crowd. There were people gathered on several corners trying to see what was going on. After a while they moved on, but I was glad they showed up. Mockers that draw a crowd are a blessing from God.
Biggest Blessing Of The Night
But the biggest blessing of the night was at the very end. Pastor Joshua and I were just standing there talking when four young people walked by him. Pastor Joshua handed them tracts and he asked the last guy if he could ask him a question. The guy said sure and all of his friends stopped with him to listen. Pastor Joshua asked him if he believes in an afterlife. The young man said he thinks there’s a Heaven and a Hell or maybe we are reborn. What he meant by reborn was reincarnation. So he really didn’t know what he believed. I’ll call him Maybe (because he doesn’t know what happens). One of the girls said that she’s Agnostic, the other young woman said that she’s an Atheist and the other young man didn’t say much at all, so I’ll call him Quiet.
Pastor Joshua continued talking to Maybe and explained how we have all sinned against God and none of us are righteous. Then he asked them if they are good and all them (I think even Quiet) said they aren’t good. But Maybe admitted that he was going to say that he thinks he is good, based on how his mom raised him. So by his mom’s standard, he is good. Pastor Joshua then explained how we can all have different standards for good. We might compare ourselves to people on the nightly news and determine that we aren’t really that bad of people. He further explained that we really don’t have a set standard, but God does and His standard is perfection.
God Doesn’t Just Sweep Sin Under A Rug
Then Pastor Joshua clearly shared the Gospel with them. As he asked questions, Atheist had some of the best answers. But she thought all we have to do is ask God to forgive us for our sins and he automatically does. Just by asking, like God somehow just sweeps our sins under a rug. Pastor Joshua explained that God is Holy, righteous and just and how He can’t just let our sins go unpunished.
Her answers though led us to believe that maybe she grew up in a Christian home, but doesn’t believe God’s word. She said that she’s read the Bible several times. When she said that, Pastor Joshua told her to keep reading it. The whole encounter was one of those great witnessing encounters. Maybe, Agnostic and Atheist all asked him questions, but they did so in an orderly fashion and gave Pastor Joshua time to answer their questions.
I thought Agnostic asked some really good questions and seemed to really listen to his answers. Since Maybe thought he was a good person, Pastor Joshua gave him some of the 10 Commandments. When he asked Maybe if he’d ever lied, he said no. The funniest thing was all of his friends immediately told him that he was lying right then! Then he also admitted to breaking several other commandments. Again, Pastor Joshua clearly shared with them how we’ve all fallen short of God’s perfect standard and how Jesus is the perfect sacrifice that that appeased God’s anger over sin.
I Gotta Stop With The Devil’s Lettuce First
At one point Maybe said, “What if I don’t care what happens?” Pastor Joshua talked to him some more and then toward the end is when Maybe wondered what he should do. So Pastor Joshua explained again about the need for repentance and faith in Jesus. Then Maybe said, “I gotta stop with the devil’s lettuce first” (marijuana). At that point we told him that it doesn’t work that way. You can’t clean yourself up in order for God to save you.
None of us can clean ourselves up. That’s why we need Jesus, we need the perfect Savior who can cleanse us from our unrighteousness. Pastor Joshua invited all four to his church. When they first stopped to talk, only Quiet took a New Testament from me. But before they left, the other three took one too, after hearing the clear Gospel presentation from Pastor Joshua. May God be glorified and may He save these four lost souls and many others that received tracts, New Testaments and heard the Gospel being proclaimed in downtown Springfield, MO.
Encouraging Time On Campus
I couldn’t get a permit to open-air preach on campus at MSU on Wednesday, so I handed out New Testaments. Praise God that seventy students took New Testaments. While carrying the box of N.T.’s, a group of students running passed me and the first guy yelled “sweet hat.” Several students told me that they already had Bibles and one young man told me that he had one in his bag. I love hearing students say they have their Bible with them. Praise God! I hadn’t seen Brittany all semester, but she stopped and said hi to me. I was witnessing near the student union instead of my normal spot and it was nice catching up with her. The free huggers were out by the bear statue.
Other Encouraging Encounters
Then a guy riding a bicycle was coming toward me and he yelled, “Here’s a man taking time out of his day to be here.” I was actually facing the other direction, so I spun around in time to hand him a New Testament. He slowed down enough to snag it and rode on past. After I ran out of New Testaments, I handed out Gospel tracts as I walked to my normal witnessing spot and made a loop back around to my car. When I got to the normal spot, three guys were sitting on a bench, so I handed them all tracts. The guy in the middle asked if I remembered talking to him last year.
?
I asked his name and he said Eric; I had to admit that I talk to a lot of students and that I didn’t remember talking to him. Eric, Joe and Lindy all go to Hill City Church and we discussed the importance of evangelism. I told them that I was saved later in life and wasted all those earlier years. I encouraged them to share the Gospel now while they were young. Then I shook their hands and headed back to work. It was a wonderful lunch hour handing out New Testaments, tracts and talking to fellow believers. It always encourages me to see young followers of Jesus Christ.
(These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share the glorious Gospel with others.)