I Will Go Straight To Hell

I Will Go Straight To Hell

Ministry Update March 24, 2019

Friday night when I first got out of my, car I could hear Jeff preaching. Jeff and Taylor came up from Arkansas to witness and they started early. As I started walking around my car, five women asked if I would take their picture by the Springfield sign on the Discovery Center building. I said sure, took the picture and told them I had something for them and gave them all New Testaments. Then one girl asked if I witness at MSU and I told her yes. She said, “I thought I recognized you.” Then I made my way to where Jeff was preaching and a man was heckling him from across the street. The man was the first of many that said he would go to Hell. One man toward the end of the night said, “I will go straight to Hell…”

First Heckler Drew A Crowd

But this first heckler drew a good crowd. People were stopping at different corners and I even saw one guy recording the interaction on his phone. The angry guy yelling at Jeff kept telling Jeff to shut the f up and threatening to beat him up, while at the same time professing to be a Christian. Jeff was very kind and gentle to the heckler, but kept telling him that he needed to be born again. The angry guy didn’t seem to understand the meaning of being born again, which appeared obvious because of his cussing and threatening words.

One young man that stopped to listen for a while started walking off and yelled “Judge not.” Jeff asked him where it says that in the Bible. The guy didn’t know, but he knew it was in there. Jeff quoted it to him and then told the young man to read on past Matthew 7:1. The guy was unfamiliar with it, so Jeff quoted some more verses. Before long, the guy had crossed the street as well as the first heckler to argue with the preacher.

I Will Go To Hell

At some point, the judge not guy started talking to Taylor and the angry heckler talked to Jeff. The angry guy kept walking away, but kept coming back. At one point, three women stopped in front of Jeff and one of them said that she’s a believer and she was very cordial and asked very good questions. Jeff even thanked her for her questions when the woman and the rest of her group had to leave.

The judge not guy and the angry guy also walked away, both yelling and shaking their head. The angry guy stopped in the middle of the road and said “I will go to Hell.” (Another clue that he really isn’t a Christian. A true believer wouldn’t say this). About that time a woman getting in the passenger seat of a car in the parking lot across from us started heckling Jeff. She yelled for him to shut the f up. Even as the car pulled up to go out on the street, she sat out of the car window, still yelling and cussing him. While Jeff was still preaching, a couple walked up to Taylor and I, shook our hands and thanked us for being out there witnessing.

Play Acting Like Hit By A Car

Shortly after that I started bringing a message about The Way. How Jesus is the only way of salvation, the only way to Heaven. I asked a young man walking by if he’d go to Heaven or Hell if he died. He pointed down. I said if you got killed by a car crossing the street you would go to Hell and that doesn’t bother you? He then fell down in the middle of road, play acting like he had been hit by a car. Then he jumped up laughing. I told him that he won’t laugh when he dies and goes to Hell. I pleaded with him to repent and trust Jesus and Hell isn’t what he thinks it is. People are not partying in Hell right now.

A little while later a couple walked by and one guy kept yelling that he’s going to Hell. Again I explained that he doesn’t understand what Hell is really like. It’s a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. A place of eternal torments. I also pleaded with him to repent and put his faith in Jesus. A few minutes later a large group passed us and one guy did the same thing again, mocking Hell. Then Taylor preached after me and a couple walked by and the woman mocked Taylor all the way to her car. We also had several drive by mockers throughout the time we were open-air preaching.

Homeless Group

After the excitement of all the mockers while we preached in the open-air, the crowd thinned out. So we decided to walk around downtown. We handed out tracts and New Testaments as we walked. Several people took New Testaments and tracts. After we walked several blocks, we saw a group that looked homeless. We approached them and most of them took New Testaments. In fact, I ran out of Gideon New Testaments and dug around in my bag and found a softback one. When I handed the last New Testament to a guy named Dave, I asked him if he died tonight, where would he go and responded that he would be with his mama and pointed to the sky.

I asked him how he plans to get there and he said Jesus. He proceeded to explain the need to repent and trust Jesus. He also pointed out that repentance wasn’t just saying your sorry. Saying sorry, sorry, sorry and repeating the same thing is not repentance. To that I say Amen! I gave Dave an invite card to Crossway Baptist Church and shook his hand. As we walked away, Jeff remarked that they were probably surprised that we stopped to talk to them. But we did so because everyone needs to hear the Gospel and this encounter turned out to be very encouraging the way Dave clearly stated the way of salvation in front of his friends and the majority of them took New Testaments.

I Will Go Straight To Hell Where I…

Then we walked back toward the square. As we crossed the street, I offered a tract to two women. One took the tract and the other told me that she already knew Jesus. I still held the tract out and said maybe you can give it to someone else. To which she replied, “Fair enough” and took it. Jeff had previously stated that he wanted to preach again, so I suggested that he preach on the square. There were several people milling around on the square and within earshot nearby.

As he brought a message, an old man walking with a cane walked toward Jeff and came up the steps behind him. Jeff turned around and tried to engage him an in a Gospel conversation. The old man laughed and said he wasn’t interested. Jeff politely pointed out to the man that he might not have that long to live and asked what will happen to him when he dies. The old man said, “I will go straight to Hell where I won’t have to hear your voice.” Then the man hobbled off, appearing to have a very hard heart and a reprobate mind.

I’m Not Going To Quit Drinking

Shortly after that we headed back toward our vehicles, handing out tracts along the way. Since it was around 60 degrees, people were sitting in patio areas outside of the bars. We passed a group sitting at a table near the edge of one and Jeff engaged them in conversation. I think they all said they were Catholics. One girl said “I’m not going to quit drinking.” She went on to justify it because Jesus turned water into wine. Jeff didn’t try to argue with her and I think he made the right call. He just politely offered her a tract, which she took. I think she was the only one of the group to do so. May God bless the messages, tracts and New Testaments that were handed out. It was a pure joy to lift up Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior with these two brothers in Christ that drove over two hours each way to witness in downtown Springfield, MO.

Let Them Laugh

Let them laugh, let them laugh at me. It really doesn’t bother me when students laugh or make fun of me. I’m actually used to this. But on Wednesday at MSU, I thought it was especially sad when a student walked by with a group of prospective students along their parents and it was the parents who were laughing at the Gospel being proclaimed in the open-air. What kind of example is that for their high school kids?

But there was one encouraging student that day and praise God for the New Testaments that were handed out. I ran out of New Testaments, so after the message I handed out a few tracts. I caught up to a student and offered him a tract and he politely said no. So then I tried again and said, “Come on, it won’t hurt you” and that time he took it. May God bless the message, the New Testaments and the few tracts that were given out.