Laughing Her Way To Hell
Ministry Update September 16, 2018
Conner and I had a great time witnessing downtown Friday night. There was a Pokémon Go event, so there were a lot of people milling around. I brought the first message and I had a couple of mockers. One guy stopped his SUV in the road to tell me that God is just a construct of our mind. I don’t know if it was right or wrong, but I told him to “go on to Hell because that’s where you want to go anyway.” I’ve heard the old-time preacher Rolfe Barnard say that and it just came out of my mouth. Then a little later a young woman walked by with her friends and she said laughingly. “I’m going to Hell and I’m so happy about it.” She may very well be laughing her way to Hell, but she won’t be laughing once she gets there.
Every single person that thinks they are going to have a great time in Hell or party in Hell have no clue about the reality of Hell. It is a place of torments. People are weeping and gnashing their teeth in Hell this very minute. They are begging for mercy, but it’s too late for mercy. I used the interaction with this young woman to warn others over the reality of Hell and pleaded with people to repent and trust Jesus. While this was going on, Conner was in a long discussion with an atheist who wanted to talk about philosophy and utilitarianism (basically happiness is all that matters). Conner spoke truth to him and hopefully gave him somethings to think about and make the young man question his worldview.
While Conner preached, I handed out tracts across the street. Mark took a tract from me and stopped and talked for quite a while. He says that he’s a believer and attends a local church. Interestingly, Mark also told me that his brother is an open-air preacher too. As we were talking another young man stopped to talk to us. His name is Dray and he’s from Russia. At first, we couldn’t understand him very well, but the more we talked, the better we understood each other. From the best I can tell, Dray is a Seventh Day Adventist. He told Mark and I that he goes to church on Saturdays.
Invited Himself To My Church
I couldn’t remember the doctrine of Seventh Day Adventist (except that they believe you have to observe the Sabbath on Saturday), so I asked him how he became a Christian (he told us that he was also a Christian). Dray said that his whole family was Christian and that he grew up that way. I asked him about Jesus saying that you must be born again in John 3, how we have to individually have a spiritual birth just like we have a physical birth. He said yes; he agreed with that. Dray also talked about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. So, I tried again to talk about repentance and faith in Jesus, to which he also agreed with this.
Then Dray asked Mark and I where we go to church. Mark said Hill City and I said Crossway Baptist Church. Amazingly, this young man invited himself to my church! Of course, I immediately whipped out an invite card and asked him to please join us. After we talked quite a while, he needed to leave to find his friends and he mentioned again that he will visit my church. I hope and pray that he does and I hope that he brings his friends with him. After Conner finished his message, he joined Mark and I in conversation. While the three of us talked, Conner and I handed out tracts to people as they walked by. May God bless the messages, the conversations and the Gospel tracts.
Questions And Comments
The best way to describe witnessing at MSU on Wednesday was questions and comments. As I was nearing Strong Hall, Quinn the skateboarding atheist rolled by me and asked if I was ready. I told him that I was, but that I was going to be at Strong Hall instead of my usual spot. He was quite surprised. I’m not sure that he realized that I have to get a permit each week to witness on campus.
Right when I started open-air preaching, he skated up to the platform where I was standing. He asked several questions, but I’ve been around him long enough to know when he’s sincere and when he just wants to hamper the Gospel going forth. That day he just wanted to keep me from speaking. He was asking questions like why do I do this when nobody’s listening. Plus, he made comments about how it’s not doing any good. I just ignored him and kept bringing the message.
Student Likes To Hear The Preaching
Shortly after that a student walked right up to me and she didn’t say a word. She just took a picture and marched off. Again, I just kept sharing the Gospel. Several people sat on benches and stood around listening to the message. One young man just sat down right on the platform near me. So, when I finished up, I asked him if he had any questions. He told me that his name is Ben and that he listens to me on campus or downtown whenever he gets a chance.
He just commented how he likes to hear me preach. I thanked him and asked him where he goes to church and he said that he visits different ones, but doesn’t really have a church home. So, I gave him an invite card to Crossway Baptist Church, told him that we have services Sunday morning at 8:00 am, 9:30 am and 11 am. I also mentioned that my wife and I attend the 11 am service and we’d love to have him join us some Sunday morning. He took the card and said that he will visit sometime.
Intrigued By Open-Air Preaching
Another young man was waiting to talk, so I shook Ben’s hand and he went on his way. The next young man’s name is Casey. He told me that he sees me and others doing open-air on campus and he was quite intrigued by it. He wanted to know how successful this method. When people ask this question, the response is quite easy. Success is obediently sharing the Gospel. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17) and God’s word does not return void (Isaiah 55:11). Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9). I told him my friends and I that do street ministry don’t keep track of numbers or worry about numbers. God doesn’t give us quotas to meet. We share the Gospel and God is the one that saves souls.
No Religious Affiliation
He was also intrigued about us witnessing downtown, so I invited Casey to join us downtown Friday night. As we talked some more, I explained that his generation has the largest group of “nones” non-religious affiliations of any generation in America. The last statistic I heard was that around 33-34% of Millennials claim no religious affiliation. This just increases the need for street evangelism.
Casey then admitted that he is in that group of “nones.” He was asking all the questions because of a project that he’s doing for a class. So, I gave him a card with my contact information on it (that has a tract on the backside) and told him that I’d meet him for coffee sometime as well as inviting him to join us downtown Friday night. I also gave Casey an invite card to my church too. May God save this young man, Quinn and the many other lost students at Missouri State University.
(These updates are given to encourage Christians to share the Gospel with others)