Mockers From Beginning To End
Ministry Update October 16, 2016
I was the first one of our group on the square Friday night and two young people started talking to me. The young woman was asking spiritual questions, but the young man kept making vile and crude remarks. He was so bad she actually pulled him away and walked on. What a way to start the night and really hadn’t even started yet. But that’s how the night went; we had mockers from beginning to end.
The rest of the group showed up and while we were singing hymns a teenager on a bicycle jumped up on the platform where we were standing and yelled f Jesus as he rode by. I think it was fairly quiet when I brought a message after we sang. I talked about how the Gospel was foolishness to those who are perishing, to those who have not been born again.
What Bible Do You Use?
Well, just like on cue, the mockers started in strong when Aaron preached. One woman kept trying to interrupt him but he told her that he’d be happy to talk to her after he finished his message. As soon as he finished, she started in about what Bible he uses, how do we know the Bible was inspired by men and so forth. As soon as she walked up to him, a large group of mockers surrounded him, all firing off questions rapid fire.
At some point the first mocker asked for a Bible so I handed her a Gideon New Testament. I grabbed a couple of more and offered them. One guy named Sean took one. He thanked me and he had taken a tract earlier from me. He wasn’t one of the mockers. In fact, he called me brother when he first stood near me.
Satanist
The mockers raged on about homosexuality, how Jesus loves everyone and it doesn’t matter what you do because of John 3:16. Then a really vile, nasty Satanist came up and stood nose to nose to Aaron, cussing him out viciously and demanding that we all leave the square. Other mockers joined in and started yelling for us to leave and to quit shoving the Gospel down everyone’s throat. Aaron reminded them that we weren’t forcing Christianity down anyone’s throat and he also told them that we are nothing like the Muslims who killed two parents and paralyzed a 17 year old girl in another country. I was talking to someone else and before I knew it the Satanist knocked the Jesus Saves His People From Their Sins sign out of my hand. I picked it back up and continued talking to the person I was talking to.
Then we sang Amazing Grace to end the night. Sean who previously took the tract and the New Testament from me, joined us. The Satanist ran up in front of all of us and pulled up his shirt and tried to show us some Satanist tattoo on his chest. Personally, I looked away and kept singing. He then jumped off the platform, ran off, still yelling at us the whole time. After they hymn, some of the mockers kept mocking.
But two self-professed Lesbians who listened to all of the preaching all night asked me if they could have two Bibles. I told them sure thing. This was quite surprising since the woman mocker earlier mentioned the Lesbians because she knows them. She told us that they are really in love and that’s all that matters. So again I was surprised when they asked for Bibles after they heard Aaron tell the mocking woman about Romans 1 and how homosexuality is described as vile affections.
Pray To God Every Night
When we were ready to leave Aaron asked Erica and I to stay for a little bit while he had to run an errand, so we told him we would. We started talking to Sean who was still standing there by beside us. At one point he said that he believes in God and prays every night that God will forgive his sins. He also mentioned that he’s worried about going to Hell.
So I asked him if he had ever truly repented and put his faith in Jesus. If he has every turned from his sins and surrendered his life to Jesus and he admitted that he hasn’t done that. I shared Matthew 7:21-23 with him. I also asked him if he acknowledges that he is a sinner and that Jesus is not and that the Lord is the only Savior. He said he understands that. But he’s never really surrendered to Jesus. I then asked Sean if he reads the Bible and he admitted that he doesn’t. So I asked him if he would read the New Testament that I gave him and he said that he would read it.
I Want To Go To Church
I encouraged him to read the verses that we talked about and then go back and read the New Testament starting in Matthew. He said that he would. Erica also joined in and talked to Sean about his spiritual life too. He also mentioned that he wants to start going to church. I asked him if he has a car and he said no. So Erica handed him a tract with her church information on it and told him that Aaron would pick him up on Sunday if he will call him. We hope and pray that he comes to Aaron’s church and we especially pray that God will convict and convert Sean. So even though we had mockers from beginning to end, we had a great conversation with Sean.
Preaching In The Rain
On Wednesday, Brian, Aaron and I preached in the rain at MSU. An atheist that last Spring said some really vile and nasty things while we were preaching came up to me while I was bringing a message and she offered me some of her lunch. I thanked her but suggested she go ahead and eat it. We had a very pleasant conversation (just the exact opposite from last Spring) and when she started to walk away I offered her a tract. She said no, but I suggested that she take it and that she can always contact me if she wants to talk more and she took the tract.
While Brian preached I handed out invite cards to our church – Crossway Baptist Church. I handed out 50 cards. Most students were very receptive. I just held out the tract and said “I want to invite you to my church.” More students took them than rejected them. I could have handed out more, but that’s all I had with me. Then I had to leave and head back to work when Aaron walked up. I think Brian and him preached a couple of times and handed out more tracts.
(These updates are posted to encourage Christians to share their faith in Jesus Christ with others.)