Smite Me Right Now
Ministry Update January 1, 2017
After Brian brought a message I preached after him. While I was on the box, Tim came up and asked Brian a ton of questions. I think he talked for 30 to 40 minutes. But one of his questions was why God doesn’t strike him dead when he curses God and challenges Him to kill him. He cursed God and challenged God to “smite me right now.” Since God didn’t kill him on the spot, Tim believes that proves God isn’t real. He doesn’t realize that it’s by God’s mercy alone that He doesn’t strike Tim dead this very moment.
Smite me right now. Unfortunately, one day Tim will get his wish. God will strike him dead. God will demand his very soul. Tim told us that he’s had three near death experiences. Instead of drawing him to God, it seems to have emboldened him to the point that he doesn’t fear the reaper as he says. Again, Tim asked many questions, but with all of his questioning, he still missed the most important question: where will he spend eternity? Tim was raised Lutheran so he thinks when you die you stand before Peter at the pearly gates and you get one last chance to ask for forgiveness. I asked him where that is in the Bible and he didn’t know, it’s just what he’s been taught.
Erica and I tag teamed Tim a little bit toward the end. We tried to steer him away from all of his rabbit trails (and Brian was much more patient with all of those than I could have been) toward the real issue of what he will do with his sins on Judgment Day. Tim freely admitted that he’s a sinner, but we all are so he doesn’t really see why he needs to be forgiven. He thinks that he will ask all of his unanswered questions to Jesus on Judgment Day. He wants to ask Jesus why he needs to be forgiven before he will ask for forgiveness.
But if he dies in his sins, it will be too late. Judgment Day won’t be a trial, it is a sentencing (Revelation 21:8). We are all guilty sinners (Romans 3:23). If you die in your sin, then on Judgment Day you will be sentenced to the lake of fire and brimstone to suffer God’s righteous anger over your sins forever (Revelation 20:11-15). If you die as a person who has repented and surrendered their life to Jesus, you will be innocent on Judgment Day. You will be counted righteous through the righteousness of Jesus and you will receive everlasting life.
While I was bringing a message a cursing God mocker walked by saying some disgusting things. We also had a cab driver who was driving by and stopped his vehicle in the street to yell out the window. But as bad as those two guys were, we still don’t want to see them die in their sins and go to Hell. We pray that God will save them as well as the other souls who received tracts and heard the Gospel.
Erica, Diana, and Elise handed out tracts, Gospel of John booklets and some homeless packs. We had a good night of witnessing. One guy came by and we handed him a homeless pack because he said that he just got out of jail. We believed him because he was wearing a black and white striped shirt that said Greene County Jail on the back. The pack we gave him had a pair of socks, hand warmer, cliff bar, banana, Gospel tract and a Gideon’s New Testament. Praying that the man will read the tract and the New Testament. May God save his soul.
Not One Righteous Person
On Wednesday, I witnessed at Planned Parenthood. The night before I read Genesis 18 so at Planned Parenthood I read Genesis 18:17-32. These verses are where Abraham pleads God down to 10 righteous men. If God finds 10 righteous men in Sodom, then God won’t destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. But you know the story, God only found one righteous person – Lot. It struck me as I read those verses that there can’t be even one righteous person at all the Planned Parenthoods across America. Not one righteous person.
I can state this with confidence because the Bible says that there is none righteous, no not one. So, none of us are righteous on our own. But when we are saved, we then have the righteousness of Jesus credited to us and the Holy Spirit now lives inside us. There can’t be even one righteous person at any Planned Parenthoods because if a worker at any of them really got saved, were really born again believers, they would have to immediately quit their job. You could not continue working for an organization that rips little babies apart, limb by limb, if the Holy Spirit resides inside of you.
So sadly, there can’t be a single righteous person at Planned Parenthood. So I preached that message in front of the building. A young woman was inside for most of my message. I hope and pray that she heard it. I hope and pray that the workers heard it and that God will convict them. I pleaded with them to come out of there and that I would try to help them get a different job, but there were no takers.
Somebody Called The Police
A couple pulled up and went inside and only stayed for a minute or less. I don’t know why there were there or what was going on, but hopefully God convicts them not to return. Someone must have called the police because a police car drove slowly through the parking lot. I don’t know if they were trying to intimidate me or what, but I just kept preaching. A couple of minutes later I saw the police car in the apartment building parking lot behind Planned Parenthood. The passenger window was down and it appeared like they were seeing how loud I was. I kept preaching and didn’t see them any more after that.
(These updates are given to encourage Christians to share the glorious Gospel of our Lord and Savior with this lost and dying world).