Spiritual Battle

Spiritual Battle

Ministry Update July 29, 2018

My fellow Christians, are you aware of the spiritual battle going on right here in Springfield, MO? Yes, we live in the Bible Belt, but that doesn’t mean everyone is saved, not even every professing Christian. Not only that, but Satan is hard at work luring young people farther and father into sin. There is a real battle going on. Are you aware of it? Are you in the battle? 

Rich, Conner and I witnessed downtown Friday night. There was road construction going on just South of our normal witnessing spot and there was a large sign with a flashing arrow right in front of our spot with a generator humming loudly. So we moved across the street to the corner just to the North. There were a lot of people walking around downtown. All three of us brought messages and we had the usual drive by mockers. Rich and I held up signs when we weren’t open-air preaching.

While Rich was preaching, a guy in a red shirt stood across the street and listened for several minutes. Another young man in front of the Sky Eleven Apartment building listened to part of our messages too. Many people could hear the messages as they walked by. I don’t know if it was the signs or just the open-air preaching, but we didn’t hand out many tracts at this corner.

Need To Smile More

We were walking to a different witnessing spot when a guy yelled down from a top floor balcony. He said that he waved three times at us while witnessing and we ignored him. The young man suggested that we need to smile more. He said he speaks to up to 2,000 people at a time and you have to engage people. I thanked him for his comments and asked if he’s a follower of Jesus. He said he was. So then I asked him how he came to faith. He then replied that he was a Jehovah’s Witness. I told him that we can’t work our way to Heaven to which he said that he didn’t want a debate. As we walked away Rich told the man that he needs to repent and believe in Jesus.

The spot we were walking to ended up not being a good witnessing spot, so we walked over to the Outland Ballroom and witnessed down the street from there. Rich started us off and early on a young woman started playing a guitar and sounded like she just kept repeating the f word. Pretty soon she started jumping up and down and spinning around. The whole time this was going on, another young woman was playing an amplified violin across the street. It was quite an atmosphere.

What Are You Saying?

Then a young man walked up and started talking to the guitar woman and it almost seemed like he was trying to calm her down, like trying to get her to leave Rich alone so he could preach. But then he’d turn around and tell Rich to shut the f up. He did that couple of times, then he walked up and started talking to Rich. Unbelievably, he wanted to know what he was saying. He also asked Rich to turn down his mic, so Rich did. Rich asked him what he was doing. I think the young man mentioned drinking, drugs and sex. Then Rich talked to him about repenting and believing the Gospel. I think three different friends tried to pry him away, but he kept telling them to leave him alone.

In the midst of the spiritual battle, this was a good conversation. Rich told the young man that he would pray for him. May God save him. One driver revved his engine while Rich was preaching. Another driver honked as he turned the corner and flipped us off. Evidently, he didn’t like the sign that says Repent and Believe the Gospel. We did hand out more tracts here than we did at the first corner, but some of the ones that refused tracts, physically moved away from the tracts extended toward them. Like somehow the Gospel was going to hurt them if they got too close.

I brought a short message after Rich about how Jesus came to save His people from their sins and asked people if they were saved or still in their sins. One mocker came up to me and wanted to know if fing _itches was a sin. I assured him it was and he hopped and danced around like he’d won a prize. Then one of his friends kept repeating smoke weed, smoke weed. I warned them that God sent us out there Friday night to warn them, but they weren’t heeding the warning. Downtown Springfield is a spiritually dark place. If you don’t believe me, come and join us some Friday night. Once you get in the battle, you will see for yourself that it is real. There is a real spiritual battle going on, are you in the fight Christian?

Spiritual Battle Earlier In The Week

On Wednesday, Rich and I witnessed at Planned Parenthood and that is another place of spiritual battle. Like pretty much normal, there were six cars there when we started. A couple of women came and went and not much interaction. One mouthed off something as she went in, but that was about it. Another young woman pulled in the parking lot and sat there for a good 15 or 20 minutes. She was still sitting there when we left. We don’t know if she was giving someone a ride or not, but it seemed strange. We had a few beep beeps (drive by supporters) including a dump truck driver.

But we had more people laying on the horn as they drove by (those who oppose us, that support abortion).  We had a good time sharing the Gospel and warning the workers to repent and come out of that dark, evil place. Other people near Planned Parenthood also heard the Gospel. Planned Parenthood is pure evil and it is a spiritual battle. Christians need to stand against PP by standing in front of it. We need more Christians in the battle and may God raise up more laborers and may He shut this abdominal place down.

(These updates are given to encourage Christians to get into the battle. Share the Gospel with this lost and dying world. Satan is a liar and the great deceiver. That’s why we need to: Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:11-12). Put on the armor of God and get in the battle.)