Vocal Atheists

Vocal Atheists

Ministry Update April 9, 2017

Friday night was Artwalk and there was a good crowd downtown. Kelly, Steven, Serenity, Diana, Elise, Aaron, Joe and I were blessed to have evangelist Larry Craft and his family join us. They nearly doubled the size of our group and we needed all hands-on deck, especially with the vocal atheists that stood in front of us all night. 

The vocal atheists showed up when I was bringing a message No More Spirit Left. I recognized one of the girls in the atheist group because she’s my favorite atheist at MSU. She and her friends had signs that said Where is God’s Unconditional Love? and Morals Are Mythology. When I recognized Emily, I called her out by name. She turned around and said “Oh Hi.” So I asked her and her friends where does it say God’s love is unconditional in the Bible? I asked them about Psalm 7:11 where God is angry with the wicked every day? Later on I quoted John 3:36 that God’s wrath abides on all who do not believe in Jesus.

Again, they were very vocal all night. The yelled and screamed through the messages of Kelly, Larry and Aaron and myself. They yelled to people driving by “you’re beautiful” and other affirming things. They danced, mocked and yelled the whole time. They even sang songs to try to drown us out when we were singing hymns at the end of the night. While Kelly was preaching the atheists said something about growing up Catholic to which Kelly replied no wonder you don’t believe, Catholics are lost too.

All The Mayhem

But even with all the mayhem, we handed out 13 New Testaments and Aaron, Larry and Kelly got into multiple conversations. Aaron talked to Jim and his wife. Jim’s also one of our favorite atheists. Several years ago he stood up for our right to preach the Gospel even though he doesn’t believe our message. Because he stood for our free speech rights, he was kicked out of some atheist’s groups. (I guess tolerance only works one way).

Larry’s sons held large banners while his wife and daughters handed out tracts. Many tracts were handed out and the atheists drew all kinds of attention. Especially while Kelly, Larry and Aaron preached, several different gays held hands, kissed and did other things as they walked across the street. The atheists went nuts when the homosexuals got riled up.

While I was across the street a young woman walked up to me and said some sexually perverted things to me and as she walked on by I yelled “repent Jezebel!” Later on one mocker flipped us all off and recorded himself doing so in front of us. Again, the vocal atheists went crazy. Toward the end of the night a degenerate mooned us from across the street and the atheists obviously loved that.

Doesn’t Your Conscience Bother You?

After we finished singing, I walked up to Emily and asked her if her conscience bothers her at all for mocking God the whole night and her trying to hinder the Gospel going forth. She replied, not at all. She feels really good that she made other people feel good about themselves. I didn’t point out the irony that she always claims that there isn’t good or bad, so how could she feel good and make others feel good?

Instead, I told her that I feel sorry for her because if her conscience doesn’t bother her at all, then she probably has a reprobate mind and she’s ran so far away from God that He’s turned her over to her own wretched, debaucherous mind. I told her how sad it’s going to be on Judgment Day when she’s judged by God and I have to be a witness against her saying, yes, I shared the truth with her at MSU. Yes, I shared the truth with her downtown and she rejected it (Revelation 20:11-15). I warned her about the horrible eternal suffering that she’s going to have to endure because of her hard, impenitent heart. She callously said, “I’m going to judge God!” Oh, how foolish wicked sinners are. How foolish it is for the creature to think they are going to judge God.

I Appreciate The Way You Speak Out Here

Wednesday at MSU was cold, rainy and very windy. Since Resurrection Sunday (Easter) is so close, I handed out invite cards to students. I invited them to come to my church, Crossway Baptist Church. Around 150 students or so took cards. One student turned around after he looked at the card and said “hey, that’s where I go to church.” That was great to hear and I gave him a thumbs up.

Then toward the end my fingers were numb and I was tired of fighting the umbrella – the wind kept turning it inside out, but I decided to stick around five minutes longer. During that time, a student came up to me and took the invite card and said, “I appreciate the way you speak out here, not like some other preachers.” Now he wasn’t referring to Aaron or Brian that come out with me. No, he nodded toward the student union where brother Jed and others call students names and I’m not sure they ever really share the Gospel.

It was a nice encouragement. I told him that some people think that I’m too harsh because I talk about sin and judgment, but I also tell about Jesus being the only Savior. I asked the young man where he goes to church and he said that he doesn’t in Springfield so I nodded toward the invite card in his hand and told him that he should come to Crossway Baptist Church. He thanked me for inviting him.

(These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share the glorious Gospel with others. Eternal life is not a gift to keep for yourself. You need to tell others about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)