Why Preach To An Empty Square?

Ministry Update May 1, 2016

Why Preach To An Empty Square?

Why preach to an empty square on a rainy Friday night in downtown Springfield, MO? 1. Because God is glorified when the precious name of Jesus is lifted up; whether many hear or just a few. 2. God is sovereign and His word does not return void. So God was praised last Friday night through the singing and preaching on the square, even though it was seemingly empty.  Because of God’s sovereignty, He caused Casey who happened to be walking by as Aaron was preaching and at that exact moment Aaron mentioned that the police shouldn’t violate our first amendment rights and that caused Casey to come over and talk to us.

Marriage Questions Not The Real Issue

On this rainy night when nobody was in front of us on the square, Casey heard Aaron preaching against the police harassing us and that caused Casey to come running over to us from West of the square. I handed him a tract and he wanted some marital advice. He had just read about marriage and divorce in 1 Corinthians 7. He admitted that he had been drinking, even though he was a professing Christian. He shared some other things that I don’t want to mention (for his sake), but suffice it to say his life did not demonstrate that of a follower of Jesus.

So before we addressed his questions on marriage in 1 Corinthians 7, I backed him up to 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. We read and discussed those verses and he agreed that his life didn’t represent a person whose life had been changed by the Lord Jesus. I then pointed him to 1 Corinthians 6:11 where Paul says such were some of you. I admitted to Casey that I broke every single one on the list except for the ones dealing with homosexuality and transgenderism.  I told Casey that I’m no better than he is, I’m just washed in the blood of Christ, I’ve been sanctified, I’ve been justified by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus Came To Set The Captives Free

I shared with Casey that Jesus came to set the captives free. I told Casey that Jesus frees you from alcohol, lusting, smoking, cussing and so forth. I encouraged him to read the Bible and sincerely cry out to God to show him if he’s still lost or a wayward child of God. I encouraged him to seek the Lord while He may be found. To draw near to God and God will draw near to him. That he needs to cry out to God for mercy and that he needs to repent and truly surrender his life to Jesus. We had a really good discussion and I gave Casey a Bible and encouraged him to read it every day and to really cry out to God to show him if he’s lost or not.

I also reminded him that Jesus said that we will know His disciples by their fruit and Casey admitted that he did not exhibit the fruit of being one of the Lord’s followers. I kept trying to explain clearly that I wasn’t talking about sinless perfectionism. That instead I was talking about truly surrendering his life to Jesus and that through the power of the Holy Spirit, God would clean up the other areas of his life. Then I directed him back to his first question about marriage and divorce and told him that if he gets right with God, then maybe, just maybe the issues with his marriage may straighten out too.

I gave Casey a hug and then he hugged Brian and Aaron. Then Diana and Elise joined us and at that point Aaron had to head out to St. Louis because he was going to join other brothers and sisters in Christ to witness outside of the abortion clinic and maybe also in front of Target. I brought a short message and then we called it a night. While I was preaching, Brian talked to Casey a little bit and told him about Freeway Ministries and Casey was familiar with it.

A few tracts were handed out when people walked by us. But again: why preach to an empty square? To glorify God, honor God, to be obedient to God and for God’s will to be done. We thank God for directing Casey our way Friday night and oh, we hope and pray that God will save Casey and his wife.

 

 

 

 

MSU Two Days In A Row

Earlier in the week I had the chance to go to MSU on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday I was at a different location. I preached at the Bear Paw where you can use amplification. It was a fairly quiet lunch hour. I had a couple of mockers and one guy stopped and listened to part of the message and another student stopped to video part of the message, but he was laughing at me while he briefly recorded .

But overall, I pretty much just read the first 3 chapters of Genesis and stopped every now then to explain how the Bible tells how God created the heavens and the earth. How we are made in His image, how He breathed life into us, which makes us special and different from the animals. Also how Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden and we’ve all sinned since then and that Jesus is the only Savior.

Then on Wednesday I was back at our usual spot at Trottier Plaza, by the water fountain and close to the library, where we can’t use amplification, but a lot of students walk by during the lunch hour. I also had a couple of mockers here, but on this day it was really cool. A couple of different times I mentioned that Jesus is the only Savior or Jesus saves and two different students said things like Amen, yes He does. It was great having people praise Jesus along with me in public.

Brett The Atheist

I finished the message, turned off my body camera and was packing up when Brett the atheist that I’ve talked to a couple of times before asked me if I’d sign a petition about free child care. This young, yet to feel the burn generation, expects everything for free. So I told him no thanks and started walking away. He yelled after me that Jesus loves children. I stopped and said yes and He loves you too, but you keep rejecting Him. I stopped and headed back toward him since he seemed to want to talk. He brought up the petition again and explained that the proposal is to fund this through increased cigarette taxes. That was the first time that I’d heard it explained that way, so I agreed to sign it.

Will You Take A Tract Full of Jokes?

While I was signing it, he told me that he’s now dating a Christian girl and that it is interesting and causes some problems for them. He’s rejected tracts from me several times before, but I offered him one again anyway. I asked him if he would take a tract that is full of jokes. I said for example. If at first you don’t succeed, don’t try sky diving. He chuckled and I handed him the tract and he took it. He said that he would give it to his girlfriend. Of course I’m thinking Brett, you are the one that needs it! But I’m praying that his girlfriend will read the tract to him. May God break Brett’s hard heart and grant him repentance and faith in Jesus.

These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share their faith in Jesus Christ with others. We have such a great of salvation, how could we keep it to ourselves?