Finn Fest NOT Sinn Fest

We spent last weekend out in front of the DECC during Finn Fest. The theme of the day is that the majority of people thought we were protesting and/or against the Finnish people. We were assured by many that the "fins are probably the most christian people you'll meet."

Ironically, we had many people upset with out message, some even flicking us off and/or swearing continually at us because of our message. I guess their idea of, "most christian people you'll ever meet" is not the same as mine. we were told many times as well, "this is Finn Fest not Sinn Fest..what are you doing here!?"

One lady emphatically told me I needed to read my bible more. She said this because she was so sure the Finns are "ok with God". I told here we were not out here because of the Finns but because I know what the bible says about men (in short: they are sinners in need of a savior). I asked her if she knew what the bible said about men. She paused and replied, "nothing!". And I need to read my bible more! The following scripture is just one of MANY scriptures that says just how bad/wicked men really are:

Rom 3:10-12
as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."

On a better note, we had many new faces join us this weekend. The Winandy family, Lori (becoming a regular), and Jesse and friends from Silver Bay.

One neat thing that happened this weekend is when Jesse came down from Silver Bay. We met him during Grandma's weekend and he (as well as us) were very excited to get together. This was our first chance. Jesse had just come back from California with Way of the Master learning about preaching and/or open-air preaching. As soon as we hooked up with him, we found a place for him and he started open-air preaching. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures, only video. We tried a few different spots before we found a VERY good spot where people had to stop and wait for traffic. We set up to the side and just behind where the people were gathered. Jesse stood on a tool-box, Josh manned a sign, and I recorded the preaching. It was GREAT! He only had about 30 seconds to share a message with them before they moved on, but many people heard a biblical message about sin, righteousness, and judgment. Open-air preaching in the marketplace! People HAD to hear!

Romans 10:17
Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.

Jesse also had some friends with him who had a few young kids with them. These kids were PUMPED UP about passing out tracts. It seemed every few minutes they were begging Jesse for more tracts to pass out. They were passing out million-dollar tracts, so again, many more people God the message of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Way to go girls!!

Overall, it was a pretty laid-back, good weekend. Finn Fest recorded over 7,000 people, many of which we encountered in our three days of being out there. Just think, between the Air Show and Finn Fest over 40,000 people may have received the Gospel by mouth or the signs...40,000!

Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes