Great Story

If you were to go back to my April 18th post you would read about a satanist I encountered on the streets. To make a long story short, on the above date I approached a young man, asked Him if I could talk to him but was declined. He said he and I had nothing in common, stating he was a self-proclaimed "satan worshiper". I left him alone only to be approached by him an hour later with this question, "Why do you believe there is a God?". WOW - great question. He and I talked for almost 2 hours going from Genesis through Revelation. He had a lot of great questions and thanked me for talking wit him. We exchanged emails, I contacted him but never heard back from him.

Fast-forward to March 16, 2009. We set up our banner at the bus-station. This was the first really nice day this year, so we took advantage of it knowing that many people would be waiting outside to catch their bus. We were only set up for about 5 mins. when I noticed a young guy walking toward me. We made eye contact and I knew immediately this was the self-proclaimed satan worshiper from a year ago. I was on the phone and was not able to talk to him, but we gave each other a head-nod. About 5 minutes later to approached me and we simultaneously said "Remember me?"...we both acknowledged. He even remembered my name!! We ended up talking for almost 2 hours again, and he was so thankful for my willingness to talk to him last year. He still has a lot of questions, but stated he has thought about me and our conversation many times. He even agreed that there is a high-power ("god") that is Just, Righteous, and Holy. His attitude, demeanor, and seriousness was totally different from what I remember a year ago. It seems God is really revealing Himself to this young man hopefully bringing him to repentance. We again exchanged phone numbers/emails, I gave him my bible, and then gave each other a "ghetto hug" before departing. He was very appreciated and said he would read the bible. Please pray for this man's soul.

The rest of the day, though great in itself, was nothing compared to this first conversation. We had Lisa and Chris out with us - Lisa actually held the banner, helped with conversations, and really enjoyed her time on the streets. Her and I talked to a self-professed wicken who had a lot of great questions about our faith. We were able to talk to him about God the creator, the judge, His justice, sin, righteousness, and the coming judgment. He was very attentive and listened as we gave him the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

More to come....Steve

2 Timothy 2:24-26
And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

Neither him who plants nor him who waters...but God!

1 Corinthians 3:5-8
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase

Recently this scripture has been brought to my mind over and over again. We as believers are nothing, only vessels our great God and Savior uses to bring forth His fruit. We are simply unprofitable servants (Luke 17:10).

I've been in many discussions over the last year or so about the "method" we use out on the streets. In all honesty, I don't really know what are "method" is considered. Some call it "cold-calling". Some call it "confrontational". Some call it "open-air preaching. Some call it "holding signs". Some call it "relational". I guess I would call it all of the above, but more importantly I would call it biblical. Just like Jesus and His apostles, they received all kind of reactions to their message. Some loved them, others hated them. Some asked questions, others ignored them. Some became followers, others became traitors.

We as christians should expect the same reactions when we go out and share the Gospel. I boldly proclaim if we are not receiving these same reactions, then there is probably something severly wrong with our message. If everyone is hating you and what you are saying, then maybe you need to recheck your message and/or delivery. If everyone is accepting you and loving you, then maybe you need to recheck your message and/or delivery. If no one is asking questions, again recheck your message. If no one is receiving answers to their questions, recheck! We are to be followers of Jesus, therefore we would suspect that if our message is inline with Jesus' message, the reactions to follow would be similar.

I would even go further to say if most people are accepting your message...meaning they "believe" what you are saying and accept it as truth, then there is probably something wrong with your message. The bible is clear - the cross is foolishness to the world. Jesus himself said there will be more people in hell than heaven (Matthew 7:13-27). There are many churches in the world today that preach a very watered-down Gospel that the masses are flocking too. This Gospel talks very little, if any, about sin, righteousness, or the judgment to come. Why? Because most people think if they offend someone, or get to personal with them, and if the person walks away not believing them (or even "hating" them) then the messenger must have messed up. So instead of talking about sin, righteousness, and the coming judgment, many people are out to tell people the gospel without trying to be offensive. The fact is, the cross of Jesus Christ is the most offensive thing in the world! How much does God hate sin - look to the cross. Look what God did to His only Son...and it pleased Him (Isaiah 53:10).

So, my point is that we must be faithful to preach the bloody cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must be faithful to preach about and against sin. We must be faithful to preach about the coming judgment. We must be faithful to preach this message, no matter what, no matter the outcomes. Leave the outcome up to God! Praise be to His name!

So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 1 Corinthians 3:7