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"He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord."
Psalm 33:5
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God Did Not Want Me To Open Air Preach (Part 1)
God Did Not Want Me To Open Air Preach (Part 1)
This past week I was blessed with an audio recorder/lapel microphone set to use to record open air preaching/one-on-one witnessing encounters. I was given the set on Thursday, and was more than excited to try it out Saturday night at the bar section of Dayton, Ohio. I was excited to record myself preaching (I hear listening to your audios helps you learn), to post the content on the website (something I have wanted to do for a while), and be able to have files of myself preaching handy for future reference. But God had different plans. He did not want me to record anything Saturday night. He did not even want me to open air preach.
Almost as soon as our team had set up we began conversations with people standing on the sidewalk. I offered a million dollar bill to two people sitting on a bench, “Did you get one of these?” I gave them each a tract and then asked what they thought happened after death. I expected to have this quick conversation and then start preaching. In reality, that tract struck up a conversation about eternity that lasted two hours. It started around 10 at night and went until a little after midnight. Imagine that! These people thought they were going to spend their night drinking; instead they spent it talking to a 19 year old guy about Jesus.
The woman’s name was Sabrina (I do not remember the man’s name; he was very quiet; Sabrina was the exact opposite). While talking to them, another friend they were with (Phil) ended up joining in on the conversation. Phil was an agnostic. Sabrina said she had studied all religions and believed in God, but not any one organized belief system. It always fascinates me to hear what people believe, and why they believe what they believe. When you go out witnessing, your goal of course is to share the gospel. But never forget to have a conversation getting there. It is easy to have your mind so set on where you want to go, you do not actually talk to the person in front of you. You just guide them into your spiel about Jesus and then make a quick getaway. Avoid this tendency! Ask people questions. Try to find out what they believe and why.
Both Sabrina and Phil were wonderful people to talk to. They were both friendly, but at the same time open about what they believe (and not afraid to share it passionately!). I love that. Sabrina was majoring in Psychology, and was adamant that religion is simply a crutch that helps people get through life. She said religion, “Gives people confidence and allows them to control their own destiny.”
Isn’t that interesting? For a number of religions, that is true. Think about it. If you are a good person, you will get to heaven. If you are good enough, you will be reincarnated as a prince. If your good deeds out way your bad, you will enter paradise. She is right, most religions are all about giving confidence and letting man control their own eternity. Interestingly, that is the exact opposite of biblical Christianity. I told Sabrina I agreed, but that Christianity is not about self confidence. It is not about me doing things myself and on my own power. I can’t! Nothing I do will help me on the day I stand before God (Titus 3:5).
“Sabrina, Christianity is not about you taking control of your life. It is about surrendering your whole life and giving control to Jesus Christ. Do you consider yourself to be a good person?” That’s right; always bring it back to the gospel! Sabrina did consider herself good, in her own eyes. I took her through a couple commandments and she said, “I am good to me, and I make my own standard. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks and you cannot convince me otherwise.”
Phil, although agnostic said, “You seem like a good guy, I will bite! Give me your good test.” One thing I often do with agnostics is tell them to think hypothetically. For example, he would not admit God exists, so I asked him, “Let’s just say God, heaven, and hell are real. Hypothetically, if you stood, before God, are you good enough to get into heaven?” I walked him through some of the commandments. It turns out Phil was a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterous, murderer at heart. “Well have you broken those commandments?” He asked me.
“Absolutely, I am a sinner and guilty in the eyes of God.” He said that was fair enough and that in my hypothetical he would be guilty. I shared the gospel with him and he politely listened, nodding his head and saying he understood it. “Do you think what I am telling you is true, Phil?”
“Nope!” He didn’t hesitate.
“How come? Why do you think I am wrong and where do you get your information for what you believe?”
“From my heart.”
Our culture has got to stop following its heart. Christians, that goes for us too. The heart is, “deceitfully wicked above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9). Thousands of sincere people are following their hearts straight into a godless eternity.
Near the end of sharing the gospel with Phil, his phone rang. He turned to a friend of his standing nearby and handed him the phone, “Here. Talk to my friend Brandon, you do not know him but I want to keep hearing what this guy [me] has to say.”
His friend told Brandon over the phone that Phil was talking to some guy about Jesus. There was a pause and then the man said, “Brandon says, ‘God ain’t real!’”
I immediately turned, “Really? I want to meet Brandon!”
Believe it or not, Brandon was meeting them their later that evening, and I had the opportunity to have a very interesting conversation with him and Sabrina I will never forget. Stay tuned, this story is coming in part two.
Part 2 (Coming soon)