What A Fun Day!

You won't believe what a blessed day - what a fun day - we had reaching out with the hope of the gospel and proclaiming the Lord Jesus Christ down at the DMFM this morning. God worked in such a special way, in my life: I was up late last night, 'till at least midnight, checking out a couple of videos of people who came out of the Jehovah's Witness cult. I woke up at 1:30 with a irritated cough, and when I rolled out of bed at 7 AM, I felt sick, weak, and tired. Not to get into too much detail - I have a lung disease which leaves me fighting relatively constant low-level infections, for which I take a monthly dose of antibiotics to keep under control. This morning felt like a flare up: joints aching, slight sore throat, and a little feverish.



Patrick Henry speech notes & million dollar 4th of July tracts

 

But, I had committed this morning to gospel outreach, and I prayed for God to work his mighty power through my weakened body, downed a couple ibuprofen & Tylenol, used my inhaler, and started my July antibiotic 2 days early. I had printed out Patrick Henry's famous "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech last night, so I completed organizing my thoughts and scriptures, and packed about 400 "Happy 4th of July" million dollar bill tracts to hand out to the Market-goers.

We prayed on the drive down for a place to park, a place to stand and speak & give out tracts, and for the Holy Spirit to work in people's lives, and all of those prayers were answered. We got a spot in the parking ramp very quickly. The north-east corner of 4th & Court was open (wind behind me), and a musical group across the street was just leaving. This is the same spot I read the Patrick Henry speech last year, and the intersection was packed.

Click HERE for the audio. My battery died near the end, but you'll get the meat of the message. I left in about 8-10 minutes of audio at the beginning, when I was greeting people, and announcing that we'd be reading the Patrick Henry speech. You'll get an idea of what goes on before we start, but just fast forward if its too boring.

Just  before I started speaking, Frank Chirico showed up, and that was another blessing and a help. Frank works most weekends, so it is rare that we get to labor together in the harvest field. Praise the Lord - when I transitioned from the Patrick Henry speech to the proclamation of the gospel, a woman walked up and wanted to "ask a question" (she really wanted to present the claims of Roman Catholicism - thank God he delivered Mary, myself, and Frank from that false gospel!). I was able to slide her over to Frank, and keep going; without Frank being there, it would have been difficult to keep the flow of the message and make the link between the liberty and freedom of Patrick Henry's speech, and the freedom we all need, and can only obtain, through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, thank you, bro! God brought you right when I needed you.

Mary and Frank on the corner of 4th & Court Ave. I spoke just to the right of
where Frank is standing, a point from which I was surrounded by Market-goers.
360 degrees of preaching freedom - it was a blast!
 

I felt ill right up to the time I began speaking. But after that, God faithfully supplied his supernatural power. I experienced that scripture:

"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12-13)

God gave us the desire to reach out to those around us, and he supplied the power needed to do it. I had a blast! I mean, I experienced the joy of the Lord, and the Bible says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. I don't take video, but many stopped to hear the Patrick Henry speech, and also to hear of the bondage and slavery that both sin and religion bring, and of the only cure: the freedom that is in the Person of Jesus Christ. So let me publicly thank the Lord for his kindness to us this morning. Mary also had a neat encounter with a young man who regularly tap-dances for donations near the corner of 4th & Court. Since we usually see him, Mary approached him to give a tract and talk to him. Turns out he was raised Mormon, so Mary got to share the real gospel, and we hope to give him some stuff to help him understand the difference between Joseph Smith, the Mormon false prophet, and the Lord Jesus Christ, the one and only Savior of sinners.

When finished, Frank and I joined Mary in passing out the 4th of July tracts, and about 11:45 you could feel the air cool off, and the smell of rain. The heavens opened up, and it rained hard for a few minutes, with everyone running for cover. Right behind us was an overhand from the Surf Shop bar, and Mary jumped in there. I was already soaked, so I didn't care. I told Frank, "Look, a captive audience." So when Frank headed for his car, I took a few minutes, standing in the rain, and spoke to the group there, reading the gospel message from the back of the tract. One guy decided it was more tolerable to get wet than to listen to the gospel message, and took off. But there were believers there, too, and one lady thanked me. A few more tracts went out.

Walking back to the car with Mary, I was struck by the beauty and wonder of what I just experienced.
What a joy to lift up the precious name of Jesus. What fun - may I say that in a reverent, holy manner? What fun to publicly identify with the one True God, and to proclaim his mighty power to save. To be able to warn sinners to flee from the wrath of a Holy God! To offer the only means of escape that Jesus provides, full and free. There is nothing like it, brothers and sisters.

Reader, if you are a stranger to the grace of God: if you are religious but not born-again, or if you are just lost; listen: you will have to give a full account to your Creator some day. God does not desire that any perish, but he is angry with the wicked every day (Psalm 7:11). He's done everything needed to purchase your forgiveness and salvation. Jesus paid it all on the cross 2000 years ago, and God will forgive you and receive you as his child if you will repent and trust in Jesus Christ, that he died for your sins on that cross. Come to him today, by faith - "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,...." (Acts 16:31)