Memorial Day Weekend: The Conspicuous Gallantry of Jesus Christ

Mary and I got a chance to get down to the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market on Memorial Day weekend. The corner of 4th & Court Avenue was open, so we set up there. Many gospel tracts went out, and I was able to speak about the amazing love of God demonstrated for us on the cross of Calvary.

During our time there, Mary had a fantastic 30-40 minute conversation with Shalih, a muslim man from Iraq. She had given him a "CONTRADICT" tract (below left), and as he stopped to look at it, she asked him if he had any questions, which he did. After a while, they moved out of the street into the shade of the buildings on 4th Ave, as you can see in the picture (below right).

Shalih started with the question of who was Melchizedek - can you believe it? How would you like to get that question? Wow, talk about jumping right into deep waters! But Mary patiently had a conversation with this man, who has bought in to the misconceptions and un-truths that Islam has cast on true Biblical Christianity: that Allah and the God of the Bible are the same, Jesus was a man, and not God come in the flesh, that good works are necessary for salvation, why all the different Bible versions if Christianity is true, etc.

Now, we know that Issa, the Jesus of the Q'uran, is not the Lord Jesus Christ of the Bible; We know that God has revealed himself in his word as THE one-in-three, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; we know that there is no other name (other than Jesus) under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. Our goal is to present the true gospel of Jesus Christ to all men, so that they may be convicted by the Holy Ghost, repent towards the God of the Bible (who all men do know, according to Romans 1) and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. So this is for Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Janes, Buddhists, Roman & Orthodox Catholics, Coptics, Protestant Christians, Pagans, Wiccans, Satanists, Atheists, Animists,...all men everywhere (Acts 17:24-31).

Overall a very good day. Pray for Shalih, and pray for Mary as she studies God's word and how to respond to the challenges & questions that come her way as she holds forth the word of truth. Praise God for his goodness and mercy towards us.

Here is the LINK to the open air preaching.
Please note there is a lot of street noise in this audio, but it's not a problem with your speakers or my recorder. This is what it is like preaching open air, and it is very different than sitting in a comfy church building with great sound systems and comfy chairs. I hope you enjoy the experience. There are a few minutes of delay as we were getting set up. You will hear us pray, and then Mary heads across the street with tracts while I get ready to preach the gospel.