How wonderful it was to return to the street after missing a couple of weeks (one, to illness and another to Thanksgiving). Nick was not able to lead the team, so we met and prayed about my stepping in for the week. Our training time started off rather small, but by prayer and worship time, we had a dozen people.
One change we have enjoyed in our training time is that, instead of watching a video or taking in yet another lesson, we’ve been walking our way through the book of Acts. When we started a few weeks ago, we were listening to chapters 1-4 being read in the ESV. The next week we listed to chapters 5-8. This week we did not have the CD, but why not do it the old way? We read chapters 9-12 out loud together then shared some thoughts as we took in the sounds and sights of God’s Spirit at work in the early church.
What a wonderful reminder that this is not our work, but His work being done through obedient servants. When we go down to Five Points, the people there are not exactly looking for us to come; rather, we are the buzz-kill. We Christians are the pests, the fanatics. Yes, I suppose we are fanatical about forgiveness of sin and eternal life, which is why when the LORD says, “Go!” we say, “How far?” and He says, “all the world!” WOO HOO! Fanatics about forgiveness and life telling fanatics about death and hell about the love of God. Oh, how we need to pray!
Preparing for our prayer time, I brought a chapter of R.A. Torrey’s book, “
How to Pray,” reminding us that prayer is not merely saying words with closed eyes, but using words to frame God’s truth into our lives, that we may obey Him and let Him be successful. I read from the second chapter on Acts 12:5, “Praying Unto God:” 1) Prayer is coming into God’s presence; therefore beware the wandering mind; 2) prayer is without ceasing; that is, with intense desire or “stretch-out-ed-ly;” and 3) prayer is powerful when in unity of fellowship. After a wonderful time in prayer and worship, we hit the streets.
We crossed paths with
another ministry team from Northeast Columbia. I love it when new teams cross paths because we approach each other with tracts in hand, not knowing what is going to happen, but when the tracts come out, we enjoy a wonderful laugh and time of fellowship, introductions all around, then we spread out again with the good news.
I made some new tracts (Beer Trivia, and a Rock Music Trivia tract) and they were going like hot-cakes. A very tall young man crossed the street and I got him as he stepped up the curb, “Didja get one of these?” I held out a Rock Music tract. I asked, “Do you recognize any of these names?” I asked. He looked them over: Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix . . . he smiled when he saw Hendrix.
“Do you know what all these folks have in common?” I asked.
“They sang rock music,” he said. I pointed out that they all died at the age of 27, and I gave him some details. We talked about their musical influences and styles, then I asked how old he was. “19,” he said, looking down at me (did I say he was tall?).
I looked up into his chest and said, “If the average person dies at the age of 70, you have just over 2500 weekends left to live. What are you going to do with your time?”
He looked down at me, eyeballs nearly bugging out of his head when he thought about how much time he really did not have to live. I asked him about school. He attends Benedict College, but is looking to transfer out. I pressed him about what field of study he was interested in, with just over 2500 weekends left to live, assuming nothing else happened between now and age 70.
Psychology. I smiled. “Do you know what I am doing out here tonight?” I asked. He shook his head. “Psychology,” I replied. “Do you know what that words means?” He thought he did, but was not sure. “Something to do with the mind”, he said.
“Not exactly. Psychology is the study of the soul. How’s your soul? What are you like on the inside?” I asked.
“I really don’t know,” the boy said, a thoughtful smile growing as he crossed him arms, stroking his chin.
“Let’s do a little soul-study and see what kind of person you really are. Would you consider yourself to be a ‘Good Person’?” I asked.
“No,” he said.
I thanked him for his honesty, but pressed on. “How do you know you are not a ‘Good Person’? What is your standard of measurement?” He shrugged. He new he was not a good person, but was bothered that he could not tell how he knew. “Something going off in your conscience?” I asked. He laughed nervously and said “yes”.
I said, “Tell you what. Let’s look at the Ten Commandments and see how you do.” He took a step backward and he continued laughing nervously, hands waving that “no, no!” sign.
“Have you ever told a lie,” I asked.
“Yes,” he admitted, well engaged and intrigued.
“So what does that make you? What are people called who tell lies?” I asked.
“Liars,” he admitted, and laughed.
“Have you ever stolen anything?” I held up one finger, and went on.
“Yes,” he said a bit more slowly, still smiling and intrigued.
“What are people called who steal things?” I wanted to know.
“Thieves,” he admitted.
“Have you ever committed adultery?” I pressed, now holding up two fingers.
“No! I’m not married!” he said with an aire of relief, staring at my fingers.
“Jesus said that if you’ve looked at a woman with lust, you’ve committed adultery with her already in your heart. Have you ever looked with lust?” I held up three fingers as he hung his head down with that “I’m so busted” look. He kept smiling out of embarrassment.
After admitting to taking God’s name in vain, using God’s name as a curse-word I reviewed our conversation so far, that he admitted he was not a good person but did not know why, though his conscience told him so. I ran through my four now-raised fingers, reminding him that he admitted to being a liar, a thief, and an adulterous blasphemer at heart. What did he think of my soul-study? He shook his head in astonishment, the nervous smile still ever-present.
“If God were to judge you by the Ten Commandments, would be innocent or guilty?”
“Guilty,” he said.
“Would you go to heaven or hell?” I asked.
Here two things happened simultaneously. Just as he was about to balk, we were interrupted by a well-meaning individual, but the conversation was almost lost because of the interruption. I usually expect some kind of interruption somewhere around this point.
When I got the conversation back, my new friend was ready with questions: “What about other religions?” He felt he was sincere, though I usually hear something like this about this point. I asked him if he knew what Jesus thought about other religions, “I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” His arms crossed as his hand went to stroke his chin in contemplation. His response?
He told me that he felt the purpose of anyone in life is to basically wander until they discovered their purpose in life. Nobody really knows what they are supposed to do until they “discover” it.
We talked for a while about the absolutes of how the conscience dictates guilt when he admitted to breaking God’s laws—everyone is in the same predicament (sin = lawlessness). I also told him that his purpose in life is spelled out plainly in scripture, that we are to love the Lord God will all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love anything or anyone else, even to set out to discover our own purpose is to love ourselves more than God.
He thought some more, then came back with another objection, that Jesus rejected worship and only wanted to teach people how to worship God, and that God does not hate anyone. I showed him some passages (Psalm 5, to name one) that showed what God thinks of sin and sinners, trying to help him understand God’s desire to not see anyone perish, but that all would come to repentance. He tried to tell me that the Bible does not command repentance, so I showed him it did (Acts 17:30)!
I pulled out my Romans Road gospel tract and walked him through it, explaining the substitutionary atonement and pleaded with him to do more than think about what was being said. Then I asked if I could pray for him. His eyes grew huge again, and he looked down at me with incredulity. “Right here? Now? In front of everybody?”
“You bet,” I told him, and I took off my hat (it was 40 degrees) and prayed that God would continue to speak to his conscience, that he would go home and read the gospels and make that life-changing discovery.
Though he listened, he finally gave me his reason for not repenting. He “did not want to give up the good life.” I shared with him the difference between the life he was now living and an abundant life. As a typical 19 year-old, he wanted to party and was in control of his own life. I shared my testimony and contrasted the life I thought would be my own with the abundant life in Christ Jesus. “Besides,” I concluded, “you can’t control your own body functions. What makes you think you can control your own life?”
He shook my hand, thanked me for talking with him and made his way down the sidewalk.
I will close this by telling you that one other team member brought some song books and we stood on the corner and sang some Christmas songs and some evangelistic songs together. At one point a small crowd gathered and someone threw money at our feet. Not long after that two tipsy young ladies came along and sang with us, and that produced a convoluted conversation that I will not attempt to reconstruct here. I only stressed the need to repent, for God does not allow drunks in heaven (1 Cor 6:9-10, Rev. 21:8).
About 1:30 in the morning, after I got home, a thought hit me: I didn’t pick up the money. My partner didn’t either. Oh well.
