"Stone Cold" in Finlay Park (part 3)

"Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times. Then Jesus said, 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'" (Mark 4:8-9)

Ron and I made our way up the Falls in the Park by means of the stairs in the terrace. Off to the side sat three youths, just looking for something to do. Ron gave them each a "Will Your Good Outweigh Your Bad?" tract. I was glad to see him actually walk them through the test on the front of the tract, reading it through with them line by line. This is a great way to use tracts in evangelism.

The youngsters were so polite and engaged in conversation, asking very good questions. The girls seemed to be very receptive toward how God saw their heart, and knew they were in trouble and needed forgiveness and cleansing. The young man, on the other hand, was objectionable. To his credit, he is perhaps the most polite objector I've ever talked with. He was very forward and honest with his opinion and accepted teaching quite well. At one point I thought we should separate the girls from him so that they could hear the rest of the gospel presentation unhindered, but then I realized it would not be a good idea, so we stayed and our conversations blended well.

The young man was very plain--he admitted his offence before God, and at first objected to the reality of hell. By appealing to his conscience and using some logical illustrations, we agreed that a criminal (whether caught or not) is called "criminal" by virtue of his breaking the law. We also agreed that, once caught, it is his offense that sends one to jail, not a vindictive judge with dice and a roll-a-dex by his bed. God must punish sin, and it is not God's will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. The young man agreed, but plainly held his position.

The girls, on the other hand, seemed to be so impacted by what they were hearing. The girl in the middle seemed to well up with tears a time or two when we spoke of God's love and mercy. I think they were also upset that they knew they needed to repent, and their male friend would not. They sat quietly by and asked questions as we moved through the subjects. Ron and I took turns thinking through the questions, answers and objections.

In all, I believe we stayed a good 45 minutes with these three. At the end, I presented to them another opportunity to repent and turn from their sins and gave them each a Pocket Testament. I challenged the young man that, if he was open-minded, he would read this short book (in about the same time it takes to watch a movie) and think about what his conscience is telling him--he knows the truth.

As we turned to go, I thought we should pray for them, so Ron led us in prayer, talking to our Heavenly Father about the state of their souls. As we said goodbye, the young man thrust his hand out, and shook ours, bidding us a good evening, and thanked us for taking the time to talk.