When the World beats you down.

It was one of those nights when the world beats you down. For me anyway. I met Peters, Brent, and Yoshi for another winter night of sharing the gospel. We started out with prayer and hit Carroll College first. Peters got into a great conversation for a long time with a kid that was very convicted.

I did share the gospel with a kid who grew up Catholic but now has many problems with the church and is trying to figure things out. We went through the Law and Gospel. He gave the usual responses. He didn't seem convicted but wasn't offended either. Seed planted.

While we were sitting there waiting for Peters another guy came by so I asked if he wanted to see a card trick. He said he saw it before and wasn't impressed. He said it really snarky. I asked him if I did it for him and he said, "yes, you are the guy who does the quarter trick and talks about Jesus". I told him that was me. He said very sarcastically, "Are you out trying to save people again?" I said that only God can save, I have no control over saving people. He asked me why then am I even out here. It was clear this kid hated the gospel and me proclaiming it by his angry voice. I told him I was here telling people the truth and what they do with it is up to them. I said that people could think about it, accept it or spit on it. I looked at him and told him that he spit on the truth last time. He asked how I knew that and I told him I could tell by his reaction now. He said I told them they were going to Hell. I reminded him that we went through the law and he himself told me that he was going to Hell. He said, "I believe in Jesus!" I told him, "so does the devil and it won't save him." I was being hard on this kid because he was looking for a fight and wanted to justify his sin. He argued for a while longer and said it was too cold and left.

We moved downtown and the 15 degree weather was starting to bite so we headed into Starbucks. There were 4 college kids playing cards at the table so I did a card trick, which they liked, and then started talking about Jesus, which they did not like. We went through the law and they were very hardened. On girl, who said she was not a Christian, said she knew theology and began to tell me all about it. I told her that I too love to study theology. She told me that all real theologians will tell you the Bible is wrong in many places. I disagreed. She told me she knows a lady at the Vatican that has many of the original copies of the New Testament and she said they were all very different. I disagreed. She said, very upset, that she would rather listen to that lady than a man she met at Starbucks. I told her not to believe either one of us but to actually research it herself to find the truth. I asked her what she thought Jesus meant when he said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me." She said that clearly that was not true and the Bible writers changed what Jesus said to what they wanted. She would not listen to reason and was getting more angry so I ended it and told them to have a good night.

We walked up through the walking mall and Brent got into a few good conversations. It was pretty dead so we called it a night. Sometimes the world just beats you down. Praise God! Like John Wesely used to say, "When the gospel is preached people should be getting angry or converted."