Un poco de la providencia

Jeremy S. and I hit the streets of Helena for an afternoon of sharing the gospel. God providentially put people in our paths today. I'll touch on a few.

We first ran into an agnostic that didn't want to talk so we moved to a guy on a bench smoking. I explained the law and gospel to him and we had a good, long talk. He was from the pre-release and told us about several things that happened to him today. He found out his mom was dying and his son was living on the street in some other state. He was distraught and confused about life so he decided by "chance" to go sit on a bench at the library. He told us that God must have put us together today, which I agreed. We encouraged him to seek God through the Bible and told him to examine himself to see if he was in the faith and to examine the Bible to make sure all we told him was true.

We moved down and talked with some kids making a documentary on something. I asked them what they believed about God and all were your standard answers except for the girl who thought aliens put us in the Virgin Mary and that we were all came from aliens. Apparently she got all her theology from some movie she watched. We were going through the law and were about to get to the gospel when their adult supervisor, who I gave a tract to earlier and now figured out what we were all about and didn't like it, came and snatched the group and they left.

We moved down the street to outside of a bar and talked with a guy smoking a cigarette outside. I shared the law and he got in a hurry to leave but God sent a tremendous hail storm that prevented him from leaving the shelter of the vestibule so I continued with the gospel. He heard it and decided risking the storm was a better option than talking about Jesus Christ so he made his escape into the hail storm.

We talked to some kids on skateboards next. I spoke with one of the kids before and he remembered. We talked for a while about the gospel and one kid was, surprisingly convicted and open. It was encouraging to hear that someone else gave him a tract and shared the biblical gospel with him and encouraged him to read the Bible to figure things out. I encouraged him to do the same and gave him some direction.

I stopped a kid at Hill park and gave him a tract. He looked it over and I shared the law and gospel with him. He was wide open to it and listened intently. He was convicted by the Spirit of God. He was anxious to look into the things of God. We encouraged him repent and put his trust in Christ. He asked how to do that so we told him. Praise God! We encouraged him to read the Bible and go home and seek God until he finds him.

Que un día glorioso para proclamar el evangelio.

My friend Shon

This video is of my friend Shon Simpson. We were good friends in College but since we both moved away we lost touch. I haven't talked with him since shortly after I was saved. He was the editor for Eastmans hunting magazine but then started his own construction company. He has a great wife and two beautiful girls. He was in a bad construction accident on April 29th, 2010. He is now in a wheel chair and may be paralyzed for life if the Lord wills. I have never had the opportunity to share the gospel with Shon, since when I knew him I was a lost, wretched soul. I don't know the state of his soul. He has no way to support his family now and no way to pay medical bills, but our Gracious God is Sovereign over all these little things. It seems from his blog that there are Christians surrounding him. Pray for him and his family and his salvation. Also and opportunity to share the gospel with him, the only hope he or any of us have in this life. His website is shonsimpson.com

Alive @ five

God choose to bless our evangelism efforts this week. Sometimes, especially when the weather is bad, it is hard to find people on the street to witness to but God decided to bring about 500 lost, sinful men, women and kids all together in one spot just for TJ and me. There is a party called alive at five every Wednesday in Helena. There are bands and food and drinking, you know, all the things that attract the lost. This time it was hosted at the park at the library. There were so many people and God allowed us to talk to so many people about Christ that we were wore out from talking.

I can't go into all the conversations because it would take to long but there were a lot of seeds planted. One family at first hated Christianity, although the mom said she was a Christan/Mormon/Buddhist. Wow. I debated a couple Atheists for 1/2 hour on all points. They were civil and liked to debate. They did hear the gospel but rejected it. I did a bunch of card trick and presented the law and gospel to many kids, which most chose to ignore. Some were convicted but it is hard to say how God may use His word when they wake up the next day.

I couldn't resist debating the anti-trappers at their booth. I must say that I got distracted because of their ignorant arguments and never shared the gospel but left them a tract. I think I did convince them that their arguments were based on their feelings and not science.

TJ got into some good conversations and a couple kids that were convicted were interested in starting a Bible study.

While at this street party it saddened me. I wondered what kind of derelict parents would give their 13 year old kid a cellphone and some cash and shuttle them out of the house dressed like a harlot and tell them to have fun with the most wicked kids in town. Even 50 years ago parents raised their kids a lot different and the emphasis on family was a lot different. I wonder if America is any different, at all, than Sodom and Gomorrah.

Between the storms

Jeremy, TJ and I hit the streets between rain storms in Helena. We started out giving out a lot of tracts. The first people we ran into were at Starbucks. I asked the 3 guys sitting outside if they were Christians and they said they were. I asked if they knew what it took to get to heaven and they gave me the correct answer. They said they read their Bible every day and went to church but never shared the gospel with anyone. We encouraged them to do so and explained the great privilege God gives us in evangelism.

The town was mostly dead. It was memorial day so everyone was at home or still traveling. We stopped by the movie theater and gave out some tracts. I walked across the street to a park where a man and woman were sitting. I did a card trick and asked if they were Christians. The woman was in here 20's and they man in his 40's and they may have been homeless or at least living a rough life. The woman said she was a Christian and the man did not believe. I took them through the law and their conscience condemned them. I shared the greatest news in the world, their only hope, Jesus Christ on the cross as our substitute satisfying the wrath of God that we stored up. It seemed to make sense. They said they were in and out of church throughout their life better never heard it explained that way. I am afraid most churches haves stopped preaching the true and only gospel and replaced it with a tickle your ears, prosperity gospel to make people happy.

They had some questions and then we talked about my motives for talking with them and they were glad I stopped to talk with them. I encouraged them to seek God through the Bible and turn from their sins and trust Christ. Good conversation and seeds planted.

We walked around town and gave out some more tracts then hit hill park. There was a bunch of the usual kids their lost, without hope (except Christ), messing up their lives with drugs and alcohol. We walked into the middle of the crowd and started to ask them questions about life. I gave them some tracts, which they read the trivia game on the front, and took a group of them through the law. They were all so lost, they didn't care about anything. They all said they were going to Hell and it didn't bother them. I never gave them the gospel because they were not convicted. I told them if they ever started to worry about their condition with God and that Hell was waiting that they should read the tracts I gave them and find their only hope.

TJ was witnessing to another group. Most were hard-hearted and rebellious, arguing with him, but they soon left except for one kid that was interested. TJ explained the gospel and talked with him for a while and then gave him a gospel of John and got his email address. Praise God.

For the town being dead it was a pretty good day of sharing the Gospel. Seeds planted.

Gloria a Dios por un día glorioso de proclamando el evangelio.