I'm reminded of just how much I enjoy writing, but these days with working 50 hours a week, doing all kinds of ministry, and being married I don't seem to have the time for much else. This also accounts for my consistent absence on facebook. All that is ok though. I don't think I'd change a thing. I prefer my life today without regrets. All that time whining about wondering when my life will "begin" beyond singleness and beyond Tom Thumb has arrived.
My wife went out of town for 4 days this weekend and I found myself "free" in a sense. I spent plenty of time watching star trek, going to the dollar movies, doing little projects around the apartment, running errands, reading, taking naps, eating badly, looking at prices of old sports cars on ebay, staying up late, and sleeping in. It was the single life. I enjoyed a larger bed (It's not easy to fit 2 people on a full sized bed). But you know... when day 4 came, the single life got old. I was bored and I missed my wonderful wife. I did learn that I really need personal time to think, process, and recharge, but eventually I'm reminded that too much of that time is what I wanted to escape through a good job and marriage... and I have. It truly is the good life and I wouldn't trade it for star trek, a sports car, or any combination of money and junk that moth and rust would destroy. I love my wife and I thank God for how He has so graciously provided for me.
One of the things I got to do was go witnessing Saturday night with Nick, his old roommate and his roommate's wife. There weren't many opportunities for personal conversation so Nick and I preached a few times. We were in the same location in Sundance Square near the apartment complex. Nearly every time and everywhere we preach we get complaints. It's just the nature of it. It's clear to me that people complain not primarily because of the noise, but because of the annoying message of the gospel and the confrontation of sin. It never ceases to amaze me how much contemporary Christians and churches get so caught up in sharing the "love of Jesus" that they think when people get offended, we must not be loving enough or we must be doing something wrong. We never speak of sharing the wrath of Jesus, only His love. I'm convinced this Christian ignorance of the sinful nature in the lost is giving Satan much victory in our day. Churches, pastors, and Bible colleges seem to have become so concerned with relevance, receptiveness, pragmatism, and results that we have wandered away from a biblical understanding of unredeemed man and how to reach him.
So of course we had another episode in downtown... this time not with the police, but with the security. I don't think I saw one police officer down there but I saw many security personnel on bikes. After warning us that people might call and that if they call it would be a problem... they of course came back after being called. It's interesting to me how when people call and complain it's as if they are making the law. People can complain all they want, but it doesn't remove or modify our first amendment rights. They have the same rights to speak as I do. So the security guards came and asked us to move. I explained to him that the best locations for foot traffic were nearest the apartment buildings which were also nearest the restaurants and entertainment venues. He tried to suggest other locations, but I said frankly that people will complain no matter where we are. If we go nearer a restaurant then that place will complain. If we go near apartments then they will complain. If we go near the bars then those people will call and complain. The truth is no one wants to hear the gospel message and we can't change that. I told him we'd be leaving in about 45 min. but that we were going to stay and do what we came to do.
They came by a few more times to tell us we were being too loud. I know I was being loud... it was intentional. I explained that I want people to hear the message... it's not hard to understand. In fact especially those people who are complaining need to hear the message. But here's my main observation for the night ... For Christians who don't like to mention clearly the wrath of God and discuss sin in a no-nonsense way as the Bible does and teaches... this is for you...
After I finished preaching, my friend Nick got up to preach. Nick isn't quite as loud as I am and not surprisingly... one of the security guards rode by to also tell him he was being too loud. When would it end to the point where the complainers would be satisfied? The Answer: When we were so quiet that no one could be bothered by the message of eternal life. Nick responded to the guard by raising his voice a bit as he preached. I think Satan can use unbelieving security guards. If they don't believe then they are his children the Bible says. they are "children of wrath." They are yet another means for Satan to drown out the preaching of the gospel. For this reason it's SO hard to be gracious toward them and cooperate with them in any way. If we know our rights I wonder if we should just exercise them without interruption so the gospel isn't hindered. Every moment we aren't sharing out there (or anywhere really) because of an interruption is a dare I say, a moment or a few minutes of victory for Satan. If the world had its way we would cooperate with them so much so that the gospel could only be communicated to ourselves in a sound proof room behind a locked door. I fear and know inside that one day our "cooperating" will cooperate the gospel right out of the picture. But do you know what's worse than that? When Christians cooperate without being asked to. They cooperate by only sharing the most inoffensive things they can about the gospel. Sadly however, when they do this... they are no longer presenting the gospel of the Bible. Is it too far to say they are presenting a gospel that Satan has authorized and supported? One that does not offend and fills our churches with false converts that go out and try to produce other false converts? An old friend of mine once said, "Satan loves to teach people how to share the gospel." I think his students are passing with flying colors and yet in God's school they are already expelled.
My wife went out of town for 4 days this weekend and I found myself "free" in a sense. I spent plenty of time watching star trek, going to the dollar movies, doing little projects around the apartment, running errands, reading, taking naps, eating badly, looking at prices of old sports cars on ebay, staying up late, and sleeping in. It was the single life. I enjoyed a larger bed (It's not easy to fit 2 people on a full sized bed). But you know... when day 4 came, the single life got old. I was bored and I missed my wonderful wife. I did learn that I really need personal time to think, process, and recharge, but eventually I'm reminded that too much of that time is what I wanted to escape through a good job and marriage... and I have. It truly is the good life and I wouldn't trade it for star trek, a sports car, or any combination of money and junk that moth and rust would destroy. I love my wife and I thank God for how He has so graciously provided for me.
One of the things I got to do was go witnessing Saturday night with Nick, his old roommate and his roommate's wife. There weren't many opportunities for personal conversation so Nick and I preached a few times. We were in the same location in Sundance Square near the apartment complex. Nearly every time and everywhere we preach we get complaints. It's just the nature of it. It's clear to me that people complain not primarily because of the noise, but because of the annoying message of the gospel and the confrontation of sin. It never ceases to amaze me how much contemporary Christians and churches get so caught up in sharing the "love of Jesus" that they think when people get offended, we must not be loving enough or we must be doing something wrong. We never speak of sharing the wrath of Jesus, only His love. I'm convinced this Christian ignorance of the sinful nature in the lost is giving Satan much victory in our day. Churches, pastors, and Bible colleges seem to have become so concerned with relevance, receptiveness, pragmatism, and results that we have wandered away from a biblical understanding of unredeemed man and how to reach him.
So of course we had another episode in downtown... this time not with the police, but with the security. I don't think I saw one police officer down there but I saw many security personnel on bikes. After warning us that people might call and that if they call it would be a problem... they of course came back after being called. It's interesting to me how when people call and complain it's as if they are making the law. People can complain all they want, but it doesn't remove or modify our first amendment rights. They have the same rights to speak as I do. So the security guards came and asked us to move. I explained to him that the best locations for foot traffic were nearest the apartment buildings which were also nearest the restaurants and entertainment venues. He tried to suggest other locations, but I said frankly that people will complain no matter where we are. If we go nearer a restaurant then that place will complain. If we go near apartments then they will complain. If we go near the bars then those people will call and complain. The truth is no one wants to hear the gospel message and we can't change that. I told him we'd be leaving in about 45 min. but that we were going to stay and do what we came to do.
They came by a few more times to tell us we were being too loud. I know I was being loud... it was intentional. I explained that I want people to hear the message... it's not hard to understand. In fact especially those people who are complaining need to hear the message. But here's my main observation for the night ... For Christians who don't like to mention clearly the wrath of God and discuss sin in a no-nonsense way as the Bible does and teaches... this is for you...
After I finished preaching, my friend Nick got up to preach. Nick isn't quite as loud as I am and not surprisingly... one of the security guards rode by to also tell him he was being too loud. When would it end to the point where the complainers would be satisfied? The Answer: When we were so quiet that no one could be bothered by the message of eternal life. Nick responded to the guard by raising his voice a bit as he preached. I think Satan can use unbelieving security guards. If they don't believe then they are his children the Bible says. they are "children of wrath." They are yet another means for Satan to drown out the preaching of the gospel. For this reason it's SO hard to be gracious toward them and cooperate with them in any way. If we know our rights I wonder if we should just exercise them without interruption so the gospel isn't hindered. Every moment we aren't sharing out there (or anywhere really) because of an interruption is a dare I say, a moment or a few minutes of victory for Satan. If the world had its way we would cooperate with them so much so that the gospel could only be communicated to ourselves in a sound proof room behind a locked door. I fear and know inside that one day our "cooperating" will cooperate the gospel right out of the picture. But do you know what's worse than that? When Christians cooperate without being asked to. They cooperate by only sharing the most inoffensive things they can about the gospel. Sadly however, when they do this... they are no longer presenting the gospel of the Bible. Is it too far to say they are presenting a gospel that Satan has authorized and supported? One that does not offend and fills our churches with false converts that go out and try to produce other false converts? An old friend of mine once said, "Satan loves to teach people how to share the gospel." I think his students are passing with flying colors and yet in God's school they are already expelled.
