Hahaha

Heh. Yesterday, I was going toward the CWE train station and handing out tracts along the way. One lady who was coming from behind me very sharply refused the tract. Then, as I let her go ahead of me so I could pass one to a man standing at the top of the stairs, she turned back to me to say, "No soliciting on the platform."

I, obviously, ignored her (hey, I know the rules, but she is not a security guard, so I don't have to listen to her) and continued to pass out tracts as I went down the stairs and as I got on the platform. She turning saw me and shouted, "Hey, I told you, there is no soliciting on the platform!" and came storming over to me. "I told you there is no soliciting on the platform, so why don't you just throw those things in the trash!!" Open-mindedness at its best!!

I said, "Have a good day, ma'am," and tried to turn away from her. She danced around to get in front of me, "Did you hear what I said?" "Have a good day, ma'am." "There is no soliciting on the platform!!!" "Are you going to arrest me?"

The last comment completely infuriated her, and she went looking for the security guard. Unfortunately, I did not get to hand out more tracts before she brought him over, but the bystanders thought she was crazy. One said, "It's not like you're asking for ten dollars..."

The security guard came over and told me that I was not allowed to pass out literature on the platform (which is the rule, but I wait until I'm caught and told by an authority to stop). I complied. Then the woman comes storming back over to gloat. I put my hand up and instructed her not to talk to me. She mocked, "It's okay for you to solicit on the platform, but it's not okay for me to talk to you?" I repeated myself, "Don't talk to me," in a much quieter voice than she was using. Again, she looked foolish. I think the guard told her to come back or something because she did stop walking toward me and seemed to calm down.

Then I walked around the other side and went down the platform a ways just to get away from her. I didn't hand out any more tracts there, but I did strike up a one-to-one with Jonathan, an intern at the largest of St Louis' universities, Washington University (which has a partnership with the cluster of hospitals in the CWE). He was boarding the same train as I, and so my plan paid off not giving him the GPT until we were on board (though, if he had boarded the other train, I had one stop before the lines diverged, so I could have given it to him there anyway, it just made for longer conversation).

The reason for my wait was that I wanted others to hear it, but no one else seemed to be paying attention (not that that means anything). However, when I was telling him a few stations later about how the Bereans checked out the Apostle Paul, everyone was silent! I think that was the one truth that God wanted these people to hear. There are all kinds of church-going people here in St. Louis who only know what the preacher says about the Bible, they don't know it for themselves. While it is nice to be subject to church authority, the Bible clearly warns that deceivers and false teachers abound in the church, and we do ourselves and our loved ones a disservice not to avail ourselves of the one weapon that God has given us to overcome that deceit--the Bible. I told Jonathan that, and he understood perfectly.

But I later got to see why he was somewhat hesitant about the Gospel: When he sat down, he pulled out a novel. It was one of the Harry Potter books. Well, no wonder, I thought to myself, and made sure that I gave him a Gospel tract ("The Bible is Full of Mistakes!") so that he would have something to remind him of our conversation.

What that woman did for evil, God meant for good. If she hadn't been ranting and raving, I would not have moved down the way and found myself next to Jonathan and unable to hand him a tract (the guard was still looking). Those facts forced me to speak one-to-one with him, and it was a huge blessing. Next time I see her, I'll tell her that I thank God for her. It should bless her socks off!