But first, a word from brother Ray Comfort:
The Bible says to contend for the faith (Jude 1:3)
You will be amazed what you can say to someone if your tone is in the Spirit of gentleness.
Study the New Testament and see just how confrontational Jesus was when He spoke to people about their salvation.
He wasn't afraid to call sin "Sin, and hell "Hell".
Imitate Him.
Never hesitate to use fear as a motivator for a sinner to flee to the Savior.
The world will frown on this and many in the Church may even discourage it.
But any fear a person may have now because of your words of warning will be nothing compared to the fear he will have if he falls into the hands of the living God.
The Lake of Fire should motivate us to cast aside our fears of rejection that come in the guise of not wanting to offend people.
There goes another minute.
Gone forever.
Go and share the Gospel while you still can.
Amen.
So I no longer have a time to share the Gospel at the Three Birds Tavern. My work schedule has changed drastically, which is actually for the better financially, which of course opens up other venues of ministry.
I wanted my last night to go well, but the Lord has been teaching me that His idea of success is not mine.
For instance, this past Wednesday, I knew I was scheduled to go to work at 5 PM, but something kept telling me to be there by 4. I got ready in time to get there by 4--except that my bicycle's front tire was flat, and it took me an hour to fix! The feeling to rush was God's way of keeping me from being too late (I was about 5 minutes late as opposed to an hour).
So last Thursday night, I went with the intention of getting there early enough to grab a decent slot, singing some good stuff really well, and maybe even preaching from the microphone. Well, none of that stuff happened.
I arrived about 8 PM, though I had hoped to get there by 6:30. I had to tell Joe, the coordinator, that I must leave by 10 in order to get to the front of the line. I had to follow an act that made me extremely nervous, because those young boys were just flat out talented, practiced, skilled, and good, and here I was a solo act with simple stuff. I lost my pick on the first song--in my guitar, no less--and had to start over. I didn't properly adjust the microphone, so I wasn't singing into it very well, so people could not hear what I was saying. I also had to adjust the microphone that was listening to my guitar, because it was improperly set. I had turned away a half-drunk lady at the beginning of my set, telling her that I don't usually practice with accompaniment, and it might throw me off (I was really worried that she wouldn't be able to keep up, and that would definitely have thrown this perfectionist off), so then I had to reverse field when someone who was far less intoxicated offered to bang the djembai for me (he was actually good) to help me get through my last song. Then I felt I got cut short right when I was getting good, because there were so many people waiting to play. I looked to Joe for one more, and he said, "No."
To top it all off, I either missed the last #4 to Williams Park to catch the #52 to get home, or it was just way late (I believe the latter), and ended up having to catch the #4 to Gateway Mall, planning to walk from there or hoping to catch a cab.
But during the time I was waiting for the kids to finish, I got to witness to Jeff, a man who grew up in a church-going home but now claims to be an atheist. I also got to pass tracts to about 150 people on the bus before I came, which excursion is what made me late. Afterwards, I was able to slip a couple of tracts to different people (the owners said that they don't allow flyer distribution of any kind there, which is expected, though they let me give them and their employees tracts the first night I was there; oh well) who were impressed by my play (here I was worried about those kids).
Even after all that tract passing, I still had enough to give to the people on the northbound #4 and there was a cab waiting right at the gas station across from where I got off the bus. The driver was actually leaving the convenience store to get in his cab right when I approached the vehicle. In addition, I have witnessed to most of the people who regularly catch the southbound #4 and the last #52 to Clearwater, so this was a new batch of people that I had not given any witness to, and now I had that opportunity.
The Lord's idea of success is not mine. My plans failed miserably, but He worked mightily. I thank Him, and I thank Him for you and your prayers.
--
Grace does not enable sin--it overpowers it. Mercy does not excuse sin--it forgives it. The Law does not make us sin--it merely points out that we have sinned so that we might flee to mercy and grace.
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