The weekend's evangelism started with our evangelism table at the Westfield Valencia Town Center. I was joined by Mahria, Michelle, Amanda, and Steven Masters.
Our evangelism table, equipped with a tabletop flip chart, caught the attention of a lot of people, which made it easy for us to initiate conversations with people.
My last conversation of the evening was with a 16-year-old girl by the name of Kendra, and her friend. She, like so many 16-year-old kids in today's culture, had very little respect and, of course, thought she was right about everything. She said she grew up in a "Christian" home, but had turned her back on God. She was now an a self-professed atheist--a member of a cult based on blind faith and anti-intellectualism. Here's my conversation with Kendra.
This morning Steven Masters, along with Richard and Telda Peskett, proclaimed the gospel at the North Hollywood Metro Station. The Lord allowed us to distributed numerous gospel tracts, engaged in one-to-one conversations, and preached the gospel for the better part of two hours.
Unfortunately, Watchtower-ites (Jehovah's Witnesses) were out in force, spreading their blasphemous doctrines and lies about Christ. Each week I'm compelled to warn people to not speak to them or to accept their wicked publications.
As is the case every Saturday morning at the North Hollywood Metro Station, we went through a lot of Bibles (English and Spanish). Gideon pocket NT/Psalms/Proverbs are perfect for the job.
Unfortunately, the audio for my first open-air of the day was lost. During that first open-air, I planned to read several chapters in the Gospel of John, starting at John 7. I only read John 7:1 before I was accosted by a filthy-mouthed and threatening young man. Before he walked away, his spat in my face.
Shortly thereafter, I saw a security guard approach Steven. From where I stood preaching with my sound system, I called to Steven and asked him if the security guard was giving him any problems. Steven said, "Yes. He says I can't hand out tracts on the property."
Keep in mind there were a dozen or more Watchtower-ites distributing their literature only a few feet away from Steven. I was furious. In no uncertain terms, I assured the security guard that we weren't going anywhere and we weren't about to allow him to infringe on our First Amendment rights while he allowed cultists to distribute their material unhindered.
The security guard said he was going to call the police and, of course, I encouraged him to do so. Two LAPD officers responded. We talked for several minutes. And the officers left understanding that we were going to continue with our activities.
I was blessed to have a surprise visit from David Selvadurai and his son. David leads the evangelism team for Calvary Bible Church, in Burbank (CA).
The text for my second open-air of the day was John 8:31-38. The theme of the message was "Slaves of Sin."
As I've shared before, open-air preaching is the very best and most natural transition into one-to-one conversations with strangers. And Richard and Telda take full advantage of the opportunities for conversations open-air preaching create.
Over the years, open-air preaching has introduced me in touch with some pretty interesting characters on the street. Some are bizarre. Some are humorous. Some are mentally ill. Some might well be demon-possessed. And some are a combination of some or all of the before-mentioned.
Interesting? This lady certainly fit the bill.
Often speaking in a language only she could understand, this lady was very upset as I preached my second open-air. Richard tried to engage her in conversation, but it was difficult. What he was able to surmise is that the woman thought I was preaching a false gospel because I should have only talked about God's love--not sin, judgment, and wrath.
I, too, tried to engage her in conversation. The conversation motivated my third open-air of the day, which centered on 2 Corinthians 11:1-15. I've titled this sermon "Water Tainted with Poison."
As I preached, I noticed a young lady standing to my right, near the bus stop. She seemed to cling on every word. She took a Bible when I finished preaching.
Telda was watching the young lady, too. Telda went up to her to engage her in conversation. Her name was Jackie. She told Telda she had for some time been disillusioned with the Roman Catholic Church. She also said that what she heard in the sermon made sense to her. Telda gave Jackie her email address so the two could stay in touch. Pray with us that Jackie comes to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
There was another person listening to the last open-air of the morning. His name was Mauricio. Mauricio has been seen several times when we've been at the NoHo Metro Station.
Richard engaged Mauricio in conversation, opened the Word of God, and read to Mauricio Luke 18. According to Richard, Mauricio was amazed by the truth of God's Word. Pray for Mauricio's salvation as well.
It was a great day of evangelism at the North Hollywood Metro Station. There was only one thing left to do.
Aug 18, 2012 | The evangelist needs to eat well, for the task at hand. WILD day at NoHo, today. by TonyCrosswalk on Keek.com
