With Indian Summer in effect here, I went to Sinagra Park in Lakewood from 1:00 to 4:00. I haven't been in Lakewood for a while and I ended up stayed for 3 hours today.
After a while, a man named Ron passed by on the sidewalk and took an extended look at the cross. Ron told me he was named after Ronald Reagan, back when he was an actor. I handed him a Celebrity Millions gospel tract and he offered up some laughter. He started reading the back of the tract and got to the part about lust being adultery in the heart.
During out brief chat, Ron told me that he is Catholic, but he admitted he doesn't attend church regularly. I told him the law was not given for us to keep it, but to show us our sinfulness and our need for Savior. I also told him about the necessity of repentance and offered up the parachut analogy.
Ron asked me for some descriptions of hell, so I offered up these: a place where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth," and "where the worm never dies." It sounded like Ron knew about hell being fiery, but he cringed when I told him these two additional descriptions.
After reading the tract, Ron and I ended up talking about the commandments and I told him that the Catholic church leaves out idolatry. I told him Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Ron told me he had a close experience with death. He told me he had been mugged (although he said he had no money on him) and during the ordeal, he heard a gun shot go off. He told me that at this point he prayed to Mary and hoped she heard his prayers. I told Ron I had just finished re-reading the New Testament and no where does it say to worship Mary.
He also mentioned Purgatory and I explained to him why Purgatory doesn't make sense. The Catholic church teaches that one goes to Purgatory for refining before they enter heaven. I told him this amounts to us doing something for our salvation- which is not what the Bible teaches. I told him there is only heaven and hell.
I gave Ron my pastor's business card and he also left with a Big Money tract, an Obama Trillions tract and with an extra tract for his friend. Ron seemed interested in the message of the cross and although he said he didn't have a computer, he was going to go to the library after our discussion. He wanted to look up my blog to read about the message of the cross that I have posted here. Please pray for Ron that he comes to repentance and true faith in our Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Mark, praise the Lord. It is good to see people on the street. That is where we are supposed to be..the highways,byways,the lanes, along the hedges, and in the market places. I send you my website address.www.whathathgodsaid.org. Remember, 'pastor'is a work we do, not a title we wear. We do not stop learning from the bible because someone has given a certificate.God recognizes no such thing in his kingdom. Keep up the work of witnessing publically(Matt.10:32,33) and may God bless you. Look up dprogram.net also. It is a daily news program.
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