A Conversation With Mike, Jason, and a Few Other Happenings

I joined my pastor at 1:00 at Lakewood Park as he open aired. I did not get on the box today, but while my pastor was open airing, a man came up and asked what was going on. I told him Pastor Paul was open airing and I gave him a gospel tract.



At 2:00, I was in front of Madison Park in Lakewood near the intersection of Grace and Madison. Vehicle traffic was light, but pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk was moderate. At one point, a young man rode by on his bike, looking at my cross. After he passed by, he turned around and came back and asked what my sign meant. I told him, "Scripture says, 'It is appointed for a man once to die, and then comes judgment' (Hebrews 9:27). Do you know how you are going to be judged by God?" He replied, "No." It didn't seem like he wanted to get involved in a discussion, so I gave him a tract and told him to read it when he got home.

At another point, a lady walked by and asked me, "Have you said your prayers today?" She then asked if I prayed the rosary. I said, "Absolutely not!" She told me I should pray to Mary.

A little later, Mike walked by and engaged me in a discussion. He told me he was wondering about this. He said he had heard things about 2012 coming up. December 21, 2012 is when the Mayan calendar ends. I told Mike that Jesus said that not even He knew when the end would be- only the Father knows. I told him that if Jesus doesn't know, there is no way infallible man can possibly know. I told Mike that we are in the end times, it is just a matter of when and "are you ready?"

Our conversation was taking all sorts of different paths. Mike had researched several religions and told me that all the different religions were all praying to the same higher human consciousness. He was talking about how religion and science kind of parallel each other. I let Mike talk about these things, but I kept bringing it back to the Gospel.

I explained imputed righteousness to him and why Christianity is the only religion that makes sense. It is the only one that provides for a complete removal of your sins through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Mike said that Christianity decided they "weren't going to do sacrifices anymore. We're not doing that anymore." I explained to Mike how in the Old Testament, the sacrifices were a way to cover sins, but that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Jesus provides for a completely removal of sins, not just a covering of sins. Jesus was the final sacrifice for all.

Mike and I talked about a few other things, but before he left, I asked him to remember this: it doesn't matter what we think is true, it is what is true.

As the second hour was wrapping up, Jason and Emanuel passed by. Emanuel had already been taken through the law and the gospel before by either me or John (an elder from church), but Jason had not. Jason told me he was Russian Orthodox. He said he didn't actually go to church, though, and had never been to his church. Brushing that off, I quoted Hebrews 9:27 and asked him if was ready to be judged by God. He said, "Not really."

I asked Jason if he would consider himself to be a good person. Jason thought he was, but Emanuel was quick to say, "Jason is not a very good person at all!" Emanuel had already been through the Good Person Test so he knew the outcome!

I took Jason through the law and gospel. I explained the parachute analogy and the necessity of repentance and being reborn. The parachute analogy is this: being on an airplane that is about to crash and having a parachute that can save you. Merely "believing" in the parachute won't save you- you have to strap on the parachute and jump from the plane. In the same sense, we need to strap on the Lord Jesus and jump from our sinful lifestyle. I gave Jason a gospel tract and told him to read it over, as it went over what we talked about. Emanuel already had a big money tract at home.

I handed out between 15 and 20 tracts today, including the one at the park to the man who came to see Pastor Paul open airing.

Tomorrow is the Komen Race for the Cure and I will be there with my cross. Over 20,000 people are expected to participate. Check back later tomorrow for details.

Open Air and Tracting in Lakewood

I joined my pastor and John (holding my cross), an elder from church, for open air at Lakewood Park for open air. Please excuse the poor visual quality- it is taken from a frame of the video. After my pastor read from Scripture and went through the Law and Gospel, I read "Are You Really a Christian?" that I wrote for our church website. After this, John and I went to the sidewalk in front of Madison Park to distribute tracts.



I love handing out tracts with John. He has so much energy and a great desire to reach the lost.

Today was the first day I was recording with my digital audio recorder. I bought a cheap one on eBay just to have as a precaution in case there is ever a dispute of what was said on the street.

As I was putting my camera back in the car, John starting having a conversation with a man named Steve. John invited me over and I asked Steve if he would consider himself to be a good person. He said, "Yes, sir," at which point I asked him if I could ask him a few questions to see if that was true.

I asked him if he had ever told a lie. He said no. After some prodding, he admitted to telling maybe a white lie. John asked him what that makes him, and he said, "Bad." John asked him what he would call John had told him a lie. "It starts with L." The man says "sinner." John replies, "An L!" (exclamation on the L). He finally says liar.

I ask Steve if he has ever stolen anything. He says no and continues to explain how he was wrongly accused of stealing something by someone. I move on.

Have you ever used the Lord's name in vain? "No. Never."
Have you ever disobeyed your parents? "No. My parents would have would have beat my butt!"

John asked him if he has ever lusted- he finally says, "Heck, yea." John explains this is adultery in the heart.

John told him he has broken some of the commandments of God. John asks him, on the Day of Judgment, if he would be innocent or guilty before God. Steve says innocent. John asks him, "Why's that?" Steve said "Because, I'm a good person."

John tells him that he has now broken the second commandment- creating a god to his own image. John gives him the analogy of being in a court room and having broken six laws, what is Steve going to say. He says, "That I'm a good person."

John told him that a good judge will make him pay the penalty for his guilt, at which point Steve says he has to go.

Next was Carl. Carl told us he had recently been in jail and was out of work. John tried giving him some advice on where to find work. When John brought up the topic of Jesus Christ, Carl appeared to want to have nothing to do with it. When John offered to pray for him, though, he quickly folded his hands and John prayed for him.

John left me around 1:35, and I stayed at this location with my cross for about another two hours. A little while later, a young man rode past me on his bike and asked me what the cross meant. I motioned to him to come back. He stopped his bike, turned around, and came back. I took him through the law and he admitted he was guilty and he was headed for hell. I asked him if that concerned him, and he said it did. I asked him if he knew what God had done for him so he wouldn't have to go to hell. He said he did not.

I explained the gospel and the meaning of the cross and gave him a gospel tract. I was able to tie in how the church across the street had the name "Grace" incorporated into it. He said he had been to a Catholic church when he was younger when I asked him about a Christian background. I told him to read over the gospel tract, as it goes over what we talked about.

Another man who I gave a gospel tract to asked me if what I had given him was Christian or Jehovah's Witness. I assured him it was Christian. School has just started and I my cross was clearly visible to a lot of students walking home. John handed out about 15 tracts and I handed out about 25 tracts today.

My pastor is heading up an Evangelism Boot Camp (at which John is speaking) this weekend and we should have the audio available on the church website soon after it is finished.

A Busy Day in Lakewood

Today, an elder from church (John) picked me up and we drove over to Madison Park in Lakewood. He brought Big Money (not Giant Money) tracts and pink and blue curved allusion cards with him, while I had my million and trillion dollar tracts. Although there is not as much vehicular traffic as the intersection I was at yesterday, there were occasionally people walking by on the sidewalk. I don't know exactly how many tracts we handed out, but I would say at least two dozen to people passing by.

I practiced reading the stop light preaching message I had typed out and taped to the back of my cross. It was good to actually do it in public (even if we weren't at a stop light) instead of just thinking about doing it.

John was on a roll witnessing to people. I stood with my cross directed at the traffic while John handed out tracts to people passing by on the sidewalk and engaged a few of them in conversation. John had a conversation with a man named Walter, who insisted that there was no way to know the truth. He said he had read the Bible and the Koran.

John gave a tract to a woman who asked him, "Is this going to tell me something sad?"

John also had a conversation with a young man named Manuel. Manuel told us he had aspirations of becoming an architect. Manuel knew about Jesus, but said if he were to die today, he would go to hell and that it did concern him. John presented the gospel message to him and asked him if he had any Bibles at home. He said he a few, to which John urged him to read the Gospel of John. John prayed for him before he went on his way.


Then there was Rebecca and her boyfriend and Rebecca's son. John had given them tracts the first time they passed by us, and the second time they passed by us, her boyfriend made a reference to John 3:16. John asked him what he knew about that, after which he went into the law and the gospel. The Holy Spirit appeared to be convicted them of something in their hearts. John prayed for them and their situation before they went on their way.

At this point, we drove over to Westlake to go to the intersection I was at yesterday. After being there for about five minutes, a man across the street crossed over to where we were and John gave him a gospel tract. He said he was saved and he seemed to have the correct language of a saved believer. He needed a ride four miles down the street to an RTA station. I was hesitant about going along with this and offered to walk home (I was about a little over a mile away from home at this point), but John told me to come along- so I did. After dropping the man off, John told me that he is pretty sure this is a man that our church had encountered before when our church was at a different location (and before I started attending). I'm thankful nothing went awry.

First Time Alone With the Cross on the Street

This morning started off with an awful cramp in my neck that started the night before. My neck started to hurt right after I picked my spot in Lakewood to display the cross and I decided I was going to read from Scripture there. I could barely move my neck this morning, but once I got out of bed, it felt better (although it still hurts to rotate it).

I was joining my pastor for support of his open air at Lakewood Park at 12:30. I left a little early to scope out Lakewood- there were two locations I wanted to check on. I didn't go with the first one because there was no free public parking around. I won't park in public shopping centers, even if they don't have signs posted prohibiting it.

I had stuck some gospel tracts in my Bible (a small ESV New Testament) and realized I left it at home. My pastor had an extra Bible with him which I initially took, but then I gave it back thinking I would go back home and just go to another street in Westlake (where I live). I ended up staying in Lakewood and going to the location I picked last night with no Bible (although I did have tracks in my wallet).

I went to Madison Park in Lakewood. I noticed the area was under video surveillance by the police department. I know I am within my first amendment rights, but I still get nervous from time to time. A few patrol cars drove by during my time there and didn't stop.

I sat on a guard rail that separated a public parking lot and the sidewalk. A woman named Amelia asked me, "Ready for What?" and I took her through the law. There was a little bit of a language barrier at times, but I was able to proclaim repentance and to trust in Jesus. I am pretty sure she left with a gospel tract.

A few younger boys who appeared to be on their way to the pool stopped and asked me the same question and I went through the law and gospel. It amuses me how younger people won't admit to doing something, but their friend standing right there is willing to rat them out! Looking back, I realized I should have just given them gospel tracts and had them read them instead of actually taking them through the presentation.

At this point, I decided to only give younger kids gospel tracts if they asked me what the cross meant. I should have been passing out gospel tracts to everyone, but I didn't start doing that until about halfway through, and I still avoided some people (out of my own cowardace) and some of the younger kids. I did get one rejection from a man in a tie.

Another man got a tract who was on his way to the store. He said he had already recieved one that had a million dollars on it from someone else. On his return, he told me that they didn't have the spices he needed. I told him I couldn't help him.

Looking back on this today, I want to always have gospel tracts ready, give younger kids gospel tracts and do not take them through the law (even if they are old enough to be roaming the streets on their own), and make sure I have my Bible next time to read!