January 22nd was one of the nights this last winter when a friend, Chris Nada, and I were out preaching in East Lansing. We didn't stay long, because it was just too cold,
but it was good just the same. In the one hour we were out, we spoke
to easily 50-100 people. Several people thanked us for what we were
saying. There were, of course, those who mocked us, and those who
cursed us, which is standard. But, I count myself blessed to have been
counted worthy to suffer for the cause of Christ. His yoke is easy and
His burden is light. God is so good to me, and I feel so appreciated
by Him for what I do when I go out and preach, that the mocking and
cursing is hardly any burden or suffering at all. It has gotten so it
really doesn't even bother me. One person tried to convince me that he
could really help me with my preaching and that my methods were all
wrong. After speaking to him at length, the only thing I could come up
with was: he didn't like to see a sign listing things people commonly
do today which God considers to be sin. He didn't like to have people
yelling the truth about sin in the open. Why not? Mostly, because he
said it wasn't "effective." I'm not writing about anything that is
uncommon for a night out street preaching. This comes up almost every (if
not every) time I go out street preaching. But, aside from the people
who are visibly changed by what they hear, aside from the people who
thank us, aside from the people that are obviously listening and being
affected by the preaching (or they wouldn't get upset about it), aside
from all that and aside from all the testimonies from others that I
have that street preaching DOES affect the hearers, I know it affects
ME to go out and do it. Even if NO ONE listened or cared, I know that
I was doing what God has been calling me to do. I know that I can
sleep at night, because I have not stood idly by watching people run
as fast as they could to get into hell. I know that God cares about
what I'm doing, and He appreciates it, and that's what matters. His
Word says so, and my life says so, too. And every time I go out and
preach, it all becomes clearer to me, too.
How can I but say the things I have seen and heard?
Who else has the words of eternal life? If we did not praise him, the
rocks themselves would cry out.
Our God is good, and He is Good: all the time!
