Drunkard thanks Street Preacher or Sowing in the Cold

I've been going out preaching in the open air off and on for years. However, I'd taken a break from it for a while (years, in fact) for various reasons and this winter was really compelled to get back at it with more fervor and regularity. I have a day job. I normally only preach on a particular street corner in East Lansing, Michigan on Saturday nights from about 11 to 12 or 1 AM.  I wanted to encourage fellow Christians I know to get out more, so I started sending updates to them on all the exciting things that were taking place in the short time I'd been out preaching.  After some encouragement from them, I decided to start this blog so I could share the excitement and wonder I've been experiencing with a larger audience. Although I will probably add to the content of this blog later, I thought I would start with basically just those updates (edited for the larger audience) about like I've been sending them out to my friends. The last thing I need to explain before the update is a word about alcohol.

The Bible tells us in 1 Cor 6:9-10 that no drunkard (among other groups of people) shall enter the kingdom of heaven. I know lots of people who consider themselves Christians that drink alcohol, so I know this is controversial. The big question that always comes up is this: what's a drunkard? Look at it like this. If you murder someone once, doesn't that make you a murderer? Of course it does! If you lie to someone once, by the same token, doesn't that make you a liar? (I'm not saying you can't be forgiven. Of course you can, but until you repent and ask forgiveness, if you lie, you are a liar.) So, how many times does a person need to get drunk to be a drunkard? I think the answer is obvious. I used to drink alcohol and I enjoyed it. I understand why people drink. I've been there, done that. I also know what the Bible has to say about alcohol. I know, I know. Jesus turned water into wine, so it must be all right to drink alcohol...or so people tell me every time I preach against alcohol. I give one argument below against that line of thinking. There are more, of course, but for now, one is enough. Obviously, I'm not saying someone who's been drunk once can't ever go to heaven. I don't believe that. Drunkenness is not the unforgiveable sin. And, for a given individual, depending on where they are in their walk with God, might not even realize drinking alcohol is wrong. So, I hope my views on alcohol do not automatically prevent you from reading this post. If you don't agree with me on it, fine. Maybe some day you will, maybe not, but don't let the issue of alcohol keep you from rejoicing with me over one man (who admitted he had many sins he enjoys) who thanked me for explaining to him how he can walk more closely with God!

Here's the first update:

Feb 6, 2011
Dear Saints:
I went preaching again tonight, starting a little after 11 and
finishing up about 12 or 12:30. Chris was there and a friend of
his named Richard. Chris brought up a good idea afterward, while we
sat drinking hot cocoa and discussing the evening's events. He was
talking about a verse having to do with sowing in the cold and reaping
in the warmth, so I looked up some that seemed like they might be the
ones he was talking about. Here they are:

Eccl 11:4       He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that
regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

Prov  20:4      The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold;
[therefore] shall he beg in harvest, and [have] nothing.

I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad. I know there are lots of
people who do more for the Lord than I do. And of course, salvation is
not by works. However, I was shocked and encouraged by what those
verses say. And I'm just so pumped up by the exciting time preaching
tonight I had to send this out now. I don't like to be up late. I
don't normally like to be cursed at. I prefer to not have people be
angry with me. I also don't like to be cold. There are many times I've
skipped going out to preach because of all those negatives. However,
even in the cold, the harvest was bountiful tonight. Does that mean
that hundreds of people were saved? No, unfortunately not. What it
does mean is that if one person is affected by the preaching, it was
worth while. And, I know that a lot of the people who hear street
preachers think about it for a long time afterward: even years later.
So, all the people who cursed us tonight had seeds planted.
Additionally, there was one guy who started out telling us some
gibberish about how Christianity was built exclusively on poor people
who had nothing else to believe in. That guy, who obviously had been
drinking, told us one minute that he enjoyed his sin, and the next
minute told us that he was ashamed of the things he has done while
drinking. Because of James 4:17, I was able to tell him that he, then,
knew that what he was doing was wrong. Even though he claimed to enjoy
his drinking, I wished that he didn't have to be ashamed later for the
things he does in his life. He was upset because I was getting too
deep, and that I was really digging at his heart. He didn't like to
hear that by drinking he was trying to drown out his conscience, and
that by doing so, he was trying to destroy his God given ability to
judge right from wrong, and God would find him guilty for that
(because his own conscience declared him guilty already and that's why
he was ashamed). He asked me how he could change some things in his
life that he didn't like. I told him how he could grow in faith (by
reading the Bible and doing what it says, even if he starts small). He
eventually walked away thanking me for what I'd explained to him;
quite changed from his cursing me at the beginning; very different
from telling me he hated me for trying to "shove things down his
throat".
So much for the people who say street preaching doesn't affect anyone!
Once again, the scriptures are confirmed by the naysayers.

2 Tim 2:24-25 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be
gentle unto all [men], apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing
those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

So, we bundled ourselves up, and sowed regardless of the wind. We
plowed up some fallow ground in the cold and have not been sluggards,
by the grace of God (since I'd not even thought of those verses prior
to going out, I can't have been acting in response to them). We enjoyed
excellent fellowship while drinking hot cocoa (would not have liked
that nearly so much had it been warm out), and got to see the Lord
work in a drunkard's life.
Lastly, I'd been considering the Muslims today, what with all that is
going on in the middle east right now. And had been thinking/praying
to the Lord that I wanted at least one Muslim to come and hear the
preaching today. Lo, and behold! A Muslim man that Chris had
ministered to on campus several times before came and spoke with him
at length again tonight, and in so doing, was another answer to
prayer!
God is Good all the time! He listens to our prayers, hears us, and
gives us the desires of our hearts. Praise be to God!
Amen and good night. May the Lord bless all of you richly in all that
you do for him...and hopefully, all that you do is for him, so he
should be richly blessing you in all that you do!

Introduction

Welcome to my blog! I'm a Christian who is not part of a denomination but believes the Bible and goes out in the streets preaching the Word of God. As God is all powerful, he can certainly use people to bring others to the Lord through lots of different avenues. However, I have been called to preach in the streets. There is a good biblical basis for preaching to strangers in the open air, and when I don't go out preaching regularly, I am convicted of ignoring God's call. God's call on my life has manifested itself in many ways too numerous to list here. So, I shall use this blog (along with my twitter account: @strt_evangelist) to set out my reasons for preaching as I do. Also, I would like to encourage others to do the same. So, I will give reasons for others to preach in the open air as well.  There are, of course, issues of content when one preaches and I'll address those, too. As I come up with (either through my own thought, revelations from God or input from others) ideas on other ways one might be able to work for God through evangelism, I'll give those, too. Now, I'm sure my plans for this blog will change over time, but I promise to do my best to follow the Bible in all I do with it. Thank you, and I hope that you will be built up by what you read. Lastly, may God bless you in your efforts to follow him.