Street Report – 21 April 2009

Last Saturday I was joined by Peter Kelly on the streets of Arklow. After some time of fellowship and praying as two families in the house we got down town at about 10:30pm. We positioned ourselves across the road from the busiest pub/hotel in the town and the ATM at the lane beside Christy’s bar. I took the step first and the loudhailer and addressed the crowds of people with the question “What are you living for?”. Variously reading from Matthew 5, Romans 2, Revelation 20 and 21 and 1 Corinthians 6; I dealt with living for the pleasures of sin for a season, storing up wealth on Earth and the yawning vista of eternity stretching ahead of each person. Eternity in Heaven with the Lord and His love being poured out or in Hell with His wrath being poured out

I pleaded with them to wake up and repent, to call on the Lord while He may yet be found.
There were several stops to get down to groups of people who were questioning and we had some great conversations. Some were genuinely touched and some just raged against God all the more.

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. 
(Psalm 2:1-12)

Peter got up to preach and dealt right across the board with “Your soul is precious!”. He preached with authority and power so much so that the bouncers across the street who have heard the Gospel many times and are hardened to it – well they sent a lady called Aileen (from Limerick) across to try and get us to move elsewhere. Well 20 or 30 minutes later she was still there listening to the Gospel from me face to face, pleading with her to look to Jesus for her salvation and Peter was still preaching on the box beside us. Aileen was very nice but had a hard life and viewed that as her “penance”, she reckoned that God would overlook her sins since she had had a hard time of it. We discussed the personal ownership of our sins and the free gift of salvation from God through Jesus Christ. Aileen was with a hen party that night and when the bride to be and her friends came to “rescue” her from the preachers she introduced them all and we also got to share a short gospel message with them and pray for the marriage. They all thanked us and Aileen took gospel tracts with the promise to read them and do something about her eternal destiny.

2 young men, Paul & James came along then and started to talk to us. I had spoken to Paul on and off for the past 3 years and he keeps coming up with “intellectual” arguments against Christ and the Bible. Every time an argument is shown to be empty he has been shifting to a different offensive position! So this time I just kept telling him that all of those are secondary issues and the primary issue is his stance before an almighty and holy God.
After a very rowdy and obscenely dressed crowd of young men came along and engaged in some light natured heckling and I we spoke with them for a very short while.
Well Paul & James hung around with many questions and eventually they both said that they were going to get right with God that night.
I pray that they did. We finished up and got home for a nice hot cup of tea at about 12:50am.
Please pray for Aileen, Paul and James that God the Father draw them to His Son Jesus and salvation.

Then today I did some recycling evangelism! Tesco were selling off some rain jackets cheap and I had bought a couple and had them printed with “Million Dollar Question” on the mack and “Ask Me” on the front. It is amazing how people will embarrass themselves for the love of money! Since I began wearing the jacket on the street not very long ago about 5 people have already come up to ask me what the million dollar question is and is it some kind of competition? Well today I went to the recycling and wore the jacket and Caroline came up and asked me about the jacket so I got the opportunity to ask the million dollar question – Where will you go when you die – Heaven or Hell?
She told me she hoped to go to heaven and in the course of the conversation it transpired that she reads her bible every night to her children and does not allow blasphemy in her house. So I shared the scriptures that we should that we are going to heaven -

I have put these things in writing for you who have faith in the name of the Son of God, so that you may be certain that you have eternal life.
(1Jn 5:13)

We got through the good test and after about 30 minutes she took a comprehensive gospel tract and told me that her husband and 2 year old were waiting in the car for her but that otherwise she would stay as she had a lot of questions. I asked her to read her Bible and see that the things I had said were true. – Please pray for Caroline to be brought into relationship with God.