From Oral Presentations to Street Preaching

Today ended up being a stretching day. God is taking me out of my comfort zone. I was the final person in my English class to present my oral presentation on the case for Intelligent Design. I was nervous, but I felt God's peace with me throughout the presentation. He stripped me of all my fear and I was able to speak clearly with some difficulty, but God was definitely glorified. However, I began the presentation with factual evidence for the creation of the universe based on the second law of thermodynamics, irreducible complexity, and the lack of transitional forms in the fossil record. It was fun talking about those things, but what ended up being so awesome was the fact that I started proclaiming that God was the divine power behind the creation of the universe, earth, and mankind. This raised a few eyebrows throughout the class, but no one was going to argue with me. If any of those people did believe in evolution before I spoke, I don't think they are a believer anymore. It was evident in how I ended the presentation with an abundant passion for the glory of God. I wish that you all could have been there. It is so amazing what God did in that classroom today. May He alone be glorified and honored. Most of all though, the presentation really prepared me for what happened tonight.

I was doing my chores when I got a phone call from my good friend Floyd. Floyd asked me if I would like to go with him to some place and preach the gospel to folks on the street. I was first of all taken aback by the whole thing, but I decided to try it out. I have never been street preaching before and after tonight, it won't be my last. We ended up going to the Orange Circle and Floyd began reading from the Sermon on the Mount (he was standing on his footstool). When he was reading, this drunk guy asks me if he could sit down and listen. I said, "Sure." He sat down and Floyd continued reading. I asked God for direction whether I was supposed to talk to this guy or not. Floyd was just finishing up chapter seven when I drew up enough courage to talk to this guy. He seemed friendly and nice. I could tell by how he talked that he heard the gospel many times before. He said that he likes the Bible, he is a good person, he loves Jesus, Jesus died for me on the cross... yada, yada, yada. This guy has knowledge of the Bible (a hearer), but he is not living out the Christian faith (doer). He told me most of his problems and I just reverted him back to the Gospel. He always seemed to want to change the subject on me, but I kept pressing (pushing for the Gospel).

However, he seemed really interested when I told him that I was just as bad a sinner as he was. God views each sinner (not saved by grace) the same way (we are all like filthy rags). He couldn't seem to wrap his mind around that. I told him though the main difference between me and you now is that I am a sinner saved by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ and you are a sinner still dead in your trespasses and sins. My conversation with him was very interesting, but it did not go too well. Changing of subjects and repetition of his problems led the way in our discussion. At the end of the day, I prayed for him, quickly talked to this other guy for a little while, and reflected on what I needed to do to better prepare myself to defend the gospel. I struggled at different moments with what to say, but that was partly because I am not use to talking to others about Christ. I am better at reflecting Christ through my actions, but am I doing any good if I don't talk to others about the hope that lies within me. No! Jesus commands us to go out into all the world and preach the gospel. This was a great learning experience for me that taught me that I need to be better prepared to preach the gospel when called upon. Thanks Floyd for asking me to go along with you! Soli Deo Gloria!!!


P.S. The guy that I talked to. His name is Ron; so if you could please hold him up in prayer for his salvation that would be great. Thank you all.