A note on last week, we didn't go to Deep Ellum because Mark, Anne and I were at youth group retreat. (Anne and I are both staff volunteers and Mark is in the group) While at the retreat Mark and I were even able to do a little witnessing role play in front of the youth group to demonstrate how we could use our retreat T-Shirts as an ice breaker to share the Gospel. Good Stuff.
This last Saturday, (September 9th) we returned to Deep Ellum. After a time of prayer at the pole(a telephone pole on the corner of the street where we park) Luke and I grouped up and set off. Anne and Mark grouped up and will relate their experiences in their own posting.
We passed a few tracts to passerbys in the first few minutes. We always park our car for free on a street that Greg managed to find about a year ago when he first began coming, but it's a couple of blocks away from where the nightlife is. One of the first parking lots on our route is where Tom the parking attendant works. I mentioned Tom in a previous post. Tom has always been friendly and nominally supportive of what we're doing, however tonight he couldn't stop talking about witnessing or how God had been teaching him and showing him so much about how he needed to share his faith. I saw a humility and a heart for God in his conversation and demeanor that I hadn't seen before. He was genuinely impressed that we had been coming out faithfully every week to Deep Ellum and wanted to know how we managed to do this every week and what we did to muster up our courage. He told us how he had seen and heard some material from Way of the Master and now he was really fired up about sharing his faith. He had already tried to do so but was a little discouraged because of not seeing much of a response, and so we encouraged him that the important thing was to just be faithful to God and his Word since results are so often unpredictable. It was so encouraging and refreshing to see Tom so energized for God's glory. Tom lives a couple of miles away from Deep Ellum so I got his address and phone number, and we will plan to go visit with him to fellowship and perhaps watch some of the Way of The Master Episodes with him.
When we reached the main intersection in Deep Ellum, Luke and I were able to have some really good 1 to 1's with people. Luke was talking to about 3 or 4 guys and I joined in the conversation and started talking with two of them. I think their names were Andrew and Brad(?). They were both open to talking about spiritual things. Andrew had studied a number of different religions and Andrew admitted that Christianity had more evidence to back it up than any other religion. We were able to talk about the incredible creation that we see around us, and at one point they asked me what had convinced me that it was true. I was then able to share my testimony with them and talked about how I had grown up in a Christian home but didn't get saved until I was in college, and it was being confronted by Jesus's words along with the Ten Commandments that brought me to repentance. They had to leave to go to a show, but they were both appreciative of our conversation and seemed impacted by my testimony, especially when I was talking about the Ten Commandments.
I saw a lady who appeared as though she was homeless, and gave her a tract. She (Michelle) asked me for some money so that she could pay for the bus fare to get a ride home to Mesquite. I told her that I didn't give away money to people without getting to know them a little bit and if she would be willing to talk to me for 10 minutes, I would help her out. I had to go into a corner store and break a bill, and while in the cornerstore, I ran into Stephanie, who works as a clerk there at the store. I had witnessed to her several weeks ago so I asked her if she had thought any about what we had talked about, and she said no. Keep her in prayer. I went back outside and found Michelle so we sat down on the curb and started talking. Eventually we got to the things of God, and she professed to be a good person, saying that she had never lied and never stolen, even once in her entire life. First person I've ever talked to who has adamantly said they had never done either of those things. However when asked if she had ever hated anyone, she admitted she had and I showed her how God's word said that if you have hatred in your heart, God sees it as murder. That struck a profound chord somewhere, but she had to leave in order to catch her bus, so I gave her some money to pay for the bus, and I quickly told her that, though deserving of God's justice, God had instead re-directed that justice to his Son out of sheer love for her, and provided a means of forgiveness through repentance and faith. She seemed thoughtful as she left.
I handed out tracts to a group of about 4 or 5 guys and one of them said "What's this about?" I responded that it was meant to be entertaining but it also had a serious part, which was the Christian message. Travis appeared annoyed at first, but I drove him on with the good person test, and by the look on his face after it was all explained, he was hit hard. Since there was no justification whatsoever coming out of his mouth, I just began to expound on the love that God had demonstrated to him in the cross, and let me tell you, it's not often that a guy who is with 4 or 5 of his friends looks like he might start crying, but Travis did. I urged him to receive God's unmerited gift of redemption, to repent, and put his faith in Jesus since this would be the most important thing that he could ever do with his life. I didn't want to just lead him in a prayer, because I don't think the impact of God's word on his heart had fully bloomed, but the expression on his face was evidence that his mind and his convicted spirit where in quite a struggle. He needed to leave with his friend shortly after that so we weren't able to talk much more, but your prayers for him would be greatly appreciated. It's so hard not to know the outcome of such a heart rending conversation.
- "Cowards never won heaven. Do not claim that you are begotten of God and have His royal blood running in your veins unless you can prove your lineage by this heroic spirit: to dare to be holy in spite of men and devils."
William Gurnall
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