Persecution?

Worldwide, the persecution of Christians is terrible.  Many Christians are horribly mistreated, beaten, tortured and killed simply because they believe Jesus is Lord and choose to follow Him in the way they live.  If, however, you are a Christian who lives in the USA, fear not!

My brother in Christ from Calvary Chapel Wichita and I were very mildly mistreated Saturday night during our evangelism adventure in Old Town.  To say we were persecuted would cheapen the word.

It was a particularly chaotic evening with lots of noisy, bumper-to-bumper traffic cruising up and down the streets.  My partner was handing out million dollar bill tracts and I was distributing Ten Commandment coins to initiate conversations.  A million was offered to a young guy who was walking from one bar to another.  He asked if it was "religious" and said disdainfully, "I have my morals in order."  I gently asked him if he had ever lied.  He responded by cursing both of us and giving us the single finger salute as he walked away.  All we did was offer him a cool looking million dollar bill with a gospel message on the back.  All we want is for him to admit his sinfulness, repent and trust Jesus Christ for salvation so he can escape God's wrath and eternal punishment in hell.  This was the worst treatment I've ever experienced during any sort of evangelism effort in the U.S. or Mexico and it didn't hurt a bit.  We shrugged our shoulders and continued the work.

If a person is not humbled and repentant, I will gladly take an angry response to the gospel.  It is never my intent to make anyone angry.  We are not to strive, but to lovingly and patiently teach God's law and the gospel (2 Timothy 2:24-26).  If people sense the conviction of the Holy Spirit, let them get mad at the Ten Commandments and the gospel.  Let them get angry because their conscience is bothering them.  The Holy Spirit can use that to break a person and draw them to repentance and salvation.

Aside from a good conversation with a couple of young men, last weekend's gi-normous Automobilia car show didn't go too well.  The temperature was about 105 degrees with high humidity and threatening thunderstorms.  This is typical for Kansas in the summer, but not conducive to evangelism.  People understandably don't like to receive sweaty tracts as the lightning approaches.

Thank you for reading and remember the words of Jesus in Luke 12:4-5.... "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear; fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  Let your love for and fear of God overcome any fear of man and propel you out to obey His command to go into all the world and preach the gospel.  God bless you as you go!