Seed Sowing

On Thursday last week we had the blessing of getting back on the street with our friends who are street preachers! Because of the cold, our "street" this time was a heated pedestrian over pass. Very nice indeed! We handed out quite a few tracts and had several good conversations. One man who had already been given a tract walked by again and Steve asked if he was going to read it, he said "Yea". Steve said "that didn't sound very convincing", the man turned around and said "oh, then you better give me another one". Steve handed him another one and said "you threw it away didn't you?" The guy laughed a little and said "How did you know?" Steve said "The Bible says that all liars will be cast into the lake of fire." That started a conversation that lasted fifteen minutes with this Jewish man named Kenny. Please pray for him, he said that he was going to think about what Steve had told him.

Yesterday, (Tuesday) we went out again, this time to the University of Minnesota Duluth. We had one gospel sign and two graphic abortion signs. Steve and Michael preached to the crowds of students getting on and off the buses and I handed out tracts. One campus police officer came because of some complaints and told us that we were fine where we were and it was our legal right to be there.

An atheist tried to reason with us and was given the gospel along with some things to think about. A young man came by taking our pictures and talked to us for some time. He was upset by the abortion pictures saying that we were showing them to "play on peoples emotions and to make people angry". Steve told him that we were showing them to let people know the truth of what abortion is and what it does to people. I told him that it is the same as the holocaust and there he interrupted along with two other young men who had joined him. "You are saying that abortion is equal to the holocaust?" He asked incredulously. "Yes, even worse" I answered. "almost fifty million babies have been killed"

"There were millions of Jews"

"Yes, six million Jews, fifty million babies." I compared.

"But they were a specific group of people that were targeted" one of them added.

"Exactly!" I said, "A specific group of people, babies."

They had to concede the point and quickly changed the subject. Steve repeatedly turned the conversation back to the gospel and they kept trying to turn it back towards their anger at the signs. The first guy told us that he did not agree with that type of abortion but there were other types. We told him that either way a person is killed. He said that he did not believe that there was life until birth! I told him that such a statement was only his personal opinion because the scientific research of many doctors, including pro-abortion doctors, showed that life begins at conception. He said that he did not know that! Praise God! Even though he went on to say that it would not change his mind on abortion, at least there was something planted that God can use. He and the others heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and we can pray that God will use it.

At one point God prompted me to go talk with a lady who stood near us. When I offered her a tract she refused and I asked if she had ever read the Bible. Our conversation was short but I pray that God will use that seed planted as well. She even gave me a quick hug before leaving.

It was that conversation that set me to thinking, because I felt like I stumbled around at some points and probably sounded silly to her. But, it is not up to me to save people, my job is to obey. God has told us to preach the gospel and we need to stay true to that command, it is easy to try and embellish it making it look more attractive to the carnal mind. We often want to build up strong arguments to show that we are really not as foolish as we sound, but what if someone believes those arguments? Their faith is then grounded in mans reasoning and not on God Himself. Apologetics is good and we need to know what we believe and why, but God told us to preach the gospel and He said that it would seem foolish to the world. Were you saved because of historical proof for the Bible and it's accuracy? I wasn't, it was the simple message of the gospel through which God led me to repentance and faith on Him.

So, I need to rest knowing that it is God who brings the increase. We obey, sowing the seed and watering the seed and God brings the increase. It is up to Him who will be saved, we need only to obey.

Yeah!

What a blessed rest we can have knowing that!

We stood out there for about three and a half hours and towards the end another young man brought out a home made sign and stood near us. Here is a picture:

His sign says "Love and rejoice for paganism. To be heathen is heavenly"

It was more like a cry for help than anything else. Michael felt prompted to go talk to him and they talked for a long time, then Steve joined in and without having heard what Michael had already said, began to say the exact same things! We pray that God will use the seed planted there as well.

Praise God for a great seed sowing day and we pray for many more to come! May God bring some fruit though our labors, for His glory!