I want share with you how heavily I was recently persecuted for sharing the Gospel. On Saturday (day) I went with my niece to the Mesa Marketplace so she could walk around and get free candy and so I could distribute the gospel in the form of a Gospel Tract. Then on Saturday (night) I went to Mill Ave. in Tempe as normal. Both places I received a great deal of hard core persecution.
The Mesa Marketplace is an outdoor swap meet or 'flea market' that has a few hundred vendors. Normally, I wouldn't go there to hand out gospel tracts because I would imagine they might kick me out… but Halloween was a special day. I know that as a Christian it is very scary to share the gospel (as we're commanded by God to do…) but I stepped out in faith and did it anyways. Since it was Halloween, I told people that I was the US Government and that this (the million dollar gospel tract) was their bailout. I was shocked by the heavy opposition I received and the hateful words people hurled at me. Here is a list of what some people told me:
Do you see how heavily I was persecuted?!! NOT AT ALL! Not a singe person rejected the bill. Now you might say, "that's because you didn't tell them that it had a gospel message…" -- that's probably true. But I didn't have to… almost every person flipped the bill over to see what was on the back side. They will find out.
Saturday night on mill I actually received some physical persecution… a man hit me in the finger. And actually, this was because of something I probably shouldn't have said. I don't think it was sinful what I said… but it wasn't the smartest thing to say. Here's the story… And keep in mind, I'm well aware that I didn't handle this situation correctly.
It was Halloween, as previously mentioned, so people were wearing costumes. Several people were dressed up like Mormon missionaries. This black man came up and said to me "Tell those Mormon missionaries to stop raping little boys…" (Which, is good advise.) It reminded me of what Paul said in Romans 2:21b - 22 "While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?…" -- So I asked this man "You say it's wrong to rape little boys. Do you rape little boys?" (TIME OUT: Remember, I'm well aware that I didn't handle this situation correctly). This man was angry by what I said (and understandably so). He angrily asked me to clarify so I repeated myself… he then called me some name, like an idiot or something, and swung his fist at my face. I'm not sure if he missed on purpose, but thankfully he just hit my finger and knocked my tracts to the ground.
I then proceeded to ask him why he was such an angry black man… He called me prejudice. I informed him that I'm not pre-judging him at all… he was angry, black, and a man. This didn't help the situation, but it did get a lot of peoples attention. I MESSED UP. I wasn't thinking clearly… I am sharing this to show you that the only real persecution I received was not due to the Gospel, but because I said something stupid… I don't think I sinned, but I know that I certainly could have handled it in a better way. So just don't make the same mistake I made when you are sharing the Gospel.
Charles Spurgeon says "Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that." I state this because even though I'm a dope that messes up sometimes, I still have a desire for others to be saved and also to be obedient to God when He commands us to share the Gospel. Maybe you're not ready to get up on a soap box and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the open-air, but you can still evocatively share the gospel by using Gospel tracts. There's no excuse for you not sharing the Gospel. CORRECTION: There's likely no good excuse for you not sharing the Gospel.
By God's Grace
~ brandt dary
Here are some recommended websites for Biblical Gospel tracts:
Living Waters Publications
One Million Tracts
Custom Tract Source
The Mesa Marketplace is an outdoor swap meet or 'flea market' that has a few hundred vendors. Normally, I wouldn't go there to hand out gospel tracts because I would imagine they might kick me out… but Halloween was a special day. I know that as a Christian it is very scary to share the gospel (as we're commanded by God to do…) but I stepped out in faith and did it anyways. Since it was Halloween, I told people that I was the US Government and that this (the million dollar gospel tract) was their bailout. I was shocked by the heavy opposition I received and the hateful words people hurled at me. Here is a list of what some people told me:
- That'll make my day!
- I need this.
- I'm rich!
- Thanks!
- Thanks a lot!
- Thank you. I love this.
- I really, really needed this.
- Thanks for the million.
- I can retire now!
- Oh God! How funny is that? (Blasphemy, with a smile on their face)
- This is awesome.
- Thank you.
- Nice!
Do you see how heavily I was persecuted?!! NOT AT ALL! Not a singe person rejected the bill. Now you might say, "that's because you didn't tell them that it had a gospel message…" -- that's probably true. But I didn't have to… almost every person flipped the bill over to see what was on the back side. They will find out.
Saturday night on mill I actually received some physical persecution… a man hit me in the finger. And actually, this was because of something I probably shouldn't have said. I don't think it was sinful what I said… but it wasn't the smartest thing to say. Here's the story… And keep in mind, I'm well aware that I didn't handle this situation correctly.
It was Halloween, as previously mentioned, so people were wearing costumes. Several people were dressed up like Mormon missionaries. This black man came up and said to me "Tell those Mormon missionaries to stop raping little boys…" (Which, is good advise.) It reminded me of what Paul said in Romans 2:21b - 22 "While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?…" -- So I asked this man "You say it's wrong to rape little boys. Do you rape little boys?" (TIME OUT: Remember, I'm well aware that I didn't handle this situation correctly). This man was angry by what I said (and understandably so). He angrily asked me to clarify so I repeated myself… he then called me some name, like an idiot or something, and swung his fist at my face. I'm not sure if he missed on purpose, but thankfully he just hit my finger and knocked my tracts to the ground.
I then proceeded to ask him why he was such an angry black man… He called me prejudice. I informed him that I'm not pre-judging him at all… he was angry, black, and a man. This didn't help the situation, but it did get a lot of peoples attention. I MESSED UP. I wasn't thinking clearly… I am sharing this to show you that the only real persecution I received was not due to the Gospel, but because I said something stupid… I don't think I sinned, but I know that I certainly could have handled it in a better way. So just don't make the same mistake I made when you are sharing the Gospel.
Charles Spurgeon says "Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that." I state this because even though I'm a dope that messes up sometimes, I still have a desire for others to be saved and also to be obedient to God when He commands us to share the Gospel. Maybe you're not ready to get up on a soap box and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the open-air, but you can still evocatively share the gospel by using Gospel tracts. There's no excuse for you not sharing the Gospel. CORRECTION: There's likely no good excuse for you not sharing the Gospel.
By God's Grace
~ brandt dary
Here are some recommended websites for Biblical Gospel tracts:
Living Waters Publications
One Million Tracts
Custom Tract Source
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