First Friday of the month, and year. Last night was an event in downtown Phoenix called First Friday. For some, they go down to see art and walk the streets… I go to reach those people with the Gospel.
My wife and I got there about 8:00 pm. Right away, I thought it would be interesting to have a little competition with my wife to see who could hand out a pack of Million Dollar Bill gospel tracts the fastest. There are 100 gospel tracts in each pack. I realized that people would take them if the person in front of them took one, and generally people wouldn't take one if the person in front of them didn't. So I started advising people that "the person in front of you took one… and then most of them took one. I beat my wife in our little competition, but the great thing is that we handed both packs out in about 20 minutes.
Isn't that great! The Gospel of Jesus Christ was freely given to over 200 people in just a short period of time. Of course some of those people will throw it to the ground or in a garbage before they ever read it, and others will quickly discard it after they realize it's about Jesus -- but still, the Gospel was given out.
After handing the tracts out, I got up on the stepping stool to preach the Gospel open air. My friend Tom has some glow sticks that he brings for the purpose of giving away. I tell people that they can have a glow stick for free if they pass the good person test. Of course, no one proves to be a good person (by God's standards) because they have all lied, stolen, lusted, blasphemed, etc. But to show a small example of Grace, we give them one anyways after we share with them the good news. The good news is that despite the fact that they are guilty and deserve hell, God demonstrated His great love towards them in that He sent Jesus Christ to suffer and die on the cross to take the punishment that they deserve. They are thankful and they walk away with a glow stick, and something to think about.
At one point I offered to give $20 away to the next person that could prove to be a good person. I had no intention of giving the money away, since I assumed that Jesus would not be taking the test. A child about 8 years old came up and took the test with his father and a few others standing by him. On a side note: I always am amazed that parents are willing to let their little children listen to 'just some random person on the street. But then again, God is sovereign and maybe it's something that he wills to happen.
I gave the little kid the good person test and of course he failed, even though I'm convinced that he was not always being honest with me… this child claimed he had never told a lie or stolen anything. I asked if he had always honored his father… he looked at his father… so I looked at his father and the father shook his head no. I advised the kid that he had actually broken God's law by dishonoring his father. Even though I normally don't give out money (at least for someone being good), I wanted to make an impression on this little kid. So I gave him the money and used it as an example of grace - getting something you don't deserve. I know that even if the kid won't remember that night.
After we were done myself, my wife, Tom and one of Tom's friends Matt and another guy named Sean went out to Denny's to both fellowship and talk about the truths of God. I'll do another blog about what we talked about later...
Saved by Grace,
~ brandt dary
My wife and I got there about 8:00 pm. Right away, I thought it would be interesting to have a little competition with my wife to see who could hand out a pack of Million Dollar Bill gospel tracts the fastest. There are 100 gospel tracts in each pack. I realized that people would take them if the person in front of them took one, and generally people wouldn't take one if the person in front of them didn't. So I started advising people that "the person in front of you took one… and then most of them took one. I beat my wife in our little competition, but the great thing is that we handed both packs out in about 20 minutes.
Isn't that great! The Gospel of Jesus Christ was freely given to over 200 people in just a short period of time. Of course some of those people will throw it to the ground or in a garbage before they ever read it, and others will quickly discard it after they realize it's about Jesus -- but still, the Gospel was given out.
After handing the tracts out, I got up on the stepping stool to preach the Gospel open air. My friend Tom has some glow sticks that he brings for the purpose of giving away. I tell people that they can have a glow stick for free if they pass the good person test. Of course, no one proves to be a good person (by God's standards) because they have all lied, stolen, lusted, blasphemed, etc. But to show a small example of Grace, we give them one anyways after we share with them the good news. The good news is that despite the fact that they are guilty and deserve hell, God demonstrated His great love towards them in that He sent Jesus Christ to suffer and die on the cross to take the punishment that they deserve. They are thankful and they walk away with a glow stick, and something to think about.
At one point I offered to give $20 away to the next person that could prove to be a good person. I had no intention of giving the money away, since I assumed that Jesus would not be taking the test. A child about 8 years old came up and took the test with his father and a few others standing by him. On a side note: I always am amazed that parents are willing to let their little children listen to 'just some random person on the street. But then again, God is sovereign and maybe it's something that he wills to happen.
I gave the little kid the good person test and of course he failed, even though I'm convinced that he was not always being honest with me… this child claimed he had never told a lie or stolen anything. I asked if he had always honored his father… he looked at his father… so I looked at his father and the father shook his head no. I advised the kid that he had actually broken God's law by dishonoring his father. Even though I normally don't give out money (at least for someone being good), I wanted to make an impression on this little kid. So I gave him the money and used it as an example of grace - getting something you don't deserve. I know that even if the kid won't remember that night.
After we were done myself, my wife, Tom and one of Tom's friends Matt and another guy named Sean went out to Denny's to both fellowship and talk about the truths of God. I'll do another blog about what we talked about later...
Saved by Grace,
~ brandt dary
RSS Feed