Ok, so New Year's Eve in Boise, Idaho was right at about ten degrees Fahrenheit. Let's just say that I had my ski bibs on to go a' preachin'! We opted for 8th and Idaho streets again as that is the scene of a local gay bar. I know that the optimal setting is that many would gather under the proclamation of the Gospel. Many times on the street, you are only preaching to those who pass by; And that is fine as they do hear the Gospel, but it is so much better to have an attentive audience. So on a night as cold as it was December 31st we knew the best place was a busy intersection. The gay club I mentioned is called The Balcony. It is on the second level of a building and has a large balcony that wraps from one corner to the next. It is ideal because many gather outside on the balcony of The Balcony to smoke. Therefore, we have much opportunity for an audience. I need not mention that this particular audience is also extremely repulsed by the Gospel. Nevertheless, the ultimate reason we preach is that Christ is glorified and in doing so you never know who He may be working on.
This was also an important night because it was Josh's first time street preaching. Josh is my good brother in Christ whom I have known for 5 years and he has recently been ordained at The Well where I attend the Body. It was very exciting and we arrived to find our friends already engaged in the loud proclamation of the Gospel using a small PA system that just hangs around the neck. The young man preaching I had yet to meet. His name was Jake and he and his wife are just out of college and have been traveling the country preaching! He was very good and clearly exposited Christ and Him crucified! Shawn Holes was present as well as his wife. Kevin and Lyza, Shawn's son-in-law and daughter, were there as well as my other brother in Christ, Chisum.
Shortly, we were engaged with several different people who were quite hostile. Two young men obviously gay had passed us and then came storming back to the corner. Chisum and I cut them off before they could get to Jake who was preaching. It is important that the one preaching not be waylayed too long from his task to deliver the sermon. Many times, this is the only goal of a heckler. As we spoke with them, one man was extremely agitated and spoke through gritted teeth. I quickly asked him if he was a good person; he said yes. I pressed him with questions about righteousness and he stuttered out answers but kept trying to talk over me.
He wanted nothing to do with any of us, only to proclaim his judgement that we were judging. I told him we only proclaimed God's judgement. He then got very close to me and exclaimed he was a marine and his partner was army. I asked him what that had to do with righteousness. He scoffed and they stomped away. Poor guys, so deceived.
Then while Jake was preaching, a man came out of the Japanese restaurant from across the street. He was obviously one of the cooks and he walked very fast. He walked right up to Jake and asked him to shut up. Jake asked him if he had ever read the Bible. The man then slapped Jake across the face in an attempt to knock the microphone off his head. I couldn't believe it and walked briskly over to inform the man that he was going to face assault charges. The man said he had already called the police. I said good and told him not to move. He scoffed and walking back inside told me to go home to my mother, whatever that meant. Jake did not want to press charges and we just kept on evangelizing never once hearing from the police on this subject proving the man had lied.
Several other conversations took place with the general environment being very hostile. Out of all tracts offered we probably had about a 20% acceptance of them. This is far less than normal. I spoke with a man who used the old argument of "I'm spiritual, not religious". Josh had a conversation with a Jewish atheist who had been yelling at me while I preached. You can bet that was a fascinating talk! There was a young couple who were very focused on "setting us straight". They talked with almost all of us at length arguing that we had no idea what we were talking about, we were ignorant, and we were doing more harm to our cause than good. They could not hear anything we said and they left mocking us. Another man spoke with me because he said he "got a kick out of listening to religious guys trying to explain the existence of God." His girlfriend explained that she had been a Christian but now did not believe that the Bible is accurate and only wanted to be "kind" to people. I argued for Christ with them and also used the cosmological argument for the existence of God with the man, but they too had a spirit of mockery about them. In fact, as they left I told the woman without Christ she was hellbound and she threw her hands in the air and leapt while exclaiming she guessed she was "heading to hell!"
As I was preaching a police car pulled up. All the homosexuals on the balcony started cheering and saying, "Take 'em away!" The thing is, the man driving was Steve. You see, Steve goes to my church and he was just stopping to exhort us and encourage us. Praise God!! I have to say that the police force here in Boise have been extremely gracious to us in that they are actually upholding the law and protecting our right to free speech. In today's America with so many rogue police operations and abuse of power, I cannot say enough about the amazing freedom-mindedness of our Boise Police Department.
Josh got up to preach and it was awesome. He clearly exposited the Gospel to all kinds of people who mocked him as they walked by. One car of girls screamed at him not to judge. Another woman walking by yelled at him that tonight was not the night to be preaching! He just kept preaching like a real trooper and froze his toes half off!! LOL! It is a joy to suffer for Christ my brotha'!!
Later I actually had a young lesbian try to attack me, but her cousin held her back. Her cousin did let her go and the woman got in my face and I said to her that she must be saved to see the Kingdom of God. She stared at me for a moment and then stormed away visibly shaken.
Shawn and Chisum stood below the balcony and spoke with several homosexuals about truth and righteousness. The sodomites were very hostile and just yelled obscenities.
Shawn, Josh, and I both had more mic time and preached our guts out. It was as amazing as always to proclaim Christ and His coming! In fact, I can think of nothing better to do on the eve of a new year! We stood together as brothers and sisters in Christ boldly declaring that the Lord of the Universe is righteous and holy and just and good and loving. We proclaimed the reality of God and His direct involvement in His creation. We shouted from the "rooftops" the Good News.
Please pray for our ministry and for the Lord to send more workers to this ripe harvest in our city.
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