Free Hugs

Ministry Update: January 31, 2016

I witnessed at MSU last Wednesday and I usually preach first, then hand out tracts. The students who walk by first hear the preaching and the ones who walk by later receive the tracts. So this time I mixed it up. I started off handing out tracts. A friend from church gave me 100 Atheist Test tracts from The Way of the Master. It only took about 15 minutes to hand them out. The whole time I did this, there were four students standing in the free speech zone where we normally preach and they were holding up signs that said: Free Hugs. They didn’t bother me when I was handing out tracts. 

While I was handing out tracts, one young man refused the tract and said that he’s an atheist. I said that’s what these tracts are for, to see how good of an atheist you are. I told him “I’m a devout Christian. Are you a devout atheist?” Then he yelled at me saying “just because you are Christian doesn’t mean you have to be an ___. I guess he really didn’t want to see how strong of an atheist that he really is.

Free Hugs

After handing out the tracts I walked over to the free speech zone and started getting my Bible out. One of the free huggers came over and told me that he knew what I was getting ready to do and wondered if I’d mind moving somewhere else to preach since they were there first. He said we are Christians and he named some fraternity and he told me that he didn’t agree with my method. He said that he’d heard me before and he can’t argue with what I say, but that he didn’t like my method. I assured him that I didn’t like his method of evangelism either. I told him that sometimes atheists come downtown and hold up signs and give free hugs. These professing Christians weren’t doing anything any differently. They weren’t even saying something like “do you want a hug in the name of Jesus.” They were just offering everyone hugs.

So I asked him if you all are Christians, how are telling people about Jesus? He said, well we do this several times throughout the year and we just offer free hugs, no strings attached. Then we hope that students we have classes with will come up and ask us why we hug people and then we can tell them about our fraternity and invite them to come over and we can talk to about Jesus then. I assured him once again that I was against his method of evangelism and that I had a permit, I’m there practically every Wednesday and that I was going to go ahead and preach.

He said “well I guess we’ll have to move somewhere else.” I told him they could move or stay, whichever they wanted to do. Well they only moved a few feet away and all four heard the whole Gospel message. From the conversation I had with the leader, it sounds like they needed to hear it. May God convict and convert them and then give them holy boldness to proclaim the Gospel the biblical way. I’m not saying everyone should street preach, but handing out a Gospel tract, telling others your testimony, talking about Jesus at all, is better than just offering free hugs. Again, even atheists do that.

Pro-lifer and Several God Haters

Friday night I was blessed to witness with Erica, Diana and Elise. We sang several hymns and then I brought a message about the evils of abortion. One young man walked up to me and shook my hand and thanked me while I was on the box. I didn’t get a chance to talk to him, but I’m assuming that he was pro-life.

There was a man across the street from us who was lying on the ground and several people surrounded him to see if they could help him. We don’t know if he was an alcoholic or a drug addict, but several people tried to help him. The police came, a fire truck and an ambulance. I couldn’t tell if he got into the ambulance or not. It was a little strange. I told my friends that evidently Satan didn’t want someone to hear the message against the horrors of abortion because I had to keep stopping because the sirens were so loud. We hope and pray the man is alright and that God will save him. May God take way his demons, whatever they are.

Then we had a few people walk by and mouth off. I couldn’t hear what some of them said, but I think the same guy that stole Aaron’s Bible last week walked by and sarcastically wanted to know “have you had any conversions tonight?” I didn’t think of it at the time, but I should have replied “there’s always hope for you until the day you die.” When I was finishing up the message a car full of young teenagers drove by (and I think this was their second time of coming by and yelling out their car windows) and yelled some vile, God hating words. Since I was finishing up, I just kept repeating trust Jesus as they drove away.

Marijuana Petition

We sang a few more hymns to finish the night. Erica was still handing out tracts as we sang. About the time we were packing up, a tall guy with a sign petitioning medical marijuana walked by. She tried to hand him a tract and he told her he would take it as long as she signed his petition to legalize medical marijuana. She said she wouldn’t sign it so he refused the tract. He had the same old arguments that God made marijuana so we could use it. I asked him he would smoke poison ivy and he said no. I mistakenly thought that I’d talked to him in the past (because people promoting marijuana have the same old arguments), I suggested that he has a good night. He kept telling us to read Genesis and I kept reminding him that we live in a fallen world – that he should read Genesis 3. This world is not the garden of Eden. All will not be made right until Jesus comes again.

 

By the way, I’m against medical marijuana because the advocates for it are just like the advocates of homosexuality. Gays and lesbians started off saying that they just wanted to get married. But now that gay marriage is legal (and still an abomination to God), gay marriage isn’t enough. Now they want to force Christians to participate in the Bible violating events. They want to force Christians to bake the cake, take the pictures and they want pastors who oppose same sex marriage (the one who stand on biblical principals) to perform their marriages. Marijuana will be the same. First they clamor for medical marijuana. Then they will want laws passed for recreational uses and eventually they will want full unfettered access to buy and sell as they please. There is no such thing as a little sin. All sin, is rebellion against a Holy and righteous God.

(These witnessing updates are provided to encourage Christians to share their faith with others. Are you willing to be used by God to help further His kingdom?)