Attacked For The Gospel

Ministry Update September 6, 2015

Attacker being arrested.

Every day more Christians are being attacked for their faith in Jesus Christ. Bakers are facing ridiculously high fines and are being forced out of business. Kentucky’s Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis is still in jail for a contempt of court charge because she refuses to issue same sex marriage licenses. Some Christians are even being physically attacked for the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Last Friday night we heard the typical blaspheming of our Great God and a hail Satan or two, but this night turned even rougher. A young woman got right in Aaron’s face while he was preaching. He asked her to step back. She refused and her boyfriend tried to unplug the pastor’s small amplifier. I stopped him and he wasn’t very happy with me, so he ran around in front of Aaron and joined his girlfriend in harassing the street preacher. Aaron then sidestepped them and kept preaching. They both ran in front of him again. Then Aaron tried to move and I tried to set a (basketball) pick, but as they were going around me the young man swiped hard at the amplifier and knocked it to the ground.

Young man that attacked Aaron and his girlfriend. Diana from our group is also pictured.

After he broke Aaron’s equipment, he stood face to face with him. I stepped back and snapped a couple of pictures of the angry man. Aaron, the angry man and his angry girlfriend all ended up about a half a block away. That’s when the man shoved Aaron up against a plate glass window in front of a lot of witnesses. Someone in our group called the police and they happened to be close by. They arrested the man on an assault charge and then he fought them while they tried to put him in the police car. I didn’t really notice for sure, but I think there were at least three officers trying to force the man into the car. I don’t know if he was drunk or high or both, but something was definitely wrong.

Aaron’s bruises.

I missed most of that excitement (except for when the police put him in the car while the man was resisting arrest) because I jumped up on the box and started preaching. I hate to see anything stop the open proclamation of the glorious Gospel. It seems Satan temporarily wins when someone actually stops the preaching. So I brought another message.

Part of our group Friday night.

Erica and Aaron.

In addition to Aaron, Erica Parker, Diana Sheldon and Elise Sheldon, we were blessed to have Kat join us as well as Robert Canfield. Robert preached after I did and prior to that he gave out around 20 Bibles earlier that night. We handed out several tracts and when Aaron first started to preach, one man shook my hand and another walked by and encouraged us for being out there. After we sang hymns to end the night, a couple of college students – Amber and Robert came up and encouraged us. Aaron, Kat and I all go to different churches, so we all invited Amber and Robert to come back out on Friday nights and all three of us invited them to come to our churches.

Kat, Amber, Robert, Aaron and Cody.

So even among all the craziness, God blessed us with other believers who were a real blessing to us. Earlier in the week I witnessed at MSU. There were about three mockers and two encouragers while I open-aired in front of Strong Hall.

(Street witnessing and open-air preaching is not about us. It is about our wonderful Lord and Savior and about the glorious Gospel being shared with this lost and dying world. We do street ministry because we believe God and we believe God’s word. We believe that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). Christian: do you believe these truths? Do you share the Gospel with others? You may never stand on a box on a street corner, but you are commanded to go and preach or share the Gospel (Mark 16:15). Are you an obedient follower of Jesus Christ?)