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Face-to-face with the truth; in the street, |
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Friday,
May 23, 2008 We were here in Chicago exactly four weeks ago, on the "Day of
Silence" and passed out many tracts to these high school kids. I had
run into a couple of Mormon missionaries at that time (see
the report) and had debated with them a bit. One thing that I did not
mention in that report was that I often tell those to whom I am sharing
God's word that I am not attempting to get them to necessarily join my
church, and I am certainly not saying that there is any specific
organization or denomination that holds God's truth. I say this because
that is what the cults do. It is often easier to Since my wife and kids were flying out to Italy on May 26th, we decided we would return to Lane Tech High School in Chicago, which is only two blocks from where we were staying at my sister's place. We had no room for large signs, so only brought a small one. It turns out that we did not need it. On Friday afternoon I called the school and asked what time classes were finished. They told me that classes had gotten out early due to a baseball game. I thought we were finished, but my girls later went for a walk and saw that there was a carnival on the school grounds. So, we prepared our tracts and went over there to see how it would go. We only took what tracts we could stuff in out jackets.
Though it had been a gorgeous day, at this time of year the temperature quickly plummeting, and our hands got a little cold. Not bad, though. I don't think these kids are accustomed to having people come and share the gospel with them. We had already passed out hundreds of tracts, and it didn't take long before a crowd had gathered around one of my kids. I stepped in (it seemed that she was a bit overwhelmed), and I began fielding questions. Now, high schoolers are a different breed than college kids. College kids can be rude, but they are more civilized. High schoolers tend to still be at that point where they need to show off for one another, especially if you get a real big-mouthed kid. Within about five minutes they were all screaming and yelling and howling at me, and I had hardly said anything! I was approached by some security guards (teachers with toy badges) and
told that I had to leave. I debated with them about leaving (which is my
nature) for about five minutes. I reasoned that since this event was open
to the public that The kids stayed on the grounds (they blend better and don't rile up crowds as badly as I do) and continued to pass out many, many tracts. I stayed on the sidewalk and continued to pass out tracts and witness for the Lord. My wife eventually joined me on the sidewalk by the barricades and we ministered together for a couple hours. We returned the next night, which was Saturday, and continued with our ministry. Being on the sidewalk was not bad at all. Actually, the way the kids had been acting the night before, it was probably better to do it this way. Between the two nights we passed out about 2200 tracts. Sunday afternoon I walked around the neighborhood and put two different tracts on every door in an eight-square-block area. It took over two hours. I will continue to cover that area every time we are in Chicago. I put at least 800 tracts on these doors, bringing the total for the weekend to 3000. Monday I brought the family to O'Hare Airport, we said our goodbyes, and I headed home to the cat, the bird and the fish. I'll be a virtual bachelor until June 27th. Pray for me. God bless all of you faithful. To the rest I say, "Live for Jesus. There is nothing more important." KNOW
JESUS |
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point out this truth to an unbeliever. Those who are in cults or
denominations have a misplaced loyalty to the denomination or cult. I
believe that this is a good thing to tell those you are preaching to. I
tell them that God's church consists of those who believe and are
faithful, but that believers should meet together.
The
high school was having some type of annual celebration, with some punk
bands on an elaborate outdoor stage (elaborate for a high school). There
was a full carnival in the parking lot with a merry-go-round,
rock-o-planes, the zipper, gravitron, etc... all things which I avoid.
Also, they had a midway and lots of food booths. The music was loud and
obnoxious. Really. They weren't even good punk bands.
there was no problem with me being there. I asked if I had broken any law,
and they said no, but that I was "causing a disturbance." I told
them in no uncertain terms that it was not I who was causing the
disturbance, but the band of 30 to 35 wild monkeys that were causing the
disturbance. When the cop showed up I knew it was time to go. He escorted
me to the sidewalk (I was legal there), and I continued my ministry. By
the time we got to the street, we were back-slapping each other and
shaking hands. Funny thing was, there were two police barricades blocking
entrance from the street to the parking lot, and it became part of my
"ministry" that night and the next, to move the barricades aside
so that vendors and others with authority to enter would not need to get
out of their cars to move them.