Cults, Cops and Confidence in our Father
Good afternoon sisters!
We are thanking the Lord that we made it to our destination for the next period of time! Normally when we get into a town we check out our night parking spot right away and while we were doing that we saw a man by a truck with a small cargo trailer that looked like he was living in it. As we were passing by him, he hollered out and came over to talk...about the things of God. He had a rather strange story and he has some obvious unbiblical issues but Lord willing there may be some conversation later this evening if we run into them again.
For this post I wanted to share what we've been doing the past few days and how God prepared me for a trip. The last place we were was by the ocean coast and I did my research that I always do, looking for places that might offer opportunities for street witnessing, then I show brother Jim what I found and he figures out what might work. I saw that we were about a half hour from the ocean front and thought it would be nice to take little drive to see it but my research showed me that we had to either go across a BIG bridge or traverse across marshlands on a causeway, crossing many bridges. My flesh then said I could care less about the ocean and I told that to brother Jim :-) (Our life isn't about sightseeing but if we are close to something we will consider seeing God's creation.)
Anyway, over the time we were there, I kept having thoughts about the one with the causeway and many bridges and I actually looked into it, thinking maybe it might be touristy and a good place to witness. The thoughts came and went until one night we were talking to a police officer that patrols the parking lot we were staying. The conversation came around where brother Jim said he was a street preacher and the officer said we should go to the big pier out on a certain island. Brother Jim said 'Is that the one with the big bridge? My wife was looking at that. She doesn't really like big bridges'.
The officer said "Oh no, not that bridge. I don't even like it. To get to the pier you go over the causeway and several bridges. There's a big public place with a lot of foot traffic, you should go there." He looked at me while he said it and I then replied "I know exactly what you're talking about." My heart dropped a little because I knew we'd be going but I prayed that our Father's will be done and I had an immediate peace about it. (No, I don't cry and freak out when we go across big bridges, it just gives me a stomach ache which compounds the issues I deal with.)
Brother Jim looked at me and said 'Huh, looks like we need to go there tomorrow:-) "
I was humbled that our Father cared enough that He had been preparing me for this even when I didn't realize it at the time!
So the next day comes and we make a pit stop along the way to go talk to a cult leader. The reason we knew about them is because another police officer stopped us to ask if we were part of them. We did our research and found out they are unbiblical and a total cult with very questionable things going on. It worked out perfectly that brother Jim was able to talk to one of their leaders...needless to say it didn't go well and there will be a testing of them on the Unbiblical Teachers blog to warn others. They are very deceptive in that they lure people in with 'love' and community but they lack the truth and teach lies. After that, we ventured out to the island to street preach and I had a total peace about the whole trip because my Father in heaven is in control.
I'll share some of the beauty with you that we saw...
On the way there we saw white birds in the water waiting for their dinner to swim by and there were a bunch roosting in the tree. Then around the curve was the first bridge, heading up into the air and over the water :-)
Once we got to the island, we had to drive through the quaint streets to get to the (preaching) pier.
The trees are enormous, what awesome creations they are!
You can walk out the walkway and then turn to the left or right to get to the wing of the pier, way out in the ocean. There were people fishing and one guy was catching blue crabs and talked to brother Jim for a while.
We saw dolphins swimming off in the distance.
And we saw an overturned ship. Apparently it had been there since September when it ran aground (nobody was hurt) and they said it might take until the end of next year to remove it because they have to carefully cut it piece by piece and haul it out. There were over 4,000 cars on it.
We enjoyed God's creation for a while, had a lunch of soup and bread then made our way back to the pier to hold our gospel signs while brother Jim preached. There was the usual mocking going on but one man took it over the top, he walked up with an air horn and blasted it at us several times until it ran out. At one point some older women came over to argue but brother Jim kept preaching. They then started yelling that he was suppressing me and women so I flipped my sign over that says 'Woman was deceived'. That made one woman so mad she walked off but the other one kept getting in brother Jim's face. He asked her several times to back away, he walked away from her and kept preaching. She ran off to call the police. You can yell swear words, curse God, walk around virtually naked, blast music and nobody has a problem but as soon as you hold a sign or say the name of Christ in a good way, they call the roman guards (police). Four police officers showed up, Brother Jim offered his drivers license (they were thankful because they didn't ask him for it, he just gave it to them) and they said what he's doing is just fine. Right then the woman came after Jim again and the police had to stop her. (I did mentally prepare myself in case they hauled brother Jim away and I had to drive myself back to the mainland. It's probably going to happen some day that he gets thrown in jail just for preaching the truth and if I'm not there with him, I'll be finding my way to a parking lot by myself to figure out what to do next. But I have confidence that my Father will take care of and guide me.)
It was pretty poignant at one point....brother Jim held up the sign that says 'Repent or Perish' and asked:
"Is there anyone here that loves the Word of God?"
"Is there anyone here that cares about the blood that Jesus shed on the cross?"
"Is there anyone who wants to talk about the things of God?"
On one hand it made me sad and then it made me righteously angry and I thought of this verse...one I think of often.
But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
Mark 13:9
The Word of God going out is a testimony against satan and those who hate God. They may say they love Him but they lie, otherwise they would love to hear the Word. (John 3:19-21, they hide in the dark.) Most of the people we encounter out on the streets are the same ones that fill up the pagan temples (churches) on Sunday mornings, slapping the name of Christ on their unbiblical ways and sinful life, yet will walk by and mock those who stand for the truth.
It was awesome though because a foreign man walked up, stood in front of me and read my sign.
"Fear God and Repent".
He then looked at brother Jim and said in broken English "Fear God? Why should I fear God?"
He seemed to honestly want an answer so brother Jim stopped and talked to him. He said he understood brother Jim explaining what the fear of God should be, walked away with a gospel card and stood over by his car with the rest of his people while they all took turns reading it. There was also a young man sitting on the ground watching brother Jim for about a half hour. We are encouraged though because every single time we go out, there's at least one person who might be a sheep, we pray seeds were planted.
While we were out there I saw this...
They were there the whole time we were and it encouraged me to see them patiently waiting....just like believers are to patiently wait for their Savior.
We were talking about how God will use you wherever you are, if you are ready. Just in the parking of where we were staying, many people were given the gospel.
An elderly woman living in her car.
A man living in his car.
A policeman patrolling the lot.
A policeman in the store.
An elderly man in the store.
A worker in the store.
A begging couple in the lot.
A couple bell ringers for the unbiblical Salvation Army.
Praise God.
It's been a busy time and we look forward to what tomorrow brings...we are thankful and humble to be servants of the Lord. You don't have to be out on the streets like we are to be of service to the Lord. Just being obedient is glorifying to God because your obedience is a conviction to, or testimony against those who are not His. Either way, God is glorified.
Have a joyous evening sisters.
Love in Christ,
Sister Deb
We are thanking the Lord that we made it to our destination for the next period of time! Normally when we get into a town we check out our night parking spot right away and while we were doing that we saw a man by a truck with a small cargo trailer that looked like he was living in it. As we were passing by him, he hollered out and came over to talk...about the things of God. He had a rather strange story and he has some obvious unbiblical issues but Lord willing there may be some conversation later this evening if we run into them again.
For this post I wanted to share what we've been doing the past few days and how God prepared me for a trip. The last place we were was by the ocean coast and I did my research that I always do, looking for places that might offer opportunities for street witnessing, then I show brother Jim what I found and he figures out what might work. I saw that we were about a half hour from the ocean front and thought it would be nice to take little drive to see it but my research showed me that we had to either go across a BIG bridge or traverse across marshlands on a causeway, crossing many bridges. My flesh then said I could care less about the ocean and I told that to brother Jim :-) (Our life isn't about sightseeing but if we are close to something we will consider seeing God's creation.)
Anyway, over the time we were there, I kept having thoughts about the one with the causeway and many bridges and I actually looked into it, thinking maybe it might be touristy and a good place to witness. The thoughts came and went until one night we were talking to a police officer that patrols the parking lot we were staying. The conversation came around where brother Jim said he was a street preacher and the officer said we should go to the big pier out on a certain island. Brother Jim said 'Is that the one with the big bridge? My wife was looking at that. She doesn't really like big bridges'.
The officer said "Oh no, not that bridge. I don't even like it. To get to the pier you go over the causeway and several bridges. There's a big public place with a lot of foot traffic, you should go there." He looked at me while he said it and I then replied "I know exactly what you're talking about." My heart dropped a little because I knew we'd be going but I prayed that our Father's will be done and I had an immediate peace about it. (No, I don't cry and freak out when we go across big bridges, it just gives me a stomach ache which compounds the issues I deal with.)
Brother Jim looked at me and said 'Huh, looks like we need to go there tomorrow:-) "
I was humbled that our Father cared enough that He had been preparing me for this even when I didn't realize it at the time!
So the next day comes and we make a pit stop along the way to go talk to a cult leader. The reason we knew about them is because another police officer stopped us to ask if we were part of them. We did our research and found out they are unbiblical and a total cult with very questionable things going on. It worked out perfectly that brother Jim was able to talk to one of their leaders...needless to say it didn't go well and there will be a testing of them on the Unbiblical Teachers blog to warn others. They are very deceptive in that they lure people in with 'love' and community but they lack the truth and teach lies. After that, we ventured out to the island to street preach and I had a total peace about the whole trip because my Father in heaven is in control.
I'll share some of the beauty with you that we saw...
On the way there we saw white birds in the water waiting for their dinner to swim by and there were a bunch roosting in the tree. Then around the curve was the first bridge, heading up into the air and over the water :-)
Once we got to the island, we had to drive through the quaint streets to get to the (preaching) pier.
The trees are enormous, what awesome creations they are!
You can walk out the walkway and then turn to the left or right to get to the wing of the pier, way out in the ocean. There were people fishing and one guy was catching blue crabs and talked to brother Jim for a while.
We saw dolphins swimming off in the distance.
And we saw an overturned ship. Apparently it had been there since September when it ran aground (nobody was hurt) and they said it might take until the end of next year to remove it because they have to carefully cut it piece by piece and haul it out. There were over 4,000 cars on it.
We enjoyed God's creation for a while, had a lunch of soup and bread then made our way back to the pier to hold our gospel signs while brother Jim preached. There was the usual mocking going on but one man took it over the top, he walked up with an air horn and blasted it at us several times until it ran out. At one point some older women came over to argue but brother Jim kept preaching. They then started yelling that he was suppressing me and women so I flipped my sign over that says 'Woman was deceived'. That made one woman so mad she walked off but the other one kept getting in brother Jim's face. He asked her several times to back away, he walked away from her and kept preaching. She ran off to call the police. You can yell swear words, curse God, walk around virtually naked, blast music and nobody has a problem but as soon as you hold a sign or say the name of Christ in a good way, they call the roman guards (police). Four police officers showed up, Brother Jim offered his drivers license (they were thankful because they didn't ask him for it, he just gave it to them) and they said what he's doing is just fine. Right then the woman came after Jim again and the police had to stop her. (I did mentally prepare myself in case they hauled brother Jim away and I had to drive myself back to the mainland. It's probably going to happen some day that he gets thrown in jail just for preaching the truth and if I'm not there with him, I'll be finding my way to a parking lot by myself to figure out what to do next. But I have confidence that my Father will take care of and guide me.)
It was pretty poignant at one point....brother Jim held up the sign that says 'Repent or Perish' and asked:
"Is there anyone here that loves the Word of God?"
"Is there anyone here that cares about the blood that Jesus shed on the cross?"
"Is there anyone who wants to talk about the things of God?"
...Silence....
But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
Mark 13:9
The Word of God going out is a testimony against satan and those who hate God. They may say they love Him but they lie, otherwise they would love to hear the Word. (John 3:19-21, they hide in the dark.) Most of the people we encounter out on the streets are the same ones that fill up the pagan temples (churches) on Sunday mornings, slapping the name of Christ on their unbiblical ways and sinful life, yet will walk by and mock those who stand for the truth.
It was awesome though because a foreign man walked up, stood in front of me and read my sign.
"Fear God and Repent".
He then looked at brother Jim and said in broken English "Fear God? Why should I fear God?"
He seemed to honestly want an answer so brother Jim stopped and talked to him. He said he understood brother Jim explaining what the fear of God should be, walked away with a gospel card and stood over by his car with the rest of his people while they all took turns reading it. There was also a young man sitting on the ground watching brother Jim for about a half hour. We are encouraged though because every single time we go out, there's at least one person who might be a sheep, we pray seeds were planted.
While we were out there I saw this...
We were talking about how God will use you wherever you are, if you are ready. Just in the parking of where we were staying, many people were given the gospel.
An elderly woman living in her car.
A man living in his car.
A policeman patrolling the lot.
A policeman in the store.
An elderly man in the store.
A worker in the store.
A begging couple in the lot.
A couple bell ringers for the unbiblical Salvation Army.
Praise God.
It's been a busy time and we look forward to what tomorrow brings...we are thankful and humble to be servants of the Lord. You don't have to be out on the streets like we are to be of service to the Lord. Just being obedient is glorifying to God because your obedience is a conviction to, or testimony against those who are not His. Either way, God is glorified.
Have a joyous evening sisters.
Love in Christ,
Sister Deb
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