Holiday in the Park

What an amazing night. As we got into the Fall, I decided that I wasn't going to preach on Sunday nights along with our Bible study, worship time, and prayer meeting. That would mean I would be a the church from 4:30 - 7:30, and wouldn't get to he Boardwalk until 8. That would put me getting home around 10, and that's too long of a commitment for leaving my family. This Sunday, however, we had a Thanksgiving feast after worship, so we canceled our evening activities, which freed me up to take my family to the Boardwalk and proclaim the gospel in the open air. It was about 3 pm when I decided to go, so I sent an email out to all those that have expressed interest in going fishing with me, but no one was able to come.

My wife, 3 kids, and I unloaded the stroller and OA rig from the truck. I'll talk about my rig someday. They went to the boardwalk, and I headed to my favorite spot, right across from the roller coaster They said goodbye, and headed to the playground (a good safe place that keeps them occupied.) Sara can lob her prayers from there too :)

The evening stared with some trivia about Thanksgiving. There were a lot of people coming and going, and everyone seemed to be in a good mood. A man probably in his mid to late 60s named Joe answered few of the questions, and then, from the Starbucks side, agreed to take the good person test for $5.00. Very clean cut, sharp man. I think he was on to me from the beginning, and wanted to see what I was all about. I walked the line of respect for my elders, and he still admitted to being guilty, but when asked if he would go to Hell, he jumped the gun, and proclaimed Jesus! I just used him as a spring board, and launched into the gospel because a good crowd of about 50 was there. Many got to hear the Gospel, and I demonstrated the gift of God by giving Joe the $5, (which he gave back later on.) While the crowd began to go their way, a group of 3 guys stuck around and smoked while I explained the Gospel more thouroughly. So I asked them what they thought about what I was saying. One young man named Ammon was particularly inquisitive. He was very humble, and even when his friends tried to persuade him to walk away, he told them to go on without him. There were still many people listening to our conversation, so I continued to answer him from the stool. He didn't seem to mind. His 2 questions were:

1. He wanted to know how far one could go, before it was too far. I told him that he had until his last heart beat. That lead to the issue of . . .
2. He didn't believe that God could forgive some of the things he did. I talked to Him about the amazing stuff that God had done, like creating the entire world in 6 days. How he defeated death and rose from he dead. If he could do that, than surely he could provide a sacrifice that would appease a just God. We should feel unworthy, but it is a gift that must be received.
3. His last hangup was how that the logical conclusion was that he could continue to sin, and just ask for forgiveness. I helped him understand what it meant to have a new affection. How that if someone abused grace and practices sin, it shows that weren't genuinely saved in the first place.

At that point, I hopped off my milk crate, and asked him if I could give him something. I gave him the "Are you a good person?" booklet to look at, which has my info. in it. This was the coolest part. He told me that what I was saying made sense. He also told me that he and his friends were celebrating his birthday. I told him happy birthday, and that's when he said, "but now, it's so much more than that. Thank you." He shook my hand, and walked away.

The Lamb is worthy!

FrankAragon.com
AnchorBaptist.net
NeedGod.com
ExamineYourself.com

myspace.com/thearagonproject All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flowers fall away, but the word of the LORD endures forever.