British Catholic, Hardened Teens & Seven Deadly Sins.

Now that September is here, the crowds are thickening at the beach, some of the street-performers are coming back; more people to talk to.

Yesterday Bobby struck-up a conversation with a Brit named Tom. Tom professes to be a Roman Catholic & is sure he’s going to Heaven. As Bob and I talked with Tom, he got a bit agitated (probably my fault). Tom asserted that while he ‘believed’ the Bible some of it just didn’t make sense; like Creation, the Flood/Ark & so on. He simply said he didn’t believe ‘every word of the Bible’. You can (I’m sure) see the illogical nature of this philosophy; can one simply pick and choose what to believe or reject in God’s Word....in itself it claims to ALL be true, so if some is false then why would one assert that else is true? Asserting that to be Roman Catholic was just as Christian as any other Christian, I reminded Tom of the official ruling of his church, that if one believes he can be justified before God, by Faith Alone, in Christ Alone, as revealed in Scripture Alone; the church classifies him as Anathema (cursed). I contrasted this with the orthodox teachings of scripture & implored Tom to be sure he was right.

Later, Bobby & I talked to a small crowd of youth (mostly girls and around thirteen years old). We were amazed (though we shouldn’t have been) of their calloused view of God, scripture, death & eternity. A number were mocking of the Gospel, but a couple were asking questions, but simply of how to avoid Hell & not showing real conviction of sin. Over & over we began to answer questions, but the askers were repeatedly distracted by something....anything rather than listen to the truth.

Three young-men began to walk past me, when I noticed that tattooed on the chest of one were the ‘seven deadly sins’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins). Now that’s an opening for the Gospel if I’ve ever seen one. I began talking with them men, asking them if they’d ever committed any of those sins & transitioning to the Ten Commandments. As usual, I asked if they considered themselves good people; they did. Wow is Proverbs 20:6 ever accurate, “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?”. I showed them their specific sin before the Law of God & they began to experience some discomfort. When talking of Judgment & the Great & Terrible Day of the Lord, two of the three got upset & walked off. One man (Donavan) stayed to hear the Gospel...pray for him.
I passed out tracts to a couple who stopped, read them and came back to thank me. It turned out that they are from Wisconsin (where Bobby’s from). I called Bobby over and we visited with them about the call to evangelism & each Christian’s responsibility to witness to the Lost, for the Glory of Christ. They expressed a concern; they’ve a friend who’s dying & are trying to figure out how to explain the Gospel to him. I directed them to www.wayofthemaster.com for help. Pray that they will become active for the Gospel & that God will strengthen them in witnessing to their dying friend.

After preaching in jail on Friday night & working hard to get our ‘floating-home’ ready to move onto, we only stayed ‘till about 7:30 & didn’t Open Air Preach.
We appreciate your prayers for strength, energy (seems lacking these days), protection (spiritual & physical) & encouragement. Please email and/or leave your comments on this blog....very encouraging!

Glenn.