The Champ Has Been Knocked Out!

This weekend has been by far the most adventurous weekend as a street evangelist. Friday night we worked the streets of downtown Orlando until about 2 in the morning and it was quite an interesting evening! I had my first physical attack while preaching. While preaching I had a drunk man come up to me and attempt to give me a, and pardon my french, "tittie-twister." I was amazed at how brash this guy was and thankful that he was too drunk that he missed his target. He walked away and I believe I thanked him, although I don't really remember what I said because the shock of such a weird attack really threw me for a loop.

The amazing thing was this was the most at home I felt preaching the Gospel, I never saw while I was preaching the crowd being hit square in the jaw and angering them to such a frenzy. The words were flowing naturally and I didn't feel as if I was forcing anything. I pleaded with the crowd of the severity of their sins against God and the reality of death. Crying out to them to repent today because tomorrow isn't guaranteed! I pray they heard the pleads and cried out to God for mercy.

While one of my brothers was preaching a man came up and started arguing about how the Earth wasn't 6000 years old. So a brother and me pulled him aside so he didn't stop the preaching of God's word. Eventually it was just me and him. He said he was an atheist but agreed that he wasn't a true atheist because he didn't have absolute knowledge. He was very combative and his language was very nasty, so to try to calm him down I told him my name and asked him his. He said his name is Seth Petruzelli. I have a background that knows a lot about fights and fighters and I kind of recognized him and his name and asked if he was a UFC fighter. He said that he is. Seth a couple of months ago scored one of the biggest upsets in MMA history when he beat a Goliath of a man named Kimbo Slice. While reasoning with him of his conscience, right and wrong, and trying to reason with him about how there had to be a Creator of some sort, because something could never come from nothing. I asked him if he could be wrong, and he admitted that he could. After talking with him for about a half an hour, I gave him Mark Cahill's book "One Heartbeat Away." He said that he would definetely read it because he is always trying to learn. What was amazing was this guy who was very angry and didn't want to listen was humbled and admitted he could be wrong. Please pray for him that God will convict his sinfullness and the love of this world will not keep him from the amazing grace found in Jesus!

Saturday we went to the Champs Sports Bowl here in Orlando, and we did some open-air outside of the Citrus Bowl! Until the police told us to stop preaching where we were at and move down the street without amplification. Before we were stopped I would estimate 5-10 thousand people heard the Gospel or at least portions of the Gospel! Praise God! After we moved we got into a conversation with 2 guys who listened to the law and Gospel and promised to read the Mark Cahill book we gave them! Pray for Gameel and his friend that God will show them the truth of God's word and bring conviction of their sins! They also promised to read the book.

Saturday night we went downtown again and did more open-air! The first time I got up I said about 4 or 5 sentences when this gentleman stopped me and wanted to argue whether Jesus was a black man or not. He was very angryand wanted a fight, when a woman came up and said excuse me you mentioned that liars and thieves couldn't go to heaven who can? That is basically what she asked and the guy was like hold on im talking, and after trying to get away from an argument to a fruitful conversation, I told him if he wanted to continue the conversation he would have to wait because his conversation would take a long time! I started talking to the girl and her boyfriend about the reason of punishment for breaking the law, the evil in people's heart and the punishment of hell! I walked her threw the 10 Commandments and asked if she would be innocent or guilty, she said guilty! I then began to show her how the punishment for our sins was placed upon Jesus and the wrath of God was satisfied In what Jesus suffered on the Cross! She said she was agnostic but she appreciated everything that was said. She was very nice and humble and I gave her Mark's book and she promised she would read it. Please pray for Jess ansd her boyfriend!

I talked to another guy named Christian, who was a Catholic and thought he was good enought to go to heaven. I talked to him for about 30 minutes, reasoned with him about God's judgment, God's law, and how God could save us through the death of Jesus Christ! He thought he would go to purgatory, but after explaining how it was made up as a money making scheme for the priests, he said he heard that before and said that he would end up in hell. I gave him the book, with my phone number in it, and at 3 o'clock in the morning in which I was sleeping he called. He left a message that he wanted to get things right or something to that effect. I'm sure the conviction while he was partying got to him. He said he felt like we were Judas for leaving so early. I called him this morning but he didn't answer. Please pray for Christian that God would save his soul!

Thousand's this weekend heard the Gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ deserves all the glory!!!! Please pray for us that God would enable us to preach with even more boldness! Pray that more would join us in the harvest field! Pray that more souls get their pride knocked out and humbled before the Cross! And to you who read this please get out and preach the Gospel! There are countless souls waiting for you to be obedient to the Great Commission! Go while it is still today, 150,000 people die everyday!

I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me?

One of the greatest and greatly misused Scriptures in the modern Church is this declaration from the Apostle Paul to the Philippian Church. I have seen this Scripture under the eyes of a Heisman quarterback declaring in essence it was Christ who strengthened me to do better than you. I have seen this by a well-known champion boxer declaring he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him after he obliviotes some opponents face. I have seen this on a Ultimate Fighting Championships fighters website, in essence it was Christ who gave him strength to knock an opponent out or "choke" him out into submission. All these are gross misinterpretations of the Word of God, but a couple of Fridays ago I had to have witnessed the most disgusting and blasphemous interpretation of this powerful Scripture I have ever seen in my life!

We were in downtown Orlando evangelizing and passing out tracts, when I gave out 4 or 5 of my Giant $100 dollar tracts to a group of guys looking to party. After I gave it to them one of the group asked if I knew where a "strip club" was. I told him laughingly, "that is a Gospel tract I gave you." The shock of his face said it all, he was embarrassed to have asked such a question to someone sharing the good news, and probably felt a little guilt. I asked a probing question to get a response of him and one of his buddies, "What do you think happens to us after we die?" He and his buddy said I don't know. I said that is a scary place to be isn't it because 150,000 people die everyday! They both nodded their head in agreement. I began to walk them through the law of God when one of their friends, smoking a cigar and wearing sunglasses at night chimed in, "I know what happens after we die!" I said, "Oh yeah and what is that?" He said "This is what happens" and pointed to the back of his sweatshirt that said "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I shockingly said, "You are wearing that to a strip club?" Trying to keep my cool remembering obviously this guy is a false convert, he said "we're not going to a strip club." I told him, "your buddy just asked directions to one!" Just about then his other friends grabbed the ones I was talking to and told them they had to leave. I spoke to the first two and said please read that tract and take it to heart, you might not have tomorrow, and they said they would.

The audacity of the modern Gospel!!!! This man maybe not in word but in thought must have thought it was Christ's strength that empowered him to go to the strip club. It was Christ's strength to live a life of sin. Oh we need a great awaking in this country! Oh we need a voice crying in the wilderness make straight the paths of God! Oh we need prophets in this country with voices like trumpets that will alarm sleeping Christians and dead sinners! We have been crying out, Oh where is the Lord God of Elijah?" And God has been asking, "Where are the Elijahs of God?" We need a baptism of tears in the Church, to sew in tears and reap in joy! Sinners are going to hell by the second and we are worried about the state of the economy.

Oh God forgive me for my indifference to the lost you poured Your precious blood out for. Please forgive me for my indifference to the world around me. Please forgive me for my selfishness and pride. Please oh Lord wake us up! Please oh God do it for Your name's sake.