(Continued from previous post)
The team of about 16 people arrived on Bourbon Street at 11:00. After we prayed together, I found a spot to stand in the street and lifted up a prayer to the Lord that I might be useful to Him that night.
It was much more crowded than it had been the first time I went. The noise of music was louder and the smells were much stronger. Once again there were many mockers angrily cursing Jesus as they walked by us. But in the midst of it all, person after person stopped to talk to us. Some were angry and unbelieving and wanted to tell me. Some were backsliders who were convicted of their sin and angry. One such lady stood nose to nose with me, screaming at me with obscenities at the top of her voice. At one point she grabbed the back of my neck and I braced myself for what might be about to follow. I continued to respond to her with the Word of God and watched as right before my eyes she began to break and weep. She removed her hand from my neck and her friends pulled her away back into the crowd. I talked to many people that night who professed to be Christians and yet were partying it up on Bourbon Street. I encouraged them to forsake their friendship with the world and to walk in holiness for the glory of Jesus. Once again this week I saw people fall under conviction as they walked by the cross.
I have had people ask me (and I have asked myself) if this type of ministry is effective and profitable. I didn’t have an answer for that question until December, 2011. And now I can answer yes. I have seen God at work on Bourbon Street through the preaching of the gospel. I never would have thought I would be doing something like this. But over the last year the Lord has renewed my passion for the proclamation of the gospel and how I thank Him for the joy of being part of what He’s doing.
May we all, in whatever way the Lord provides, be faithful ambassadors of our Lord Jesus Christ, unashamedly making Him known in the earth.
I never thought that I would ever spend any part of the holiday season, or any other season for that matter, on Bourbon Street. For those of you who know anything about Bourbon Street (and it does have quite a reputation) I don’t need to add anything to that. Even before I was a Christian, it wasn’t a place that I ever wanted to go. It is a place of drunkenness, strip clubs and all manner of sin.
But recently I made contact with some people who are part of a ministry called Raven Street Ministry and they go to Bourbon Street every Friday and Saturday night for open air street church right in the middle of Bourbon Street. On Friday, December 23rd, I made the trip with a few other people from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. At 11:00 PM we met up in a parking lot with the rest of the people, and a total of about 15 of us began the walk to Bourbon Street. The men carried the sound equipment and a large red cross about 10 feet tall. We got to the 500 block of Bourbon Street and began to setup the cross and the equipment. Although it was almost Christmas and the activity on Bourbon Street was less than a normal night, there were still many people out that night.
Five or six people took turns preaching and the rest of us stood either in the street or along side the street, talking to and praying with people who stopped. I have been a part of street ministry before and have been active in evangelism in my hometown of Baton Rouge, but I was in no way prepared for what I saw this night. The one verse that kinda sums it all up is this – “there is no fear of God before their eyes”. I have never in my life witnessed such blatant and hateful mockery of Christ and His gospel. I have seen street preachers before who preached such a distorted and hate-filled message that the mockery might be justified, but the gospel that was preached this night was wonderfully pure and complete – sin, righteousness, judgment, the love of God and Christ as the only Saviour. And many people despised it. One intoxicated middle aged woman actually came up and physically attacked our group and when she was finally separated away from us, she stood at a distance pointing her finger at us and screaming: “You are all white trash”, “Liars”, “Jesus would be so ashamed of you”.
Never in my life have I observed such hatred for Christ as I saw that night. My heart broke for those people who were cursing the God who was giving them the very breath that they used to curse Him. It seemed that if Jesus Himself had been there, they would have been shouting “Crucify Him!” And still as Jesus was looking down upon them that night, He loved them and desired them to repent.
I felt as thought I was witnessing the battle between light and darkness. And the darkness was very dark. But still the light was shining. The gospel was preached, Jesus was lifted up, and it was beautiful.
One of the youth in our church felt led by God to organize a group to go downtown street witnessing. Yesterday about 20 of us paired up and walked the streets of downtown Baton Rouge to see what the Lord would do as we sought to share the gospel. I was paired up with Shana, an absolutely delightful young lady with a real heart for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. The first man we encountered was on the levee, sitting on the concrete steps that descended into the Mississippi river. We sat next to him, one on either side, handed him a gospel tract and began to share the gospel with him. Tears began to flow down his face as he told us that he was recently homeless and had been feeling so much despair that at that moment he was contemplaing jumping into the river to drown. He felt like God had sent us to him. We spent a long time with him, encouraging him to trust Jesus and just being with him while he cried. We prayed for him and could see a visible change in his countenance when we left. We are continuing to pray for him – Paul – and believing that the Lord will water and give increase to the seeds that were sown into his heart that day. Shana and I walked away from him feeling very joyful to have been able to share the gospel with him, yet sorrowful that we had not been prepared to help with any practical needs or direct him somewhere he could obtain food and shelter.
Later that day we came across 2 men who were leaning against a fence leading to an event center. They looked like they may have been security guards. Shana and I both felt led to stop and talk to them. As soon as I began to share the good news with one of them, his attention was immediately focused on what I was saying. So much so that it was startling. He had just lost his wife and child due to a divorce and seemed to be reaching out to God as best he knew how. We encouraged him to continue all the way to salvation and a full surrender to Jesus.
At the appointed time we assembled with everyone else to prepare to leave. As we were waiting for the last few stragglers from our group to reappear I noticed a man walking towards us on the sidewalk. As he passed I handed him a gospel tract and when I looked into his face I realized that I knew him. Three years ago he was one of my clients, a business owner with a beautiful wife and he was on fire for the Lord. He would come to my office to drop off information and we would have a wonderful time sharing about what the Lord was doing. Now he had lost everything and was homeless. And away from the Lord. He stood and talked with me for about 15 minutes as I reminded him of what he had lost by walking away from Jesus. As he walked away I broke down in tears over this fallen brother.
As we drove back to the church, Keith Green’s “Asleep in the Light” was playing. I thought my heart would break.
Do you see, do you see, all the people sinking down,
Don’t you care, don’t you care, are you gonna let them drown,
How can you be so numb, not to care if they come,
You close your eyes and pretend the job’s done.
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Oh Bless me Lord, bless me Lord, you know it’s all I ever hear,
No one aches, no one hurts, no one even sheds one tear,
But He cries, He weeps, He bleeds, and He cares for your needs,
And you just lay back and keep soaking it in, oh, can’t you see it’s such sin?
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Cause He brings people to your door,
And you turn them away, as you smile and say,
God bless you, be at peace, and all Heaven just weeps,
Cause Jesus came to your door, you’ve left Him out on the streets.
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Open up, open up, and give yourself away,
You’ve seen the need, you hear the cry, so how can you delay,
God’s calling and you’re the one, but like Jonah you run,
He’s told you to speak, but you keep holding it in,
Oh, can’t you see it’s such sin?
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The world is sleeping in the dark,
That the church can’t fight, cause it’s asleep in the light,
How can you be so dead, when you’ve been so well fed,
Jesus rose from the grave, and you, you can’t even get out of bed,
Oh, Jesus rose from the dead, come on, get out of your bed.
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How can you be so numb, not to care if they come,
You close your eyes and pretend the job’s done,
You close your eyes and pretend the job’s done,
Don’t close your eyes, don’t pretend the job’s done.
Come away, come away, come away with Me, My love,
Come away, from this mess, come away with Me, My love.
He is my Delight 