A Variety of Responses in Portsmouth
As I headed into Portsmouth for today’s outreach, I was feeling a little sad and distracted, as only this morning I heard the news that John MacArthur had gone to Heaven. MacArthur has had a massive influence on me in ministry, so my thoughts were somewhat preoccupied with the news; yet our mission was clear – we are to preach the gospel to those who are perishing, so they too may have the hope of Heaven.
There were seven of us on the team today, and even though it was windy and grey, there were still plenty of people in the city centre.
I commenced the preaching by speaking on “Hope for a Broken World.” A couple of men stood to listen for a good while, then one of them went to the literature table to talk further with a team member.
Throughout the outreach, I noticed the table was busy as usual. People would come along, browse the material, and then speak with one of the team. It is always a joy to see people hear the good news, then take a booklet or a Bible.
I had a good conversation with a man I first spoke with several months ago. Since we last saw each other, he has been thinking about what I told him. He is still considering the gospel, so he took a few more booklets to help him learn more.
After handing out tracts for a little while, I preached again. This time, I preached on “Why Christianity?” In this message, I try to reason with people as to why they should consider Christ. At the end of the message, four people took copies of John’s Gospel, and one young lady who had been listening went to speak with a team member.
This young lady professed to be a Christian but didn’t understand the gospel. After two team members shared with her, she took a New Testament and a booklet. She mentioned that the message had caused her to think – we pray she comes to faith in Jesus.
While all this was happening, Jyothi had a conversation with a Muslim from Iraq who seemed to think that Christians believe in many gods. Jyothi corrected him and showed him what the Bible says. The Muslim man was intrigued, so he took a Gospel of John and a booklet for Muslims.
Back at the literature table, I found myself talking to a man who was a wannabe academic. He picked up the Bible and began flicking through it. After looking at a passage, he threw it back down on the table saying, “That is a #@$% translation!” I asked him what he disagreed with, and he began to declare that the New Testament contains errors because it mentions the word “Nazareth”.
I asked him to explain, and he started to tell me what the Greek ‘really says’. When I asked if he had learnt Greek, he replied that he was self-taught and had studied the oldest Greek manuscript. His expression changed when I told him I could read Greek as well and brought out my Greek New Testament.
The man was clearly wrong, but he was also arrogant and self-righteous. I countered his arguments from the Greek, from history, and from textual criticism, but I knew this wasn’t the real issue. The real issue is that this man loved his sin and hated God (John 3:19–20). When I took the conversation to the gospel, he began to object and demanded we move onto a different argument. I wasn’t prepared to spend all day arguing intellectually, so I went for the heart, explaining that God would judge him for every idle word he has spoken (Matthew 12:36); when I urged him to repent and believe, he stormed off, saying he didn’t want to talk about that topic.
Before I could finish processing that conversation, I was called into another one by Sarah and Jyothi. This time, it was with a young man visiting from Saudi Arabia. He trotted out a few well-known anti-Christian arguments Muslims like to use, but they were quickly countered. He seemed intrigued by Christianity, so he took a Gospel of John in Arabic, and booklets designed for Muslims.
It was a full and constant day in Portsmouth, and we rejoice that the Lord allowed His Word to spread. Please pray for all those who heard the good news.
SDG!
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Josh Williamson is a full-time evangelist with The Open-Air Mission. Since 1853, OAM has been sharing the good news on the streets of the United Kingdom. To stay updated about the work of the Mission, please sign up for the free quarterly magazine and monthly prayer notes.
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