Rodney Carrington 090911

Repent and Turn Ministries

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Rodney Carrington Concert
Shrine Mosque

September 9, 2011

This evening was the Rodney Carrington concert at the Shrine Mosque.

I met up with Greg with Born of Him Ministries, and he brought Bruce and Brandon. Dennis with Seek and Save the Lost came out as well.

We arrived early enough to pass out tracts and witness before the doors were opened to the concert. We heard that the ticket sales weren't very good, so the number of people who were there early were few.

Bruce went down to the intersection with the cross he built and stood there while people drove by. I stood by him for a while as he was doing this. You wouldn't believe the number of people who drove up to the stop light that stared at him, looked at the cross, and then read the message on it. One side says, "Are You Ready" and the other side says, "Repent From Dead Works". A good number of folks took pictures. Some people were friendly and talked to him. At times, he would walk up to the car and ask them witnessing questions. One time, as he was talking to them, I handed them gospel tracts for everyone in the car. He told them to be sure to read the message on the tract.

Not all people that drove by were friendly. Some yelled things out the window, some just said, "Are YOU ready?" and "Jesus had one of those (cross)", etc. One thing is for sure, is that just the sight of the cross reminds people of Jesus and that he died for our sins. To those who are living in sin, who want nothing to do with God, they hate this and become instantly angry. This just proves that there is a God and there is a spiritual war going on for the battle of man's soul. If there were no God, there wouldn't be any reason for conviction or for them to feel so angry at a guy standing on the corner holding two pieces of wood.

At times, someone will say something to the effect of, "I think you aren't showing God's love enough", or "I think you aren't going about witnessing the correct way". When this happens, I like to say, "I like what I am doing for the Lord to reach the lost better than the way you are NOT doing it".

After passing out gospel tracts for a while, Greg decided he wanted to do some open air preaching to those gathered at the front of the building waiting to get in. He stood on his step-stool and used a megaphone to preach.

As he was preaching, a man came riding down the road behind him, listening to his cell phone. He noticed Bruce standing next to Greg with his cross in full view. The man doubled back and rode on the sidewalk up to where Brandon was standing (see pic above- Brandon is standing next to the wall). Brandon handed him a gospel tract. The man took it and read the entire tract in front of Brandon.

Brandon had a good 15-20 minute witnessing conversation with the man. The man explained that right as he was riding by the preaching and the big wooden cross, he was listening to a voicemail from his mom. His mom was telling him that he needed to be saved. He turned around and rode down the sidewalk to listen. God had placed Brandon right there, who handed him a gospel tract and began to witness to him. The man thought he was a Christian, but as Brandon began explaining what a Christian was, and the fruit a true Christian would have in their life, the man began wondering if he were a Christian. Brandon prayed for the man and gave him his phone number. The gentleman was under conviction.

Many times, as I am teaching evangelism and witnessing to others, I will say that when we are out witnessing (or witnessing in our everyday lives), we very well can be an answered prayer. I'm sure that every Christian has prayed to God, saying, "God, please put someone in the path of so-and-so, so that they will witness to them so that they might be saved". Well, this is exactly the kind of thing I am talking about. YOU are that person that God wants to use to reach their loved one, as Brandon was used to reach this young man's mother's prayer.

If we will be obedient to the Lord, get off our Christian butts, and go out to street witness or just witness in our everyday lives to folks in our path, we will be following Jesus' command, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation". Mark 16:15

If you are a Christian, and are a little upset that I just said that, then think of it this way...the Holy Spirit is convicting your heart. He wants to use YOU to be a witness for Him. If Jesus came into the world to "seek and save the lost" (Luke 19:10), then don't you think it should be a priority in our lives?

Dennis then decided he wanted to get up on the step-stool and open air preach. He also used the megaphone. Dennis explained what sin is, what repentance is, and how to be born-again.

As soon as Dennis stepped off the stool from preaching, they opened the doors and let the folks in. It was God's timing, as it was 6:36pm and the doors were scheduled to open at 6:30pm.

Bruce let me hold his cross. I think that I am going to have to make one of these...or maybe have someone make one for me. I am not a handyman at all (my wife will probably say, "Amen" right here!)

The evening started out slow, but more people started pouring in little by little. It was good to get out and share the gospel with the lost and to encourage the Christians that came across our paths.

I encourage all Christians to share your faith - share the gospel. If you don't know how, let me know and I will point you in the right direction to get some free training.

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God bless,

Brad St. Clair

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