THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING
JESUS CAME TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED
“For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” 1 Corinthians 1:21
For entirely different reasons, my friend Kim and I have been going through the healing phases of a broken heart. Kim because of the death of a child, and me because of the death of a dearly held and fondly wished-for dream. But it doesn’t really matter what breaks your heart, does it? When it breaks, it cracks into a million, tiny pieces. Christmas time, with all it’s poignant secular songs and nostalgia-tinged trappings, always seems to amplify whatever emotions you are feeling. The good feelings get great, and the not-so-good becomes overwhelmingly sorrowful. A good friend and Christian brother of mine, TK, who is a homicide detective told me yesterday that most of the calls he gets at this time of the year are suicide calls. Sometimes a broken heart can kill you. Literally.
CLICK HERE AND KIM AND I WILL SEND YOU A BOX OF FREE GOSPEL TRACTS!
So Kim turned to me the other day and said “I think we should go street preaching on Christmas Eve. Wanna go?” I thought about it for a minute and agreed we should, broken hearts and all. Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted, right? The bible says He did:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,” Luke 4:18
We got to the street, as we have for nearly 3 years now, filled our hands with gospel tracts, scripture signs, and proclaimed the death, burial, resurrection and soon return of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. Christmas Eve notwithstanding, there was coldness and a deadness in the collective mood of the people on St. George street this afternoon. 72 degrees outside, but with a spiritual chill in the air.
A woman got right in my face and demanded that we stop preaching as her and her mother were trying to “enjoy their lunch” on the balcony of the restaurant over where we where. Then the mother chiming in then leaned over the balcony railing and said “I’m a Christian too, but you are ruining our lunch with all this talk about Jesus. Why don’t you leave?” What type of Christian gets their meal ruined by hearing about the goodness of Jesus Christ, and at Christmas time no less? I honestly don’t know, but she and her daughter evidently did.
There were other people who, when they saw us, folded their arms across their chests and silently mouthed the word “no” as they passed. One day before Christmas, and no sign of any love for the Birthday Boy. We preached on.
There was a family of 4 Muslims who, after stopping to listen to us for a while, each took a Kristin tract. Amazing. There was one young man who listened covertly, or so he thought, and then came up to me and said “you guys really gave me something to think about today, thank you.” The precious few who respond like that make all the rejection worthwhile.
One man with his wife told me he was a “good person”. I politely told him the bible says that there are no “good people”. At this he stopped, put his mouth right by my ear and said “I am as Christian as they come, but you guys are doing it wrong.” I replied that “then maybe you are not as much of a Christian as you think you are.” He walked on, muttering and mocking.
And so it went, one by one the hundreds of people passed by and listened to the Gospelpreached in spirit, truth, power and love. Call us compromisers if you like, but we do preach with love and tenderness, not just “fire and brimstone”. We pleaded with them to get saved while there was still time, maybe some will. I don’t know. But what I do know is simply this:
For a little less than 2 hours today, my friend Kim and I looked past our own sorrows and disappointments, and tried to help some lost people change their eternal destiny. For just a moment, we forgot about our own broken hearts and gave the Lord the glory that He deserves. We became “fools” for the Lord Jesus Christ and left the results in His hands. We did what the Lord did, we preached on the street by divine appointment. For just a few hours we stopped thinking of ourselves and thought of others.
God is good all the time, and today I am thankful for everything He has allowed into my life. Even my broken heart.
“God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.” 2 Samuel 22:33
Trending NTEB Content:
From Around the Web
RELATED
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: GEOFFREY GRIDER
NTEB is run by end times author and editor-in-chief Geoffrey Grider. Geoffrey runs a successful web design company, and is a full-time minister of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition to running NOW THE END BEGINS, he has a dynamic street preaching outreach and tract ministry team in Saint Augustine, FL.33 COMMENTS ON "THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING"
INBOUND LINKS
- The Foolishness Of Preaching | Walker Ministries | Virginia Beach, VA | December 25, 2014
Posts
I believe there are many who feel lonely from losing a loved one especially at Christmas. I’ve lost two. So there are many of us who
experience the same heartbreak for one or many reasons.
Having a talk with Jesus always has helped me for my 75 years here
in this world.
Thank you for preaching the word of God.
Luk 6:23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
saved; but he that believeth not shall be
damned.
The Gospel of Mark, chapter 16, verses 15-16, King James Bible
for parents it points to proverbs 22:6 also.
If you were out on there on the streets witnessing for the Lord, maybe you would have done the same thing. Do you witness for the Lord on the streets where you live?
sisters.