"And others save with fear, pulling
them out of the fire..."
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December 6-8, 2007 The Christmas Show was supposed to be the biggest show of the year and it was. We had ordered 10,000 customized "Christmas Cash" tracts a few months ago and had already handed out 3,500 from "Black Friday" and "Light Up Louisville". Our goal was to get the Gospel that was written on the 6,500 tracts that we had left into the hands of the people attending the event. Well, that we did...plus some! Most of the time, the aisles were packed shoulder-to-shoulder and we were literally handing out the tracts as fast as we could. We handed out 1,500 on Friday, 4,250 on Saturday and the remaining 750 "Christmas Cash" tracts on Sunday. In addition, we handed out 700+ more assorted tracts on Sunday, pushing the overall total to over 7,000 tracts for the entire weekend. That's crazy! Here's some more details... Friday After I got off of work, I immediately headed to the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center (KFEC) at 12:00pm and started handing out tracts. Danny joined me around 2:00pm and we labored until 8:00pm. David Shipley from AccuTemp Heating and Air Conditioning was in the booth next to us. I talked to him throughout the weekend and found out that he was raised Southern Baptist, but left the church and Christianity altogether and had most recently been to Southeast Christian. He said that he wasn't even sure about the God of the Bible, but did believe in Intelligent Design. I took him through the Law and showed him his serious condition. I decided to give him the "Intelligent Design vs. Evolution" book that has the "Science of Evolution" DVD in the back along with some other tracts like "Scientific Facts in the Bible". He also mentioned that a show called "The Privileged Planet" had a great affect on him, but he only saw a portion of it. Well, it just so happened that Danny gave it to me (let me borrow it?) about 6 months ago. I told him that I would bring it in and let him borrow it Saturday evening. A lady two booths down said that she was a "good person" and that she was a Christian. I had already spoken with he gentleman and his grandson in the booth next to us and they both said that they were Christians. In the earshot of the "good person" lady, I asked them if they knew why Jesus had to suffer and die upon the cross. I noticed that she was listening in on our conversation and said, "What was the question?" I repeated it for her and could barely hear her response so I went over to her. She repeated, "For our sins." I said, "Oh, so you are not "good" and you have sinned?" She said, "of course". With a perplexed look, I went back over to my booth. Saturday I arrived at the KFEC at 9:45am and uncovered the booth to get ready for the crowd that was going to be brought in by the Christmas Show, Gun Show and U of L game all at once! Danny and Matt showed up just after 10:00am with Breakfast Burritos from McDonald's for me. Man, was I glad to see that considering that I hadn't bothered to think about eating that morning. I brought the DVD in, but David said that he really wanted to have a copy so he was just going to "burn" it. I told him to just go ahead and keep it and that we would purchase another one. I noticed that David and a co-worker had purchased beer and were drinking it in their booth. This, of course, prompted David (as soon as I saw him with it) say, "Well, hey, there's nothing wrong with drinking alcohol. They drank wine in the Bible. Um, Jesus even turned water into wine for His first miracle!" His immediate attempt at using the Bible as justification for drinking alcohol was a bit humorous. Not wanting to seem judgmental or condemning, I just nodded my head and asked him if alcohol had ever done anything good for him or anyone he knew. (http://www.helpjacqui.com/videoclips/zero_0100_3m.mpg) Obviously, alcohol is destructive and I personally don't want to have anything to do with it even if I feel in good conscience that it's Biblically "okay". He understood my point and even proceeded to expound upon how horrible and life devastating alcohol was. Later on, he said that he was going to try to make it to the gambling boat in Indiana. I think David was trying to see where I stood on certain issues. I said, "Hey, go for it." He replied, "Well that wouldn't be being a very good steward of God's money, now would it?" Yeah, he knew. I didn't even have to tell him. Mark and Sylvester arrived around 2:00pm and jumped right in. Sylvester had to take off at 4:00pm and Mark at 6:00pm. There is no telling how many tracts they handed out during that timeframe!!! I'll tell you just how many....so many that I had to leave and run home to get the remaining 1,400 tracts that we had left! I took my picture with "Chuck Norris"? (pic coming soon!) I went on a lunch break and ran into two sweet women who had stopped by the booth earlier, Billy and ???. They sat down at my table with me and after a bit of talk I found out that I was in a "denomination" and needed to "come out from that". I found out that they had been tossed about and landed into a cult. They attend Branham Temple in Jeffersonville, IN. We are planning a team "cult field trip" soon. (8th and Penn St) I was informed that there was limited seating and that I should get there early or I won't be able to get in. I explained that numbers mean nothing to me and that Jim Jones had almost 1,000 people drinking cyanide laced Kool-Aid, but we would come to visit. My dad brought my aunt and uncle (who were in town from Florida for the weekend) out to visit me at the Flea Market. Couple I had witnessed to last show brought their friend by to take the "Good Person Test". Realized he wasn't saved and was going to hell, but went to church each week. Can people in your pews continue to come to your church without realizing their state before God?
Sunday After church, I headed out to the KFEC and the crowd was already there! I started handing out tracts and quickly went through the last of our Christmas Cash tracts. Mark, Jill and Jillian came from 2:00pm - 5:00pm. Danny and Katie came from about 2:00pm to 3:00pm. While there, Danny feverishly handed out tracts while Katie stamped additional tracts until they left. Upon leaving, Jill took up stamping tracts for us. The pre-printed Christmas Cash tracts were long gone and we were handing out all kinds of tracts! David showed up a little later in the day and I greeted him and asked him if he had a chance to check out the DVD I gave him. Andrew (the security guard at the mall and second-year SBTS student) and his wife, Jessica. Will join us sometime. Mark spoke w/Rodney from Indy spent 6 yrs behind the wall. Out since 2003. Helped me carry table to my car. Gave him our Million Dollar blanket. Mark gave a tract to a lady that came by our booth wearing a this shirt (http://www.choiceshirts.com/item/A9131B/) or a similar one, so it was an obvious open door to ask her if she would consider herself to be a good person. Surprise, she did! As Mark began to take her through the Law, she was faced with the fact that she didn't measure up (as no one does to God's standard of "good") and she wasn't the all around good person she thought she was. As some do, she walked away from Mark with her self-righteousness bruised. Moments later a twenty-something young man approached the booth and asked, "Who's the one over here asking all the questions?" Mark immediately pointed to me. I was sitting in a chair stamping tracts. The man began to tear into me and go into a tirade about he didn't appreciate me (which it wasn't me...thanks Mark!) making people feel bad who consider themselves good. And that if people want to find out about God, then they can just go to a local church if they really want to know about God. He also mentioned that he was feeling angry and was on the verge of violence...yeah, his words. Okay, I was taking his verbal jabs literally sitting down and was good-to-go up to that point. However, in light of some people going into malls, schools and churches and shooting people, I became a little bit concerned and a bit angry (without sin, of course!) when he started talking about being angry and being on the "verge of violence". I stood up out of my chair and walked over toward him. I told him that it sounded like he was kind of angry and he was threatening physical violence towards us and he really ought not be saying those kinds of things. I'm not sure exactly what I said, but I know that I let him know in no uncertain terms that we were Christians, but were not pacifistic. I proceeded to ask him if he thought he was a good person. He said that he wasn't and gave all the "right" answers. I tried to explain to him why were asking the questions that we were asking, but he just walked away. He even claimed to be a Christian and his mother-in-law(lady with the T-Shirt) was too. My response...the bad news before the Gospel (good news), is offensive. I understand that, but that does not give anyone cause to threaten physical violence because they disagreed and supposedly felt "bad". This weekend completely wore me out and like I've said before, we're called laborers because we labor for him. Getting the Gospel out takes up time and expends energy that God gives.
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