In The Rain

Saturday afternoon found me in the rain with barely a bus ride's worth of sleep from two nights straight since Thursday at work. I broke off from the usual drive to and from Pasay City and took the commute instead as I needed some time to think and flush my mind from the deluge of worldly matters at work. By the Lord's providence, the bus ride home gave me time to rest and sleep. Had I driven myself home I wouldn't have the strength to go out again after just an hour between arriving and going out again to meet my brother Miguel some miles away to preach to the people.

Common sense will tell me to rest after wearing myself out, yet if I can wear myself out attending to worldly matters, how much more effort should I give to my Lord's work? The weather also does not seem to be appropriate for such a task, but as I later found out, rain is one of a street preacher's best friend. It forces people to seek shelter and renders them immobile for some time, enough time for them to hear the Word!

Oh, did the rain pour! I saw only the people standing afar off listening to me, I did not notice myself already dripping wet from the Lord's help in my delivery. It was a blessed rain indeed. I met a simple man who received a tract from my hand earlier on, who from appearance and the sack of belongings he carried, was one who went here and there. Yet he read the tract very intently and asked me after about the things of God. He knew scripture than most people did, and I had a very brief but intimate talk regarding the Law and Christ. I had to excuse myself afterwards as I did not want to be deviated from the work, so went I to where my brother Miguel stood preaching, continued handing out tracts, and waited for him to finish his sermon, and I stood in his place.

Towards the end of my speech I found there were two Muslim men who were discussing doctrine with brother Miguel. I did not want for the engagement to go on further than it should, and so I did not join in for now, knowing these are mere instances where people would stop you and compare doctrines and specifics, testing their knowledge against yours, thereby taking time away from other people who need to hear the Gospel. This is not to say I will not engage inquirers, I would spend hours if I need to if such as one I deem to be sincerely seeking answers, but I know I am called not to argue doctrines but to preach Christ crucified. Nevertheless these men were polite and friendly, and they came across as sincere. My the Lord bless them with Christ.

Brother Miguel and I went to dinner after, as he still had to check on a small Apostolic church by 7:30 PM, giving us ample time to fellowship and talk about the Lord's goodness in our lives. He is a blessing to me. Brother Miguel has a passion for the Lord that is quite uncommon in this land, unmindful of the separation of heeding such as the call of Christ, firm in his conviction of the cross of Christ, and reckless in the pursuit of the kingdom of Christ. He is a full time street preacher and herald. His zeal is much to be commended. With this I believe that the Lord wants reckless people who want him, reckless in the sense that they neither regard or esteem themselves anything of worth, casting aside care and opinion, knowing full well the exchange of turning your back to everything the world has to offer and become a fool instead for Christ. Because as the devil hates Christ with a passion, he hates his children with the same as well.

I have prayed and asked for the Lord to send me men who have the same heart as I have for the Lord with regards to the work, the Christian friends I had asked to share in this path had better things to do with their time in this world than to share Christ, and so after a brief time of waiting the Lord was pleased to send me these "men who have not bowed the knee to Baal" - the Baal of modern "Christianity" which is complacency, lukewarmness, prayerlessness, and apathy.