Post by Messenger Micah on Nov 16, 2005 23:12:21 GMT -5
Joining me to South Beach this week was the usual team of Elizabeth, Doug, John and Onica, and Emmanuel. We were able to get a little earlier start than usual and parked close to the beginning of the Ocean Drive strip in a parking garage.
The beach was back to its normal level of activity. As we walked up on Ocean Drive, in front of the Majestic Hotel, I raised my voice and expressed my disappointment at how after all the preaching we did out there last week, the people were still sinning, the girls still dressed provocatively, the guys were still getting drunk, and still perverts. There was a large group in front of the Majestic Hotel who seemed to be waiting for some entertainment. They started yelling back at us, heckling, etc. We walked across the street and stood with our banners, began rebuking them, and telling them to repent. A bunch of people were stopping and watching, and they began to yell at us, ?We can?t hear you!!? I then ran across the street into the crowd and preached to the drunken, rowdy, bunch for about 15 minutes. There were easily 60 to 70 people on the front of the hotel and the surrounding sidewalk area. Many were yelling, heckling, but many were listening intently with serious expressions on their face. A member of the team told me I should stop then because the police were on the way (we have been stopped in front of this hotel several times in the past). I assumed the group knew something I did not so I complied, but in retrospect I think I should have continued. They continued to yell at us as we walked away.
We went across the street to where the wall was and Doug stood on the wall and preached. There were about 15 people in the area around the wall.
We then moved down to the wall in front of Wet Willie?s. There were a few more people in this area (about 20-25), and Emmanuel had several good hecklers. This caused many of the people to listen intently to what Emmanuel was saying. He was able to answer several good questions and refute their excuses.
We walked down the sidewalk to across the street from Wet Willie?s and John preached. There were a good many people in the area but it was very loud here on this day. As John preached, several people stopped to ask questions and Doug, Emmanuel, and myself had some good witnessing conversations.
By now our photographer friend Dean and his friend Steve met up with us and took some great pictures. He put them up on his site for a day or two, but now it appears he has deleted all of his photo galleries including ours.
We walked down to the area where the homeless people congregate, gave them some food, witnessed and talked to them some. We did not preach at the Clevelander because it was too loud (around 6:00 PM it is still loud, but around 7:00 PM they turn the noise down some), nor at Lummus Park because it was dark and that spot has no lighting.
We walked a half block down to the square of Ocean and 11th Street (next to the late Versace Mansion, which is now a club). Doug preached there.
When Doug finished I moved across the street to in front of the sidewalk with Emmanuel. I began preaching facing the sidewalk and the building, with Emmanuel next to me holding the banner. I preached from about 6:30 to 7:10 PM, as many passed by, and several small groups would stop and listen for a while and then move on. One older, heavyset man walked up in my face and bumped me with his stomach. I also had a group of about 8 to 10 young guys and girls listening for a while. I stopped preaching when I was told a man had come down from the building and asked if I would preach somewhere else because he had just put his babies to bed.
We then headed toward the notorious Club Madonna (this club shows women dancing on video screens right on the sidewalk). When we arrived there, not many people were around so we decided to head for the Lincoln Road mall area and preach there. We had never preached there before, but Dean had been trying to get us to go there for several weeks.
Dean showed us where he thought all the best spots would be. There is a lot of activity in this area but it is a different type of crowd from the areas we usually go to. This crowd is more affluent, haughty, materialistic, lovers of pleasure, etc. These are more cultured sinners.
There are mimes around this area, people playing instruments, human statues, etc. We found a spot and Elizabeth, Onica, John, and Doug all preached. Doug was able to get a good number of listeners when a few older ladies came up to him and one told him ?Why don?t you preach God loves you a?hole!?
Doug turned it over to me, and I preached for about 30 minutes. Toward the end of my preaching, the mime put on his radio fairly loud, and began his performance. While I was preaching, and after I finished, John and I had some good conversations with two professing, sin defending Christians. One of them came up to correct me when I was preaching but when I began to answer his accusations from scripture he walked away and accused me of yelling at him. Also one of my hecklers from 11th and Washington came up to say hello and seemed pretty happy to see us again.
I probed the professing Christian some after I finished preaching because I knew he was defending sin in his life. He admitted to practicing sin, but made all kinds of excuses for it, even contradicting himself by saying he feels bad and asks forgiveness, but then asking me why is it wrong? As I quoted and showed him scriptures he said to me ?What does the scriptures have do to with anything??
We then headed back towards Club Madonna, preaching, reproving, rebuking, exhorting, all along the way. When we arrived at Club Madonna it had begun to rain. There were about 10 to 15 people huddled under the entrance of Club Madonna for shelter. Emmanuel preached to them for a while. The bouncer and manager came out and told us to move off to the side. We moved to the side and John started warning the wicked to repent or perish. The manager came out again and told us to move further away and John refused. He then threatened to call the police and told Dean to give him his camera. Dean called his bluff and told him to come and take it.
At this point a man, named Bob who professed to be a Christian started talking to me and telling me how bad places like Club Madonna are. I did not really think he was a Christian because he used profanity, but I was kind of listening to what he was saying. I began to correct him on his profanity, and Emmanuel discerned he was a homosexual. Bob freely admitted to this, but insisted he was a Christian. I mentioned this incident because this man made two very interesting comments to me. First, as he was telling me how bad places like Club Madonna are he mentioned it turns people into lesbians (to this practicing homosexual this was a bad thing). Secondly, when I told him he was not born homosexual, he insisted he was and told me ?No one in his or her right mind would want to be a homosexual so you have to be born that way!? I told him this was a sin that would land him in hell (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Leviticus 20:13, Revelation 21:8), but also Jesus could, would, and wanted to deliver him from that sin. Please pray for that man, as I believe there is hope for him to repent.