If you have been following this blog at all then you probably saw my article recently which referred you to the messages and research that Matt Johnson did on preaching about the Excellencies of Christ. I had been praying for awhile about reading the entire list of attributes of Christ in the open air. Lately, I’ve been doing Project Ezra with Pastor Ben from First Baptist Hebron. However, when he was unable to join me today due to illness, I decided to use the list of the attributes of Christ instead of the normal Project Ezra reading.
My Facebook friend Rob-Roy Nelson provided me with some water bottle Gospel tracts. My youngest son went with me me to Arbor Hills Nature Preserve in Plano. I’ve done Project Ezra at this park many times. Brendan handed out the bottles of water. While I read.
So, I am standing on my box reading “Jesus is … Advocate with the Father. John 1 says ‘My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.'”
Then moving on to the next attribute I said, “Jesus is The Alpha and the Omega. Revelation 22 says, ‘Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.'”
I continued reading off the attributes of Chris. So over and over people in the park heard “Jesus is…”
Brendan was doing a great job handing out the bottles of water. He would take the water bottles and track people down to give them to people. I notice a few people once they had the water, walking away reading the label.
Eventually a man came up and said, “do you have a permit to do this?”
I said, “no, and I don’t need one. I am simply exercising my right to free speech.”
He said, “I don’t think it is right. You should stop.”
I told him that I had the right to be there and the command from God to share the Gospel. We spoke briefly. He said he was an atheist. I asked where creation came from. He said that scientists are “working on it.” He claimed that if we give the scientists enough time they would figure it out. I told him they need to look no further then Genesis 1:1. He had his cell phone in his hand when he turned to walk away. Brendan gave him a water bottle and I returned to reading the attributes of Christ.
As I looked over towards the direction he was walking off I could see that he was on his phone. I told Brendan that he was probably calling the police. I told him not to worry, that I am not doing anything wrong and that if the police come to just remain calm.
Sure enough, five minutes later a police car came up. I got down off the box and greeted the office. He said, “you don’t have to stop. I simply came by to let you know that we got a complaint, but that you are not doing anything wrong and can stay as long as you like.” I thanked him for his time and offered him a bottle of water which he declined.
So add to the list, “Jesus is offensive!” Actually we know that the cross is an offense to those that are perishing.
After I finished reading all the attributes of Christ on the list, Brendan and I packed up and went to the car. We handed out the last two water bottles as we loaded the cooler into the car. We then drove home and went to church.
At church we first had Sunday school. After Sunday school, Brendan’s teacher said, “we prayed for the guy that called the police on you!” So I shared the story with a number of people at church.
I am thankful that the officer knew the law and my rights. I am thankful that it was not a hassle. We have already had to “fight” the City of Plano over free speech issues. And I certainly did not want to have to do that again. The Gospel went out.
