Preaching During Lollapalooza

I am back from Chicago, and it was a trip paved by our amazing providential God. I teamed up with Pastor Dave Johnson from Grace Covenant church upon arrival. We picked two areas to focus on for evangelism. The first was in the community of Lincoln Square, where Pastor Dave is planting his church. The second was in downtown Chicago at a huge music festival called Lollapalooza. Here are some of the highlights of the Gospel being put into action.

 We preached for three days, and many people heard the truth from the book of Romans. I preached on the steps of a statue of Abraham Lincoln. We gave the seed of the Gospel out in bible and tract form. We had two young men ride up on their bikes, their names were Andrew and Russell, and they started listening very intently to the word of God. I had the opportunity to proclaim a clear Gospel message to them, and Pastor Dave was able to share the Gospel with them individually. Conviction of sin was there, but they were not ready to repent and place faith in Jesus. Pray for them!

On the last day at Lincoln square, I did some evangelism training with Pastor Dave's disciple Dejan. As I preached the word of God, he began passing out bibles and tracts. He was out in the street gladly talking with people at the stoplights, bus stops, and park benches. He was zealous for Jesus!  I rejoice that our love for Jesus could help equip him and make him courageous. I preached from Romans fifteen when a gentleman came up and started listening. Dejan approached him and started sharing the Gospel with him. I finished preaching, and Dejan introduced him to me. His name was Tony. He was a gang banger and a cage fighter who had three children by three different women. As we shared, his heart began to be convicted of the reality of his sin. He did not receive Christ, but the seed of repentance is started, and we pray that God will continue in his life. Dejan got his number because he came out of a similar area of life. God saves us to become portraits of His grace. What an honor!!

The second area we reached was Lollapalooza's music festival in downtown Chicago. We faced a lot of cursing, yelling, and persecution from the attendees. However, out of all the yelling and drunkenness, God's word was piercing hearts. I preached from Romans three on how the law cannot save us, but it condemns leading us to the cross. There was a guy named Angel who stopped to listen. Angel stopped out of the hundreds passing by laughing, mocking, and cursing. We never know when God will start the process of conviction and grant repentance and faith. Continue to pray for Angel, Tony, Russell, Andrew, and the countless people who heard the truth. Pray for Grace Covenant and pastor Dave's discipleship of Dejan and others. There are many other stories, but neither time nor space will allow them. If you want to know more, please contact us.

Thank you for your continued support and prayer for this ministry. Every new month God is opening more doors for us to preach his Gospel and share the vision of GGM. Continue to pray for us! I am encouraged by you and thankful for those that God has started to convict of their sin in hopes of leading them to genuine repentance, faith, and fruit. My heart breaks for all of those that mocked and showed the vileness of their hearts. However, that was me before I had Christ radically changed my life. I hope this letter makes you courageous to share the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Prayer list

1.  People encouraged by our ministry would continue in their zeal for Jesus.

2. For me as I struggle with periods of discouragement.

3. For my relationship with my wife and children. We celebrate our ten-year anniversary on Aug 16!!

 4. We still have a few ways to go before we reach our monthly goal for our financial support.

5.  The picture below is where the Gospel seed has been planted this summer by GGM!!!!

6.  my church is licensing me as an Evangelist on Aug 22  

7.  Schedule for the next two months: Aug 16 to 19th sharing the vision of GGM in Charlotte N.C., Sept 8 preaching at G3 church in Franklinton NC, Sept 21 to 26th Myrtle Beach S.C. Vacation and Open-Air Preaching, Sept 27th & 28th a booth at the Nine Marks Conference at Southeastern Theological Seminary