Why Are You Judging Me?

“The sorrow of the world produces death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10b

We stood in the flow of 30,000 people in Chapel Hill, NC, Halloween Bash. It was cramped, smelly, and uncomfortable. However, our great king Jesus was glorified. We faced the array of questions that come with the environment that we went into. Why are you judging me? Where is the evidence for God? God providently orchestrated several great conversations in the middle of all the questions and oddities. Here are some of the highlights.

Why are you judging me?

Miriam came up to me and started yelling, “don’t judge me, how dare you judge me, don’t judge!” Once she got over her assumption of us not caring about people, she calmed down, and we had a somewhat civil conversation. In short, she admitted that God was suitable for punishing her in Hell, and she was probably going to go there. The verse in the heading of this letter describes her. She had a worldly sorrow. However, she was ignorant of God, whom she claimed to know. I was able to gently turn the light of His truth upon her condition of ignorance. This conversation was a gift! I was a part of yanking the weeds wrong belief out of this young girl’s life. Praise God! 

Where is the evidence of God?

Malcolm was a scientist who professed atheism. He was under the impression that words have no actual meaning. He stated, “we cannot genuinely know anything.” I asked him “if he wanted the words that he was using in our conversation to have meaning.” He smiled. Knowing where I was going with the logic, he changed the subject to the Bible being translated many times. To him, this made the Bible unreliable.  I was able to point him to the scientific method in textual criticism to show him the reliability of the Bible. Textual criticism takes all the New Testament manuscripts, over five thousand just of the NT, giving us reliable translations. After this hurdle, I showed him how God gives all of us three truths that prove His existence, creation, conscience, and the Bible. Malcolm was led closer to Jesus that night.

The team we had endured a lot of verbal persecution for the name of Jesus. I am so proud of them! Keep praying for our teams.  They need it as they serve on the front line for Jesus.