Lots to say...so little time

Okay, so I know I am a little behind on updating everyone, but I do have good excuses I promise. I have been very busy these last few days. I have walked with the cross for several miles this week already, but the things that have taken me from the blog has been all kinds of other involvements that stemmed from the ministry of the cross.

This photo was taken by James Durbin of the Mobile Press Register on July 4, 2009

As I was walking on Beach Blvd on Monday I was stopped by a young man that pulled up in a red truck. He pulled out a sports drink from a cooler that he had in the back and handed it to me. He introduced himself and began to tell me why he stopped. He told me that his wife was driving by and saw me. She then called him to let him know that there was a man carrying a cross down the boulevard.

He told me that he had to come and meet me, and that he had left work to do so. He told me that his name was Nick and that he keeps a cooler in the back his truck with cold drinks in it because he has had the intention of giving them to runners while speaking to them about Christ. He also told me of a ministry that they have begun in the city. They are heading up an International House of Prayer (IHOP). It is a nationally known ministry that brings in Christians for a prayer ministry and organizes a unified prayer team.

As we talked further we both began to realize that this connection was made for a purpose, God's purpose. The IHOP group that he has been leading is meeting primarily because they feel God's movement in the city to bring about a revival. They are praying that God will begin to bring the believers together in this area and that an awakening of God Almighty will begin to sweep the city. I attended the IHOP meeting that night and was greatly blessed. We have made new friends and have another connection to further complete God's mission for us here.

Tuesday I spent most of the day working on the administrative side of the ministry. Tuesday evening I felt that God wanted me to go out and ride around the city and pray for the people on the streets. I rode around for a while and listened to music while praying. Around midnight I became burdened for the people that I saw on the streets. I saw young girls, 15 and 16 years old, walking down dark streets by themselves with no where to go and nothing to do. I saw young men gathered together just hanging out. I began to pray for them while I rode around. I began to be concerned for their safety. I found it very difficult to understand how parents could allow their young teenage children to be doing such things this late at night. I also began to think merciful thoughts toward those parents that did not have control over their teenagers, and that was a possible explanation as to why some of them were out there.

I quickly realized that I had to do something. I began thinking of the possibilities of a ministry late at night to reach out to these teenagers. I will be working on ideas for a ministry to help lead these young people to the right path in life.

I stopped and spoke with these five guys. I told them who I was and that I was out there for them. I told them that I was a missionary here and was out trying to make new friends. I did make new friends that night. The fellow second from the left is nick named "Trip", and the young man that is fourth from the left is his step brother and his name is "Robert". They were very cool guys just trying to find a way to have a good time to get them through life. I hope to see them all again soon, and I pray I can help them find the path to true life.

My walk on Wednesday was a very interesting one. I walked North on Highway 59 (away from the beaches). I ended up with about 8 miles under my belt that day in walking distance. The traffic coming into the area on that road was constant and therefore thousands of people witnessed the cross being carried. Although not as many personal contacts as usual, I still had several people converse with me about what I was doing. Not all of that contact was positive I might add.

I had one gentleman talk to me for about thirty minutes, primarily because he disagreed with the fact that my cross had wheels and that Jesus' cross did not. He also expressed that my method of carrying the gospel to the people, hurt the cause, because I appeared to him as a "man that was not right in the head". As he spoke to me I quickly found out that his religion was one in opposition to mine. The religion he is party to believes that Jesus is not God, and that Jesus was actually "Michael, the Archangel". They also teach that there is no hell and that a certain group of people that followed their teaching are true saints, called "the elect". The most interesting point that he brought to my attention was that my method was possibly a means of blasphemy. I was not going door to door and dressing up just as they do, so my method was a false way to communicate the gospel.

He had lots of scripture and was very knowledgeable about his view of the Bible. I must respect him on that note. Many people do not know what they believe and certainly do not know why they believe it. What I found easy to combat was the interpretations that he derived from the Scriptures that he was quoting. It was as if we read and studied two different Bibles, when actually we derived two completely different doctrines from the same Book.

Although neither of us swayed from our beliefs, I was able to knock some large holes in some of his points which left him thinking about what we had discussed. Realizing that I could not convince him of his blindness from the truth, I was only able to discredit some of the religious philosophies that his religion had concerning the delivery of the gospel, as well as other points he made. Those realizations ,without a doubt, left him questioning some of the things he had thought to be truth taught by his religion. My intention was not to disrespect the man, but to break down the foundation he had built through a false religion. We parted ways and I prayed for him for a long time after that during the walk that day. I still am today.

As any other day on the street, I had a few comments thrown at me that I cannot repeat, but I also received some strong encouragement from believers. One lady in particular was from another state. If I recall correctly she was from Missouri. We were able to talk for a few minutes and she was a blessing to me by the things she said. She urged me to keep doing what I was doing, because it truly was a great encouragement for other believers and it strengthened their walk with the Lord.

My friends, I hope you forgive me for my lack of ability to update the last couple of days. Yes, God saved me from a lot of things, but I'm still a working progress. Please stay close to your computers and internet hook ups because I have lots more to share in the following days. We have been working on lots of things that will begin to take shape in days to come. God Bless.

Spread the WORD!!

Barry