Crazy Day! Part 1

Today was full of unexpected surprises...and great witnessing opportunities.

It was our second Sunday meeting today at our new location--the conference room in the Guadalajara Inn, Downtown. El Centro de Guadalajara is usually very crowded on Sundays, and I did not want to miss out on a great evangelism opportunity. So I brought along my amp and mike to preach on the streets afterwards. After our service was over (we had a whopping 3 people show up), all of us left the hotel and walked to a nearby pharmacy. As I was waiting for the Urbans to get what they needed to buy, I stood up on a bench and did a quick open-air to the multitudes of people walking by. By the time I was done I had managed to pretty much clear out most of the people from that area. :-|

But then we all walked a little further down the street...and saw many people gathered around what appeared to be a street brawl. A gang of punk rockers (all of them having the stereotypical punk look: excessively long, spiked up hair/mohawks, black leather jackets with patches, pins and studs) were taking on "normally" dressed gangbangers. This was a serious street-fight; they were beating each other with belts and rods. The stronger and more numerous "normals" gained the upper-hand in the fight, and began to repeatedly punch several punks in the face. Some of the punks ran away, others just stayed behind and did not even fight back. They allowed themselves to be mercilessly beat up by the "normies". It reminded me a little of a recent video put out showing Christians getting beat to death in Orissa, India. The brawl lasted only a few minutes, but it seemed a lot longer watching it. By the end of the fight the punks were severely injured and the faces of some were full of blood...and the police were nowhere to be found. Typical of the Mexican authorities.

As a former punk/skinhead in my B.C. days, I have to admit it was a very sad sight. As sinfully depraved as they were, I sympathized a little with them and their plight. My spirit was stirred and angered by all of this hatred, and as they were fighting I felt like getting up to preach right in front of them. But then I remembered Proverbs 26:17: "Like one who takes a dog by the ears is he who passes by and meddles with strife not belonging to him." So I waited a little until the fight was over and all the gangbangers began to run away. And then, at the urging of Lina, I got up on a concrete bench in the middle of this little plaza where the altercation took place. All that came to my mind at the moment was the seven things the Lord hates in Proverbs 6:16-19, so I started by reading that. I had the people's attention. I told them how the Lord abhors those who are full of hate and whose feet are swift to shed blood. Then I explained that hatred is murder in the eyes of God, and told the people listening that if they were looking down on those wicked gangbangers, they should examine their own hearts in the light of the Word, because in reality they are no better than them. After preaching sin and judgment I proclaimed the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Many heard. I pray the Lord touches their hearts.