My pastor, Bob Doble and elder, Denis Pomerleau and me, attended the Ottawa gay pride parade recently with our crosses and the gospel message of Jesus Christ in hopes planting and watering whatever seeds we could onto the hearts and minds of some among the thousands of passersby. We came to be a source of light and hope to those seeped in darkness and sin.
If there is anything we sensed out of this parade of sin it would be a great sense of sadness for all these people pridefully displaying and promoting their depravity. For us, sadness breeds compassion and that is what we went there with. To love those enough in the homosexual community and their supporters to warn them of God's coming judgment and to share with them the one graciously provided way in which they can escape from the eternal consequences of all their sin and guilt through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, the Lord.
It's not an easy thing being at such an event for a Christian. Much in the way of taunting, mockery, angry reactions to our presence there, but Christians are commanded by the Lord in Matthew 28 to go out into ALL the world, not just a portion of it, to preach the good news out of a sense of love and compassion for the lost of all stripes. We brought the same saving gospel we bring to every public event we attend in Ottawa. Yes, some were horrified but God was glorified.
Lord willing, we'll be there again next year. After some personal post-contemplation about the event and what we did there, I already have it on my heart to preach a stronger message next time along the lines of actually pointing out the very sin they are celebrating. I have a year to pray about that.
;_( = lamenting that many are heading for the cliff;
ReplyDelete; D = the Good News is preached!