David Johnson's Mardi Gras Blog
Since David wrote such a thorough blog, I decided to just repost it instead of recreating the wheel...
Mardi Gras Day on Bourbon Street 2014
It started off with a bang. We put the cross on the street and I began to preach and we were immediately accosted. People came up and began to rail on us without even hearing a word that was spoken. We were the only cross on the street in sight. Folks who were sick of seeing crosses and Christians likely were happy at our absence and angered at our presence. They nearly overwhelmed us so I told Tobiah to put a prayer alert out. As soon as he did, everything calmed down. Know your prayers affect us on Bourbon street during Mardi Gras. That is powerful! Now for some highlights. A former pastor from Indiana, Tom Tekker, approached the cross with a beer in his hand. He asked me if I knew Troy Bohn of the Ravens and I told him I did. He said he had ministered with the Ravens 4 years ago at Mardi Gras. He told us he & his wife who was the praise & worship leader in their church had a bad divorce and he had quit the ministry and was now driving a truck. I told him the giftings & callings of God were without repentance. I prayed for him and he was touched. I also told him God sought to restore him as a preacher and he said his walk was firm and he was 80% there. I felt led to hand him the mic, which he didn't know I was carrying. He began to preach and it was a very good word he brought forth. I believe God was speaking to him as he was speaking to the crowd. About an hour later, he returned and said a man walked up to him and slapped the beer out of his hand. I told him that it was God. He told me he had told his nephew the same thing. I said God used a jackass to speak to a prophet. He said that is exactly what had just happened to him. I believe Tom is on his way back and I'm sure he would appreciate your prayers.
When we put the cross down and started to pray around it as a team, a young woman had a something like a stuffed animal, but it was a male sexual organ about 18" long. She put it amongst us and the cross as we prayed, bouncing it up and down between myself and another.
Gary approached me and asked if I could help him. He was a former altar boy in the Catholic church. He asked why something that happened long ago continue to haunt him. I told him that if he was hurt by someone and he nursed the hurt, doors for devils were open, including hatred, vengeance & murder. I told him that if that happened, he would imagine how to pay back including killing the man. His eyes told me with suprise that I was on target. I also said a bitter root would develop that would need to be plucked out for him to be free. He told me his priest was accused of molesting boys and that he had confessed. He said he would take the boys to ball games and develop relationship before molesting them. He also told me the same priest took him and his best friend to ball games but didn't molest them. After speaking to him for several more minutes he allowed me to pray for him.
Next came Michael, an old baptist believer that now doubted his faith. He said he believed science as he held a large drink in his hand. I told him our God created all true science. I also told him that every scientist knows that the order of the universe is mathematical and that math works according to governing principles and laws, as do physics and every other branch of science. I also said for there to be laws there must be a lawgiver, for laws do not create themselves, even as order does not evolve out of chaos. He said it made sense and he would rethink it.
A very angry woman came up as I was preaching Jesus and yanked the mic cord so hard that she damaged the cord so that I couldn't preach any more. But that was no problem because we went 6 years on Bourbon St. without a mic. As the night wore on, a satanist (I think) licked his finger and rubbed it on the cross that Darren held. We cancelled any curses that may have been applied. Then a pretty young blonde came sauntering up and practically rubbed herself against me in a most suggestive manner as I spoke to her. She said "Jesus loves me" as she did her thing. She didn't actually touch me and as I kept on point so she moved on. That was different. Next a young woman walked up to me and with misplaced sincerity she told me "just go home". She said she was a believer. We heard different versions of that frequently as we ministered. Many questioned why we would even be there. We usually said something like "Jesus said to go into all the world and preach the gospel" or that God loved them wanting none to perish so that they mattered to God.
Lastly, there were the two young black women that walked up. At least one of them was bare chested but wearing a coat that was wide open covering nothing. As they looked up and saw the cross, they both quickly drew their coats closed and couldn't get past the cross quickly enough. It seemed to me to be the reaction of two women that had lost their way after having been brought to church as children. The crowd toughened as it drew late and very little effective ministry was taking place so we called it a night. These reports are but the highlights of only one of perhaps a thousand saints who were there to minister. Who but God can know the true impact of all of the sacrifices, prayers & efforts of everyone involved, even if from afar. Thus was the end of a challenging yet fruitful Mardi Gras outreach. Thank you for reading and praying.
Mardi Gras Day on Bourbon Street 2014
It started off with a bang. We put the cross on the street and I began to preach and we were immediately accosted. People came up and began to rail on us without even hearing a word that was spoken. We were the only cross on the street in sight. Folks who were sick of seeing crosses and Christians likely were happy at our absence and angered at our presence. They nearly overwhelmed us so I told Tobiah to put a prayer alert out. As soon as he did, everything calmed down. Know your prayers affect us on Bourbon street during Mardi Gras. That is powerful! Now for some highlights. A former pastor from Indiana, Tom Tekker, approached the cross with a beer in his hand. He asked me if I knew Troy Bohn of the Ravens and I told him I did. He said he had ministered with the Ravens 4 years ago at Mardi Gras. He told us he & his wife who was the praise & worship leader in their church had a bad divorce and he had quit the ministry and was now driving a truck. I told him the giftings & callings of God were without repentance. I prayed for him and he was touched. I also told him God sought to restore him as a preacher and he said his walk was firm and he was 80% there. I felt led to hand him the mic, which he didn't know I was carrying. He began to preach and it was a very good word he brought forth. I believe God was speaking to him as he was speaking to the crowd. About an hour later, he returned and said a man walked up to him and slapped the beer out of his hand. I told him that it was God. He told me he had told his nephew the same thing. I said God used a jackass to speak to a prophet. He said that is exactly what had just happened to him. I believe Tom is on his way back and I'm sure he would appreciate your prayers.
When we put the cross down and started to pray around it as a team, a young woman had a something like a stuffed animal, but it was a male sexual organ about 18" long. She put it amongst us and the cross as we prayed, bouncing it up and down between myself and another.
Gary approached me and asked if I could help him. He was a former altar boy in the Catholic church. He asked why something that happened long ago continue to haunt him. I told him that if he was hurt by someone and he nursed the hurt, doors for devils were open, including hatred, vengeance & murder. I told him that if that happened, he would imagine how to pay back including killing the man. His eyes told me with suprise that I was on target. I also said a bitter root would develop that would need to be plucked out for him to be free. He told me his priest was accused of molesting boys and that he had confessed. He said he would take the boys to ball games and develop relationship before molesting them. He also told me the same priest took him and his best friend to ball games but didn't molest them. After speaking to him for several more minutes he allowed me to pray for him.
Next came Michael, an old baptist believer that now doubted his faith. He said he believed science as he held a large drink in his hand. I told him our God created all true science. I also told him that every scientist knows that the order of the universe is mathematical and that math works according to governing principles and laws, as do physics and every other branch of science. I also said for there to be laws there must be a lawgiver, for laws do not create themselves, even as order does not evolve out of chaos. He said it made sense and he would rethink it.
A very angry woman came up as I was preaching Jesus and yanked the mic cord so hard that she damaged the cord so that I couldn't preach any more. But that was no problem because we went 6 years on Bourbon St. without a mic. As the night wore on, a satanist (I think) licked his finger and rubbed it on the cross that Darren held. We cancelled any curses that may have been applied. Then a pretty young blonde came sauntering up and practically rubbed herself against me in a most suggestive manner as I spoke to her. She said "Jesus loves me" as she did her thing. She didn't actually touch me and as I kept on point so she moved on. That was different. Next a young woman walked up to me and with misplaced sincerity she told me "just go home". She said she was a believer. We heard different versions of that frequently as we ministered. Many questioned why we would even be there. We usually said something like "Jesus said to go into all the world and preach the gospel" or that God loved them wanting none to perish so that they mattered to God.
Lastly, there were the two young black women that walked up. At least one of them was bare chested but wearing a coat that was wide open covering nothing. As they looked up and saw the cross, they both quickly drew their coats closed and couldn't get past the cross quickly enough. It seemed to me to be the reaction of two women that had lost their way after having been brought to church as children. The crowd toughened as it drew late and very little effective ministry was taking place so we called it a night. These reports are but the highlights of only one of perhaps a thousand saints who were there to minister. Who but God can know the true impact of all of the sacrifices, prayers & efforts of everyone involved, even if from afar. Thus was the end of a challenging yet fruitful Mardi Gras outreach. Thank you for reading and praying.
Comments
Post a Comment