What’s crackalackin Vessels,
I am not perfect there are many times I have failed in obedience to God’s will, but today was not one of those days.
The free will I have as a human being did very little in my work for Christ. The hardest part of starting a fire is creating a strong spark. After the spark catches the only thing to do is keep it burning. God provided every spark for every action I have done for his glory. I was only strong enough to keep the fire going through prayer and devotion. Today, I felt more than a spark from God. I felt like I was harnessing the fire of his kingdom.
In the first few weeks attending Appalachian State University; there was a hate preacher that frequently practiced his freedom of speech on campus. After Sydney and I began to meet, she expressed her urge to make a sign so we could sit and show the students Jesus’s love. The next time we met we created two signs. Sydney’s sign had bold letters with the phrase “He would love first” to capture the spectators’ eyes. My sign had scripture written out and mentions other scriptures for a biblical basis.
It has been a little over a month since we had initially made those signs. This week Sydney decided to visit home. Today the hate preacher was back. Sydney wasn’t here to fight alongside me. I was equipped with faith and the Holy Spirit. If I didn’t go out there I would be ignoring God’s will.
God used me in a spiritual war today on my college campus.
The word “war” has a very negative connotation for a very good reason. Words I associate with war include; fighting, hurt, death, loss, long, and dark. War is never something an individual desires for one’s gain. War is two collective purposes clashing until one meets defeat. Everyone on this earth is part of a bigger war and many don’t even realize it. This is spiritual warfare. Before today, I had only experienced spiritual warfare in my human heart. I had human desires that God did not desire for me and the Holy Spirit was there to fight for my faith. God has kept me strong in faith through this.
My recent biblical studies have been driven by my longing for scriptural and theological understanding. I had read stories of disciples receiving gifts to spread the gospel, but today the stories came to life as I witnessed myself being equipped. The first aspect of today’s spiritual war was within myself. My human heart battled the Holy Spirit’s pulling by heightening my anxiety. I have not felt this level of anxiety since before I knew Jesus. The defeat of this anxiety came in the midst of my pronouncing of the Hebrew word, “yirah”.
Let me explain; I have never spoken a word of Hebrew in my life. When I read the bible aloud in small groups I trip over simple English. I took two years of Spanish in High School, and still, barley know “Hola, Come Estas?” Which is probably spelled wrong.
The word came when the man began to command every student to fear God because of their eternal life in hell. He read scriptures about our command as Christ-followers to fear God. Then “Yirah” slipped out in a steady voice no longer wavered by anxiety. Through my voice, God said “this Hebrew word is oftentimes translated to fear but it actually means; reverence and respect, having yirah for the Lord is the motivating factor in the Christian ministry”
This brings me to the second level of spiritual warfare I experienced. That was much bigger than myself. For the first time, I felt like a weapon of Christ. I did things I have never done before. My physical body was wracked with anxiety, but my soul was on fire for the Lord. The Lord used my fire. He gave me the words to say and the ability to say them. When the hate preacher challenged my theology, I flipped to scripture after scripture after scripture as if I knew what to say to questions he had yet to ask. I knew the Bible like the back of my hand– in a way I have never known it before.
My peers listened to me in a way they never have.
Little did they know they weren’t even listening to me.
I wasn’t finding scripture.
I wasn’t speaking the truth.
God was the doer in every single one of my actions for his glory.
Students approached me with respect. Some fellow believers on campus give me thumbs up, nods, fist pumps, and one read scripture for me when anxiety closed my throat. The other students that approached me did not know Jesus. They didn’t yell at me like they did the hate preacher. They recognized my passion for God and respected me for it. None of them committed their life to Christ in front of my eyes, but I could see the spark in their future. I knew they recognized my passion by their confused struck faces. Most of the looks I got we’re ones of wondering. Wondering why a student; whom they didn’t even know the name of, would share personal experiences for a God who they thought hated them.
When I was done I joined my friend’s under a nearby tree. I went straight to prayer. I praised God for my strengths. I prayed that nothing I did was for my own Glory.
Satan was going to do everything he could to manipulate my human heart to stop the spread of the Gospel. Although War has a negative connotation, the victor of any war will tell you that it was a good thing. The Bible tells us that God has already won the war. Jesus defeated death. We as Christians are fighting a spiritual battle on Earth, that we are the victor of already. No matter the strategy of Satan or the depth of a wound he inflicts upon us, he will never win. I got my sign and I walked out there. The entire time I stood there I fought two urges; one being to yell at the hate preacher, and the other to stay completely silent. Both would have aided Satan and yet, I chose neither. The shortcomings of my human nature are nothing in comparison to the miracles of God.
We fight the spiritual warfare in our human hearts daily, which gives the ability to find joy because of our faith in Christ Jesus. There’s bigger spiritual warfare going on in the world, on a larger scale. Every person is a warrior in this. The Warriors that fight for God can take heart because the victory has already been won. When Believers go to battle as Warriors for Christ not only are they equipped in the armor of God, but their faith in God will equip them as they go. Every Warrior has their own strengths and gifts, but only Warriors who are able to trust fully in the power of God to equip them will become the sharpest swords.
Spiritual warfare is everywhere but this war isn’t scary. We’ve already won.
May the Spirit equip you,
A Vessel
Photo taken by my roommate and cheerleader; Shania.
Two Typing Vessels 
Hey!
I enjoyed reading this post and I agree with many of your points. However, I have watched these men in many videos on YouTube and i personally haven’t heard them say anything contrary to the word of God or “hateful” statements. As a Christian myself, I would not call this hateful. Now, I understand this may not be the way you enjoy spreading the gospel – and that is completely okay. It’s up to the individual on how they choose to spread the gospel, as long as what they’re saying is truth. By all means, we should share the gospel on a more individual level with one on one conversations and with all meekness and love. that being said, I believe sometimes, the gospel needs to be shouted from the rooftops in boldness and to many, it will come across as “hate” when this is done. But really, it is love.
On places like campuses, I believe this can be a very effective means of getting someone to hear the gospel, as I saw people in their videos, attentively listening and contemplating what these men were saying. As for me, if I were still the lukewarm Christian I was a year ago, and I heard these men speak, I would definitely be stirred to seek Jesus again.
Also, the gospel isn’t always going to be comfortable or even enjoyable for sinners to hear. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not meant to just let people hear of endless love, mercy, and forgiveness of God. Even though the gospel is all those things, yes!!! the gospel is also meant to convict and stir up our souls. When we want someone to turn to Christ, we can’t just tell them the gospel without mentioning the dangers of sin. That’s the whole point of the gospel message. If we don’t warn others about sin, Why then, did Jesus have to die for us?
One of Jesus’s very first words when he started his ministry, was “repent”, meaning to turn from sin. This got people’s attention.
Matthew 4:17 KJV says “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The word “love” wasn’t even mentioned until later in the book of Matthew. Now, by NO means does this mean I’m saying not to love one another/ approach the gospel in love. But isn’t love warning people about sin? And the dangers of hell? It’s like if someone was standing at the very edge of a cliff, and you see them about to fall, yet you say nothing. This is the same as seeing unbelievers pass by you and not warning them about dying in sin without Jesus, which leads to death and hell. This is the same as avoiding the topic of sin/ repentance in preaching the gospel to others as well. The very core of the message.
To give some word to back this up, In the New Testament, the first example of open-air preaching we see is John the Baptist preaching publicly. And what he said was not “love others” first, but “repent for the kingdom is at hand” Peter did this as well and not to mention, Jesus.
Anyways, I said all this to say that what these preachers are doing is biblical, and I hope that even if you don’t agree with their method, that maybe you’ll see where they’re coming from. Their YouTube handle is @ Buddy Fisher by the way if you want to check them out for yourself.
God bless you
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Hey Kaitlyn,
First off, I would like to say that I truly appreciate your comment. It challenged me to re-evaluate my view of yesterday’s events. I want to be clear that I was simply there to show my peers that there was more to God than the man’s sign. God loved and missed his children so much when sin separated him from them. He sent his son in humility to die so that we can be clean of our sin only through Christ. This sacrificing love was entirely missed in this man’s message, which is why I felt personally convicted to add to his overall message, not contradict him. This love was what first awoke me in my need for salvation. I am a college student and as a college student, this approach won’t awake my peers’ souls. They are searching for love and are hurt by a lack of love in the modern world stained with politics, suffering, and self love all products of the sin in the human heart. I am not trying to discredit the fact that this man believes he is saved. If he believes Jesus died for him just as I do, then he is my brother in Christ. The kingdom of heaven I am on fire for is driven by love, unity, and forgiveness.
At the end of the day, my blog post and his YouTube video won’t do an event like this justice. We both have a subconscious bias in what we share. One blog post and a 9-minute video don’t compare to experiencing this yourself. Unfortunately, the Bible and scripture can be and will be debated until the end. I will be the first to admit that I am ignorant of my interpretation of scripture. Something I can’t argue or admit ignorance for is the presence of the Holy Spirit in my actions. I will never forget or deny the power of the Holy Spirit I felt yesterday.
Blessings,
Lindsay
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Thank you for the blessing “my cadet” one of my daughters of the heart! Be careful out there, there are still a lot of bad people vou there, pretending to be “bout it”. Never ho anywhere with them in private to discuss, keep it public
Volonel
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Thank you for believing in me Colonel! I appreciate your continued support in my life and future endeavors more than you know.
Peabody
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Great word Lindsay! I think more people need to hear this. It’s a very good reminder that there is more to what meets the eye when it comes to decisions in our lives. Thank you for sharing your experience, very inspiring!
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