Don't Tangle With the Holy Spirit.

I hate like poison to find myself embroiled in any kind of conflict. I do not like angry, aggressive people & under normal circumstances will go to great lengths to avoid any sort of conflict.

Hence Church~in~the~Park has always been problematic for me.  I believe, absolutely, we are called to do this.  At the same time I get why people get upset with us but of course the Tolerance Brigade has never been very tolerant of anyone but themselves. Legally we have contracted with our council to use the park for 2 hours each Sunday.  We are not always there due to weather, illness or other commitments but we are fairly regular during the good weather.

We have missed about 6 weeks but were right on track to return last Sunday.  It is still winter weather so a little chilly out of the sun & absolutely no good for swimming. We rocked up & began to set up to find that a single woman had highjacked both power points with the sole purpose of denying us power ~ with the intended purpose no doubt of sending us home with our tail between our legs, unable to deliver our message.  Normally I would have  been only too happy to head home but we had had a wonderful morning service ~ powerful & very anointed & obviously to prepare us for the park so I was in no mind to go anywhere. Nor was the MOTH.

This woman ostentatiously perched by the powerpoint ~ that we did not dispute despite our legal right to it ~ while we gathered round the table.  The MOTH is usually right into this stuff so he just opened his bible & began his standard preaching prayer from Romans 10.

The funny thing about people is they always know when they are in the wrong & she sooo knew she was in the wrong she was in fight or flight mode & literally shaking; shaking & backed into a corner.  We had not gone away as she intended. She could only get her ipod so loud ~ easily drowned out by Amazing Grace ~ about the only hymn or chorus I know multiple verses off & can sing without music~ & the MOTH's voice.

By then I was itching to get up & preach, which is so very unlike me, but itching I was because, boy! Did I have a message for her! What's more the Holy Spirit popped in some little extras about abandonment, both being abandoned & doing the abandoning & she began yelling & screaming @ me ~ so I just lifted my voice & went over the top of her.  Such a lot to be said for being drama trained. I refused to engage.  It was her problem, not mine, & if the Holy Spirit had something to say to her it was nothing to do with me.

The irony is, if she hadn't made such an issue of hogging the power she could have packed up & left any time she wanted but fuss she had & so she was stuck until we decided to end it. What's more she got a male with a good strong voice & a drama trained preacher so even when she got on the phone she couldn't drown us out.  We know the person on the other end could hear us too! She had backed herself into a position where she was forced to listen to a sermon discussing Lordship & sin.

 I know it hit home.  When I began on everyone serves someone or something, whether they know it or not, she got even angrier & ...well you can image but I just blithely went on pointing out we all have to obey the law of the land ~ drive on the right side of the road, get educated, do all sort of things we mightn't otherwise do because the law is our master ~ & that is not something you can really argue with.  Not logically anyway.

She was fuming with anger when she got on her phone & so we could hear quite a lot of her conversation ~ jailbird; lost her partner; lost her kids; denied access to her kids; due back in court ~ so sad.  So unnecessary. It really doesn't pay to tangle with the Holy Spirit when you don't know what you're doing. As the MOTH said: Captive Audience  ~ & all her own fault.