Greetings in the name of our unchanging Lord Jesus Christ.
The Arnold Sports Classic in Columbus has changed. To protect the public health of the city of Columbus and those attending the event, Arnold and the state of Ohio and the city of Columbus have decided to cancel the EXPO part of the Arnold and prohibit spectators from the athletic events.
Arnold Sports Festival cancels convention due to coronavirus, will allow athletes to compete
The Arnold is still being held with over 20,000 athletes competing. Most of these athletes will have a group of family, friends, coaches, and helpers with them. You can see there are still MANY events at the GCCC.
The Arnold has changed, but Jesus Christ has not. My perspective is that Jesus is the One who gave us the command to evangelize. For most of us, we evangelize at the Arnold and have made plans to do so because we believe God wills that we do so.
Since God’s will does not change, His desire that His people preach and evangelize at the Arnold has not changed.
Therefore, all evangelistic plans for the Arnold remain unchanged. If your participation in the Arnold Outreach 2020 is dependent upon 250,000 people being in Columbus for the event, then at this point the event is no longer for you.
If your participation, travel plans, and time commitment for this event is based on giving the gospel to whosoever God puts in your path that day and fellowshipping with the other committed saints, then the Arnold is still where you belong for the same period of time you have already committed to.
Although I am a very strong advocate of letting our yes be yes and our no be no, I will not hold any ill will toward, nor judge someone who claims that the change to the event precludes their previous commitment to attend.
But my sincere desire is that if you previously committed to the Arnold Outreach 2020, that you will consider the souls who will be there worth evangelizing and the time we spend glorifying to our Lord Jesus, even if the number of people expected is lower than usual.
I ask that you will notify me if you are still planning to attend or not by 5 pm, Thursday, March 5 so that we can re-organize the ride and meal around an accurate number of people.
Either way, Arnold said it is not “canceled” but postponed, so stay tuned for a SECOND Arnold for 2020!