Ministry Update November 23, 2015
On Wednesday November 18, 2015 I was at MSU at the usual spot and a young man came up to me and wanted to know if open-air preaching (or as he called it – yelling at people) was really the best way to reach people. I was just about finished with my message when he interrupted me. I told him to hang on a minute that I was about finished. But that didn’t make this professing Christian happy and frankly I get tired of the same old arguments.
“You are not being Christ-like.” “Jesus would never do this.” “You aren’t loving people.” “How many people have come up to you and fallen on their knees and accepted Christ on the sidewalk?” “You are pushing people away.” “Nobody is listening to you.” “Everybody makes fun of you.” “My Christian friends and I get together and we laugh at you – the crazy guy.” I could keep going on and on, but you get the picture. All he wanted to do was tell me how my method was wrong. He said what I was saying wasn’t unbiblical, but I was just going about it the wrong way.
I pointed out to him and I’d like to say to you – if you are truly saved, if you are my brother or sister in Christ, I’d be very careful condemning a Christian who is sharing the Gospel. You may not agree with my method, but that doesn’t mean that God has not called my friends and I to open-air preach. As Paul said, we (true followers of Christ) are all one body, but we are not all the same body part. You say open-air preaching is not for you, well that’s fine. I really do understand that. But what is your calling? How do you share your faith in Christ with others?
As I pointed out to the well intended young student on Wednesday, Jesus has already commanded us to preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). I asked him are you in the world? Is MSU campus a part of the world? Then Jesus has already commanded us to share the Gospel. We are to lift up our voices like a trumpet in the street. We are to preach from the roof top what we hear whispered in the ear (Matthew 10:27).
And the one that compels me the most is Romans 10:14: How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? How shall they hear without a preacher? The very best way that I know how to do what this verse says is to stand in public, open my mouth and proclaim the glorious Gospel. How can they hear without a preacher? It takes someone to preach for them to hear and God compels me to do so.
Is Yelling Really The Best Way to Reach People?
The young man asked “is yelling really the best way to reach people?” He wanted to know if I really thought open-air was the best way to reach people. I didn’t say this, but I thought to myself, no I came up with a list of 20 ways to share my faith in Christ and open-air was at the bottom of the list, but I just wanted to go with this option anyway. Of course I think open-air preaching is the best way to reach people. We live in an ever increasing secular society. People don’t grow up going to church like they did 30, 40 or 50 years ago. So how can they hear without a preacher? Yes, I think my friends and I “plow hard ground.” Yes, we get made fun of a lot. Many people think that we are crazy, but open-air preaching is not only biblical, I think it is a necessary and much needed method of evangelism. We need more open-air preachers in America and around the world.
While I was going over the same old arguments with this young man, Aaron and some other brothers in Christ were at the Bear Paw (where you can use amplification) and they preached over there for several hours. Aaron interacted with an angry, vocal atheist named Sean for about an hour and a half. Aaron who is a former atheist, explained to Sean that he used to have the same doubts and concerns about God and creation. But by the end of their discussion, the atheist was starting to doubt his own staunch position. He couldn’t be absolutely sure that there is no God. May God grant Sean repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
I talked to the person in charge of the permit process at MSU on Thursday and he told me that when that other group (he was referring to Aaron and the others with him) preaches at the Bear Paw with amplification that the phone rings nonstop with students complaining that the sound is so loud that they can’t study. But the gentleman told me that he’s beginning to believe that it’s the message and not the volume that is offensive. I told him that we get that a lot and that he’s exactly right. He told me that the students don’t complain about rock concerts, but they complain about the preaching. This doesn’t surprise us at all because the Gospel is offensive to those who are perishing.
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Then on Friday night we moved to South and Walnut because it was cold out and the crowds disappear on the square during the winter. But there are always people walking down the sidewalk in this area because a lot of them are headed to the bars. Aaron and I were joined by Ethan, Diana, Elise and D-Day. We were a smaller group than usual and it rained a little when we first started and the wind was biting cold, but we sang hymns and preached the Gospel.
We were cussed by several people walking by and driving by us, heard a few hail Satans and were told to shut up by several people. But a few people seemed to listen to the messages and you never know what God will do with the seeds that were planted. Ethan helped come up with some Bible verses that Aaron used in his message and Ethan also quoted John 3:17. Several tracts were handed out and our Lord was praised through song and preaching. Oh may Almighty God be pleased to draw some lost souls to himself.
Young Man Asks For a Ride to Church
Last Friday I mentioned the young man who buzzed Aaron on a skateboard while Aaron was preaching and he hung around and talked to Erica and Aaron and he allowed them to pray for him after they had a good discussion with him. Tonight I found out that the young man called Aaron on Wednesday and asked for a ride to church! While we are praising God for this development, I suppose others (like the professing Christian at MSU on Wed.) still believe that we are wasting our time and that it’s not the best way to reach people. Well best way or not, it’s biblical, it’s needed and God convicts my friends and I to preach in the open-air. So we will continue to obey God rather than men and may the Lord receive all praise, honor and glory. We encourage all fellow believers to share their faith in Jesus with the lost.