Ministry Update January 17, 2016
This Isn’t How You Reach Our Generation
“What are you saying?” “Why are you doing this?” “Why are you yelling?” “Tell them about the love of Jesus.” “Nobody’s listening to you.” “This isn’t how you reach our generation.” “You need to talk to us one to one.” These were some of the comments that I heard last Wednesday at MSU, mainly from six young men that came over and talked to me after I finished open-air preaching. I didn’t point out the irony that they questioned why I was open-air preaching and yet six of them stopped to talk to me.
There may be many reasons to open-air preach, but for me there are mainly four reasons. 1. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). I know people who do open-air preaching because they were saved by God through hearing the Gospel proclaimed in the open air. I’ve personally witnessed people come under conviction and some even come to faith after listening to open-air preaching (Romans 10:14). 2. It encourages Christians to more boldly share their faith in Jesus with others (Acts 9:27-29). I’ve had people tell me that they could never stand on a box on a street corner and preach, but it makes them realize that they can share their faith with a family member or co-worker. 3. It draws people to you so you can talk to them one to one (just like the six young students at MSU came over and talked to me on Wednesday). This reminds me of Paul disputing daily in the market place (Acts 17:17). 4. We open-air preach to lift up the glorious name of Jesus Christ our Lord (Psalm 48:13).
Out of the six young men that stopped to talk to me, one of them asked most of the questions. It turns out that he was raised in a Christian home (his words) but he doesn’t believe. He believes the Bible was just written by men, no Holy Spirit inspiration involved. He did believe that our souls are eternal. I told him that he had that part right. He believes that after you die your spirit just goes on this long never ending journey. I asked him where he got his information from and he just knew it.
I told him that I get my information from the Bible, that it is God’s inspired Word. I asked him if he was a good person and he said that we probably had different definitions of good. So I said what do you think, are you a good person. He hemmed and hawed a little then he smiled sheepishly and said “I’m a great person.“ By this time there were four students around me listening in on our conversation. So I took him through a few of the 10 Commandments and one young man to my left blurted out “none of us can meet that standard!” I said you are exactly right and that’s why I’m out here to share the Gospel with you today. The young man that did most of the talking wouldn’t tell me his name, but he doesn’t believe there is a Heaven or a Hell. I read to them Revelation 20:11-15 and pointed out that if their names aren’t written in the Lamb’s book of life when they die, they will go to Hell. Two of the four took Gospel tracts, but the talker was one of them that refused a tract.
After these four, I talked to two other young men, one at a time. They mainly wanted me to know how preaching to the students wouldn’t work. I politely listened to them and gave both of them tracts. I also had one student come up from behind me and he walked right in front of me and as he walked by, he thanked me for being out there. I also was “blessed” with the older man that works at MSU that mocks God every time he walks by me. When he did it this time I said “God bless you sir” and I used it as an opportunity to remind the students that we all need the Gospel, I need it, they need it and the older man that mocks needs the Gospel too. May God grant them repentance and faith in Jesus.
The Silent Heckler
Then on Friday night we sang hymns and then I preached first. A young man stood in front of me and danced and moved around in front of me most of the time that I brought a message. But he never said a word and he drew people’s attention. They’d stop to see what he was doing. Then Aaron preached after me and the young man stayed around and did the same thing while Aaron preached. But the Gospel went forth. Erica, Diana and Elise joined us and we sang a few hymns to start and end the night. It was really cold, but surprisingly there were quite a few people out. We had a few drive by hecklers, but overall it was a calm night. We also gave out a few tracts. May God bless and multiply the tracts (cause others to see them too).
These updates are given to encourage Christians to share the glorious Gospel with this lost and dying world. Jesus told us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. We all won’t be preachers, but every Christian can share their faith with someone. Are you being obedient to our Lord and Savior?