(Greg and Houston are pictured in the first picture)Greg Marlin and I are part of Born of Him Ministries and we witnessed at the Springfield high school graduations on May 9th and 10th. We were greatly blessed to have a young man named Houston Kelly join us when we went out on the 9th. It rained for three hours straight that night. Houston is a tracting machine. He gave out hundreds and hundreds of tracts, in the pouring rain! He also broke the sound barrier by reading blessed Scripture a couple of different times. We did a little open-air preaching (the first time we’ve tried this at the graduations) and the management at JQH Arena didn’t like it one bit. Please keep in mind that we were preaching to the crowds as they were entering and exiting the building in between graduation ceremonies. We were not trying to interfere with the actual ceremonies. A manager from JQH came out and told us that we had to quit. We told her that we were on public property and that our amplifier was under 75 decibels, so that we could preach.
She then called MSU security and four or five of them came flying up about the same time (Hawaii Five-O style) with their lights flashing. They told us we had to cease immediately. We respectfully told them that we had the right to be there. They said they were going to call the police. We welcomed the call. While we were waiting, one of the elderly security guards kept asking Greg what he was doing preaching at a graduation ceremony. I appreciate Greg’s boldness in the Lord. Greg started preaching to the three security guards standing right in front of him (a couple more were farther back). Greg told them that it was no accident that they were there and hearing the Gospel. He asked them to repent and believe the Gospel.
The first police officer showed up and told us that JQH Arena wanted us to stop preaching. We told him that we weren’t preaching while the ceremony was going on, but that we planned to start again when the ceremony ended. We also pointed out that we had the right to preach there and that we were under 75 decibels. He did an amazing thing. He said that he didn’t know the law for sure and that he didn’t want to tell us something wrong, so he called his sergeant. I commend this young officer for doing the right thing instead of trying to bluff us.
He walked away and talked to a couple of other officers that arrived. While we were waiting, Greg suggested that we pray, so the three of us prayed. The sergeant showed up and talked to the first officer, walked up to us (he was a large and intimidating man), looked all three of us up and down, didn’t say a word and walked back to the first officer and they talked some more. The first police officer came over to us and told us that we had the right to be there. He asked that we not preach while the graduation ceremonies were going on and it was great, because we had already stopped exactly for that reason and we pointed that out to him.
Overall it was a great night, people heard the Gospel and it was a very exciting first night out street witnessing for Houston. This young man lives an hour away, but he was excited, enthusiastic and I hope he gets to join us many times in the future. The best part about the police agreeing that we had the right to witness at JQH Arena is that we witness there several times throughout the year at concerts and other events. Thanks be to God.
I also had a guy walk by and say that he wished he had his 38 pistol with him while I was preaching. I’m thankful that he didn’t have his gun. He also mouthed off to Greg when he came out of the ceremony saying that we owed him $36. We have no idea what he was talking about since the graduation ceremonies are free.
The next night, Greg and I went back and witnessed at a couple of more graduation ceremonies. We had a few strange encounters. I had handed a guy a tract, he was a veteran and I thanked him for his service and he walked off looking at the tract. Greg preached first. Many people were listening, a few young people walked by and yelled at him. After that I got up and preached. The veteran came back while I was preaching and asked me if I had ever read the back of the Born of Him Million Dollar Tract. I assured him that I had. He then threw it at me and said that it was all a bunch of bull.
After that, a guy walked right up to me and leaned in and said, “You’re a butt,” and walked off. I thanked him for his opinion and kept on preaching. After I was done, Greg came over and told me that three guys were standing behind me and one of them kept acting like he was going to kick the stool out from underneath me while I was preaching. I was oblivious to it and thankfully Greg walked over and stood between me and the guys when he saw it. That’s why it’s important to go out witnessing with at least one other person.
The one that broke my heart the most was a guy who walked up right in front of me. I could tell he wasn’t in favor of what I was doing, so I ignored him and preached over his head. Greg came over and the guy talked to him. He’s a local pastor and he told Greg that what we were doing was wrong. He said that we were driving people to Hell. I hate to tell this pastor that people are already lost and going to Hell. That’s exactly why we were out there! When we all stand before God on Judgment Day, God will not admonish us for pleading with lost souls to come to Christ. I believe God will admonish this pastor (and many others like him) about his unwillingness to witness to the lost outside the church walls. It’s truly heartbreaking.
On a good note, a neighbor walked by and gave me a thumbs up while I was preaching. She sent me a message the next day and said, “Good to see you Proclaiming the Word in Love!” It was a very encouraging. But more importantly, it’s great when you see people intently listening when the Gospel is being proclaimed in the open. We saw several people that night that you could tell God was working on them. Open-air preaching is biblical and it’s just as necessary today as it was during the times of the prophets in the Old Testament as well as the apostles’ time in the New Testament.
Christian, if you currently do not share your faith with others, please know that you don’t have to stand on a box and preach. But please buy some Gospel tracts, walk up to someone and say, “Did you get one of these?” You’ll be surprised how many people will take them. Also, grab a friend and go out witnessing or join another local evangelism group in your area.
LivingWaters.com is an excellent resource if you want tracts or more witnessing information. Jesus said what you hear whispered in the ear, preach from the rooftop (Matthew 10:27). He also told us to preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). Share your faith with others. Start tonight.