Grace and Peace, Joe

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My opinion is, who am I to tell God how, when, through whom, where He can speak?

 

If He wants to speak through a Jeremiah, an Isaiah, an open air speaker, an ass (and I've heard a few of them, too), who am I judge His choices and methods?

 

preach on....

 

 

 

 

I appreciate Jesse's posts here, too. He seems to really have spent time at trying to make sense of biblical narrative in terms of OT.

There are many different approaches to open air preaching, just as there are many different approaches to congregational preaching.  In both settings, there are good and bad examples of conveying the message. I can honestly say that I have never preached an open air message that did not mention hell. In some settings the preaching is conversational, in some cases it consists of an open rebuke, and always I try to give a rational explanation of the gospel and the Christian faith.  Jesse speaks to college students on a daily basis, whereas I primarily preach open air at festivals and large public venues. I have been the guy on the busy street corner shouting at passers-by, but generally try to engage people in dialog without being unnecessarily offensive. I always try to answer questions without letting the audience dictate the message.  It is a fine line to walk. From what I have seen on Jesse's videos, he does a great job walking that line.

 

Grace and Peace, Joe 

Unfortunately, some open air preachers are combative in a worldly sense. I do know many godly men who exhibit Christian character in the face of hostility, keeping their cool and responding in a manner that reflects Jesus.  Unfortunatley, these guys don't get the same kind of press that the poor examples receive. It's kind of like how Benny Hinn is a household name (not for positive reasons) and relatively few people know who Greg Boyd is. 

 

The link below is an example of an open air preacher who presents himself and his message in a manner that is above reproach. There are  other examples on the site as well.

 

 

Grace and Peace, Joe

God help us to walk in their footsteps! 

 

Grace and Peace, Joe

What begins as preaching that appears to be a monolog shouting at bystanders can soon turn into a dialog with an attentive audience. There are times however that a monolog is in order, especially if the dialog is unproductive or is hindering message. In some cases an open rebuke is warranted, where no dialog is intended. Other times a monolog is in order in order to stimulate future dialog.

 

During a Christmas event in my hometown a local store put live underwear models in the window for the men to lust after. I stood outside the store with my sandwich board and preached against lust and adultery of the heart. There was some dialog, but for the most part it was just a small crowd listening while the crowd of men at the window was dispersing.  Other times I will stand up and give an explanation of the Christian faith.  I always spend time answering questions during and after the preaching.

 

Of course there are those who refuse any productive dialog and don't have any redemptive purpose in their preaching, but that is sometimes the case in both congregational and open air preaching. In both cases, such preaching is counterproductive at best.

 

Grace and Peace, Joe

 

 

 

And his Mars Hill interaction I think bears little resemblance to most of today's open-air preachers. Some, or most, may be too quick to assume his mantle. No presentation of the law to the gentiles, contra Ray Comfort.

When I was a new convert I was terrified about sharing my faith so I used to cite scriptures like "Don't throw your pearls before swine" and "I believe in the Spirit led witness and I am not going to step out in the flesh and do more damage than good..."

 

Often the apostles provoked riots and persecution, people didn't like what they preached or where they did it. They weren't always invited into to speak. Their message was such that all of them were eventually martyred; I would guess they weren't preaching "unconditional love".

 

Over the years I have realized that Godly men will stand up and cry out against wickedness in the streets and from the roof-tops. Gay marriage is on the way; its here and in large because the church fell asleep at the wheel. I feel awful for the youth of today because they will be persecuted if they don't accept the gay lifestyle. Most of them will indeed grow up believing that homosexuals are "normal" regardless of what they hear in Sunday School. Even churches are caving to the world and becoming more accepting of homosex. I have begun to hear the weasels say "well gays have a right to go to church too; I mean they need to hear the gospel don't they?" and an inch at a time, soon openly gay men will be teaching Sunday school; all because it was illegal to discriminate against them, and churches can't stand for righteousness in good times, there is no way they will stand up for God when the consequences could me removal of tax exemption or jail...Soon many of your pastors will defile the youth in your churches by allowing gay couples to fellowship with you. Children learn from actions; they will see the gay couples sitting together and assume that it is OK to be gay.

 

The worst has happened in this country, good men are doing nothing. Evil is prevailing because Christians don't want to call sin "sin" anymore and are more concerned with selling books and building churches. I guess I don't blame them because they know in their hearts that they have lost their moral authority; they smoke drink and hang out at the clubs, you can't even tell the Christians of today apart from the world.

 

I street preach like Jesse. We seem to be the ONLY people standing up for God in today's society. I got so fed up with this country going to hell in a hand-basket and doing nothing, I got off my lazy a$$ and took the message of holiness to the streets; mostly to defend the honor of God whom I claim to serve. Most of my Christian friends disagree with what I am doing but I am more concerned with what God thinks than some lazy hypocrites.

 

Some of our strongest hecklers that we encounter are professing Christians who ardently fight us to defend the sin in their lives. AS a side bar, if you sin daily, you are under the dominian of sin and are not walking in the grace of God (see Romans 6).

 

Half of our time on the stump is spent explaining why nature and God testify against the homosexual lifestyle and from what I can see we are the ONLY voice on campus and often the ONLY voice in these students lives that will speak out against the abomination that is taking place before our very eyes. This young generation doesn't know the difference between right and wrong anymore. BTW the church doesn't seem to either, greasy grace, unconditional love, 1/2 the pastors are pron-freaks and the other 1/2 are divorced.

 

Most of the time I agree with the students in their criticisms of the church today and spend much time re-educating them on the nature of God, holiness and grace...I usually tell them to believe in Christ despite what they hear and see most Christians doing and teaching.

 

We are finally seeing the fruits of "waiting for the Spirit led witness" and not wanting to cast our pearls before swine. Not wanting to offend the world... The 1% of this country that is gay has conquered the 75 million strong Evangelicals in this country.

 

I am grateful for the honor to preach the most important message in all of mankind to a lost and dying generation.

 

Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Post Edited (Corey) : 4/15/2008 3:06:01 PM (GMT-5)

 

I am sorry that your missionary efforts brought you to tears. To defend the efforts of open air preaching is not boasting nor beating my chest like a Pharisee, we do indeed get thanked from many of the sinners for preaching and an ocassional Christian so we are confident that our message is not falling on deaf ears. Even the ones that disagree with us will tell us they appreciate our passion and taking to time to share with them what we believe is the truth. One woman recently said she is not a Christian but if she were; she would preach hard against sin just as we are doing. Even sinners know that we love them enough to warn them of the terror of the Lord.

 

Having re-read your post I see why I hit a nerve. Obviously my comments were not directed at anyone on this BB; I merely commented on the effectiveness and need for the public proclaimation of the gospel, the gospel as preached by Jesus and the apostles.

 

Sorry,

 

Chaz

Post Edited (Chaz Finney) : 4/15/2008 4:49:13 PM (GMT-5)