The Bible contains the record of several men who were involved in a form of street preaching. Jeremiah was commanded by the Lord on several occasions to do this. John the Baptist and the Lord himself ministered to large crowds. The prophet Jonah preached with a bad attitude and the ungodly nation of Nineveh repented. Is this something Christians should be doing today? Notice the perspective of one man about street preaching.
I’m not too sure why people try and reason or correct these born again folks. Although this woman had more Bible knowledge then most, Shadrak, Meshak, Abendigo, whatever his name is quickly pulled out a bunch of chapters and verses sending this poor woman to the fiery underworld. It is of my opinion this whole born again thing has nothing to do with God or Jesus and everything to do with “I’m right and you’re wrong”. I also believe them to be highly delusional in their belief of superiority. There were times I thought they may be the genuine article and actually believe all the stuff they were preaching, but after watching them on multiple occasions I have come to the conclusion they really just want you to be wrong and them to be right. There is no soul saving going on here.
I think we should be careful not to base our decisions on the response of the lost. The fellow quoted above might not be persuaded by a kinder, gentler preacher either. But it does make you wonder whether more harm is being done than good by some of these street preachers.
My experience is limited to a Methodist street preacher named Brother Jed who attracted derisive comments at the Ohio State University during the late 80’s and early 90’s. I admire his courage and dedication, but have also wondered about his demeanor. He seems to think he is doing right. But could he have accomplished more with a kinder attitude? To be honest, the preaching I have heard from ministries like this seem to favor preaching damnation more than salvation from it through Christ.
I have one of his books. He’s Arminian to the extreme!
For some reason, he looks better in the picture than I remember. Was there another street preacher back then who was missing teeth?
I don’t think Jed was missing any teeth. I am sure several in the OSU crowd wanted Jed to lose a few teeth, but there were enough people around to stop any serious violent act. People would spit at him, mock him, and be generally rude to him, but no one would really take a swing at him. Some tried, but as I have stated before, several in the crowd would stop that very quickly.
My take on Jed; I think he actually enjoyed being “persecuted for the Lord”. The other thing; he would insist people “change their ways for God to save them” as if, as Pastor Foxx claimed this past Sunday morning, the sinner has to put on “new clothes” for God to accept them. Again, “putting the cart before the horse”. I told him one time that he should stop preaching “Christian Ethics” to the lost. I also told him that I believed that once saved always saved. YIKES! He pointed me out in the crowd one day, and called me a heretic in front of all the students claiming he has obtained “sinless perfection”.
In the book he gave me (for a small donation if one wanted to donate. I did not), his wife claimed he has yet to see Jed “sin” since they were married. He also believes that if a child is born to “sinless perfection” parents, they, by virtue of their parents, and living in a sinless environment, they (the children) would not need Christ as their Savior!
Wow, you’re bring up a lot of past stuff about “Bro Jed”! I need to visit his website…I’ll let you know!
A quick perusal of his website yields some interesting information about him: “I consider it an honor to be consided a modern day Pelagius…I am in agreement with the basic theology of this holy man and his emphasis on free-will…for the last few years I have been calling myself a Pelagian.”
Ouch!
But Doug, how would you explain John the Baptist? He called for the people to repent of their sin. Was he calling them to do something that they could not? Or was he preparing their hearts for their need of Jesus?
I didn’t hear Pastor Foxx’s message, but I believe that repentance is a necessary part of the gospel message (Acts 20:21).
In the “Decisions or Disciples” workshop, Doran asked what should be said to a man living in immorality who wants to be saved. Would you first confront him about his sin or ignore it trusting the Lord to change him later?
I don’t see how someone can receive Christ and knowingly hold onto their sin at the same time. You can’t serve two masters (Luke 16:13).
I think you’re missing my point. It is HOW Jed presents the Gospel. Instead of focusing on Christ, and what He did for the sinner on Calvary, he would talk about the sin nature of man. So, you ask, “What’s wrong with that?” Here is the problem as I remember it. He would tell the students that their lifestyle needed to change BEFORE CHRIST COULD SAVE THEM as if the Power of God could not change the sinner unless the sinner first changes himself/herself. THAT’S the Jed I remember! In other words, they had to STOP SINNING so Christ could save them. How can a sinner stop sinning when that’s the nature of the sinner? “Can the leopard change his spots”? Again, Jed was putting the cart before the horse. I told Jed, just preach Christ Crucified, and let God do the saving. He wasn’t happy with me! Jed would preach about Repentence, but Jed’s concept of Repentence is the sinner needs to stop sinning for Salvation to take place. NOT a Biblical view of Repentence!
That’s why I said he would preach “Christian Ethics” to the lost students, as if the lost students should be able to understand the Christian’s Way of Life.