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I wanted to share to you a little experience that has been on the back of my mind constantly. So this past weekend was New Years and I went with my family to Las Vegas, Nevada to celebrate. It was New Years eve; you can already imagine the number of visitors from around the world. As I was walking down the strip I saw various people a Huge banner with the name Jesus written. Also, people with poster that had Bilbe verses and words that said " lairs, homosexuals, those who committ adultery.. hell awaits". These people where protesting against all those who were sinning so they could be aware of their actions meanwhile being in Las Vegas. I walked towards a man with a microphone who was part of the group, to hear what he was preaching as well as wanted to say God Bless you for his words and actions. When I approached him, he had a great amount of people standing around him. I realized that most of the people in the crowd were humiliating the man that was spreading the good news of the Lord. I became very angry to hear the crowd chant "douchbag" because they were against what he was preaching. The man asked the crowd "Do you agree with sex before marriage?", the crowd yelled "Yea!" and would laugh at him. As I stood there with anger and analized how the majority were all drunk, hating on the poor man; it seemed as demons had taken over the form of human bodies and were barking at he man with insults. It was very shocking and scary to be there and witness this. A guy even got into his face and seemed like he wanted to hit the preacher. Others were blowing hornets so you couldn't hear what the man was preaching and another person blew the hornet in his ear. I was raging with anger and wanted to take away that persons hornet and rip it apart for I also wanted to yell at everyone to leave the poor man alone. Some how in my eyes I saw the man was protected. Like if God had a protective shield over him because neither the guy blowing the horn in his ear bothered him or the yelling of the crowd intimidated him or made him quit. Soon police men came to push those who were barking at his face. I am only 18 and a girl; I didnt do anything when I was there because I was scared. I really wanted to though and ever since I left I can't stop thinking about it. I wish I could go back and have the same courage as that man preaching the word of the Lord and let all those demons know that God is great.

That's not the "good news of the Lord." That kind of confrontational public preaching is rarely successful and, IMO, is often driven by a selfish desire for attention and notoriety. Were they the Westboro people?

I was in Vancouver BC during the Olympics. I saw a similar clown there, yelling about "fags" and "sinners," but there were also some people with a "Can we pray for you?" sign. They weren't yelling, but there were a lot of people talking with them. Todd Friel and his friends use the "Law and Gospel" method of public witnessing. I imagine these two ways are far more effective than yelling at people.

To answer your question, I would have ignored both the "preacher" and the crowd.

There are much effective ways to share Christ like volunteer in a homeless shelter and serve food to those who thirst from someone to share a bit of encouraging news like saying bless you as they pass through the line for food and pass out tracks to them that would be alot more effective that doing what that person did in Las Vegas..

we know God Uses many ways to reach the lost...

Rom. 2:4 -- Or do you have contempt for the wealth of His kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?

Matt. 3:2 -- Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.

the tact used by the preacher in Vegas will be Used by God -- i think Paul would approve as well (Phil. 1:15-18) -- is it optimal? -- probably not -- however, no 1 here knows what God Called the man to do -- so let's give him the benefit of the doubt

michelle -- if you belive you were Called by God to do something during that encounter & you didn't, ok -- then ask God's Forgiveness & to Present more opportunities -- ask Him to Open your eyes to these & Strengthen you to act on them

we're not always courageous when we need to be -- that makes us human & in need of Jesus -- this verse illustrates the less than optimal reality we all face: Mark 9:24

don't beat yourself up -- learn the lesson & apply it today & in the future

I agree. If not that, then some sort of mental illness or defect. There's something very not right with a majority of the folks like this that I come across.

Either way, if you're simply shouting past someone, you're not doing your job as an evangelist.



As would I.

-Dan.

seriously? -- lemme just offer that we ALL have a defect...we're ALL sinners that need a Savior

Yes, seriously. A normal, sane person typically doesn't just stand in the middle of a crowd screaming at people, carrying a sign with paranoid, apocalyptic messages. Just because their chosen message deals with Jesus doesn't mean there isn't something wrong with them.

-Dan.

Looking at Paul's missionary journeys in the book of Acts, I think I see two patterns emerging.

On the one hand opposition, even hostile oppostion, didn't deter Paul from moving forward with his mission, spreading the Gospel to the lost, planting churches, and communicating with the churches he had planted. Paul was arrested, banished, flogged, and so on by people who wanted to shut him up. His experience in Ephesus was particularly relevant to what somebody might experience in Las Vegas. The idol makers had a good thing going, selling arts and crafts to the people at large, and Paul's Gospel threatens to undo their livelihood.

On the other hand Paul didn't waste time giving the same message over and over again to people who were not receptive. Consider Paul in Athens. He gives an eloquent exposition of the only true God, the God the Athenians do not know. Nobody comes forward to be baptized. No church is formed. No further missionary effort is devoted to Athens, as far as we know from the NT. Paul moved on.

Is God calling on this street preacher to give the word in the face of the crowd's hostility? Perhaps. Do people with mental illnesses invoke the name of Jesus to rationalize their aberrant behavior? Sometimes. Which case is this one? We do not know.

In the meantime, I would ask you to pray that God would take the anger you felt at the time, and replace it with quiet determination. Like every Christian you are involved in a fierce battle with a spiritual enemy. But anger is one of the enemy's tools. It's nearly always counterproductive when we give in to it.

Don't be ruled by anger. Forgive them, because they don't even know what they are doing. God's wrath will be more than enough to avenge you in the fullness of time. Pray that God's wrath will be stayed by God's mercy, for people like that crowd in Las Vegas, and for people like like you and me.

We all need a savior.

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Not all those who wander are lost.

i would not describe the situation/sign as you do

nor does it mean there is -- i think your stereotypical assumptions color your judgement of the episode -- we have no idea God's Calling on this person -- i'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt whereas you are not <shrug>

God Uses "fire & brimstone" preaching -- it reaches some -- doesn't mean it reached us or it's our preferred "style" -- it's more of an OT appeal but i don't think that makes it insane nor paranoid

God Uses fallible people to reach His lost sheep in a multitude of ways -- no matter our opinion of the approach -- my hope is we all would've prayed the words reached some in the crowd & the Father Drew them to repent & accept Jesus as their Lord & Savior

Is there really a San Felipe Church of Christ?

_________________
John

My soul looks back in wonder at how I got over

We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes

I wasn't speaking specifically about the OP's incident. I said that a number of the people I've come across have been disturbed.



While what you say is, in and of itself, true, I think it's naive and, to some degree, willfully blind to the psychology of man and the effectiveness of certain tactics.

To draw an extreme analogy: let's say we machine gun an entire town. It's entirely conceivable that we'll take out a few potential murderers and rapists, right? But is that worth the cost of killing all the other innocent people?

Now, could ranting and raving on a street corner attract someone? Theoretically, sure. But how many more people does it turn off?

See my point?

There is a HUGE problem among American evangelicals with being out of touch with and generally unable to relate to non-christians, and everyone knows it except the evangelicals who are guilty of it. Part of evangelism is showing people how Jesus is relevant to their lives, and you can't do that unless you understand their life and that they know you understand their life. Acting in a manner that is abrasive and repellent to the vast majority of your audience does just the opposite - it says to them that you don't understand them, that what you have is not relevant to them.

One of the big differences between the NT and the OT is shift towards an internal motivation for actions - in the OT, we did things because they were ordered by God and because we feared the consequences of disobedience. In the NT, we did things because we loved God - within that, we did things because they were right and good. (before anyone gets nitpicky, yes that internal motivation was always supposed to be there, but it wasn't emphasized much in the OT)

If you want to change someone's behavior in the spirit of the NT, you have to appeal to something inside of them to make them want to be good. Standing on the street corner shouting at them does not do that.

-Dan.

Not what Jesus said in John 8:11, more like the Pharisees in John 8:4-5

_________________
John

My soul looks back in wonder at how I got over

We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes

Wrong.

Wrong.

Woefully wrong.

Nitpicking aside, I agree with you regarding your point about abrasive evangelizing though I think your machine gun analogy a bit too extreme to really communicate well.

I just cannot agree with your characterization of the "differences" between the OT and NT. IMHO there is very little difference.

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Blessings,
Randy
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Hebrews 8 does have a similar perspective in the idea of internalising accompanying the move from the faulty old covenant to the new.

_________________
John

My soul looks back in wonder at how I got over

We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes

You are bothered because he is not "normal" and "sane". I guess John the Baptist was not normal and sane either.
I once read a shrink describe his observations of a fancy cocktail party. These were powerful wealthy republican types.
Captains of industry. He couldn't find one normal person. They all had a serious neurosis at best and several were psychotic in his estimation.

I'm not going to nitpick on terms like mentally ill, but there are some deeply disturbed individuals who act out in socially
unacceptable ways. They tend to be homeless, paranoid and obsessed with the CIA, UFOs, and Jesus. To harass a man like this is barbaric. See if he needs some food or drink.

Now, if this is a "normal" "sane" man, I would say his method is untrue as well as unproductive.
Peace

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Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,"
behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION" --
The apostle Paul, NASB