'Normal' Outreaches on the streets, 3x every week
Hastings, Dover, Deal, Gillingham, Chatham, Sittingbourne, Folkestone,
................................................
As the Spirit of the Lord leads,
of individual people or groups
at all v
enues,
Here are some typical reactions we've had....
"I didn't used to believe in God but you've changed my mind"
“I see what you're saying, I didn’t realize that Jesus said that”.
"hi again,I chatted to you a few months back about 'end times and the Gospel'...
I'm a Christian now and reading the Bible like crazy and telling everyone
I know about how they can be saved"
"You've answered all my questions clearly, thanks so much for spending time, I'm gonna read all these leaflets and this Gospel of John"
“I love all the different quirky creative artwork on the board, really clear and interesting - it’s given me a lot to think about”.
“It’s so refreshing to hear a Christian who’s friendly but actually believes the Bible 100%..I respect that”
"Thanks a lot cos I'm sick and tired of my Christian friends trying to fit the Big Bang and Evolution in with the Bible- doesn't make sense"
"What you've told me about an Intelligent Designer has changed my mind - now I see the Cross and Resurrection in a new light, can I have some more of your leaflets"
But also........ ! ! !
"What about all the Suffering, why doesn't your God stop that"
“You’re an *** moron, you believe in fairy tales,
quit telling people there’s a God or I'll punch you –
just face it, we’re all animals”.
"Leave it out, let people believe what they want, all religions are the same"
"Science has disproved the Bible, you shouldn't be telling kids there's a Big God who made everything and not the Big Bang...it's child abuse "
"What about the dinosaurs, they prove Jesus isn't real " ?
And Christian reaction...
“Wow, amazing, you connect with people in a natural way and God was really speaking ”
“Can you please come to our church and teach us how to reach people like this”.
“I’ve never heard the Gospel presented so clearly, and you reach so many”.
"So good to hear a preacher not compromising on Creation – that’s where most people are at in this country - powerful stuff”
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"Romans 1:16 - "I am not ashamed of the Gospel
for It is the Power of God
unto
Salvation to All who Believe"
"Therefore he disputed....in the marketplace daily
with those who happened to be there" Acts 17
Opposition
continues from Humanistic Evolutionists (Atheists - Anti-theists),
Muslims, Traditionalists/Religious,
Christian Liberals, Militant gays, etc,
Some shout... "Bring back the lions" !
"Kill the Christians"
"Shoot him in the head" " God's homophobic"
"Bible's wrong - read a Science book - God aint real" ! "
We get threatened and sometimes things are thrown,
like condoms, food, coins, etc.
Not because we're 'manic street preaching' , but,
because we're really friendly and the Gospel
is clear.... and too challenging for some. Mat 5:11/12. 43/44
I've been spat at, threatened with violence, sprayed,
threatened with being taken to court, etc,... but...
it's as Nothing compared to what happen to Christians
in N.Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, etc !
As the Word says.....
"To some we are the Aroma of Life, to some of Death" !
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Zech 4:6 Not by might
not by power
but by my Spirit says the LORD !!!
......hand in hand with II Cor.10:3-5 .."tearing down arguments
and arrogant obstacles
against the knowledge of God". (Net Bible)
Just as Paul and friends in 'Acts' ....
..."Reasoned,
Refuted,
Disputed,
Explained,
Proclaimed", etc.
We always meet up at a local church or cafe to prepare and pray
to ensure we 'Evangelise' - Be Biblical
not
'Evandalise' - Be Bible bashing..... spending up to 6 hours in the heart of the town reaching out
via the sketchboard' to hearts and minds with the ‘GoodNews’.
Wonderful also when follow up responses
are made by phone, text, e-mail, etc.
Some say they now Believe and tell of new Life
Every sketchboard is different for sure
but this old clip of me in Canterbury
may give you a little idea of how things go....
I’m often asked about how to get talking about God in everyday life and comments,
here’s one ‘weather angle you could use - “do you reckon it’s just ‘climate change’
or is God trying to get our attention ?
It’s a bridge to telling the gospel and I’ve found that people will often give their opinion
and then hear mine.
Painting out in high streets in a friendly way
with topical news is a great bridge to sharing the gospel.
May we not be offensive in words or attitude as some preachers are, but,
the Bible says ‘the Cross and Resurrection’ will be offensive to some.
May we have the love and courage to ‘Reason’ and ‘Dispute’ as Paul did - Acts 9, 17, 19 etc....
this wasn’t entertaining but sometimes ended in pain – Acts 21:40 -
What Holy Spirit courage to keep preaching out on the steps even after he’d been beaten up
and was being arrested ! We get plenty of opposition on the streets but nowhere near on his scale.
Paul was an amazing evangelist....he lovingly adapted to his hearers and got it just right.
Some loved him, some hated him. Sometimes evangelistic ministries can be ‘Evandalistic’,
where the lost are ‘vandalised’ with an unloving set format of head bashing.
Others are luvvy liberal performance ‘Evangelastic’ ministries, stretching the truth
and stretching how many genuine conversions there actually are.
May God keep us all more Biblically aimed and Evangerealistic!
P.P S ”After all is said and done - a lot more is said than done” : )
****** Open Air Preaching ?? Biblical, Historical and Effective today !! ******
The Preachers, Prophets, Patriarchs and Evangelists in the Bible [O.T & N.T]
spoke mainly out in the open.
Open for all to hear and for any to respond.
· Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elijah, Jonah, etc Deut 1, etc
· Jesus preached in a variety of places outside, including his most famous sermon on a hillside. Mat 5 .
· John the Baptist spent most of his ministry time out in the open, speaking to all who would hear. John 1:3
· The early church grew mainly through evangelism out in the open. Peter, Philip, etc, Acts 2, 3, 17 etc.
· When the church was scattered, the followers of Jesus preached the Gospel wherever they went Acts 8
· Even when Paul was under arrest, he took the opportunity to preach outside the barracks Acts 21
In times of great revival, God has used open air preachers such as John Wesley, George Whitefield, etc, to reach hundreds of thousands who would never of heard the Gospel otherwise.
Wesley used to think outdoor preaching was crude, irreverent and unbiblical, l until he was convicted and convinced otherwise and then spent the next 50 years preaching outside to ‘whosoever’ - many thousands were saved and Britain transformed !
C.H Spurgeon, who often preached outside to large crowds, used to tell his students....
“No sort of defense is needed for preaching out of doors,
but it would need very potent arguments to prove that a man has done his duty
who has never preached beyond the walls of his meeting house.”
“The great benefit of open-air preaching is that we get so many newcomers
to hear the Gospel who otherwise would never hear it.
The Gospel command is, ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature’
but it is so little obeyed that one would imagine that it ran thus,
"Go into your own place of worship and preach the Gospel
to the few creatures who will come inside."
"Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in"
.... is worthy to be taken very literally, and in so doing, its meaning will be best carried out.
Throughout history, Preachers and Evangelists have all spent time preaching outdoors
with massive impact, such as.......
John Knox, Richard Baxter, John Newton, John Bunyan,
Whycliffe, Lutterworth, Huss, Jerome, R.A. Torrey, D.L Moody,
Billy Sunday, Arthur Blessitt, Leonard Ravenhill,
Jonathan Edwards, Jacob Prasch, Billy Graham, etc,etc.
Today there are many preaching effectively out in the open throughout the world
I personally find that many thousands of people
in an average busy shopping area can clearly see what we’re about
and are given the opportunity to stop and discover the Truth about God.
Many tracts and Bibles are given out,
various ongoing contacts made and some are turning to believe the Gospel.
“And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?
and how shall they hear without a preacher? Romans 10
Jesus said....... The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few:
pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send out labourers
into his
harvest. Luke 10
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred within him .....
......So he disputed .... in the market place every day
with those who happened to be present Acts 17