Street Preaching

Zceptre said:

I used to believe they were nagging people

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I have been told I am "yelling" and was seen screaming in people's faces that they need to get right with God. But there could be another man who was being obnoxious. And you need to do what God has you doing, and yes some counterfeit might be out there to give you a bad name. However, God guarantees He will produce His results of His ministry.

While ones might say I am bothering people by yelling near them, there have been ones who would walk right up by my face while I was speaking and maneuvering to keep clear of people's up-close ears. Even while I would maneuver, ones would still come right up to me and pass me. One time, a guy stood right behind me; I asked if he wanted anything, and he said he was listening; so I kept on.

Zceptre said:

always worth it even if it is annoying people.

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People can object and others might stop to talk with me. Always, talking personally can take priority. Once, I was preaching in a deluge of rain, and a woman stood there with an umbrella until I was done.

Zceptre said:

Some people do better evangelizing and "preaching" in one on one conversations.

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Yes, personally. Do what God has you doing.

This is one of the better threads I've encountered here in the forum, lots of sharing, no shouting, obviously a bunch of people who are genuinely concerned for the lost, as am I.

For what its worth, and this is just my opinion, I think there are far too many brothers out in the streets preaching that were never called by God to do so, or were called by God but have not put the necessary preparation into their ministry to be effective.

For anyone who may already be in the street preaching, or believes that God may be placing such a burden on their hearts, I highly recommend the book.
"The Ministry of Gods Word"
by Watchman Nee

If you are unaware of Brother Nee, he planted many churches in China before spending the last twenty years of his life in prison for his faith in Christ. He's Chinese obviously, so one must keep in mind that he has a much different way of seeing things than we do here in the West, and as far as I know, he never learned English and all of his books are translations, which can lead to some confusion when trying to grasp the profound thoughts that God so clearly placed upon his heart. That being said, the book I mentioned above is the best explanation I have read about how the Holy Spirit works through men to deliver divine revelation sufficient for saving faith.

Unfortunately, Nee had a protégé named Witness Lee who travelled to America and a rather creepy cult has sprang up around the person and his teachings, which has caused many to lump them both together. They are worlds apart.

If we truly desire to serve God through evangelism, we must first be sure that this is also Gods divine will for our life. Sharing Christ through our example, our love, and always being willing and ready to boldly profess Christ when the Spirit moves upon our hearts to do so is the duty, and should be the desire of every believer. However, being called by God to the ministry of an Evangelist is a much different thing, and requires a level of surrender and devotion that would be uncommon for the average saint.

I hope that most of us here have had the experience of speaking the truth into the heart and mind of another individual by the Spirit, watching the Spirit work in that persons life through direct revelation, with power and conviction, its a truly blessed thing to be a part of. It certainly has not been the norm in my own experience, but I have experienced it, it's humbling to say the least.

But being a part of that ministry as a matter of daily occurrence, has been the domain of a select few of Gods chosen servants. I believe that scripture and history declare this to be true.

Sorry for the long post.

Yah alone be praised.

Now that I'm no longer in a city I never really run into them. It has been literally years since I saw a street preacher.

But, I did see a few. Ones that were effective and ones that were not.

One going back many years to my university days still sticks with me.

He was a somewhat chubby man, mid to late 40's. Preaching / Yelling with zeal in the middle of the campus square during the school flea market.

The crowd was honestly respectful, most passed by, a few were listening but none were heckling.

In an effort to reach the young men in the crowd, he began preaching / yelling about how God would give you not just spiritual strength but physical strength. He went on to claim that through God he could do more push-ups than anyone in attendance. Going as far as to call the young men listening spiritual and physical weaklings.

A young college athlete stepped forward to take him up on his offer. The street preacher tried to back down, tried to deflect, etc. But, the young man would have none of it. He, called the preacher a coward and asked him to prove what he just claimed or go home because he was just full of hot air.

The portly, middle aged preacher said a prayer then and he and the young athlete had a push-up contest.

The street preacher lost. Not just lost by a little. He lost badly. The young man was still doing pushups like a machine when the preacher gave up in a red faced, huffing and puffing heap.

The crowd laughed and left, the preacher gathered up his stuff and left.

Obviously lessons were learned that day. Likely not the ones the preacher intended, but perhaps one he needed.

If you street preach, be sure you are called, be sure you are prepared, be sure you do not stray from the Word into self...