Stone the Preacher

“A lady had a stroke right in the line at the DMV!”

That was the message of the breathless call I received this morning from Val Scott, one of our local DMV evangelists who preaches nearly every morning to those waiting in line before the office opens.
He told me that just before he was about to speak, a lady had a stroke while standing in line, fell over unconscious, and an ambulance took her immediately to the hospital after a few other people tried in vain to resuscitate her. Val said he will never forget this experience as long as he lives. When he recites the death statistics before each morning’s sermon he will always bring this event to mind as a warning to everyone that no one knows when their time will come.

Read the email he sent me along with his message here: (more…)

I learn all kinds of stuff when I go to the Ambassadors’ Academy, a four day intensive evangelism bootcamp from The Way of the Master. Even though I go as a team leader, I am amazed at what some of the ”students” do when encouraged to do more than they think they can do.

Case in point: I met Mike Stockwell, a tough ex-Marine from Long Island (pronounced LonGI-land) who 20 years ago had his guts rearranged in an auto accident the day after he left the Service. But what guts he displayed on the Huntington Beach Pier! I never thought of doing this, and I don’t know that I ever will do it, but Mike did it when he discovered a Great Unreached People Group: Surfers!

I encouraged him to go for it, that is, to preach to the guys in the water. Unafraid and full of the Holy Spirit and power, he cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted down to the thrashers in-between sets.

What were the results as he belted out that they had violated God’s Law by breaking the 10 Commandments and would be found gulity on Judgment Day and end up in Hell? Predictable.

“Huh? Can’t hear yuh!” one surfer shouted. “What?!! What did ya say?!!” another chimed in. Suddenly, the swells were alive with the sound of mock-ing! “Huh!” “What?” “Can’t hear ya!” Then it turned nasty.

“Shut the #$%!#@% up!” “Get out of here ya #$%!#@%!” “You #$%!#@%!” As they blasphemed and cursed, Mike kept right on preaching till the full Gospel was presented. A set came in and then washed everyone away.

What type of a tract do you think a tough guy like Mike would use? Something that would grab the attention and speak of the terribleness of death and Hell, right? Something lean and mean and pointed, aimed at the jugglar, spearing the heart, right? Nope. Mike’s favorite Gospel literature is a kiddie tract! A kiddie tract!

Think I was gonna say anything to a guy built like a brick? Think I would have anything constructive to offer a man who uses kiddie tracts and shouts at surfers in the water?

Of course. I ridiculed him mercilessly about the kiddie tracts. What was his response? He would skip like a little girl and hand out another one.

Oh! The things I learn at the Ambassadors’ Academy.

(On Monday, see what he did next…)

You may enjoy this. I gave a little four minute commentary before we started preaching at the 2008 Emmy Awards. You will also catch a glimpse of a star or two! Enjoy… or not!

(This is part 4 of the Emmy Awards Adventure. Start the whole series by clicking here!)

The Emmy Awards started, so everyone left, but there was still an organic congregation of about 100 people to preach to: the leftover crowd, ushers in their natty red suits, posses of LAPD, and assorted hangers-on. I found a wall to climb on and with a little humor to start my sermonette, I let ‘er rip. You can hear a heckler whining about something in the background, which meant God’s Word was doing it’s work. (Toward the end of the sermon the battery in the camera died, but our videographer kept it going with nary a hitch, to give the full flavor of the preaching.)

To see Alfy, our top of the class graduate from three months ago make his Emmy Awards street preaching debut, click here! (He actually gets interrupted by the LAPD).

(Read part 4 here!)

(Start the whole series by clicking here!)

(Read Part 1 here)

Patrick Dempsey. Kevin Spacey. Christian Slater. Steve Carell. We saw them all… and up close at the 2008 Emmy Awards.

Who cares? We were more worried about the “Sign Guys” who had now increased like rabbits to three!

They had every right to be there, but their Hellfire preaching signs and anti-Emmy Award sentiments sent the wrong messages. We didn’t want the fans to think that we were with them.

The problem with “Hellfire Preaching” signs is that the average sinner on the street doesn’t understand why they deserve Hell and why they need to believe in Jesus to be saved. It’s unreasonable to tell someone that they are going to Hell. Why are they going there? What did they do that was so bad?

The anti-awards signs are just ridiculous. Why protest an event like the Emmys? The people who are watching the show, like the show. Those receiving the awards, want the awards. And do they really understand that they are promoting sin and evil?

When we preach we clearly explain how every person has broken God’s Moral Law by lying, stealing, etc.. We elucidate the fact that God must punish all sin in a place called Hell, because he is a God of justice. We then plead for the sinner to repent and trust in God’s mercy as expressed by Jesus dying on a cross.

What should we do? The four open air evangelists huddled together.

Our plan was that we would stand downwind from the sign guys and divide up the crowd into four territories. We would speak every 20 minutes in a different area so as not to overly irritate the crowd. In each area there would be a new audience, ready and excited to hear the Gospel.

I went first and a lady threw an empty water bottle at me.
 She missed.

“Righteous Richard” went next without a hitch.

Then a new guy, Alfy, who was the top graduate of my evangelism class a few months ago belted it out boldly.

And lastly, Val Scott.
 

There were no problems. No cops.
 Only one guy who repeatedly went “Blah, blah, blah, blah! Blah, blah, blah, blah!” There was the occasional, obligatory, “Shut up!”

And a guy who played a sax with no sound while some old guy filmed him!??!

Then something really cool happened: The sign guys left! Hooray! But new “Sign Guys” moved in.

Everybody likes these guys, including me! They are welcome anytime we preach.

If I could only get the “Hellfire guys” to twirl their signs on their heads….

(See part 3, which includes video of the preaching, by clicking here!)

The great unsaved masses can be a dangeous and fickle lot. They’ll love ya one moment and the next? Well…

On “Good News Tuesday” morning I met “Righteous Richard” at the Hawthorne DMV.
Despite his wife being diagnosed with cancer he joined me for a quick open air evangelism session before about 70 people. The Governator’s budget impasse has been very kind to California DMV preachers; the lines are twice as long! And since they can’t open anymore on Saturday, there’s a megachurch to be preached to every Monday through Friday!

We prepare ourselves by putting the very official looking “Department of Annoyance” badge around our necks.
Richard has actually been able to direct the line back onto the sidewalk with his authoritative badge, confidence of command, and dapper appearance by shouting, “Folks, please get out of the driveway and get onto the sidewalk, please!” They obey and get back onto the sidewalk where it’s a lot easier for them to hear our sermon. Unfortunately, I’m a dead give-away because I wear shorts.

Then we hand out a specially adapted DMV tract that is very useful.

Hey! Who wouldn’t want to be welcomed to the DMV? That’s why we do it, and we do it with a smile!

I welcome everyone with a warm, gracious greeting and transition to horrible, terrible statistics about how they may die in a fiery, awful, bloody crash after leaving the DMV.

I conclude my message with, “Don’t trust in Obama, McCain or your being a Catholic or Protestant… trust in Jesus.”

People actually applauded.

On Tuesday afternoon two sheriffs’ vehicles were parked in the AM/PM minimart parking lot awaiting the exodus from Leuzinger High in Lawndale.

Hundreds upon hundreds of teens walk through this area then wait at a very busy intersection to cross the street. That’s where we are.

With the volume turned up so high on our loud speaker that it made some kids cringe and cover their ears, my friend Alfy and I preached on and on.

I then went across the street to a bus stop, stood on the bench and preached some more as the kids waited for their ride home. A grumpy lesbian teenager didn’t like it, demanding that I step down so she could sit. I ignored her, and continued to preach. She protested loudly to her girlfriend and threatened to punch me in a very sensitive area. I continued to ignore her. Finally she yelled, “I paid for this bench; you better come down now!” I gently explained to her that I acually paid for this bench with my taxes, because I work. Her girlfriend laughed and got a kick out of that.

Ten kids took the good person test outside Taco Bell—all failing— then I bought them a late afternoon feast.

All in a day’s work on “Good News Tuesdays”….

Don’t try this at home… Due to circumstances beyond my control I literally had to preach in the street!

At the recent Labor Day Fiesta Hermosa, where 100,000 people converge for a 3 day partying street festival, I had to risk life and limb while preaching the good news at the shuttle bus line. Why? It just seemed like the most effective place to reach everyone. And actually, it wasn’t as dangerous as it sounds: The street was closed, except for the shuttle buses that would come through every five minutes or so.

In this 5 minute video there is some real drama taking place. As I start to preach, an angry young man stands next to me hoping to distract the onlookers and rattle my cage. I ignore him. His parents plead for him to stop the foolishness, but he ignores them. My friend then tries to reason with the young man but he, too, is ignored. Finally, Security surrounds me, and I ignore them. The shuttle bus comes, and I don’t ignore it, I scurry away. (Security very politely asked me to move to the sidewalk where it was safer; I complied willingly.) Note: The sound is a little rough, so turn your volume down a bit.

Please notice that I applied the “Three Do-Nots” of open air preaching by not holding a bible, standing on something and smiling, peppering my sermonette with a little humor. (Read that article here.)

On Friday I posted the three “Do-Nots” of open air preaching which were: #1: Do Not hold a Bible and wave it when preaching in the open air; #2: Do Not forget to stand on something; and #3: Do Not forget to smile every now and then. (Read the article here.)

What inspired me to write about these tips was an article sent to me from a new open air preacher in Canada, Paul Latour, who along with his adventures preaching at a “Gay Pride Parade”, also included some photos that caused me some alarm: He violated all of the “DO-NOTS”.

He has since been chastened and sent me a photo proving that he takes correction well.

You go, Paul!

At the Canadian Gay Pride Parade where my friend Paul preached last weekend (it was only his eighth time), I noticed a few things in the photos he sent me that caused concern. Here are three tips that I offered to make this “irksome task” more winsome.

3 “DO NOTS” OF OPEN AIR PREACHING

#1: Do Not hold a Bible and wave it when preaching in the open air.
“Wait a minute,” you say. “Are you ashamed of the Gospel, God’s Word, the Sword of the Spirit, Pastor Steve?” Readers of this blog know better. It’s just that I want to reach my crowd and there is something about a guy waving a Bible around that builds fences around sinners’ hearts and minds before they even hear what I’m saying. I prefer to lure them in with some humor, trivia, interesting statistics, then WHAMMO!, they hear the Law and Gospel. I don’t want to blow my cover that I’m a Christian until it’s too late—for them. (I understand if you disagree with me. But hey! It’s my blog.)

#2: Do Not forget to stand on something.
Nothing stops a fiery sermon faster than a six-foot-four linebacker Bigfoot who hates you, your message, your life, stands in front of you and blocks every last sound wave emanating from your mouth. The only time God’s Word returns empty is when it slides down the behemoth’s chest. Even little women with attitudes and hand held objects can stop you, if you have no elevation. Another advantage to “getting up in the air” is that your voice will carry farther.

#3: Do Not forget to smile every now and then.
We are pleading for sinners to repent; we’re not angry at them. We are out there because we care for their souls. Catherine Booth said: “If you haven’t got tears in your eyes, let them hear tears in your voice.” We are not preachers of hate. Paul wrote, “…he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20) Let the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in your heart, rise occasionally to your lips.

And let’s remember Charles Spurgeon’s words: When you speak of Heaven, let your face light up, let it be irradiated with heavenly gleam, let your eyes shine with reflected glory. But when you speak of Hell, well, your ordinary face will do.” 

My friend, Paul, amended his ways. See his photo with all three of the “Do-Nots” corrected.

Despite a few middle fingers…

…a few verbal insults, a gay flag being waved in my face…

…being surrounded by burly men wearing not much more than feathers, and LOL mockery…

 …the grace laden gospel of Jesus Christ was preached during the annual Gay Pride Parade in Ottawa, yesterday.

In my short discourse, I told them they were taking people to hell with them by encouraging celebration of their sin as opposed to repentance of their sin. They told me I was going to hell for my ‘intolerance’. But what can you expect from unregenerate church people?

It was a very hot afternoon but we suffered most in the witness of hundreds of young children and youth, brought there by their parents, being exposed to raw sexual perversion passing by their eyes on the streets, even things you would not let any child see on TV. It made us so angry.

After the parade and preaching, we handed out a few tracts here and there but were too hot and tired to carry on much longer. We were pleased and gave thanks to God for the opportunity to preach the gospel truth to those most needy of hearing it. Even if it caused one soul in the crowd to be stirred and steered toward true repentance, it was worth it. Remember this: Had it not been for the grace of God in your life, that soul could have been you.

George Whitefield, that great preacher of the 18th century who helped bring about The Great Awakening in America, encouraged a new open air preacher with these words:

“Go, dear sir, go and follow your glorious Master without the camp, bearing His reproach. Never fear the scourge of the tongue, ot the threatenings that are daily breathed out against the Lord, and against His Christ. Suffer we must. Ere long perhaps, we may sing in prison, and have our feet in stocks; but faith in Jesus turns a prison into a palace, and makes a bed of flames become a bed of down. Let us be faithful today, and our Lord will support us tomorrow.”

Read my experience of witnessing to a young homosexual man at this article: The Shepherd of Brokeback Mountain”.

Sometimes security guards can actually help us to preach the Gospel!

Here is a surprising account from “Downtown” Leon Brown, a friend of mine and Ambassadors’ Academy mentor, who experienced a little kindness from a guard as he preached at a brand new location. Hey! Miracles do happen!

Today I had the privilege of preaching at the DMV. It was my first time preaching at this particular DMV, so I knew I would catch some people by surprise. The cool thing was that I had a permit signed by the California Highway Patrol which allowed me to be there from 7:45am to 8:15am.

While I was preaching, the security guard attempted to stop me, but I continued to preach till 8am.

As I was walking to my vehicle, the security guard tracked me down and said, “Sir, you still have 15 minutes.”

I guess he recognized he was wrong by trying to stop me, but he did ask that I sign into a log each time I’m there. I agreed!

Never forget that we have the privilege and honor of sharing God’s Word; it should not be viewed as a burden or something we don’t have time for.

See Leon’s preaching style as he gives the Gospel to a beach crowd at his blog Preach Like Jeremiah.

And be sure to visit his website, EvangelismTeam.com for more helpful tips and sound doctrine.

Read the first 2 part by starting here!

The trials and travails continue as “Righteous Richard” Chavarria faithfully preaches at the Hawthorne DMV.

Here’s what happened to him last Wednesday: (You can read Part 1 by clicking here!)

Dateline: 07.16.08
Today I handed out Gospel tracts to the folks in line as I walked to my preaching spot. A man ran out of the line and waved his tract at me saying, “Here! You can have this back to use again because I will just throw it away.”

Well, as I started going through the 10 Commandments during my little 7 minute sermon the man started heckling me. “Yeah, I’ve lied. Amen!” he mocked. “Yeah, I’ve stolen!” He continued to speak out as I preached, trying to break my concentration. Then a pleasant surprise: He offered me a compliment after I had finished. “Hey, you did a good job even though I was trying to get you to stop because of the separation of church and state.”

The DMV Security guard, Denise, stepped in and told Mr. Concerned Citizen, “He has a permit. When you get a permit, you can talk too.”

I don’t know if he took her up on the offer.

(Read the conclusion, where “Downtown” Leon Brown gets surprised by DMV Security in San Diego…)

Read about Richard’s confrontation with a Muslim man at the DMV here!

Dictionary: demilitarized zone (dē-mĭl’ĭ-tə-rīzd’)
n. (Abbr. DMZ)
An area from which military forces, operations, and installations are prohibited.

“Righteous Richard” Chavarria continues to get beat up at the Hawthorne DMV.
Maybe it’s his haircut?

Here’s his report:

Dateline: Monday, 07.14.08: Today I had two hecklers, a male and female in their late fifties. They began yelling at me as they were walking to the end of the line. I’m not sure what they were saying, but they actually made it a point to stop and yell. I raised my voice and continued to preach. Afterward I walked to the end of the line to hand out Gospel tracts. No one wanted them now, thanks to the hecklers.

Both turned on me and started hollaring again.
“You have no right forcing your religion on people!” the woman shouted.

The man chimed in: “You have a captive audience and you’re yelling at them!”

“You have no right to force your poison and psychological brain washing expletive on people!” the woman screamed.

“You’re yelling at people!” the man bellowed.

“We don’t want to hear it,” the woman howled.

“I have a permit,” I gently explained, pulling it out of my pocket and flashing it to them.
“I have a First Amendment right to do what I’m doing. Why are you yelling at me now?” Finally I said, (not for their benefit, but for those who heard my preaching), “God loves you.”

The hecklers turned away and I continued to pass out tracts.

Read part 2 to find out about who harrassed Richard on Wednesday!

(Read part 1 by clicking here!)

It looks like this man wasn’t very happy with my preaching at the Hawthorne Department of Motor Vehicles.

In fact, he looks rather angry.

Of course, I was completely oblivious to his apparently agitated state.

But agitated or not, I still had a job to do. I took all those standing in line at 7:50 in the morning through the 10 Commandments: ”The 9th Commandment: ‘You shall not lie.’ Have you ever lied, told a half truth or a bald-faced exaggeration? If so, then you are a liar!” I proclaimed. The 8th Commandment: ‘You shall not steal.’ Have you ever stolen anything, regardless of value? A penny, paperclip… cookie—even if it was in the past? If so, then you are a thief.”

I warned that lust was adultery and hatred murder according to the Bible, that God would not hold anyone guiltless who misused His name. I warned of Judgment Day and Hell for all those who have sinned. Then I spoke of the love of God demonstrated by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. If they would only repent and put their trust in the Savior, they’d have everlasting life.

I thanked the people for their patient attention.

The man in black made his move. I didn’t see it coming at all.
He raised his hands toward me… (more…)

Inspired by “Righteous Richard” Chavarria’s recent assault at the Hawthorne Department of Motor Vehicles I grabbed two members of my early Tuesday men’s group for protection, and headed down to preach to the crowd standing in line this morning. The unexpected happened…

Shane Griffin and Jeff Simmons would “prime the line” by handing out Gospel tracts before I preached.

They handed them out in this order: Million Dollar Bills first, then the “Will your good outweigh your bad?” tracts in English and Spanish next.

Nearly every one of the 60 to 80 people in line took the tracts. In fact, one man was sitting in his car, reading aloud the “Good Person Test” to a friend on his Bluetooth.

When would the trouble begin? “Righteous Richard” never expected that lady to come out of the line and start bopping him on the head last week. Would I get it today?

The crowd seemed at peace. No one had yet yelled or screamed at the “tractors” passing out the precious Gospel literature…

I started to preach. “Ladies and gentlemen. I’m thankful that you are here standing in line at the DMV instead of at your bank…”

See the guy in the black shirt on the right? I think he started it. It took me unawares. I was blind-sided. I certainly didn’t expect this to happen… (Click here for Part 2 to find out what drama befell me.)

“Righteous Richard” Chavarria is a good friend of mine, a leader in our church’s evangelism ministry, and an Ambassadors’ Academy mentor. Here’s a horrific encounter that he experienced recently:

I didn’t want to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles to preach this morning. I was full of justifications for not going, but I went anyway and prayed that God would anoint the time. I walked with purpose over to the people waiting in line and asked them, “Are you here for your lotto tickets or for the DMV?” They laughed.

I greeted each person waiting in line with a warm “Good morning” and handed everyone a Gospel tract. A woman at the end of the line handed the tract back to me. “I’m not interested,” she said. I took it back and thought, That’s okay; she’ll soon be hearing the message anyway. Taking my position adjacent to the line, I began to preach.

I looked over at the woman who didn’t want her tract; she scowled back. Suddenly, she bolted from the line, got right in my face, and started yelling and holding up several sheets of white paper in front of my face in an attempt to stifle the message.
“Nobody is interested in what you are saying! Be quiet!” I stepped aside and continued to preach, but she wouldn’t stop holding the sheets of paper in front my face, nor would she stop yelling at me to stop.

My permit to preach at this DMV forbids me from standing on anything, so I was at ground level with this crazy woman and unable to avoid her obnoxious efforts to silence me. “You’re lying!” she declared. “You’re full of expletive deleted! Nobody wants to hear this stuff! It’s a bunch of expletive deleted!” Others in line and in their cars started to side with her, encouraging her to shut me up.

“I have a permit to do this,” I explained. “We can go inside the DMV office and I will show it to you.” Not knowing what to do I stopped preaching and walked to the back of the line. She stopped too, then got back in line.

I went to another part of the line and started preaching again, picking up at the point in the sermon where I left off.
The crowd was now agitated. A little old white-haired man started yelling, as did another man. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but I’m positive that it wasn’t “Amen, Brother! Preach it!”

The angry woman stepped out of line again. “Nobody wants to hear this stuff!” she reminded me again. She grabbed the lanyard that hung from my neck. “Please stop. Don’t touch me,” I warned. I wear a phony identification badge that says Department of Annoyance. It looks official but is really a Gospel tract that usually invokes a laugh or two when someone reads it.

This lady wasn’t laughing.

She read aloud from the “ID”: “Department of Annoyance… I want your name!” To make sure that I understood her request, she emphasized her point by hitting me on the head with her sheets of paper.

“Stop this!” I warned again.

“You have to stop. Nobody wants to hear this stuff,” she reminded me again. Then she left and got back into line.

I was finished. Thoroughly embarrassed and befuddled, I went back to the end of the line to hand out more tracts. The Security Guard motioned for me to come over. Oh no, now what? Would this be the day that I’m ordered off the premises?  The Guard was concerned. “We received a report that someone had been hitting you on the head with paper; that’s assault. Do you want me to call the police?”

Though tempted to take matters into my own hands, I thought better of it and declined the opportunity to press charges.

This is all in a day’s work for a preacher of the Word.

R.A. Torrey wrote this over a hundred years ago in an article on open air preaching.
Don’t get scared. Let Psalm 27:1 be your motto: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” There is not a particle need of being scared. You may be surrounded by a crowd of howling hoodlums, but you may be absolutely certain that you will not be hurt unless the Lord wants you to be hurt; and if the Lord wants you to be hurt, that is the best thing for you. You may be killed if the Lord sees fit to allow you to be killed, but it is a wonderful privilege to be killed for the Lord Jesus Christ. One night I was holding a meeting in one of the worst parts of Chicago. Something happened to enrage a part of the crowd that gathered around me. Friends near at hand were in fear lest I be killed, but I kept on speaking and was not even struck.

(Since January of this year Richard has preached at the Hawthorne DMV 60 times. At this location alone he has handed out over 3,442 tracts and has preached to over 2,126 people. More sinners have heard the pure unadulterated Gospel in six months there, than in a lifetime at some megachurches.)

Read Richard’s encounter with a drunk here.

Read Richard’s confrontation with Staples Center Security at the NBA Finals here.

See him preaching live here.

Last week I wrote about how I was pulled down from a 3-foot high mobile traffic sign at the third game of the Lakers Finals by a man I affectionately called “Mr. Big.” (Read it here!)
You may be asking why? Why did he pull me down as “Righteous Richard” and myself preached at the traffic light across from Staples Center?

My answer: Not sure.

We thought we were on public property, and that we were standing on a city-owned sign. Mr. Big came by and tried to stop us from preaching, shouting at me to come down. The reason I ignored him was a lot of people try to stop us; he was no exception, except that he was a lot more forceful. He didn’t identify himself; he had no badge; he looked like one of the multitude of white business people attending the game after getting off work from their downtown office.

As Richard and I discussed the issue with him—post-pulldown—he said that he owned the sign. Did he own the sign? Probably not. But for the sake of preserving our Christian witness, we didn’t get back up on it.

That and the fact that he was a lot bigger than us.

George Whitefield (1749-1769) wrote:

“…I preached twice at Exeter, and, in the evening, I believe I had ten thousand hearers. The bishop and several of his clergy stood near me, as I am informed. A good season it was. All was quiet. and there was a great solemnity in the congregation; but a drunken man threw at me three great stones. One of them cut my head deeply, and was likely to knock me off the table; but blessed be God! I was not at all discomposed.”

(Read Part 1 first by clicking here!)

“Come down from there! Hey! Hey! Come down from there!”

I have heard that so many times, I’ve lost count. Whenever we preach on some type of elevated platform, inevitably, some offended listener tries to push their weight around by demanding, even yelling, that we stop preaching our message and climb down, and act like a normal person. Our standing operating policy is to just ignore the person, anticipating that they will just go away, so that we can continue with our message.

But we couldn’t avoid “Mr. Big” as we stop light preached atop a mobile construction-type sign, across from the Staples Center before Game 3 of the Lakers Finals.

The crowds were huge one half hour before game time at the corner of 11th and Figueroa

In fact, there were so many people crossing, and so much traffic, we were forced to use a very loud portable sound system to reach the teeming Hellbound masses.

Mr. Big apparently didn’t like it. He shouted at me to stop.

I ignored him.

He shouted again.

I ignored him again.

He tugged on my shirt. Then he pulled on my shirt.
Then he grabbed me by my shirt and pulled me down to the ground—a three foot drop!

I was stunned. No one had ever done that before! “I told you to come down!” Mr. Big warned.

After a few words were exchanged between the two of us, we shook hands and parted ways.

The great temptation when things go wrong is to take things personally. When that happens, things can go very badly. I have never been physically accosted before and was very surprised at the anger that welled up inside of me. In the next few years, persecution of one type or another will probably be the norm, so the prudent evangelist will do well to flee to another place where the preaching might afford better, and safer, opportunities. 

R.A. Torrey said this in regard to some of the “Don’ts” of open air preaching over a hundred years ago:

Don’t lose your temper. Whatever happens, never lose your temper. You ought never to get angry under any circumstances, but it is especially foolish to do so when you are holding an openair meeting. You will doubtless have many temptations to lose your temper, but never do it. It is very hard to hit a man when he is serene, and if you preserve your serenity, the chances are that you will escape unscathed. Even if a tough strikes you, he cannot do so a second time if you remain calm. Serenity is one of the best safeguards.

Don’t fight. Never fight under any circumstances. Even if they almost pound the life out of you, refuse to fight back. (Read part 3 here!

The four policemen marched ominously toward the man standing on the box in front of Staples Center, riot helmets in hand.
This was not a good sign. On game three of the Lakers finals, would the evangelist preaching to the ticket-holders in line be arrested in effigy—made a scapegoat—for the hometown team’s previous two losses?

I watched quietly as the small LAPD squad walked on by, oblivious to Chris the preacher. Trouble was narrowly averted—for now; but a short time later, things started to get very heated.

To the average Lakers’ fan all evangelists must look the same: crazy, strange, wild-eyed…

…always preaching the same old message: “Repent and trust in Jesus!”

And they’d be right.

The average person doesn’t understand the importance of the Gospel message, and the urgency in which it needs to be preached. 104 people die every 60 seconds, the vast majority of them will end up in Hell. Who knows what could happen at this Lakers’ Finals game?
It might be the final game for many in attendance: Someone could choke to death on a hotdog during a rousing cheer; another might fall out of their loge seat onto unsuspecting fans below resulting in many tragic deaths; still others might have a sudden heart attack—should the Lakers actually win! Time is always of the essence.

But just as we wanted to be there to seek and to save the lost, others wanted us to get lost. And they tried hard to rid the area of the Good News Nuisances. The police relegated Ambassadors’ Alliance leader, Tony Miano, to preaching between two potted plants. (Read Tony’s version of events here.)

“Righteous Richard” Chavarria kept an eagle eye on the police to make sure that they didn’t get out of line.

One man, Shane Griffin, got escorted off Staples’ premises for just handing out tracts.

“Righteous Richard” took the brunt of the abuse this evening, though. While he preached atop a potted plant, a very serious and very determined LAPD officer shouted, “Get off of that!”

“Righteous Richard” hurriedly complied (that’s why he’s known as righteous).

Then the red-jacketed Security officials rousted him.

They even tried to scare him into relinquishing his First Amendment Right to hand out Gospel tracts. He was bold as a lion and stood up to them graciously, even when they threatened him with this statement: “If we see anyone carrying those in, we’ll take them away!” The Redcoats are coming! The Redcoats are coming!

Next, an irate biblical-scholar-homeless man tried to shout him down with poorly parsed Greek hermeneutics.

But what really took the cake, was when “Righteous Richard” was accosted by two volunteer “District Safety” guys after he snapped a photo of a very large man.

You see, I asked Richard to take this very large man’s picture after he suddenly, forcefully, grabbed my shirt and pulled me off my three foot preaching perch… (Read Part 2 here!)

We had quite a team of evangelists go to the third game of the Lakers finals at the Staples Center yesterday.

My version of what happened (including my being pulled off forcibly from a three foot ledge by an angry Security guard) will come later. But please visit Tony Miano’s blog to read his version of this exciting event by clicking here!

Read Part 1 here!
Read Part 2 here!

In the American Preacher Finals “Righteous Richard” Chavarria wins! Sticking to his pre-written script (read it here!), the people standing in line at the shuttle bus stop at the 2008 Memorial Day Fiesta Hermosa got an earful. This wild and crazy guy preaches three times a week at a local DMV, invented stop light preaching (at least here in the South Bay), and was an Ambassador’s Academy mentor at the first training offered by The Way of the Master! His sermonette clocks in at 7:17 (no open air sermon should go longer than eight minutes). Give Richard a big hand!

I came in second with a long-winded off-the-cuff sermon that clocked in at 7:18, a full second longer than “Righteous Richard!” Can you believe it?

(Read Part 1 by clicking here.)

Dictionary: blunderbuss (blŭn’dər-bŭs’)
n.

1. A short musket of wide bore and flaring muzzle, formerly used to scatter shot at close range.
   
2. A person regarded as clumsy and stupid.

Five, count ‘em, five, blunderbusses preached to the crowds waiting in line at the shuttle bus stop at the Fiesta Hermosa.
It was the perfect spot. A large wall ran alongside the line allowing us to move up and down the street as the line shifted and swayed. If the line grew short, we were there; if it got longer, we were there.

Of course, out of the five preachers who do you think got hassled?

It wasn’t Ed Lee.

Even though he spoke of the coming wrath of God, no one gave him any guff.

They might have wanted Val Scott to stop, but no one said anything to him.

A small-voiced guy named B.J. even stood on a silly stepladder…
…think they got mad at him? Noooooo.

“Righteous Richard” Chavarria alerted the line to the Moral Law of God… did anyone say anything to that guy? Heck no.

Just me. They always come after me.

One man tried to interrupt: “Excuse me, excuse me. You’re going about it the wrong way. You’re creating all this negative energy, a great divide!” I ignored him and kept on preaching. When I climbed down from the wall, I went over to hear him out. “There is no right or wrong,” he explained. “God is everything.”

A security guard tried to intimidate me by speaking into his walkie-talkie, and giving me a hard look.

Who was he calling? The feds?

A lady Security guard stood right under me and shouted, “Hey! Hey! Come down from there! Hey! Stop! Stop! I’m calling the police! I’m calling the police!” I ignored her, too; then she walked away in frustration.

This lady didn’t like what I was saying at all.

Can’t say that I blame her. Who wants to hear that they’re going to Hell after a fun ole time at a beach fair?

A friendly man tried to shake my hand in the middle of a sermon. I ignored him. A Christian man tried to wave and shake my hand, too. I ignored him. I had to stay focused on the task at hand.

I kept preaching and another angry man made his way to my wall.

He too, tried to stop me. When I ignored him, he stalked away and grabbed Security. Security told him to go get the police. The police didn’t do a thing.

After it was all over for the day, I asked a friendly Security guard about what he thought. “I don’t know why they get all upset,” he said. “They know that you’re going to be here every year. It’s only for a few minutes that you do this. If you talked about baseball, it would be a lot different…”

Charles Spurgeon said:

“Evangelists, go on preaching at the street corner–you that visit the low lodging-houses, go on. Get into the room and talk of Jesus Christ there as you have done. You that go into the country towns on the Sabbath and speak on the village-greens of Christ, go on with it. I am glad to see you, but I am glad to miss you when I know you are about the Master’s work. We don’t want to keep the salt in the box: let it be rubbed into the putrid mass to stay the putrification. We don’t want the seed forever in the corn-bin: let it be scattered and it will give us more. Oh! brethren and sisters, wake up if any of you are asleep. Don’t let an ounce of strength in this church be wasted–not a single grain of ability, either in the way of doing, or praying, or giving, or holy living. Spend and be spent, for who hath despised the day of small things? The Lord encourage weak believers, and the Lord accept the efforts of feeble workers, and send to both his richest benediction for Christ’s sake. Amen.”

See Part 3, “The American Preacher Finals,” via video, as “Righteous Richard” and myself preach from the wall to the shuttle bus line. You get to judge who had the most effective presentation. Click here to see the videos!

Read Part 1 here!
Read part 2 here!

I’ve heard the scuttlebutt. I’ve seen the eyes roll. I’ve even been asked this question in regard to my preaching in the open air at unconventional places: “Steve, what’s the difference between what you do and what that crazy “Jesus Guy” does?”

The Jesus Guy, is a little strange and every city has one.

Ours haunts a local market wearing tinsel and signs and funny hats.

Our Jesus Guy drives a strange vehicle with “Jesus” and “Holy” and red ribbon all over it.

To the non-Christian there is no difference between him and me. To the lukewarm Christian who has no passion for the lost, I have to admit, that to them, there is no difference between him and me. I’m just another Jesus freak. A kook. A crazy. “What good does all your preaching do anyway?” they ask. “You’re just bothering people…”

I sometimes wrestle with my image; I know how I must look to “outsiders”; I know how I must sound. I used to be on the other side of the fence, pointing my finger and wagging my tongue. Now I’m one of them.

I do what I do because I trust that God’s Word will never return empty, but will accomplish what God desires, and will achieve the purpose for which He sent it (Isaiah 55:11); God’s Word is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, and penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joint and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12); God’s Word is spirit (John 6:63) and gives eternal life (John 6:68). Trusting in these facts gives me the confidence to do what I do.

That’s why after preaching in front of the Nokia Theater, I had to go back and preach to the people who had been standing in line for six hours under the hot sun hoping to get into the American Idol finals!
My voice was hoarse and my face was red, but I had at least two more sermons in me. My faithful friend, Umberto, trooper that he is, was game, shooting photos and handing out Gospel tracts alongside me.

Though bushed, I jumped back into the hedge where I had preached previously.

“You already preached to us!” someone shouted.

“That’s okay,” I replied. “You need to hear it again.” This time though, I had a heckler. For two straight minutes a lady screeched over and over, “Peace and love! Peace and love! Peace and love!”

Ignoring her, I raised my voice like a trumpet and warned that anyone who broke any of God’s 10 Commandments—if anyone had ever lied, or stolen, or blasphemed God’s name, or lusted in their hearts—then God would see them as lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterers-at-heart. On Judgment Day they would be found guilty and end up in Hell.”

“Peace and love! Peace and love! Peace and love!”

As I spoke of the good news, of the peace and love God provided by sending His son, Jesus, to die for our sins if they’d only repent and believe, Jane Fonda faded away around the corner.

I hoped her message would be remembered, especially when the tickets ran out, since I noticed that there were only about fifty left—and she was about number eighty in line.

Next I hopped onto the stool for my last sermon: in another driveway at the L.A. Convention Center.! “We’ve already heard this!” someone yelled.

“That’s okay! You need to hear it again!” People looked hot and bothered; I was hot and tired. I started my sermon intro: “I’m not out here for my health, ladies and gentlemen. As you can see, I’m not wearing a hat and I forgot my sunscreen…” Suddenly danger! A big black truck barreled down the pavement… toward me!

“Kill him! Kill him!” people screamed at the driver. “Run him over! Run him over!”

I casually and cautiously picked up my stool, giving the crowd a C’mon, really! look, then, set up on the sidewalk and resumed my preaching—out of harm’s way—while the truck drove past.

When it was clear, I picked up my stool and went to the center of the pavement. The “Jesus Guy” continued to preach on and on, much to the consternation of the line-waiters.

So to answer your question: “What’s the difference between what you do and what that crazy “Jesus Guy” does?”  Uh, no difference, really, except for the tinsel. Depends on your perspective.

And “What good does all your preaching do anyway?”

At the end of the day, after preaching on steps, in driveways, on the street, and in the hedges, close to a thousand American Idolaters heard the Gospel message. Did anyone fall to their knees and get saved? Nope. That’s God’s business.

I just obeyed His command to “Go!”

George Whitefield (1714 -1770), the great open air preacher during The Great Awakening wrote:
“I never was more opposed and never met with so great success. I hope I shall learn more and more every day, that no place is amiss for preaching the Gospel. God forbid that the Word of God should be bound because some deny the use of churches! The more I am bid to hold my peace, the more earnestly will I lift up my voice like a trumpet, and tell people what must be done in them before they can be saved by Jesus Christ.

“Let the love of Jesus constrain you to go out into the highways and hedges to compel poor sinners to come in.”

******

Watch and listen to what one of my open air sermons sound like by clicking here and here!

Read two stories I wrote about our local “Jesus Guy” by clicking here and here!

(Read Part 1 by clicking here.)

The police got involved when I decided to preach in front of the Nokia Theater, the venue where the American Idol finals were to take place.

It wasn’t because we handed out Gospel literature to teenage fans…
 

Nor was it because I shoved a tract into the window of a reluctant limo driver…

It wasn’t even because I didn’t have the proper press credentials…

It was because of this guy, the Head of Security, that the police were called; I think.
 

He eyed my every move; I’m sure he didn’t appreciate my preachin’ in on his turf.

In came the SWAT team…
What was my crime?

“I’m on a public sidewalk, Officers,” I pleaded ever-so-politely.

“We know that, Sir,” they replied, even more politely. “But you’ll have to stand back ten feet.”

“No problem; thank you,” I replied. They treated me like a king. Fortunately, not like Rodney King.

I gingerly picked up my stool…

And continued preaching! The LAPD walked away.
Some of you are wondering, no doubt, if I’m aware of how crazy I look preaching the Gospel in all these unorthodox places.

I take comfort in the words of Charles Spurgeon (1834 - 1892):
“No sort of defense is needed for preaching out-of doors; but it would need very potent arguments to prove that a man had done his duty who has never preached beyond the walls of his meeting-house.”

John Wesley (1703 - 1791) said:
“I look upon the whole world as my parish… [and my duty is] to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation. This is the work which I know God has called me to; and sure I am that His blessing attends it.”

This is why, when everyone else is looking at their idols…

…I’d rather preach…

…even when it starts to turn ugly; and it did on the return trip back to the car. After six hours of standing in line under the hot sun, people were no longer in the mood to hear any good news, especially when they ran out of tickets for the show. “Kill him! Kill him!” they shouted at me at one point. Read the exciting conclusion here!

I got the call from our church administrator who was doing business in downtown L.A.: “Steve! You’ve gotta come down to the Nokia Theater. There’s 15,000 people in line waiting to get into the American Idol finals. What a great chance to preach! But hurry, the line’s starting to move!”
I didn’t need to be told twice. Picking up my friend Umberto we jumped in the car, anxious to help pass some Idol time.

“Umberto, we know that it is God’s general will to go everywhere and preach the Gospel,” I explained. “I just don’t know if it’s God’s specific will to preach there. This is how we will know: If I find the right exit, if I find a parking spot, and if the line of thousands is still there.” I found the right exit, paid for a $12.00 parking spot, and BINGO!

The line was still there!

I didn’t know it at the time, but this was the end of a one-third of a mile queue that wrapped and wended itself around four city blocks. Now, where do I preach? It’s never a good idea to preach loudly to people if you are standing right next to them; a ten foot buffer is preferable. But where? Should I stand in the street?  No, that would be crazy—and stupid! We walked down the line biding our time handing out Gospel tracts, lots of Gospel tracts. Always hand out literature before  preaching in the open air. People are curious and will take the strange leaflets. Afterward? No way!

BINGO! An empty driveway. Perfect!

People were amused, bemused, but certainly not confused about where they would go if they should die of heat stroke after standing six hours under the hot sun.

Eight minutes later, we moved on. More tracts were handed out farther down the line. We walked fast, not knowing how much time we had till Showtime. Dawdling would allow the crowd to disappear into the Nokia.
Umberto was perfectly happy handing out tracts, despite my proddings to give his first open air sermon.

Where could I preach next?

BINGO! Steps!

We must have had favor on this day (since God is fully against idolatry), because the Security guard praised God when he heard the preaching.

We kept moving…
The line didn’t.

There were no more places to preach so… BINGO! I stood in the street.

It wasn’t crazy or stupid because Umberto stood on the traffic side readyto take a bumper for the Lord if the preaching was interupted by a semi or Suburu.

Where to go now for sermon #4? BINGO! I was in the the thicket of things…

I wasn’t worried in the least; there was a hedge of protection about me.

We were getting closer to the Nokia Theater. What would we find? Would we see any wanna-be stars? Cry-baby losers? One thing for sure, we didn’t see any other Christians out there sharing their faith, so BINGO! I preached in front of a gate for sermon #5.

BINGO! #6 found me atop another set of steps. Moms, Dads, and teenage daughters were all caught by surprise! Is that guy a contestant? Wasn’t he eliminated on the first show?

This was the simplest thing to do in the world! All these people, all this opportunity… what a great way to have “church”; and right in the middle of the City of Idols, er, Angels. It was a breeze. No trouble at all. Next stop: The Nokia Theater. I couldn’t wait to preach #7 to all the well-heeled, nattily-dressed, upper crust, getting their reserved tickets at Will-Call… That’s when the LAPD arrived!

(Read part 2 by clicking here!)

I had the opportunity to preach to thousands in line yesterday at the finals of the American Idol competition. See the photos and read the ridiculous story soon. Maybe even tomorrow.

(Read part 1-9 by starting here.)

What is my conclusion after having the privelege of leading nine students at the first-ever evangelism training put on by the best evangelism ministry in the world?

Everybody needs to go.

Though I have been sharing my faith nearly everyday since January 1, 2004, I have never had a more impactful experience than the time I spent at the Ambassadors’ Alliance, the wonderful new bootcamp put on by Ray Comfort’s ministry, Living Waters/The Way of the Master. It was first-class all the way.

In fact, I was so excited afterward, that I told my wife, “Honey, next to being married to you, and having our two daughters, this was the best experience I ever had!” (Note to men: Never say that to your wife; I learned the hard way.)

I had the great pleasure of seeing my team of nine stand on the “box” and preach in the open air—some for the very first time—in Hollywood! And they did it because they were bold as lions and wanted to go home and introduce what they learned to their home churches.

What impact can a three day intensive training make in the life of a would-be evangelist? The image below is of Cheri Mills, who with her friend Lesa Dae, stop light preached on Derby Day in Kentucky—one short week after the training.

Before enrolling in the Ambassadors’ Academy they rarely even handed out a Gospel tract.

Lesa wrote: “I’m still amazed at the experience and surely I will never be the same. I have had many evangelism experiences, but not like this one. My eyes have been opened to a truth that has been staring me in the face for years. It is a simple, but profound truth.”

Another man on our team, Victor Stinson from Texas South Carolina, wrote this: The most significant step I took beyond my comfort zone was getting onto the box for the very first time at the Chinese Theatre. Also, I did stoplight preaching… at Huntington Beach. I learned a lot about going beyond what kinds of things you THINK you can or should do. I hope to employ many of the things [I learned] into my own evangelistic efforts in the future.

So what are you waiting for?

For further information on The Ambassadors’ Alliance evangelism bootcamps, click here!

(Read parts 1-8 by clicking here!)

It was horrible. Awful. Stomach-churning. I wanted to turn my head to avoid the tragedy that was destined to happen. I didn’t. But what I witnessed, no man should ever see…

The persecution took place at Huntington Beach during the last day of training at the Ambassadors’ Academy, a new evangelism bootcamp of Living Waters, while one member of the team I was leading, Neil Collins, got on the “soapbox” to preach.

Launching into a powerful sermon, the two or three gathered to hear him preach were almost moved to tears.

The audience then doubled to three or four… but on the outskirts of the crowd, evil was plotting its dastardly course.

Two rent-a-rickshaw bicyclists circled around the perimeter of the preacher. They were vehemently opposed to this orator on a box. “It’s bad for business!” spat the baldheaded rickshaw driver. He was determined to put an end to this foolishness. He sat in the back of his rickshaw punching the keypad of his cellphone. Was he dialing “M” for Murder?

The plan was hatched. I overheard the baldheaded guy, probably the ringleader say, “Drive through the crowd. Drive through the crowd!” to his ponytailed partner of perdition. Then the son of Belial whispered conspiratorially, ”And when you do…” (here’s where it gets ugly) “…ring your bell!”

I had no time to warn Neil. Old baldhead went first, sin in his eye…

That awful sound, that echoing, tingling, chiming tune of the little girly bell on his handlebars rang out… ever so wimpily, Ting-Ching!  He broke through the throng of five listeners! Ting-Ching!

Undeterred, Neil continued to preach on as Old Baldhead went up and consulted with his ponytailed partner.

The ponytailed guy made his move. Would there be victory for this spawn of Satan? Ting-Ching! He, too, crashed through the crowd. Actually, they stepped aside politely. Ting-Ching!

Unable to remove the man-of-God from his rightful place, the two ruffian rickshaw rebels rode off into the sunset. But there was no sunset. It was High Noon. The fight was over at the OK corral. 

Neil continued to preach on. And on. And on… And on… oblivious to the works of darkness that met their defeat at the foot of the… soapbox. The crowd, the masses, inclined their ears to the words of salvation.

All five of them.

Ting-Ching!     

Charles Spurgeon (1834 – 1892) wrote:

Once recommenced, the fruitful agency of field-preaching was not allowed to cease. Amid jeering crowds and showers of rotten eggs and filth, the immediate followers of the two great [preachers] continued to storm village after village and town after town. Very varied were their adventures, but their success was generally great. One smiles often when reading incidents in their labors. A string of pack horses is so driven as to break up a congregation, and a fire engine is brought out and played over the throng to achieve the same purpose. Hand-bells, old kettles, marrowbones and cleavers, trumpets, drums, and entire bands of music were engaged to drown the preachers’ voices.

In one case the parish bull was let loose, and in others dogs were set to fight. The preachers needed to have faces set like flints, and so indeed they had. John Furz says: “As soon as I began to preach, a man came straight forward, and presented a gun at my face; swearing that he would blow my brains out, if I spake another word. However, I continued speaking, and he continued swearing, sometimes putting the muzzle of the gun to my mouth, sometimes against my ear. While we were singing the last hymn, he got behind me, fired the gun, and burned off part of my hair.

After this, my brethren, we ought never to speak of petty interruptions or annoyances.
—From Spurgeon’s sermon, OPEN-AIR PREACHING - A SKETCH OF ITS HISTORY AND REMARKS THEREON

Read the conclusion of this Ambassadors’ Academy series by clicking here!

(Read parts 1-6 with succeeding links by clicking here.)

I laughed to myself.

At the first day’s training of the Ambassadors’ Alliance, a ministry where people from all over the country came to be coached in a three day evangelism bootcamp, a couple of the teachers assured the class that no one would be pushed to do something they didn’t want to do. “No one will make you do anything,” Tony Miano, the organizer of the event, said over and over.

I thought to myself: People are paying a goodly amount to be taught how to evangelize effectively. They’ve also paid for their airfare, AND sacrificed a lot of time to be here at this training. I don’t want people to go away wondering what they could have done or should have done; I want people to go home thanking God for what they did!” So I pushed them… just a little…

In front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, two ladies, Lesa and Cheri, who never even handed out Gospel tracts on a regular basis, stood on a stool and preached the Gospel powerfully to the forecourt, while tourists inspected the handprints in cement. I hardly pushed at all; God did the pushing.

Lesa Dae belted out the message…

So did Cheri Mills…

But in the background, skulking, was the chicken lady, a worker for the Star Tours buses, who refused to take a Gospel tract.

“SHADDAP! SHADDAP!” she clucked, as everyone continued to preach.

I grabbed Victor Stinson’s elbow. Bam! He climbed on the preaching stool.

A little nudge, and Michael Chamberlain stepped up, in spite of his objections to open air preaching…

Later, the demon tree guy of Hollywood Blvd. scared the pants off of him…

And the chicken lady, growing more agitated by the moment, continued to squawk: “SHADDAP! SHADDAP!” rebuking all those who tried to hand her anything about Jesus.

The husband and wife team, Dennis Feely and Jennifer Good, The FeelyGoods, after a little encouragement, also jumped on the stool shouting repentance to tourists from Idaho, Iowa, and other far-flung places that begin with “I”. 

Big John Chisam from Minnesota, needed no pushing to jump on the stool. But when he did, he crushed it—twice! I didn’t push him to stand on it again. Neil Collins, also a large man, fixed the stool—twice—and preached without it, I think.

The chicken lady circled, feathers ruffled. I convinced Alan Lee to hand her a Gospel tract—a million dollar bill! What would she do? She took it!

Then promptly ripped it up, shoving it back into Alan’s hands.

I had an idea. I wanted to hand the chicken lady an unrippable, untearable, impossible to shred, Ticket to Heaven Gospel tract. She would grab it, try to tear it in half, then when she found out that it wasn’t possible, we’d win her over and share the Gospel.

One problem: She refused to take it.

I tried to push her a little, just a little, but no go. Maybe next time, I’ll gently grab her by the elbow, and ask her to stand on a stool and preach, “SHADDAP! SHADDAP!”

The evangelism students nicknamed me “The Pusher”. To this day I can’t understand why.

READ PART 8 BY CLICKING HERE!

(Read parts 1-5 with succeeding links by clicking here.)

Last week I wrote about how I totally blew it on Hollywood Boulevard.

I was demonstrating to the students attending an evangelism bootcamp put on by Ray Comfort’s ministry, the importance of open air preaching in the midst of distractions. As I started to preach John Travolta showed up; to my shame, I jumped off my preaching stool to give him a tract (read about it here). Little did I know that one of the students, Dennis Feely, was videotaping the whole sordid affair. So, to minimize the damage to my reputation, I thought I’d let you see it before the National Enquirer got a hold of it (you only need to see the first minute). I want to just get it out in the open. (If for some reason you can’t see the video, then click here.)

Thanks a lot Dennis. I owe you, buddy. Big time.

Click here to read part 7!

Click here to see an open air sermon from this year’s Academy Awards, where I actually stayed on my preaching stool.