STREET PREACHING IV--Spiritual Carnage

Last night was the first night for me to go out street preaching for the summer this year. It was a weak start because we were only out there for about one and a half hours.

Did you notice the "we"? Yes, I now have two partners and neither of them are weak sisters, either. Both are Bible college students and both are real evangelists. I am totally jacked to have some help this summer. Last summer I was alone. I'll tell you more about them another time.

Once again, I was impressed last night by what I call the spiritual carnage left by the doctrinal bombings done from American pulpits. Lost people are convinced that they aren't because some preacher lied to them. The first young men to whom I talked were at a roller skating park. They were actually part of a church group so I asked them right out how to be saved. "Be baptized." They said it in unison. When I asked them if they had heard that they must repent of their sins, one kind of acknowledged that he'd heard something about that. The other, Sam, hadn't heard any such thing. He admitted that he had never repented of his sins.

Another young man, Steven, was from Wyoming. He was a joy to talk to because he really wanted to talk about God. I asked him how to be saved, because he, too, was raised in church. THIS WAS HIS LITERAL ANSWER: "That little prayer thing." I asked him if he's repented of his sins. He didn't really answer. I asked him if he reads his Bible. "No." I told him to read it daily and obey what he reads.

Next, my partners and I talked to a Catholic fellow who really wanted to talk. Pray for him. I expect to see him again.

Lastly, we spoke to a group of three or four and that was really disappointing. One of my partners lead the way on that one and he's really had a lot of experience witnessing. That part was awesome--I have two real partners who really love God and want to preach. The bad part was that the main guy who was doing the talking in the group we approached was a typical example of what I call the Idolaters of Luuv. When we talked about judgment, he responded that God was not a judge and no one was going to hell. No matter how we talked to him, he wouldn't budge off his center. May God judge the preacher who lied to him this way.

All in all, it was a great night. It's great getting back to it and it's great having two really great partners.

In Christ,
Phil Perkins.