Open Air Preaching
Dear Christian friends,
“It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe” (1 Corin. 1:21). Throughout the Bible, God called His servants to proclaim His word in the public places. People were warned to repent of their sins and get their lives right with God. In some cases, many repented and were spared God’s judgment. The entire city of Ninevah, for example, repented at the preaching of Jonah. In other cases, few or no people repented. Noah was called a preacher of righteousness. As he built the ark, he warned of God’s judgment, yet only his family was saved.
God told the prophet Ezekiel, “Go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them…whether they listen or not” (Ezek. 3:4,11). Some will claim that preaching the gospel is not effective, or that you will only “turn people off.” It is very important that we preach with love, gentleness and sensitivity. Even when we do this, however, some will be offended at the gospel.
Bill Bright, the founder and director of Campus Crusade for Christ, said, “Effective witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, leaving the results to God.” God has called us to walk by faith. We must obey God and continue to preach the Gospel, whether or not we see results.
The apostle Paul had a powerful ministry and saw much fruit amid much opposition. But the thing that disturbed him most was not the persecution by unbelievers, but the criticism and lack of support by other believers. Even those who were saved in churches he had started, criticized him and forsook him. They said he was not a true apostle. They said he had no right to receive financial support. “If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?” (1 Corin. 9:11) They criticized his speaking ability. “His bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible” (2 Corin. 10:10). At the end of his life, as he was awaiting death in a Roman prison, he wrote Timothy, “Take your diligence to come to me. For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world….Only Luke is with me….At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me” (2 Tim. 4:9-16). Truly, the life of God’s servant is difficult, but God is faithful to comfort and strengthen us. “Nevertheless, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles might hear” (2 Tim. 4:17).
Preaching the Gospel Today
Today, there is much criticism of open-air preaching by other Christians. Despite the tremendous Biblical support for this approach, many Christians think that this approach is ineffective, out-of-date, and only “turns people off” to the gospel. Generally, friendship evangelism, mercy ministry, and inviting people to church are proposed as inoffensive alternatives.
I witnessed on the streets for about seven years before I began street preaching. When I came to San Francisco, I saw a number of street preachers who would preach at Market and Powell, near the cable car turnaround. Many of them spent a lot of time arguing with one another, calling one another “devils” because they disagreed on some doctrine. Many of these street preachers did not have any regular church involvement. What I saw definitely did not make me want to be a street preacher.
After a few years, I met some other street preachers who joined us for our outreaches. They were good, solid Christians who preached under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes the message was strong, emphasizing the holiness of God. At other times it was very gentle, emphasizing the love and mercy of God. After listening to them, I decided to give street preaching a try.
I was very nervous when I first started preaching, but I found that the Holy Spirit would give me words if I would open my mouth. While some preachers can preach comfortably without an amplifier, I find that using an amplifier helps me to speak loudly without yelling or straining my voice. I usually use a “Maximouse amplifier” (available for $290 from Sam Ash Music, (212) 719-2299), which contains a rechargeable battery, produces good- quality sound and is also excellent for music.
Outreach Reports
Although it rained almost every day in January, we had some dry weather in early February and held two outdoor rallies at 5th St. and Market. On February 4, New Life Christian Church (San Lorenzo) ministered. Their youth group joined the worship group for this outreach. On February 11, West Heights Christian Church (Santa Cruz) ministered. They did drama and dance as well as worship music. Most of their church participated in the outreach! It was especially refreshing to watch their children give out gospel tracts.
That evening, we witnessed at the Chinese New Year Parade. Up to 500,000 people attended the parade, so our small group of 12 Christians could only reach a small portion of the crowd. We put up our large banner and several small banners. We preached for three hours and gave out thousands of tracts in English and Chinese.
On Friday night February 3, we witnessed in the Castro District. Three Christians were witnessing with us for the first time. This is the most difficult place we go to, and I was a bit apprehensive. But the outreach was very peaceful. We sang, gave out a lot of tracts, and had some good conversations. I spoke with a backslidden Christian who admitted he needed to get right with God. I also talked with two “orthodox Jewish homosexuals,” who had deceived themselves into thinking they were right with God.
On February 10, we witnessed on Polk Street. About 20 Christians from Youth With a Mission in San Francisco and Salem, Oregon, were also witnessing that night. They gave out soup, cookies and hot chocolate. I spoke with several people, including Dominic. He was 21 and had been on the streets since he was 14. He had been involved in prostitution, was addicted to drugs, and had the HIV virus. It seemed like he was getting tired of his lifestyle. We had a good conversation, but he was not yet ready to put his faith in Jesus. Please pray for Dominic. Please pray also for a discipleship house for the young people on Polk Street. Without such a house, it will be very difficult to help these people.
Testimony
by Eric Livingston
I was born in upstate New York and raised by my mother who was a single parent. Being raised in a “projects” environment, I was first forced to smoke pot at age 6. But alas, into more drugs, alcoholism, and chaos. Between grades 6 and 8 I had already become a liar, cheat, and a thief. My mother couldn’t handle both my brother and myself, so she thought of sending us to a group home. I was allowed to live with my grandparents back in New York. I had consumed drugs and alcohol daily since 1986 until my conversion in 1990. During these years, rock-n-roll was my gospel. The church I attended planted a wonderful seed of truth in me that Jesus Christ was God incarnate, yet it was weekend religion and hypocrisy.
My obsession of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll led me to become a fanatic of the Grateful Dead band or rather a dead-head hippie. Their music was my life. I must say that I lived an everyday “tailgate” party lifestyle. I sold drugs, alcohol, food, T-shirts, and would gladly offer my body for a ticket or ride to the next concert. This addiction to the Grateful Dead music and lifestyle caused me to “forsake all” and attend every concert that Jerry Garcia played at. This is what brought me to California in August 1990.
On August 5, 1990, a couple of undercover officers bought L.S.D. from me and I was arrested on a felony charge to serve 3 to 5 years in a California state prison. It was in jail that I decided to return to the God of my childhood and repent of my exceedingly perverse lifestyle. Then through Bible studies, chapel services, and daily devotions, I prayed for guidance and direction.
After two weeks my public defender stated that I was “going to be here awhile,” but I replied, “I’m sorry but I need to get out today.” What I got back was, “Yes, you and everybody else behind you, but I’ll see what I can do.” The public defender returned within 20 minutes and stated, “I don’t know why, but we’re cutting you loose in three days.” God did answer my prayer of guidance and direction.
The hour after my release, I was minding my own business, writing a letter, sitting on Telegraph Avenue [Berkeley], when a man walked up to me, tapped me on the shoulder and said, “God’s been dealing with you, hasn’t He?” I jumped up and replied to my new- found friend, “Why yes, God has been dealing with me…What’s up?” He then invited me to join him and his friends in praising the Lord and sharing what God had been doing in their lives. This group, SOS-San Francisco, has a once-a-year, week-long outreach of street evangelism and I had the pleasure of making my decision to fully submit to and follow Jesus. My life in Christ, being fully orchestrated by the Holy Spirit, involved becoming acquainted with seven members of [the Monterey Bay] Teen Challenge Center who had been attending the outreach.
After a year at Teen Challenge, Eric attended the Great Commission Bible School in McMinnville, Oregon, where he met and married his wife, Cammie. Today, Eric , Cammie, and their new daughter Christiana live two blocks from our house and participate in our Tuesday night house meeting and our outreaches every weekend. They are real servants of our Lord Jesus and a great blessing to us.
Ministry Needs
We witness every Friday night and Saturday afternoon. On Friday we meet at 7:30 PM at Vineyard Christian Fellowship, 1098 Harri son St. at 7th St., room 219. Call us for information about our Saturday outreaches. Throughout the spring, we will be scheduling “Church on the Street” outreaches at 5th St. and Market on Satur day afternoon with various local churches. Call us for the out reach schedule. Please pray that we would continue to get permits for these outreaches, as well as those scheduled for SOS week.
Please help us bring the gospel to those who are perishing. Also, please pray for those who have responded recently to the gospel: LuAnn (San Jose), John (San Francisco), Celesta (Nevada City, age 16, received Christ 2 years ago), Stefani (backslidden lesbian, San Francisco), Elwood (San Quentin prison), and Jesse (Corcoran, CA prison).
We still need two men to live in our evangelism house in Oakland. The house is for spiritually-mature Christians with a call to evangelism. This is an excellent opportunity to receive practical training in witnessing. Please call or write me right away if you are interested, or know someone who is.
Our Tape of the Month is Open Air Preaching by Scott Crawford. Scott is Director of Evangelism for Jesus Ministry in Colby, Kansas. He has preached in cities all over the U.S. for over 20 years and is a charter member of the SOS Ministries Board of Directors.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
