-No doubt one-on-one evangelism seems to be the best
approach, however the “laborers are few” (Luke 10:2) and so we need to utilize
the limited resources that we have (also, many friendships and an relationships
are developed as a result of open air preaching).
-Indeed this was approach was often used by Jesus (Sermon on
the Mount,), John the Baptist (in the wilderness), Paul ( at Mars Hill),
Stephen (Acts 7), as well as Jeremiah (Jeremiah 17:19-20), Jonah (Jonah 3:4), Amos (Amos 5:10), Isaiah (Isaiah 29:21), etc.
-Indeed open air preaching was often used by Francis
of Assisi, John Wycliffe, John Knox, George Whitefield, John Wesley, Lorenzo
Dow, William Carey, C.H. Spurgeon, D.L. Moody, Billy Graham…
-Ephesians 4:11 and 12a has an interesting order in
regards to the list of rolls for the Christian, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds
and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of
ministry…” We see first mentioned is Apostles, then prophets, and then
EVANGELSISTS, and then shepherds (pastors), and so on. We see in the heavenly
order Evangelism seems to be important, it is even listed above the office
of a pastor. Despite the high calling
of Evangelism it is not only high on the list of importance but even somewhat
despised but that is bass ackwards and we need to remedy this skewed mindset
right quick (even I have a hard time saying “I’m an evangelist”, but we would
have no problem saying “I am a pastor”. Why is that? Why has being an
evangelist become a byword amongst us Christians?)!
Now back to the subject at hand. Josh went up first
and had a small audience and spoke for about 5 minutes, and then being filled
with the Spirit and encouraged by Josh’s boldness I followed after him. Once I
stood up all my fears subsided and I was ready to rock. I needed to draw an
audience so I took a pomegranate that I had in my backpack and hoisted it high
in the sky and began to say to those walking by and seated near me “This is a
pomegranate, this is a pomegranate, I say, this is a pomegranate!” I didn’t
know where I was going with aforementioned factual statement, but alas it
worked and after asserting this fruit truth I had about 40 on lookers and
listeners (not to mention the distant 100 or 150 people who I saw in the
background who were paying head to my words but just didn’t come up to the
front with the others). I then began fixing my eyes on people in the crowd
asking them “Is there one truth?” to utilize as a conversation starter. Finding
someone to engage and have a dialogue with me in front of the crowd seems to be
the best approach, as the onlookers don’t get bored cause it’s not just a
monologue but a dialogue. Another hidden blessing are all the hecklers who try
to yell things at me and in doing so they draw even more of a crowd (because people love drama), and then,
since the atheist usually has the feet of their beliefs planted firmly in
mid-air and cant really back up their claims it ends up being somewhat comical –
but even more so than comical, for the onlooker it becomes eye opening and
people begin to soul search.
Anyways,
I have already made this to long so suffice it to say. I spoke until I lost my
voice, afterwards spoke with about 4 people (and those are just those who
actually came up to me), and one of them came up to me and her first words to
me, that were unsolicited, “I am going to rededicate my life to Jesus!” That
blessed me when she said that. I then spoke with her at length in an attempt to
have her really see what it is she is really rededicating her life to, and for
her to consider that maybe she didn’t really even dedicate it to the right
thing in the first place. But yeah, she counted the cost and it was bitchin!
Well, next Tuesday is at Long Beach City College and then Wednesday is at
Orange Coast Community College. Please pray for us if you ever think about it.
"He which soweth sparingly shall reap also
sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully
shall reap also bountifully." - 2 Corinthians 9:6
"Shout it aloud, do not
hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet…” - Isaiah 88:1
"What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in
light, and what ye hear in the ear, that
preach ye upon the housetops." - Matthew 10:27
"It would be very easy to prove that revivals of
religion have usually been accompanied, if not caused, by a
considerable amount of preaching out of doors, or in unusual places." - Charles Haddon
Spurgeon:
I don't understand what "claims" an atheist would have to backup? They assert there is no God because there is no evidence of one. What is there to backup with that? A person isn't required to prove a negative. The burden of evidence lies with the person making the extra-ordinary claim.
ReplyDeleteFor example, let's say. I don't believe in unicorns, but you do. You would have to provide the evidence for the existence of unicorns. It doesn't make any sense that I would have to prove that unicorns don't exist; since there is no evidence they do.
Even though....There is likely more evidence that unicorns exist than anyone's god.
Just wanting to get back to you with a bit more clarity and thought on your response.... which I thank you for again.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do want to make a few comments on the burden of proof which Christians most certainly have and must make concerning their beliefs, let me also make a comment or two concerning the burden or proof or lack thereof for those who would deny the existence of God.
In general, burden of proof is tied to persuasion. Neither of us have a burden of proof if we don't care about persuading the other. If, however, our goal is to persuade the other person to change their views, then the one doing the persuading has a burden of proof. This would apply to any subject, not just the existence of God- Unicorns for instance.
Since my desire is not merely that you would find the arguments for the existence of God mentally satisfying but that you would encounter the risen Jesus, then I have have a burden of proof. If your concern is that i am devoting my life to a fairy tail no different than following Little Red Ridding Hood, then your burden would be to show me why I am mistaken, why it matters, and how Atheism offers a better explanation of the particulars, or the the world and life as we know and experience it, which I certainly would be open to hear.
Let me begin by making a comment on the problem of "evidence." If by evidence we are going to refer to that kind "scientific evidence" which is reproducible in a lab, then Christianity has little proof to offer, though it still has points to make. The problem with this understanding of "evidence" is that it is not able to do justice to those things which we know to be true but which could never be produced in a lab. How can we prove love or guilt in a lab? What scientific evidence could we muster for love? Even issues of history become problematic. How can I scientifically prove the Holocaust? If we are going to account for a wider aspect of reality, we are going to need to expand our understanding of evidence to account for more things. In the end what we are left with are theories or positions which offer us the best explanations for all the particulars of our experiences, of what we know and of what science has shown.. for reality. This was the goal of philosophy. It sought unifying principles that accounted for all things, or reality as we know and experience it. What I would want to show is that Christianity offers what I believe to be the best explanation of the world in which we live and our experiences as humans. While not everyone would agree, I would hope that they would come to see that to be a Christian is not to be anti-intellectual or to be a people who only believe because they have taken the proverbial leap of faith, leaving their brain on the cliff. Christianity offers a credible explanation for the way things are. This is how I'm addressing the issue of evidence.
It's real important that I make a clarification up front. What I am NOT defending is the belief in Theism, Deism, vague spirituality, Plato's unknowable God, or a divine First Cause. I am making the case for Jesus. That he was who he claimed to be- God in human flesh. That God is knowable in him. That he is unique in all history. So I am making the case for the existence of God... in Jesus.
4. Christianity says that Jesus rose from the dead and this changes everything.
There are two general directions I want to go with this. Let me begin with Unicorns. If we wanted to prove the existence of Unicorns, Bigfoot or any other kind of legend, we would look for the signs, "evidence" of their existence. In World War 2, there was a sign that some of the American's left called "Kilroy was here." If you've not seen it, it's quite old, just give it a quick google. When looking for unicorns we're looking for signs that "Kilroy was here"... that unicorns were here. The same thing applies to many problems of history. There are many young people today in Germany who deny the historicity of the Holocaust. If we want to convince them of the reality of the Holocaust, we have the burden to persuade them by showing them that a historical Holocaust is the best, most credible explanation of all the bits of information out there.
ReplyDeleteSo while I cannot set the person of Jesus before you, his existence offers the most credible explanation for our experience in the world and our experience as humans. Let me offer a few examples.
1. Christianity says that men and women were made in the image of God. We see the imprint of the image of God in the dignity of mankind, our rationality, our appreciation of beauty, or need for community, our thirst for purpose and spirituality, and our moral motions, just to name a few. Let me comment on each one briefly.
* Dignity- the value of human life. The Holocaust is a tragedy because people have value. Human RIghts are not animal rights because "a boy is not a rat and not a dog."
* Moral Motions- I only have the ability to say the Holocaust is wrong because there is such a thing as morals, ethical right and wrong. Mankind cannot get away from morals. We might not agree as to what is right and wrong. But we all have moral motions. We say certain things "ought to be" or "ought not to be" and this is because we have an unavoidable sense of right and wrong.
2. Christianity says that something went horribly wrong in God's creation that sin and evil entered the world through Adam's sin.
* Christianity offers a credible explanation for evil. Christianity affirms its existence. In the world of Atheism and evolution, evil does not exist. It cannot say that the Holocaust was wrong. It could only say that in the fight for the strong to survive that the strong survived and it was the Arians of Germany. Christianity says that evil entered the world through the original sin of Adam. While we might not like this thought, it explains us. It explains why we do many of the things we don't want to do and fail to do some of the things we ought to do but don't. It explains rape, injustice, racism, murder, lying, theft, brutality, etc. These are real, and truly wrong because there is such a thing as evil and ethical right and wrong.
3. Christianity says that God did for us what we could never do for ourselves in the sending of his Son.
4. Christianity says that Jesus rose from the dead and this changes everything.
I went to Bible College and used to be a pastor so I know all about the convoluted arguments for the christian myth(as I have preached them all myself). I could care less what sort of superstitions you prescribe to and I'm not looking to change your opinion. I do not claim that I know there is no god, only that there is no evidence to believe that there is one.
ReplyDeleteAs one of my favorite biologist's Richard Dawkins says, "We are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further."
It's just funny to me that you don't have access to any more information on christianity than I or anyone else does, yet feel like you can tell someone else how to live their life. (ie the homophobia, muslim girl, atheists, abortion)
Summed up:
"Everybody live your own fucking life, and leave everybody else the fuck alone :)" -me, the atheist