Gary wrote: > ftr, the Ap Luke makes it clear that JC went about > 'doing good'--that JCs preaching was (also) contextualized > in his efforts to be involved 'doing good' > > however, the SPF lit (on their web site URL DavidM posted) > ignores this over-arching dynamic of JCs ministry; to ignore > it trivializes the biblical Gospel while it (existentially) > demoralizes the listeners, inc the Police whom the SPF focus > on primarily in their attack, as stated in their lit
Hi Gary. I agree with you that their message is somewhat focused and not inclusive of all that Jesus taught. In fact, I am not allowed to join SPF because I am charismatic. That seems way too narrow from my perspective too. :-) Nevertheless, the vision they have that believers ought to stand up for their faith, be vocal about their faith, and declare the need to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved, is a good one. This particular incident in Indianapolis shows a police precinct that has become outright hostile toward Christianity. I think whether you realize it or not, street preachers like these are helping to keep government from encroaching upon our religious liberties. If you don't exercise religious freedom to do good and preach the gospel, you might not appreciate it, but those of us who do get out in the community to do good and preach know very well what goes on. I first became involved with street preaching because I was concerned about the problem of poverty in Tampa. In trying to share food and clothing with people, and in trying to help them better themselves by finding suitable housing and work, the government at times interfered with what I was doing. This was not because they objected to someone helping the poor, but because I was doing it in the name of Christ. Nobody said it better than an atheist I encountered when I was invited to speak to a socialist group at the University of South Florida. I was speaking in a packed out classroom there about what we were doing with the poor and why we were doing it. A communist in the organization had invited me because he became very impressed with the work we were doing and the sacrifices we were making in doing it. He was an atheist too, but the good works are what impressed him and why he invited me to share with their organization. As I shared about what we did and why we did it, an atheist in the back of the room became enraged. He started hollering something like, "the reason you keep getting into trouble with the police and other leaders is because you just can't shut up about God. Everything I hear is about God, God, God! Shut up about God!" He came out of his seat and raced up the aisle and attacked me. Two men in the room pulled him off of me. My shirt was completely shredded from the violence; I must have looked like Tom Hanks in Castaway. :-) In any case, it is the name of Jesus Christ, not the good works we do, that brings about persecution. Regardless of your own personal sentiments about whether men ought to preach Christ in public, don't you see a problem with a police officer arresting people for saying the name of Jesus? Don't you have a problem with him saying, "if you say the name of Jesus Christ one more time I'm going to arrest you"? Don't you have a problem with the police saying, "you can't preach, but I can...." and then he goes on to preach that Jesus Christ was a false prophet? Surely, don't you agree that a man of God cannot remain silent in that situation, but should boldly proclaim that Jesus Christ was a true prophet like unto Moses, that Prophet whom Scripture says we ought to hear? Do you think it is righteous to arrest such a man who responds in this way to a police office preaching publicly that Jesus was a false prophet? I suspect from some things you said that you didn't listen to the 30 minute interview yet. I encourage you to listen to it. http://www.theheartofthematteronline.com/archive.asp?archiveID=766 Peace be with you. David Miller, Beverly Hills, Florida. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
