Street preaching is not all bad. I happen to think that what I see and here in Ruben (over a period of nearly two years) is the best of the SP. That article some gave kudos to, mistaking it for something Kevin wrote and which Kevin corrected - shows a great deal of love and concern on the part of Ruben.
I have ministered to homosexuals off and on over the years. On the sidelines, one on one, some can be very honest. In an event -- well it truly does bring out the worst in many of these people. I do believe their behavior is self destructive to the degree it is entertained. When I say that "homosexuality" is one of 26 listed sins in Romans 1 -- that is not to minimize the sin, but to remind us that it is on a list of sins along with insulting parents and envy. If sin is sin as Judy claims, then envy and arrogance are AS BAD as homosexuality. Matt 7:1ff teaches us against "hypocricy" in judgment. And what is the opposite of "hypocrixy?" Sinlessness ! David might argue this .....but , in fact, it is humility. We preac
h to sinners not forgetting that we, ourselves, are the same. The difference? We recognize that our sin to be self destructive and work against it as God gives us strength and knowledge. Ruben is not perfect ......but he preaches anyway. We all do in some way.
I believe the church makes a big mistake when it trys to deal lovingly with the homosexual issue by arguing against the sinfulness of the act of homosexuality. Its heart is in the right place - wanting to the right thing by the homosexual, wanting them included in God's love. If we could get the message that it is ok to be firm on the sinfulness of homosexuality WITHOUT being exclusive - we as The Church would have more influence over the folks who make these kind of decisions. I see little difference between "You are right on your own terms, come on in" and "you are wrong in what you do, but come on in" in terms of expanding the foundries of the family. There is
a difference between the two, of course - one ignores the sinful self destructive nature of the sin and does no favor to the participants. The other says, :Hey, lets work together on those sins that so easily include us, not making eternal excuses but accepting facts as presented and moving to grow up in Christ TOGETHER. " We must never forget that a wrathful God IS a wrathful Father. We have been reconciled to Him for the purpose of .... a better life, real choices, spiritual growth that is productive AND an enemy to the evil that seeks to destroy us. Inclusion IS NOT an act of license ...... it is an act of charity.
The Corinthian church was described as "carnal, babes in Christ." Were they still of the flesh? Think "carnal" and answer with the word "yes."
Were they nonetheless alive in the Lord at the same time? As much as any baby is alive, YES. And what do we do with babies. I mean, the world centers around them and, at the same time, they are helpless to deal with it by themselves. So we get our hands in their crap, we are constantly cleaning up after them, feeding, working our lives around them and why? Precisely because they are babes.
If you believe you share in the "Great commission," then you must believe that part of what you are doing in this world is "making disciples." to bring them to the Lord on the streets is not to say that they have been discipled. "Make disciples by baptizing and teaching ..." Teaching takes time. Perhaps this is why Christ limited His work of discipling to the original 12. And after 3-4 years, where were they -- they still had a ways to go.
Rubens ministry below, is the way it is. If he kept his head, did not fight fire with fire (his butt is no pretty than others, I suppose) - then his calling is profound. If he brings people to Christ without the follow up effort of discipling, perhaps more needs to be included in the ministry.
JD
-----Original Message-----
From: Ruben Israel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]innglory.org
Sent: Tue, 24 May 2005 06:28:38 -0700
Subject: [TruthTalk] Preach report
Regarding the new California California Long Beach Pacific Ocean behind us (as our back drop) and the sodomites parading in front of us, we were
able to warn the masses, exhort the mayor and other political vote whores with banners and mega horns. We had four police officers around us and two parade monitors that stopped people from throwing objects at us and dropping their pants in front of us. This is the only parade where one could see little purple sexually transmitted diseases dancing to music carrying signs to wear protection, while they toss out condoms to the cheering crowd.
To be filed under, God’s Will: I had brought an extra banner and so did another brother and when the preaching started this young man walked his wife over to us (she was blind) and stood behind the police barricades with us and wanted to hold banners and stand with us for God. They both held banners for about two hours and assisted to help us testify at this event. Another guy was walking home from work and noticed us, so he came by talking and stayed watching a witnessing to those around us.
Once again the public preaching provoked many one on one conversations and our new guy that has been joining us since New Years Eve in Vegas, commented that never saw anything like this in his whole life. It is one thing to preach against sodomy, or to witness to a sodomite, but another it is another world to see how these people act when they have an event. Each group, car, float stopped in front of us to yell, flip us off, or do some kind of kiss in, so at the end of the day God Word was heralded on the streets. After the parade my wife picked us up (with no plates on our vehicle) as a Long Beach
From the WATCHTOWER: Ruben Israel
RIDDLE:
Why do the sodomites march next to the ocean?
Maybe to see a HUMP BACK wha
