Documentary: The Forgotten Power Of The Public Proclamation Of The Gospel
February 28, 2010 7 Comments
The film Go. Stand. Speak… delves into the doctrine of public preaching with experts such as Dr. George Grant, Paul Washer, Greg Gordon, Pastor John Reuther, Rusty Lee Thomas, David Legge, Ray Comfort, Stuart Migdon, Michael Marcavage, Jeff Rose, Shawn Holes, Sean Morris and other Christian leaders and uncovers the big question: is this quiet, new move of public preaching something that is simply a trend, or is it again the beginning of a move of God where He is simply doing what He always has done…calling His ministers to go and preach His message of repentance and faith where the people gather in the public, regardless of culture, current trends, or the popularity of the message and method? The Apologetics Group and Go, Stand, Speak Ministries presents this Brand New DVD to be released in June about the forgotten power of public preaching.
See more previews at GoStandSpeak.com.
Great reminder to go and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Not all will come into a church to hear the Gospel and not all will be befriended in a relationship with a Christian that will eventually declare the Gospel to the one unsaved, so yes, God has called some to Biblically go into the marketplace and public place to proclaim with compassion for the lost and passion for His life giving truth to those who are perishing to bring glory to the Son.
Grace, Jim
Thanks for this post. I’ll buy this DVD when it comes out.
Excellent! I am not sure about the statement that some are specifically called by God to preach publicly – where is that in Scripture?
Jim – you say “not all will come into a church to hear the Gospel”. Indeed – the church is not intended to be a place where lost folks gather. It is a gathering of saints, into which a lost person may intrude.
I heartily agree with the admonition that street preaching (all preaching) shouldn’t be agry or arrogant. Whitefield’s example is a great one!
Several years ago, when my company was celebrating “Gay Pride Week”, a Christian made a poster of Leviticus 20:13 and ended up getting fired for contributing to a “hostile work place”. Christian co-workers of mine asked me if I thought that was terrible and I told them that yes, it was terrible that a Christian would be so stupid as to think homosexuals would be open to condemnation as way to witness. We should use the law, but not a club to beat folks where they are defensive. All men lie, cheat, blaspheme and all men need a savior. Let us proclaim the gospel and not think we can save anyone.
Manfred,
I’m not sure everyone is called to street preach just like everyone is not called to be the pastor of a church but many of us could do much more than we do, for sure.
Jim,
You are right, church is for saved not lost even though they are welcome to attend. We have the whole church model upside down today. We expect a preacher to stand up and deliver messages that cause people to come in to church when the people care nothing for God or His word. This is why all of the pragmatic, entertainment-driven garbage has taken over.
The Bible talks about believers meeting together to worship. Afterwards, they went into the public and some of the apostles spoke of Christ and others ministered to the sick and needy. The best we hear about in church today is to live godly lives and invite people to church. This is still not what the first Church did. They worshipped and went out into the world.
The great commission says to go into the world and proclaim. We sit on our backsides and wait for the world to come to us. No wonder God is not active in many areas of the US.
Truthinator and Manfred,
I totally agree regarding the purpose of church for the gathering of believers and not for evangelism. I guess my statement wasn’t clear on my opinion on the matter.
Most of the evangelical churches around here are big on relationship building and invitation to church to have the lost here the gospel message at church. I believe that this is an unscriptural model and thus isn’t really working, however, many of the pastors in these churches point to the result of those last Sunday who were invited, bowed their heads and prayed the “sinners prayer”, and “accepted Jesus into their life”.
These pastors point to our “results” in our door-to-door, street witnessing, and open air preaching efforts and decide they have a better plan with better “results”. I keep wondering where all their “conversions” are 2 months later.
We are criticized by our approach with contact evangelism by many Christians and Christian pastors here. Salvation is from the Lord, but I want to attempt to practice evangelism according to the Biblical model endorsed by the One who has saved and called us to follow Him with the promise that He will make us fishers of men.
Has anyone read Jon Speed’s little book, “Evangelism in the New Testament”? I just got a copy. It’s a great resource for this discussion.
Jon Speed’s book is terrific, as is the man. He is a dear friend of mine, a dedicated street preacher and a true man of God. We worship at the same church, and I have had the privilege of going out with him on a few occasions now. He has been a real inspiration to me to get out and share the Word, and his book provides some good and Biblical information on the commission that we all have been given.
May the Lord bless your efforts. Let us pray for a revival in our land and preach the word where we’re at.
Blessings,
Simple Mann
I recently picked up Will Metzger’s book, “Tell the Truth” – http://trevinwax.com/2009/10/15/reflections-on-will-metzgers-tell-the-truth/ It’s a wee bit longer than Speed’s booklet, but I dare say most all of us need some push to get off our spiritual back sides and open our mouths for the glory of God.