Post by bullhornbob on Sept 8, 2008 2:09:08 GMT -5
"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten"
Jesus Christ - Rev:3:19
These words of Christ penetrated the air during our latest outreach to students on the UC Berkeley campus last week. The first week back on campus was a huge success, as we plowed the fallow ground faithfully, looking towards an eventual harvest!
Also, feel free to visit our website to view the report along with some photos to help you connect the dots, so to speak!
www.bemaministries.com/html/newsletter.html
www.bemaministries.com/html/photo_gallery.html
Please remember us in your daily prayer time, as we go into all the world!
-----------------------------------------------------------
University of California - Berkeley
Monday, August 25, 2008:
Today was opening day for the Fall Semester, and Sproul Plaza was buzzing with activity. Dozens of tables lined the walkways, including frats, sororities, and of course, the religious groups. I lump all of the campus religious groups together now, including the so-called christians. Most of the professing christians are not living upright and wholly obedient to the Lord, and would openly oppose us given the opportunity.
We are working with our good friend and host, Brother Kevin Farrer, of Cry to God Ministries, for the next few weeks. We will then start our journey back towards the East Coast. Brother Shon, another local preacher, also joined us for what was his first campus preach.
Kevin has been instructed by counsel to make sure we exhaust every possible scenario before we start preaching, so we checked in with Public Affairs, and got the green light to preach and fly banners. This is due to continuing abuse by law enforcement and administration towards the campus preachers and the basic rights concerning freedom of speech and religion. If we are denied access, or worst case scenario, arrested, it is all the better to have inquired with administration beforehand.
We found our spot and I began to preach to the passing students. They were very apathetic and indifferent towards the gospel, and I think I had one interaction with a student. That was it. After about 30 minutes, I turned it over to Kevin. He also had the exact same results. Shon then took his turn. Nothing but indifference. Then Evangelista took her turn, and she eventually drew in a few listeners, mostly due to a veteran campus heckler named Chris.
After going toe-to-toe with this guy for about 30 minutes, I took over and immediately the crowd grew to about 150-200 students. It went very well, as I refuted the lies and deceptions that have rooted themselves in the mindset of college kids across our land. Judging righteously, drug and alcohol abuse, illicit music, and universalism were just a few of the subjects we preached against. I was able to hold the crowd for over an hour, and as I wrapped up, some kids crowded around for a brief Q-n-A period.
A young lady named Elizabeth followed us out to Telegraph Ave. to encourage us, and stopped to talk with us a few moments. She said she was very glad we were there, and she would be letting her Pastor know of our weeklong outreach.
We left Berkeley around 3:30 to beat the horrendous traffic back to Fremont, anticipating more of the same for the next day, God willing.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008:
Evangelista and I arrived on campus today around 11:00 am. After about half an hour of preaching, I was able to draw in a small crowd of 30-50 students. Even though hundreds of students roamed throughout the plaza, it was very difficult to gain their attention. Kevin arrived close to noon, and I turned the crowd over to him shortly thereafter.
Our veteran heckler returned today, complete with a book on the history of the Klu Klux Klan. Kevin seems to have been preaching to this guy for over 15 years. I find that amazing, and it definitely gives us a clear example of the grace of God. We are praying for his salvation.
I am blown away by the huge homeless contingency on this campus. Evangelista experienced more than a few homeless men today as she preached. Sadly, most of them have been abusing drugs and alcohol for many years, and it shows when they speak. I kept a close eye on Evangelista, and eventually a couple of them got a little too close for comfort. I am very proud of my wife, as she exhibited the fruit of the Spirit throughout the entire preach.
I had a conversation with a demon-filled student who is deep into Buddhism. He admitted to hearing voices and twitched and contorted as he spoke to me. I offered him hope and deliverance in Jesus Christ, but he was only interested in our “wrong way” of preaching the gospel. We also smelled marijuana throughout the day today, as students openly smoke it as they walk through the plaza.
After we all took a couple of turns preaching, we left at approximately 3:00 pm.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008:
We arrived on campus around noon today after having our windshield replaced on our truck. Brother Kevin had gathered in a small crowd, and eventually Evangelista took over. The crowds were small today and the apathy seemed to have returned.
Eventually, we had a medium sized crowd of about 100 towards the end of the day. It seemed that we had to do a lot of plowing here on this campus. The resident heckler, Chris, stopped to interject his quirky comments every now and then throughout the day, but our crowd seemed more interested in the preaching now.
Around 4:00 pm, we decided to head back to our vehicle to keep an appointment we had. Today was a great day of straight gospel preaching.
Thursday, August 28, 2008:
Berkeley seems to be what I would call a “late” campus. By this I mean it is easier to gain the students’ attention and draw in a crowd later in the day than it is earlier in the morning. Due to a large concert on campus today, Sproul Plaza would be shut down to traffic in the early afternoon. We decided to take care of some minor repairs on our truck today, along with some other ministry related tasks.
Friday, August 29, 2008:
Again, our day started a little later than normal on campus today. We also planned on staying late into the evening with a larger group of preachers out on Telegraph Ave.
Evangelista and I arrived at about 1:45 pm, and I lifted up my voice to the passers-by. During the week, it was clearly evident that most of the students on this campus were very illiterate concerning biblical truth. I endeavored to simplify my message and focus on the death, burial, resurrection, and manifestation of Christ. After a little more than an hour of solid preaching, I turned the crowd of 100 or so over to Evangelista.
Evangelista has really blossomed in her ability to preach specific truths in scripture. She held the crowd for about an hour, focusing on repentance, and the lifestyle that coincides with a true change of mind and heart. This woman of God has given me much to be thankful for over the years, but nothing so much as her willingness to forsake our former position in the “rat race” of life, and give it all up to preach Christ publicly.
We exited the open courtyard at about 4 pm with a sense of sadness, realizing that yet another institution of “higher” learning had succumbed to the lies of secular humanism and worldly philosophies. A large percentage of the student body is on drugs, and could care less about God’s opinion concerning their lifestyles.
The fear of the Lord in America has waned to the point of apathy, indifference, and hypocrisy levels unrivaled in the history of mankind. I am afraid it will be the undoing of the very core of this great nation. In the meantime, we will continue to preach God’s words, with fear and trembling, looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!
PLEASE PRAY FOR US AS WE PREACH THE GOSPEL PUBLICLY ON CAMPUSES AND STREETCORNERS EVERYWHERE!
Jesus Christ - Rev:3:19
These words of Christ penetrated the air during our latest outreach to students on the UC Berkeley campus last week. The first week back on campus was a huge success, as we plowed the fallow ground faithfully, looking towards an eventual harvest!
Also, feel free to visit our website to view the report along with some photos to help you connect the dots, so to speak!
www.bemaministries.com/html/newsletter.html
www.bemaministries.com/html/photo_gallery.html
Please remember us in your daily prayer time, as we go into all the world!
-----------------------------------------------------------
University of California - Berkeley
Monday, August 25, 2008:
Today was opening day for the Fall Semester, and Sproul Plaza was buzzing with activity. Dozens of tables lined the walkways, including frats, sororities, and of course, the religious groups. I lump all of the campus religious groups together now, including the so-called christians. Most of the professing christians are not living upright and wholly obedient to the Lord, and would openly oppose us given the opportunity.
We are working with our good friend and host, Brother Kevin Farrer, of Cry to God Ministries, for the next few weeks. We will then start our journey back towards the East Coast. Brother Shon, another local preacher, also joined us for what was his first campus preach.
Kevin has been instructed by counsel to make sure we exhaust every possible scenario before we start preaching, so we checked in with Public Affairs, and got the green light to preach and fly banners. This is due to continuing abuse by law enforcement and administration towards the campus preachers and the basic rights concerning freedom of speech and religion. If we are denied access, or worst case scenario, arrested, it is all the better to have inquired with administration beforehand.
We found our spot and I began to preach to the passing students. They were very apathetic and indifferent towards the gospel, and I think I had one interaction with a student. That was it. After about 30 minutes, I turned it over to Kevin. He also had the exact same results. Shon then took his turn. Nothing but indifference. Then Evangelista took her turn, and she eventually drew in a few listeners, mostly due to a veteran campus heckler named Chris.
After going toe-to-toe with this guy for about 30 minutes, I took over and immediately the crowd grew to about 150-200 students. It went very well, as I refuted the lies and deceptions that have rooted themselves in the mindset of college kids across our land. Judging righteously, drug and alcohol abuse, illicit music, and universalism were just a few of the subjects we preached against. I was able to hold the crowd for over an hour, and as I wrapped up, some kids crowded around for a brief Q-n-A period.
A young lady named Elizabeth followed us out to Telegraph Ave. to encourage us, and stopped to talk with us a few moments. She said she was very glad we were there, and she would be letting her Pastor know of our weeklong outreach.
We left Berkeley around 3:30 to beat the horrendous traffic back to Fremont, anticipating more of the same for the next day, God willing.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008:
Evangelista and I arrived on campus today around 11:00 am. After about half an hour of preaching, I was able to draw in a small crowd of 30-50 students. Even though hundreds of students roamed throughout the plaza, it was very difficult to gain their attention. Kevin arrived close to noon, and I turned the crowd over to him shortly thereafter.
Our veteran heckler returned today, complete with a book on the history of the Klu Klux Klan. Kevin seems to have been preaching to this guy for over 15 years. I find that amazing, and it definitely gives us a clear example of the grace of God. We are praying for his salvation.
I am blown away by the huge homeless contingency on this campus. Evangelista experienced more than a few homeless men today as she preached. Sadly, most of them have been abusing drugs and alcohol for many years, and it shows when they speak. I kept a close eye on Evangelista, and eventually a couple of them got a little too close for comfort. I am very proud of my wife, as she exhibited the fruit of the Spirit throughout the entire preach.
I had a conversation with a demon-filled student who is deep into Buddhism. He admitted to hearing voices and twitched and contorted as he spoke to me. I offered him hope and deliverance in Jesus Christ, but he was only interested in our “wrong way” of preaching the gospel. We also smelled marijuana throughout the day today, as students openly smoke it as they walk through the plaza.
After we all took a couple of turns preaching, we left at approximately 3:00 pm.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008:
We arrived on campus around noon today after having our windshield replaced on our truck. Brother Kevin had gathered in a small crowd, and eventually Evangelista took over. The crowds were small today and the apathy seemed to have returned.
Eventually, we had a medium sized crowd of about 100 towards the end of the day. It seemed that we had to do a lot of plowing here on this campus. The resident heckler, Chris, stopped to interject his quirky comments every now and then throughout the day, but our crowd seemed more interested in the preaching now.
Around 4:00 pm, we decided to head back to our vehicle to keep an appointment we had. Today was a great day of straight gospel preaching.
Thursday, August 28, 2008:
Berkeley seems to be what I would call a “late” campus. By this I mean it is easier to gain the students’ attention and draw in a crowd later in the day than it is earlier in the morning. Due to a large concert on campus today, Sproul Plaza would be shut down to traffic in the early afternoon. We decided to take care of some minor repairs on our truck today, along with some other ministry related tasks.
Friday, August 29, 2008:
Again, our day started a little later than normal on campus today. We also planned on staying late into the evening with a larger group of preachers out on Telegraph Ave.
Evangelista and I arrived at about 1:45 pm, and I lifted up my voice to the passers-by. During the week, it was clearly evident that most of the students on this campus were very illiterate concerning biblical truth. I endeavored to simplify my message and focus on the death, burial, resurrection, and manifestation of Christ. After a little more than an hour of solid preaching, I turned the crowd of 100 or so over to Evangelista.
Evangelista has really blossomed in her ability to preach specific truths in scripture. She held the crowd for about an hour, focusing on repentance, and the lifestyle that coincides with a true change of mind and heart. This woman of God has given me much to be thankful for over the years, but nothing so much as her willingness to forsake our former position in the “rat race” of life, and give it all up to preach Christ publicly.
We exited the open courtyard at about 4 pm with a sense of sadness, realizing that yet another institution of “higher” learning had succumbed to the lies of secular humanism and worldly philosophies. A large percentage of the student body is on drugs, and could care less about God’s opinion concerning their lifestyles.
The fear of the Lord in America has waned to the point of apathy, indifference, and hypocrisy levels unrivaled in the history of mankind. I am afraid it will be the undoing of the very core of this great nation. In the meantime, we will continue to preach God’s words, with fear and trembling, looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!
PLEASE PRAY FOR US AS WE PREACH THE GOSPEL PUBLICLY ON CAMPUSES AND STREETCORNERS EVERYWHERE!