Post by messengermicah on Nov 5, 2008 23:20:30 GMT -5
Sunday October 26, 2008: We attended local services where we were staying and I had the privilege of preaching in the evening service. I preached on “Advancing the Kingdom of God” from Matthew 6:10.
Monday October 27, 2008-University of Central Florida-Orlando, Florida: Sister Elizabeth and I arrived on campus before noon and I began preaching the open air meeting in the free speech zone around 11:55 AM. It was a clear sunny day.
Soon I began to gather a small crowd that continued to grow. Several students came out and began to hold up hand made poster signs condemning me and promoting homosexuality and other forms of sin. Of course through all this the “Christians” on campus never said anything against all these signs promoting sins that nailed the Savior they say they love to the cross but they were quick to speak against me for preaching against those sins.
The crowd soon grew to around 200 and several police officers were on the scene. I was able to play the “good guy” to the police as anytime the sign holders would try to block me and inhibit my preaching I would ask them to please not block my first amendment rights. Several times the officers made them stay away from me while I was preaching.
Although the crowd did not agree with my message of “Repent or perish” they did remain fairly civil and listened well for several hours for a crowd of that size.
I continued preaching until around 2:30 PM and then turned the crowd over to Sister Elizabeth. By this time the crowd was down to around 100-120.
I went into the library for about 15 minutes so the crowd would not follow me. When I came out Sister Elizabeth had the crowd well under control and it looked as if the size had grown to about 130-140. I stayed my distance and took a few pictures.
Soon a few students came around to ask me questions. As we sat talking a few more students came around. By 3:20 PM the entire crowd began to come around me so I moved back into the center of the crowd.
For some time I would try to answer a question but they were so angry and rowdy they would not allow me to answer. I tried to wait and allow them to settle down some.
Soon I was able to answer some questions but they did not like the scriptural answers and began to be rowdy again. After some time some of the hecklers left and the crowd size dwindled down as they closed in around me. I was now able to effectively answer some of their questions.
I continued answering the questions of the crowd until around 4:45 PM and decided to call it a day.
Tuesday October 28, 2008-University of Central Florida-Orlando, Florida: It was another clear and sunny day but very cool. It had been in the high 30’s the night before and the wind was blowing as we walked to the campus. Sister Elizabeth and I arrived on campus around 11:40 AM and started the meeting at 11:50 AM.
Soon a small, rowdy group gathered and continued to grow. Eventually the crowd grew to around 200-230 for some time and was fairly civil and listened well.
Around 1:30 PM a bossy black male student who professed to be a Christian interrupted the meeting, demanded that I open my Bible and read every scripture I was quoting. I told him I was not going to do that but would tell him where it was found so he could look it up for himself. He would not accept that and told me I must do what he wanted me to.
I really believe the real issue with this student was he wanted everyone listening to know he was also a Christian and knew something about the Bible and he began opposing me. He tried to steal the crowd by stepping up and facing the crowd. The crowd acted as if they wanted to hear him because they thought that would discourage or bother me so they moved in around him.
When this happened I moved in also and began to heckle and oppose him. The bad thing about this was when the crowd moved in around him I lost the attention of the crowd (and the dialogue was going great), and the crowd size decreased. I really had no other choice due to this student’s ego and selfishness to show off.
The good thing was when I opposed him and began to engage him I focused the attention of the discussion back where it needed to be. I soundly refuted everything the student tried to bring up and he was honest enough to concede most of the points I made. The other students joined in and continued to ask questions.
I continued to preach and answer questions to the group of 30-40 until 2:30 PM and then took a bathroom break. I came right back and sat down in my chair and had a great time of questions and answers with a receptive group of 30-40 students until 4:00 PM.
Wednesday October 29, 2008-University of Central Florida-Orlando, Florida: Sister Elizabeth and I arrived on campus around 11:40 AM. It was another cool, clear sunny day but not as cool as the previous day.
I began preaching in the free speech area around 11:50 AM. There seemed to be a group of students waiting to ask me questions and oppose me. Most of their questions were philosophical and dealt with moral issues. The crowd slowly built up to about 100-140.
Although the crowd was not as large as the previous two days it was more rowdy and combative. I had to keep moving backwards to keep a good distance between myself and the crowd.
One girl took her shirt off and stripped down to her bra and came running at me to the delight of the crowd. I rebuked her sharply and told her she needed to go talk to my wife as I pointed her out. This seemed to slightly embarrass the girl and she apologized to Sister Elizabeth.
The crowd kept trying to crowd around me and block me with signs and blow cigarettes in my face. Soon they crowded around me. Several cameras were on me.
A black homosexual male did a few cartwheels in front of the crowd and then stepped up in the middle of the crowd where I was and tried to take over by telling us about the 23 “gay” chromosome that causes people to be born homosexual (he was totally serious).
I told him I was not going to listen to such foolishness and if he wanted to talk to the crowd he could move to another spot of the free speech area and get his own crowd. He refused and said he had the right to say what he wanted so I walked out of the crowd surrounding me and moved to another spot.
The crowd thought I was running away but as soon as I moved about 25 yards away I faced them and continued preaching they all left the “23rd chromosome homosexual” and came around me again.
At this point the crowd was still around 120-130 but when they saw I was not going to fool around with them much of the crowd along with the hecklers left. I was left with a small group of about 15-20 who sat around me and asked good questions and listened intently.
The crowd steadily grew to around 100-130 again and was standing all around me in a civil, respectful manner asking good questions and listening intently. I continued preaching and answering questions until 3:00 PM. I would love to have continued but I had to preach in a church several hours away.
That evening I preached on Matthew 6:21-24 on “A Single Eye”.
Thursday October 30, 2008-University of Central Florida-Orlando, Florida: Sister Elizabeth and I arrived on campus around 11:40 AM. It was another clear sunny day. I made a remark on the hour drive over that I had not seen a cloud all week.
I began preaching around 11:55 AM. I was trying to start preaching because of the class break going on but was going to turn it over to my wife as soon as she arrived.
A few students had stopped to talk to me as soon as I began and they were sincere and asked good questions. Sister Elizabeth arrived around noon so I went and sat down in the chair on the sidelines. Students began to gather around me so I just continued to sit in the chair and answer questions and preach from the chair. The crowd grew to around 50-60 and it was a very profitable time. The crowd was civil and listened intently.
Around 1:00 PM I asked Sister Elizabeth to cover for me while I took a very quick restroom break. As I returned and was getting ready to sit down and resume the great discussion that had begun a woman with a young daughter approached me.
This woman obviously had me confused with another preacher. She was full of venom, bitterness and hatred and began accusing me of all kinds of things. She told me she went to school there in 1994-1998 and she remembered me. I kept telling her I had never set foot on this university until 2006. The crowd looked on and increased in size as she continued to spew her venomous hatred and bitterness towards me for whatever she thought I had done back in the 1990’s. Her little daughter kept kicking dirt and grass in my direction.
Finally the woman and her daughter left. Sister Elizabeth told me the crowd was shocked at the behavior of the woman and her daughter.
I remained standing and preached and answered questions very effectively to a crowd that fluctuated from 30-100 for the next 45 minutes. The crowd would ask a question and I would preach and answer the question in a long detailed scriptural manner as the crowd hung on every word.
There was a group of students singing songs about 40 yards away near the library and for some time it seemed some of the crowd I had wandered over there. Soon their crowd dwindled to almost nothing and my crowd continued to grow once again.
As my crowd neared 100 again the musicians who could not seem to maintain their own crowd came up behind me and began singing to my crowd. I did not try to compete with them because they were drowning me out so I simply moved to another location about 30 yards away and soon the crowd came around me again.
From 1:45 PM to 3:00 PM I preached and answered questions to a crowd of 30-130. At times they were civil and receptive but other times rowdy and unruly.
During one of the times where the crowd was listening intently and asking good questions, several of the “Christians” from on campus stepped right in front of the crowd and began to talk about their “Angel Tree” Christmas project. I thought this was extremely rude and in bad taste.
Sister Elizabeth and I left the campus around 3:30 PM.
That evening I preached in the church where we were staying from Matthew 24:36-51 on “Jesus is Coming”.
Friday October 31, 2008-University of Central Florida-Orlando, Florida: This morning from about 8:45 AM to 9:45 AM I had the honor to preach in the chapel service at the church where we were staying to about 15 young people from Matthew 11:12 on “Spiritual Aggression”.
It had been a very busy week and Sister Elizabeth and I were both very tired but we headed for the campus even though we were getting a later start than normal. It was Halloween day and I thought we needed to preach to the students. I also had told the students I would be there on Friday and it had been a great week and I believed the Lord was moving in the hearts of the students.
I began preaching around 1:15 PM. Many schools are slow on Friday due to few classes but UCF is like a regular day. I quickly gathered a crowd of 40-50. The students were a little rowdier and unsettled today than normal probably because it was Friday and the influence of Halloween. Students kept showing up in costumes including one young man wearing a black dress and heels.
The crowd grew to the 70-110 range. Several homosexuals who had been showing up during the week were there and at times they would heckle and yell. One male homosexual came in my face and kept insisting that hate crimes were different that other violent crimes because they were done out of “hate”. I pointed out we already have laws against violent crimes and if a white person murders another white person it is done out of hate and if a black person murders another black person it is done out of hate.
One muscle bound young man with a tank top shirt on walked in my face proved why we should not take steroids by making violent threats towards me. He bumped me with his chest but I was not afraid, did not back down and rebuked him.
It was not the easiest day to have productive preaching due to the influence of Halloween and Friday but I persevered even though most of the students seemed very edgy and unsettled.
Around 3:00 PM the crowd size was about 40-60 and had settled down some. I was able to make some progress with some and have some decent interaction and dialogue.
All afternoon long Sister Elizabeth was surrounded by students and at times she had almost as many students around her as I did.
At 4:00 PM a question came up on evolution and one of the students jumped in and began to do an excellent job of defending the faith. I took a quick restroom break and came back out and sat down in chair.
As the student continued to talk to the students and give his testimony students began to come around me and ask questions.
I continued answering questions while sitting in the chair to the small group of 5-15 until about 5:05 PM when it began to rain slightly. We then headed for our vehicle.