Post by Jesse Morrell on Mar 31, 2009 21:00:16 GMT -5
PREACHING SOLO
My wife is further along in her pregnancy and Kerrigan has been busy getting things ready to move his family to Kentucky. That is why I went out to Fayetteville State University solo today. I gladly preach with groups and partners but when there is nobody to preach with I'll gladly preach alone with the Holy Spirit. Years ago I used to preach solo in front of the bars and clubs in the inner city late into the night. Compared to that, going out on campus alone is easy. I have a feeling that I might be preaching solo more often now that my wife is pregnant and we are going to start traveling with the 5th wheel.
TRADED OUR CAR FOR A TRUCK
My wife took a picture right as I was leaving for campus. That is the truck that we traded our car for in the picture. It is exactly what we need to haul our 5th wheel. We have decided to travel to Tyler Texas to have our baby. We are leaving in just a week so we have been busy getting everything ready.
THE SPICE GIRLS & GOD'S HOLY HATRED
When I arrived on campus and began walking to the area in front of the Union where we preach, some of the students must have recognized me because they began singing, "Yes Jesus loves me. For the Bible tells me so." I raised up my banner that says, "TURN to JESUS and LIVE" and "REPENT and BELIEVE on JESUS".
I decided to spring board off their song. I said, "You know, even the Spice girls sang that song on one of their CD's. The Bible says in Ps. 5:5 that God hates all workers of iniquity. The Bible also says that God hates the hands that shed innocent blood. God does not have an emotional love for sinners. God is emotionally disgusted with the wicked. There is nothing in their moral character for Him to take emotional pleasure in. But that is not to say that God does not have a love for them. God so loved the world. God has a benevolent care and concern for everyone, including sinners. God's hatred is an emotional abhorrence, but God's love is the benevolence of His will. God both loves and hates the sinner at the same time."
SUPPORT FROM A STUDENT
I continued on preaching a very basic Gospel of repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ. One student seemed to be very supportive of me and sat down on the bench I was preaching from. He even talked to a few of my hecklers. When he noticed that my voice was getting a bit raspy from the preaching, he went into the union and got me a water. When he came back out, he put the water on the bench and put a ten dollar bill underneath it. I normally do not take any money from anyone while I am preaching. I always turn it down. But when he put the bill and the water on the bench he immediately walked away. I am grateful for the Lords provision.
SECRET HOSTILITY FROM A PROFESSOR
As I was preaching Jesus Christ, I saw an older man listening and making a call on his cell phone. I had a feeling that he was calling the Police. I had dealt with the Police in the past on this campus and didn't expect any serious problem from them. I assumed this man was either a professor or an administrator. Sure enough, shortly after he made his phone call a Police Officer arrived on the scene and he began talking to him. Nothing ever became of it. They left me alone completely.
WAR AGAINST GOD
I warned the students that if they have sin in their lives, if they are disobeying God's law, they are at war with Him. God is not their friend, they have made themselves His enemies. But they will not win this war against God. They will lose. It is hopeless and pointless to fight against God. I told them that they should immediately submit and surrender unto the Lord. Jesus Christ died on the cross to provide a substitute for our eternal punishment. I admonished them to turn from their sins and trust in Jesus Christ so that God could pardon their rebellion.
THE IDOLATRY OF SELF
At one point during the open air preaching I began expounding on the Ten Commandments. Starting with the first, "Thou shalt have no other god's before me." I asked the students if they consulted God on whether or not they should even go to this college, or if they asked God what He wanted them to major in. I explained that if they did not care to consider the will of God for their lives, then they are governing and controlling their own lives. This is essentially making themselves their own god. This is self idolatry. But God is the one who is supposed to be governing our lives. His wisdom far surpasses our own so we should gladly submit to His will. God knows what is best for us. We should always immediately obey Him.
KNOWING BETTER THAN GOD?
Every time a person sins, they are essentially saying that they know better than God. God tells us not to sin yet sinners choose to sin. Therefore they must think that they know better than God. But the truth is that they do not know better than God. If God says we shouldn't sin, we should never choose to sin. Disobeying God's will is never a good idea. Sin is completely foolish.
YOU CAN BE PERFECT
I explained to the crowd that sinners are not fit for the Kingdom of God. God will not allow fornicators, blasphemers, idolaters, homosexuals, etc into Heaven. The only place they are fit for is hell. Sinners cannot go to Heaven unless they stop being sinners. Jesus said, "go and sin no more". God's forgiveness and acceptance is conditional upon a change of moral character. Sin is essentially a disobedient state of mind. Repentance is a change of mind. Unless a person repents, Jesus said, they would perish. God will abundantly pardon the wicked if they forsake their ways and evil thoughts. Those who forsake their sins will find mercy.
I told the crowd, "Stop sinning! Jesus said be perfect!" A man in the crowd said, "You can't be perfect". He probably heard that in Church. I said, "Why would Jesus say be perfect if it wasn't possible?" He asked me to show him where Jesus said that. I opened up the Bible and read to him where Jesus Christ said that we should be perfect. I went on to reason and argue, "If God wants us to be perfect, He would give us the ability to be perfect. If God does not give us the ability to be perfect, God must not want us to be perfect. If God doesn't want us to be perfect, then God wants us to be sinful. So if God does not give us the ability to be perfect then God wants us to be sinful." I also explained how moral perfection was nothing more than an obedient state of mind.
IS THERE HOPE FOR OBAMA?
Many of the students voted for Barak Obama. They walk around campus wearing their Obama 08 t-shirts. I preached, "Jesus Christ is the hope of America. Not Buddha. Not Obama. Jesus Christ!" One of the girls said, "Don't bring Obama into this!" I said, "Obama is a hell bound sinner." The crowd roared! I said, "Yes. Obama supports abortion, homosexual marriage, and socialism. If Obama doesn't CHANGE there is no HOPE for him. There is hope with Jesus, there is hell without Him."
VERY CLEAR GOSPEL
I finished off the day with a very clear Gospel message. "It is Heaven or hell when you die. It is your choice. If you choose to continue on in sin, you will go to hell. But if you choose to make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior today, you will have eternal life. Jesus died for you. He shed His blood for you. If you repent and believe, God will pardon you through Jesus Christ."
MOVING TO TEXAS
I will not be able to preach on this campus again for a while. My wife and I are moving to Texas to have our baby. The baby is due in May! We will began traveling as a family in the 5th wheel in July or August. Please keep us in your prayers. We have a few more things we need to do before we move. Please pray that we have a smooth transition