Post by messengermicah on Dec 8, 2009 18:45:40 GMT -5
Student Arrest/Near Riot at Georgia Southern University 11/17/09
Tuesday November 17, 2009-Georgia Southern University-Statesboro, Georgia: A few weeks ago I was praying about where to preach as I made my way south towards the ending of the semester and it seemed the Lord brought Georgia Southern University to my remembrance.
CIRCUIT PREACHING
I have generally tried to stick to a circuit of campuses and try to preach those campuses on a regular basis. From a practical as well as Biblical standpoint the more time we are able to spend sowing, planting, plowing, preaching, teaching, watering, etc. the more fruitful we will be in the long run.
For this reason I generally have not gone out of my way to preach at places like Georgia Southern since their free speech policy only allows for one hour and a half of preaching one day per month. I preached on this campus once in Fall of 2006 and once in the Winter of 2007 and had not been back since.
A friend of mine who used to preach on the campuses full time used to preach here fairly regular but he came off the field over a year ago. I had known of no one besides myself who had done any preaching here since my last visit in Winter of 2007.
In addition to the very limited time of 90 minutes one day per month they also require 48 hours advance notice. I could not remember how long they required advance notice but when I saw this I considered moving on because I would have to wait around several days before I could preach there.
THE OPEN DOOR (1 CORINTHIANS 16:9)
When I arrived in the area the Lord opened several doors for me to preach in churches around the area so it seemed the Lord wanted me to submit the form and preach at Georgia Southern.
We tried on Saturday to fax the form over to their office but could find no place open that would do so and had to wait until Monday morning.
Since the last time I had preached here the form had changed, the fax number had changed, and the people in charge had changed. We faxed the form but they misplaced it. We called them and they promised to call me back that day but never did.
MANY ADVERSARIES (1 CORINTHIANS 16:9)
Where I was staying I had no phone signal so I drove out to town the next morning (Tuesday November 17, 2009) and called them. They said they would call me back. They did not call me back so I called them back. They asked me if I wanted to preach today (Tuesday) or Wednesday since I put down both on the form in case Tuesday was too soon. The forecast said it was going to rain on Wednesday so I told them I wanted today (Tuesday).
It was already around 10:00 AM, I still had to get ready and we were over 1 hour away from the university. I put from 12:00 to 1:30 PM on the permit but I told them I would probably be later than 12:00 PM and asked if Iwould I still get an hour and a half. They said yes.
We arrived on campus around 12:40 PM. I had no copy of my permit and therefore had no proof I had permission to preach there. The way things had been handled so far I did not have much confidence in the staff so I wanted to make sure I had a copy of my permit on me before I started.
OPEN MIC OR FREE SPEECH?
There was also an “open mic” activity going on in the same area where I was supposed to preach with loud music being played. They told me the open mic activity would be over at 2:00 PM and the people I needed to talk to in order to get a copy of my permit were not in their office so I decided to wait.
At around 1:45 PM I met the lady who I used to work with in getting permission and she told me everything seemed fine but she would check with someone first to make sure I had clearance and get back with me before 2:00 PM.
Well 2:00 PM came and went and I thought I may have missed the Lord on this one. Finally, around 2:30 PM someone came out, apologized, gave me a copy of my permit, and told me I could preach until 4:00 PM.
I headed to the free speech area and began preaching around 2:40 PM. Gradually the crowd continued to grow. At first the crowd seemed civil and amused but as the crowd grew and the truth began to penetrate their heart (Hebrews 4:12) they began to get rowdy and angry.
At least one police officer was on hand and the crowd was probably close to 200. Students would move onto the grass area I had reserved and I would tell them they had to move off of the area because I had it reserved. Thankfully the police officer backed me up on this and would make sure the students stayed off the grass and on the sidewalk. This keeps a distance between the preacher and the crowd, makes it easier for the crowd to hear and keeps things safe.
The crowd continued to grow to from 200-250 and was getting angrier. I was preaching the Bible as straightforward as possible. Several students were acting as if they were trying to come at me and had to be held back by their fellow students.
STUDENT PREACHER OF GOD’S LOVE CURSES, RESISTS AND THREATENS POLICE OFFICER
At this point a student who claimed to be a Christian stepped on the grass between me and the crowd, tried to steal the crowd and preach a message similar to “God loves you no matter what”. The police officer asked the student several times to move off the grass and the student totally defied the police officer.
At this point the officer walked up and began to gently escort the student off the grass. When the officer touched the students arm the student jerked away from the officer, cursed at him, threatened him and told him not to touch him.
Rightfully the officer went for his handcuffs and attempted to arrest the student but the crowd blocked the officer and encouraged the student to run away (the “Christian” student who was preaching “love” to the crowd).
NO SMALL STIR (ACTS 19:23)
The officer chased the student and pandemonium broke out as the crowd chased the officer and the student. Soon the student surrendered and was arrested.
While the officer’s attention was on arresting the student some of the students who had been trying to get at me now had a free shot. They tried to attack but thankfully they were held back by fellow students and other officers arrived on the scene.
By now the crowd was incensed at the arrest and of course they blamed me. “Look at how you caused that man of God to get arrested!”
The crowd was on the verge of a riot and I was surprised but thankful the police allowed me to continue preaching. There were now at least four to five officers on the scene and the angry, bloodthirsty crowd was around 200-250.
HOLDING THE TRUTH IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS (ROMANS 1:18)
Although the crowd was very loud, angry and unruly I was at times able to preach effectively and make good points most of the crowd seemed to hear , understand and resist (Acts 7:51, Acts 13:45, Acts 18:6) as indicated by their responses.
I seemed to be making some progress and the crowd was settling some when an officer tapped me on the shoulder at 4:00 PM and told me my time was up. Although technically I still should have had 10 more minutes I did not make it an issue based on the difficult situation they were faced with.
Sister Elizabeth and I were escorted to our vehicle by several police officers.
This campus desperately needs more preaching and based on the response here I am planning on making preaching on this campus at least once per semester a priority.
Tuesday November 17, 2009-Georgia Southern University-Statesboro, Georgia: A few weeks ago I was praying about where to preach as I made my way south towards the ending of the semester and it seemed the Lord brought Georgia Southern University to my remembrance.
CIRCUIT PREACHING
I have generally tried to stick to a circuit of campuses and try to preach those campuses on a regular basis. From a practical as well as Biblical standpoint the more time we are able to spend sowing, planting, plowing, preaching, teaching, watering, etc. the more fruitful we will be in the long run.
For this reason I generally have not gone out of my way to preach at places like Georgia Southern since their free speech policy only allows for one hour and a half of preaching one day per month. I preached on this campus once in Fall of 2006 and once in the Winter of 2007 and had not been back since.
A friend of mine who used to preach on the campuses full time used to preach here fairly regular but he came off the field over a year ago. I had known of no one besides myself who had done any preaching here since my last visit in Winter of 2007.
In addition to the very limited time of 90 minutes one day per month they also require 48 hours advance notice. I could not remember how long they required advance notice but when I saw this I considered moving on because I would have to wait around several days before I could preach there.
THE OPEN DOOR (1 CORINTHIANS 16:9)
When I arrived in the area the Lord opened several doors for me to preach in churches around the area so it seemed the Lord wanted me to submit the form and preach at Georgia Southern.
We tried on Saturday to fax the form over to their office but could find no place open that would do so and had to wait until Monday morning.
Since the last time I had preached here the form had changed, the fax number had changed, and the people in charge had changed. We faxed the form but they misplaced it. We called them and they promised to call me back that day but never did.
MANY ADVERSARIES (1 CORINTHIANS 16:9)
Where I was staying I had no phone signal so I drove out to town the next morning (Tuesday November 17, 2009) and called them. They said they would call me back. They did not call me back so I called them back. They asked me if I wanted to preach today (Tuesday) or Wednesday since I put down both on the form in case Tuesday was too soon. The forecast said it was going to rain on Wednesday so I told them I wanted today (Tuesday).
It was already around 10:00 AM, I still had to get ready and we were over 1 hour away from the university. I put from 12:00 to 1:30 PM on the permit but I told them I would probably be later than 12:00 PM and asked if Iwould I still get an hour and a half. They said yes.
We arrived on campus around 12:40 PM. I had no copy of my permit and therefore had no proof I had permission to preach there. The way things had been handled so far I did not have much confidence in the staff so I wanted to make sure I had a copy of my permit on me before I started.
OPEN MIC OR FREE SPEECH?
There was also an “open mic” activity going on in the same area where I was supposed to preach with loud music being played. They told me the open mic activity would be over at 2:00 PM and the people I needed to talk to in order to get a copy of my permit were not in their office so I decided to wait.
At around 1:45 PM I met the lady who I used to work with in getting permission and she told me everything seemed fine but she would check with someone first to make sure I had clearance and get back with me before 2:00 PM.
Well 2:00 PM came and went and I thought I may have missed the Lord on this one. Finally, around 2:30 PM someone came out, apologized, gave me a copy of my permit, and told me I could preach until 4:00 PM.
I headed to the free speech area and began preaching around 2:40 PM. Gradually the crowd continued to grow. At first the crowd seemed civil and amused but as the crowd grew and the truth began to penetrate their heart (Hebrews 4:12) they began to get rowdy and angry.
At least one police officer was on hand and the crowd was probably close to 200. Students would move onto the grass area I had reserved and I would tell them they had to move off of the area because I had it reserved. Thankfully the police officer backed me up on this and would make sure the students stayed off the grass and on the sidewalk. This keeps a distance between the preacher and the crowd, makes it easier for the crowd to hear and keeps things safe.
The crowd continued to grow to from 200-250 and was getting angrier. I was preaching the Bible as straightforward as possible. Several students were acting as if they were trying to come at me and had to be held back by their fellow students.
STUDENT PREACHER OF GOD’S LOVE CURSES, RESISTS AND THREATENS POLICE OFFICER
At this point a student who claimed to be a Christian stepped on the grass between me and the crowd, tried to steal the crowd and preach a message similar to “God loves you no matter what”. The police officer asked the student several times to move off the grass and the student totally defied the police officer.
At this point the officer walked up and began to gently escort the student off the grass. When the officer touched the students arm the student jerked away from the officer, cursed at him, threatened him and told him not to touch him.
Rightfully the officer went for his handcuffs and attempted to arrest the student but the crowd blocked the officer and encouraged the student to run away (the “Christian” student who was preaching “love” to the crowd).
NO SMALL STIR (ACTS 19:23)
The officer chased the student and pandemonium broke out as the crowd chased the officer and the student. Soon the student surrendered and was arrested.
While the officer’s attention was on arresting the student some of the students who had been trying to get at me now had a free shot. They tried to attack but thankfully they were held back by fellow students and other officers arrived on the scene.
By now the crowd was incensed at the arrest and of course they blamed me. “Look at how you caused that man of God to get arrested!”
The crowd was on the verge of a riot and I was surprised but thankful the police allowed me to continue preaching. There were now at least four to five officers on the scene and the angry, bloodthirsty crowd was around 200-250.
HOLDING THE TRUTH IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS (ROMANS 1:18)
Although the crowd was very loud, angry and unruly I was at times able to preach effectively and make good points most of the crowd seemed to hear , understand and resist (Acts 7:51, Acts 13:45, Acts 18:6) as indicated by their responses.
I seemed to be making some progress and the crowd was settling some when an officer tapped me on the shoulder at 4:00 PM and told me my time was up. Although technically I still should have had 10 more minutes I did not make it an issue based on the difficult situation they were faced with.
Sister Elizabeth and I were escorted to our vehicle by several police officers.
This campus desperately needs more preaching and based on the response here I am planning on making preaching on this campus at least once per semester a priority.