We headed out to the Louisiana State Capital building to share the Gospel with those attending the T.E.A. Party event. About 30 minutes before they got started, I stood up and began to preach. It didn't take long before the Department of Public Safety officers came over on a complaint from one of the organizers. They were both extremely professional as they made sure that we intended to cease what we were doing by 6:00pm when the T.E.A. Party was to start up. We assured them we would and we continued. Someone from the event yelled out a disclaimer that we were in no way associated with their group which we had already done in the beginning of our message. They played their music loudly in an effort to drown us out but it didn't work. After I had finished, two guys walked up and began to question our method and our motivation. They suggested we should give away water with a sign saying "If you're thirsty, take some water...If your soul is thirsty ask us about living water." My response was we were simply following Scripture in preaching the Gospel to all creation. (Mark 16:15) They even went so far as to ask me how many people were saved as a result of what we have been doing for the last 6 years. I was truthful when I told him that I had no idea but he pressed so I gave him a number....I told him 5. He quickly jumped on that and questioned our effectiveness based on that number. We reminded him that Noah preached for 120 years and got "0" so I'll stay faithful to deliver the Biblical Gospel message and allow God to save the souls.
While I was speaking with them, Anthony took the megaphone and went to the other side of the property and began to preach. By the time I got there, he already had plenty of hecklers and most claimed to be Christian. One man got right in his face! The DPS officers came over and settled things down in order for us to continue.
When we finished there, we headed to the levee at the USS Kidd to preach to the crowd there. There was a large group of people gathered on the steps of the levee as the time for the fireworks drew near. The police were right above us on top of a Suburban as Anthony began to preach. About 2 minutes into his presentation, two men got up from their seats and walked directly in front of Anthony and stood between him and the crowd. Anthony moved to his left to get around them but they changed their position to get back in front of him. A young lady got up and joined them so I asked them to please move so that we could continue to exercise our Constitutionally protected freedom. Needless to say, they refused. I asked the police to help and they said they had someone working on it as we speak. The police called us over to the handrail and told us we had to stop or they would arrest us. When asked what law we were violating, they told us it was by order of their superior and we could either follow their order or get arrested. We told them that according to city ordinance Sec. 12:103 that we were well within our rights to use the megaphone so they made some more phone calls as we continued.
The Chief of Police, Jeff LeDuff, came over and asked us to do him a favor and to stop what we were doing. He told us that we were not breaking any laws but we would be doing him a favor if we stopped. He explained that he was a Christian and a member of Healing Place Church so he understood why we were doing what we were doing but asked us to quit anyway...even though we had a Constitutional right to do so and were well within local laws and ordinances.
Why is it that people who claim to be Christians are usually the most vocally against what we do to fulfill the Great Commission? The answer, I believe, is a result of a couple of things:
1. They are really not Christians
2. They go to a church that discounts the seriousness of sin by never preaching on it. Their members begin to believe by default or by direct teaching that God would never send anyone to hell and that Christ's sacrifice is universal.
3. Their church regularly makes "altar calls" that begin with "every head bowed and every eye closed".
4. Their church does not believe in the Sovereignty of God and believe that salvation is by the will of man and is not a sovereign act of God.
There were a few at each event that thanked us for the Gospel being preached. Scripture tells us that one of the marks of a true believer is that they love the Word. We won't try to "nice" anyone into the Kingdom. We will bring the unadulterated Gospel regardless of the reaction or response. But let me make it clear that we do so in humility (1Cor 2:2-5; 2Cor 4:7), with much fear and with compassion that comes from the heart of Jesus Christ and the knowledge of what happens to those who die in their sins apart from Christ.
Please pray for us and for those who hear the Gospel.
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