Posted on 07/23/2014 11:09:55 AM PDT by Faith Presses On
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- An evangelical Christian group plans to try to convert children as young as 5 at Portland apartment pools, public parks and dozens of other gathering spots this summer -- a campaign that's got some residents upset.
They've banded together in recent weeks to warn parents about the Child Evangelism Fellowship's Good News Club, buying a full-page ad in the local alternative weekly to highlight the group's tactics.
"They pretend to be a mainstream Christian Bible study when in fact they're a very old school fundamentalist sect," said Kaye Schmitt, an organizer with Protect Portland Children, which takes issue with the group's message and the way it's delivering it.
CEF says Protect Portland Children is a shadow group run by atheists who seek to dismantle Christian outreach. The group said its methods are above reproach.
"Children are easy to manipulate, we all know that," said CEF's vice president Moises Esteves. "We don't use any of the schemes and high-pressure tactics that we're accused of. Nothing could be further from the truth."
Esteves' group decided to hold its annual summer mission program in Portland because of the area's irreligious leanings.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
That is what is sick. Offering Christian gospel lit. at a public park to young (esp.) and old or "At a park on Monday, the group laid out a tarp for children and chairs for their parents. A pair of volunteers led about 12 kids through Bible verses and songs that praised a Christian god" [atheist for Christ], is equated with a guy in the showers.
Next it will be Christian being charged with child abuse for raising their kids up in their faith.
. . . Kaye Schmitt, an organizer with Protect Portland Children, which takes issue with the group's message and the way it's delivering it.
Kaye Schmitt, a self-appointed and uninvited "protector" of both parents as well as their children, as well as the biased "journalist" writing this article, ought to be told forcefully and succinctly to mind their own business, and allow others to mind their own established and exclusive privilege in exercising their supervisory interaction with CEF regarding the presentation offered to their children, eh?
danielle, it’s only sin-sick parents that don’t want the Christian Way presented in the public forum of schools, media, and places of public gathering to awaken their own children’s sensitivities to and criticism of their parents’ wickedness. No parent really loving his/her child would ever want to block the child’s knowledge of sin, of personal purity, and righteousness.
Sandusky claimed to be a Christian, too.
With all due respect, the purpose of passing out Testaments is exactly the same despite your claim otherwise. Children are only a subgroup of the intended audience, the activity is not sick but a valid part of evangelism, as is that of CEF; and though your husband's overview of external interference of your prerogatives is justified, your uninformed condemnation of CEF's methodology is not.
For God's sake, where do you think Jesus determined to meet little children when His disciples mistakenly would have shunted them aside? Eh? And whom do you think He sent in His place to meet them now? Only "approved" Sunday school teachers?
Let's think this out --
Get a life and stay away from other people’s children without their permission. I have nothing more to discuss with you.
You do, and that is your proclivity to character assassination without a shred of evidence, both mine and that of the CEF organization. Discuss that.
Nor should they, but another FReeper even complained that fixing kids bikes for free in the inner city here was encouraging theft.
I wish some caring soul had explained the simple gospel to when i was a kid. I did not even understand what a "sacrifice" was. I often just say in passing, "give your heart to Jesus who gave Himself for us." If things are conducive to say more, I basically tell them that we have all broken God's laws (naming a few), and cannot go to Heaven, as our sins would ruin it as God is holy, and so we need to be clean inside.
Which can only be done if someone who did nothing wrong paid the price for our forgiveness, which is Jesus Christ explaining how He came does from Heaven and never sinned, serving God and others day and night, doing nothing wrong but everything right, but then took responsibility for all that we did wrong, and died for use and rose again.
I then may ask them if they ever got blamed for something they did not do, and briefly explain how Jesus was, and that God looks at our lives and says the things we did will send us to Hell, but that He looks at what His Son did and says that is enough to send them to Heaven.
But that they need to decide that they want Him over sin, and a new life following Jesus, ask Him to save them, and that God will save them because of Jesus, as no one can earn Heaven.
I then urge them to do so, and to be on Jesus' side not the devil's, who comes to steal kill and destroy. But i rarely lead them in prayer to do so, as only a prayer out of a convicted needy heart will be efficacious, and if they are, then they can ask the Lord to save them. Praise God in Christ.
AMEN!
Its daniel (male).
it’s only sin-sick parents that don’t want the Christian Way presented in the public forum of schools, media, and places of public gathering to awaken their own children’s sensitivities to and criticism of their parents’ wickedness. No parent really loving his/her child would ever want to block the child’s knowledge of sin, of personal purity, and righteousness.
Amen. But it seems some here imagine a bunch of people surrounding their 1.7 kids with high pressure tactics to coax a prayer out of them (which i oppose), or imagine anyone giving a gospel tract to a kid has some perverted goal, and which parents will pass such paranoia on.
Are you serious? It is because of such abuse of that name that more evangelism in the Spirit of Christ is needed. But according to your perverse reasoning, since counterfeit Christians exist, then all should be treated as a Sandusky. What a wonderful message you pass on to kids. You are the one who should not be doing so.
I just HATE when that happens!!
John 3:18
Why the hell would my kids be in public school? I thought I made it clear I was going to be responsible for teaching them. Why would we let some low paid product of leftist university fill their brains with trash? To say nothing of the other kids.
Heck no.
For your grandchildren, you are screening and making a positive decision, which is fine with me. For "anyone else's children"... for example mine, you are making that decision for me, which I object to. Ask me first.
I’m on the side of not having to hear about anyone’s religion. If you were in a park and Muslims approached your children you would be pissed right? You’re an Atheist when it comes to Islam right? You fully believe that they’re misguided and worship a false god right? You would be rightly angry if they tried to approach you with their false beliefs. And if they tried again after you warned them to stop what would you do?
All the above is the same way someone who isn’t Christian might feel if they were harassed by prosthelytizers. Or Mormons knocking on your door, or Jehovah’s witnesses, etc...
Please forgive me for misreading your nom de plume in my haste to stand up for obviously genuine gospellizers who are willing to take the heat.
Have no idea what the ndd was.
It appears that in spite of the distinct possibly of your having being held back in kindergarten, your ability to construct a cogent, substantive argument even as an adult continues to elude you.
FReegards!
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