Posted on 09/16/2009 9:42:21 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
Two evangelists caused an uproar on campus Tuesday while preaching to a crowd of students.
The crowd started small but soon turned into nearly one hundred onlookers as the evangelists preached that students needed to repent from sins or face eternal condemnation.
The two evangelists, Tracy Bays and another known as "Brother Dave," told students repeatedly "you're going to hell unless you repent."
Many students in the crowd were upset by the message. Some students shouted obscenities at the men.
Bays said the students' response to the message was the Holy Spirit convicting their hearts.
"They know it's wrong to sin and they don't want to hear that," Bays said.
Lewis Nowlin, freshman from San Diego, said he believed it was alright for Bays to express his opinion, but wrong of him to tell students they are going to hell.
"It's not right when you take it to attacking people personally," Nowlin said.
"He's judging people and God is the only one who can judge," said Amillia Marcum, junior criminal justice major from Huntington.
Bays said he chooses to speak at universities because that is where young women and men are.
"Students have had their first taste of liberty and that liberty is going to condemn them to hell," Bays said.
Bays also mentioned other religions in his sermon. He said that Islam, Hinduism and Catholicism were wrong in their practice.
"If you were a true Christian you would leave the Roman Catholic church," Bays said.
Marcum said she was hurt by this comment.
"God calls us to love everyone," Marcum said. "Am I not supposed to love my Catholic friends because of the church they go to?"
During his sermon, Bays pointed to a campus fraternity sign and said the members were also wrong.
"Everyone in that fraternity is going to hell," Bays said.
Phil Lisi, junior sports management major from Cincinnati and member of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, said he was frustrated by this comment.
"I'm a Christian. I do go to church," Lisi said. "He is making all Christians look bad."
Shay Osbourne, campus minister with Revolution ministries, said Bays would not sit down and talk with him at his request.
"My hope would be that everyone accepts Christ," Osbourne said. "I think it's hard to look out and say this is being effective."
Osbourne said his biggest fear was that students would associate all ministries and Christianity with these evangelists.
"The message of repent from sin is truth, but his method of presenting it is ineffective," Osbourne said.
At one point in the message a student went to hug Bays, who rejected this action.
"Love is not a hug," Bays responded. "Love is telling you you're going to hell unless you repent."
Kyle Baughman, senior political science major from Cincinnati, said the student reaction was what he expected. He also said he believes you can use scripture to promote anything you want if you take it out of context.
"Hopefully, people don't associate the Christian religion with what was said today," Baughman said.
Bays said he and Brother Dave were on campus in the best interest of Marshall students.
"We want everyone to accept Jesus and have eternal life," Bays said.
The two evangelists are not associated with any campus ministries.
Related thread:
A Field Guide to Evangelicals and Their Habitat: Core Beliefs
CORE BELIEF #1 -- Every person has an obligation to accept Jesus as his or her personal savior. The phrase "personal savior" is important, as it seperates evangelicals from Catholics and Orthodox Christians who simply run their offspring through the gamut of religious rituals and call it square. To receive Christ "personally" means you have an epiphany about your personal sinfulness and Jesus' unique ability to rescue you from it. This is called "being saved." If you have not had this experience, you are considered "unsaved."CORE BELIEF #2 -- Jesus is coming back soon, probably tomorrow.
CORE BELIEF #3 -- If you have neglected Core Belief #1, and Jesus does indeed come back tomorrow, you are going to hell.
That is chaos??? I have seen better in frat parties for chaos.
No one likes to be told they are condemned to hell for their sins. But you are. And each one of us needs to wrestle with that fact, however uncomfortable it may be.
Cite them for trespassing and move on.
Livingwaters.com wayofthemaster.com
“Hells best kept secret” at livingwaters.com says it all on evangelism. Ray Comfort is the man!
Some of the students just taunted them. A couple of times the more interesting of the students tracked down the preachers, found their exact denominational belief, picked one point among them and picked the opposite as an theological requirement. For example, if the preacher said you had to go to church on Sunday, one student would quote the Old Testament about the Saturday Sabbath and accuse the preacher of tempting him into eternal damnation with his Sunday heresey. Loads of fun poking at the Clymers.
1. Don't show up uninvited at someone's door and expect that the interruption will be welcomed enthusiastically. No one likes that.
2. Understand that ending your good news message with, "If you don't believe what I believe, you are going to hell," is probably something that only God could get away with convincingly. Most everyone else finds it rude and responds accordingly. BTW...you can pick up your Persecuted for Christ badge at the church office.
Street theater. That’s all it is.
Was “Brother Dave” really pale, and did he smell like whale vomit?
Reading the facebook, twitter and mailing list messages from those in my Church, today is the day.
Creation took seven days, as will this. No arguments.
No one will be compelled to believe it -- it's their own choice. Widen peripheral vision and look and listen to the things you love. Avoid negative thinking -- that is not the Lord's path
Its about time someone told those kids that there are consequences for unbelief. The scriptures are clear that Hell awaits those who do not turn in faith to God and his son, Jesus Christ. And an eternity of fulfillment awaits those who place their faith and trust in the Savior. To shield their poor sensitive ears from this truth is to show hatred and disrespect for them. To tell them what Bays is telling them is loving and kind.
I remember back in the 70s, “Holy Hubert” had much the same kind of ministry. He literally stood on a soapbox and shouted to college students his message of “God loves you, you dirty rotten sinner!” He was beaten up, lost teeth, had bruises on his face because there were some who didn’t accept his message well. However, there were those who needed to have the gospel presented in this way to cut through the ultra-thick anti-Christian nonsense dished out by their professors that had clouded their minds.
May God richly bless evangelists who are willing to lay it all on the line to reach college students who have been led astray by ill-meaning academics. True, not all respond to the gospel in this brand of presentation, but some do... and it is usually those who will respond to it if it is presented in any other way.
We will, we will rock you!
"If we all got what we deserved, we probably wouldn't like it. There is a better way." (website address)
I meant to say "... and it is usually those who will respond to it if it is NOT presented in any other way."
Just sounds like a typical FR Religion Forum thread to me.
It is all ONE, Mark. Doesn't matter where it appears -- the Lord has brought an end to everything yesterday.
We no longer are forced to remember Christ nailed to a cross, dead. He is alive and well in quite a few peoples hearts. The organizational hierarchy is chosen by God Almighty. Everyone well knows who is who.
As for the Free Republic Religion Forum is concerned, you can tell folks that you were there!
I could hazard a few guesses, but something tells me that if they are FReepers, they only post when they get a new "AOL ver 9.0: 105 Hours Free!" disk in the mail.
Just sounds like a typical FR Religion Forum thread to me.
It really does, doesn't it?
FWIW, I really like the phrase "religious chaos". I have this image in my head of a sleepy New England suburban intersection. There's a Presbyterian church, a Catholic parish, a Jewish synagogue, and a Buddhist temple on each of the four corners. And a wild, confused mob, screaming and running from building to building, entering and exiting repeatedly....
This particular “evangelical” approach fits right in with the “if you don’t recycle, you are killing the planet” admonishments and “if you don’t like the health care bill, you are racist” post-rational approaches. Same impulse. The Neoneoconservative blog discusses the rejection of sweet Reason in a current post: “I think, therefore I am” has been re-invented as “I think it, therefore it is”, although I would say it is more like “I feel it, therefore it is”.
However, I like the fact that young people had a chance to hear from this type of faith approach and to consider where they stand themselves and maybe get a chance to argue and to toughen up a bit. This kind of reflective opportunity goes on in college classrooms as well during Leftist professors’ rants. I think today’s young people have to learn to navigate very complicated paths and that they are, generally speaking, probably more alert, mature, and cautious as a group than we Boomers were at the same age. Yes, quite a few voted for Obama. But now they are watching what he does.
That part of the Bible was long ago effectively ripped out, shredded, and discarded. And few have read Edwards’ 1741 sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” What an awesome part of our nation’s history! An eyewitness said that the congregation was so oversome with cries, shrieks, and moans that Edwards had to stop reading. At least none of those college students will be able to someday say, “No one ever bothered to tell me the consequences of unrepentence.”
The Living Word. Did the talk about the new wine that is coming?
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