This Saturday we will be staying local as we hit the Hermosa Beach Pier. We will be teaching valuable evangelistic techniques to the students of my new class such as “The Bar Hop” and “The Drop.” Meet at Hope Chapel at noon to carpool. Returning by 3:30. Scale of difficulty: Easy:1————–6————-10:Persecution unto death And don’t
Recently I wrote about how important it is to preach God’s Word when all your well-reasoned and logical arguments for the existence of God are mocked, pooh-poohed or ignored by unbelievers. (Read it here.)
Don’t be concerned!
Nay-sayers and scoffers have always been around and will always be around according to the Bible:
First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (2 Peter 2:3-7)
Despite mocking criticisms it’s amazing how God saves ordinary rapscallions and ne-er-do-wells actually by just hearing or reading the Word of God. I was one of those scoffers and God saved me! God will use His Words for His purposes.
The following account is of what happened to a leader of “The Hell-Fire Club” as he relentlessly ridiculed George Whitefield, one of the evangelists during the Great Awakening period in America. This is from an article written by Phillip Johnson, associate pastor at Grace Community Church and a former contributor to Pyromaniacs blog.
There’s a story in the biography of George Whitefield about
a man named Thorpe, who was a bitter opponent of everything that is holy. He and a group of his friends—all of them young, rebellious thugs—conspired together to mock and oppose George Whitefield’s evangelistic ministry while Whitefield was preaching in Bristol, England.
George Whitefield had severely crossed eyes, if you have ever seen a realistic likeness of him. And these guys used to refer to him as “Dr. Squintum.” They called their little gang “The Hell-Fire Club,” and they disrupted meetings, mocked Whitefield on the streets and in public places, and generally tried to make his ministry a reproach in their community. Whitefield’s preaching had already made a deep and lasting impact in Bristol, and these young ruffians hated him for it. So this guy Thorpe got one of Whitefield’s published sermons and took it to the local pub, where the “Hell-Fire Club” was gathered to drink together while they make a burlesque of Whitefield.
Whistler’s Mother’s Great, Great, Great Grandson
According to the web site, Mr. Whistler’s Art, “this portrait was reputedly executed on the back of an old canvas, and was begun when a model fell ill and could not pose. Whistler’s mother initially stood for the painting, but had to sit because of her frailty. This is the first painting by Whistler to
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