Evangelism Gone Wrong - Stone The Preacher

The Horrible Incident at Stripes

Aug 7, 2017Steve SanchezEvangelism, Evangelism Gone Wrong, PERSECUTED!evangelism, gospel, living waters, persecution, preach, ray comfort, sharing the faith. proclaim, way of the master, witnessing

SOMETHING HORRIBLE happened at our local Stripes convenience store: I gave the Gospel to three teens.

One of the teens went home and told his mom that I said he was going to Hell. This is something I rarely say, and I didn’t say to these teens. 99.9% of the time I ask this question: “If you died today, would you go to Heaven or Hell?”

Here is a similar conversation I had with a gaggle of giggling girls a few years back:

Well, the mom got mad and posted my name on Facebook saying that I told her son that he was going to Hell, among other untrue things. Locals in our small town read the post and made all sorts of false accusations against me. Here’s a sample:

“He told me the same thing, too.”

“He doesn’t like gays.”

“He hangs out at the high school three or four times a week and evangelizes.”

“He scolded me for wearing my cheerleader outfit, saying that men will lust after me.”

Arresting Truth

Mar 10, 2017Steve SanchezEvangelism Gone Wrong, Open Air, PERSECUTED!bible, evangelizing, gospel, michael overd, mike stockwell, open air preaching, preaching, truth, witnessing

A FRIEND OF MINE WAS ARRESTED IN ENGLAND AND FOUND GUILTY for a heinous crime. Was it robbery? Assault? Murder? Nope. None of those. Mike Stockwell got busted, along with his compatriot Michael Overd, for speaking the truth!

I met Mike Stockwell back in 2008 when I was leading a team for The Ambassador’s Academy, an evangelism ministry started by Ray Comfort that teaches normal Christians how to share their faith simply and biblically by handing out Gospel tracts, having personal conversations and by street preaching.

I didn’t know it then, but Stockwell would continue to preach the gospel in streets around the country and the world as a calling and vocation for the next nine years. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the good news”—and he obeyed!

Now he’s paying the price.

Rock’n Rollen’s Ridiculous Religion

Sep 27, 2016Steve SanchezEvangelism Gone Wrong, Pastor's P.O.V.john 3:16 guy, rock'n rollen stewart, the rainbow man

WEARING A MULTI-COLORED AFRO WIG AND HOLDING A JOHN 3:16 SIGN, Rock’n Rollen Stewart was a constant fixture at sporting events in the late 70s and early 80s.

Have you ever heard of “The John 3:16 Guy” also known as “The Rainbow Man”? His goal was to be famous and he got his fifteen minutes by doing some highly unorthodox shenanigans.

Carrying a battery-powered television to keep track of network broadcasting cameras, he would time his antics perfectly and jump into the frame giving a thumb’s up and a cheesy smile. He thought he could parlay his underground celebrity status into a way to get rich, but it didn’t happen.

After the 1980 Super Bowl he watched a television preacher to help with his depression and gave his life to Jesus, apparently. With a renewed sense of passion, he now showed up at events with “Jesus Saves” T-shirts and held up placards with Bible verses, most notably, John 3:16—”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Working twelve sporting events a month, Rock’n Rollen got the Word of the Lord out in his own unique fashion.

Evangelism Gone Wrong, Part 11: My Big, Fat, Huge Mistake

Dec 17, 2013Steve Sanchez3 CommentsEvangelism Gone Wrong

I love WW2 vets! Every time I meet one I thank them for their service…and try to give them the Gospel. William Stokes is a believer, in fellowship, and he wished me the best in my church plant at JiffyLube. He loved is Giant Money Gospel tract, too. This encounter went well, very well. Start

Evangelism Gone Wrong, Part 1: Mistakes Were Made

Feb 15, 2011Steve Sanchez55 CommentsAtheist Tuesday, Ev Tips/Tools, Evangelism Gone Wrong, PERSECUTED!atheists, evangelism, gospel, living waters, open air preaching, preaching, ray comfort, sharing faith, unbelievers, way of the master, witness, witnessing

Those unbelievers out there can be so darn difficult.

They don’t understand the Gospel message—or don’t care; they’ll try to get the evangelist off his game by ridicule, loud shouts of disapproval or verbal abuse; they’ll mock you and the God who made them, sometimes even blaspheming his name. And it’s possible they may even try to get you to stop preaching that message of eternal life by using force.

What’s a Christian to do? We’re called to be gracious, gentle, respectful, loving, kind, helpful and prayerful, especially to our enemies. But what happens when things go wrong—desperately wrong—and the witness for Christ is totally blown? And what about those other guys; you know, those who call themselves brothers but don’t represent Christ at all in action and attitude when witnessing about him? What should you do? What about Gospel tracts that don’t tell the full story of the Gospel, are imbalanced, giving a skewed picture of the Savior?

This is the first part of a series that will offer some perspective when evangelism goes wrong. I’ll be sharing a few missteps on my part in a moment, but first let’s read about what happened to Ray Comfort long ago:

He tells the story about a woman who was heckling him so badly, using filthy language and caustic comments, that he blew it. She asked him a question that went something like this: “I’m a lady, but I don’t agree at all with you about what you are saying about women.”

Ray flippantly responded with, “You may be a woman, Ma’am, but you certainly are no lady…”

He then explained how the “lady” proceeded to beat him up.