BIG Events - Stone The Preacher

Evangelism Gone Wrong? Pt. 10: Avoid Weird Guys & Pointing Fingers

Apr 21, 2011Steve Sanchez3 CommentsBIG Events, PERSECUTED!

In this continuing series that tens and tens of people are reading, I want to offer a few more situations that can go wrong if you let your guard down, especially in this age of Internet popularity where anyone can video your actions and put them on YouTube. (Start at part 1 of “Evangelism Gone Wrong” by clicking here.)

At the Hollywood anti-war protest we attended (Read the war-protest 2011 series here), there were some strange black men claiming that they were the true Hebrew Israelites.

Dressed in garb reminiscent of a bad small church Christmas program, these guys were loud, angry, profane and quite perturbed. One of our team, Ed Lee, got a little carried away, entrapped in the argument, especially when they started calling him a devil. See it yourself:

Part 1 (2 minutes)

Part 2 (30 seconds)

May I suggest that you not try to reason with these types?

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Hollywood Anti-War Protest, Pt. 6: Police Action

Apr 7, 2011Steve Sanchez19 CommentsAnti-War Protest

The LAPD were everywhere watching everyone’s every move. After all, this mix of pro-Gaddafi, anti-American radicals didn’t trust anyone…

The ANSWER L.A. leftist anti-war march had come to its end in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater where one angry red-faced activist after another shouted and ranted from the back of a truck bed about the evils of our free-enterprise, capitalist system whose form of government allows them to freely dissent without the threat of arrest. (Start the series at part 1 by clicking here.)

For the evangelism team, this was our opportunity to preach the Gospel from atop a high columned structure where Jimmy Kimmel Live! is taped. The protesters were plum tuckered out after several miles of walking and chanting and yelling and had their fill of tirades from long-forgotten gray-haired Jerry Reuben wannabes; maybe they’d be in the mood to hear about Jesus? Ya think?

We were all ready to preach with evangelistic fervor when a kind officer from L.A.’s Finest stopped by and inquired, “Do you have a permit?”

“Uh, no,” I replied.

“You know you are on private property? You have to get off of there.”

Talk about disappointment. This was supposed to be the highlight of the march: preaching to everyone while they were standing still and relatively quiet. What a bummer!

Then the officer pointed toward the pooped protesters and offered a bit of helpful information that allowed us to continue to preach:

Hollywood Anti-War Protest, Pt. 5: Opposing Forces

Apr 3, 2011Steve Sanchez3 CommentsAnti-War Protest, PERSECUTED!

Good elevation is always an imperative when attending events that cater to large crowds; the higher up you are—the more visible—the better for unsaved people to hear the life-changing, life-giving message of the Gospel. Unfortunately, the more visible you are, the bigger target you make. At the ANSWER L.A. protest on March 19, we had a multitude of platforms in which to herald the Good News.

And we were opposed on every front. (Click here to start the series at part 1.)

On the first block of the march I put our half-mile haler, affectionately named “Hell-boy,” on a tall ledge. (See the other sound systems we use here.)

The reaction to my message was not exactly welcomed. (I took the photo with one hand, and held the mic in the other.) They blocked me, but Hell-boy did his job unscathed.

On the second block of the march, I nestled under a shade tree and put Hell-boy high up on an electrical box. Again, the Good News was under-appreciated:

When they blocked me and Hell-boy, I simply passed the speaker to a fellow soldier who continued to hold it up and out of the way so the message of peace with God through His Son Jesus could still be broadcast uninterrupted. Hey! What’s that lady reading? Isn’t she the same person who blocked the hater bullhorn guy from part 2?

The third block provided the perfect place to preach: the first floor of the Hollywood Gay and Lesbian center.

Hollywood Anti-War Protest, Pt. 4: Preaching on the Frontline

Mar 31, 2011Steve Sanchez11 CommentsBIG Events, Open Air

I found this short, 2 minute version of my preaching at the Hollywood anti-war protest on YouTube from a stranger who was listening and filming. We delivered our message many times after the march started. I am actually in the middle of the protest itself—and the police helped to get me there. How? I’ll tell

Hollywood Anti-War Protest 2011, Pt. 3: Infiltration

Mar 27, 2011Steve Sanchez7 CommentsAnti-War Protest

I have to be honest here. Whenever I go to an evangelism destination, especially one that may be hostile, like the Hollywood Anti-War Protest sponsored by ANSWER Los Angeles (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), I have mixed feelings. One part of me is excited by the possibilities of reaching a lost people group: atheists, Communists, extreme leftists, Feminists, gay activists, etc., while another part of me would prefer to stay home.

It’s safer at home. (Click here to start at part 1 of the series.)

Knowing that only 2% of Christians actually share their faith (according to Bill Bright, but it’s probably less), and a Barna study that shows that only 55% of born-again Christians even believe it’s their responsibility to evangelize motivates me to get out of my comfort zone.

The question is always: How do we get the message out before they kick us out—or knock us out?

Thousands had congregated on Hollywood Blvd. to hear furious women and red-faced blathering men scream anti-war epithets against the government, rich people, corporations—anyone, or anything that smacks of Conservatism or rationality.

What would they do to us if they discovered we were fundamentalist Christians?

To complicate matters, a hater guy with Jesus signs and a bullhorn was there on his corner screaming insults at the protesters. When an elderly woman tried to stop him he shouted, “Back off, Grandma! Back to the retirement home for you, Grandma! Back to the trailer park with you, Grandma! Take your Geritol! Take another two tablespoons of Geritol!”

To the marchers he yelled: “Shame on you, Americans! You call yourselves Americans? You hate America! Bible! Bible! Bible! Get yourself a Bible, people!”

A protester shouted back, “You hypocrite! You hypocrite!” Then he blew a whistle in the Hate Preacher’s ear.

A bald-headed man screamed and shook his fist: “Am I going to Hell? Am I going to Hell because I’m protesting the war?”

The preacher continued with, “You’ve got one foot on a banana peel, and one foot in the grave! Jesus Christ said ‘My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you…'”

Some peace. Some example of Christ-like love. Sad. Very sad. And a very wrong way to preach the Gospel. (See the 6 minute video yourself by clicking here. WARNING! Rough language the first 12 seconds.)

What would you do? How would you approach this tense situation as an evangelist?

We decided to go in with Gospel money tracts. (Hey! Even anti-capitalist socialists like money!

We gave out Giant Hundred dollar bills…

Presidential trillion dollar bills…

and million dollar bills, all with the true Gospel written on the back.

Walking in the midst of the protesters we’d hand them out saying, “Peace money. Peace money.” By no means would we try to talk about eternal things in the “now” of this hot bed of fury and tension. We would smile and say, “Peace not war; peace not war,” and gently hand them a tract. And smile, smile, smile. We were friendly, warm and accommodating. How did these marchers respond?