The Crazy Drunk Heckler, Part 2

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When we left off  in part 1 (See it here first!) a drunk man was giving me a hard time as I preached in Huntington Beach to another man who was listening to every word I was saying. Suddenly the police drove up. Here’s what happened…. (Read the rest of the story below.)

The drunk man was apparently on leave or just got out of the military. He said that the worst mistake he ever made in his life was enlisting.

He listened a little to the Word of God until 4 police cars—Four!—drove up. They handcuffed him and took him off to jail, presumably. Still, he heard the Gospel clearly. It is my hope that some day he’ll remember this incident and turn towards Jesus Christ.

The other man, Jack, was concerned about his eternal destiny, but not enough to repent then and there. If I pushed the issue, he probably would have made a “decision.” Unfortunately, decisions don’t save anybody. Repentance and trust in Jesus Christ does. If I can force him or anyone to make a decision then I’ve left out the work of the Holy Spirit and the man is still dead in his sins. It’s enough for me to know that God used me on this day to sow and water some seeds of the Gospel.

(We talked about this preaching session on the Web show, “On the Box.” These episodes will be airing May 3 and May 4 at 11:30am.)

(Please read this important article, “Decisions, Decisions,” by clicking here.)

Comments (12)

  1. Glenn Parker

    Reply

    Great job! I thought you did a nice job handling the heckler too. I think I heard Ray say that shaking hands with a heckler always seems to defuse things, and you attempted to do that here, but got his hat instead! 🙂

  3. Paul Latour

    Reply

    Thank you,Steve. It was a lesson for me to see how all this unfolded in light of the circumstances by the way you handled the situation.

    Just curious: what exactly was drunk dude arrested for?

  4. Garrett

    Reply

    Steve, if a person doesn’t decide to be saved, then God is choosing to let 99.4% of the population go to Hell (if we assume only 2% of those claiming to be Christians are True Christians).

    If God does not want us to go Hell, then why is practically the entire world heading there? You are implying that the decision is not up to me, that the Holy Spirit or whatever has to trigger repentance. This would go against the common belief that “God does not send people to Hell.”

    Tony made a post about depraved indifference. If God is not using his omnipotence to save people from eternal torture, then wouldn’t that be depraved indifference? Clearly, the Holy Spirit is failing hard when the vast majority is doomed.

    The only way out of this is to assume humans have to make a decision to repent.

    • Steve Sanchez

      Reply

      These are great questions to be answered at a later time on Atheist Tuesday, but the short answer can be found in these sayings of Jesus:

      “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

      Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

      He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’

      “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’

      26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’

      27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’

      28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” Luke 13:23-30

  5. Garrett

    Reply

    That…doesn’t answer my question. Well, it does confirm that God wants people in Hell for some arbitrary reason.

    Guess I’m waiting until Tuesday.

    • Steve Sanchez

      Reply

      Short answer: It’s 100% God, 100% you… on this side of eternity. On the other side, of course, it’s God. Bottom line? You can make the choice right now; no one is stopping you.

      I don’t know where you came up with that 2% figure. I’ve only stated that 2% of Christians share their faith.

      To reiterate: Yes. You need to repent. From our perspective, it’s all up to us. When—and if—you get to Heaven (and from the looks of things right now, it’s doubtful), God will say, “I chose you.”

      Make sense? It does if you are a believer.

      And only if you are a believer.

  6. Garrett

    Reply

    That’s where I got the number from, but the numbers won’t look good even I’m more generous: I included Catholics for the biggest number. I doubt you find them to be True Christians™. We’re sticking looking at perhaps a single-digit percentage of people being saved.

    Your statement contradicts what you originally said. That there is ultimately a decision to be made on our part. If you repent, then you’ve decided to repent. A decision has been made to repent. How can you be this inconsistent?

    I follow the other part: we choose here and then God chooses you when you die (his choose based on your choice, obviously). But, again, you’re contradicting yourself.

    And it has to make sense to unbelievers or they won’t become believers. If I told you that the theory of relativity, evolution or germs would make sense only if you believe, would you suddenly just believe in it? I would sincerely hope not, as that’s not how one develops a deeper understanding of things. People make decisions based on what they know unless they’re forced to decide on the spot. And “snap decisions” aren’t considered the wisest.

  9. Allen

    Reply

    An idea from William Lane Craig,,,

    …It is a matter of what people prefer. The question … “How could a loving God send people to Hell?” is not framed considering God.
    “How can a Holy God let sinful people into Heaven?’… Is just as valid.

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