For many years, the newsletters for Open Air Outreach were only published through email. Those newsletters were not posted online. We are now in the process of archiving these old newsletters online so that they are available to the body of Christ at large to read and be encouraged and edified by them.
The contents from this post was an email newsletter sent out on 9/24/2009
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We Preached To Senator Al Franken!
Jesse Morrell
Sep 24, 2009
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WE THANK GOD FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT |
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RECENT MINISTRY
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA  SINNER WANTED TO BE SAVED
Standing outside of the Metro area with a sandwich board on I preached the Gospel loud and clear. One man came out of the metro, read the sandwich board, and immediately came up to me for prayer. The sandwich board had a list of different types of sinners such as “drunkards” “fornicators” and “masturbators” and then said “Hell Awaits You”. He said that he was on the list and that he was going to hell and wanted me to pray for him to be saved.
TO SIN OR NOT IS MAN’S FREE CHOICE
After talking with this man for a little while I realized that he was putting all the responsibility upon God. He wanted God to do for him what God has told him to do! Instead of choosing to overcome sin, he simply wanted God to make him overcome sin. Since sin is our choice, our choice must be involved in overcoming it! He also wanted God to take away his temptations, to force him walk in holiness, etc. I explained to him that it was ultimately his choice. God has put the responsibility upon him. God will help him make the right choices, but God will not make the right choices for him. I think it is important for people to understand that a holy life is not the absence of temptation, but it is choosing to overcome temptation. Jesus Christ was tempted yet Jesus Christ was holy because Jesus Christ chose to overcome temptation. We can choose to overcome sin under the influence of the Holy Spirit. God will convict us and correct us but we must choose to make the changes. When the temptation to commit that sin again comes before us, it is up to us to make the right choice. If we live unholy it is not God’s fault, it is our own fault because it is our own choice.
When I prayed for him I said something like this, “God, I pray that this man will choose to surrender himself completely to you. I pray that you will convict him by his conscience and lead him by the Holy Spirit, so that He will choose to obey you and walk in your ways. I pray that he will make the choice to repent of all of his sins and to trust in your Son Jesus Christ. Once he has done that, I pray that you will forgive him.” He thanked me very much.
GOD CAN USE SANDWICH BOARDS TO SAVE SOULS
I know that some street preachers are against the idea of using sandwich boards in evangelism. I however believe that they are a great tool which we can use to grab the attention of the public and get the Gospel message to them. If we absolutely say, “Sandwich boards are not good to use” we are not only mistaken, but we are really limiting ourselves from something that God can use to save souls. This story of the man who came out of the Metro, read the sandwich board, and immediately wanted prayer for deliverance and salvation is a perfect example of how God is able and willing to use sandwich boards for the cause of His Kingdom.
SEAN DIDDY COLMES
As I was out preaching I saw the star on the sidewalk that said, “Sean Diddy Colmes”. He is a rap music producer. I decided to make it a point to preach against gangster rap music while standing on his star. That type of music glorifies sex, drugs, and violence. It has certainly had a negative impact upon our society, contributing to the wickedness of our culture. What is particularly disturbing is how popular this music is with younger and younger generations. I know that under the influence of rap music I started to sell drugs when I was 14 years old. The influence of that type of music over my own choices nearly destroyed my life. These rappers, producers, and distributors are making a fortune by corrupting the youth and leading people to hell. It was a great joy for me to preach against rap music standing on this scum bags Hollywood star. It is a shame that Hollywood will mock at Jesus Christ, who has forever changed the world for the better, and will glorify a man like Sean Colmes, who is contributing to and leading the delinquency of our youth.
Over the years I have preached at a lot of different types of places. Out of all the places I have preached, the places I have found where you can draw the best crowds would be campuses and beaches. I had heard that at Venice Beach we were sure to get some hecklers. And that means we were sure to draw a crowd.
THREATS OF VIOLENCE
Many of the people that go to Venice Beach seem to be of the “tough” sort. Many of the men walked around with tattoos all over their bodies, people were publicly promoting marijuana, etc. Yet out of the thousands of people that we preached to, only two of them actually threatened me with physical violence. I thought that was pretty good. One man seemed to seriously be contemplating attacking me and so my friend decided to offer to take him out for a bit to eat. He was a young homeless man who was probably hungry and so he took him up on the offer. After that, he still threatened me with violence but never actually did anything. I was very grateful for my friend.
SOMEBODY WAS ARRESTED
Even while we were preaching, Police pulled up to the area and arrested somebody. I do not know who they arrested or why they arrested them. It was completely unrelated to our preaching. But this gives you an understanding as to what type of area Venice Beach really is. It is a very dark and wicked place with all types of sinful people everywhere. It is precisely the type of place that we should be going to preach the Gospel!
FINDING A GOOD PLACE TO PREACH
When I look for a location to preach open air there are always a few things I look for. At this beach I was looking for a quiet place, in the shade, with lots of people walking by, away from the vendors, preferable with elevation to stand on. It needed to be quiet because I was open air preaching without amplification. It needed to be in the shade because people will rarely stand around and listen to you very long if they are in the hot sun. The heat can take a lot of energy out of the preacher as well. It needed to be in a populated area because our object is to gain listeners for the Gospel. It needed to be away from the vendors because they are usually the first to call the Police and complain when they think you are annoying or will hurt their business. And elevation always helps in drawing a crowd because they can clearly see that you are there. It also helps in addressing the crowd because you are able to talk to everyone.
I found one location that met all of the qualifications I was looking for. It was a bleacher type wall right next to some basket ball courts. I began straight forward preaching saying things like “Out here there is a lot of SIN, SIN, SIN. God see’s it and He’s ANGRY! God is calling you to REPENT of your sins. God is going to JUDGE your life! But Jesus Christ DIED for YOUR SINS! You can have the mercy of God through Jesus Christ if you give up your sins and come to Christ.” After preaching for a while we were able to draw a good size crowd. I warned them about the eternal consequences of their sin and how they could be saved from them through Jesus Christ if they will repent and believe.
After a little while I thought it might be good to find another location to preach. Even though it was a fairly good area I thought that there might be a better location. After scoping out the battlefield we found a shady and busy area that had plenty of room to draw a crowd, not many vendors, a wall for my voice to echo off of, a hill for me to stand on, and some benches and a wall for a crowd to sit on. We preached two days in this location. Wearing a sandwich board it was not very hard to draw a crowd. Many would stop to read the list of different types of sinners and then I would ask them, “Are you on this list?” Once a dialog was started a crowd would gather. At one point many of those in the crowd were just sitting on the grass listening very peacefully.
ENCOURAGING LOCAL BIBLE STUDENTS
Two local Bible students had heard that we were going to be out preaching at the Beach and came out to see us the second day. They sat on the wall and listened as I confronted sin and preached the Gospel. Afterwards we fellowshipped and they said that they were encouraged by the ministry. I was very pleased that our ministry was having an impact on the local Christians, especially those from a local Bible College!
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
When I first became interested in open air preaching many years ago I watched a video of a man preaching at UCLA. I always thought that it looked like a great place to preach. I was very excited that I had an opportunity to preach there now myself for the first time.
HAVING A CONTINUED IMPACT
We had preached all weekend at the Beach and now we were on the campus. One group of men walked by and said, “Hey, that’s the same guy!” Then they shouted to me, “Are you going to be at the Beach again this weekend?” They had seen and heard us preaching at the beach and now they were seeing and hearing us preaching on their campus. We were having a continued influence in their lives.
ATHEISTS CHALLENGE CHRISTIANITY
I had preached for a good amount of time without getting much of a reaction from the students. It wasn’t until I brought up the topic of atheism that some students stopped and engaged me. I said, “This is supposed to be a University, a place of education, and yet we even have atheists on this campus!” This provoked one atheist to stop and say, “But you don’t have any proof that there is a god!” I said, “Yes I do! The proof of the infinite is the existence of the finite! Anything that has a beginning needs a cause. Anything that is not self-existent is an effect. The finite, that which has had a beginning or is not self-existent, needs to have a cause. The first cause must be infinite, it must be self-existent. If the first cause was not self-existent, it would need a cause itself. That first cause, which is eternal or self-existent, is God! And since effects cannot be greater than their cause, God cannot be some impersonal, unconscious, unintelligent thing or else we are greater than God!” In atheism, nothing created everything. I said, “The only thing that nothing can create is nothing.” Even after this the atheist said, “There is no proof that there is a god! Christianity is foolish!” and he walked away. That just goes to show that either 1. He didn’t understand what I said. 2. He didn’t listen to what I said. 3. He heard it and understood it but he just didn’t like it. I have found that the problem with atheists is typically not an intellectual problem, but a moral problem. They are usually sinners who just want to live however they want to live, without any moral restraint put upon them by a transcendent God.
WHO CAUSED GOD?
One student asked me, “If everything needs a cause, who caused God?” I said, “Not everything needs a cause. Only what is not self-existent needs a cause. Only what has beginning needs a cause. Only an effect needs a cause. God is not an effect, God did not have a beginning, God is self-existent, and therefore God does not need a cause. God and God alone is the only adequate first cause of everything.” The first cause cannot have a cause, because if it had a cause, it would not be the first cause. The first cause must be without cause, and therefore the first cause must be without beginning since everything with a beginning needs a cause. The First Cause is eternal, infinite, or self-existent.
It is very common for atheists to either misunderstand or misrepresent the cause and effect argument. To say, “If everything needs a cause” is to misrepresent the cause and effect argument since not everything does need a cause. Only what is finite, what is not self-existent, or what had beginning needs a cause. And to ask “who caused God” clearly shows that a person does not understand the cause and effect argument. The First Cause needs no cause and cannot have a cause.
BARAK OBAMA LEADING AMERICA TO HELL
I also spoke about the moral objections I have to Barak Obama. I talked for a while about the issues of abortion, homosexuality, and socialism. Most of the crowd believed in women’s “right” to kill her babies, in homosexuality as an equal alternative to heterosexuality, and even believed that capitalism was somehow bad and socialism was somehow good. These are the future leaders of our country and our world. We are in pretty bad shape.
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
Since I was talking about moral issues which are also political issues, some of the students asked about “separation of Church & State”. I explained how in England, when there was no separation of Church and State, the State would legislate what religious beliefs you could or couldn’t have. I explained how Separation of Church & State means that the State cannot tell us what we can and cannot believe. It doesn’t mean that Christians cannot be in the government anymore than it means that government Officials cannot be in the Church. And it doesn’t mean that we cannot make laws in alignment with the moral law of God. It simply means that the State cannot tell the Church what they can and cannot believe and consequently what they can and cannot say. Separation of Church and State means that the Church should be free from State restrictions. I added, “Therefore I can say it is not OK to be gay, and the State cannot tell me otherwise. Separation of Church and State!”
CHANGING LIVES My host who flew me out to LA told me that his life has been profoundly impacted by our ministry. He has been going to a famous Calvinist Church but he told me, “Ever since I have taken full responsibility for my pursuit of righteousness and for sin, with no strings attached, it has radically changed my life!” He later posted on my facebook, “Whatever you may think of Jesse’s methodology to preaching or his theology, I can say after living with him for a week and spending 14 hours a day he is one of the most godly people I’ve ever known. I’ve been a Christian for 20 years. This is my testimony about him.”
HOMOSEXUAL FESTIVAL, DULUTH MN
Our arrive to Minnesota was in perfect timing for a Festival dedicated to the celebration of sexual perversion known as homosexuality. Our society is in a really degraded state when sin is flaunted instead of ashamed of. We went to this festival to hopefully turn their pride into humility.
HARRASSMENT COMPLAINT
As soon as we arrived we lifted up our banners with Gospel messages. Almost instantly crowds started coming up to us. They would ask us questions, etc. People would leave the Festival area just to come and talk to us because they saw the banners. We didn’t have to put forth any special effort to draw crowds to preach to. This shows the effectiveness of using banners.
After a little while a Police Officer approached us. She said that they had a complaint that we were harassing people. I told her that we were just standing there and people were coming up to us. We were not following anyone around and we were not physically stopping anyone or forcing them to listen to us. I explained to her that we were simply talking to people who come up and talk to us. The Officer seemed satisfied with this and left us alone for the rest of the time.
INTOLERANT & JUDGMENTAL
As I preached about the sinfulness of homosexuality and how Jesus Christ can change their lives, some of them became very angry and upset. I asked them, “Why are you so intolerant? Why can’t you accept me as I am?” I was using their own words against them. They said, “You are intolerant!” I explained how I am intolerant of their sin because I have care and concern for their souls. If I didn’t love and care about them, I said, I would just let them continue in their sins and go to hell.
It should be understood that tolerance is not always right and intolerance is not always wrong. The object which is being tolerated or not being tolerated determine whether it is right or wrong. If the object that is not being tolerated is wrong, the intolerance is right. If the object which is being tolerated is wrong, the tolerance is wrong. It is right to be intolerant of sin because sin is wrong. It is wrong to be tolerant of sin because sin is wrong. First we must be intolerant of sin in our own lives and get it out of our lives and then we must be intolerant of sin in our society and try to rid our society of it.
One of the people listening to us preaching said, “You are judging us!” I said, “I am warning you about the judgment of God! If you think I am judgmental, wait until you met God! He is more judgmental than I am! He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah! You need to get ready to be judged by a sin hating God! Repent!”
SEEN FROM THE STAGE
There was a large stage set up for the music of the festival. The location of where we were preaching was to the side of the stage. During the outreach one man came up to us and said, “I was just on the stage performing and I saw your banner. I wanted to let you know that I appreciate you guys being out here.” He was apparently a musician that was probably hired by the festival to play. He even went on to quote some Bible verses to the crowd about hell-fire and how we should fear God. I was surprised!
I KNOW HOW TO BE POPULAR
Many in the crowds that we were preaching to were saying, “Nobody wants you here.” One person stepped up and said to the crowd of homosexuals something like, “It doesn’t matter that your gay” or something like that and continued on with a short speach. The crowd cheered with approval and clapped for her. I said, “I know how to get you guys to like me. All I have to say it that God accepts you as you are. God forgives you no matter what. It is OK to be gay. You’re not going to go to hell. God is all merciful. Don’t worry. But if I said these things, I wouldn’t be saying the truth. I’m hear to tell you want you need, not to tell you want you want! I’m not out here to win a popularity contest. I’m here to preach the Gospel! You need to repent and be born again.”
HOMOSEXUAL PARADE, SUPERIOR WISCONSIN
 
MARCHING FOR JESUS
Homosexuals literally parade their sins through the streets. As long as they are taking a public stand for their wickedness, we must be there to take a public stand for the Gospel. With a banner and a bullhorn, we marched the busy streets calling sinners repentance. We walked up and down both sides of the street with a banner for all to read and with the Gospel message being proclaimed through the amplification. It was wonderful!
 PREACHED TO SENATOR (Former Comedian) AL FRANKEN
When the actual parade started I picked a street corner to preach from. As I was preaching I suddenly recognized one of the people marching in the parade. It was Minnesota Senator Al Franken! As I was preaching he briefly heckled me by saying, “I disagree!” and then he marched on. One of the members of our team had actually ministered to him for about five minutes before the parade even started! That is a good amount of time to share the Gospel with a Senator!
GREAT WAY TO FINISH THE PARADE
When I saw the last group in the parade walking by I decided that I would join the parade. Since the parade was technically over, there was no problem with me walking through the parade route with my banner and bullhorn. Though the crowd roared with their disapproval, and one person threw a water bottle at me, they all saw the banner nonetheless! We made Jesus Christ the talk of the homosexual parade!
 A RARE OPPORTUNITY
Cloquet was one of those small towns that typically would be hard to preach in because there are so few big events. The Labor Day parade gave us a rare opportunity to minister the Gospel of Jesus Christ to this small town. We walked from one end of the parade all the way to the other, then back again, with our banner. We gave out tracts and open air preached along the way.
PREACHED TO AL FRANKEN AGAIN
We once again ran into the liberal Senator Al Franken. He was not only in the homosexual parade but now he was in the Labor Day parade as well. He saw us with our banner but tried to look the other way. He clearly remembered us from the day before. I said to him, “You need to listen to Sean Hannity” and then added “Repent of your sins!”
POLICE WERE CALLED ON US
When I first arrived on campus and started preaching it was hard to draw a crowd. Most of the students who saw and heard us just kept on walking by. Occasionally a person might heckler us while they would continue to walk by, but nobody was stopping to dialog with us. Then one girl asked me about homosexuality. I told her what the Bible said about it and I believe she was the one who called the Police on us!
When the Police arrived they told me that someone complained that we were preaching about homosexuality. I told him that it is true that I preached about homosexuality, because I answered a girls question, but that I was also preaching about other sins. Homosexuality was mentioned but it was not my main focus. Besides, there is nothing illegal about preaching about homosexuality.
After talking with the Officer for a little while, students began to gather around to see what was going on. After I finished my discussion with the Officer there was a nice size crowd of students there for me to address. I proceeded to preach about sins, such as homosexuality, and the crowd started to ask questions.
GOD CAN SAVE MOCKERS AND SCOFFERS
I remember one girl in particular who stayed out there for a very long time while we were preaching. She was a mocker and yet she stayed and asked questions. A few times she would publicly fondle her friend and pretend to be a lesbian, but at other times she would ask real questions. With all of the preaching that she heard that day, it is possible that some of it really got through to her. God knows.
AMERICAN IDOLATRY
I preached the law of God like Jesus Christ did. “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.” I explained how God is worthy to have our supreme affection and devotion, and our neighbor is as valuable as we are and therefore ought to be loved equally. I said, “Mankind was created to worship. We naturally worship. It is part of our human nature. Everyone has an object of worship, but only God is worthy of our worship. Only God is worthy of our supreme affection and devotion. Some of you worship money, some of you worship pleasure, some of you worship sports, etc. Essentially if you are living for sin, you are worshipping yourself. That is what the devil does. Since all of us worship something, and only God is worthy of our worship, anyone who is not worshipping God is an idolater.”
THE MEANING OF LIFE
One student asked me, “What is the meaning of life?” I suppose he thought that this question could not be answered. I said, “Let me tell you. The meaning of life, or the reason for life, is to know and enjoy God and for God to know and enjoy us. We were created to have a relationship with God. That is the reason God gave us life. Just as I created a daughter so that I could know and enjoy her and so that she could know and enjoy me, likewise God created mankind so that He could know and enjoy us and so that we could know and enjoy Him. If you do not have a relationship with God you are not fulfilling the reason for your life.”
SIN IS NOT SELF-EXISTENT
As I was preaching about sin and how God is angry with sinners, I felt it necessary to explain why the object of God’s angry against sin is specifically the sinner. I taught that sin is not self-existent. Sinners cause sin to exist. Sin is an effect for which a sinner is a cause. The reason that God is angry with sinners for their sin is because sinners are the cause of their sin. If sinners did not exist, sin would not exist. It is not that sin causes men to be sinners, but that sinners cause sin to exist. God will cast sinners into hell on Judgment Day. God judge’s sinners not only sin. And Jesus Christ died not only for our sins but for sinners! The problem with God’s universe is sin. But the problem behind the problem of sin is the problem of sinners. God solves the sin problem by solving the sinner problem. He makes men new.
CAUSING NO SMALL STIR
A campus like this one very rarely get’s preachers. For that reason our outreaches caused no small stir. While we were preaching at one point there were about four Police cars on the scene. Even the country Sheriff arrived on campus to see what was going on! One of the Officers, the next day, told me that there was a “buzz” on campus because of what we were doing. That is probably why it was very easy to draw a crowd the next day. People had heard about the preaching and were interested in seeing it themselves.
I was very happy when one of the Officers said, “I checked out some of your YouTube videos last night”. It is very common for a person, after listening to us for hours on campus to go home and listen to us for a few more hours on their computer! Students have told me, “I have seen all of your YouTube videos”. We are certainly having an impact in their hearts and minds.
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
As I said, the second day was very easy to draw a crowd. By simply wearing a sandwich board and doing a little preaching, crowds of students gathered around. I was particularly pleased when many of the students sat in the grass to listen. This meant that they were planning on staying for a while.
As I preached I told the crowd that “effective communication necessitates definitions”. For that reason I gave the crowd Biblical definitions for a sinner, sin, atonement, hell, fornicator, adulterer, homosexual, drunkard, atonement, etc. “A sinner is someone who is at odds with the law of God”, “Sin is when you choose to do what you know is wrong”, “The atonement of Christ is a substitute for the penalty of the law under the government of God so that our penalty can be remitted”, “Hell is eternal conscious pain, never ending punishment”, “Fornication is having pre-martial sex”, “Adultery, according to Jesus, includes looking at a women with lust in your heart”, “A homosexual is someone who chooses to have sex with the same sex. They either engage in actual sex or at least want to”, “Drunkenness is altering your state of consciousness to the point of intoxication so that your judgment is impaired”. Without proper definitions effective communication or communication at all cannot take place.
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF JESUS DIED FOR YOU?
I asked the crowd, “How do you know if Jesus Christ has died for you? I’ll tell you. If you are a sinner, Jesus Christ died for you. If you are a hell deserving sinner, Jesus Christ spilt His blood for you. Now forgiveness is made available to everyone because Jesus Christ has died for all.” I am a very firm opponent to the Calvinist notion of a limited atonement because I find it to be completely contrary to Scripture. Therefore I preached to the entire crowd, “JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR YOU! JESUS CHRIST SHED HIS BLOOD FOR YOU!” I can tell every sinner I met, with full confidence, that Jesus Christ has made salvation available to them.
When I think of how Jesus Christ, the Son of God, offered His own life as the substitute for the damnation of our race, I am overwhelmed by the love of God. Jesus saw how only through atonement could there be a way for God to mercifully remit our penalty and He willingly gave His own blood as the atonement. Our punishment of eternal hell fire can now be withheld if we repent and believe, only because Jesus Christ has offered His own blood as an atonement which takes the place of our eternal punishment.
God in His love for His universe gave us a law to promote our well-being. Then God, in His love for His universe, determined to maintain the authority and influence of His law by punishing disobedience with eternal hell fire. But God, in His love for mankind, offered His only Son to suffer and die for our sins. This provided a substitute for our eternal hell, so that the authority and influence of His law is maintained throughout His universe even though He pardons repentant sinners by setting aside the execution of their penalty. God is a God of great love!
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, DULUTH
There is a grassy lawn right next to the main entrance of the Student Union building. During lunch time multiple buses come and drop off the students. This area becomes very busy when that happens. It provided us with the perfect opportunity to draw a crowd and preach the Gospel.
SINNER DISTURBS THE PREACHING
After drawing a crowd and preaching for a little while, one of the students came out with a drum and began to play very loudly to disrupt the preaching. I would move to a new location, the crowd would move with me, and then the drummer would follow along. After moving around multiple times I finally told the crowd, “I cannot answer your questions because this guy is drumming.” That caused the crowd to ask the drummer to stop so that they could ask their question. Eventually the Police arrived and I told them that this man was harassing me by putting his drum up to my ear and also disturbing the peace as he was clearly trying to disrupt the meeting. The Police told the drummer that he could play but he had to keep his distance of ten feet or so. This did not help me at all. But eventually this student had to go to class.
WHY GOD GAVE US A FREE WILL
During my preaching one of the students asked me why God created sin. I explained to him that sin was not part of God’s creation. Sin is a choice that men and angels have made. God is not the author of sin. Sin is originated by other moral beings. Sin is the wrong use of free will. Sin is not some substance that God created. Sin is a free choice that moral beings have made.
This explanation usually leads the student to ask, “Why did God give us free will? Couldn’t He have created a universe where there was no possibility of sin?” I explained that God did not want His universe to be full of puppets or robots. That is why God even gave the angels free will and allowed them to choose between loyalty and rebellion.
Without free will, there can be no loving relationship. If a man gives a women a “date rape drug” and forces himself upon her, that is not love. A loving relationship requires mutual consent. God created us to have a relationship with Him. The reason for our existence necessitates the existence of free will. Sure God could have created us without a free will, thereby avoiding all possibility of sin, but this would have also excluded any possibility of us doing what we were created to do! We could not have a real loving relationship with God! I explained to the crowd that God is not a spiritual rapist. God does not force anyone into a relationship with Him. God does not make anyone love Him. That is something that God will not and cannot do. God leaves that to our own free will. Love must be a free choice or else it is not real love at all.
THE CONVENIENCE OF IDOLATRY
I warned the students that there was coming a day when God would judge their life. All have sinned and therefore all need forgiveness through Jesus Christ. As I was preaching about God’s judgment one student said, “I like Buddha because he lets me do whatever I want.” Another student said, “my God loves everyone and doesn’t send anyone to hell.” This is the convenience of idolatry. Men make up their own god which makes them feel better about themselves and accepts them as they are. The true God is the enemy of sin. The true Jesus Christ calls all sinners to repentance. I explained how God must punish the wicked in order to maintain His law. The object of penalty is to secure the authority and influence of the law. The purpose of punishment is to prevent the further spread of crime. Therefore if God is truly good, if God truly cares about His universe, He would punish the wicked in order to protect the rights and well-being of His universe.
TOUGH LOVE
“You’re not being very loving” is something that I often here. But Jesus said that as many as he loved he rebuked and chastened. I told the crowd that this was tough love. If I see thousands of people on campus going to hell and I don’t say anything to warn them that they might get saved, then I do not really love them. True love will warn the wicked. I told the crowd, “I love you enough to tell you that your in danger. I love you enough to tell you that your wicked and hell bound. I love you enough to tell you that you need Jesus Christ. If Christians on this campus see you going to hell, and they don’t say anything to you, they don’t really love you.” I explained to the crowd that love is not a feeling or an emotion. Love is a choice. Love is a committal of your will to promote the highest well-being of all. I said, “I love you guys. I am trying to promote your eternal well-being.” I tell the students that if I didn’t love them, I wouldn’t put up with all their mockering and endure through all their scoffing in order to preach the Gospel to them.
WHY BE BOLD?
One Christian girl asked me afterwards why I was so bold in my preaching. She pointed to where Paul asked the Corinthians if he should come in gentleness or in boldness. I explained to her that Paul was saying that if the Corinthians repented, he would not have to come to them in boldness. But when there is sin, it should be boldly confronted. This campus, as a whole, has not repented of their sins. Therefore Christians ought to come and boldly confront the sinners, calling them to repentance. In the Book of Acts when the Holy Spirit would come upon people, they would begin to publicly preach the Word boldly. A person who preaches under the influence of the Holy Spirit will be a bold preacher. I explained to her that we ought to be gentle in spirit but bold in our speech. We should unashamedly and very honestly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
WHY PREACH ABOUT GOD’S JUDGMENT?
After I had preached one girl came up to me and asked me why I preached about God’s wrath instead of focusing exclusively on God’s love. I asked the crowd, “How many of you believe that God loves you?” Almost the entire crowd raised their hand. Then I asked, “How many of you believe that you deserve hell?” Almost everyone put their hands down. I turned to the girl and said, “that is why I preach about God’s judgment instead of exclusively preaching God’s love.” I explained to her that most of the people in the crowd already believe that God loves them, but very few people in the crowd believe that they are hell deserving sinners. Until a person realizes that they are damned, they will not see their need to be saved. Until a person realizes that they deserve punishment they cannot see their need for mercy or grace. It is very important for an open air preacher to start his preaching with sin and judgment because this paves the way for a person to understand the atonement of Christ, through which our penalty can be remitted.
FALSE GOSPEL & FAKE JESUS
I warned the crowd that there is a false Gospel and a fake Jesus that is being preached today. “Many of you have heard that God forgives you no matter what. That isn’t true. God only forgives those that forsake their sins. And many of you have heard that God accepts you as you are. That isn’t true either. Jesus said you must be born again. Any Gospel or any Jesus that doesn’t require repentance from sin is a false Gospel and a fake Jesus. The Gospel requires that men repent! Jesus called sinners to repentance! You must have a change of mind about disobeying God or else God will not forgive your disobedience.”
SOME STUDENTS APPRECIATED THE PREACHING
While I was preaching a student came up and threw two eggs at me. One egg missed completely and the other one hit me. But the one that hit me didn’t even break! Praise God.
Though some students obviously didn’t appreciate our ministry on campus, others did. One student said to me, “Thanks for being bold and doing this.” Another student said, “I’m very impressed with you standing out here and how you carry yourself.” When I pray before going out to preach, I ask the Lord that He would use us to both save sinners and encourage the Christians on the campus. While many so called Christians do not like our ministry, because it confronts sin and many of them have sin in their lives that they don’t want to repent of, I’m always deeply encouraged when Christians are inspired and appreciative of our ministry.
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, MINNEAPOLIS
There is a great location on the campus known as the “mall” where lots of students will sit in the grass and study. This area is also very busy during class changes and is right near the cafeteria. It provided a perfect place for us to preach the Gospel. I stood near the middle of the mall in front of a stair case which I thought would be a good place for students to sit. Each day crowds of hundreds gathered around. On average we would have a crowd of two to three hundred students. One day I estimate that the crowd even reached five hundred! They stayed and listened to us preach for hours and hours as we warned them about hell, exhorting them to forsake their sins and come to Jesus.
A REPORT FROM A LOCAL BROTHER
I went to the Minneapolis campus to see Jesse preach today. I have never met nor heard Jesse before. I must say that I was very impressed!
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NEW TEACHING VIDEOS
Over the years I have heard many common cliché’s that are unquestionably accepted by many, such as “Jesus satisfied the wrath of God” and “Jesus took our penalty” etc. It was not until I started to thoroughly study the theological topic of the atonement that I began to seriously question these cliché’s. In this video, I explain how Jesus did not satisfy the wrath of God, since God still has wrath after the atonement towards everyone that is not converted, but that the atonement makes it possible for God to turn from His wrath when we are converted. Calvary made pardon available, but conversion is when pardon becomes actual. Likewise, Jesus did not take our penalty, but Jesus provided a substitute for our penalty. The atonement is an alternative for our eternal punishment of hell, so that our punishment of hell can be remitted or withheld. This view of the atonement reconciles the atonement with forgiveness or mercy. It makes total sense and is completely biblical. Check out these videos:Jesus Didn’t Satisfy God’s Wrath – Part One…Jesus Didn’t Satisfy God’s Wrath – Part Two… |
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OUR ITINERARY
(The red is what we have done. The blue is what we have ahead of us)
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HOW YOU CAN HELP US AS WE SPREAD THE GOSPEL The financial support we receive from the body of Christ makes it possible for us to continue to live and to travel and preach. All support from $5 – $500, either monthly or one-time, makes a huge difference. Will you consider being a monthly supporter, giving as little or as much as you can? Paypal: Click Here Physical Mail: Jesse & Krista Morrell P.O. Box 1527 Lindale TX, 75771 Special thanks in advance to our supporters. THE BATTLE IS ON! We couldn’t do it without you!
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Visit Our Website: Click Here
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Open Air Outreach Newsletters - Open Air Preaching Since 2002 