"THE YOUTH CROWDED AROUND ME"
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
From: Jimmy Humphrey <jimmy@christiansteps.com>
Out on the STREETS:
"A Policeman Opposed but the Youth Gathered"
-Jimmy Humphrey.
Dear Brother Andrew,
I recently heard your sermon, "Thunder in Nashville" and
was greatly moved by it. I too, like you, have grown sick
of the games many churches are playing. We end up
investing so much time in all sorts of circus shows in the
church. All thanks to the Church Growth movement,
which has made many pastors resign being a shepherd,
and instead have made them into CEO's.
I am currently 21 years old, and believe I am called into
one day being a pastor. However, I never want to become
what I see in my own church, and many other churches
that I have visited. We need to get back to emphasis on
the Word of God, and having our flesh desire Him above
all things. Sadly though, many churches would rather
have an "outreach" that cancels Superbowl Sunday night
services, so that folks might come together and have a
Superbowl party at church. I know many pastors who
did that, or moved their services back a couple hours on
Sunday night.
Even though I don't believe there is anything wrong in
trying to accomodate people to some degree... but that
reveals to me how carnally minded we are, and shows as
Keith Green once said in a song of his, "preferring the
light of our tv to the light of God's Word."
Your sermon really stirred me. I've gone out on one
occassion prior to hearing it to do some street preaching
at a local outdoor mall. As an old Church of God
evangelist said, "If I cannot attract people with the word
of God, what can I attract them with?" Your message
greatly stirred me, and after praying for about 45 minutes
or so, I went out and preached once again at the same
outdoor mall.
If we are truly preaching the gospel, then that should be
attractive enough. We don't need all the gimics in order
to drag folks into our churches. I am in full agreement
with you, that if another revival comes, it will be a street
revival. I am fully believing God for a revival in my own
town, and I believe very greatly that He wants to pour
out His Spirit upon this town. I'd like to share all that
occured last night, so that it might be some
encouragement to you.
Last night I went up to a pretty populated area known
as "Birkdale Village," which is pretty much an outdoor
mall with some condo's. I went to a rather busy area
in front of the movie theatre, and stood up on a wishing
well ledge, and started preaching. In this area there are
usually a lot of bored teens who are smoking and
carrying on. I went something along the lines of what
the apostle Paul once did, noting how our town is very
religious, and that there are a great many churches in
our town. Then I went from there and noted despite how
religious we are, we have many idols. And I named the
two prominent America idols, prosperity- the american
dream (which God told me is nothing more than a
delusion and fantasy), and the idol of entertainment.
At that point a police officer across the street heard me,
and came over to me and wanted to talk to me. He
informed me that I was being too loud, and reminded me
that I was on public property, thus, my "freedom of
speech" is restricted to the atmosphere rules of that
place. He told me I could continue preaching if I wanted
to, but that he would have to give me a ticket for a noise
violation if he could hear my voice over the traffic or if he
could hear me from over 50 feet away.
Then some woman who had been listening to me preach
came up and interupted the officer and said she could not
believe he was stopping me from speaking. She then
thanked me for having the courage to get up there and preach.
At this point, a lot of people were watching on, as they
thought it was rather entertaining that the police officer
was talking to me. I thanked the officer, and told him I
would do my best to comply with the laws of that area,
and I lowered my voice. At this point though, I had many
people who were desiring to hear what I had to say,
especially amongst the older teens. At this point, many
of them had taken a few chairs and formed a semi-circle
around me as they desired to hear the Word of the Lord.
There were probably about 15-20 teens around me intently
listening to what I had to say. So, for a while after this I
spent time preaching, and answering questions that they
had. The Spirit of God was really upon me, and I could
tell that I made quite an impact on a few of them. I was
shocked to learn how many of these kids that went to
church, some all their lives, could not even give me the
basics of the gospel. Some had a semi-accurate
knowledge of the things of God, but many did not. This
crowd was rather diverse, some being atheists, wiccans,
presbyterian and catholic.
When it was all said and done, many shook my hand and
thanked me for sharing the gospel with them afterwards.
I was quite shocked at this response, and wondered if that
is a good thing, as I have often heard many preachers say
if you are truly preaching the gospel, folks will not like you
at all. Some folks were Christians, and encouraged me in
what I was doing. I could tell though that some of the people
I preached to were truly troubled by what I said, and I am
believing God to harvest those seeds. I think it can be a
good thing if people respond in such a manner. Part of me
wanted to do an "altar call" right there on the street. But,
I have personally never been a big fan of altar calls. They
surely have their place, such as the one Joshua made
with the people of Israel.... "choose this day whom you
will serve..." However, I'd rather people become miserable
over their sins, and get James 4:9 into them, and then
have a genuine response to the offered salvation of God.
I just wanted to share with you what the Lord is doing in
Huntersville, North Carolina (which is about 15 miles north
of Charlotte). I believe God wants to send a revival in this
area based on a dream He gave me some time ago. In
my dream, I was standing in my backyard facing towards
the south. The sky was clear except for a small cloud
above. I then said, "Let it rain" and very quickly out of
the west, rain clouds began to quickly form. It rained
very lightly and almost as soon as it began to rain, the
sky became clear again. Then as I stood in my yard
again, I said, "Let it rain." For a moment, nothing
happened, but after a short delay, very dark clouds began
forming in the west. This rain was heavier and longer
than the prior rain. However, as you noted in your sermon,
revival does not have to happen. Joel's prophecy made
that very clear, that the outpouring of God's Spirit would
not come without repentance and seeking God. It will not
come without us paying the price.
~Jimmy Humphrey,
Huntersville, North Carolina (USA).