Campus Evangelism

JESUS’ IMAGE TAKES A BLOW FOR BRO JED

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October 9, 2019, Southern Illinois University & S.E. Missouri St.

We started the day at Southern Illinois; however, we waited 90 minutes for a significant class break yet it never happened.

Since we were only an hour from Cape Girardeau, Mo, I decided to move on to that campus where we preached annually when we lived in Missouri for nine years. I called my friend, Bob N., who is a local Christian businessman. He reminded of the day over a decade ago, when the President of the University approached the Chief of Campus Security and asked, “Can’t we stop this?” The Chief responded, “This is the most exciting thing we have had at S.E. Missouri State since I have been here!” Later that week the Chief, who was a backslidden Assembly of God member, got right with God. This afternoon my friend, Bob, drove by campus to give me a generous check.

Cindy started preaching at 2 PM, which is later than we usually begin a meeting. Cindy gathered a crowd by reproving and rebuking two girls who were waiting for a bus. Eventually, we had a crowd of four hundred people. They were very stirred. The current Chief of Security walked up and asked, “Are you Brother Jed?” He smiled when I affirmed that I was and said, “OK”.

I held high my staff crucifix, which might have saved me from hear today. The image of Jesus on the cross took a blow which was directed towards me by a man who claimed he was an (expletive) Christian. He appeared to have many mental issues as so many students have.

The Christians were virtually all against us; they cannot bear our holiness doctrine. They were defending sin by claiming it is impossible to live holy. Two professing Christians were overbearing. I tried to get away from them when I was on the sidelines but they hounded me whenever I moved away. They claimed this was their way of showing love. They were claiming that it is impossible to continuously avoid sin.
We hated to have to leave shortly after 5 PM since we want to make Jonesboro, Arkansas to preach tomorrow.

AN OLD FAILED TACTIC

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October 8, 2019, Eastern Illinois

Cindy started preaching and the students tried an old tactic, which is to discourage people to engage us. Actually, they turned their back on Cindy and formed a little group. This ploy rarely works for long. Soon a few broke ranks and then they all did and Cindy had a sizable crowd. When the campus security arrived, they encouraged the students to move on if they did not want to hear our message. I did not notice anyone leaving. The two policemen stayed for most of the afternoon.

A smaller group soon gathered around Sister Pat. The students were comparatively behaved today as measured by past visits. I engaged a young man who was relatively familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures, who actually listened to my answers to his questions. Later, he came up to talk to me privately. He was raised a Catholic; however, after he started dating a Jewish girl, she informed him he would have to convert to Judaism if the relationship were to continue. Evidently, they are not dating anymore but he wants to study to become a kabbalist, which is a school of thought in Jewish mysticism. He was a serious young man.

When I was preaching, a middle-aged lesbian, whom I assumed worked for the university, started distributing condoms. I thought this would be a good time to call back Cindy to give her signature, “The Condom Gospel,” message. Meanwhile, I was on the outskirts of group gathered around the condom woman. She claimed to have a “wife.” She was showing the girls some female condom and how it is worn or whatever.

For the last hour I had an attentive crowd of largely women. Sister Pat said, “You sure captured the attention of those girls.” Since I was preaching with my staff crucifix, I reminded the students that to become a Christian is to embrace the cross which require a life of self-denial and results in suffering, sorrow, pain and rejection. Alas, rebellious men are unwilling to sacrifice a life of self-indulgence for the life of self-sacrifice.

SOAPA FAITHFUL LONGEVITY CAMPUS PREACHING AWARD

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At the SOAPA conference in Cincinnati, Sister Pat (89 years old) was awarded by our esteemed leader, Ruben Israel, the SOAPA FAITHFUL LONGEVITY CAMPUS PREACHING AWARD. She is part of the team of Brother Jed & Company.

I have devoted my career to promoting women preachers. No open-air preacher had done more than I to encourage women to lift up their voices against sin.

I support all men and women, who proclaims salvation through Jesus Christ, especially in the open-air.

The men who oppose women preachers are just bound up in their tradition. I don’t mind them. They won’t stop the call of God; their obstruction is a good test for the women.

The Slavery Issue In The Bible

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Atheists do not make a distinction between Jews who could become indentured servants for six years then freed the seventh year, and pagans who could be enslaved for a life time.

This skeptic claimed that a man could sell his daughter as a sex slave according to the Book of Exodus. Exodus 21:7-8 does speak of a father who might sell his daughter as a “maid servant” to a prosperous man to be his wife or to be his son’s wife. If she was to be the son’s wife, the master was to treat her as a daughter. These laws protected the girl from sexual exploitation, and gave her the opportunity to improve her station in life.

The atheist also objected to the passage in Exodus 21 where if a man beats his servant to death, the master is to be punished with death; however, if the servant survives a day or two the master shall not be punished because the servant is his property. I suppose that the assumption is that if the servant survives for a few days it was not the master’s intent to murder but to discipline. So it is enough punishment to the master that he has lost valuable property.

Slavery was not part of God’s original plan for man; but when man sold himself to the slavery of sin and idolatry, God used chattel slavery as a form of judgment. Men can forfeit their right to freedom through sin. God’s man, Moses, was the greatest slave emancipator of history. Slavery is only a sin if it goes beyond God’s regulations of the institution. The Bible is not written primarily to promote outward social change. It promotes change from within by motivating men to love their fellows, even their enemies.

Critics of the Bible’s position on slavery are usually statists, who would make us all slaves of the socialist state. They sell out their own freedom; because they do not want to take on the responsibility of providing their own food, clothing, shelter, and health care. Slaves living under Biblical regulations, compared to the slaves of pagans like the Egyptians and Romans, were treated relatively well. They may well have had better provisions than many freemen.

Statists prefer the promises of the security under socialism over the high risks involved in freedom. Many Americans are forfeiting their freedom by their refusal to govern themselves in the light of “the laws of Nature and Nature’s God.” Such people are not truly American; they tend to be internationalists, like Master Obama.

Most of college students have no appreciation of freedom. They have freedom confused with license. They would make us all slaves of Master Obama. Personally, I do not care to become a part of Obama’s Plantation with it social planners (overseers) from the Democratic Party.

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Campus or Street? by Sister Cindy

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Campus or Street? Because my husband and I preach in the open air, sometimes we are wrongly called street preachers. Street preachers usually have it harder than us. Here are the differences
1. On the street, there is no place for a crowd to gather or sit
2. On the street, people are often under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
3. Because of the above, there is little opportunity for storytelling, Biblical explanations and Q&A on the streets; but these are a big part of campus preaching.
4. The hardest thing about campus preaching is developing a repertoire of mini-sermons and stories to hold the attention of unbelievers.
5. Both campus and street preachers are masters of the one-liner. Both get questions!
6. Both campus and street preachers see great fruit from sideline conversations
7. Both street and campus preaching are vital.

Have you done either or both? Which do you prefer and why?

God, Virtue, and Immorality

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As Brother Mikhail and I walked through the Memorial Church on the Stanford University campus erected by Mrs. Stanford in loving memory of her husband, I wondered about the faith of Leland Standard. I found the following except from a eulogy of the so-called “Robber Barron.” I enjoy studying the Captains of Industry of the 19th Century some of whom were men of the Christian faith:

“Finally, sir, I may be permitted to say that all his moral nature was based on profound religious convictions. While making no ostentatious professions of religion, and not a member of any church, his mind, liberalized by the reading of modern science and philosophy, yet clung to the primal truths of Christ’s teaching—God, virtue, and immortality. In the charter of the new university he prohibits sectarian instruction, but requires the teaching of “the immortality of the soul, the existence of an all-Wise and beneficent Creator, and that obedience to His laws is the highest duty of man.” After his son’s death his thoughts turned with increasing solemnity to contemplate the vast issues of the eternal life.

Like ancient Cato, as reported by Cicero, he might have said:


Glorious day, when I shall remove from this confused crowd to join the divine assembly of souls! For I shall go not only to meet great men, but also my own son Cato. His spirit, looking back upon me, departed to that place whither he knew that I should soon come, and he has never deserted me.

If I have borne his loss with courage, it is because I consoled myself with the thought that our separation would not be for long.

In whichever of its many aspects we contemplate the life of LELAND STANFORD, as a successful and honorable merchant, as a great chief of industry, as a patriotic war governor, as a Senator of the United States, as a wise and generous philanthropist, he reveals himself as a unique and commanding figure in our country’s history and a noble type of American manhood. ”

Peace to his ashes and honor to his memory!”

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Now Play Ball

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Casey Stengel charged home plate in a World Series game. Mikey Mantle having a full count, did not swing on pitch number 7. The home plate umpire yelled “Strike 3!”

Casey was furious, as were most of the Yankee fans. He charged the umpire and got in his face, screaming, as only Casey could do.

The umpire responded in a clearly Brooklyn accent of the period: “I’m the umpire. I calls ’em as I sees ’em. Now play ball!”

Among open-air preachers there is strong controversy about what is permissible to say or not; whether or not a preacher can carry mace or forcefully defend himself, whether or not one can lie to the authorities to avoid trouble or arrest, etc. There are other such issues.

Some are calling preachers with whom they disagree to repentance. They are even shunning those who refuse to change.

Many want to act as umpires and make the decisions for others as to what can be said or not said or do or not do? Who appointed these umpires? We all call ‘em as we sees ‘em. I see the differences as judgment calls as to what is effective and what is not. In my opinion the differences are not moral issues.

Preachers, quit arguing and play ball! Stop putting down one another and go about your business of preaching to the lost. I am glad for all who are playing ball as they think best, including the ones who are denouncing me. I am going to continue going about my ministry, as I have been doing for 45 years, whether the wanna be umpires like it or not.baseball.jpg

Cussing Preachers

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There has been a controversy on my newsfeed concerning “cussing preachers.”

One of the things that separates man from the animal kingdom is our wonderful gift of the language arts. We have the ability to express great thoughts and ideas with words. “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God.” God spoke and it was done. Our words also have creative powers. So, we should choose our words carefully. We can make or break another person’s day by the words we speak.

Sinners on campus are often incapable of speaking a few sentences without the use of four letter offensive words, which are intended not to edify but put down those with whom they disagree. Their working vocabulary is limited.

Occasionally, some preachers use a cuss word or vulgarity for effect or shock value as a turnaround or to gain more attention. However, I would think that this only be done rarely, if at all. In the below pictures sinners are either directing their curse words against God or their fellow man for selfish reasons and for loss of temper, which is always wrong. God considers our motives more than our actual words. We should not curse those whom God has blessed; nor should we bless whom God has cursed.

One should always take into consideration his audience and the setting. For instance, one should not use questionable words in church or among children or the presence of ladies of whom I fear there are few these days. Women have often become fouler than men. Personally, I find such crude expressions as “pissed off” objectionable or the even use of “butt” instead of buttocks. But then I am of the older generation.

Those who believe that they have the liberty to use questionable language should be understanding of those who are reticent or have scruples against such terms. I do not consider the use of occasional cuss words as a reason to part company or even be overly critical.

We all have our quirks and different ideas as to certain behaviors we might or might not condone. Among those who have been arguing over this issue there does not even seem to be agreement as to what words are permissible and what ones are not.

Lamentations for Indiana University

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I have a love/hate relationship with academia and my Indiana alma maters IU and ISU. All my life has been spent around the university community.

My father was a professor and Chairman of the English Department at Indiana State University. I taught US History for a year at the University of Wisconsin before sinking into the depths depravity of the counter culture movement of the 60’s and early 70’s.

When I converted to Christianity in 1972, I determined to revive our colleges and universities and return them to the Christian vision of their founders.

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Yesterday, I walked around the beautiful campus of Indiana University, where I matriculated in 1960. I admired the Victorian brick buildings covered in ivy, walked through the Indiana Memorial Union, which has the appearance of a gothic cathedral and strolled along the Jordon River and over the stone bridge, which stretches over what is actually a creek.

I contemplated, “What an impressive setting to contemplate the Creator, the great ideas and books of antiquity and glorious cultures of times past and appreciate the scientific breakthroughs, which has made life in the 21st Century so easy compared to the past.”

Alas, I knew the appearance of stability was all a shallow veneer, a façade disguising the fraud and decadence which is truly Indiana Univeristy. The green ivy hides the crumbling mortar between the bricks of a university, which is crumbling at her very foundations.

The IU I love gradually and imperceptibly disappeared by the early 20th Century.

The mortal blow struck when the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction was founded at IU in 1947, right in the center of the cornfields and limestone of Indiana’s heartland.

The corrupt Kinsey Institute became the precursor for the sexual revolution of the late 60’s. Now the Institute is dedicated to promoting sexual perversions of all sorts, none of which results in reproduction. The homepage of their website shows two lesbians embracing.

Students are no longer seeking after truth, for according to their professors, there are no absolute truths and morality is relative. Consequently, they are pursuing a life devoted to self-indulgence, which always ends in self-destruction.

Great thoughts are not on their minds; their minds have become obsessed with sex, sex and more sex. The institution no longer even promotes the concept of university but diversity is the goal.

IU and other state universities have exchanged the truth of God for the lies of secularism, multi-culturalism, pluralism and a plethora of other isms covering virtually all that they can imagine, instead of the claims of the Christian religion upon which the University was founded.

The institution has fallen into the blackness of darkness. She deserves the judgment of God for her apostasy.

I still love IU for what she yet can be if we succeed in bringing a revival of religion to her and rebuild her on the sure foundation of Christianity.

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Fall of Indiana University

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30742500_10156273655728917_7002706831940255744_n“In the first half of the 19th Century Indiana University was essentially a Christian Institution. The school offered morning prayer and sabbath services and it required that students take religious courses,” wrote Gayle Williams in the Indiana Magazine of History, vol. 99.

David lamented over the fall of his bosom friend, Jonathon, in battle: “How the mighty have fallen and the weapons of war have perished!”—2 Samuel 1:27.

Indiana University is my alma mater, when I consider what she is today compared to what she once was long before I matriculated there in 1960. I can only weep over her terrible fall from truth and light into the depths of depravity and darkness.

Andrew Wylie (1789-1851) served as Indiana University’s first President from 1829-1851. He was a Presbyterian minister and theologian.

President Wylie joined two other Presbyterian faculty members, Baynard Rush Hall who taught Ancient Greek and Latin, and John Hopkins Harney who taught mathematics, natural philosophy, mechanical philosophy and chemistry. Wylie also taught classes in moral philosophy, mental philosophy, rhetoric, evidences of Christianity, belles lettres, and the Constitution of the United States.

President Wylie believed in giving religion and morality their proper place in public instruction. He told the state legislature, “Let our youth be taught to fear God and keep his commandments.”

With three Presbyterian ministers, IU was accused of sectarianism by other denominational leaders. I fear in the concern not to be sectarian, the institution was slowly secularized. Until today the Christian religion has virtually no significant place at IU. Much of what is taught is anti-Christian.

Beck Chapel constructed in 1957 is in the heart of campus, initially promoted Protestant, Catholic and Jewish faiths; however, now it contains religious symbols of Islam, Buddhism, etc. Nevertheless, it is a place where Christians can find a quiet place of meditation and prayer.

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