Fort Worth Kiss-in: Another Perspective

On Saturday, we went down to the Fort Worth Kiss In to preach the gospel with a couple of friends from Australia. For the record and speaking only for us, we weren't there to protest. We were there to simply preach the gospel. Why preach at a GLBT protest\event? Because people are there. And the one requirement for open-air preaching is that you preach where people are gathered. It's a simple concept, but worth pointing out since whenever you preach at a GLBT event, you're branded as being a "hater".

One question anyone who watches (and believes) the slanted coverage in the D\FW area should ask themselves is this: "If the evangelical Christians who were there were expressing so much hatred towards homosexuals, then why didn't the TV cameras catch images of screaming Christians yelling "God hates you!"? They got plenty of film of those of us who were actually preaching. Why didn't the broadcasts air it?

Because there wasn't any. What happened was a beautiful thing. Christians from across Fort Worth came to take a stand for morality while expressing genuine love to the homosexual community. The whole gospel was preached. At the end of the day, members of the Missionary Baptist Church that were there sang Amazing Grace while two lesbians stood in the middle of the circle vying for a photo opportunity. If they felt so much hatred, as one of them professed on TV, then why did she do her best to stand in the middle of a group of Christians?

When I first started preaching, I didn't even mention the sin of homosexuality. I did preach about lying, stealing, blasphemy, lust\adultery, but didn't touch the issue of the moment. This drove a couple of the homosexual hecklers batty. It was as if they would have preferred that I preach against homosexuality and screamed hatred. But because I was preaching the love of God for sinners as expressed at the Cross, they were disappointed. Even the news crews seemed disappointed because they left when it became apparent I wasn't going to sound like Westboro Baptist or any of the other sandwich board wearers.

The best Channel 11 could do was get a clip of me responding to a man who asked, "Did you say that unless I repent I will perish?" to which I respectfully and calmly said, "That is what the Bible says, sir."

Since this was the text of Jesus' first sermon, I guess I was in pretty safe company.

Some Christians will read this and say, "But how effective was this?" In our present day pragmatic evangelical malaise, this is the big question. Did it work?

A friend of mine who was at the event reports that one of the GLBT demonstrators came across the street to speak to her and the pastor of the Missionary Baptist Church. I saw them chatting as I left. She reports that this young man said that he wanted to leave the homosexual life and prayed to repent and trust Christ there on the spot.

Whether or not homosexuals get the right to marry (they probably will), can express public displays of affection (they do), or get the same benefits as married couples really does not matter as much as the salvation of one soul. Jesus said that there is great rejoicing in Heaven over the one sinner who repents. Praise God that He still uses His Word and the foolishness of preaching to save sinners.

Broadway Baptist Gets the Boot

It was announced on the news of the Dallas affiliate of Fox that Broadway Baptist Church of Fort Worth, TX was voted out of the Southern Baptist Convention today. My wife can testify that when I heard this my response was, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” accompanied by me hopping up and down on the couch. Picture a fatter, uglier Tom Cruise\Oprah moment.

In May I became a Southern Baptist for the first time in my life. This was a big step for me because of my northern Independent Baptist background. In Yankeeville, many of the Independent Baptist churches view the Southern Baptists as a whole with a great deal of suspicion. The fights over the inerrancy of Scripture within the denomination caused most independent pastors to view SBC as a conflicted denomination full of compromise. Of course, a member church which has recently been supportive of homosexuals in their midst can do nothing but further that bad reputation.

The church I am a member of does not relate to any of the SBC drama at all, and is in many ways, completely atypical of a Southern Baptist Church. We practice church discipline, the sermons are expository, repentance AND faith are both preached, and there are no sinner’s prayers repeated. It’s not a country club; it’s a church. It’s about God, not about the good ol’ boys club. It’s about the Bible and no one is hiding behind their “relevance”.

So why am I so happy with the removal of Broadway Baptist? About a year ago I went with a small group of believers to preach at the gay pride parade in Fort Worth. This was the first time I actually preached at a pride parade. When we pulled up, we noticed that the parade was staging in the parking lot of Broadway Baptist. After the shock wore off, we reminded one another of what Jesus said about those on the “broad way” (Matthew 7:13-14). Most of the parade marchers were wearing shirts that read, “Jesus Would Not Discriminate”, which I can only assume came from Broadway Baptist. So, I had my opening springboard. “Does Jesus Discriminate? Yes, the Bible says He will on the day of judgment” (Matthew 7:21-23).

I was the first to preach, being the guy who brought the amplifier. I think I might have said a whole paragraph when a bunch of angry lesbians stormed across the street and started yelling all kinds of things. Apparently their Jesus doesn’t discriminate about the language they use either. One started yelling about how Ruth and Boaz were lovers. It was an experience, to say the least. I could have preached Joel Osteenese and they would probably have had the same reaction. Eventually they settled down and moved off to the side and we were able to preach for about an hour, to the background music of car alarms being set off trying to drown us out. Every open-air preacher should do this at least once in his life (which is probably going to be my grand total).

Broadway Baptist got what they deserve. Any church which actively supports what is condemned in Scripture deserves to be removed from their respective denomination. From hearing the rest of the story, it should have been done a long time ago. Apparently the church leadership thought it might be cool to have homosexual couples listed in their church directory.

The SBC in recent years has made big strides in the area of returning to their Biblical and theological roots. This purging of an apostate church is the best thing that can happen for the SBC. Disciplining a church should be a reminder to all of us that we too can fall into sin and heresy and be removed from membership. It results in purity in the professing body of Christ.

Interview with a Homosexual False Convert

Here is a video that we shot at the Dallas, TX gay pride parade with a guy named Scottie. Scottie has a typical evangelical background, as do many in the gay community in Dallas\Fort Worth. It might seem surprising to some that a homosexual would claim to be a Christian. In the pride parades in the Bible belt, it is not uncommon for churches to not only participate in the parade, but in the case of Fort Worth, the church actually sponsored it.

Why should we evangelicals be surprised that homosexuals easily claim Christianity as their own? Our seeker sensitive and Emergent churches have so watered down the Gospel that anyone who names the Name of Christ is embraced as a Christian. The Lord Jesus does not do the same thing (Matthew 7:21-23). As a result, the homosexual community wraps itself in the banner of Christ, freely printing His Name on their t-shirts, banners and promotional stickers. They have embraced the typically evangelical view of Jesus, but have they embraced the true Jesus, or another one? The Scripture is clear that they must be embracing a "Jesus" of their own making and thus violating the second commandment.

Behold, the fruit of the modern Gospel.



Please pray for Scottie. He has an everlasting soul.

Alan Ross Memorial Gay Pride Parade (Dallas, TX)

Yesterday a group of four of us from TLC Ministries went to the annual gay pride parade in Dallas to pass out tracts and witness. We didn't do any open-air preaching (there was a small group there doing it), but we went to scope out this event and get a feel for what this kind of event is like for evangelizing.

It turns out that gay pride parades are excellent venues for evangelism. We passed out hundreds of tracts from One Million Tracts. We also had several very good conversations with parade goers, most of whom were homosexuals. The Gospel message can be proclaimed in an uncompromising fashion when it's done in a gracious manner. The listener may take offense at the message, but if they find reason to take offense at our demeanor I think we have failed to rightly communicate the Gospel.

And we got some email feedback. Here is an email from Annie who got one of the tracts at the parade, followed by my response...

"Why do you feel the need to infiltrate a pride parade, an event where people are supposed to be able to come together and not feel condemned? What did you do, infiltrate some gay group in Dallas under false pretenses. LEAVE US ALONE!!! We do not need you in our parade or in our neighborhood if all you can do is tell us we're sinners. WE HEAR THAT TO THE POINT IT MAKES US NUMB TO IT, SO GIVE IT UP ALREADY!!!! OUR SALVATION IS NOT YOUR BURDEN SO PLEASE, JUST GO AWAY AND DON'T COME BACK NEXT YEAR!!!! You have been reported to the Dallas Tavern Guild. "

And here's my response...

Annie,

Thank you for contacting us via the "You Got Our Tract" website. We value your feedback on our tracts and outreach methods.

We came to the parade for the same reason we go to any large event; to share the Christian message of salvation. We did not "target" the parade because the gay community is any more in need of salvation than any other. We pass out tracts at all kinds of parades, concerts, festivals, events and college campuses. We also pass out tracts and witness in bar districts like Lower Greenville in Dallas, Sundance Square and the Stockyards in Fort Worth. The only reason we go to any event is because there are people there and our commission is to go out into all the world and preach the Gospel to everyone (Mark 16:15).

We did not "infiltrate some gay group under false pretenses" (I'm not sure how standing on a public sidewalk passing out tracts to those we pass by is "infiltrating" a public event). We simply did what we do week in and week out; come to a public place where First Ammendment rights are guaranteed and pass out Gospel tracts.

The gay community generally understands and expects freedom of speech. We have no desire to infringe on the right of the gay community to spread their message. In return, all we ask is the same freedom to spread ours. If that is "wrong" in your eyes, then I'd have to ask you, "Based on what? What moral standard makes it 'wrong' to come to a public place and exercise our freedom of speech?"

Thanks again for taking the time to contact us with your concerns.

Best,

Jon