Winning The Right To Evangelize

Now, Religion in the News, a report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.This week’s item is from The Christian Post, March 28, 2007, with a headline:Street Evangelist Wins Right to Spread the Gospel;the following are excerpts:A street evangelist in Goldsborough, North Carolina, about 200 miles east of Charlotte, recently won a lawsuit solidifying his right to spread the gospel to anyone he chooses while he is in public.Anthony Denim was given full permission on Tuesday to continue on his Christian work when his lawsuit against the city of Goldsborough passed.Previously he had been told by a city police officer that he would need a permit to express his religious beliefs in public.No one should have to obtain a permit in order to talk about their beliefs in public, said Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Nate Kellum, in a statement the city is to be commended now for agreeing to correct this, and no longer apply the law in a way which violates the First Amendment Rights of its citizens.The contestant incidence occurred when Denim was handing out religious publications while on a street corner.He was then approached by a police officer who told him that he would need a permit to hand out Christian literature.After speaking to a major at the police department the evangelist was told that it broke the city’s ordinance on picketing.When nobody could explain on what grounds the assertion was made, Denim went to ADF, a legal alliance that defends the right to hear and speak the truth, which immediately filed a lawsuit on January 10^th.Goldsborough court officials ultimately supported the evangelist’s First Amendment Rights to share his faith publicly without obtaining a permit.

Tom:

Dave, I’m excited about this.

Dave:

Yeah, it’s encouraging.

Tom:

This is a rare situation.Again, it has to do with our First Amendment Rights, not just that we’re Christians and that we want to see the gospel promoted and people encouraged to receive the gospel anywhere, you know, that we can.

Dave:

Well, Tom, I don’t know how large Goldsborough is, and this hasn’t gone to the Supreme Court yet.I hope some of these higher up guys will pay some attention to this, but what about if you—we just had Christians in Philadelphia, the “city of brotherly love”, and they were arrested, thrown in jail for reciting the Bible on a public sidewalk during, what do they call it, a homosexual celebration outfest, or something like that, and others were simply trying to give out tracts or speak the truth from the Word of God, and they were arrested.Now Tom, I’m wondering, now this is about Christianity. That’s easy to put that down.Okay, you guys, nobody is complaining about what you’re saying except claiming it’s against the law, which it isn’t, but what about homosexuals, what about the Muslims?Ahh, you’ve got some really heavy pressure now on the courts and everywhere else.We just talked, what was it, last week or the week before, about how the American Psychiatric Association, they had to change the definition, they had to take homosexuality out of the DSM, didn’t they?

Tom:

Right.

Dave:

I’m just wondering how that would go.

Tom:

Well, Dave, certainly this little news report, you know, they said it’s encouraging.On the other hand, compared to what’s going on around the world, what’s going on in England, for example— You can’t say anything with regard to what the Bible says in public, you certainly can’t speak out about homosexuality or just quote verses.In Canada, it’s the same way, people are being arrested, put in jail.These are what the Word of God says, now it’s turned into hate crimes.

Dave:

Right.

Tom:

So, as they said, I am thrilled that this is happening, but it’s like a blip compared to the anti-Christian, (as we learned last week) propaganda that’s out there, that’s being pushed and promoted.Remember last week, we went over about a dozen books that were so against Christianity that it’s staggering.

Dave:

Well, Tom, I just hope that it spreads, I hope that it gets to some higher courts, and actually this court was right in what they said.See, Tom, again—

Tom:

Well, Dave, just a little side note here.The person was thought to have broken the ordinance against picketing.I mean boy, you’re really taking your chances when you go into court even though you think you have the right and it’s a very simple situation. You know, it can be reversed in a heart beat.

Dave:

Tom, there’s no problem, apparently with quoting the Qur’an even in school.Now the Qur’an says that Jesus Christ is not God. He is not the Son of God. He did not die for our sins on the cross. He didn’t even die. Instead of Christ dying in our place, someone died in his place, He was taken alive to heaven.The Qur’an says if you believe in the Trinity, you go straight to hell.The Qur’an says God is not a Father, and He has no Son, sixteen times it says that in the Qur’an.Now, I would say that’s anti-Christian, that’s anti-Bible.Now, what about that? How can that be allowed?Now then, well, the Bible does talk about homosexuality. It very clearly defines it as a sin, but you can’t say that either.So Tom, I guess it boils down to who is running this universe.I believe that God created it, and He makes the rules. But man is in rebellion against Him, and so many have joined this rebellion.

Tom:

We need to ask our listeners, our viewers to pray about these things.We just got a letter this morning, a man who has reached The Berean Call. He’s a teacher, privately, but at school he gave a student a Bible.He’s out of a job right now just for that.So, that’s where we are going and we need to really do what we can do, but certainly stay on our knees about this before the Lord.

Dave:

I guarantee if you have given him a Qur’an, he would be in good standing there.

Tom:

A book on yoga, no problem.

Dave:

Something is really wrong, Tom, and Christian psychology has a very important part to play in this. They have opened the door into this.