Hell Yes

I read this week about a street preacher in Rock Island, Illinois, that has been twice threatened with arrest for preaching about hell and telling people that they must die and face judgement. The preacher, Stephen Johnson says, "I went on a street corner in downtown Rock Island, and was blocking no traffic, and I used no amplification. I preached for about twenty minutes and handed out some tracts, and then the police came and told me that I was disturbing the peace - that I was raising my voice and that I was cussing by using the word hell. They said what I was doing was illegal, and if I continued they would arrest me."

The second occurrence went pretty much the same as the first but the preacher added this from the police, "You can’t tell people they are going to die." He further stated the police cussed him for defending his position.

Lawyers from the Alliance Defending Freedom have included the officers in a lawsuit to personally hold them liable for their behavior.

Would you want to venture a guess that a "nanny" didn’t like what the good preacher was saying and called the police. Nannies don’t think they will die.

It has been many years since I have seen or heard a street preacher. They used to be common in larger cities. I rarely stopped to listen because if I was in a city, I was in a hurry to get out. But there were always a few gathered. And, I do remember some preachers that were really fired up enough to make one take the time to stop.

The point of today’s lesson is that you can do or say anything on the public streets except talk about God. One can use obscenities and be naked, and usually not even get a glance from police.

Perhaps it was just the wrong place at the wrong time for preacher Johnson.

I’ve always heard that northern preachers say "there ain’t no hell," and southern preachers say, "the hell there ain’t."

PMO
©2013