We have moved!

The Preach On Ministries blog has moved. If you bookmarked preachonministries.blogspot.com, you will need to update it to http://www.preachonministries.com.

There will be no further posts on this blog.

Thank you!

Preach On! ...Until ALL Hear!

If your souls were not immortal, and you in danger of losing them, I would not thus speak unto you; but the love of your souls constrains me to speak: methinks this would constrain me to speak unto you forever. ~George Whitefield

It is love that driv...es a man to preach to those whom some see as unfit to hear the Gospel, as if God cannot penetrate the drunkards heart. While they claim that the preacher is pushing people away from God, they themselves do little to rescue a soul from the fires of Hell. Do not be deceived when they attempt to mask their lack of action as love and condemn your love as hate. ~ me

“Why are you doing this?”

The main reason we do this is simple. Obedience.

Mark 16:15 And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Almost weekly when we Open Air Preach in Athens, GA we get asked “Why are you doing this?”, by a professing Christian.

There are two common objections Christians have. The first: “Everybody is drunk and nobody is listening to you”

My response is often: “Do you read minds and therefore know absolutely that nobody is listening?”. While this may sound rude, it is the fastest way to dismiss this objection. To say nobody is listening is a pretty large assumption and irrelevant based on Mark 16:15. What they are really saying it that we should keep this stuff in the Church because they are out there to have a good time and they don’t want to think about God. After all, this could make them feel bad about what they are doing. Many of the Christians that approach us with objections are well on their way to being intoxicated as they rebuke us for preaching. Ironic huh?

The second objection (and my all-time favorite), “You are turning people off and driving them away from God”.

“Where exactly are we driving them to?” Check out what John 3:18-19 says: Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

If we do not say anything are they any less condemned than if we stand up and use the law and the Gospel to attempt to open their eyes, so they can see their great need of a Savior?

Why are we doing this? 2 main reasons:
1. To glorify God by being obedient to His command.
2. Because we love people and hate the thought of anyone going to Hell for eternity.

Preach On!…

…Until All Hear,

Alex

Sharing the Gospel at "The 99" *UPDATE*

*UPDATE* We decided to head out to The 99 on the last evening of the event. What has been so interesting about this event is that even though it is being hosted by a church, there is an overt non-Christian atmosphere that has been intentionally put in place BY THE CHURCH!

Picture this, if you will: the line outside waiting to get in is longer than any amusement park line you've ever stood in. People at the back of the line are expecting to wait over 3 1/2 hours to get in, or longer. There is a DJ playing secular music to the tune of Queen, Vanilla Ice, Rick James, Michael Jackson, and many others whose very lyrics represent things that The 99 is trying to warn against (drunkeness, drug use/abuse, promiscuity, bullying, suicide and more).

Our idea was that by putting the gospel into people's hands, they would have something to read and think about before, during and after walking through the presentation. As we were getting close to wrapping it up for the night, a security person approached one of our team members and suggested that he cease from handing out tracts to the people in line. His reasoning was that there were many attending this event who were not Christians and were unaware that this was a Christian event. Their goal was to walk people through the various themes, and then at the end present them with a gospel message. (On a side note, we learned that in order to be a counselor for this event, all one had to do was walk up and ask to do so, and basically, you were given a table to sit at with some forms to fill out for those who had just finished walking through.) We were told that we could stand near the exit door and hand tracts out to people as they were leaving, but they preferred that we not engage those in line.

Naturally, we obliged and finished that work that the Lord had sent us there to do. All in all, well over 1,000 tracts were handed out over 2 nights, and our prayer is that God would save even one person. But above all, that He was glorified. Church, we must remember this: what you draw them with, you must keep them with. Preach On!

Sharing the Gospel at "The 99"

Since the Scriptures command that Christians preach the gospel to everyone, we need to be looking for every opportunity to do so. There has been an event at a nearby church called The 99 that has been drawing crowds by the thousands each night that it is open. The 99 is a dramatic presentation of the five leading causes of death in teenagers and young adults, and the number 99 represents how many in this demographic die each day due to these causes.

While the presentation itself is very realistic and sobering, the theological elements were found to be lacking in a few areas. With the crowds that have been showing up there, it only seemed right that we should be giving people the biblical gospel. So with tracts in hand (and in pockets), off we went. What a great opportunity to serve our King...and all it took was a little time, a little effort, and a little obedience. In less than an hour's time, hundreds of tracts were handed out. Please pray for all those who received the Law and the gospel tonight, and we pray that our awesome God was most glorified! Please Christian, look for opportunities to share the gospel...this is not a calling, it is a command! Preach On!

Preach On! Athens (Alex Burt)

Alex Burt proclaiming the Law and the Gospel on the streets of Athens, GA.

Preach On! Athens (Bobby)

Bobby proclaiming the Law and the Gospel on the streets of Athens, GA.

Project Ezra - Acts 17 - Athens, GA

Alex Nunez reading Acts 17 for Project Ezra in Athens, GA.

Deeper Conference 2009 Pics

Alex has posted some pics from the Deeper Conference 2009. They can be found here.

His Incredible Kindness

I was reminded this week at the Deeper Conference that we should never forget that what leads us to repentance is God's kindness (Romans 2:4), and it's good to always include that in our presentation of the gospel. We naturally want people to understand the reality of hell and should never avoid talking about God's righteous judgment, but let us not forget that someone should want to be saved because God is so kind to offer forgiveness of sins and eternity with Him in heaven.

The Way I Am

I am thankful that the way I am is not the way I once was, and that the way I shall become is not the way I am now.

Welcome to Preach On!

A group of like-minded born again believers who have been saved by the grace of God are part of God's work in the city of Athens, GA, near the campus of the University of Georgia. This team, known as Preach On! Ministries, regularly takes the gospel to the streets to engage people in the following ways:

• one-2-one conversations about their eternal destiny
• open air preaching
• handing out gospel tracts

We consider it an honor to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in this way and believe that it is a command from Scripture to preach the gospel to all of creation (Mark 16:15). If you are in the general vicinity of Athens, GA, and would like to join us, we consider it an honor to have you!

Please be patient with us while our blog site develops. The purpose of this site is to share personal witnessing encounters and experiences we have had in the hopes that we can learn from each other and be encouraged as we serve. There will also be a "prayer wall" here that will list the names of people that have heard the gospel who we are praying for. Join us in praying that God will draw them to Himself.