BRISTOL, ENGLAND – On July 6, 2016, yet another modern-day example of persecution towards those who proclaim the Gospel of Christ became evident on the world stage. Brothers in Christ Adrian Clark, Michael Overd, and Michael Stockwell were arrested for publicly proclaiming the Gospel in Bristol city centre.
As typical when open-air preaching among large crowds, they took turns in a tag-team style to ensure God’s word continued to be broadcast among the lost who were within earshot. And as expected when the light of the Gospel grinds against the deception of the darkness and exposes man’s evil, God-hating (Romans 1:30) people lost in their sin will push back vigorously. And push back, the crowd did.
The crowd gnashed their teeth towards the brethren as they lovingly and truthfully warned about the dangers of the sin the crowd was adoring. Openly-practicing homosexuals and fornicators made their accusations towards them as to justify their sin. They were joined by several Muslims whom did not like their prophet Mohammed being exposed.
After a tension-filled hearing in Crown Court, they were eventually acquitted of all charges. At one point in the preliminary hearing, the prosecutor claimed that reading the KJV translation of Scripture in the context of culture in public was offensive. Let that sink in for a moment. The KJV Bible was deemed not appropriate to be read aloud…in public….in England!
This is just a preview to what is coming to the United States (in some places it is already here). Open-air preaching is not for the faint of heart to be sure. However, God has not called us to keep the message of the Gospel of Christ hidden (Mark 4:21). Rather, we’re called to advance the Gospel through the foolishness of preaching (1 Corinthians 1:21) no matter the cost.
Soli Deo Gloria!
JS
