PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THE FOLLOWING BEFORE WATCHING THE VIDEO. I APOLOGIZE FOR THE POOR CAMERA POSITION. AS YOU WILL SEE, I HAD JUST FINISHED PREACHING WHEN ADAM APPROACHED ME TO ASK A QUESTION. I DID NOT THINK TO RE-POSITION MY CAMERA. BUT I THOUGHT THE CONVERSATION WAS IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO POST THE VIDEO ANYWAY. I spent yesterday at Trafalgar Square with Bobby McCreery, Mike Stockwell, Robert Gray, Don Karns, Mike Overd, Nigel Williams, and Sonny Shoker. The reason we were there was to love the LGBTQ community and their supporters with action and truth. We preached the gospel for four hours just outside Trafalgar Square, where people lined-up to enter the square for the Gay Pride festivities. Tens of thousands of people heard the gospel. Our team engaged many people in conversation. Hundreds, if not thousands of gospel tracts were distributed. There are some Christians in London that have questioned our motives (mine more than others) for coming to London to preach the gospel, as well as our motives for taking the gospel to the heart of the Gay Pride event, at Trafalgar Square. It was suggested to me and Bobby that we join another group of Christians who would be relegated to a cordoned-off area, separated from the people by barricades. We did not know the pastors leading this effort, and we did not wanted to be relegated to a box where our contact with the people would be limited, or where people could walk by and look, stare, and mock the caged Christians. Having seen a video of this other group and its location and appearance, Bobby and I are confident we made the right decision. To be clear: I do NOT fault the other group for deciding to play ball with parade officials and the Metropolitan Police. And I am GRATEFUL that they came out to stand for truth, unlike most of the London Body of Christ. But Bobby and I believed and still believe that joining in this other effort would have proved to be a hindrance to our proclamation of the gospel. Again, we believe we made the right decision. Of course, one of the accusations from those inside and outside the Church is that our manner of preaching is too aggressive, too confrontational, too harsh. Some have expressed concern that the manner of our preaching would undermine, set back, or hamper their ongoing efforts to reach London with the gospel. Some expressed concern that our presence at the Gay Pride Parade would effect the annual effort of locals to preach the gospel at the parade. I decided to post this brief conversation with Adam to show the naysayers that open-air preaching has its place in the evangelical realm of evangelism. No argument in defense of open-air preaching needs to be made, since open-air preaching is biblical and historic throughout the life of the Christian church. I also want the same people to see that what they may deem "aggressive," "defensive," and "harsh" open-air preaching is the kind of preaching that leads to conversations with lost people like Adam. Some who will watch this will think I am being aggressive, defensive, and harsh with Adam because of the tone of my voice. I had just finished preaching to a crowd numbering in the thousands. This conversation happened at the end of the day and my voice was shot. I had to loudly speak for Adam to hear my over the ongoing preaching and the din of revilers. But I loved Adam with action and truth. I loved him with the gospel. I loved him as both my enemy and my neighbor. And Adam listened.

• published: 26 Jun 2016
• views: 2009