NEW JERSEY POLICE CHARGE SIX CHRISTIANS FOR STREET PREACHING IN PUBLIC PARK
SIX CHRISTIANS WERE CHARGED FOR “EVANGELIZING IN A PUBLIC PARK WITHOUT GOVERNMENT PERMISSION,”
“…Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” Luke 14:23
For the past 3 years, we have been preaching the gospel on the street of Saint Augustine, Florida, without one, single incident with the police. In fact, we have a great relationship with them, and have not been cited one time. Part of the reason this is that we first went to the police at the start of our ministry and asked them what the rules were. Rules that we have abided by every time we go out on the street.
Now, I do agree that the freedoms that we have in America have become more restricted in recent years, and the intrusion of government into our private lives is at all all-time high. But street preachers, just like anyone else who has an outreach on the public streets, have an obligation to know what the local rules are and to follow them. If you are asked to show your ID and registration, then you should immediately comply. Getting arrested for refusing to show your ID is stupid and self-promoting, and is usually done by people looking to make a YouTube video.
If you are trying to get something done for the Lord, persecution will come. Don’t go looking for it.
Back in 2012, Robert Parker of Millstone, New Jersey told Christian News Network that he and members of the Bread of Life Fellowship in Wayne were all cited as they “witnessed to passersby in Journal Square,” the article stated.
FILE PHOTO: Street preaching and gospel tract outreach on Beale Street
An officer told them they needed a permit to be able to preach in a “private park, and were told to leave the city-owned property,” the article added.
The Christians were also handing out Gospel literature to those in the park the article stated, and were told by police that they “were not permitted to hand out tracts in the entire city without government permission,” it also stated.
Pastor Steve Anderson deliberately provoking the police into a confrontation (this is a bad testimony, no Christian should do this):
When they contacted Jersey City Police, the department stated visitors of the park were upset with the message the Christians were sending, and the officers “had the right to prevent potential violence,” adding that protocol is to silence the speaker and disperse the crowd.
The six people were charged with “breach of the peace,” according to the story.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: GEOFFREY GRIDER
NTEB is run by end times author and editor-in-chief Geoffrey Grider. Geoffrey runs a successful web design company, and is a full-time minister of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition to running NOW THE END BEGINS, he has a dynamic street preaching outreach and tract ministry team in Saint Augustine, FL.
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