0:00:00.529,0:00:02.920
For a long time in open-air preaching

0:00:02.920,0:00:04.788
I used a lot of apologetics

0:00:04.788,0:00:07.276
in order to build a crowd and keep a crowd

0:00:07.276,0:00:09.713
where I'd answer question on things like

0:00:09.713,0:00:11.279
proof of the Bible,

0:00:11.279,0:00:13.817
creation, evolution.

0:00:13.817,0:00:16.308
Now, I did start with what's called

0:00:16.308,0:00:18.131
a presuppositional approach,

0:00:18.131,0:00:20.287
believing that each person really knows

0:00:20.287,0:00:21.596
God is true,

0:00:21.596,0:00:23.491
and I was just really playing with them

0:00:23.491,0:00:25.089
so to speak to build a crowd

0:00:25.089,0:00:26.888
and to keep a crowd

0:00:26.888,0:00:29.238
and maybe answer some genuine questions,

0:00:29.238,0:00:32.079
but I've since found

0:00:32.079,0:00:34.342
that those things are not profitable.

0:00:34.342,0:00:35.945
I actually heard a sermon

0:00:35.945,0:00:38.413
by Curt Daniel on defending the faith,

0:00:38.413,0:00:39.754
and in there he pointed out

0:00:39.754,0:00:43.481
that the biblical approach to apologetics

0:00:43.481,0:00:48.210
is simply saying, like Jesus did,

0:00:48.210,0:00:49.401
"have you never read?"

0:00:49.401,0:00:50.481
"Have you never read?"

0:00:50.481,0:00:52.487
Basically saying, "the Bible says this..."

0:00:52.487,0:00:54.145
"The Bible says this..."

0:00:54.145,0:00:57.328
And what you find is when you simply

0:00:57.328,0:00:59.878
declare what Jesus said

0:00:59.878,0:01:01.493
and what the Bible says,

0:01:01.493,0:01:03.887
then people will eventually stop asking

0:01:03.887,0:01:07.558
such stupid questions on many occasions.

0:01:07.558,0:01:10.239
You see, many will send you up,

0:01:10.239,0:01:11.892
or try to send you up

0:01:11.892,0:01:13.303
all these rabbit trails

0:01:13.303,0:01:16.065
talking about creation, evolution,

0:01:16.065,0:01:17.546
manuscripts.

0:01:17.546,0:01:23.136
When you think about it,

0:01:23.136,0:01:25.501
you know, the Bible is

0:01:25.501,0:01:28.136
the sword of the Spirit.

0:01:28.136,0:01:31.690
But so often, someone will say,

0:01:31.690,0:01:33.755
"Oh, it's no good quoting the Bible to me.

0:01:33.755,0:01:35.339
I don't believe the Bible."

0:01:35.339,0:01:37.255
So the Christian will then put the sword

0:01:37.255,0:01:39.040
of the Word of God back in its sheath

0:01:39.040,0:01:42.034
and then try to prove the [br]Bible for the next hour.

0:01:42.034,0:01:43.480
And that's ridiculous.

0:01:43.480,0:01:46.950
I mean, we serve the King of the universe.

0:01:46.950,0:01:50.114
Could you imagine in a much lesser court,

0:01:50.114,0:01:52.685
the judge - an earthly court -

0:01:52.685,0:01:55.515
and someone coming before the judge

0:01:55.515,0:01:57.036
and the judge saying,

0:01:57.036,0:01:58.735
"how do you plead?"

0:01:58.735,0:02:00.021
And then the person saying,

0:02:00.021,0:02:02.549
"Well, I don't believe in judges.

0:02:02.549,0:02:04.497
I don't believe in law."

0:02:04.497,0:02:06.489
Could you imagine there the judge saying,

0:02:06.489,0:02:08.138
"Oh, hang on a minute,

0:02:08.138,0:02:11.647
we best stop the proceedings

0:02:11.647,0:02:15.305
and prove that law and [br]order and judges exist

0:02:15.305,0:02:17.209
before we go any further."

0:02:17.209,0:02:19.421
No, of course, that is ridiculous.

0:02:19.421,0:02:21.773
But that is like the Christian approach

0:02:21.773,0:02:23.362
of trying to prove the Bible

0:02:23.362,0:02:25.075
before we witness to someone.

0:02:25.075,0:02:28.562
You know, it's the foolishness [br]of preaching that God uses.

0:02:28.562,0:02:32.304
The Gospel is the power [br]of God to salvation,

0:02:32.304,0:02:35.376
not our clever arguments.

0:02:35.376,0:02:36.949
And I'll tell you this,

0:02:36.949,0:02:39.161
for a long time open-air preaching,

0:02:39.161,0:02:41.020
we preached to large crowds,

0:02:41.020,0:02:43.955
and we never saw any real converts.

0:02:43.955,0:02:46.770
In fact, from the first day we went out

0:02:46.770,0:02:48.109
and used what I call

0:02:48.109,0:02:50.941
the zero apologetics approach,

0:02:50.941,0:02:54.396
although it's really a more [br]biblical apologetics approach

0:02:54.396,0:02:57.155
where we don't do [br]this man-centered fashion,

0:02:57.155,0:03:00.251
we just simply declare [br]what the Bible says.

0:03:00.251,0:03:02.104
This is what God says.

0:03:02.104,0:03:03.953
I'm here to declare what God says.

0:03:03.953,0:03:07.285
We started to see people converted.

0:03:07.285,0:03:09.016
You know, one after another,

0:03:09.016,0:03:11.111
not merely in the open air,

0:03:11.111,0:03:14.278
but they'd come to the church from it

0:03:14.278,0:03:15.713
and then they'd be converted.

0:03:15.713,0:03:18.622
We started to see these conversions

0:03:18.622,0:03:22.864
when we simply declared the Word of God.

0:03:22.864,0:03:25.094
And the other thing is though

0:03:25.094,0:03:27.134
the crowds are just as big.

0:03:27.134,0:03:29.062
It still draws as many people.

0:03:29.062,0:03:30.507
You see, the name of Christ

0:03:30.507,0:03:31.946
is the central point.

0:03:31.946,0:03:34.409
That should be the focus of our preaching.

0:03:34.409,0:03:36.958
And people will still come [br]to debate and listen

0:03:36.958,0:03:40.912
about the person of Jesus Christ anyway.

0:03:40.912,0:03:42.570
But if your ground there,

0:03:42.570,0:03:46.371
if your footing is on Scripture,

0:03:46.371,0:03:47.681
then it's much better,

0:03:47.681,0:03:49.260
because you're declaring

0:03:49.260,0:03:51.629
as God as the authority,

0:03:51.629,0:03:55.172
rather than our silly little arguments.

0:03:55.172,0:03:56.938
And there's always a temptation,

0:03:56.938,0:03:59.964
because having a [br]background in apologetics,

0:03:59.964,0:04:04.032
I know some good answers to people

0:04:04.032,0:04:05.803
when they bring in questions

0:04:05.803,0:04:08.350
about creation, evolution,

0:04:08.350,0:04:11.133
or Bible manuscripts and things like that,

0:04:11.133,0:04:13.999
proof of the existence of God.

0:04:13.999,0:04:16.236
But you see, for me to answer those things

0:04:16.236,0:04:21.214
is a false assumption that that person

0:04:21.214,0:04:22.889
is really listening and really

0:04:22.889,0:04:24.746
does not have a depraved mind.

0:04:24.746,0:04:27.693
You see, the unbeliever present

0:04:27.693,0:04:31.065
doesn't normally bother that his view

0:04:31.065,0:04:33.612
contradicts himself [br]left, right, and center.

0:04:33.612,0:04:34.805
He's not really bothered.

0:04:34.805,0:04:37.219
He's just looking for [br]something to argue against

0:04:37.219,0:04:39.542
and to get into the way of the Gospel,

0:04:39.542,0:04:42.107
so every time someone asks me a question,

0:04:42.107,0:04:45.351
I will simply tell them [br]what the Bible says,

0:04:45.351,0:04:46.611
even if it sounds foolish.

0:04:46.611,0:04:48.512
You see, I'm not here to declare

0:04:48.512,0:04:49.740
my own opinions.

0:04:49.740,0:04:52.371
I'm here to declare the Word of God,

0:04:52.371,0:04:54.343
what He says.

0:04:54.343,0:04:55.752
And people can see this

0:04:55.752,0:04:58.165
because it's like,

0:04:58.165,0:05:00.344
rather than speaking to a man,

0:05:00.344,0:05:02.835
they're speaking to this big, infinite God

0:05:02.835,0:05:05.383
and I think this really does

0:05:05.383,0:05:07.340
hold a weight on people

0:05:07.340,0:05:09.905
when you do this.