Speaker: Darlene Sala | Series: Encouraging Words | Greg Fisher, who for years was a missionary in Africa, tells that when he was growing up in the U.S., his dad was a street evangelist.  Yes, he preached openly on the streets to anyone who would listen.

Greg tells about going with his dad when he was only seven years old to a spot in Hollywood right in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to hand out Christian leaflets while his dad preached to the crowds who lined up for the Sunday matinee at the theater.  One bystander began to yell at his dad—not an uncommon experience for street preachers. But what amazed Greg even at that young age was that the thing that set the man off was the mention of the name of Jesus.

The same thing happened in New Testament days. When Peter and John brought healing to a lame man, the religious leaders were up in arms. They questioned: “By what power or what name did you do this?”  Peter answered unequivocally, “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed” (Acts 4:10).

Today some would say that we should not use the name of Jesus in the public arena for fear of offending those of other religions. Christians, it is said, should confine that name to their own homes and churches. Yet, as Greg points out, “it is the name of Jesus that carries real power to transform darkness–power to heal broken bodies and restore crushed and mutilated souls. Ultimately, what we are announcing is that the name of Jesus has power to save.”

And then he sums it up with this powerful statement: “As a Christian…, I can have no other program, no other cure, no other agenda than to announce–from every point possible–that there is salvation in the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.”[1]

Well said, Greg!

 

[1]Greg Fisher, http://africathoughts.blogspot.com, December 1, 2005.