Speaker Circle, Hell, and Brother Jed

There is this place here called "speaker circle;" it's a round area on the edge of a sidewalk/plaza area. Anyhow, it's called that because it (purposefully) amplifies sound really well. There's always this guy there "Brother Jed" (or Joe, or something) and his followers, holding signs that say things like "God Hates You" and "You're Going to Hell," at least, those are the repeatable ones. And there he stands, belting out his version of scripture by screaming at passersby about their evil and satanic selves. Oh, and yelling at a couple because they are holding hands, damning them with awful names. I always edge around, feeling slightly embarrassed because even if he is trying to promote the gospel, his method doesn't seem to be very helpful and loving. I kept thinking about what Mr. Baker says, about being winsome to attract people to the gospel. It worried me that such images of Christianity would stick in their heads and make them think ill of Christianity. At least, that's what I thought before I found out what he was really teaching.

First you should know that Brother Jed usually has a pretty large crowd; people seem to think him more entertaining than offensive (except for the Christians, we wince). So there his is, belting out hellfire and damnation. Well, one of my friends, Jason, who is well grounded in the Bible, stopped to listen to him. I think you're already caught the "you're going to hell" mantra, but the rest of his stuff is even scarier. He teaches, basically, a works-based salvation with some waaaay messed up twists. Apparently, once you are "saved" by Brother Jed, you do not sin anymore. Ever. He's been ten years without sin, and his followers share similar stories. If you do sin, well, you weren't saved. Aparently the "saved" have the power to "save" other people, or "to bind their sins to them for all eternity," which one of the followers proceeded to do to a young man that ticked him off, pointing his finger and saying "your sins are bound to you. . ." well, you get the point. Forget Voldemort, these people are much freakier. Don't forget that they are belting this all out REALLY loudly. My friend tried to argue with them from the Bible (which they twist and use), and basically got himself excommunicated.

Hmm, I'm not sure what my point was, other than that it's really sad how many people are getting such twisted messages so blatantly declared as the truth. Oh, and that some people have some powerful self delusion (no sin ever? yeah, talk about denial)