As a Christian and as an open air preacher, I’m constantly trying to memorize and meditate upon more Bible verses/passages.  Besides personal purity (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 119:9-11, Philippians 4:8), I do this because I want to be able to address the things that I see and hear in the open air, directly with the Scriptures.  One thing that comes up quite often is the filthy speech of the sinner.  Often times, they say a lot of gross sexually explicit things, that reveal the depravity of their hearts and that their minds are probably filled with porn.  Their mouths are constantly pouring out cuss/curse words and taking God’s name in vain, as well.

So, I’ve been attempting to memorize more Scriptures concerning such things.  Some of the passages that I have been working on are Matthew 12:33-37, Ephesians 4:29 and Ephesians 5:3-4 and Colossians 3:8.  As I studied these passages and went to the Greek to get a deeper understanding of some of the words being used, I saw some things that are definitely applicable to those who preach in the open air.  I want to share what I have found with you.

In recent years, it seems like the standards of speech for some open air preachers has “gone down the drain”…literally.  All manner of things are said by some open air preachers and even if such things aren’t said by most individual open air preachers, many of the ones who aren’t saying such things justify those who are saying them.  Or maybe the ones who don’t say such things just remain silent in correcting those who do, thinking that it’s not that big of a deal.  Telling filthy, sexually explicit stories is supposedly ok for an open air preacher.  Using curse/cuss words is supposedly ok for the open air preacher.  What’s next?  Will taking God’s name in vain be ok, as well?

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