By M.H. Cavanaugh
Christian Action League
September 2, 2020
CHARLOTTE – Various reports say that Sam Bethea, a street evangelist in Charlotte, was in and out of jail twenty-nine times before giving his life to Christ. But since his conversion, which made all things new for him, Sam relishes every opportunity to share the Gospel, even when protestors are demonstrating.
In fact, that’s what Sam was doing last week on the streets of the Queen City when demonstrators gathered to oppose the Republican National Convention, part of which was held there. As Sam was proclaiming the love of the Lord and that Jesus Saves, some of those who marched sprayed him with silly string, while also dousing him with flour, glitter, and oil.
According to WSOC-TV, Sam has experienced opposition before. Some uptown businesses tried to get rid of him by filing noise and disturbance complaints with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department. Despite his treatment by protestors last week, Sam says he’s unfazed and plans to continue sharing Christ with anyone who will listen.
After learning about Sam’s humiliating experience, Reginna Serrapica took to Facebook and asked people to pray for him. She shared her own prayer, saying:
“Lord, wrap your arms around Sam. Help him stay strong. We thank you for his courage, his commitment to you! May he remain unshaken by the outside forces, and be renewed daily by your presence and your power. Amen!”
Steve Noble, a Christian radio host of the talk show, Called2Action, expressed the struggle he had within himself after seeing the video of Sam’s mistreatment. He said that at first he was “shocked,” then “condemning” of Sam’s abusers and their profanity-laced chanting.
When abusing Sam, the crowd chanted “F#&% You, Jesus,” over and over again. Noble said his anger finally gave way to “brokenness” of spirit. He posted on Facebook:
“Oh Lord…how lost and darkened they are!
“I saw the video on Friday but didn’t stop and pray for them until just now. God, help me.
“I am fearful that like me, most of us are reacting, but not with fervent prayer.
“The darkness is spreading and intensifying, and our prayers need to deepen in both intensity and regularity.
“God is this nation’s only hope…and the only hope of every soul within it.”
“I think that what we saw happen to Sam is becoming the new normal for true born-again believers, especially if certain political influences are elected and get control. The people who mistreated Sam are not your run of the mill citizens. These are Marxist groups bent on destroying America and its Christian foundations,” said Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League. “Their agenda is to replace the sovereignty of God, Jesus, and the Bible, with the sovereignty of the state. Those of us who follow Christ know the Gospel can never be stopped, but Christians can be made to suffer. And I suspect many Christians are going to feel such hatred and witness greater efforts to dismantle religious liberty, even if these radicals don’t get control of the government. These people want a revolution.”
Rev. Creech’s sentiments echo similar remarks recently made by native North Carolinian and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Franklin Graham.
Last Friday, Graham shared his concerns on CBN News about the way the Democrat Party had shifted to the far left. He said there were millions of Democrats who were “wonderful people.” He also said his father, the late Dr. Billy Graham, who was a lifelong Democrat, “never switched” his party affiliation. But the younger Graham said the Democrat Party of today, “if anything,” is “opposed to faith.”
“The Democrats have taken God pretty much…out of government,” he said. He added that the leftist in the Party would like to “take us into socialism,” and this direction was going to “affect the Church.”
“You are going to see Christians attacked, you are going to see churches close, and you are going to see real hatred expressed toward people of faith. That is coming,” said Graham. “Jesus told us. He said, ‘You will be hated by all people because of me.’ And if we are going to stand for the name of Christ, the world will hate us.”
Rev. Creech said, “I believe Sam’s experience foreshadows worse things to come, and it’s going to take thousands with his same spirit to turn this country around, and then it still may not happen. But we’re not called to be successful; we’re called to be zealous and faithful until the end.”
Creech added that Sam had more spiritual fortitude in his little finger than most pastors in the churches have in their whole bodies. “The days may get much darker, but when that happens, the light only shines brighter,” he said.
You must be logged in to post a comment.