ray comfort?

i saw someone say lets not get into a debate over him and then give an example of something that he saw ray comfort do. I have liked lots of his ways, but now i feel like maybe lots of christians have a problem with him...is there something wrong with how he teaches and what he does?

I have personally met Ray Comfort - And he is a wonderful, humble man who has a sincere love for the Lord and sincere zeal to see the lost find life in Him.Read "Out of the Comfort Zone" for more information about his life and ministry, it is his autobiography, available at livingwaters.com.I thoroughly recommend him, and praise God for how he used him in my own life!

When I first listened to "Hell's Best Kept Secret", I was blown away. It answered so many questions I had.Not a week before I heard the message, I thought to myself (obviously prompted by the Holy Spirit), "What does the word 'Saved' really mean, 'Saved' from what?"I had gotten to the point of viewing 'Saved' as a proper noun, instead of the verb that it should be. Saved from Hell, Saved from wrath, Saved from condemnation, Saved into the loving grace of our Lord Jesus.Ray Comfort is a man of God and he has renewed the fire in my soul. God forgive me for ever letting it die down.

luckyd wrote:but now I feel like maybe lots of christians have a problem with him... Yes many Christians do have a problem with him. I believe the reason that Christians would have a problem with Ray is because they do not have a proper understanding of the law.is there something wrong with how he teaches and what he does?There are maybe very very small insignificant things he does or teaches that I don’t agree with... nothing comes to my mind right now. I believe that people questioned Paul and Peter and Jesus Himself with this question. There will always be those that are against the truth even in Christian fellowship.Also I have seen someone totally against Ray Comfort's teaching and repent and come to embrace his teaching. Because he did not have a proper understanding of the law in evangelism at first.

Phil Johnson's Bookmarks couldn't decide whether to put "living waters" ministries under "helpful theology" or under "bad theology." so he put it under "miscellaneous" christian resources.While Phil points out that Hell's best kept Secret is a "superb" sermon - he laments that "[Ray] never seems to get around to preaching the gospel with the same kind of clarity and force [as delivered in the Hell's best kept secret sermon]. In all Comfort's books, tapes, and other resources, there is scarcely any mention of the doctrine of justification by faith, no thorough explanation of substitutionary atonement, and (in my view [that is Phil Johnson's view]) insufficient emphasis on the meaning of the cross. This is surely a glaring deficiency and a major imbalance in a ministry devoted to evangelism."Ray has described himself as an "itinerant" evangelist, and I personally feel that the narrow focus of his ministry (noted by Mr. Johnson) is by design rather than negligence - whether that is good or bad, I am not really sure, but I would gladly hear him if he came to town!Dan/\\/\\/\\

I love Ray Comfort but have never really thought about him as a theologian. Ray does what he does and I think he does it quite well, evangelism that is. Ray's emphasis seems to be getting the sinner soundly saved, not making him a Bible scholar. His public ministry has the emphasis on sound biblical evangelism. I heard Tozer say something to this effect," Just because a preacher preaches heavily on one subject doesn't mean he is unbalanced in his life. That is just what God is having him focus on." When a preacher focuses on one subject is doesn't mean that is all he knows, it’s just what God is giving him to preach.Ray is a street preacher and one-on-one guy. How many of you when you go to witness one-on-one bring you theological notes with you to make sure you expound with precision and exactitude the tenants of the Christian faith? No one.. When we witness we want the person to repent and receive remission of sins through faith in Jesus Christ.

...In all Comfort's books, tapes, and other resources, there is scarcely any mention of the doctrine of justification by faith, no thorough explanation of substitutionary atonement, and (in my view [that is Phil Johnson's view]) insufficient emphasis on the meaning of the cross. This is surely a glaring deficiency and a major imbalance in a ministry devoted to evangelism."Where is it taught in the Bible that our evangelism must consist in emphasizing the theology behind the work of Christ in theological language? I'm pretty familiar with Ray Comfort's method and belief, and would have to strongly disagree with this critique. Ray speaks heavily on the work of Christ, justification by faith, etc. He just doesn't use the common theological jargon to do it. Instead, he uses common language that everybody will understand, with plenty of ample illustrations. Most people in our churches don't even known what the word "propitiation" means. For anybody who has ever done any evangelism, you'll find out that some people don't even know what the word "repentance" means, and again, even in the church! I have been greatly blessed by Ray Comfort's ministry, and in a short phone conversation I once had with him, he encouraged me to preach at local universities. If I had to nit-pick what I've seen of his ministry, I'd say he (as well as most street evangelists) needs to put more emphasis on the resurrection of Christ. I am all for using the law in evangelism, but I fear sometimes he (as well as most street evangelist) tend to take a "I'll show them they are a sinner yet..." approach to evangelism instead of "I'll show them Christ crucified and resurrected." Also, to extremely nit-pick again, I'd say he perhaps uses too many props. Other than that, I love Ray Comfort's ministry and have been greatly blessed by it. I pray that one day I would have such a powerful ministry.

Ray knows that most of the people he meets know little if not nothing about Christian theology. Words like propitiation and atonement are words that make me sing praises to the Lord, but to the lost sinner they are confusing.For example, walk up to a lost person and say, "Jesus loves you. Believe in Jesus and he will save you." Why should they? They don't know who Jesus is and they don't care that he loves them. Ray Comfort points out that (as the Bible says), "the Cross is foolishness to those who perish." Without conviction of sin there is no repentance, without repentance their is no salvation.Ray speaks on their level and gets them to realize what sin is. His approach is to get the person to realize the sin in their life and to realize that God is opposed to that sin. He tells them what they must do to be forgiven and he gives plenty of room for the Holy Spirit to work.Something that I have to remind myself, is that God must draw the sinner to him and God is the one who saves the person. My job (and yours) is to be obedient to the words the Holy Spirit lays on our hearts.Ray Comfort does not try to get people to "pray a prayer". His focus is to get the person to see the need to pray the prayer and pray their own prayer of repentance.God Bless

I agree, theology has very little street credit. I think Phil's remarks were directed more at the growing library his ministry is producing (at least I hope that is what he meant?) I think Mr. Johnson's remarks were not geared so much at Mr Comforts ministry - as it was geared at the various materials that Living Waters ministry produces.I can't speak for the man, but that was how I understood it.Dan/\\/\\/\\

luckyd,I think you were referring to my post. Comfort is awesome, and I hope he lights an inferno in America. I wrote that (please don't start a debate about him) because I didn't want to start a rabbit's trail under that post (I just handed a Hell's Best Kept Secret CD to a guy about 2 hours ago). I was just trying to stay on subject, but give credit to Ray at the same time.Yes, many have a problem with Ray for many different reasons, but like Spurgeon said, everytime that he began to make true spiritual progress, he met with much opposition and resistance.

I have been personally callenged and blessed by ray's ministry over the years. I too strongly recommend "Out of the Comfort Zone" to any and all. "The Evidence Bible" is another.God kinda used Ray as a catalyst in my life spiritually speaking...really dealing with my self-righteousness and giving me a healthy and balanced view of the law of God, the reasons why He gave it ti fallen man, and how it helps us/ the sinner to see him/herself in the light of God's word and leaves the responsibility squarely upon our own shoulders as to what we will do with it. Greg and I were blessed to spend a short time with Him last year, I think. Here's a picture.I've been blessed, I have cried, I have definitely laughed, and I have been really angry, as God has dealt with me spiritually using the instrument of Ray's ministry. He is highly recommended.Just a bit of advice...If you begin to read/watch/listen to his 'materials', I would ask one thing...let God work them into you personally before you go out and teach sinners His way using the Law. Zeal without knowledge creates a tragic mess. You don't need to be a pro, just have the right heart (broken before God, humble, submissive, obedient, a servant's heart).

The ministry of Ray Comfort and all of his materials are what started it for me. I am very grateful towards him and truly thank GOD for all that He has done through this little man from New Zealand. He's the man who inspired me to start street preaching and witnessing and also inspired me to start writting my own articles. He's deffinately a man I highly admire. The exact same for me. He is the one God used to show me how important repentance is and about false converts. He has also inspired me to start a street ministry. We have just started it at our church, going out and doing one-on-one that is. I am not (yet!) open-air preaching but waiting for God to make the way and prepare me.Ray has affected many, many, many, many street ministers and street ministries.