"Repent! Be saved! The end is at hand!" These are familiar words hailing from the "Brickyard" preachers at North Carolina State University. The university plaza, affectionately known as the Brickyard, is a centrally located gathering place for campus and community activities.

Freedom of speech is exercised frequently in the Brickyard as wandering street preachers avail themselves of an opportunity to announce the end of the world with their Chicken Little "the sky is falling" flair. The message is always the same: "Get right with God, or you're gonna get left!"

Perhaps a stranger has cornered you on a city sidewalk, ranting about being saved. It's a real shame that some people only hear the gospel proclaimed in that manner. We know how street-corner criers present a negative impression o…