CHRISTMAS: THE VIEW FROM THE CROSS

The young boy glared at me as he slowly walked across the street and in front of the “go-ye-mobile” truck I use to carry and prominently display a 10-foot by 5-foot, 60-pound cross everywhere I go and for all to see. I didn’t understand his apparent agitation. I had stopped for him to cross over to the other side of the road and was driving under the residential speed limit.

As the young boy reached the other side of the street, he pointed a menacing finger at me and shouted out loud enough for all his friends to hear, “Hey mister! Did you steal that cross?!”

CHRIST’S CROSS IS GOD’S SPIRITUAL MAGNET

No, I didn’t steal that cross! I made it. And as I cross walk the streets of Bakersfield (a California valley city Jeanette and I have lived in for almost 30 years)—or the streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and some 140 other California cities so far, as well as bringing that large cross to 39 states and state capitals and other major cities of America so far—the response to the cross of Jesus Christ is always the same no matter what city or state I bring it to. No matter whether the response is positive or negative ( and by far, the response is overwhelmingly positive), it is always the great attractor! For some reason, the large cross demands attention, demands attraction, demands notice, demands observation—and demands response. This greatest symbol of Christianity also demands thought, reflection, consideration, devotion and awe. There is simply something uniquely special about the cross of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps it’s because the Babe who was born in a wooden manger on Christmas day is truly whom the Bible and God’s holy prophets of old said He was—Isaiah 9:6’s  “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace—the great God and Savior Jesus Christ! And perhaps that’s the reason why the cross acts like a powerful spiritual magnet everywhere I walk, drawing and attracting men, women and children to the One who’s arms are open wide and hands outstretched with palms extended for all to see the “prints” of peace.

Jesus’ promise to everyone is, “If I am lifted up [on that cross] from the earth, I will draw all peoples to Me” (John 12:34, emphasis added). Read the rest of this entry »

Because Everybody Ought To Know!

In 2015 (September), 2016 (February-March and July-August) and 2017 (February -March), my wife and I brought the 10-foot, 60-pound cross to twenty-seven state capitals and major cities of those states! And, in 2018, our plan is to walk the cross in 12 additional state capitals and major cities beginning in March. Of course, there is a very good reason why I am walking the large cross to all 50 state capitals and major cities of America between 2015 and 2020. Our nation is in urgent and dire need of nationwide revival, repentance, great awakening and restoration.

Walking the cross a distance of about ten miles per capital and major city, scores of thousands of people from every walk of life got to see a sight they don’t see every day: a cross walker lugging a 60-pound, 10-foot cross throughout city streets and praying loudly and for long periods of time for the people living in these strategic areas. And God’s power was always released and felt by many individuals at each of the cross walks.

GOD’S PLUS SIGN TO AMERICA

Response to the large cross in each of these twenty-seven  states was very similar. Everywhere we brought the cross, and even as we traversed the freeways and highways in our bright red Go-Ye-Mobile truck from state to state and city to city with the large cross resting inside the truck bed and securely and snugly against the customized truck rack for all to see, people’s hearts were filled with joy as God’s Holy Spirit powerfully reminded each believer (as well as nonbeliever) just what Jesus the Messiah had done for all humanity when He died on the cross some 2,000 years ago.

And, as I walked the large cross from our motel room to the Capital Malls and downtown areas of these twenty-seven state capitals and each state’s larger cities, the response was always very positive and often very powerful, as well as heartfelt. The cross of Jesus Christ is God’s Plus Sign To America! Not one thing negative, but all things positive about His cross and the reason the great God and Savior had to die on the cross for the world’s collective sins.

THIS ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS EACH OF THE TWENTY-SEVEN STATEWIDE CROSS WALKS IN
2015, 2016 AND 2017 AND SHARES EXCITING EVENTS THAT OCCURRED DURING EACH WALK.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Beautiful Snake River Runs Parallel With The Highway We Traveled On To Boise.

After a great cross walk in Olympia, Washington and a good night’s sleep, Jeanette and I headed southeast and toward Boise, Idaho, some 535 miles away. The drive was very pleasant and the scenery was beautiful as we traveled through eastern Oregon and to Idaho’s state capital.

Resting for the night, we couldn’t help but reflect upon God’s goodness to the people living in the states and state capitals we had cross walked in the past few days. Although each of the states was small in total population compared to our home state, California, we understood fully just how important it was for every person living in the United States to know just how much God loves each and everyone by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins and to give eternal life to all who accept His free gift of salvation simply by accepting His Son as Savior and believing that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.

For Idaho’s 1.6 million souls,  the message of the cross is the same as it is for all people: the Cross of Jesus Christ is God’s Plus Sign to the world! There isn’t one thing negative, but all things positive about this cross! One sinner + the cross of Jesus Christ = Salvation; one drug addict + the cross of Jesus Christ = Set Free; one Christian + the cross of Jesus Christ = Victory; and so forth! Read the rest of this entry »

After praying at Oregon’s state Capitol Mall in Salem, as well as the downtown area, I returned to our motel. Jeanette and I checked out of the motel, then headed for Portland for an entire day of cross walking. You can read about the awesome Portland Cross Walk by returning to our Home page.

After a special cross walk in Portland, which was prompted by TV and newspaper reports that  the city’s largest gang was targeting police for assassination, we headed for Olympia, the capital of Washington and just an hour away. As we left Oregon’s most populous city and entered Washington state, we were greeted by a large sign that also bore witness to why we were walking the cross in the state of Washington.

The sign made us smile because everyone entering Washington from Portland sure can’t miss reading God’s Good News about our Savior’s crucifixion on the cross for our sins, His resurrection from the dead, and His soon return. And, as we would find out later, there are many believers living in the Evergreen State.

But we would also soon discover that the state’s beautiful capital city also had some major problems.

MARIJUANA IS LEGAL TO USE RECREATIONALLY IN THIS STATE

Shoot Dope, Skip Rope, Eat Cantaloupe. A Not So Normal Guide To Getting High.

In 2012 Washington’s citizens voted to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, aka cannabis. Since then there has been an upsurge in the number of marijuana-related fatal car crashes, reported in a 2016 article in the Washington Post and according to a new study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. No doubt, this and other safety issues concerning the legal use of cannabis products will eventually show that marijuana is not a safe and benign drug, as many pro-pot proponents tout.

For now, cannabis is legal to use in this state by those over 21. But, of course, we all know that this dangerous drug is most certainly used by those under twenty-one as well.

When we checked into our motel room I noticed that, along with many other sight-seeing brochures and visitor’s guides situated inside a large wooden rack,  a colorful guide and map to the state’s licensed cannabis shops was also included.

One of the reasons we had come to Washington was to pray that the people of this beautiful state would choose to say NO to using drugs, including marijuana and other cannabis products, even though it is legal to do so.

But I could see that we had our work cut out for us. Read the rest of this entry »

Our latest 8-state cross walks began with Salem, the capital of Oregon. Between 2015 and 2020, my wife and I will travel to all fifty states and walk the cross at each state capital, Capitol Mall, City Hall and Police Stations and hoist the cross upright at each place and pray long and hard for all the people living in that state, including its governor, state representatives and senators, city leaders  and the state’s Thin Blue Line of law enforcement officers.

As is usually the case, Jeanette and I try to stay at a motel within a few miles from each Capitol Mall and downtown area. I love walking the cross down the major streets and thru the residential areas leading to each Capitol building. I get to talk with and pray with the everyday people this way, and hundreds of people get to see the large cross before I make it to my destination.

Arriving in the afternoon in Salem on the 20th of February, we checked into our motel room and spent a peaceful night plotting out my route for the next day, as well as discussing the previous cross walk in Redding, California, where we had spent ministering 1½ days prior to driving to Salem.

A FOUR O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING DIVINE WAKE-UP CALL AND A COMBAT PRAYER

I slept soundly this night, until 4 o’clock in the morning. For some reason, I was wide awake. I felt very fresh and rested, but though I do get up early, this is not the usual time that I arise. And, just like that, a very familiar Scripture from the Bible flashed like lightning across my mind.

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” I distinctly heard a still small voice speaking these special words of promise. Because I knew this was the LORD, I also knew it was time to pray. This was my prayer:

“LORD, You are my Shield and my Defender, my Strength and my Protector and the One who goes before me. I ask You to rebuke the evil one, Satan,  as well as the evil principality and overlord that hovers over Salem, the evil powers and dominions that are oppressing and influencing this city, the dark light rulers and evil spirits that have infiltrated this capital’s political and religious structures, and the demonic forces that are attacking and distressing the people of this city. Greater are You who is in and with me than he who is in the world…and there are many more of your angelic warriors with me than those that are with the devil. Lord, I thank You for the combat armor and armaments You have given me to wear as I enter this spiritual battlefield. And, I thank You for being my all-encompassing, all-around-me, surround-me, protective and indestructible shield of divine protection. I enter into Your victory over this city’s forces of evil and any weapon that might be used against me. I ask You to give me divine favor with the people of this strategic city. In Jesus Name, I pray. Amen.” This prayer is based upon Daniel 10, 1st John 4:4, Ephesians 6:12, and 2 Kings 6:12-18. Read the rest of this entry »

A BEAUTIFUL CAPITOL BUILDING

This Carson City cross walk is the last of eight state capitals and Capitol Malls Jeanette and I brought the ten foot, 60-pound cross to this past July and August and during the second segment of several 8-state cross walks throughout America and our nation’s fifty state capitals and Capitol Malls, which will take place between 2015 and 2020.

This most recent 8-state cross walk took place from July 19 to August 4, 2016. AND, of the eight state cross walks, this one was quite amazing in Christ!

CHURCH IN THE FAST FOOD RESTAURANT

The day we arrived and after checking into our motel room, Jeanette and I drove to a Jack In The Box fast food restaurant, parked in the back next to the drive-up window, walked inside and ordered our meal. As we were eating, a man came up and said, “Excuse me, I am sorry for interrupting your meal…but is that big red truck with the large cross on it and parked outside yours?” Read the rest of this entry »

The Hurt And The Healer
–MercyMe

Why? / the question that is never far away
But healing doesn’t come from the explained
Jesus,  please don’t let this go in vain
You’re all I have / all that remains

I’m alive / even though a part of me has died
Take my heart and breathe it back to life
I fall into Your arms open wide
When the hurt and the healer collide

Breathe /  sometimes I feel that’s all that I can do
Pain so deep that I can hardly move
Just keep my eyes completely fixed on You
Lord, take hold and pull me through

It’s the moment when humanity
Is overcome by majesty
When grace is ushered in for good
And all our scars are understood
When mercy takes its rightful place
And all these questions fade away
When out of weakness we must bow
And hear You say, “It’s over now”

Jesus, come and break my fear
Wake my heart and take my tears
Find Your glory even here

When the hurt and the healer collide

San Bernardino is a beautiful southern California city with a population of some 215,000 souls.

Six days after the December 2nd  jihadist terrorist attack on innocent partygoers at the Inland Regional Center (RC) in San Bernardino. I traveled the  165 miles from Bakersfield to this city of some 215,000 souls, checked into my motel room and then unloaded the 60-pound, 10-foot cross from off the go-ye-mobile truck rack and began walking north on Waterman Avenue and toward the large IRC facility.

With the large cross resting on my left shoulder, I walked on the sidewalk and against the flow of traffic, waving and smiling at reach passing vehicle. This is my normal modis operandi, and it has served me well as I’ve walked the cross in some 130 California cities since 2006. From San Ysidro and the Mexican border crossing to San Francisco and the Bay area, response at seeing a now 68 year old street evangelist lugging a large cross on his shoulders and down a busy street has always been so much more positive than negative.

But I really didn’t know how the people of San Bernardino would respond this day.

WALKING THE CROSS IN SAN BERNARDINO IN 2010

Every city I walk the cross at, I bring the large cross to each police station and pray for the safety of its thin blue line.

Five years earlier, I had walked the cross throughout downtown San Bernardino, along with Pasadena, Riverside and two other neighboring cities. But my real destination then was some forty miles away and the small city of Hemet, and especially its police station. My reason to walk the cross in Hemet was because of a short but serious news story I had read in our local paper.

After cracking down on outlaw motorcycle gangs that were engaged in all types of illegal and criminal activities, Hemet police officers became targets of reprisal, including the rerouting of a natural gas pipeline into the headquarters of the county’s gang task force in an attempt to blow up the building and the placement of a crude pipe bomb beneath an unmarked police vehicle as it sat outside a convenience store. Both attempts to kill and harm Hemet’s thin blue line failed, but the threats continued.

After arriving at Hemet, I walked the cross to the police station and, as is my normal method, I hoisted the 10-foot wooden crux upright and began praying loud and long, asking God to protect the city’s thin blue line by surrounding police officers with His thick blue line of angelic protectors. I also asked the God of justice to expose the culprits so they would be arrested.

One week later, Hemet police officers arrested the culprits, and the threat to their safety was totally quashed!

WE ARE SAN BERNARDINO TOUGH!

The names of the fourteen souls slain by the two jihad terrorists.

I thought of Hemet as I walked the cross toward the IRC, and how prayer really does work. Not only in Hemet, but in my hometown of Bakersfield, as well as so many of the other cities I had visited in a ten-year-period of cross walking. But how would the people of San Bernardino respond today after experiencing a totally unexpected terrorist attack on innocent civilians that had left fourteen dead and twenty-one wounded?

My concern was short-lived! As I traveled down the very busy street, car horns sounded, thumbs-up signs were displayed, and “Praise the Lord! shouts rang out loudly from smiling faces inside passing vehicles.

And what really got my attention was the number of people who were wearing long-sleeve tee-shirts that displayed a large arrow head (the symbol of San Bernardino County) with the words SB Strong printed inside the arrow head!

The message was already very clear, a message to all would-be terrorists as well as America and the rest of the world as well: “No force on Earth will keep us down! We are tough. We are San Bernardino Tough!” Read the rest of this entry »

City On Our Knees
–TobyMac

If you gotta start somewhere why not here
If you gotta start sometime why not now
If we gotta start somewhere I say here
If we gotta start sometime I say now
Through the fog there is hope in the distance
From cathedrals to third world missions
Love will fall to the earth like a crashing wave
Tonight’s the night for the sinners and the saints
Two worlds collide in a beautiful display
It’s all love tonight when we step across the line
To a city with one king a city on our knees
A city on our knees Oh oh oh oh oh

GREAT ANTICIPATION OF A VERY SPECIAL CROSS WALK

Oakland is a beautiful city just eight miles form San Francisco via the Bay Bridge.

If the previous day’s great cross walk in San Francisco was any indication of what lie in store for this cross walker as I traveled in the Go-Ye-Mobile-2 truck (GYM-2) from the motel room on the Peninsula and in Belmont (25 miles south of San Francisco) to the East Bay city with a population of some 420,000 souls, then some great and awesome happenings in Christ were definitely going to take place today.

My main destination was Broadway, downtown Oakland’s main street and major hub of activity. The busy street was easy to find. Parking GYM-2 on 7th and Broadway, I sensed a lot of eyes on all my movements as I unstrapped the 10-foot, 60-pound cross from the truck’s rack, hoisted it upon my shoulder and headed north on Broadway and toward City Hall. Read the rest of this entry »

“If you’re going to San Francisco / be sure to wear some flowers in your hair / if you’re going to San Francisco / you’re going to meet some gentle people there…” (San Francisco, written in 1967 by John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas and sung by Scott McKenzie).

In 1978 I did go to San Francisco. Not with flowers in my hair, but with the Gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ in my heart. Accepting the Executive Director position at San Francisco Teen Challenge, my wife and I and our two children moved to the Bay area from Bakersfield after serving as Associate Director of Teen Challenge in that valley city 120 miles north of Los Angeles. I remained Executive Director for 3 1/2 years and some great accomplishments in Christ occurred through the ministry of Teen Challenge and a group of very dedicated staff members during that time.

The Gentle People Of San Francisco And The Bay Area

For the next fourteen years we lived and ministered in the Bay area, sharing God’s love to very receptive souls throughout northern California cities and towns. I was always amazed at just how open the people living there were to God’s Good News.  Our ministry prospered, and  thousands became born-again believers, while hundreds of thousands of youth ages 6-18 made the decison to say no to drugs through our drug prevention campaign, NOPE TO DOPE.

Then, for personal reasons and with God’s blessings, in 1992 we moved back to Bakersfield. And, although I knew we would never live in the Bay area again, I certainly believed we would one day come back to San Francisco and share God’s love in Christ Jesus to both the gentle and not so gentle souls living in the City by the Bay. Read the rest of this entry »

After a special and successful cross walk in San Diego the day before, I drove Go-Ye-Mobile-2 (GYM-2) to the huge Outlets At The Border shopping complex in the border town of San Ysidro and parked just a few feet from the long and tall border fence.  After unstrapping the cross from the truck’s bed rack, I hoisted the cross on my shoulder and walked up the pedestrian walkway on my way to the border check-in station.

From the very start, people passing by on the walkway waved or said, “Praise the Lord,” or looked with awe or puzzlement as to what was going on. The atmosphere was filled with the Holy Spirit’s presence, and I couldn’t help but think how great it was to be able to lug the heavy cross up the walkway and across the I-5 overpass and toward the high border wall separating two countries from each other.

It was drizzling, and the light rain felt good as I made my way to the new pedestrian crossing into Mexico. The San Ysidro/Mexico border crossing is our country’s busiest land border crossing. The new crossing opened in August, 2015, and serves over 22,000 southbound crossers a day into the Mexican city of Tijuana. The area around the pedestrian border crossing is very busy and I was excited that hundreds of Americans and Mexicans would see the large cross.

The pedestrian walkway from where I was parked to the border entrance is slightly uphill and I felt the extra downward pull of gravity as I walked up to the Interstate 5’s overpass and toward the pedestrian crossing. But nothing was going to stop this cross walk! I knew God had some great plans for this day.

AN EXCEPTION TO THE RULE BECAUSE OF TAKING CARE OF GOD’S BUSINESS!

As I reached this huge conglomeration of  men, women and children heading into or out of Mexico, I hoisted the 10-foot, 60-pound cross right in the middle of the busy rotunda and prayed for all the people passing by. This is a very security-minded area. Border Patrol agents came up to me and asked what I was doing. After sharing that I was praying for both nations, and for their safety as well, and that I was headed toward the entrance of the pedestrian border crossing, a supervisor shared, “We usually don’t allow anyone to take large objects to the border entrance. But you can go on up this time and take care of God’s business.”

I shook their hands and thanked each one for their service to our country, then continued praying for all the people passing by.

Read the rest of this entry »