Street Evangelist Tom Alexander greeting and praying for people at Old Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey.

GOOD SALVATION

(new life in Christ version)

I’m thinking of good salvation,

Cross walking’s giving me excitations.

I’m thinking of  unsaved creations,

God’s giving me expectations.

Good, good, good, good salvation.

Good, good, good, good salvation.

What started out as an early morning fog turned into a beautiful sunshiny day, the kind of awesome day I remembered when we lived and ministered in the San Francisco Bay area for fourteen years. Jeanette and I loaded up the “go-ye-mobile” and headed to Fisherman’s Wharf,  just a few blocks from where we had stayed the night. As we slowly drove down the hilly street, the view of the pristine and wonderfully blue Pacific Ocean getting closer and closer by the moment filled my senses with both good and not so good memories of this beautiful northern California coastal town.

If Anyone Is In Christ, They Are Brand New Creations

The first time I had visited this city was way back in 1971 during a time that most certainly wasn’t as pleasant as now. On the F.B.I’s fugitive list for robbing a bank in Texas and escaping to California, I was a man on the run from justice and prison time.

Wow! What a difference new life in Christ makes.

As Jeanette and I looked for a parking space, my mind filled with memories of a long, not-so-forgotten time ago, when I was  a totally different person, a man who couldn’t care less about family, friends and especially foes. Monterey is the city where God finally said, “Enough!”

After robbing two people at gun point in their home at Pacific Grove (right next to Monterey) and stealing their car, I really thought that I had gotten away with breaking the law and eluding captivity once again. But just like that,  in 1971 and on a street in Monterey not too different  from the one Jeanette and I were on right now, my crime spree came to an abrupt end. (Note: click on the Convict For Christ blog to read my testimony.)

Spirit West Coast And Walking The Cross On Fisherman’s Pier

Street Evangelist Tom Alexander greeting a young man and his daughter and sharing God’s Good News about Christ.

I should have realized that the cross walk would be great, especially since so many people passing by in vehicles as we drove toward the Wharf honked their horns in approval or rolled down their windows and cried out, “Praise The Lord!” Later we would discover that  the huge Spirit West Coast annual Jesus celebration had just taken place this weekend in Monterey. Seemed like all the believers who had attended Spirit West Coast were on their way to visit Fisherman’s Wharf before going home.

Response to the cross walk on the Wharf was very positive, and I was able to share with many youth as well as adults about God’s love in Christ, and what they must do to be saved. Gang members listened as I shared my past before Christ. As is often the case, many of these young men didn’t believe my story about crime and time, so I gave each of them a card-tract printed with my prison mug shot and testimony. As I left each one, they were busy reading the story of how God’s amazing grace saved even a wretched sinner as myself.

The cross speaks a universal language because it is all about a universal message: Christ died for all people!

Fisherman’s Wharf was teeming with people, from those who live in Monterey, to tourists from other California and U. S. cities as well as other countries. Many didn’t speak English, but they all understood the language of the cross.

I must have spoken to over two hundred people on the Wharf, while countless others received the message of the cross just by seeing it! God’s Spirit is so wonderful, bearing witness to the truth of the cross and making Zechariah 12:10 real in the lives of those who look upon the cross as God’s Plus Sign. (read Zechariah 12:10 for yourself!)

The Endless Easter was upon the people of Monterey, as the Spirit of the living God moved upon men and women, as well as children. You could literally feel the power of God in the air, as individual after individual was touched by the Spirit to come forth for prayer. As I walked slowly toward the end of the Wharf, they came.

People asked God to restore their marriages. They asked for prayer for loved ones who didn’t know Jesus. And they asked God to give them more of Him so they too could go forth and witness about God’s love in Christ.  I sensed that this was going to be a very special cross walk. What made me smile and what filled my heart with great joy was the fact that this was the place in 1971 where God broke this man and sent him to prison so he could receive a brand new life and new beginnings. And here I was, praying for people in a city that I once preyed upon. What an amazing God.

The Warmth Of  The Son And The Power Of  Street Witnessing For Jesus

The sign asks, “What is your assurance that if you died tonight, you would go to Heaven?”

Jeanette and I weren’t alone on this mission. As we walked the area around the Wharf, we came upon fellow brothers in Christ who were also there to boldly witness about the Lord Jesus Christ. Standing on a short rock fence, four young men lifted signs high and mingled with the crowd, asking an important and thought-provoking question about assurance of salvation.

Of course we greeted each other warmly, exchanged “Hallelujahs” and “Praise the Lord” words of encouragement, and then prayed together…that all who were visiting Fisherman’s Wharf would accept Jesus as their Savior. They shared that they had just come from the Spirit West Coast gathering and were pumped up for Jesus! They, too, were getting the attention of a lot of people.

Although we could have stayed with these brothers much longer, there was more work to be done with the ten-foot spiritual plow I was pulling. Breaking up the fallow ground of human hearts and watching God turn up the soil of hardened, stony and thorny hearts to expose the good ground that everyone really has always thrills my spirit. For when the good ground in human hearts is exposed, God’s Good Seed (His Word) is able to find a place to set, take root and grow upward unto eternal life! And here at Fisherman’s Wharf, there were some hardened, stony and thorny hearts to be turned up by the sight of the cross.

Christ Jesus Died On The Cross For Muslims Too!

Street Evangelist Tom Alexander praying for hundreds of Muslims attending a festive celebration.

The Spirit of the living God led Jeanette and me to a large area of the Wharf where hundreds of Turkish Muslims were holding some type of festive celebration. Hoisting the cross upright, I asked the God of humanity to reveal Himself and His Son Jesus Christ to all men, women and children attending this event.

I prayed long and I prayed hard, unaware of people passing by who were going to the event and who weren’t that thrilled about seeing a huge uplifted cross and hearing the audible and loud prayers of a street evangelist. I was also unaware of a young man who stood close to me as I prayed for the salvation of each and every Muslim attending the event.

After several minutes of prayer, I opened my eyes and saw the young man staring intently at me. He smiled and then said, “I was listening to you pray. Wanted to know how you were praying. I was impressed. You prayed for their salvation and not for their destruction.”  He paused. “You asked God to show them that they are sinners and that Jesus Christ died for their sins, so they could be forgiven and really go to Heaven once they died here on Earth.” He smiled again. “Thank you for showing me how to pray for my enemies. Up to now, I prayed that God would destroy them.” He bowed his head, then looked at me. “I will pray like you do from now on.”

Monterey Won’t Be The Same Because Of A Praying And Testifying People

Street Evangelist Tom Alexander praying at the end of Fisherman’s Wharf for the inhabitants of Monterey.

Wow! On a special day in one of California’s most beautiful cities, the Spirit of God revealed Himself strong to not only nonbelievers, but believers as well.

As our cross walk throughout Fisherman’s Wharf came to a close, I couldn’t help but wonder just how many souls had been touched by the sight of the cross, by the prayers of  God’s people and by the testimonies of His street warriors.

As I stood the large cross upright at the end of Fisherman’s Wharf and prayed for the city of Monterey and its inhabitants, I sensed that the Spirit of the living God had done a great and powerful work in the hearts of many men and women. The large spiritual plow (the cross) had turned up the hardened, stony and thorny soil of many hearts and exposed the goods ground for God’s Word to set. The Scripture that came to mind as I ended my prayer was, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase” (2 Corinthians 3:6). Even so, Lord Jesus, give me one more soul, and one more, and one more, and one more.”

Not too bad a prayer for an ex-convict who in 1973 became a Convict for Christ while in prison and who has spent these past 38 years telling  people the amazing story of God’s love in Christ Jesus. Amen.