From San Bernardino to Riverside. Since 1973 I’ve had the pleasure of working for the Lord as an evangelist. Some one million men, women and children later, it still blesses my heart every time I get the opportunity to shake someone’s hand, talk with them about Jesus, and pray for their needs. As I entered Riverside County I felt the Spirit rising up inside me. Couldn’t wait to park the “go-ye-mobile” and walk the cross in this beautiful city as well.

University Avenue was my exit, which would give me easy access to downtown and City Hall. After checking into my motel room, I took the large cross from off my truck, prayed for a few minutes in the motel’s parking lot, then headed north on University. Response was immediate.

Car horns sounded, voices filled the air, and people gave the thumbs-up or one-way sign as I walked this heavily-congested street. Gonna be one of those red-letter days, I said to myself. About this time, I cam up to an upscale bar. One man walked out just as I approached the door and stopped in his tracks. “Wow, that’s something you don’t see every day.” Another man walked out of the bar and asked, “Can I ride that?” I smiled and said, “The cross isn’t built for that. But, there was Someone who did ride a cross over two thousand years ago.” I paused. “He rode it, was strapped  and nailed to it, and died on it for your sins and mine.”

“I’m a Buddhist,” the first man replied. I quickly answered, “That’s okay. Jesus died on the cross for Buddhists too.” The other man responded: “I’m an agnostic.” “That’s okay too. Jesus died for agnostics as well.”  For several minutes the three of us talked about religion and relationship, philosophy and Christianity. The Holy Spirit gave each of the men very good answers to their questions. The Buddhist replied, “You know what, you’re the first Christian who hasn’t condemned me or tried to shame me. You are for real. What you told me about Jesus makes sense, so I tell you what, I’m really going to think about what you told me.”

The agnostic nodded his head in agreement. Both took the tracts I hand out to everyone I meet. I asked them if they needed prayer. The Buddhist said, “Yes, you can pray for my sick dad,” so I did, right then and there by the bar’s entrance. Funny, they both bowed their heads. I asked the second man if he needed prayer. He said no. When I said good bye to the two, the one I prayed for thanked me for praying for his dad and reminded me that he would seriously consider what I had shared.

HOLY SPIRIT GOOSE BUMPS

I hoisted the large cross on my shoulder and said bye. The agnostic said, “I’ll walk with you for a few minutes. I’m parked up the street anyway” That’s when he really opened up. In a nutshell, I told him that Jesus loved him and that God wanted to give him the free gift of eternal life. As we approached his car he said, “Whoa, why do I have goose bumps all over my body!” Told him that this was God’s Spirit confirming as truth what he just heard. He smiled big  and said, “No one has ever told me what you told me. Makes real sense. I will really think about all this. I really will.” I nodded, gave him my phone number and invited him to call me if he wanted to talk more.

What you just read was typical this day. Many conversations with people who, perhaps for the first time, go to see Jesus the way He probably wants all people to see Him. Hoisting the cross at the huge City Hall, the Police Department, and other government buildings, people would approach and start conversations about religion or their personal faith. Every time, Jesus won! That’s because He is ultimate and absolute truth. And He promised that His truth would set us free.

THIS STORY YOU WON’T BELIEVE

What more can I add about this cross walk? Well, a whole lot more. But you should know this: people everywhere are hurting. They are doing things that normally they wouldn’t. So they need to hear about God’s amazing grace and His unfailing love, regardless of where sin has taken them. Like the man and woman next door to my motel room.

The husband lost his good-paying job, other things happened, and for whatever reason, he was now prostituting his wife. Unbelievable, but true. He came up to me and confessed everything, while his wife stood limp and morally defeated in their motel doorway.  Tears ran down his face as he told me all this.

There is no sin that God can’t forgive. I shared this vital truth to the two of them, and told them that God’s grace was much bigger than their sin, their disgrace, their shame, their defeat and their failure. They both cried out to the Lord for help.

Help arrived! Both rededicated their lives to Jesus. That’s right. They both knew the Lord before all this. But life can be cruel. The two of them promised to call their families and ask them for help to escape their dead-end lifestyle. They pledged to not prostitute any longer. They shared they would do this now. We prayed some more, then I said good bye after hugging them both for a very long time. Crumbled and crushed lives need strong and powerful hugs of assurance and affirmation.

So much more to share about this particular cross walk. But it’s time to go to the next story. Suffice to say, you give the Word of God the opportunity to compete for the souls (corrupted, interrupted and disrupted as can be) of people, and the Word will always win. I repeat, the Word will always win. The secret to winning? Be there to give the Word opportunity to compete! Amen and amen.