Thinking for a moment that this discussion was going nowhere, I decided to answer the question and then end the conversation. Because, Eric, I said, God is not only just and righteous, He is also very patient. He doesn't want anyone to die, and in fact, He is waiting for you to accept His son, Jesus, as your Savior.

Eric looked at me and started to reply with another question, but I spoke before he could ask it. Listen guys, here's the truth. There is no way I can explain God and all that He is. I do know that He loves you, both of you, so much that He allowed His son to die on the Cross for your sins. I looked at Eric and then at his friend Jake who had been standing there the entire time with his head down and listening in silence.

Our conversation had started a few minutes earlier on the corner of Ninth and Massachusetts, a very busy part of downtown Lawrence, Kansas. I had given both of these young men a tract and then told them that the message on the back was very important. This caused them to stop, and Eric began to ask questions regarding God. Eric's willingness to talk gave me the opportunity to speak about the Law and the Gospel and so the conversation had continued. Jake said absolutely nothing the entire time, keeping his head down with his hands in front of him.

Eric, listen. If I were to give you a Bible, would you read the book of John tonight, and because you have so many questions, would you just ask Jesus to show Himself to you?

Eric's No. did not surprise me, but still I had to try. What about you, Jake?, I asked, looking toward the still, quiet young man. He didn't reply immediately, nor did he even look at me for a few seconds, and then he lifted his head and looked into my eyes.

The eyes are the windows of our souls, and I saw in those eyes a soul that was hurting, lost and confused. What shocked me the most was that it was like looking into a mirror of my past. I could so much see a part of my old self, the old creature, that my heart broke. When Jake finally spoke, it was one word. Yeah, he said, and then looked back at the ground. In no time, Judi pulled a Bible from my backpack and I placed it in Jakes hand. Just ask Jesus to show you who He is Jake. Read the book of John with an open heart and He will show you.

Jake took the Bible and put it in his pocket, he did not look up, nor did he say anything else. Some friends of Jake and Eric had come along in this time, and the five of them began to walk away. I watched them walking down the sidewalk and began to pray for each of them. I turned them over to God and asked Him to grow the seed, then turned away. And then I turned back around to look at them again, and they were still walking and gently pushing Jake along with them. Then, as if they had hit a wall, they stopped. The little group was focused on Jake he would not move, he just stood there. As I watched he turned around and made direct eye contact with me. Even from a half block away I could see the pain in his eyes. And then he started walking back toward me. He's coming back! Praise God! I said.

He walked up to me without ever breaking eye contact, and stood directly in front of me. He never said a word, just looked at me. Lord, I silently prayed. I have no idea what to say to this young man! You have to talk for me. Jake continued looking at me, as I spoke. Do you know that Satan is a liar? I asked him. No response, except a small tear in the corner of his eye. Do you know that someday every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord? I asked. The tear slid down his cheek. Please God, touch this young man. Do you know that Jesus Christ Loves you? That broke him. In two steps this eighteen year old had his arms around me and his head on my shoulder, weeping, his body shaking from his tears and his anguish of spirit. He held me so tight that I could do nothing but put my arms around him. His tears fell so hard and fast that I could feel them beginning to soak my shirt down my neck and back. His body shook as he held me. I cried out to the Father, Thank you Lord! Please Father, I don't know what to do or what to say. I prayed. His answer was, Tell him I love him. Tell him that I died for him. That I know him and all of his pain.

I cannot recall all the words I spoke to this young man, but for almost seven minutes he held on to me and continued to cry as I spoke the Truth of Jesus to him. I told him that Satan lies, and that there is nothing that he, Jake, has ever done cannot be forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ. And then I asked him if he wanted to talk. He pulled back and looked at me, still hurting and somewhat confused, Yea. was the reply he gave. I led him to a wall and we sat down with my brother Russell. Jake's friends were still standing around watching, and without a doubt confused and wondering what was happening to their friend. Eric tried to get Jake to leave again, but Jake acted as if he didn't even hear him.

How long we sat on the wall is beyond my remembering, but I know that it was quite sometime before Jake even looked up at me. His tears kept flowing and I just kept telling him about Jesus' love and sacrifice for him personally. Finally I told him that Jesus was speaking to him right at that moment, and that Jesus was pounding on the door to his heart wanting to be let in. I asked if he would allow Jesus to come into his life. Yes, I want that. I need that.

Normally I do not say a prayer for salvation with others, but obviously, this was not a normal situation. And so I told Jake to just talk to Jesus in his heart, say this prayer and Jesus will do the rest. As I began to pray, Jake tried to repeat the words out loud but because of his tears it took us almost three minutes to pray. And then he was quiet again.

Russell was sitting with us most of that time, with his hand on Jake's shoulder offering words of comfort and prayer. Judi and Jim Carroll were sitting a few feet away, their heads bowed in continual prayer as Jake accepted his Savior and allowed Jesus to enter into his heart. Wow! Such an amazing experience! These words that I type do nothing to describe the awesome movement of the Holy Spirit that came on this young man. Russell told Jake that the angels were rejoicing over his salvation, and we told him that he would now spend eternity with the King of Kings. He continued to sit, with his head down, the tears no longer coming. I asked him how he felt and when he looked up, there was a spark in his eyes.

His friend, Eric came over, and sat down next to his friend in Russell's place. Jake, come on man, we have to go. He touched him and repeated this several times. Finally Eric looked at me and said. What's going on? (Thank you Lord, what a testimony that you have shown us who You are!)

I gave Jake my contact information, prayed with him for protection, told him that Satan no longer has any claim over him and he belongs to the Kingdom of Jesus. And then his friends led him down the street again. The end? Yea, right.

Jim, Russell, Judi and myself could not stop from rejoicing at everything we had just seen. Our spirits were singing, our words rejoicing and our hearts leaping within us as we packed up and started to leave. As God would have it, we just happened to be parked in the direction the kids had gone. We watched as the four young people hovered over their friend, with obvious concern and wonderment as they led him down the street. As we watched, Jake stopped, as if hitting a wall, and the friends who had kept going in their momentum, had to turn around to him again.

We watched as Jake again turned back around and stood with his hands in front of him. We heard his friends trying to get him to go the other way. But God had other plans. As we watched, this young man walked back the way they had just come and into a small grassy corner lot. He pulled out the Bible we had given him and stood there, with his head down, opened the Bible and began to read. His friends stood around him. What were they thinking, we may never know, but we do know that God touched every one of us on Saturday, in the small college town of Lawrence, Kansas. And we know that He is faithful and will do all things according to His timing and His Glory. All praise goes to God\205 we just showed up, and He showed off.

Jake was still reading the Bible when we drove away ten minutes later. I asked God if I should go over to him. No, no, this is my child. Praise God, what would I have said anyway?

Tell them, I AM

Let's go fishing. Contact Russell Rosenberg of Topeka Bible Church if you live near this area and really want to see how God can and does show off. He is calling his children home, they are on the streets, not in the church.

Kevin B Thompson

Jericho Riders

Storming the gates of hell

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from Russell Rosenberg of Topeka, Kansas, asking others to join him on a fishing (for men) trip. The trip was scheduled to take place in the busy college town of Lawrence, Kansas, on August 29^th in the popular old-downtown shopping/restaurant area on the corner of Ninth and Massachusetts. Not knowing who would be there, Russell showed up at the scheduled time and began to prepare for an afternoon of witnessing and handing out tracts. In reality, his preparation had started when God told him to go to Lawrence and share the Gospel. Russell is new at sharing his faith to strangers…he still gets sweaty palms, his stomach turns, and his fears try to rise up against him as he prays and thinks of what may happen. Two others show up to join him, Eric Thompson and Alvin from Kansas City. They came prepared to open-air preach and hand out tracts. Russell’s wife, Trudy also came along to stand in the background as a prayer warrior and give spiritual aid.

A half hour later, Judi, Jim Carroll, and myself showed up and joined the fishing group. Eric had already preached once by the time we arrived, and Russell said he had already given out over one hundred “million dollar tracts”.

Not long after we arrived, I watched as Eric and Russell handed some tracts to three young adults. Almost immediately, one of the young men (Nate) became verbally hostile towards them and started cursing them and God. As Eric and Russell were trying to speak with the other two, Nate became more animated and angry. Eric finally interrupted him and told him that he didn’t know what he was talking about, and that he was being very rude by yelling and cursing just because we were sharing the message of Jesus. Eric said that he wasn’t forcing him to stand there and listen, and that he was free to leave at any time. He also told him that it was only because we cared about him that we did this.

Eric then went on to speak to some other kids that had arrived, and he spoke with them for quite some time. Russell had started talking to Nate, who continued cursing and spouting off nonsense regarding a “god” of his own making and weird things that he claimed were in the Bible. At this, I approached Nate and Russell, held a Bible in front of Nate, and asked him to show where he got his information.

He looked at me and the Bible and said “Keep that away from me or I’ll burn it.” I told him that would not be wise, and that his anger with God was keeping him from seeing the truth.

To shorten the story, I’ll just say that these kids ended up hanging out with us for about an hour. then finally moved on. During this hour Eric, Russell and I spoke to them and addressed their angers and pains individually and collectively. These young people came from broken and/or abusive homes. They were the outcasts that get beat-up and pushed to the side. They sat around Eric as he told them about God’s love, agape love, and they listened as he told them about Jesus’ dying on the cross…for them. They “drank from the well” and wanted more, they needed more, and you could tell this because they started to leave several times but kept coming back.

Nate, the young man who had threatened to burn my Bible, ended up taking a copy of the New Testament with him. He made no promises of reading the book of John and asking Jesus to reveal Himself, but said, “I will take it into consideration.” That was good enough for me, and as I gave him a Bible, I said, “If you burn this, that will be between you and God, but that would still not destroy the Truth of His message.” He’s only sixteen, and his anger was so strong against God and the world that he did not understand the love that was being offered to him, yet he responded with a “Thank you” and “We will see.”

Before they left, Eric gave most of them a copy of Mark Cahill’s book, “One Heart Beat Away”. What had started out as a group of four hostile young adults, ended as a Bible study with ten thirsty children on a downtown corner of Lawrence, Kansas.