December 2019

Last night I walked in a fast food restaurant I frequent for study and spoke to a disheveled couple and sat down from them.  We didn’t speak and I didn’t hear anything from Jesus and, eventually, they left.  I studied for an hour or so and they came back into the store, sat down again.  At that time I noticed they looked dirty, smelled bad, and had that “deer in the headlights” look on their faces – we will call them “Clyde” and “Bonnie.”  I felt I needed to engage, so I asked them what was going on with them.  They were homeless and she was pregnant.  When I asked him, his understanding of salvation came from his grandmother who told him that if he was good and did the best he could, he would go to heaven.  I asked him if I could respond directly to his grandmother’s point.  He said “Yes,” so I said “Your grandmother is wrong!”  I started taking them both on a quick trip through the Biblical narrative and the need for salvation, the One sent to meet that need, and a quick verbal test to see if they were in fact in need of that salvation.  They both agreed that if all three of us were standing in the presence of God today they would be found guilty and judged to hell.  “That’s a problem” we all agreed; so, I asked if they wanted to accept the free gift that pays the fine for transgressions against God and sets them free.  They responded with an encouraging “Yes!”  We prayed Jesus in, fed them dinner (they hadn’t eaten), and got them a hotel room for the night.