5/19/15 David early 20’s
I stopped by a park after work to intentionally share the
Gospel. Most of the people there were
parents busy watching and playing with their young children. Not wanting to interrupt, I reached out to
the first person who looked like they had time to talk – a twenty-something young
man named David. He was on his way
through the park after skateboarding with friends. He happened to be heavily decorated with multiple
nose rings, lip rings, assorted other piercings and tattoos. His appearance invited attention, either positive
or negative, and he told how he has often been approached by gang members
trying to bully him or recruit him, thugs trying to rob him, or religious
people trying to convert him. He grew up
in an abusive household, and considers himself a misunderstood victim – good at
heart but unappreciated and misunderstood by others who would take advantage of
him. He has a strong belief in ghosts
and spirits who are attracted to him for the same reasons, and was on his way
to a friend’s house for a séance when I had stopped him. He believes in God, but his attention is
focused on a variety of false beliefs and the spirit world he is involved
him. We had a long, two-way conversation
- which he appreciated compared to other religious people who only judged his
outward appearance and preached at him – and we worked through many issues in
the process. I believe the main progress
we made was in taking his focus off the false teachings and spirits, and focusing
his attention on God and the good news of the Gospel. “It’s important to realize that evil does
exist and we need to be aware of it, but our focus needs to be on God and His
truth” I told him. At least for a time,
he was able to help him see the truth of Hebrews 11 - “…let us throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run
with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the
pioneer and perfecter of faith.”
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