As I was exiting the highway on the off-ramp to get some gas, there was a guy standing along the inside of the ramp asking for money. I enjoy chatting with those guys, but I wasn’t near him, so I pulled off down the street and hit a gas station near there.
Well, a few minutes later, he came walking by. He was noticing the message on one of my car magnets. He walked up and said that he liked it. I said, “Are you thirsty?” He was, so we went into the convenience store to get something to drink.
As we began talking about his life and what he was going through, I let him know that Jesus is his only hope. When we were back outside and standing by my car, I noticed he was wearing a cross that looked more like rosary beads. Then he said, “I am Catholic.” Open door. I walked Johnny through the Ten Commandments. He let me know that he was a liar, a thief, and a murderer, because of the anger in his heart.
“Would you be guilty or not guilty on Judgment Day?”
“Guilty,” he said.
“Would that mean heaven or hell?”
“Hell,” he stated.
Then I explained the cross of Jesus, what the blood of Christ does for us, and how Jesus—and Jesus alone—can cleanse us of our sins.
At this point, I will many times use a simple example with people. I say, “If you bought that shirt at a mall, and it still had the security tag on it, and you walked through that door (I point to one), what would happen?”
I asked Johnny this question, and he said, “The alarm would go off.”
I then say, “Word picture. The gates of heaven are the same way. If there were two sensors on it, only one thing would set the alarm off. What would that be?” He said, “Our sins.” Exactly.
Then I say, “But if all of your sins are cleansed by the blood of Christ, what would happen?” Johnny got a big smile on his face and said, “You could walk right in!” Thank the Most High God for the blood of His Son!
John 3:15
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
1 John 5:1
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
Johnny liked to read, so I gave him a One Second After You… booklet and a book to read. I told him that I wanted him to read the booklet because it lays out what being born again is and how to be saved. Then I added, “Once you are done reading it, it is time to make your commitment to Jesus.” He said he would read it.
As I was leaving the gas station, I took this picture. As you can tell, I didn’t take photography in high school! But that is Johnny over there with his head down reading the booklet. I watched for a bit. He kept walking up and down the path where he normally asks for money, just reading away.
Please pray for Johnny’s soul.
God is good! Go and plant a seed for Him today!
Until the nets are full,
P.S. We hear from people all the time who love giving out these booklets and people who were impacted by receiving them! Patricia wrote in with her comments about my booklet, One Second After You… She said, “I’m reading this book over and over every day. Powerful and inspiring.”
One Second After You… is a quick, one-hour investment that someone like Johnny can make in their eternity. It covers all the bases and gets the gospel across clearly in short order. And to make them just as easy to give out, we have put them at 20% off the normally suggested donation. Check them out on our Specials page by clicking below!
https://markcahill.org/product-category/specials/
P.P.S.
