It was Friday morning. I left for Denver and found a gang that was only in existence for seven days. This gang also had seven members. There was a second gang nearby. I walked up to speak to the younger gang. Victorio, the leader, came up to me and took the cross off my neck. He said, “You don’t wear crosses around here. I like this cross, it is mine now.” He probably wanted to flex his muscles to show the other gang how cool he was. I was kind of bummed because that cross has been with me in many places with many gangs. We have anointed many things and people together. I was going to surely miss it. But it’s only an object it’s not the true King. He put it on his neck to see how it would feel. He was about ready to take it off and put it in his pocket. The Holy Spirit said, “That Cross belongs to Sonny. Do not put that Cross in your pocket or it’ll burn inside your pocket. It is meant to be worn on the outside as a symbol of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for you.” He abruptly sat down on the bench nearby. The second gang was watching and listening to what was going on and noticed how hard Victorio sat down. They came over and asked Victorio, “What are you doing?”
Victorio said, ” I cannot get up. Just leave me alone.” He was thoroughly embarrassed and did not know what to do to get out of the situation.
The other gang asked, “What do you mean you cannot get up?”
Victorio looked back at me and nervously said, “I didn’t mean to sit down. Some kind of force just push me down on this bench. No matter what I do, I cannot get up either. What is that voice I just heard? I have never heard anything like this before. What can I do so I can get up?”
I said, “You can give me my cross back and you will be able to get up. That cross is Anointed. Do you see what those three nails are? Each nail represents an area of Jesus Christ’s body that was pierced for us when he went to the cross. Jesus Christ is just like that cross. You cannot just take him. You physically have to ask him to come into your heart. If you would have asked me for that cross, I would have given it to you.” I then said, “My King made you sit down. He wants you to listen to me. We are never promised tomorrow. Even for me, it is not promised. My King wants your heart. He also wants you to go back to your family.” Victorio thought about what I said and replied, “I have been missing my family and would like to go back.”
I then said, “Jesus Christ still wants your heart. You still have too much bitterness and anger that you need to get rid of before you can be effective for him. You need to make a decision now.”
Victorio sheepishly said, “I guess I have nothing to lose.”
I replied, “Your soul is at stake. You have a lot to lose.” This scared Victorio even more. Then I said, “Ask Jesus to forgive your sins and you will be able to get up.” The minute he asked for his sins to be forgivin, the force that was holding him down stopped and he was able to get up. That really scared him.
Victorio said, “I do want to accept Jesus Christ and I want to go home.” Victorio took the cross off of his neck and he said, “This is yours. I am sorry that I took it from you.” Victorio made a complete heart change to Jesus Christ. My King said, “Sonny just let him have the cross.”
I replied, “No, you keep it. It is a gift from me. Always remember me and what I said when you look at it.” His boys then asked, “Are we a gang anymore?” Victorio responded, “No, I am giving my heart to Jesus and going home.” His boys thought about what he said. They too were missing their families and they saw what happened. They looked at me and said, “We want to know the God that you know. We too want to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior.”
The other gang came up to Victorio and said, “Why don’t you just hit this guy so he’ll leave you alone? ” Victorio said, “No, he has the answers I have been looking for. His God is my God now. I want to leave this life and go serve his God.” Victorio then said, “Jesus Christ died for me before I was even born. He died to save me from my sins. It is amazing the sacrifice he made for me. I want to serve him.” He started talking to other gang like he was going to preach the word of God to them. I was amazed on how the Holy Spirit was putting words in his mouth as he talked to the other gang. He then said, “I was held down and could not move when I took Sonny’s cross. After I asked for forgiveness of my sins, gave myself to Jesus Christ and offered to give the cross back, I was released. Now I can wear this cross after he gave it to me and I can stand up and move around.”
The 2nd gang said, “You finally earned a spot here in this park. I sent over three of my toughest men and you just trashed them and you’re going to give that all up. You’ve only been a gang for seven days. You haven’t even had a chance to do anything.”
Victorio said, “Yep, I’m going home to my family and I am going to serve Jesus Christ.”
I had a chance to witness to the second gang. I asked them, “Would you like to know about Jesus Christ and his power.”
They asked, “What kind of power?”
I responded, “It’s the Holy Spirit power.” Then Victorio spoke, “Yeah, that is a lot of power. He just threw me down on the bench like there was nothing to it.” The second gang listened to everything that we said. They were not ready to do anything yet so they tried to get off on another subject.
Then they asked, “Are you hungry?” Victorio said, “Yes, we haven’t eaten in awhile.” They said, “We have donuts and orange juice. You are welcome to share with us.” All the other gangs congratulated them and told them that’s cool man but we got to go. So they left to go sit in their cars. Victorio and his gang called their parents. When all their parents arrived, I prayed with them. They all gave their hearts to Jesus Christ. It was beautiful. The second gang was watching everything from their cars. When they saw all the hugging and love being shown, it was to much for them. They got out of their cars and began walking back. Victorio said, “Hey essay, it looks like they want to give their lives to Jesus Christ.” I replied, “Yes, you are right.” They all gave their hearts to Jesus Christ. They too called their families and they also came.
While this was all going on, a white van pulled up. I noticed it did not have a license plate on it. A guy come out and asked, “Do you guys need some Bibles?” I said, “Yes, everyone here wants one.” He said, “Have everybody make three lines. We have Bibles for everyone. On right side of the van we have pop and water if anybody needs a drink.” At first I thought maybe Noah sent the van but I’m not sure. All I know is they knew the need for Bibles so everybody got one. Victorio keeps talking about the love that Jesus Christ has for us and how he sacrificed his life for us. That has become very important in his life. He now wants to go out and talk to other gangs. He speaks with amazing power. He wants to have a career as being a minister. Right now, he calls me nearly daily to get scriptures for different situations. Just like me, the Holy Spirit will take over and give him the scriptures that he will need. What a powerful morning I had!
I am not sure why my King needed his heart today. There’s a possibility if he continued living his life the way he was, he may have died even tomorrow. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through him. A life without Jesus is a life of eternity in the Lake of Fire. It is not my King’s desire for anybody to go there. He loved Victorio very much and wanted him to spend his eternity with him. We have that free will to decide if we want his gift or not. Please give your life to Jesus Christ today if you have not already. Not everybody will get a warning like Victorio to decide whether he wants to be with Jesus or not. I am going to meet with a another gang this afternoon. My King wants me to feed them because they are going to be hungry.
Later this afternoon, my King asked me to pick up pizzas for another gang. I headed off to my favorite Little Caesars pizza restaurant to get those hot and ready pizzas. I noticed a guy getting out of his van. I saw his wife and many kids inside the van. He went inside and picked up a pepperoni pizza. He had a difficult time paying for it. He was scrounging through what little money he had to find enough to cover it. I said to myself, “That is not enough for his family. I should get them another one and take it out to them.” The staff knows me well at that Little Ceasar Pizza restaurant. The girl there was watching me watch him leave the restaurant. She said, “I know exactly what you are thinking Sonny. You don’t worry about it. I will take care of it.” She handed me the pizza and I took it out to them. I handed the pizza to them. Then I said, “The restaurant wants to bless you.” He was greatful because his family was very hungry and were going to Colorado Springs to start a new job. As he removed the coupons on the box, a fifty dollar bill appeared. Very emotionally he said, “Now I have enough to buy gas to get to our destination.” I explained that the $50 came from the restaurant also. We can always find people in need if we look for it.