One of the new drug cartels in Denver heard about me on the streets. Because I minister to gangs on the street, the gangs have a tendency to give their hearts to Jesus Christ. This action in turn hurts their business moving drugs. Jesus Christ sets you free from this kind of behavior.
I happened to be in a parking lot and the drug cartel saw my pickup. They pulled into the parking lot and surrounded me with nine black Cadillacs. The interesting part about this is actually the fourth time that black Cadillacs from various organizations have surrounded me. It seems like black Cadillacs and bad guys go hand-in-hand.
I got out of my pickup with my sword, the Bible, to see what they wanted. They said, “We just want to let you know we are going to beat you up. You are hurting our business and we don’t like it. We are only beating you up this time because it’s a warning. The next time we are going to physically shoot you. You just leave all the gang members alone.”
I replied, “I do not listen to you guys. I only listen to what my King tells me to do. He gave me a ministry to witness to gangs but he also gave me a ministry to witness to guys like you. My King says I am to make disciples of all nations. I am here to tell you that Jesus loves you and he has a different purpose for your lives than what you are doing now. If you want to beat me up, go ahead, but let me pray for you first.”
The leader seemed to become fearful. He said, “You know what, you just pray for us and we will get out of here.” When he said that all of his men started looking at him really strangely. They knew they came here to beat me up and they could not figure out what was going on. Every one of his men was holding one of those small black clubs just to hit me.
I began praying for each man. The Holy Spirit gave me insight into each person as I prayed. As I finished praying, the leader then said, “See you around later Sonny.” They all began heading toward the cars. I gave each man a ministry card as they passed by me.
The leader then called me later and wanted to meet with me on Friday night. We made arrangements to meet at 9:30 PM. As I was face to face with the leader, he said, “That night that we surrounded you I wanted to put a hurt on you so bad. I was trying to reach for my pistol but every time my hand would go near, it went into excruciating pain. Whenever I pulled my hand back it would return back to normal. I tried this several times. Every time I reached for my pistol my hand would severely cramp up. This scared me and I realize then that God was protecting you. I am now ready to give this life up. I want to accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I have left the organization. I even told the organization what my plans were. I told them that I am finished with what I was doing and I want a new purpose of my life. I just do not want to do this anymore.” He looked intently into my eyes and said, “I want to surrender my life right now Sonny! Tell me what to do and I will do it!”
I said, “Just ask Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. You don’t have to make an itemized list but just ask him to forgive you for the things that you have done.” I paused for a moment then said, “Then ask him to come into your heart and be your Lord and Savior. Do you believe that Jesus Christ rose in three days? Do You believe that he came to this world to save us?”
He replied, “I have heard it all but I’ve always been running away from God.”
He, his wife, and entire family was there listening to him as he gave his life to Jesus Christ. His wife began crying as her husband spoke the words giving his heart to Jesus Christ. His little girl and two little boys grabbed a hold of their dad and gave him a big hug. At this moment he said, “I want my name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!” As he spoke these words, little girl began crying. Those kids are going to remember this day when their dad gave his life to Jesus Christ.
The dad then shared with me that when he left the organization that they gave him a payoff like a retirement. To honor God he wants to invest all that money into God’s Kingdom. I then asked, “What happened to the rest of the boys?”
He responded, “They all went home to their families.”
There is a Cuban leader who resides in Denver and hires people to be part of his cartel. I asked him if he was the one that hired him and he confirmed that it was. Everyone’s been trying to find out who he is or where he’s at to arrest him. But he is very good at what he does and he stays hidden. The leader then said, “Sonny before I came here tonight he gave me a message to shoot you. I told him that after you prayed for us, I can’t do that because I cannot kill someone who just prayed for me. I was extremely nervous but he answered okay and gave me the envelope with the money and the title to the Cadillac.”
God gets the Glory and the Victory for this. Without God’s protection over the leader, he would have been shot. God has plans for this leader and he needs him alive. I cannot wait to see how God is going to use him.