On the afternoon of March 5th, a gang pulled up at the park while I was waiting. The leader of the gang is called Johnny. There are eleven boys in his gang. I did not know them, so I decided to introduce myself to them. I have learned to recognize the leaders and I sked, “What is your name?”
He replied, “Everyone calls me Johnny Depp because I look like him.”
I said, “You really do look like him.” I looked at the rest of them and said, “Well, the rest of you guys look like the little rascals to me, so I am calling you the little rascals.”
His men replied, “That is not even funny?”
I looked at the leader and asked, “What is your real Christian name?”
This caught everybody off guard, and they were dumbfounded. The leader had a puzzled looked and said, “How did you know that I have a Christian name?”
I replied, “I know what your Christian name is.”
He retorted back, “So what is my Christian name?”
I replied, “Paul!”
He said, “How did you know that?”
I replied, “That is what my King said. But your first name is Matthew, and your middle name is Paul. You told your parents before you left that you hated your first name and that you would never go by that name again. So, you go by your middle name Jonathan.”
Jonathan exclaimed, “How do you know all that?”
I replied, “My King sent me here to talk to you.”
Jonathan then asked, “Who are you?”
I replied, “I am just a messenger to remind you that your name was written in the Lambs Book of Life. Why did you walk away from God?”
Jonathan then said, “I use to go to church where I received Jesus in my heart, but my dad was an alcoholic and abused me.”
Jonathan replied, “You are right that I was a Christian. I was 16 years old when I left home.”
I said, “You have made bad choices in your life.”
Jonathan replied, “My messenger, will you tell me what to do? I want to keep my name written in the Lambs Book of Life?”
I asked, “Are you ready to rededicate your heart to the lord?”
Jonathan said, “Yes!”
I then said, “You have to forgive your dad first before we continue.”
I looked at Jonathan ’s men and asked, “Is anybody hungry? I have 3 pizzas and a cooler with cold drinks.”
The boys were eager to get something to eat and helped me bring the food to the picknick tables. I said, “Let me pray for the meal.” As soon as I was done praying, they began eating. I began anointing the notepads that I was about to give them.
I looked over his men and asked, “Who wants to write notes to your parents and siblings?” All the boys raised their hands. I then asked, “If you guys had only 3 days to live what would you say to your parents and siblings?”
Jonathan stared at his pad for a moment and asked, “Sonny, can you help me write my note to my dad?”
I said, “Yes, I can help write it. Just tell me what you want to say.”
Jonathan began by saying,” Father, please forgive me for the things I have said to you when I ran out of the house. I hope that you can forgive me. I miss those days of going fishing with you. Your son Jonathan.”
All the boys finished writing their notes. They said, “Sonny, we’re going to deliver our notes now.” I prayed with them before they left. The leader called me tonight. He was sobbing, “My dad has been sober for 4 years. He stopped drinking when I left home. He also got saved while I was away.”
I said, “How are you doing? Are you ok?”
He said, “My dad stopped drinking after he got help. He has given his life to Jesus Christ. He is a real Christian now. Before I left my dad would act like a Christian in name only, but he wasn’t real. When I gave him my note my dad cried. He asked me, ‘Are you coming home son?’ My dad held me in his arms and we both cried for a long time. I told him I did not want to come home until I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. I want God to give me a new heart.”
I reached over and hugged Jonathan. Before his men left, I asked them, “Those of you that want your names written in the Lambs Book of Life to come forward.” They all came to give their lives to Jesus Christ. I then said, “Tell your parents I want to meet them.” They confirmed they would be there tomorrow.
I could tell the leader had something going on that was bothering him. Soon, he began to share it with me. He said, “Sonny, I have a request. I know you were sent here to talk to us about Jesus, but can you come with me to pray for my grandpa at the hospital?”
I replied, “Yes I can. I will even take you to the hospital.”
He said, “Thank you Sonny! My grandpa just had surgery and he’s really sick.”
Before we left, I made arrangements with his men to start eating the food that I had in my pickup. I said, “Ok, before Jonathan and I leave, I have pizza and the coolers with cold drinks. I need help getting them out of my pickup and set them on the picknick tables.”
One of the boys asked, “Sonny, do you happen to have Captain Crunch cereal?”
I replied, “Yes I do. The bowls, spoons, and the milk are in one of the coolers.”
I said, “You guys can start eating and we’ll be back later.”
They replied, “Ok, we’ll wait here for you to return.”
I said, “Ok Jonathan, let’s go to the hospital.” When we arrived at the hospital and started walking in, the security guard asked, “How can I help you?”
Jonathan replied, “We’re here to see my grandpa and my friend is going to pray for him.”
The security guard answered, “Ok, I’ll walk you there, but you can’t stay long.”
Jonathan and I walked into his grandpas the room. Jonathan’s parents and his grandma were already in the room. His parents jumped up and hugged him.
His grandpa Isaiah said, “hi Jonathan. How are you doing.”
Jonathan answered, “Hi grandpa” while he reached down to hug him. He then introduced me. He said, “Grandpa, this is Sonny. He is a minister of the streets and I have asked him to come and pray for you.”
I immediately began praying for him and anointed him with oil. When I finished praying, his grandpa thanked me. Jonathan’s dad was called Abraham. His grandpa looked directly at his son and said, “Abraham, this is the time to ask for forgiveness from your son.”
Abraham replied, “Your right dad!” He went over to Jonathan and said, “I want to ask for your forgiveness for everything I said and did to you that was wrong. I stopped drinking after you left. I have been sober for more than three years now” His mom and grandma piped in and said, “That is true, he doesn’t drink anymore.”
Boy you could feel the release in the atmosphere with what was about to happen. Jonathan answered, “Please forgive me dad for the things I said to you before I left.” They both began crying and hugged each other. His grandpa took a deep breath and it scared everyone.
I said, “Don’t be afraid he’s just resting. He finally has peace from what happened today as he fell asleep.”
his grandmother answered, “How did you meet my grandson?”
I said, “I met him at the park. God had me bring frisbees that I put two Bible verses on them. John 3:16 and Jeremiah 29:11. Jonathan and his boys were there at the park, and I started throwing frisbees at them.”
As I finished my thought, a doctor came in with two nurses. They said, “It’s time to leave now. He really needs his rest.” So, we all walked back out into the waiting room. Jonathan ’s dad said, “Son, would you like to take a walk?”
Jonathan said, “Yes dad, let’s take a walk.”
I was left standing with his mom and grandma. I said, “Before you ask me anything, my King gets all the glory and the victory. I just get to see what he does.”
They continued to ask me questions until Jonathan and his dad came back. Jonathan said, “We’re going back to the park because the boys are waiting for us.”
His mom replied, “Can you and the boys come over to the house later? Grandpa is coming home tomorrow, and he wants to have a barbecue. It’s at 4:30 pm.”
Jonathan said, “Yes mom, we will be there.” They hugged Jonathan said, “We’ll see you tomorrow.” As they continued saying their goodbyes, we began walking back to the truck. Jonathan still had tears running down his face as we drove off. He sat there silently. I asked, “Are you OK?”
Jonathan replied, “This was one of the best memories of my life. No one can take this away from me.”
I answered, “I am so proud of you for the way you handled things. You forgave your dad and asked for forgiveness.”
He replied, “Thank you sonny for being there for me.”
We finally arrived back at the park and the boys asked, “So, how is your grandpa?” Jonathan answered, “He’s doing great and is resting now.”
I said, “You guys keep the coolers and the box of the chips to take to the barbecue.” The boys exclaimed, “What! We’re going to a barbecue?”
Jonathan replied, “Yes, at my parents’ house tomorrow. My grandpa wants to have a barbecue because he’s going home tomorrow.”
The Holy Spirit continued to move the rest of the day until Jonathan and all of his men all gave their hearts to Jesus Christ. This ends a chapter in Jonathan’s life. Jonathan understands what it is to have Jesus in your heart. In the next chapter of his life Jonathan is looking for a way to bring Christ into the lives of unsaved uncles and family members.