The Day of Decision, The Americana and Hollywood TV Stars

Tomorrow is the Day of Decision event at my church and at hundreds of other churches in 33 different countries across the globe. On this day we are to use our God-given gift of free will and decide to have faith in God to help us solve one major problem in our lives. We were given a faith pact envelope to publically submit our problem to God and declare our faith in Him to see it resolved. Then, we will learn how to release God's power over a series of 7 consecutive Sundays, with tomorrow being the big kick off day. It will not be a regular church service, instead it will be strong prayer and support from God's written word, the Holy Bible.

In preparation for this event, I have been searching my heart very carefully for the one thing I will put my faith and believe God to resolve. I also increased my efforts to encouraged others to attend the event. I encouraged my friends and neighbors to attend, especially the ones who had major decisions coming up and were very worried about the result. I also increased my efforts among strangers or new acquaintances. I had handed out pamphets and flyers for previous church events on buses, in the park and in various stores and had had a good response. Many people talked to me about their increasing faith, their search for a church home or their wavering faith.

However last week they showed a video at church of how Christians would share their faith with strangers on the street for $100 quicker than just for the glory of our Lord. Some had expressed embarassment at approaching strangers on the street irreguardless of the money. I did not have trepidations about approaching strangers about the Lord before but now I realized that I was "preaching to the choir" and that's why I was confident. Most of the people I had approached were minorities, elderly or retired and most were from cultures which were boldly Christian.

To rectify this I decided to go to a place where I would find young, hip, busy people... so I went to The Americana. The Americana is a large mall in Glendale, a surburb of Los Angeles that is known for its trendy shops and the occassional star sighting. I decided thatI would do my Christian duty and talk to people there about God, difficult decisions and their faith. I would hand out the pamphlet and invite them to church for the Day of Decision. My friends from church bolstered my courage as they dropped me there.

I handed out pamphlets to lots of people. From the Asian teen who said he had just made a decision to go back to school at Harvard to the two young adult who talked with me for 15 minutes about how great God is, to the group of girls filling out applications for jobs at the mall. The highlight of the day was when I saw two guys in t-shirts casually walking to a store. Something was real familiar about the guy with the tattoos but I couldn't place it. I asked if they had any major decisions coming up that they may need God's help with. The first guy blew me off but the tattooed guy stopped for a second, just long enough for us to make eye contact.

Tattoed guy had the most gentliest of eyes and he couldn't say no even when his friend was waiting a bit impatiently. The guy looked like he was reflecting on some inner issues so I handed him a pamphlet which he reluctantly took. I said, "It's just a pamphlet... no committment". The guy smiled a little off centered smile, nodded politely and looked down at the pamphlet in his hands and shrugged. There was a brief moment where he looked really torn about something and I thought, "I know this guy... what's his name". He then he rolled the pamphlet into a cylinder in his hands and I thought he might toss it. Instead, he gripped it in his palms firmly and told me, "thanks". I told him, "God bless you" and we both turned away. They went up the escalator exactly as I realized who tatooed guy was. He was Steve O form the TV show, Jackass.

I never liked the little that I had seen of the show Jackass and could not stand Steve on it. However, I had taken to his boyish charm on Dances With The Stars this pass season, especially when I had learned about his struggles with drug addiction and a severe back injury. I had been praying for and rooting for him when he had been on the show and I had genuienly been concerned for him. Now, I had met him and had a chance to share the gospel with him, if only for a moment. I can tell that Steve has a very sensitive soul and I pray that he is victorious over his afflictions.