Ties That Bind……Or Strangle?

“I heard he had invaded our turf, and now he stood before me. He was tall and skinny and every inch a hillbilly just like they said. I squared off in front of him and yelled,’ Get the h… out of here preacher man or I’ll kill you!’ He didn't move but stood calmly looking at me.

I was enraged! I spit on him and then slapped his face hard. Through clenched teeth I yelled again, ‘You deaf? Get the h… off my street!’ I pulled out my switchblade thinking, ‘There's no way he can really, really take it. This will get him moving.’

He smiled at me and said, “Nicky, Jesus loves you and so do I.”

I screamed and lunged at him with the knife, but it felt like some force held me back. I just wanted to kill him. I was so full of hate and violence. I'd been in lots of fights and hurt a lot of people and it left me feeling good.

He didn't flinch a muscle, but smiled again and said softly, “Nicky, you can cut me into a 1000 pieces and lay them all over the street, and every piece will cry out that Jesus loves you.”

I was completely freaked out. This man had a quiet strength that came from somewhere that I had never encountered before. I turned around and fled.”

The speaker is Nicky Cruz, who at the time was the leader of the Mau Maus, one of the most vicious gangs in Brooklyn in the late 1950s. The man he confronted was David Wilkerson, a minister from a small rural church in Pennsylvania who had come to New York City to work with gang youth.

Nicky Cruz describes himself at the time as an animal, without any morality. Why did he run from David Wilkerson? For the first time in his life, he had just been confronted with real love and it terrified him.

Nicky had no idea how to respond to love. He was raised in Puerto Rico by parents who were involved in witchcraft and Satanism. They constantly physically and mentally abused him, and he was routinely exposed to Satan worship, animal sacrifices, séances and all types of black magic. You might say he had family ties that had strangled the ability to love out of him.

Fortunately for Nicky, David Wilkerson was not easily deterred, and he continued to pursue Nicky with the love of Jesus. Eventually God's love overcame Nicky's anger and distrust. He said “Yes” to God and found in David Wilkerson the loving father that he had never known before.

I do not know if you come from a family with ties that bind you in loving relationships, or if like Nicky, you come from a family with ties that strangled love out of you. I do know that Father God is inviting you into a family with loving ties that bind His heart to yours. Romans 8:15 says it best. “For you did not receive the spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption. By that Spirit we cry to God, “Abba, Father.”

Please join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM. We are continuing our current series on “The Victorious Church,” and my son, Gabriel Ahn will be speaking on "Vessels of Honor."

Pastor Che