Wallace is a tall, rather stately man who appears to be about 60. I have seen him around for the past few weeks and have waited for the opportunity to sit down with him. Today, the time was right and I sensed that God had arranged the moment. As I engaged in conversation with Wallace, I found him to be a thoughtful and quite articulate individual. The door was already wide open because Wallace was very familiar with what we’re up to on the streets of Durham and has attended some of the Bible meetings in the park. One of his first statements was, "I know I need to quit this drinking and doing drugs. I know I need to change my ways."
I said to him, "Wallace, the drinking and drugs are not your problem and you can’t change your ways." That statement seemed to pique his interest and he asked me what I thought his problem was and who I didn’t think he could change. I proceeded to tell him, "Your problem is the same as mine and every other human being: we have a sinful nature–a bent toward doing what is wrong–and there is nothing we can do to change that. We can exercise some discipline and self-control and do better for a while, but the problem is still there. We are sinners by nature as well as by practice and the only way that is ever going to change is for us to turn our lives over fully to Christ and allow him to change us."
Wallace said emphatically, "I know that."
I said, "How do you know that?" and he began quoting to me John 3:16-17. I said, "What do you think that means?" And Wallace proceeded to give me a very cogent presentation of the gospel. He explained to me how that salvation only comes to us through faith in Christ and his shed blood. He told me that believing on Christ frees of from condemnation and brings us eternal life. He had a clear grasp of what it means to be saved.
"Then, what’s holding you back, Wallace?" I asked him, "You see the light, now walk in it."
And Wallace said to me, "I spent over twenty years in prison. I was sentence to fifty years for murder; I went in with I was 34 and came out when I was 55. I cry everyday over my wasted life. And I drink every day. I smoke crack–just smoked it last night. I can’t get off the hook with the dealers; they want to keep me in debt to them; they get just about all the money I get my hands on. And I shoot up on heroin" He pulled up his sleeve and pointed to the needle marks on his arm. "How can I come to God the way I am?"
I said, "Wallace, that’s the only way we can come to God–just as we are. You will never be able to change yourself or ready yourself for the family of Christ. You have to come to him just as you are and let him change you from the inside out."
I prayed with Wallace and he prayed. He asked God to give him power to break with his past and start a new life. He prayed that God would allow him time to make up for some of the bad things he had done and to be a help and blessing to somebody else. He promised to meet with me regularly and give himself to growing in his faith. He invited me to his apartment and I told him I would come and pray with him there.
God has placed great potential in this man. I can see him walking the streets of this city sharing the gospel and witnessing to its power in his own life.
Wallace asks that you pray for him as he seeks to develop a strong walk with Christ.
This is shaping up to be a fruitful day!
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