Memorable Salvations


A well-known preacher was once asked who was the most important person he led to the Lord. His response was that all salvations are precious to God. While I certainly agree with that statement, I’ve played a part in a few that were significant to me personally.

Probably the most famous person I led in the prayer of salvation was the man credited with discovering Prince. A transplanted Englishman named Chris Moon owned a Minneapolis recording studio during the 1970s. A demo tape of songs he co-wrote with Prince resulted in the first recording contract for the rock star. In 1995, I met Chris during a business opportunity presentation. Two years after that, he invited me over to his house to listen to a demo tape of songs I put together. In his living room, Chris prayed with me to get saved.


I’ve also handed gospel tracts to two men well known to Minnesota sports fans. One was Sid Hartman, a local sportswriter who I saw in 2013 at a Perkins restaurant. The other was Bud Grant, the Hall of Fame coach for the Minnesota Vikings. In 2014, my then-roommate and I went to one of Bud’s garage sales at his house in Bloomington. The coach accepted a tract after I told him it was written by a friend (evangelist Nick Kinn) who’s also a Vikings fan. Both these sports legends have since passed away. Hopefully, they were in right standing with the Lord. 


Then there was a man I prayed with who was named after a famous person. In 2002, a fellow missionary and I were driving around Tampa, Florida. We stopped at a park and led a large number of children to the Lord. When I stopped to use the bathroom, I heard one boy repeatedly say; “He’s in there.” When I returned outside, this boy who I had prayed with minutes before insisted I talk to “the coach.” He guided me to a middle-aged black man who I led in the prayer of salvation. Then I asked him what his name was. He said, “Billy Graham.” His father (who was a minister) had named his son after my former employer.


A year later, I was sightseeing in Madrid, Spain. When I briefly got off a double-decker tour bus, I looked behind me and noticed a woman standing in a park disguised as Minnie Mouse. Right away, I knew this was a divine appointment. I approached “Minnie” and found out she spoke a little English. I gave her a Spanish tract and quoted Romans 10:9 to her using a mixture of Spanish and English. Minnie (whose real name was Cecilia) prayed the sinner’s prayer from the Spanish tract. She became a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). 


The oldest person I know of that prayed with me to get saved was a 99-year-old World War II veteran. In 2019, I stopped at McDonald’s in Baxter, Minnesota. There I witnessed to Walt who informed me he survived the Bataan Death March and was a POW in Kokura just before Japan surrendered. An atomic bomb almost got dropped on Kokura, but cloud cover caused the pilots to fly over Nagasaki instead. When we get to heaven, we will likely hear about the numerous times God protected us from disastrous events.


Last but not least, God wants our family members to be saved. Acts 16:31 says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” I’ve led a few of my relatives to the Lord. One was my mother. That happened on December 21, 2012 (“doomsday” according to some people’s interpretation of the Mayan calendar). I had returned to my birthplace of Fargo, North Dakota, for the holidays. Mom was in an assisted living facility recovering from a stroke. For over twenty years, I had fervently prayed that she would become saved. After talking a while, Mon agreed to let me lay hands on her to receive healing. Then I led her in the sinner’s prayer.


God wants to use all of us to minister His love to people from all walks of life. Hopefully, these testimonies will inspire you to share the gospel more with others.


“and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.” - Philemon 6 (ESV)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Gospel Soul Winning Script

Image
During my early days with evangelism, I developed an approach called the Survey Technique . By asking short direct questions, you can maintain control of the conversation and find out quickly what a person’s spiritual beliefs are. Although the Survey Technique has helped me lead thousands to the Lord, I’m still open to utilizing new methods in reaching people with the gospel. Rodney Howard-Browne 's ministry uses a tool called the Gospel Soul-Winning Script , which originated during their Good News New York campaign in 1999. I became familiar with it a few years later during evangelism outreaches with Rodney’s church in Tampa, Florida. At first, I resisted using the script. I found it restrictive and thought sinners wouldn’t be receptive to me reading a scrap of paper to them. Then while taking part in a 2009 outreach with Rodney’s ministry in Washington, D.C., my team leader asked me to “stick with the script.” Wanting to maintain unity, I complied with his request. Initially it f...
Read more

Looking Back @ the Toronto Blessing

Image
With friends I met in 1996 Twenty-five years ago today, a supernatural move of God began at a church near the Toronto airport. When guest speaker Randy Clark prayed over congregation members that night, they started shaking, hollering, and doing other things religious folk would consider disruptive. However, there were changed lives as a result of what became known as “The Toronto Blessing” (or “The Father’s Blessing” as Pastor John Arnott prefers calling it). Soon people from all over the world flocked to Toronto Airport Vineyard to experience a fresh touch from God. By 1995, both pastors and lay people from my home church in Minnesota were making pilgrimages to Toronto. One woman who visited there invited a group of us to watch videos of services from Toronto Airport Vineyard. Initially, I wasn’t impressed because the preaching didn’t sound “charismatic” enough. The worship music gradually appealed to me because of its unique passionate sound not often heard in churches b...
Read more

Toking the Ghost Revisited

Image
Back in February 2007, a fellow missionary I was traveling with started talking about “smoking the weed from heaven.”   He would pretend to have a joint of marijuana between his fingers and have “smoke breaks with Jesus.”   He also encouraged other believers to take “hits.”   I was a bit uncomfortable with this idea but didn't contest it. Then in October of that year, I heard John Crowder preach on “toking the Ghost” at a church in my hometown of Fargo, North Dakota.   I was inspired to make a video with John to share with my missionary friend.   During the filming, I experienced much laughter. I decided to make the video public figuring other people might enjoy it also. Two weeks later at a church in Minnesota, I heard Benjamin Dunn share testimonies of people getting healed from “toking the Ghost.”   This was just before he and John Crowder started ministering together.   I believed this was God confirming His word in the mouth of ...
Read more