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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSince Grandma and Grandpa had dragged their kids to church every week when they were little, Jack knew all about sin and hell, and he knew he was full of one and headed to the other. All that hellfire and brimstone at church just made him feel bad about himself, while friends and partying and fighting made him feel good. He still believed in God, but he wasn\u2019t sure God believed in him anymore. He was sure that with all the things he\u2019d done wrong and the anger he had inside, he was on the highway to hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Yankee asked him, \u201cIf I could tell you how you could know for sure that you were going to heaven, would that be good news?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jack appreciated Yankee\u2019s bluntness. His question was almost like a punch to the gut. Jack was surprised by how quickly he said yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emboldened by Jack\u2019s answer, Yankee drew his wallet from his back pocket and launched into an illustration he\u2019d nicknamed \u201cThe Hand Gesture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLet this hand represent you and me,\u201d Yankee said, holding up his own right hand in the air. \u201cAnd let this hand represent God.\u201d Yankee held up his left hand. \u201cAnd let the wallet represent sin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHave you ever sinned?\u201d Yankee asked, already knowing the answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes!\u201d Jack told him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, we all have,\u201d Yankee said, putting the wallet in his right hand. \u201cRemember, this hand with the wallet in it here, this represents us.\u201d He waved his right hand with the wallet in it back and forth a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou see,\u201d Yankee continued, \u201cGod loves us, but he hates our sin, because that sin is a barrier between us and him.\u201d Yankee joined his hands together in a praying-hands formation with the wallet in between them. \u201cAnd, as a result of that sin, we are all condemned to hell forever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jack had never been much for book-learning or sermon-listening, but Yankee\u2019s wallet illustration made sense to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd no matter how good you are, it will never get rid of these sins,\u201d Yankee told Jack. Then Yankee picked up his big black Bible and held it over the wallet. \u201cIf this Bible represents everything good we do, does it get rid of the sin or just cover it up?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt just covers it up,\u201d Jack said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo religious people still sin, right?\u201d Yankee asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSure,\u201d Jack said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd because of that sin, they\u2019re condemned to hell along with everyone else. Right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, I guess so,\u201d Jack responded. He was a little disoriented because he had never heard it explained like this before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, two thousand years ago, God sent his Son, Jesus, into the world,\u201d Yankee explained, bringing his left hand, representing God, down toward the wallet. \u201cJesus was God in the flesh. He lived the perfect life we could never live and died the horrible death that we deserved. And when he died, he took our sin upon himself and paid the price for it with his own blood.\u201d Yankee plucked the wallet representing sin out of his right hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then Yankee delivered the punchline. \u201cBecause Jesus took our sin upon himself and paid the price for it, if you simply believe that he did that for you and trust in him alone to forgive you for your sins, you will receive eternal life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jack was silent at this point, so Yankee continued, testing Jack. \u201cHow long is eternal life?\u201d Yankee asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s forever!\u201d Jack told him with a tone of raw excitement, because Jesus\u2019 message was making sense to him for the very first time in his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, if you trust in Jesus right now, where will you go when you die?\u201d Yankee asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHeaven!\u201d Jack shouted back at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then like a boxer who has been softening up his opponent with an endless string of jabs before delivering the knockout blow, Yankee asked Jack one final question. Looking him straight in the eyes, he asked, \u201cSo, if all of this makes sense, will you put your faith in Jesus to forgive you for all your sins and give you eternal life right now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHell, yeah!\u201d Jack announced, with a big smile on his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then Yankee turned to Earlene and asked her the same question. And she trusted in Jesus, too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In that moment, the trajectory of Jack and Earlene\u2019s life changed forever.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Adapted from Unlikely Fighter: The Story of How a Fatherless Street Kid Overcame Violence, Chaos, and Confusion to Become a Radical Christ Follower <\/em>by Greg Stier, releasing from Tyndale House Publishers November 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some memories are permanently seared into our childhood brains with a hot iron of adrenaline and fear. For five-year-old Greg, it was the memory of his ma walking back to the house after confronting his stepdad with a splintered, bloodied baseball bat in her hand.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Greg Stier was raised in a family of bodybuilding, tobacco-chewing, fist-fighting thugs. He never knew his biological father because his mom had met his dad at a party; she got pregnant, and he left town. Though his mom almost aborted him, in a last-minute twist, Greg\u2019s life was spared for so much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlikely Fighter<\/em> is the incredible story of how God showed up in Greg\u2019s life\u2014and how he can show up in yours as well. This is a memoir of violence and mayhem\u2014and how God can transform everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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