The Origin

For many years, I lived as a false convert. I knew how to look like a Christian, how to talk like a Christian, and how to act like a Christian on the surface, but down below, I still lived a wicked, vile life. My heart was full of sin, I lived in disobedience and as an enemy of God, and had I died, I would have gone to Hell.

After I heard the true Gospel, and the Holy Spirit convicted me of my sins, I repented and put my trust in Jesus Christ. Since that time, I have been living for God, truly been born again, and He has become my life. And, because of His goodness, I have made it my personal endeavor to share the Good News of the Gospel in obedience and gratefulness to Christ. I do this not for myself, but so that God gets all of the glory.

Now that the important information has been covered, here is the rest of the story.

My name is Christian. I am 31 years old, married with two children, and live in Castle Rock, Colorado.

(Image of the town and the rock formation from Wikipedia.)

Since being saved, I wanted to share the Gospel publicly with others. I knew how badly they needed to hear about Jesus Christ, and wanted to do everything in my power to reach out to them. I passed out tracts wherever I could, started conversations with people to share the message of the Bible with them, and spoke to people whenever I could about God's Word. But, I knew that I needed to do more and preach publicly to groups of people, starting within my own town.

Unfortunately, Castle Rock, while being an idyllic setting and a great place to raise a family, is like many towns in America nowadays, where the places where people tend to congregate is on privately-owned property, where the owners are typically reticent to allow open-air preaching to take place. Even with the huge factory outlet shops nearby and numerous strip malls and shopping centers, those areas were off-limits to spontaneous preaching and witnessing en masse.

In the spring of 2008, my church started a program where small groups were expected to engage in some sort of community service project. We were asked to reach out to our town and do good works in helping our neighbors out. But, I was disappointed that the sharing of the Gospel was not something highlighted as a part of this work; I would even say that directly speaking about our faith was perhaps frowned upon, for fear of pushing people away.

Ignoring the stigma, I knew that no matter what my small group of believers chose to do, we had to share the Gospel with them. Doing good works without telling people the reason why we do such works typically creates happy, satisfied people who believe in the goodness of man who walk away smiling, still on the road to Hell.

As I drove around one afternoon, praying to God for some wisdom on what to do, I crossed the bridge going over the highway, and found what I needed.

(Image from http://www.denverskatepark.com/castlerock.html)

Castle Rock has one of the best skate parks in the state. It covers several thousand square feet of park space, is located near the center of town, and typically has at least two dozen people riding around at any point in the afternoon. On some days, like Friday nights, there can be over 100 people skateboarding, riding BMX bikes, and hanging out near the parking lots. Many of the kids and adults who go by the park are the usual person-next-door, and some are people who live on the streets after running away horrible homes, addicted to drugs, sex, or with other problems.

With the warmer weather, I had a great idea--give out free water bottles to the people while preaching the Gospel. I called the police department, park and recreation department, and
town clerk, and found that there were no restrictions so long as I was not asking for money. The park is public property, which means that it falls under First Amendment freedom rights, which means that there are no real rules prohibiting open air preaching. I had found a place where I could reach people publicly and share Jesus Christ with them.

After I pitched the idea to my small group, a few weeks later, I began going to the skate park to check things out and do some trial runs. I found that the kids were appreciative for the water, and they patiently listened to everything I said, some having questions along the way. Over time and multiple trips, I have seen some people convicted by the Holy Spirit, some people who were ready to hit me for preaching, and gotten to know many along the way.

This blog details the encounters I have at skate parks and with people around the country, thoughts about the Christian faith, and modern topics in Christianity.