(Image from http://www.denverskatepark.com/redstone.html)
One of the first things I noticed about Redstone is that its layout is compact, maximizing the amount of land with as many bowls, ramps, and terrain as possible. This also makes the course more challenging than some skate parks in the state, with very little room for novices. But, for those skaters and bikers who are really good at what they do, they can do some pretty amazing tricks.
The second thing I noticed was that by designing the park this way, it makes it really hard to get around the park to reach people because there are no large common areas. So, when I walked in to set up and give out water, I thought that there were only four people riding around. It took me a minute to locate a large group of kids hidden by the terrain, and then I found that I had to hurdle a concrete wall to get to where they were sitting. And later, when I was leaving the park, I slipped down a ramp and fell pretty good on my side. It's clear that the park was not designed with any pedestrian traffic in mind. You're either on a board, blades, or bike--otherwise you're on your butt.
Tales of bruising aside, there were an interesting group of young people around the park. When I first started handing out water and tracts, about eight kids came over to listen to what I had to say. One of them was a 16 year old boy who said that he had just been released for attempted murder. As I was hitting the major points of my message, he would keep speaking up and interrupting.
Would you consider yourselves to be good people?
"No way, dude! I'm a sinner on my way to Hee-eeell!"
How do you think all of you would measure against the Ten Commandments?
"Yeah, weren't they thrown down to the ground by some guy?"
For example, have any of you ever told a lie?
"Yeah, baby! Cuz I'm love doing it!"
And what do you call someone who lies?
"Hey, you should really talk to that guy sitting down over there, because he's a satanist."
Eventually, when he realized that I wasn't going to play by his rules in sharing the Gospel with the kids who need to hear it, he rode off shouting, "666! I love Jesus!" I think the other kids were glad when he went away, too.
Amongst the kids who stayed around were Britney and Isabelle, both 15 years old. They both professed to be Christians, with Britney adding that she was a Seventh-Day Adventist. When I asked them to evaluate their lives in light of God's Law, both admitted that their lives were not showing lifestyles of righteousness. Britney admitted to having just ended a 15-month relationship with a boyfriend, and that he took more of her focus than God did. She also said that she was transcribing much of the emotions she had for him onto God, so that when he did something wrong towards her, she would then get mad at God. I pointed out that this violated the First and Second Commandments, with her boyfriend being equal to or taking precedence over God. The two girls stepped aside for a moment for a phone call.
I started speaking to Jesus, a 15 year-old biker, who said that he had been wandering away from God recently. He said that he knew God wanted him back in relationship, but that he was rebelling against God. He said that he was starting to repent for his sins. I urged him to make sure that he was right with God.
The two girls then came back to where I was speaking. I asked what was going on. They said, "We were supposed to be on our way to a church youth group activity, but we thought that we should stay here and listen to you, because what you're saying is more important." It's a sad state of affairs when kids would rather take the time to listen and speak a stranger who is sharing God's Truth than to go to a church youth group.
I continued speaking with the girls about a wide range of topics, from why bad things happen to "good" people, to why the world is broken, to why God can both love us and be mad at us at the same time. It was clear that they were wrestling with questions, in trying to grasp the Christian faith, while at the same time having some serious reservations. I admonished them to make sure they were right with God, and would reiterate the Gospel while others would come up and listen.
On my way out of the park, after I tumbled down the ramp, I met a 20 year old skater named Matt. I had noticed him skating earlier and praised him for his tricks, giving him a million dollar bill tract. He said that he already had a whole bunch of them from church. I asked if he was a Christian, and he started getting very agitated, telling me that he knew he was a sinner, that he liked what he was doing, but that Jesus was on his side. I told him that wasn't completely true if he was living a lifestyle of sin and not being repentant for his sins, citing Hebrews 10 and 1 John. He said that it was better to get his sins out now so that he could live a good life afterwards. I told him that if he knew that what he knew he was doing was wrong, he should stop now, because we can't guarantee when we will die. He finished his conversation with me by saying that he wasn't going to die soon, and that he didn't want to hear any more.
"Hey, Matt," I shouted as he zipped off, "please make sure that you don't die soon."
Pray for Britney, Isabelle, Jesus, Matt, the parolee for attempted murder, and all of the other kids at Redstone.
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