Cracks At Jack's

This Is Who I Am
I'm a son of a good man.
I'm a child of an angel.
I'm the brother of a wild one,
and I'm looking for direction.
I'm the lover of a beauty.
I'm the father of blessings.
I'm the singer of a love song,
but is that all I'm good for?


 This is who I am, this is who I am,
so take me and make me so much more.
This is who I am, this is who I am,
so change me and make me someone better than before.

I'm a saint and a sinner. 
I'm a lover and a fighter,
I'm a true believer, with great desire.
I'm a preacher of grace, prophet of love, teacher of truth.
I've fallen down so many times, but here I stand in front of you.

This is who I am, this is who I am,
so take me and make me so much more.
This is who I am, this is who I am,
so change me and make me someone better than before.

Take me as I am but please don't leave me that way,
cause I know that you can make me better than I am today.
Song lyrics from  "This Is Who I Am"  by Third Day

"I have a plan for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."   Jeremiah 29:11

In a conversation I was having last week with a fellow Christian, the discussion came around to some personal stories of God's divine intervention in our lives.  After sharing a few of our own experiences we were amazed at how faithful God had been to us, even when we had yet been saved.  The both of us also said we knew of many similar stories shared by other brothers and sisters in Christ, and in each case God's sovereign hand was revealed in preventing either death or great harm.  It seemed like such a shame that God's love and power were not being shared with such stories.  That our own children had probably not heard how God had shown himself real to each one of us.  Even though we may not have recognized it at that moment, we eventually saw clearly God's hand in each encounter.

"And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.  And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die."  Revelation 12:11

In the coming weeks I plan on writing some of my story.  Through this part of my testimony I want to express my love and appreciation for God's faithfulness to me, and in doing so give Him the glory for the man I am today.  I'm certainly not perfect, far from it, but I think you will see, Jesus has made a dramatic, powerful, and yes, even a miraculous change in the person before you.  I want to share with you a few true, life experiences I had leading up to my salvation.  In no way are my intentions to glorify the lifestyle I was living in my BC (before Christ) days, nor do I want the devil's devices to be perceived as anything but destructive and deadly.  God's word says that Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy, and if you or I give him the opportunity he will do just that.  I've entitled my first story:

Cracks at Jack's

In the mid 1970's I was running with a group of guys from my neighborhood, today we would be called gang members, but back then we didn't see ourselves that way.  There were a lot or crazy things going on in L.A. at the time, a lot of violent things.

The previous summer one of my homeboys was shot and killed at the wedding of another.  A young man from a neighboring barrio, recently released from prison, got into an arguement inside the reception hall.  He pulled out a handgun from underneath his Pendleton and fired, missing his intended target and hitting and killing my friend who was standing with his girlfriend on the other side of the room.   That incident would start a firestorm of violence between these two barrios that is still going on to this day.

"But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8

Later that same year another friend was getting married; my brother, myself and three other buddies were to be in the wedding.  One Friday night, a month or so before the wedding, we attended a wedding rehearsal to practice the "wedding march" at the bride-to-be's home.  After the rehearsal all the guys and girls in the wedding decided to stick around and party.  We put some music on, sent someone to get some beer, and as usual somebody had some "yesca" or weed.  We spent the next three or four hours drinking, smoking and dancing.

By midnight it was time to leave, but we were all hungry, we had the dreaded 'munchies', so the five of us climbed into a 1965 Pontiac LeMans Lowrider and began our cruise.  Because of the late hour the choices for food were very limited, in fact the only place we were sure was open for business was the Jack-in-the-box in that neighboring city, which was now considered enemy territory.  I was riding shotgun, my brother and two homeboys were in the back and another was driving, and we decided to go for it, take our chances, and off the Jack's we went.

"The Lord will keep you from all harm, he will watch over your life."  Psalm 121:7

We pulled into the parking lot, looking all around, so far the coast was clear, we backed the car into a stall, just in case we needed to make a quick get away.  My brother and I gathered the money and the orders and walked into the hamburger joint and placed our orders.  After what seemed like an eternity, our food was finally ready.  As we walked to our vehicle a car full of homies pulled into the parking lot yelling and screaming curses and challenges.  "What are you punks doing in our barrio?" and then I heard "quieren plato?" which is gang slang for "do you want to fight?"  We had been found out, so we moved swiftly back to our car.

By the time my brother and I got back to our car we were blocked in by a 1954 Chevy Belair.  With a block wall behind us and this Lowrider in front, we were trapped.  We put the bags of food down and told the rest of our friends to get out of the car, that we were going to throw blows.  Before anyone but the driver could get out I noticed a handgun sticking out of the passanger side window and it was pointed at me.

"But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one."  2 Thess. 3:3

I was standing behind the open passenger door of the LeMans, my brother and the driver of our car was standing behind the open drivers' door as the shooting began.  I was facing the shooter who was less than ten feet away when I saw the small muzzle flash and heard the first couple of "crack-whiz-splat, crack-whiz-splat".

I froze in my tracks, standing there watching this guy shooting at me.  I heard the crack of the round going off, the whiz of the slug flying past my right ear and the splat of the round planting itself into the stucco covered wall behind us.

It seemed to me that it was all in slow motion. finally, through the mind fog I was in, I could hear my brother yelling, "get down! get down!"  As the shooter pointed his weapon towards the drivers' side of the car and took some shoots at them, I knelt down behind the door and stayed there until the shooting stopped and I heard the car drive away.

"Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand."  Isaiah 41:10

I got up and ran to the other side of the car to make sure everyone was okay, they were.  So we grabbed our food, jumped in the car and got the heck out of there as fast as we could.  We feared they might come back after re-loading.

As we drove back to our neighborhood we were all laughing and shaking in fear.  We knew we had dodged a bullet, in fact, many bullets, but we still didn't really know how close they had come to killing one of us.  When we arrived at a buddy's house, we all got out and took a closer look at the car.  There were two bullet holes in the drivers' door and one hole in the passenger door.  How lucky we now thought we were, not understanding how God's hand of protection was surely on us that night.

By the time we went back to school on Monday morning everyone already knew of our adventure into enemy territory and the chaos that ensued.  I remember telling the story of my bravado.  Of my standing in front of the shooter, facing him down and dodging the projectiles he was hurling at me.  Telling of how tough and quick I must be to walk away unscathed by the attack, never even thinking to thank God for the opportunity of telling my tall tale.

"Whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."  Proverbs 1:33

It wasn't until years later, after giving my life to Christ, that I realized why I lived.  It was only because He was there.  This turned out to be one of many occasions where God intervened and preserved my life.  In the years that followed there were many life and death moments where either the Lord saved my life or saved another's life from my hand, always protecting me and saving me for something.

"I knew you before I formed you in your mothers womb.  Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world."  Jeremiah 1:5

God had a plan for my life from the beginning, as I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ I began to see glimpses of my destiny.  Reasons why I was still alive.  There was new purpose for my existence and the purpose is something greater than myself.  I have a message to proclaim, one of hope and peace.  One of forgivenss and salvation, that's offered to each and every one of us, without exception, no matter how bad you think you are.  It's given as a free gift to anyone who will accept and receive it.  That message and that gift is found in the person of Jesus Christ our savior.  Are you ready to receive God's gift to you today?

"To all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God."  John 1:12


God Bless and Press On
Larry