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The Street Bum

   

One night at a small church in Atlanta, Georgia, a man shared how he had 
become a Christian while in Sydney, Australia. "I was at the street corner
in Kings Cross," the man began, "when I felt a tug on my sleeve. Turning,
I found myself face to face with a street bum. Before I could say 
anything, the man simply asked me, "Mister, if you were to die tonight,
where would you spend eternity?' That question troubled me over the next
three weeks," the man continued. "I had to find an answer, and I ended up
giving my life to Christ."

The pastor of the Atlanta church was amazed that a man on a street corner
could have such an impact. But imagine his amazement when, three years 
later, another man came to his church and gave an almost identical 
testimony. He, too, had been at Kings Cross in Sydney when a derelict had
pulled on his sleeve and then asked him, "If you were to die tonight,
where would you spend eternity?"

This second man, also haunted by the street bum's question, eventually 
sought and found an answer in Jesus.

Shortly after hearing the second testimony, the pastor of that small 
church in Atlanta had to be in Sydney for a missions conference. On one of
his nights off, he went to Kings Cross to see if he could find the man who
had been mentioned at his church by two different people. Pausing on a 
street corner to look for someone like the street bum he'd heard about, he
felt a tug at his jacket. He turned, and before the poor old man could say
anything, the pastor blurted out, "I know what you're going to ask me!
You're going to ask me if I were to die tonight, where would I spend 
eternity?"

The man was stunned. "How did you know that?" he inquired. The pastor told
him the whole story. When he finished, the man started to cry. "Mister,"
he said, "10 years ago I gave my life to Jesus, and I wanted to do 
something for Him. But a man like me can't do much of anything. So I 
decided I would just hang out on this corner and ask people that simple
question. I've been doing that for years, mister, but tonight is the first
time Ever that I knew it did anybody any good."

Author Unknown

 

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