Be careful what you say to God. Experience has taught me that He often answers a prayer, even if it's mumbled. One day I muttered, "Lord, I know I have been preaching the gospel every day to groups of unsaved people, but I really need to do some one-to-one."
Later that day, I was in our call center when I noticed two temporary signs for our ministry. We had had them made while were waiting on a permit to create a special "Living Waters Publications" sign, incorporated into a waterfall.
I grabbed the signs off a table and decided I would tie one of them to the back gates of the ministry, so that at least delivery drivers would know that they were in the right location. I didn't realize that our ministry manager had asked one of the employees to hang the signs.
As I picked them up, Danny (the employee) asked a friendly, "What are you doing with those signs?" I was his boss, so I just smiled, put them behind my back as I walked away and said, "These are the signs that follow those who believe."
As I tied the sign to the fence, a man across the alley called out, "What's that? Living Waters?"
"It's a publishing company."
"Oh."
"We also produce a TV show called 'The Way of the Master.'"
The man, in his early fifties, began to walk toward me. "Oh yeah?"
"It's a Christian program. Do you have a Christian background?"
"Catholic."
"Do you believe in Heaven and Hell?"
"Yeah. I think so."
"Where do you think you will go when you die?"
"Heaven, I hope."
"What's your name?"
"Fred."
"I'm Ray, Fred. There's a little test you can do to see where you are going. Want to try it?
"Sure."
"Are you a good person?"
"Yes."
"Have you ever told a lie?"
As we went through the Commandments, Fred admitted to lying, stealing, and blasphemy.
I then explained that lust was adultery in God's sight and asked if he had ever lusted after a woman.
"No."
"Huh? Are you a homosexual?"
"No! Oh, I see what you're saying. Yes, I have."
He was very concerned that if he died then and there he would end up in Hell, so I explained the gospel to him, took him into our lobby, and gave him a copy of my book What Hollywood Believes.
