Then Danny…

by DanWolgemuth on November 13, 2020

It started with an invitation to share a bit of your personal story. A dozen of us. My YFC USA Cabinet. Some with stories that mirror mine…

Then Danny…

In the early days of Youth For Christ, it was Billy.

Passionate. Powerful. Focused. Vigilant. Fierce. Humble. Gentle.

Billy.

Then Danny…

New York City, not Charlotte.

A street kid, not a farmer.

Billy moved from Bob Jones University to Wheaton College. Danny went from juvenile hall to Sing Sing.

At 27, Billy was preaching at Soldier Field. At 27 Danny was sentenced and serving.

At 31, Billy had a crisis of faith. An inflection point. A crossroad experience.

Danny… fell to his knees in a prison cell. “I’m sorry God” was his simple, profound, and effectual prayer.

But God…

being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

His love. Our mess. Alive.

A farm boy, and a felon.

Our first evangelist. Our current evangelist… one of many.

From the green rolling hills of North Carolina to the concrete jungle of Manhattan.

One battled through the confinement of doubt, the other through the suffocating reality of incarceration…

Then redemption. Adoption. Freedom. Liberty.

Rescued. Now called.

One wore a skinny black tie. The other a cap.

Fighters. Both of them.
 
Evangelists.
 
A shared mission.
 
One, our first. One, our now.
 
One held a Bible. The other holds a Bible.
 
One on a platform. The other on the street.
 
Once Billy. Then Danny.
 
Once Soldier Field. Now the hood.
 
Both with a rap sheet. One polite, and one a matter of public record.
 
Billy. Danny.
 
Because the love of Christ compels us…
 
In 1945. In 2020.
 
Past. Present. And by God’s grace… future.
 
Geared. Anchored.
 
Then. And now.
 
Always. Only. Jesus. 

  

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