Poison Pizza and the Love of God

So I decided to add my two cents to the 'Go to Hell' debacle at our local free outdoor concert. (Check the title link if you don't know what I am talking about!)

I went down to the concert, sheet-pizza in hand, and approached the angry group of fifty-plus teens who were surrounding the 'evangelists' with their signs depicting hell. I opened up the box, said "Free pizza, just take one!" and in less than a minute it was devoured! I had three or four young people ask me why I did what I did, I responded, "Because God loves you very much and He wants to be a part of your lives." I was greeted with a cautious round of agreement, and one young man who was a little more enthusiastic about it.

That seemed to be the end of the conversation ...so I thought I would bring another pizza! I called the store, walked over and brought it back. This time I had people gather around and listen before I opened the box, "I want you to know why I am doing this," I said. "Jesus loves you." One of the kids asked, "So what, did you poison it!?" Another asked, "Are you with these guys?" (Indicating the guys with the signs) At this point I think I got a little teary eyed, "No I am not with them, I don't believe those guys are speaking for Jesus. I want you to know that He cares about you very deeply."

With that I opened the box and shared another sheet-pizza, I got a few more thank you's, and one person in particular asked a few pointed questions about who I was and where I was from and then thanked me profusely.

I spent the next thirty minutes fighting back tears, overwhelmed by God's love for these people, and this city, and burdened by a deep need to do more than simply giving pizza to people...

...our world has gone to hell! If we don't do something, who will?

I will let you know how tomorrow goes, I will be going back down to the Thursday concert.