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Notorious gang leader turned to Christ

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
At 16 Nicky Cruz became a member of the notorious Brooklyn street gang known as the Mau Maus (named after a bloodthirsty African tribe). Within six months he became their president. Cruz fearlessly ruled the streets as warlord of one of the gangs most dreaded by rivals and police. Lost in the cycle of drugs, alcohol, and brutal violence, his life took a tragic turn for the worse after a friend and fellow gang member was horribly stabbed and beaten and died in Nicky's arms.

As Cruz' reputation grew, so did his haunting nightmares. Arrested countless times, a court-ordered psychiatrist pronounced Nicky's fate as "headed to prison, the electric chair, and hell."

No authority figure could reach Cruz — until he met a skinny street-preacher named David Wilkerson. He disarmed Nicky — showing him something he'd never known before: Relentless love. His interest in the young thug was persistent. Nicky beat him up, spit on him and, on one occasion, seriously threatened his life…yet the love of God remained — stronger than any adversary Nicky had ever encountered.

Finally, Wilkerson's presentation of the gospel message and the love of Jesus melted the thick walls of his heart. Nicky received the forgiveness, love and new life that can only come through Jesus. Since then, he has dedicated that life to helping others find the same freedom. He now runs a Christian outreach team to bring the Christian message to other alienated youths called TRUCE.
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Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yeah?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by BritJames
    Yeah, thanks.

    I shall sleep better tonight knowing that.

    I shall store it with the rest of the useless info I have in my head :)

    Yes. Then delete it.

    hehe, with SQL.
    DELETE * FROM useless_info WHERE crap = '%nicky cruz%' 
    
    :p
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Im afraid there are no ( well not many :p) estranged teenagers. Im sure that if there were some teenager on here who was mugging old ladies and selling class A drugs to 10 year olds, they would probably be better reached out to by a real person. I doubt the people doing that kind of thing give a damn about what they are doing tbh. But it is good the link is there, just in case :)

    (Oh, and sorry to be pedantic, but Mau Maus were actually a racist group of black Kenyans in the mid 20th century who wanted to drive all the whites out of Kenya)

    :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Re: Notorious gang leader turned to Christ
    Originally posted by Rockwell
    At 16 Nicky Cruz became a member of the notorious Brooklyn street gang known as the Mau Maus ... etc etc [/url]

    Well, if you care to look up Aisha's posts on this site, you'll quickly learn that most of the people here are pretty hostile to pointless religious statements ...

    If you want a debate, debate! Otherwise it's best to keep the evangelising to yourself.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    sounds like a load of bullshit to me...... is rude bwoyz behind it by any chance? its about ridiculous enough to be cooked up by him
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think it origonates from some 1960's or 70's book called "Run Nicky run!" or similar ..... hardly contemporary stuff.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i actualy know a couple of different guys in different parts of the country who have turned their lives around in this manner. i know many more who turned their lives around for the better by smoking pot instead of shooting heroin. there are a million stories out there of people turning their lives around for the better.
    a leopard cannot change its spots. neither can a man change the colour of his eyes but ...all men are capable of changing their behaviour.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    im not rubbishing the fact that people can change rolly. because i believe people should always be given a secound chance in life. but the manner in which the person has reputedly changed.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by fucked up duck
    im not rubbishing the fact that people can change rolly. because i believe people should always be given a secound chance in life. but the manner in which the person has reputedly changed.
    yes duck i know that ...like i said i actualy know a couple of blokes who did it just the way the poster said but ...i then tried to explain that there are a million other stories out there ...those who do it without religion.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Teagan
    I think it origonates from some 1960's or 70's book called "Run Nicky run!" or similar ..... hardly contemporary stuff.
    Read it in a book called "The Gangster That Cried"

    Heard the story before. Cool story. Prove the love of God etc...

    ...what was the point of this thread though?
    Are you asking some thesite posters to change their ways?
    Are you telling them that they can if they think they can't?
    Are you asking us how many titles we've heard that story under?
    :confused:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Good books....read them both...seen the film....very dated (I laughed a lot in all the wrong places.) but the message is always valid. I'm sure there are lots more contempory stories in the same vein. If you like the Nicky Cruz books try Chasing the Dragon by Jackie Pullinger. :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I have this film, it's a classic, the dialogue could have been written by Huggy Bear.

    Still respect to the bloke though. Here is someone who was basically a screwed up kid from a poor background, who changed his life and wanted to help similair people do the same thing.

    The films called The Cross and the Switchblade.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by the doc horatio
    Im afraid there are no ( well not many :p) estranged teenagers.
    That is where you are wrong. The Christian message says that ALL are bad, ALL have sinned and ALL need to repent. That is the reason the Bible says Jesus died on the cross to pay the blood price for YOUR sin.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Rockwell
    That is where you are wrong. The Christian message says that ALL are bad, ALL have sinned and ALL need to repent. That is the reason the Bible says Jesus died on the cross to pay the blood price for YOUR sin.

    And who says the Bible is true? It is a matter of opinion.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm sticking with the old Catholic idea that I buy my way into heaven, I mean I wont need the money after my death anyway so I'll give it to the pope and he'll have a word and get me in.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Teagan
    And who says the Bible is true? It is a matter of opinion.
    Are you going to prove it's not?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by bongbudda
    I'm sticking with the old Catholic idea that I buy my way into heaven, I mean I wont need the money after my death anyway so I'll give it to the pope and he'll have a word and get me in.
    Personally, I prefer the Protestant idea of grace.

    Can't I leave the money I earn in this world to my family to leave them in a better position when I'm gone. All going well, I'll beat my children there by a few years, I want them to enjoy life while they're alive.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Rockwell
    That is where you are wrong. The Christian message says that ALL are bad, ALL have sinned and ALL need to repent. That is the reason the Bible says Jesus died on the cross to pay the blood price for YOUR sin.

    Born with "original sin". Pretty much sums up what is wrong with organised religion.

    That and the fact that it always seems to have it's hand out.

    BTW There are many other things which the "Christian message" says. Do you adhere to them all?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Talking of organised religion, has anyone ever heard 'Old Harrys Game' on Radio Four, its a fantastic comedy. Not sure many Christians would like it though.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    *questions the point of this thread*

    Oi there Rockwell

    You trying to push us all into religion or what?

    Note, this forum is called 'Politics and Debate', not 'Let's ram my idea of religion down everyone's throats by quoting a story that has been rehashed several times throughout history'!!!

    As for organised religion, I'm not a big fan of it. Why should people go through their lives feeling guilty about being alive and always having to bow down to this almighty being that frankly, might not even exist?!? Fair enough, some people choose to do this.

    On the other hand, some people have it forced upon them at birth. Unfortunately my experiences with friends who have been born into a religion have been negative. Many of them were fucked up in the head due to feelings of guilt (even when they had been living a perfectly moral life) and one of them is no longer with us. She couldn't face herself any longer.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm much more inclined to believe in an observer type being than one who actualy can/wants to control events.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    No authority figure could reach Cruz — until he met a skinny street-preacher named David Wilkerson. He disarmed Nicky — showing him something he'd never known before: Relentless love. His interest in the young thug was persistent. Nicky beat him up, spit on him and, on one occasion, seriously threatened his life…yet the love of God remained — stronger than any adversary Nicky had ever encountered.

    Heh. There IS no God; I don't feel he exists. I see no reason to believe.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Perhaps, Rockwell, you would like to look at this site and perhaps you could give us some answers to the questions this person asks...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Skateside
    Are you going to prove it's not?

    Prove what? That it is opinion? I think you'd have more problems proving it isn't ...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Brilliant link MoK. Brilliant! :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Aladdin
    Brilliant link MoK. Brilliant! :D

    I'm not going to take credit for it, it was posted in Anything Goes with questions about whether the author had wasted their time.

    Personally I agree with you Aladdin. Always nice to see someone questioning the "unquestionable" truth...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Man Of Kent
    Perhaps, Rockwell, you would like to look at this site and perhaps you could give us some answers to the questions this person asks...

    MoK and others, as someone who has recently joined the church and become a Christian, I understand your feelings about organised religion. For years although having to attend church from a kid, I saw a lot of hypocrisy not just in the Christian faith but also other religions.

    I have come to understand since I got older the difference between organised religion and true faith. Unfortunately just like political philosophies, religions have been twisted and shaped to suit the purposes of Man and there so-called teachers, this has lead to disillusionment and distrust.

    To put in easier terms, its like being a socialist at times and looking at Nu Labour.

    I'd love to be able to answer all the questions people can throw at me about my faith but I can't, thats the honest truth. You would probably be best asking someone a lot more experienced than me or a theologian, thats what I do.

    What I do know is, having been through some bad times, now having a belief and faith in Christianity has helped me more than what I used to do to relieve the pain.

    Yes I know other people have got through life without needing religion but I'm talking about myself.

    Sorry for the long post but I felt a need to respond ;)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Man Of Kent
    Perhaps, Rockwell, you would like to look at this site and perhaps you could give us some answers to the questions this person asks...
    I would most of those questions saying that no one takes the Bible word for word. It is the general message that counts. How many committed Christians for example take every single word of the Bible as Gospel truth? Not many. People should make up their own minds about what is right and wrong in the Bible.

    One the subject of why Jesus died though which is fundamental to the Christian belief, that answer is simple. Jesus was not just the son of God he was God himself he died because he was prepared to pay for everyone else's sins. He made us imperfect deliberatly so that we can choose whether or not to do right or wrong. If we were all made perfect we would have no free will.

    One the subject of whether people born before Christ went to heaven or not. The answer is they are not yet resserected. The Bible says that one day all the dead will be resserected on judgement day and made to account for their sins. Those that repented before they died will go to heaven. God will forgive all those who repent.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Rockwell
    Jesus was not just the son of God he was God himself
    not what jesus said at all! jesus said that god was much greater than him ...knew things he didn't ...like the apointed time of the end ...jesus could only answer by saying that only god knew.
    if he was god and he died ...who resurected him back to life? he was trusting that his father would.
    the bible talks of a great resurection of the dead ...those from the graves and the sea ...it doesn't say they will go to heaven ...it says that the meek will inherit the earth and turn it into paradise.
    som who is feeding you this misinformation then? the pope i would imagine.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by morrocan roll
    not what jesus said at all! jesus said that god was much greater than him ...knew things he didn't ...like the apointed time of the end ...jesus could only answer by saying that only god knew.
    if he was god and he died ...who resurected him back to life? he was trusting that his father would.
    The theory that Jesus was God comes from the statement in the Old Testament that say: "In the begining was the word and the word was God and the word became flesh and dwelt among men." A prediction of the coming of Jesus.

    Jesus also says: "Before Abraham I am." In one passage of the Bible. Meaning that he existed before any of the phrophets, therefore he must have been God. He also says in another passage that: "Me and my father are one". In another passage he says: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."

    As for who resurected him. If he was God he was never really dead. Only his phsyical body which was just one of his forms. His spiritual body was still alive and able to do things.

    He only says: "I will now go to my father for he is greater than me." Right at the end after he had been resureted and was about to leave his disciples for good. He could be implying that is an inferior form of himself as a physical being. His real true form being a spirit.

    This site is also helpful in understanding the Christian message
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