Hope for Your Loved Ones

As they wheeled my dad through the operating room doors, I broke down crying. I knew he wasn’t saved. He was in his late 90s and I had spent most of my life sharing the gospel with him. As a little kid, I left gospel tracts in his shoes in the morning. As he got ready for work, I would hide around the corner and watch, as my dad would throw the tracts in the trash.

As I got older, I would talk to him about Jesus. I would try to convince him that Jesus would give him a better life. I would tell him that I wanted him in Heaven with me. He would say things like, “I’ve got a great life,” and “I’m a good enough person.” He didn’t think he needed Jesus. It wasn’t always easy to talk to my dad about God. He was my best friend and a hero to me and I never wanted to offend him or put our relationship on the line. But I was desperate. He was my dad and he was going to Hell.

By God’s grace my dad made it out of surgery alive…but I knew he didn’t have long. I started looking for other ways to share the gospel with him…that is when I came across “Hell’s Best Kept Secret” by Ray Comfort. I had never heard the gospel presented in such a way! I listened to every sermon of Ray’s I could get my hands on. I finally sat down to write a letter to my dad based off Ray’s teachings. I went through the law and the gospel just as Ray and the Bible teach. I folded up the letter, put it in an envelope, and handed it to my dad…who was on his deathbed.

I went home not sure what to think. My wife, a prayer warrior, never gave up hope. She would encourage me when I was discouraged. Finally, the phone rang…it was my dad. He wanted me to come to the hospital so that he could talk to me about something. As I sat next to him at his deathbed, he said, “I want Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and all the powers of Heaven, and God to forgive me. I declare this in the presence of you, my wonderful son, Dean.”

I told Dad, “That’s all I ever wanted to hear!” — Dean Crenshaw