Jesus and Oscar

In my last column, I told you the story of a man named Nicodemus who was decent, moral and well educated, but something was missing in his life. It was that elusive something that sent him on a search that led to Jesus one dark night.

His life was forever changed.

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I knew a modern Nicodemus as well. He was my father, Oscar Laurie.

Oscar was an attorney who lived in New Jersey. My mother, who was married and divorced many times, married him while I was still a young child, and he adopted me (see my column "Charlene's story").

Oscar Laurie was the only man during my childhood who actually treated me as a father should treat a son. When I messed up, he would discipline me. When I did well, he would commend me. He taught me respect, and he taught me manners. Because he treated me as his son, I respected him and loved him, which is why it was hard when I came home from school one day and the car was loaded up. When I asked my mom where we were going, she told me we were going to Hawaii.

"Where's Dad?" I asked.

"He's not coming," she told me.

My mother left him and married another guy, and on it went.

After I became an adult, I really wanted to see Oscar Laurie again. I had become a Christian at the age of 17, and I wanted to tell him about what Christ had done for me. With the help of someone from our church who worked for a Bar Association, I was able to get in touch with him. He told me he wanted to see me. I mentioned I was coming to New York soon for a speaking engagement and suggested we have lunch.

He said, "No, come stay at our house." Because he had remarried and had a family, I didn't want to impose. But he insisted. So I went to my speaking engagement and when it was over, I got on a train to Oscar's house. When I got off the train and saw him, I recognized him immediately. As we spent a little time together, I found out he had recently had a heart attack and almost died.

One night, after his wife had made a wonderful Italian meal, we were sitting around the table talking. His wife said, "Well, Greg, tell me about how you became a Christian and a pastor." As I shared my story, Oscar's wife was very responsive. My dad, on the other hand, sat at the other end of the table, listening quietly, like a judge hearing a case in a court of law. I thought, "This is not going well." But he reminded me a little bit of Nicodemus. He was a moral man. He was an educated man. He was a good man, a man of integrity. But he didn't have Christ living in him.

At the end of the evening, he said, "Well Greg, do you want to go walking with me in the morning?" (The doctor had advised him to get exercise because of his heart condition.)

"Sure, Dad," I said. "What time?"

He said, "I'll knock on your door at 6 o'clock."

Well, that meant 3 a.m. California time, but when the knock on the door came the next morning, I got up. As we started to walk along, he said, "Greg, I listened very carefully to what you said last night," (suddenly I was wide awake!) "and I want to become a Christian right now."

I was shocked.

"I ... I want Jesus to come into my life."

I couldn't believe it. I didn't even think he'd been doing anything more than being polite while I talked about my faith and here he was, wanting to be part of it.

"Well, we should pray," I told him.

He said, "Let's pray right now." So he suddenly dropped to his knees, right there in the park. As we prayed, tears flowed down the cheeks of this not-so-emotional man. When we finished, he said to me, "I know the Lord has come in." Then he added, "Let's pray for my heart condition. God can heal me too."

So we prayed a little more. When we were done, he said, "I know I'm saved. And I think the Lord has healed me. Let's go tell my doctor."

"Now wait, Dad," I said. "I don't know if God has healed you."

"Well, I think he has." So we went to his doctor's office. We walked in, and my dad told his Jewish doctor, "I just got saved. Christ is in my life and I'm healed."

I'm not quite sure what the good doctor thought.

It was hard for me to leave New Jersey and to return home to California. But I located a church for him to attend and told him, "Dad, just start reading the Bible and I will be back."

Three weeks later, I returned. I was afraid he wouldn't be doing well. So I said, "Well, let's read something from the Bible."

I read a verse and he said, "Oh, right. That is Paul in Ephesians, right?"

"Uh, yes it is. That's right."

As we went on, I discovered he had read the entire Bible while I'd been away. And it started changing his life. He got involved in his church and eventually became an elder. He got involved with The Gideons International and helped distribute Bibles. He served the Lord for the last 15 years of his life. Now he is in heaven, and I am looking forward to seeing him again someday.

Maybe you know people like Oscar Laurie. You know they aren't caught up in intentional sin. They are not drug users, alcoholics or party animals. They work hard. They pay their taxes. They are trustworthy. They are dependable. They are admirable. You have told them about Christ, but nothing has happened. You think it is never going to work.

Remember Nicodemus. And remember my dad. While they didn't know Christ, they saw their need and came to faith in him. So keep praying, and don't give up.

God can change each one of us – if we will come to him on his terms. We can experience a true "extreme makeover," not on the outside, but on the inside.

Note: This article is excerpted from Greg Laurie's new book from Baker Books called "Walking With Jesus."