Four years ago, Jimmy Gillespie was a long way from Home.
After having gone through a painful divorce a couple of years prior, he had given up on a God who loved him.
He had no hope. But someone showed him the way Home.
And on Saturday night, Gillespie helped guide another prodigal son back to his Father.
He was late coming to the first night of Rock the Lakes at Erie Insurance Arena, but he had trained to be a counselor for the event through his church in the Erie area and he was determined to get there.
Gillespie missed most of the musical performances as rappers FLAME and NF took the stage, followed by rock band RED and singer Lacey.
But he was there for the most important part as Franklin Graham preached the Gospel to thousands of people through Luke chapter 15—the story of the Prodigal Son.
“He was restless, and he just wanted his inheritance right away. So his father gave him half of what he had and let him run,” Franklin explained. “And sometimes, like the father let the Prodigal Son run, God lets us run.”
Franklin explained his own story of living as a prodigal son who realized he needed his Father. He was fed up with his life, and at the age of 22 he fell on his knees and acknowledged that he had made a mess of it.
“You are here tonight because someone has been praying for you. You are here because God wants you to hear this message,” Franklin said to the audience.
“And God is eager to forgive you of your sins.”
Franklin Graham gave the invitation and hundreds of people—mostly youth—streamed down the aisles to publicly profess their new faith in Jesus. Some even ran.
They weren’t just running toward an altar. They were running toward Home.
One of the people who came forward was a young man Gillespie ended up meeting.
After walking the boy through Scripture and giving him counsel, Gillespie prayed with him as he received Christ.
“I knew I came here for him. I had a lot of obstacles throughout my day today. But I knew I had to be here,” Gillespie said.
“I told him he needed to get involved in a local church, but he was concerned he would be judged by ‘church people’ for having all these piercings and tattoos. I told him that it probably won’t happen, but if it does, to just keep seeking a church until he finds the right one.”
As a relatively new believer, Gillespie was beaming at the chance to help lead someone to the Father.
“I am so happy right now, I could run around Erie,” he said. “I have so much joy in my heart that I could help someone else find their way home—like someone helped me four years ago.”
After all the new believers received spiritual counseling, there were at least two welcome home celebrations—one in heaven and one in Erie.
Franklin put it into terms they could understand: “God just hit the ‘delete’ button—there is no record of your sins in heaven. You have been forgiven.”
The welcome home celebration in Erie was a TobyMac concert. He had his own message for these new believers: “I just want to be the first to say, welcome to the family.”
