Street Stories - A Ringside Seat To Over 4 Decades Of Taking Jesus To The Streets Of The World
Fast forward to having known Ronnie for four years. We had just opened The Oasis, a Christian Coffee house near Hollywood Boulevard when Ronnie found Bobby in front of The Oasis. He kept saying, “Bobby, Bobby I need to talk to you .” Bobby told him “Not now, Ronnie” because he was preparing to preach. Ronnie insisted, Bobby put him off. It wasn’t unusual for Ronnie to interrupt people and to ramble on about basically nothing. He, again, told Bobby he needed to talk to him. He told Bobby that he had his entire life flash before him, just like a movie. He appeared to be deeply shaken by this and wanted to talk about his life. Bobby knew that one of two things would turn out to be true. Either Ronnie really did see his whole life flash before him OR Ronnie had been drinking all night and day and was not back to reality yet. During the offering that night Ronnie placed his brand-new bottle of Thunderbird in the offering basket. That did not go unnoticed by Bobby. Was this symbolic of him laying his own life down in surrender to the Lord? For Ronnie to give up a bottle of alcohol was a major event. In Bobby’s wisdom, he told Ronnie to meet him at the Howard Johnson Restaurant at the corner of Hollywood and Vine at 9:00 am the next morning. He knew if Ronnie kept that appointment that he was sincere. Sure enough, Ronnie met Bobby at the restaurant. I think they may have spent the day together. Bobby was blown away that Ronnie wanted to change his life. After praying for Ronnie for four years, he was surprised. If
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