#50 My Violent, Rage-Filled Family Was Hopeless - Greg Stier
Greg Stier grew up in a crime-infested part of Denver surrounded by gangs, violence, and unbridled hatred. Greg was small and mild-mannered and just didn’t fit in with his family of thugs and criminals.
In the world’s eyes it may have seemed Greg's family was hopeless, but Greg would discover there is a power in Heaven that can change and transform… even an entire family.
The following is a summary of the podcast interview above with Greg Stier. Many more details are included in the original podcast episode and we encourage you to listen.
Written by Jace Bower
Tough Urban Roots
Greg Stier grew up on the wrong side of Denver, surrounded by a violent family.
Greg’s father abandoned his mom before Greg was born. And some of the only male influences in his life came from his five tough uncles who were violent men. Greg’s mother was just as tough.
One early memory from Greg’s childhood was his mom destroying his stepfather’s car with a baseball bat. Not only did Greg’s mom destroy the car windshield, the mirrors, and the headlights, she also beat her ex-husband bloody before he managed to drive off.
With early memories like these, Greg learned to fear his family’s rage. But he didn’t “fit in” with the violence and wrath that characterized his mother and uncles. He was a quiet kid, who stuck to the corners, remaining largely unnoticed.
Questioning His Purpose
One early and very formative memory happened at Christmas when Greg was six years old. He recalls how his uncle Dave called him over while the family opened Christmas presents and offered young Greg a special gift. In front of everyone else, Greg tore into the package only to find a girl’s doll. Amidst the laughter of his family and his uncle’s taunts, Greg questioned in his heart what his purpose on earth was. Who was he? And why was he here?
That formative question would lead Greg to spend many months in his secret hideaway under the kitchen sink with a flashlight and a little red Bible he received from his Sunday school teacher. In the peace and solitude of that dark space under the sink, Greg read his Bible and desperately searched for the answers to his heart’s questions.
Although six-year-old Greg didn’t always understand the scripture, he continued to read and search for his purpose. He attended Sunday school because his grandparents, who were faithful Christians, took him and his brother, Doug, to church.
But Greg was confused by the talk about “asking Jesus into your heart”. What did that mean? He was also scared of going to Hell and desperately confessed every sin he committed, afraid that if he missed one, he wouldn’t enter Heaven.
The Simple Gospel
Then one Sunday, during an altar call at church, Greg heard the Gospel in a way he understood for the first time. The date was June 23, 1974. Greg was eight years old. The pastor gave an invitation for those who wanted to receive Christ to come forward - Greg walked up the aisle.
The pastor laid out the simple Gospel message: believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, believe that He rose again, and trust Him, not any good deeds of your own, for the forgiveness of your sins.
For the first time, Greg understood what Jesus truly offered to those who would believe, and that day he became a Believer.
Even today, Greg is fond of saying “the simple Gospel changes everything.” And that phrase holds true in Greg’s experience. Not only was his life changed by the simple Gospel, but the Gospel had already begun to transform his violent and rageful family as well.
Uncle Jack and the “Yankee” Pastor
A few years before Greg’s conversion, his uncle Jack had undergone a powerful transformation. For context, Uncle Jack was a bodybuilder, muscular, and heavily tattooed. He had been in and out of prison and at one point had been locked up for strangling two policemen at the same time.
A preacher nicknamed “Yankee”, had come to Denver to start a church. One of Yankee’s congregants was a man named Bob, who knew Greg’s uncles. Bob wanted to see his friends saved but was afraid to share the Gospel message himself. He dared Yankee, the preacher, to share the Gospel with Greg’s uncle Jack.
Yankee stepped out and brought the simple Gospel message to Uncle Jack’s front door. And at the kitchen table, Jack and his wife received salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Immediately, Jack began to tell everyone he could about the powerful free grace that had changed his heart.
Uncle Bob and the Attacker
But God didn’t stop with Jack. Uncle Bob was next. He was a pipefitter during the day, but at night was a bouncer at the roughest club in Denver.
One late night, Bob was out in the parking lot with the bar owner and another man when a drug addict jumped on their car. During the scuffle that ensued, the drug addict stabbed the bar owner and Bob’s other friend with a knife. Bob chased the assailant around the back of the bar and beat his head into a brick wall trying to subdue him. Instead, the man’s heart stopped.
When the police arrived, they wrestled Bob into custody and threw him into the back of the patrol car. The officers promised Bob that he could anticipate going to jail for a long time for killing this man.
At that moment, in the back of the squad car, Bob cried out to God. He vowed to return to the faith he had wandered from as a young person, whether or not the drugged-up attacker was resuscitated or not.
After spending a night in jail, Bob received his answer. The attacker had been resuscitated and the police had found the knife on him. He was wanted by the police and Bob was released without any charges. True to his word, he returned to God and began to drive buses full of children to Yankee’s church in the Denver suburbs.
The Gospel Comes Home
One by one, Greg’s family members were being transformed by the simple Gospel.
Greg’s brother Doug struggled with learning disabilities and got in trouble with the law. His troubled adolescence included a stay in a mental hospital. During that time, Doug read his Bible and became enthralled with its message of forgiveness and grace.
He emerged from the mental institution with a desire to share the Gospel with anyone and everyone he could. This included a time when he started to share with the occupants of a car at a stoplight while on his bicycle. When the light turned green, Doug was determined to finish the Gospel message so he grabbed the car window and held on, finishing his message while the car sped down the road and pulled his bicycle along.
Now if you're keeping count, that's the fourth person in Greg's family to follow Christ. And while God’s saving power was sweeping over his family, there were still a few holdouts that Greg desperately wanted to reach.
Foremost in his mind was his mother. She believed she was too far gone to be reached by grace. Filled with shame for past sins, including contemplating an illegal abortion during her pregnancy with Greg, she couldn’t get over how much she had messed up. Greg secretly knew about her past and he hoped to break through and convince his mom that grace was available to her.
When he was fifteen years old, he decided to approach his mom straightforwardly about the free grace found in Jesus. At the kitchen table, with a cigarette in her mouth, Greg’s mom heard the simple Gospel straight from her son’s mouth.
She once again doubted if all it took to forgive her sins was a simple trust in Jesus. Greg assured her that it was. She came to faith right there and Greg was able to disciple his mother in her new-found faith.
Uncle Richard and a Preacher’s Purpose
When Greg’s grandfather passed away, his uncles approached Greg, who was still in high school, about preaching at the funeral. They desperately wanted their fifth brother, Richard, to come to faith. Richard had moved off to Arizona and was still resistant to the Gospel message, despite the faithful evangelism of his brothers.
It was at the funeral that Greg realized God had called him to preach the Gospel. The question he had wrestled with under the kitchen sink all those years ago at the age of six was answered. This was his purpose. To spread the Good News that Jesus offered forgiveness to all and could transform any life.
Although Uncle Richard did not place his faith in Christ that day, he eventually came to faith in the last few months of his life, while listening to Greg preach from the pulpit.
The Gospel is Still At Work
Today, Greg is still sharing the Gospel through his ministry, Dare 2 Share. Every year, Greg speaks to thousands of teenagers and youth and equips them to share their faith and the powerful message of the simple Gospel.
It’s a message that Greg experienced firsthand. God took each broken story in his family's life and redeemed it. In His time, and for His glory.
May each of us be encouraged to exhibit that same fire and passion in sharing the hope of the Gospel with others, and to remember that God is still changing lives.
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Jace Bower is a writer with a passion for justice and biblical principles. He writes at jacebower.com.
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Additional Information
Greg’s book Unlikely Fighter on Amazon
Dare 2 Share - The discipleship-making ministry for youth and teenagers that Greg started
Greg’s Website
Greg’s Twitter
Greg’s YouTube
