Arvada Colorado Dare to Share - Westword

Westword is not known for being kind to any conservative idea, but in being an almost socialist minded newspaper with a naivety that boggles the mind. The folks that run it are smart but I usually have a hard time reading it because it is so left leaning in many ways...to say nothing of the almost X-rated advertisements in the back of the thing.

So I was surprised when they did a pretty fair article on the group Dare to Share.

Take a gander;

Gospel Journey Teens Dare 2 Share

Greg Stier is raising an army of adolescents to help save your soul.

By Jessica Centers

Published on July 03, 2008

Nearly 5,000 Christian teens are screaming in anticipation of the Rapture. "Jesus is coming soon!" their preacher yells as he paces and waves his arms, the veins in his neck visible to the jocks, cheerleaders, skaters and goth kids shouting cheers from the front rows. "That's what this weekend is about, to remind us that Jesus is coming soon."

Dressed in a "Jesus Recycles" T-shirt and jeans, 42-year-old Greg Stier still resembles the awkward kid who was preaching in parks and malls around Denver thirty years ago. The founder and president of Arvada-based Dare 2 Share Ministries is a self-proclaimed dork, but whatever he lacks in cool, he makes up for with enthusiasm — and production. On this Friday night, he's in Chicago for the last stop on his 2007-2008 conference tour, called Survive. He gets the kids' attention with bright lights, loud noise and video streaming across the six massive screens hanging behind him. But between the Christian rock and hip-hop performances, skits, movie clips, funny anecdotes from his childhood and the testimonial of a former NFL player, Greg keeps repeating the same simple message: Hell is real, and it's where all your non-Christian friends are going unless you save them. Soon.

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  Dare 2 Share's Greg Stier dares teens to talk with their friends about Jesus.

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  Zane Black found God — and then found fame as a Christian celebrity.
  

  Greg Stier is a preacher 24/7. Ask him about his background, and the events of his life are broken down into neat little parables or humorous anecdotes that he can use as icebreakers to begin a sermon. One of his books, You're Next: Outrageous stories from my life that could change yours, is a memoir in which every chapter actually ends by spelling out a lesson and discussion questions, complete with space to write in answers. In Chapter 1, "Death Encounter #1: War of the Womb," Greg introduces his tough single mother and his upbringing in poor, "inner-city Denver" — an apartment at 20th and Federal. He writes that his mother almost aborted him and that he never knew his father. Decades later, on her deathbed, Greg's mother asked him if he remembered what he used to say to kids who made fun of him for not having a dad.

  "You used to say, 'God's my Daddy.'"

  Greg's lesson: "If you have put your faith and trust in Jesus as your only hope of going to heaven, then God is your daddy, too."

  Greg says his beliefs have never wavered from this childlike simplicity. He's never questioned or doubted the existence of God. "It's as real to me as when I was little," he says. And for those who find that hard to understand, he offers this: "You got to realize my situation. I was raised in a family full of pain and doubt. Once I believed in Christ and I saw the impact he had on my family, I didn't turn back."

  When Greg was five, he watched his mom take a baseball bat to her bloody and screaming husband READ THE REST
  

Details:

To see a slide show from the Survive conference in Denver, watch the Gospel Journey Maui trailer and check out other Dare 2 Share video clips, click here. To read the story behind Grace Church, click here.

Dare 2 Share, Greg Stier, Grace Church, Gospel Journey, Rick Long, Zane Black