TALK 01 of 10-minute talks

Title: WHO'S IN YOUR SEAT?

Topic: Friends

Big Idea: Be careful who you hangout with.

Scripture:
"Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked
man, from man whose words are perverse, who have
left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who de-
light in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of
evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in
their ways." (Proverbs 2:12-15)


The Story:
Chitho never could've predicted how the morning would end. This 19-year-old never realized that his decision to give someone a ride would be fatal.

It started with a simple car ride. Chitho picked up Saul and Jose. Music pumping, as the boys drove to Hallie's and picked her up, then continued across town.

Their first stop was for gas. Hallie, a teenage mother, wanted to pick up her son at her mom's house. Someone else wanted to go to Wal-Mart, but the four teenagers decided to eat first.

They stopped at McDonald's for some burgers and ate in the car.

Chitho, the driver, was 19 years old and had never been in trouble with the law.
Saul, 19, rode beside him, with Jose and 18-year-old Hallie in the back seat. Jose had been released just three weeks before from Boys Ranch, a Sacramento County facility for repeat juvenile offenders.

After the burger break they resumed their trip to Wal-Mart. Along the way, a teenager stood alone at a bus stop.

That's when it started.

Jose told Chitho to pull over."Let's check out this kid and see what he has," he said.

At this point Chitho made a decision that changed the lives of every person in the car- a decision that resulted in his death, the incarceration of two others, and numerous sleepless nights for many involved. Chitho turned the car around and parked near the bus stop.

Jose grabbed a fake gun that looked pretty real and popped out of the back seat. Hallie objected,"this is stupid! I gotta go!" but Jose wouldn't back down.

Saul got out with Jose, and together they walked over to the bus stop and robbed the kid. They ran back to the car, and Chitho drove off.

Jose began asking to go to other places; Hallie just begged to go home. But Chitho continued on to Wal-Mart with his fellow felony offenders.

Pulling into Wal-Mart, they passed a police car. When they parked, another police car parked near them.

Officer Kevin Howland walked up to Chitho's car and began questioning them. The robbery at the bus stop just three minutes prior had already been called in, and a car that looked like Chitho's had been reported fleeing the scene. Officer Howland was following up the call.

The conversation didn't go well. Officer Howland asked if they had any weapons.

Chitho couldn't believe it had come to this. He didn't know what the charge would be, but he knew he was in trouble.

Chitho wasn't Innocent-he was the one driving the car. He was the one who made the U-turn at the bus spot. Even though he didn't know what the consequences of the U-turn would be, in the very moment he made the turn Chitho probably knew he was making the wrong decision.

And now he was reaping the consequences of that decision. A police officer was at his window and the situation was getting out of hand.

"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" Jose barked from behind Chitho.

Chitho couldn't think. He knew he was in trouble. Maybe they could get away. Maybe, even now, he could still avoid getting into trouble.

"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"

And that's when it happened.

Chitho slammed the car in reverse, hitting the rear passenger side of Howland's vehicle. Police reported that the impact pushed the cruiser a few feet across the parking lot.

That's when everything went crazy.

Officer Howland drew his gun. Chitho put the car in drive and stepped on the gas. Police reported that Chitho's car would've sandwiched Officer Howland between two cars if he hadn't jumped on the hood.


Officer Howland fired eight rounds into the car.

Glass shattered as the shots rang out. The Chrysler crashed into near entrance of the shopping center.

Silence.

Chitho was dead.

Anyone in the car that day would tell you Chitho wasn't trying to rob anyone, and he definitely wasn't trying to kill anyone.

But Chitho made several mistakes that day behind the wheel, and his last mistake cost him his life. Chitho died of gunshot wounds to the chest and right arm.

One bullet made it past Chitho and hit Jose in the wrist. People who knew the situation probable would've said that the bullets hit the wrong person that day.

Hallie was released one day after the incident. The next day Saul was arraigned in Sacramento Superior Court on felony charges felony charges of robbery and receiving stolen property from the boy they robbed at the bus stop. Jose faced similar charges, and even though he was 16, he was prosecuted as an adult.

But Chitho wouldn't live to face any charges. Chitho decisions that morning were his last.

They say hindsight is 20/20. You wonder: If Chitho had been given a second chance to think through his first decision that morning-would he have picked up Jose?

Ask Yourself:

Would you?

Who are you letting in you back seat?

Who are you surrounding yourself with?

Chitho was a good kid. But on that particular morning, he surrouded himself with bad company. That one decision led to other bad decisions that ultimately cost him his life.

Think about choices. Chitho made a series of choices that day:


> a choice to pick up Jose and Saul,
> a choice to go driving around with them instead of just heading home,
>a choice to make a U-turn and let his passengers start trouble with a stranger,
>a choice to continue driving them after they committed a crime,
> and the choice to run from a police officer.


Chitho made most of these choices with someone barking in his ear. If Jose hadn't been barking in his ear, he probably wouldn't have made the choice he did.

Who's barking in your ear?

Application and Scripture:

Be careful who you let in your back seat. Be careful who you listen to.

The bible consistently talks about the importance of surrounding ourselves with those who will build us up, and being careful to avoid those who will lead us away from what's right. Check out this excerpt from the book of Proverbs in the Bible:


"Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways"( Proverbs 2:12-15)


God gives us the wisdom to watch out for people like this. He also reminds us in other passages (such as Hebrews 10:25) to surround ourselves with other believers, encouraging each other in doing what's right.

Who do you surround yourself with?

Are you careful who you let in your back seat?


In Closing:

Some of us probably need to rethink some of the people we surround ourselves with.


Let's pray about this:

God, you know who it is that I've allowed into my life-my back seat, for lack of a better term. You know that I've probably by even influenced by them to do wrong. It's clear you don't like that. Forgive me, God. But more than that, help me to steer clear of this kind of trouble. Give me even just one or two people who stand for what's right and true-people who make you a priority in their lives. Give me some of these people in my life.

God, I give you my friends. In Jesus' name, Amen.




story happened May 25, 2006