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Chicago's Viral Shirtless Jogger Founded Movement Offering "Free Prayer" Outside Gay Bars

"You can just smell the emptiness on them," a colleague said.

The jaw-dropping shirtless jogger who went viral this week after delivering a sexy weather report for Chicago's WGN TV is a devout Christian — this we know!

Related: Hunky Jogger Declares “It’s Too Wet To Wear A Shirt” On Local Chicago News

What we didn't know is that 24-year-old Ethan Renoe has apparently been spreading the gospel around Chicago's gayborhood for the past four years, offering "free prayer" to anyone who likes.

NBC 5 repots that Renoe, a former Moody Bible Institute student, started the "movement" as a positive and uplifting public service. It consists of he and his volunteer colleagues colleagues standing on street corners during peak bar hours on the weekends holding signs that say "Free Prayer."

Though the group frequents locations in different Chicago neighborhoods, the current leader of the group, student Noah Reynolds, says he spends most of his time at their "Boystown location" outside the gay bar Progress.

"My primary purpose of going there is to show this community love that has been severely damaged by those who claim to be Christians," he said. "That area has been hurt by people who claim Christ’s name."

Asked whether he thinks what they're doing is similar to the Westboro Baptist Church, Reynolds said "No! 100,000 percent no."

"Westboro Baptist is nearly the antithesis of what we are. Our message is a message of grace through faith. It doesn’t matter how far you have fallen, Christ loved you enough to die for you to set you free."

Renoe, however appeared in a video two years ago promoting the group alongside co-founder Carson Lee, who seemed to suggest a different message entirely at the time.

"People come in and you can just smell the emptiness on them, the desire to have something more fulfilling than the way they're living their life. They're either obsessed with their jobs, or obsessed with sex, or obsessed with money, or drinking," he said.

Student Andy Wood told NBC 5 that he understands why some people are upset by their presence.

"Some people come at us angrily, but I can understand that because that community is their stronghold and that's where their identity lies and they feel like we're attacking it, but that's before they talk to us. Regardless of lifestyle decisions we have the same opportunity to share the gospel and love people."

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