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Hi He Invites! I want you to know how wonderful your ministry is - never underestimate the power of the Lord (or try to estimate it, for that matter). Simply accepting it makes it work better for me. The Lord has moved me to share my testimony with you, so here goes: I grew up in a household with 2 siblings, a half-brother and a half-sister. They both were from my mother's previous marriage, and I was the only child of my mother and my father. My father had been an alcoholic before I was born, and he lived most of his life with negative feelings - he had a lot of bitterness inside. I was sexually abused, and I grew up thinking like him, that I'd one day be bitter and insensitive. Well, my parents divorced when I was seven years old, and so my mother took us 3 children and we moved to an apartment. My mother did the best she could, she had been introduced to the Lord through AA meetings (since my father was an alcoholic), but she didn't know that we can have a personal relationship with Jesus. We were all attending Catholic grade schools and high schools, but without that personal relationship, we had no idea what was so important about religion, nor anyone to relinquish us from the chains of guilt and anxiety. And so I grew up afraid and hurt, yearning for acceptance. I attended a public high school, and this was a big change from a parochial school. For one, the kids here seemed much more "cool", doing the "in" thing. And so, as I was yearning for acceptance, I got it from whoever I could. So I fit in with the misfit group, the bunch of guys who clowned around, cut class, and partied. Around this time, my father passed away, and I gradually started accepting what my new friend's behaviors involved, and so I began dating and smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol. This was in 11th grade, and I never looked back. The Lord blessed me even back then, though, helping me to keep my grades up in school. I was accepted into a 4-year university, and I was excited to get out on my own and away from my "lame" parents (my mother had subsequently remarried). And so I went off to college, about 3 hours away from home, but it seemed like forever away. I was eager to make new friends here too, and so quickly I hung out with the jokesters here too. And the drugs came into an even greater focus. I began using them, buying them, and selling them, all for attention. And that's what I got, alright. All of a sudden everyone wanted to know me - but only because of what they could get from me. But I was happy with that, b/c I was helping people out. And besides, the high was fun (I hadn't yet experienced the "high for life" we can have with Jesus Christ). Yet I slowly slipped into a deep depression. The drug use continued, dope, hallucinogenics, lots of alcohol. And the whole time the Lord managed to help me keep my grades up, yet I didn't know Him. Sometime during college, I denounced that God even existed. Man was I lost. Last year, before my final year of college, the sex started. I had always been shy towards the opposite sex, and never felt quite adequate. But I found out how to "fake it" to the ladies, basically, to play them for fools. And so I ruined about 10 or so relationships with beautiful people. All the while, I was trying to fill a void inside that couldn't be filled with anything material. One day while in the depths of depression, in desperation I reached out to my mother and called her on the telephone. I wanted to try and restore our relationship, but most of all my life was centered around me, and I wanted out of this deep hole I had dug myself into. I was hurting bad. Now, in the past several years, my mother had purchased a Bible and had begun reading the pages. As we discussed how her life had been changing, she was able to witness to me that it was Jesus in her life that had changed her. This spirituality thing was new to me, but I took note just in case. The drug use continued, but now the spirituality search began. Bhuddism, yoga, Hinduism, even psychic/tarot card readings, I searched through all of it. And I came up empty-handed. And then the relationship with my girlfriend came to an end. I was in pieces. "Help!", I cried out to myself. So that's some background - here's when God really began working on my heart. My cousin has been in jail since 1991 for a double-homicide. I never really knew him, nor spoke with him much, because he was very quiet. But he had much rage built up inside, and he was sentenced to life in prison. Yet the Lord works in awesome ways, as my cousin began to know the Lord, and I am proud to say that he is now on fire for the Lord! Amen! Hallelujiah! So my cousin wrote me a letter 2 months after I broke up with my girlfriend. It was strange, I didn't know him that well, what's he writing me this letter for - I was thinking. Little did I know that one of the Lord's vessels was actively at work on my heart. I responded to a particular line that he included in his message - "Ask me about anything, drugs, sex, girls, cars, tattoos, kids, prison, ..." - basically, a bunch of worldly things. He also stated, "I can't promise you that I know all the answers, but I do know someone who does". Of course, that's Jesus. Well, shortly after responding to his letter, he send me a 30 page testimony in the mail, and to this day, I've never seen anyone with the eyes of the Lord like he has. The Lord is really at work in his life, and He is beginning a work in me. I gave up the drugs, the booze, the women, yes, oh yes, The LORD DELIVERED ME! AMEN! HALLELUJIAH! And now that I'm in His army, I'm going to do everything that I can to please Him, and bring this message to others. He has me witnessing, and soon I'm headed on a missions trip to NYC to minister to the poor, needy, and homeless. To think, just one year ago, so depressed. Now I've truly, truly found the ultimate joy. I implore everyone who has read this, and might not have given Jesus a try yet - DO SO! He's the best decision you'll ever make - He has eternal ramifications! John 3:3 "I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the kingdom of God." Click HERE to return to the edited story Click HERE to create a banner that links to this story! Your e-mail address will be kept private!
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