When Jesus came into my life.

Plain and simple. When you became a Christian. Please share your testimony. Short or long. Nothing is more wonderful than hearing about how a sinner was saved by grace.Thank you,Beaux PilgrimModerator

I grew up in a Christian home and I give thanks daily for godly parents. I said the sinners prayer when I was 11 years old but it was at the urging of my natural father and not the urging of the Holy Spirit. When temptations came along in teenage years I fell hard and lived in sin, hiding from God, for many, many years. Flash forward to the week following the Sept. 11 tragedies. I am suddenly under tremendous conviction of the Holy Spirit. It wasn't any message I heard, it was just the Spirit bringing my own mortality into focus and I realized I was just not right with God, if it was me in one of those towers, I would be in hell right now.I sat in bed a few nights after the tragedies and couldn't get to sleep. I went downstairs and said a simple prayer, "God, if this is you, show me something". And I proceeded to open the Bible for the first time in many years. I just opened up the Bible and happened to be at Matthew 7. I began reading and the Holy Spirit stopped me at verses 13 and 14;Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.It was clear to me that I was on the broad way to destruction. I felt that I was at a crossroads and I had a deep impression that the path I chose right then and there would determine my ultimate destination forever, destruction or life. I repented and turned to Jesus. I was born of the Spirit by the grace of God!I went back upstairs and said another prayer, this time asking God to lead me to a Spirit filled church, as soon as the words were out of my mouth the image of a large sign that stands in front of a nearby church flashed into my mind. I had driven by the place every day on the way to work but never gave it any thought. I went there the next time they were holding services which was a Wednesday night, and as soon as I sat down I felt I was at home, the song "Come Just as You Are" began to play and the tears just flowed. What a loving, merciful, faithful, patient, and mighty God we serve! In Christ,Ron

Ron,wow. That was awesome. Thank you for sharing that.Lord Bless you,Beaux Pilgrim

May of 1985 was the year that I became a Christian. I had been attending a church close to my home ever since I was in the 2nd grade, 7 years, but I was lost. The church that I was attending got a new youth pastor of whom the Lord put a burden on his heart for me. He was trying very hard to bet me to go to a summer camp with the church to Florida. I did not want to go. My mother made me go on Sunday mornings and that was more than I wanted then. This man persisted at me and came to me 4 times before he wore me down on the 5th visit. He came for that 5th time pleading with me and even offered to pay for the trip for me. I caved. I figured it couldn’t be that bad. I went and on the very first night I gave my heart to Jesus. I could not tell you what the preacher talked about. All I could remember was God speaking to me, “Beaux, you need me.” I remember feeling this incredible sense of my sin and my need for Christ. I did not understand regeneration, redemption, grace, or any of that stuff. I just knew that I needed Jesus. As soon as the preacher gave the altar call, I took off like a rocket. I told that man that I needed Jesus. It was like this heavy burden was lifted off of me. My life got turned inside out. Before I was incredibly shy, to the point of being terrified of being around people, I spoke awful, I had a great deal of self hate, and was dealing with rejection from my father. But when Christ came into my heart, everything changed. I did not even realize it until later that my language had changed, that I was not afraid of being around people anymore. That I would bring up Jesus to my friends without any thought of it. I actually lost all of my friends very soon after I was born again and only spent time reading the Word and in prayer for the next 6 months before the Lord gave me some Christian friends. The Lord continues to amaze me all of the time with how He loves and chooses to use a simple little person like me.

Beaux and Ron, thanks so much for sharing these with us! Wonderful! Nothing is more wonderful than hearing about how a sinner was saved by grace.I couldn't agree more.What is always interesting is the various ways the Lord uses to draw us to Him. Hope more will share their experience's here.Personally, mine will probably be on the long-ish side since it was a long process, I was pretty stubborn.....

1 Peter 3:15 ...Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have....The Word says to share with all who ask about the hope that you have. I’m asking. Share with us about the hope that you have in Christ. Tell us about when you became born again.

My TestimonyDeath. That big, scary, dark word that few want to talk about, let alone deal with. Most would prefer we just ignore it, in hope that maybe it will just go away. Yet, the leading cause of death in the world is that people keep on dying. Right now somebody just died. From the minute you were born, you are already dying. No one gets out of here alive. Why? God told us why. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” Gen 2:17 “The soul that sins shall die” “For the wages of sin is death” Paul said in Romans 6:23\t\tFor me, it keeps me grounded. When I am tempted to doubt, when the day to day troubles, the reality of living in reality and that sense of hopelessness that can creep up and whisper that everything is meaningless, it reminds me that the biggest moment in my life has yet to happen. When that last breath is taken away, back to the One who gave it, in that twinkling of an eye, where will I be?\t\tMy first thoughts about God started when I was very young, probably about 6 or 7 years old. I can remember laying in my bed at night pondering what would it be like after we die. I would try to think about “nothing”, imagining that everything was empty, quiet, dark, nothing to do, nowhere to go, nobody around, no parents or friends and no God, just empty silence. And it would so terrify me that I would have to force myself to think of something else, like Slurppee’s or Hot Wheels. As I look back on that time now, I see it as what hell must be like, separated from God, banished from His presence. Jesus stated that it was even worse for it is neither empty nor quiet, but full of weeping and gnashing of teeth. \tWas raised as a Catholic, went through CCD as they use to call it. Remember in those days thinking that if the whole world would just say the Lord's prayer at the same time, then maybe Jesus would come back. My upbringing did instill a healthy set of morals and shaped perhaps what you could call a "God consciousness". So I went through the motions through the years with a belief in God but no real relationship to Him. As a teenager I was a 'rebel with aconscience', drinking, drugs etc. but always with the knowledge that what I was doing was wrong, I think they call it Catholic guilt. But that wasn't enough to deter me so on it went.\tLooking back on my life now I can see the times that God was drawing me, trying to get my attention, placing people and events in my path. As I got a bit older I always held a job and longed to be a rock star, played drums and then switched to guitar, but all the while I was sinking into a pit of confusion, and delusion, putting up a front that allowed me to work, but the drugs had me in bondage. Was probably about 19-20 years old when I had a series of very scary things happen. I had been a big pot head, but was now doing "crank" or "speed" that can just wreak havoc with your entire being. You don't eat, you don't sleep, you are as we liked to call it "tweaking". Some nights I would lay on my bed trying to sleep, would close my eyes and see demons faces circling, laughing at me. It got to the point where I could hardly look anybody in the eye and a sense of foreboding seemed to follow me. Around this time I did take some interest in the Christian band Stryper, because it was more in tune with the type of music I was playing and in a sense it was a life raft that I probably held on to, the last bit of belief that I had and maybe a small hope that I could come out of the pit I was falling into. During this time there were a few Christians that would cross my path and when they did, I was strongly convicted, I would do anything to change the subject, I couldn't hide my shame. Stubborn as I was though, I continued on, getting worse by the day.\t One night, strung out on drugs and body exhausted but the nervous system still agitated from the amphetamine running through me, I had almost fell asleep when my heart started racing, a sound like a high speed drill growing louder and louder, faster and faster, I opened my eyes and saw "the blackness of darkness", though there was some light in the room probably from a nitelight in the bathroom, everything was blacked out. Then the 'tunnel' that you hear about from those near death experiences, I was going down into it and the fear was overwhelming me, I didn't see any light there and felt that I was heading to hell. In desperation I was clinging to the sides of the bed (like that was going to somehow stop me ) and cried out to God to save me, "I don't want to die", I couldn't break loose of this spiral down into death, it was a force that I fought with all I had left in me...Then it let loose, I bolted into the bathroom, hyperventilating, throwing water on my face, not sure if I was really still alive.Needless to say it was a difficult night trying to get some sleep, I promised God that if I awoke the next day, that I would never touch the stuff again.\t\tWell I did wake up the next day and kept my promise, well for about 7 years anyway. Still for all that, I didn't get 'saved' or give up everything, just the speed. Stubborn. I knew enough of the Gospel from various people who witnessed to me through the years and recall a couple of times where I had dared to say yes, usually in the quiet of the night, from deep within me I knew the Lord was calling me to Himself and wanted to give my life to Him, recall that warmth would come coursing through me, but still I turned away. I didn't want to give up my ways, not yet. So on it went for a number of years. Played at being a Christian for awhile even, listening to my Stryper tapes, Rez band, along with all the other stuff I was into. But no substance. Just a phony. Got involved with a woman who was going through a divorce and had a child. Got engaged in the later part of the relationship after about 7 years and then it all came to a halt. As far as I was concerned I had been married, short of the ring, all the duties and responsibility's, raising a kid...and now, 'divorce'. It was devastating to me. I moved into the job site trailer where we were building upscale homes and let my work consume me. To numb the pain as well as keep up with the ridiculous idea that I was superman and could shoulder so many responsibility's in my job as an assistant superintendent, I fell back into the 'speed' once again. This allowed me to work on average 70 - 80 hours a week and being that I lived on site, my life was now my job. Without any responsibility's of a family life, I fell into any number of different sins, you name it, I did it, short of trouble with the law, still had my twisted sense of morals. Huge problem with gambling, (sports betting). But a strange thing started to happen during this time. Every once in a while and this would go on for maybe a month or 6 weeks at a time, I would start to see 316 everywhere. This was no coincidence, I tried to tell myself it was but during these times it was always right before my eyes. Look at a clock, 3:16, reading the sports page, batting avg. .316, license plates, address's, signs, go the store and pick up a steak $3.16. on it would go during this time frame and then just stop. I tried to rationalize it away by saying "I need to play my Lotto numbers", but I knew what it meant. By the way, my birthday as well as my Dad's (I was adopted) is 3/16/63. This would repeat itself over the next couple of years.\tAfter coming to a state of physical and mental burnout. I quit the company I had been working for and eventually starting working for a company building apartments. This is where I would met my wife to be. Just prior to this, there was one night as I had been up intoxicating and defiling myself. Sick in my sin and disgusted with my life, I had this lyric running through my head "Sweet Jesus, where did I go?" (From Zakk Wylde, guitar player for Ozzy Osbourne) I cried out to the Lord, "Where did I go?, I know you have been drawing me, chasing me, the Hound of heaven, I want to give my life to you, but, but..."Once again I felt that warmth of love coursing through my veins, through my repentance and tears....and still my flesh rose up to fight giving my all, I was alternately saying yes and no. But as I look back now, I believe that was THE night, the turning point, even though nothing really changed right away.\tI met my wife to be who just happened to be a Christian and we were quickly married, just two short months after meeting. I believe that God brought us together as sure as anything I know. (by the way I don't recommend short engagements, knowing what I do now as a Christian) On our first month "anniversary" of dating, she gave me the best gift I have ever received. A bible.\tIt would be a few month's before I really started digging in to it. But the Lord was at work. For a strange reason I would wake up a 4 in the morning and read and pray and watch a rather odd preacher on t.v. "The Shepperd's Chapel" I believe it was. I quit cussing and didn't even realize it, only when I would hear it coming from others did I feel the sting of the words and noticed that it had departed from my vocabulary. It was totally unintentional. In the line of work I was in everything is preceded by a curse word. Got caught up in a lot of the 'word of faith/prosperity' type of thing for quite awhile, a very confusing time, a lot had to be unlearned. There were times went I thought that all these preachers were lying and nobody could be trusted, thought about just chucking it all a few times. But God, who is rich in mercy and patience had begun a good work in me and deep down I knew that I would never turn back "Thou He slay me...". Christian radio was and still is a great sanctuary, learned so much over the years, these men I owe a debt of gratitude to (Chuck Swindoll, John MaCarthur, Dr. David Jeremiah, Chip Ingram, Charles Stanley, et. al) Much heart work, brokenness, agonizing, dark night of the soul have since ensued over these past 5 years that I consider I have been saved. Amazing grace it is, amazing patience, amazing love, amazing relentlessness that He pursued a complete and total wretch like me. It took still a number of years before the "drug war" ended, the Holy Spirit the victor. This battle I have described in other post's somewhere around here.\t\tNow, it is a hunger to know Him, to know Jesus in all things with every breath, to know and do His will, to be obedient because of the love he has shown me. "We love Him because He first loved us." (1 John 14:19) I despair at phoniness, hypocrisy in religion, in Christianity, I just want something that is real, the truth no matter how painful...but what I really despair at is the fact that I can find all these things in myself, that they can still rear their ugly head, that my own motives need to be checked, that their is still much of self that needs to die.\tBut, praise be to God! Their is hope! Jesus is alive, still interceding for the saints and the Holy Spirit to guide into all truth who also prays for us in our weakness. It has been a progressive salvation for me, many sign posts along the way and somewhere I took a right turn, don't have a particular date to look back on, but the seed had been planted, finally it took root, many watered* and one day it broke the surface. It was all God's doing and I don't think I will ever fully understand how it can be. But I love Him with all my heart, all my soul and all my mind, twisted as it is.Mike Balog* Found out later that my mother was instrumental in calling me back to God, her prayers were answered! Also, a schoolmate used to come around witnessing to me in my late teenage years who I owe a debt of gratitude to. Found him through the classmates web site, but strangely he has chosen not to respond. Have tried a number of times, pray that he is still following the Lord.\t"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."\t\t\t John 3:16

[font=Verdana]WOW[/font]Mike,Thank you so much for sharing. That was incredible. Praise God indeed my Jesus does live, He lives inside my heart.It was a great encouragement to me.Thanks again,Beaux Pilgrim

A member at this site E-mailed me, asking me to share my testimony with him. So I did, and the following is an editted copy. Please understand that this takes a lot of courage on my behalf, as I'm really hestitant to share it....but God recently showed me that it is meant to encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ -- you. So please remember as you read this...if I can be Saved, anyone can -- don't prematurely judge a nonbeliever as permenantly doomed. I'm a 19-year-old freshman at Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL. I've been Saved for almost two years, now. Well, I was raised in a Catholic home, though there was definitely more tradition than faith or actual belief. My family has a very torn history, and by no means are Christian. The only other Saved individual in my family is my mom's older half-sister who has been disowned by her mother/my grandmother, and she has a live-in lesbian partner right now. So! I did the sacrament of Confirmation at the local Catholic church in the 8th grade, and felt that I had "graduated" church. My younger brother, Dermot, who will be 16 this December often refers to it as "graduation" himself, since he Confirmed last year. I know that by that time I had already lost my faith because in that last year at my middle school, the WWJD fad broke out and I didn't want anything to do with it. Sometime around 8th/9th grade I took down all the Christian paraphernalia in my room and gave it to my mom in a box. She doesn't have faith, but the rejection of family tradition hurt her. I feel bad about it now...I was too selfish to care about others. I became a pagan of the sorts...similar to Wicca, but not at the same time. My own creation of nature-worship. It was short-lived because it was irrational, and I always leaned on analyzing everything, including myself. Introspection played a large role in my life. I eventually looked into other world religions and settled upon Deism in the 10th grade. Deism is basically and simply the belief in a creator god who does not care about us. Made perfect sense to me. I was a terrible sinner, as we all were and still are. To skip the graphic details, I lost my virginity at age 16 (Nov 2000) and was quite promiscuous afterwards. Started drinking alcohol whenever I could and realized I had a problem shortly thereafter. I was in Army Junior ROTC, and quite the star student academically as well as the star cadet in JROTC. At the end of each school year, the organization would hold what's called the Military Ball. Hot stuff -- awards ceremony, formal dance and dinner, the works. Very very prestigious and formal. This was May 2001, and I was a 16 years old sophomore. Told my parents that I was sleeping over my best friend Viviane's house afterwards, but really we were going to a huge party thrown by seniors first. We arrived and there was alcohol, of course, and I asked Vivi not to let me drink anything. Later that night, she handed me my first drink. After half a bottle of Vodka, some Jamaican and Puerto Rican rums, my first shots, Mike's Hard Lemonade, and a couple mixed drinks I was among the drunkest there. A friend, an acquaintance, and a perfect stranger raped me, and the hostess of the party pretended to take care of me by washing my clothes for me and giving me a shower and her own clothes. She was taking care of the evidence. I had to tell my parents and my father called me a slut and my mom refused to speak to me. Summer arrived and I was sent to a psychologist while the Sheriff's Department sorted through stories of that night and what had happened to me. My mother later told me that we couldn't press charges because it would be three lawyers against one; I found out a few months ago that she just didn't want to ruin her work reputation. She and my father are police officers, and she has a high status at her department. I "recuperated" well that summer and returned to my high school of 4,000+ completely ostracized. I was blamed for my rape. Those who didn't know my name referred to me as "the girl who was raped". Some pretended to be my friends, and that was so they could turn to others and say they heard "the real story of what happened" straight from me. I lost all of my friends because those who had raped me were popular and more well-liked than me. Chris was a Christian in my psychology class that year. He had moved from another school to mine, and I had a bit of a crush on him, admittedly. I called him a "f---ing diluded moron" when he told me he didn't believe in evolution though. Bryan moved into my neighborhood, and since he hadn't been around when all of this had happened, we grew to be close friends. He gave me a chance, and I really cherished his unbiased acceptance and friendship. After a lot of arguing with him back and forth, I finally gave in and tried pot in September 2001. Smoked it for three months...if I wasn't high, I didn't want to be alive...until I slept with someone I hated. October 2001 I went to Washington D.C. for the National Youth Leadership Forum. Despite my underground life, I maintained good grades and was sent to represent my JROTC program. I met Fernando there, "coincidentally" from my area, though hundreds of students from across the nation were in attendance. We spent time together on and off after that week, and his biggest testimony to me was that he wouldn't date me because there was no marriage potential -- I wasn't a Christian like he was. December 18, 2001...I said my mom was a police officer. She went to a domestic violence call and was purposefully run over by the man who was abusing his girlfriend. She was hurt very very badly, and was in Intensive Care Unit for a month. I knew she was in ICU longer than most because there were monitors in her room where the names of other ICU patients and their stats were...that way the nurses could keep tabs on other patients while tending to my mom. Their names constantly changed, but her name was consistently there. I never thought she would die. I didn't pray for her either. I took advantage of the sympathy and support that was offered to my family. I slept over my Satanist boyfriend's house as often as possible. And I told my guidance counselor I didn't want to be in my pre-calculus class anymore because my mother's health impacted my ability to concentrate. I lied and took advantage of others for selfish reasons...and God took my sin and used it to glorify Him. I was switched out of that pre-calculus class as I had requested and switched into a team sports class. There, I "coincidentally" chose the same row as two girls named Merritt and Pam. Pam had a different coach than me, but Merritt was in my class. I was still enduring a lot of gossip and ostracision...I would be sitting in the bleachers and listening to the gossip right behind me, and Merritt would turn around and stand up for me, asking them to be respectful and find something better to do with their time. I would lie to her straight to her face to build myself up in her eyes, and God gave her the discernment to say to me "I know you're lying...you don't need to do that. I like you for who you are." One day she was reading in the bleachers and I asked her, "What are you reading?" I thought she said "Ax" and asked, "Oh, is that a new horror or thriller novel?" She laughed and said, "No, Acts. Like in the Bible." I made a face of disgust and walked away. That was in January 2002, and the next month my mom was released from the hospital...February 1. On February 11 we celebrated Christmas in my home. I took pride that I had held off on opening the Christmas gifts until she was home. Thought I was a great person. February 27, Merritt asked me in class if I would come support her that night because she was singing at her church. I hated church, and loathed the hypocritical Christians I assumed were there even more. But I told myself I owed it to her -- she had been so kind to me for no reason at all, and I owed it to her. So I said I'd go, and I did. I showed up with the intentions of leaving as soon as she was done singing. I had never been to a Protestant church before and didn't know I was going to be at a youth group. I showed up a bit early and saw so many people I knew from my school there. I later gave my testimony to the same youth group and said, "I knew so many of you. Why didn't I know you were Christian?" One of the girls at that Youth Group had been there at that party the night I was raped. She asked me afterwards if I was okay -- my heart was broken...had she witnessed to me, I would have listened. But it wasn't God's timing. So the band started playing and we stood on our chairs. Total shock to me -- much different than a Catholic church. I clapped and sang along, reading the words projected on the wall behind the band. I had never really heard Jesus portrayed that way. What was grace? And we sat down and a young couple stood and gave their testimony. Sounded a little similar to mine -- they weren't claiming to be perfect either. And then it was Merritt's turn. Chris, the kid I had cursed out for not believing in evolution, sat behind Merritt with his acoustic guitar. Erik, the youth pastor, stood and asked us to close our eyes and bow our heads -- I did so, as I always did out of respect. And then she sang. She has been blessed with a voice from heaven, and the words were a God-send, too. "Jesus, lover of my soul. All consuming fire is in Your gaze. Jesus, You alone are God, and I will follow You all of my days..." I couldn't stop sobbing, I couldn't stop saying over and over again "I am so sorry...I'm so sorry." I didn't know yet how important my sorries were. And Chris and Merritt, as well as Pam and a friend, Taylor, prayed with me to accept Christ. Chris gave me his study Bible and they discipled me. They taught me how to live for Christ, and I knew I was different. February 27, 2002, God called me and I couldn't help but answer. I love Him so much. He is my Life, my Love, my Master and Maker. He Saved me from myself, and I can't ever be thankful enough. He sacrificed so much for me -- He gave so much for me! I don't have enough to give back, I'm not capable of paying Him back -- my life is insufficient in thanking Him but I will give Him all that I have because He deserves nothing less! He Saved me! He Saved me!! I fall deeper and deeper in love with Him everyday and don't want it to be any other way. I don't know how I made it day-to-day without Him by my side -- and I look back now and see how He guided my life toward Him. And that's my testimony. Love in Christ always -- Mary

Mary, God Bless You.Thanks you so much for opening your heart to us all. I realize how difficult it can be to bring out these things from our background. Like you, I also spared some of the 'graphic details', but going back through past experience's can be taxing on one's spirit.Yet, Praise God for your courage despite that!No one is out of the reach of the Lord, God doesn't reject His creation, it is us who reject Him.and I always leaned on analyzing everything, including myself. Introspection played a large role in my life.Ditto! There's a can of worms we could open another topic on for us analytical types. Tricky thing in my experience, needed yet dangerous at the extreme.What an encouragement this is Mary, perhaps we should post these on the www.givehimachance.com as examples for the unbelieving world? But let me reverse the encouragement and echo the comment from Clutch that length of time doesn't always equal spiritual maturity. You are a case in point.Would never had guessed that you had "only" been with the Lord just shy of two years. Me thinks some of us might be just a bit stubborn in total surrender :oops: May the Lord continue the wonderful work He is doing in your life, bind up the wounds and continue to pour out His grace and love. Thank you again Mary.You are an encouragement to us all.Mike

Mary, What a blessing you are! I had to work today, and read your testimony soon after getting home. Thanks to you, I didn't miss church. I had it reading your testimony. Great preaching too! I must admonish you though, young lady. You're not supposed to make old people like me cry. :-D Clutch ;-)

Mike,Wonderful testimony brother. There's a lot of us that probably wouldn't have got in without praying Mama's and Grandmama's. E.M. Bounds said in his book,"Purpose In Prayer" : " The man " (and this also applies to women)"who has done the most and best praying is the most immortal, because prayers do not die. Perhaps the lips that uttered them are closed in death, or the heart that felt them may have ceased to beat, but the prayers live before God, and God's heart is set on them. Prayers out live the lives of those who uttered them-- out live a generation, out live an age, out live a world". Think about the implications of that beginning with your ancestory, and continuing through your heir's.In MY case, it didn't hurt that I had all that going for me. Plus I had the extra benefit of having a fellow I worked with at Ft. Bragg N.C. ( Dan Harness), praying that God would either KILL me or SAVE me one of the two!Clutch ;-)

Prayers out live the lives of those who uttered them-Like that, thanks for your kind words Clutch.praying that God would either KILL me or SAVE me one of the two!He must have emphasised the later, all things considered. :-D

Mike (crsschk) said, Thanks you so much for opening your heart to us all. I realize how difficult it can be to bring out these things from our background. I've been on this site for four months, and it's a lot easier to share with those brothers and sisters that I trust -- it didn't take four months to know most of your hearts, because it's obvious that our spirits are kindred.Clutch said, I must admonish you though, young lady. You're not supposed to make old people like me cry. Well, gosh. ...I'm sorry. Make a girl blush. :oops: Greg (wrtbooks) was telling me earlier today, "The words [of my testimony] didn't have the effect in them to touch people. The Spirit uses them to convict, encourage, etc....without the Spirit using them they are lifeless...even the best of words!"

Brethren.Thought I would bring this back up for consideration once again. If you are so inclined, hope that perhaps some of our newer members and even some of the 'old' ones would consider sharing their testimony's of how they came to the Lord.And here's why. For one, we never know who may be lurking about this site, 'seekers', the brokenhearted, those who are feed up with all the religious trappings and may even be 'church members' but still don't know the Lord in spirit and truth.More so that what is truly miraculous is not in signs and wonders, but in the wonder of a transformed disposition, however unexplainable it really is and even in the difficulty of giving a proper expression... "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." 1Co 2:4,5 How hard it is to not to quote all of this grand section of scripture, but for brevity...This all came about again this morning in a two-fold way. One is in the happenstance of a ministry that is dealing with former drug abusers that I came across, primarily in the area of amphetamines of which a personal pit I came out of. The other was in a dear soul that is going through a rather incredibly difficult time and is handling it with the utmost grace in forgiveness that the only explanation is the love of Jesus coursing through the veins, expressing Himself in this individual. I believe some day this will be a testimony to be told, but for now it is in mid process, as I write and for good reason must stay unsaid.But the combination of these two things brought me to a re-realization. In the former mentioned ministry, because of my own parallels thought I would share a bit about 'our' site here as well as my own testimony with them. Even though I had just mentioned yesterday that I was sick of talking about 'me', after linking back here to my own testimony, started re-reading it again and with the thoughts of the grace and forgiveness that the un-named individual is showing fresh in my mind... I didn't get half way through my own testimony...dear God the eye's breaking now,... that I began to become overwhelmed with tears and hit the floor with such gratitude that the Lord had done this not only in myself but in my friends life as well.Folks, it is not a trite thing to say that the truly miraculous is a transformed life. All the signs and wonders pale in comparison. And maybe a revisiting of our own personal testimony's is not an exercise in self-indulgence, but an occasion to give thanks to the Lord and share it with others. You just never know who's life you might touch in telling your story.

Humph... to be ignored ;-) Seeing that the last time this was brought up was some time ago and now it seems I am only talking to myself here (not unusual at all) where are all the testimonies saints? Was sharing with a brother (hint, hint) offline in this regards and will steal part of that conversation:"...every testament to the workings of the Lord in a human heart is grand and the greatest miracle of all. To be invaded by the living spirit that lived in Jesus?! To think of it! So beyond our capabilities..."So it is of little concern how 'grandiose' or how far down in the gutter we may have been, it generally flows from the inside out anyways...But to hear of how the Lord in His grace reached down and grabbed us is for one, a testimony to Him and to His glory and an encouragement to one another and to who knows who is out there, peeping in on these things. Might your testimony be the one that breaks a heart into repentance and acknowledgment that it is God Himself that has been after them?

How about "When Jesus increased in my life and i decreased (again)?" :-P I have something for that topic! Haven't put it together yet though.In His love, Chanin

I came to the saving knowledge of Jesus by going to a big youth event. I must have been 11 years old. I was going with a small Baptist church across the street from my house. Everyone was going and besides, there would be free pizza and girls. Nothing seemed better than being around pretty girls and eating free pizza. I figured that I could deal with the preaching because I reasoned within myself, “He’ll probably say the same things I have always heard before.” To my great amazement, the man preached about an issue that hit right at home. When I said, “right at home”, it holds to different meanings. One, at my house I found out that my mother had tried to kill herself on more than one occasion and two, it meant exactly what it said. See, I also had tired to kill myself and obviously it didn’t work, thank God. After the message, he asked, “Would anyone like to come up and get saved?” I rushed to the stage area and started to follow Jesus. Now my walk is different. For many years I never knew why I got saved. The main reason seemed because I didn’t want to go to hell. I never knew I had sinned against a holy and blameless God that would one-day judge the world in righteousness. In 11 years of serving the Lord, I never knew why Jesus truly came. The reason I found out was because, while riding with a friend named Marty, we listened to a message called “Hells best kept secret”. And now, I am preparing for ministry even more at school. I even got to go to El Salvador last dec for a mission trip. As I become a more solid Christian, I am always reminded, as Isaiah said when he seen the glory of God, “For I am undone!” I realize the closer I get to God the more I have to die to self and that it isn't about me.

When I was born, my mother was about sixteen years of age and I think my father was in his early twenties. As I understand the story, they were both into drugs and not nearly ready to have a child.They eventually decided that I should be given into the care of my father's sister and her husband to give me a better chance. It was the best decision they could have made.I was given everything I could have ever wanted as a child. I still have pictures of myself on my first Christmas with a house full of toys. Although I had all the material things I wanted, my foster parents had difficulty communicating love to me on an emotional level.I really appreciate that they did the best they knew how for me, but our lack of personal intimacy created problems for us as I grew and matured as a young child, and especially during my teenage years.I grew up in a fairly religious family. I loved to study religion and the Bible especially, and I always felt somehow God was near to me, watching over me and protecting me. I would not really understand just how true that was until after I had become a Christian.The Lord in His sovereign mercy preserved my life by placing me in a good home and rescuing me from disaster on several occasions.What was misdiagnosed as anything from dyslexia to an acute learning disability in me as a child turned into mischief and rebellion as I made the transition from elementary into Jr. high school.I was coming of age and felt an increased need for belonging and emotional support. Because I wasn't receiving this at home, I began to search for acceptance at school among my friends.Unfortunately at this time in my life, I was more of a follower than a leader, and I ended up hanging out with and following some pretty negative influences that led me into trouble.By the 7th grade, the school system determined that I was a gifted student and put me in special classes. I guess they figured that maybe if they gave me more challenging schoolwork to do I would be less likely to get bored and get into trouble.My friends and I were smoking and drinking, and by the 8th grade we were stealing from our parents and from kids lockers to buy pills and weed. A teacher caught a group of us one day with pills and the police were called in just to scare us real good, but we were never really punished for having drugs at school.Although I still attended church and religion classes regularly, I was also into all kinds of spiritual weirdness and continued to abuse drugs. My girlfriend in the 9th grade was heavily into drugs as well as witchcraft, and I was dragged down even further into these things the more I hung around with her.We ran away together in a car stolen from my foster parents that summer, and spent a short time in juvenile detention as a result.My custody was taken from my foster parents and awarded to the state until my eighteenth birthday, even though they allowed me to continue living at home. My girlfriend and I were ordered not to communicate with each other as a condition of our probation.By this time, I began to realize that I really did have a problem with drugs and signed myself into a local rehab facility. Six weeks and $10,000 later, the doctors were not able to make any real progress with me, and I was released against medical advice. Two weeks later I was smoking and drinking again.My girlfriend and I continued to communicate all the while, and we still tried to see each other. During the next school term I found out she had been sleeping with several of my friends behind my back, and she even began dating one of my very best friends. Not long after this, she brought a gun to school and was expelled.Her story was that she was trading it with someone for something, but a lot of people thought she was planning to shoot my new girlfriend. She was sent away to a high security juvenile facility and we wrote to each other on several occasions. We continued to communicate until she eventually moved out of state. I'm not sure exactly what happened to her after that.Meanwhile, I had a close friend who had become a Christian and began to pray for my salvation. She had been in trouble with the law before and had been taken away from her mother and placed in several different girls' homes, but after awhile she was back home and back in school with us.I began to notice that she was now altogether a different person than she was before. It took three years for me to finally agree to go to church with her. She never gave up on me and never stopped praying for me the whole time.Just a few months before my eighteenth birthday, I went to check out a youth service at my friend's church. I had never seen anything like it. Young people were singing, clapping and raising their hands in worship.I thought this was all kind of weird because I had been raised in a very different religious environment and had never been to a charismatic or pentecostal-type church before. At the same time, I had an undeniable impression that night in my spirit that what these young people had was real. I went back to that youth service the very next week to find out more of what it was all about.The things the Youth Pastor said that night seemed to speak directly to me. When he called for people who felt like they needed prayer to come up to the front, I knew I was one of them.The Youth Pastor explained to me that if I confessed my past mistakes to God, He would forgive me for my failings and accept me as His own. He said that if I believed in my heart that God had sent His Son Jesus to die for my sins, and that if I confessed with my mouth that God had raised Jesus from the dead to give me a new start in life, that I would be changed into a brand new person and be able to start all over again with a clean slate.The change that I was never quite able to attain for myself, the help that always seemed just out of my reach, was finally realized that night. What the doctors could not do in six weeks, Jesus was able to accomplish in about twenty minutes. I was set free and delivered from drugs in that instant.The Bible says that if anyone belongs to Christ, he has become a new person. Old things are passed away and everything is new again. That's exactly what happened to me that night. I would never be the same ever again forever!I began to attend the youth meetings there regularly, and even got involved in music ministry and sound engineering. Eventually I would begin to grow and desire more, and was led to a larger church a year later just as they were starting up a new discipleship program for their youth group.God's timing is perfect. He brought me to exactly the place I needed to be at just the right time. I received the exact kind of spiritual teaching I had been looking for and continued to grow as a follower of Jesus Christ.I soon began to realize that because of my turbulent adolescence, God wanted to use me to reach out to other young people who were going through some of the same things I had passed through. I began talking to some of my younger friends, letting them know that they could save themselves a world of trouble by listening to the advice of someone who had already been where they were.Some other Christian friends and I started going out to the mall on Friday nights to talk to young people about their spiritual condition. It was an exciting time. Several young men came to Jesus through our outreach there and are themselves involved in ministry to this day.As the years went by, I began to develop a burden not only to evangelize young people, but also to help disciple them and equip them with the things they need for their entire lifetime as Christians.I am currently working to develop a teaching curriculum for discipleship and leadership based on the wisdom passed down to me by my spiritual mentors. The Lord has given me a vision to raise up young world-changers who will go out and reap a harvest of souls among the next generation.I have a responsibility to God to be a mentor and spiritual father to young disciples, helping them to become mature believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. To whom much is given, of him much will be required.