Here is an experience I had....
My Testimony (What GOD has done for Me)
Hey Everyone,
I thought that I would let you know about me. The best way to do that would be to let you see my testimony. Here is my story:
Well, my story is a little different. I grew up in the Chicago area. I
lived most of my life around and in Cicero, IL. Cicero was heavily
concentrated with gangs. At the age of 15, I started hanging around with
gang-members and I also started increasing my drug intake (yes,I was
doing drugs before this point). By 16, I had joined the gang. Over the
next few years I did more drugs and became more violent. Gangs are a
surrogate family for lost youth. I had grown up in a divorced household
and I needed to fit somewhere. When the gang came around, it was the
perfect place for me (at least I thought so).
In 1994, I lost one of my good friends to an accidental shooting. This
hit me hard. A few months later, another member of the gang was shot and
killed. Attending both of these funerals got me thinking about
everything that was happening in my life. But I still remained in the
gang. Isn't death like that? Doesn't it always make us question
ourselves?
I continued to be absorbed by the streets. I had committed several
crimes (thank God I never shot at anyone) and by this time, I had a
felony on my record. By now, my life was spinning violently out of
control. I was at a point where I would either give my life for the gang
or back away from it.
1996 came around, and I was even deeper in the street life than ever
before. I was 20 years old, and not much to show for my life, except a
criminal history. It was in that year (March) when something happened
that would start the process of me leaving the gang life. In Cicero, the
very town I was gang-banging in, my father died of a drug overdose. This
hurt bad and it hit hard. I found myself facing a reality that I had
never faced before. After burying my father, I started to realize that
if I continued the same path, Cicero, IL would have two death
certificates with the same name on them (considering that we have the
same names). I knew my father would not want that. I knew that I had to
get out before it was too late for me.
That summer, as we were going to party in the woods, a rival gang was
waiting for us and shot at us. We all scattered in different directions.
I ran a few yards down a trail, but then something happened that I
cannot explain. I had this intense urge to go back the other way. What I
found when I returned was my friend Steve who had been shot. He was
alive (and walking!). I helped him out of the woods and to the nearest
hospital. He would be operated on, stitched up, and sent back into the
world the very next day.
Our gang decided that we needed to have a meeting to determine how we
should retaliate. To my surprise they picked me to carry out a "mission"
as they would call it. Now, what you have to understand here is this:
Not one of them, not even Steve (yes! he was there) seemed to care that
I had saved someone's life. There was no "Thank You!" or "Way to go!"
There was no sign that any of them cared for what I had done. All that
they were interested in was retaliating and seeing me "prove myself."
Funny, didn't I just do that by saving someone's life?
After the meeting, we went to drink for awhile. Inside my head I was
looking for a way out. I was with them and I felt that I just couldn't
tell them no. Fear and pressure kept me from doing this. I wanted a
chance, anything that could take me away from them, because I knew that
if I had stayed with them that day, I would have went through with what
they wanted me to do. If I did that, there would be no turning back. If
I got caught: SERIOUS JAIL TIME! I was at a position where only God
could help me, but I didn’t know Him then.
It is funny how I can look back and see God’s hand in my life way back
when I didn’t know Him. There are so many times when I know that He was
there protecting me, because He knew where I would be now. This day,
when I was drinking and getting ready to destroy my life (more than
ever), God showed up for me. As we were drinking, a squad car pulled up.
The cops got out of the car and started to question us. They knew about
the shooting the night before and when I had told them who I was, they
needed to bring me in for questioning. They took me to the station where
they asked me a few questions and then let me go.
As I left the station, I decided that the “Gang-Life” was over for me. I
would not go back. I needed anything to take me away from the group that
day, and the cops were just what I needed. I didn’t see it then, but I
am grateful for them doing there job, and I know that God sent those
cops there to protect me. Praise Jesus for loving me even when I didn’t
care about Him!
Now, one would think that once the gang-life ended the rest of the junk
would end as well. That is not how it goes. For the next 7 years, I
found myself doing more drugs, and I drank at a level that would
classify as abuse. Not even getting married in 2001 would change me. I
did stop doing drugs, but my drinking got worse. I was an alcoholic. I
needed to drink wherever I was-daily! In 2004 I decided that I needed to
do “The college thing” I felt that I needed something more in my life,
and so I enrolled myself into the college I am at now. I did not
understand that I was trying to fill the emptiness that resided in my
heart that only God could fill.
One day in March of 2004, I went to the store and bought a 6-pack. I
drank a few of them one night when I was sitting at the computer in a
chat room. One of the men in the chat room was talking about his
girlfriend. I, being the caring person I am, decided to give him some
advice. Now, I guess that I must have given him some Godly advice
because what he said next was something that would get me thinking. He
asked me, “Why are you giving me advice like this? You are not a godly
man!”
That question made me question myself and who I was. I began to think
about religion and Jesus. I started to ponder over the things that my
sister had told me about Jesus. She is a wonderful Christian woman, and
I praise her for taking the time to tell me about Christ. I remembered
that she said that I needed Jesus and all that I had to do, was ask Him
into my heart and He would forgive me. That night I did just that. I
asked Christ into my heart. I didn’t know the right thing to say, but I
said what I needed to. His presence began to pump into my heart. He
began to fill me with everything that I needed-everything that I had
searched for my whole life.
My family started going to church and a few weeks later, my wife
accepted Christ. We were then baptized and we also joined a local
church. We found ourselves no longer needing alcohol or things like
that. Remember the six-pack? I had the rest of it in the fridge and it
sat there forever. I do not know if you have ever drank before, but let
me explain it to you. Drinking is a choice. But the urge that you get-
the desire to have a drink-isn’t. You can choose whether or not you
drink, but you cannot choose the urge. It is like having to go the
bathroom. You can choose where to go; you just can’t choose when you
have to go. The urge comes naturally. This is exactly how my drinking
was. The urge was always there, and based on this urge, I would then
choose to drink.
What happened to me after Christ was Jesus took that urge away from me.
No longer did I desire to drink. No longer did I need to pick up a
bottle. He freed me from it forever. It has been two years since I drank
last, and I give him all the credit for it. I am even at a point in my
life where I cannot even stand to see people buy alcohol. It disgusts
me! It is a destructive thing and Satan just loves to see people drink.
Just think about all of the good things that happen when people drink:
Death, Rape, murder, fights, depression, suicide, premarital sex, etc.
Oh! By the way, these are all bad things. I was being sarcastic.
God has changed my heart and has given me meaning. He has shown me who
He is right now in my life, who He was before, and who He will be in the
future. I have experienced His grace and forgiveness at a level that
drives me to tell others about Him. I want others to know that God can
and will forgive them no matter what they had done. He is my rock, my
shelter, my love, my all, my Savior. I praise Him and I thank him for
everything that He as done, is doing, and will do. People say that
miracles don’t happen, but those that say that must be blind because: I
AM A MIRALCE! Every time someone accepts Christ: A miracle has taken
place.
Right now, I am in my third year of “Community” college. I attend a
Baptist church. I am married to a beautiful lady whom I don’t deserve
(This is God’s grace: He always blesses us with the things we don’t
deserve). I have four kids (3 girls, 1 son) whom I love dearly. I lead
Campus Crusade for Christ here at a local college. I am a youth leader for
both the JV and high school kids. I love God’s work and I eagerly follow
Him, waiting for Him to show me what to do next. I feel him calling me
into full-time ministry (probably working with Youth and gang members).
God is good-All the time. His grace and mercy never stop flowing in my
life. He is truly a wonderful and amazing God. Praise Jesus!
I hope that I have let you know what you wanted to know about me. I love
to write: that is the reason for the long testimony. If you have any
questions, let me know. Also, if it would help, print this up and let
others read it. If my testimony can help-please use it. I will be praying you.
2006-09-20 02:06:22
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answer #1
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answered by Dead 2 Self 4
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Okay, believe this or not, it's true. I live in Southampton, UK and am level headed. Don't believe in ghosts, superstition, God, etc, just take life as it comes. One night at around 11pm I'm lying awake looking out the bay window at the sky watching this light circling the sky. The circle it was making was quite tight, too small for a plane so I guess its a helicopter. Nothing strange there. I open the window but there's no sound of propellers. Odd, but still. I get back in bed and watch it for another 10 minutes. Then it deviates from the circle before zipping back and fourth irratically at high speed and shoots away leaving a trail of light (bit like Star Trek).
Couldn't swear it wasn't of this earth but it was a flying object I couldn't identify.
2006-09-20 02:08:14
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answer #4
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answered by Mickey B. Quick 1
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