[ Testimony ] I shouldn't be here!

[CaliforniaAlbanach]

Copied from http://takingtheepistle.wordpress.com/testimony/

Testimony
This is a testimony of a life changed by Jesus Christ and his atoning work on the cross. I have tried to not flinch from details and possibly give more information than is required. My prayer for this page is that people will read it and show it to some folks that are going through similar issues. If someone can learn from my mistakes then that is truly a blessing.
When I look at people’s testimonies of Jesus Christ I am often surprised that the story ends at conversion. Whilst that is the end of an “Old life” it is only the beginning of your story and journey with Jesus Christ. I plan to give both sides both the non-Christian and the new life in Christ. As you read through this account, you will see that the fact I am typing this to you at present is a miracle from God.
Early life and childhood
I was born to two loving parents, in the last few days of the year of our LORD nineteen hundred and seventy seven. I was a preemie baby, not such a big deal now, but in 1977 it was. Within the first few days and weeks of my life, my massively underweight body had gone through several medical procedures including blood transfusions and quite a few efforts to keep me alive.
Being the second child with a 12 and a half year gap between myself and my brother Andrew, it’s fair to say that I was a surprise. My parents, whilst not being religious, had people pray over me from the local Presbyterian Church, Catholic Church, Brethren gospel hall & Apostolic church (Which my paternal grandfather was a member of!) I read in the word that “…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much…” (James 5:16)
Needless to say, on my own I should never have survived. I believe in my heart of hearts that God had compassion on my parents and heard the prayers of these dear saints and preserved my life beyond those fragile first few days. I would say without doubt – I SHOULDN’T BE HERE!
I lived in a small town and an even smaller satellite village within that town, I was the sensitive loner and had a few close friends but did not “run with a pack” my childhood was spent playing soccer, rugby, tennis and whatever sport was on the TV is usually what we played outside.
My parents, despite not going to church themselves or walking with the LORD (at this time of their lives) they sent me to the local Brethren Gospel Hall from the age of 5 onwards. These guys were awesome, it was a family run church and the family who were old enough to drive used to go all over the village and pick up the kids from their homes and ferry them to “Sunday school” or “Bible class” dependent on age. These guys were instrumental in giving me a foundation in the LORD.
I went to High School and was a part of the Scripture Union group. Around the age of 12 I went to the 1991 Mission Scotland event at Celtic Park, in the east end of Glasgow by evangelist Billy Graham. Something stirred within my heart and I went forward at that event, however I never followed up with any discipleship plan and my fledging faith withered, real “parable of the sower” stuff (Matthew, Mark, Luke)
I became involved in ministry but I was really an empty vessel at this point. I served for Youth for Christ in Scotland and with Lanarkshire Christian Union helping out at events and being the guy who you call if you needed stewarding, taping down sound equipment and that idea.
As you would expect, without a solid biblical relationship with Jesus Christ, I started to “church hop” and look for experiences that would satisfy what was missing in my day to day walk with Jesus. At that time, in no particular order, I was attending services at Baptist, Presbyterian, Reformed Presbyterian, Non-denominatial, Charasmatic, Pentecostal, Espiscopal, Anglican, Calvary Chapel, sometimes I was at 4-5 different services a week, at different churches, not building relationships, not plugged in anywhere and I was the quiet guy at the back who barely spoke to anyone, (How times have changed) sat in the back row and slinked in as the service was starting and left as soon as it was over.
I will give you an example of my desire to please so many churches. I was going from where I worked in Hamilton to an Anglican church in the West End of Glasgow called “St Silas” (About 20 miles of a distance) to practice for their “Christmas by Candlelight” service in 2000, As I was driving and about to leave Hamilton in South Lanarkshire going through a T junction just shy of the Hamilton Park Racecourse, driving my motorcycle a vehicle drove straight through me.
I was told by the Ambulance people and by people who attended my in Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride that I was “lucky” – I don’t buy that! I do agree that where the vehicle hit me and my reaction to go over the vehicle rather than under it saved me from horrific injuries and I have a scar to this day on my left leg that is a reminder to me how God looked after me that night. I was off work for 3 weeks total! Need I say it again – I SHOULDN’T BE HERE!
When faced with my demons – I clothe them and feed them!
By the time I was 18-26, I had found the bar scene in the town I lived in very alluring. I decided to swap my “Church-ianity” for going out and living my life for myself and slid away from Jesus. I was somewhat bitter against the churches I had attended that no-one came looking for me, but as stated before, I was a drifter and did not really have any friends there; I just attended to throw a shovelful of sand in my grand canyon of spiritual void.
As time went on the drinking got worse and I went from social drinker to binge drinker to fully fledged alcoholic. I tried to balance the church services with the ever more frequent visits to the bars, but eventually something had to go. No prizes for guessing that I felt more of a community in the bars than I did in the churches.
To give you an idea of the level of drinking involved. I would think nothing of drinking 12-14 UK pints (6816-7952ml equivalent to 15.49-18.07 pints US) so it was vast quantities of alcohol in those sittings. Sometimes I would mix drinks and show off by doing “turbo” drinks such as chasers in pint glasses mixed with beer and other crazy concoctions. I was still looking for what was going to fill that gap in my soul.
I joined the Royal Engineers, (British Army) again trying to fill a gap, whilst I learned many valuable skills. I did not learn about what I needed to fill the vacuum in my soul.
I tried to fill that gap with sports, playing football, (soccer) rugby, gave Gaelic football and American football a try also, when my lifestyle made me unable to play anymore I started watching the sports, again American Football, Rugby and Football I watched and also had beers before and after also. I thought life was great but something was still missing.
I started having “regular bars” in different cities in Scotland (Maybe I was trying to hide how much time I was spending there) But I was well known in bars in Motherwell, Wishaw, Bellshill, Hamilton, Airdrie, Bathgate, Cumbernauld, Coatbridge, Stirling, Falkirk, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen. (Quite a circuit huh?) But something was missing, I missed having something clean in my life and felt like I couldn’t go back to church. So I gave the Mormons a try! After a few months I started to see holes in the LDS doctrine and left disgruntled. I went back to the drinking! Given my destructive lifestyle and the untold damage that I did to my body – I SHOULDN’T BE HERE!
God sent a woman to rescue me
I stopped playing regular sports, didn’t eat right, drank too much, didn’t chose good relationships, didn’t make good choices and essentially lived for myself until I found the woman who eventually I would marry. I met my now wife online on a Christian dating website. (I, in my mind still viewed myself as one, but had no real relationship to speak of)
If you were to ask me whether “missionary dating” is a good idea, I would say no. The reason we worked was my wife was way more understanding than she should have been. She loved more than I deserved and certainly put up with more than she should have. My wife is a special person and certainly deserved better than she got.
She still lived in California, I lived in Scotland. In March 2005, I proposed to her at the top of the Empire State building. We were married legally in August 2005 and had a wedding for family and friends in November 2005. We then went to live in Glasgow for the first two years of our marriage.
She showed me Jesus, and it was a Jesus that I had missed during my church hopping days. She helped me get plugged into a church in Glasgow called Calvary Glasgow. The relationships that I built there really helped me as I re-committed my life back to Christ. Calvary Glasgow was a mission’s plant church, so I discipled with the Pastor, taught bible studies, mentored and helped out and served on a weekly basis. In a small church setting there are always needs and always opportunities to bless others and help out.
Read the rest on the link above:

 

[chongjasmine]

I am glad you finally found Jesus, brother.

 

[Tony Hyman]

Welcome "home" prodigal son , thank God you have repented toward Him and come to your "senses" Luke 15:17 .Many dont come back due to not facing reality and coming to their senses due to "foolish pride"and appearance see Saul I Samual 15:30 .

 

[Cassandra]

Copied from http://takingtheepistle.wordpress.com/testimony/

Testimony
This is a testimony of a life changed by Jesus Christ and his atoning work on the cross. I have tried to not flinch from details and possibly give more information than is required. My prayer for this page is that people will read it and show it to some folks that are going through similar issues. If someone can learn from my mistakes then that is truly a blessing.
When I look at people’s testimonies of Jesus Christ I am often surprised that the story ends at conversion. Whilst that is the end of an “Old life” it is only the beginning of your story and journey with Jesus Christ. I plan to give both sides both the non-Christian and the new life in Christ. As you read through this account, you will see that the fact I am typing this to you at present is a miracle from God.
Early life and childhood
I was born to two loving parents, in the last few days of the year of our LORD nineteen hundred and seventy seven. I was a preemie baby, not such a big deal now, but in 1977 it was. Within the first few days and weeks of my life, my massively underweight body had gone through several medical procedures including blood transfusions and quite a few efforts to keep me alive.
Being the second child with a 12 and a half year gap between myself and my brother Andrew, it’s fair to say that I was a surprise. My parents, whilst not being religious, had people pray over me from the local Presbyterian Church, Catholic Church, Brethren gospel hall & Apostolic church (Which my paternal grandfather was a member of!) I read in the word that “…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much…” (James 5:16)
Needless to say, on my own I should never have survived. I believe in my heart of hearts that God had compassion on my parents and heard the prayers of these dear saints and preserved my life beyond those fragile first few days. I would say without doubt – I SHOULDN’T BE HERE!
I lived in a small town and an even smaller satellite village within that town, I was the sensitive loner and had a few close friends but did not “run with a pack” my childhood was spent playing soccer, rugby, tennis and whatever sport was on the TV is usually what we played outside.
My parents, despite not going to church themselves or walking with the LORD (at this time of their lives) they sent me to the local Brethren Gospel Hall from the age of 5 onwards. These guys were awesome, it was a family run church and the family who were old enough to drive used to go all over the village and pick up the kids from their homes and ferry them to “Sunday school” or “Bible class” dependent on age. These guys were instrumental in giving me a foundation in the LORD.
I went to High School and was a part of the Scripture Union group. Around the age of 12 I went to the 1991 Mission Scotland event at Celtic Park, in the east end of Glasgow by evangelist Billy Graham. Something stirred within my heart and I went forward at that event, however I never followed up with any discipleship plan and my fledging faith withered, real “parable of the sower” stuff (Matthew, Mark, Luke)
I became involved in ministry but I was really an empty vessel at this point. I served for Youth for Christ in Scotland and with Lanarkshire Christian Union helping out at events and being the guy who you call if you needed stewarding, taping down sound equipment and that idea.
As you would expect, without a solid biblical relationship with Jesus Christ, I started to “church hop” and look for experiences that would satisfy what was missing in my day to day walk with Jesus. At that time, in no particular order, I was attending services at Baptist, Presbyterian, Reformed Presbyterian, Non-denominatial, Charasmatic, Pentecostal, Espiscopal, Anglican, Calvary Chapel, sometimes I was at 4-5 different services a week, at different churches, not building relationships, not plugged in anywhere and I was the quiet guy at the back who barely spoke to anyone, (How times have changed) sat in the back row and slinked in as the service was starting and left as soon as it was over.
I will give you an example of my desire to please so many churches. I was going from where I worked in Hamilton to an Anglican church in the West End of Glasgow called “St Silas” (About 20 miles of a distance) to practice for their “Christmas by Candlelight” service in 2000, As I was driving and about to leave Hamilton in South Lanarkshire going through a T junction just shy of the Hamilton Park Racecourse, driving my motorcycle a vehicle drove straight through me.
I was told by the Ambulance people and by people who attended my in Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride that I was “lucky” – I don’t buy that! I do agree that where the vehicle hit me and my reaction to go over the vehicle rather than under it saved me from horrific injuries and I have a scar to this day on my left leg that is a reminder to me how God looked after me that night. I was off work for 3 weeks total! Need I say it again – I SHOULDN’T BE HERE!
When faced with my demons – I clothe them and feed them!
By the time I was 18-26, I had found the bar scene in the town I lived in very alluring. I decided to swap my “Church-ianity” for going out and living my life for myself and slid away from Jesus. I was somewhat bitter against the churches I had attended that no-one came looking for me, but as stated before, I was a drifter and did not really have any friends there; I just attended to throw a shovelful of sand in my grand canyon of spiritual void.
As time went on the drinking got worse and I went from social drinker to binge drinker to fully fledged alcoholic. I tried to balance the church services with the ever more frequent visits to the bars, but eventually something had to go. No prizes for guessing that I felt more of a community in the bars than I did in the churches.
To give you an idea of the level of drinking involved. I would think nothing of drinking 12-14 UK pints (6816-7952ml equivalent to 15.49-18.07 pints US) so it was vast quantities of alcohol in those sittings. Sometimes I would mix drinks and show off by doing “turbo” drinks such as chasers in pint glasses mixed with beer and other crazy concoctions. I was still looking for what was going to fill that gap in my soul.
I joined the Royal Engineers, (British Army) again trying to fill a gap, whilst I learned many valuable skills. I did not learn about what I needed to fill the vacuum in my soul.
I tried to fill that gap with sports, playing football, (soccer) rugby, gave Gaelic football and American football a try also, when my lifestyle made me unable to play anymore I started watching the sports, again American Football, Rugby and Football I watched and also had beers before and after also. I thought life was great but something was still missing.
I started having “regular bars” in different cities in Scotland (Maybe I was trying to hide how much time I was spending there) But I was well known in bars in Motherwell, Wishaw, Bellshill, Hamilton, Airdrie, Bathgate, Cumbernauld, Coatbridge, Stirling, Falkirk, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen. (Quite a circuit huh?) But something was missing, I missed having something clean in my life and felt like I couldn’t go back to church. So I gave the Mormons a try! After a few months I started to see holes in the LDS doctrine and left disgruntled. I went back to the drinking! Given my destructive lifestyle and the untold damage that I did to my body – I SHOULDN’T BE HERE!
God sent a woman to rescue me
I stopped playing regular sports, didn’t eat right, drank too much, didn’t chose good relationships, didn’t make good choices and essentially lived for myself until I found the woman who eventually I would marry. I met my now wife online on a Christian dating website. (I, in my mind still viewed myself as one, but had no real relationship to speak of)
If you were to ask me whether “missionary dating” is a good idea, I would say no. The reason we worked was my wife was way more understanding than she should have been. She loved more than I deserved and certainly put up with more than she should have. My wife is a special person and certainly deserved better than she got.
She still lived in California, I lived in Scotland. In March 2005, I proposed to her at the top of the Empire State building. We were married legally in August 2005 and had a wedding for family and friends in November 2005. We then went to live in Glasgow for the first two years of our marriage.
She showed me Jesus, and it was a Jesus that I had missed during my church hopping days. She helped me get plugged into a church in Glasgow called Calvary Glasgow. The relationships that I built there really helped me as I re-committed my life back to Christ. Calvary Glasgow was a mission’s plant church, so I discipled with the Pastor, taught bible studies, mentored and helped out and served on a weekly basis. In a small church setting there are always needs and always opportunities to bless others and help out.
Read the rest on the link above:

God has the last say so.