My Testimony
Spiritual Battles
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. NIV Revelation 12:11
First Encounter with the Church
I was raise in a Roman Catholic family. From a young age I can remember getting up to go to church each Sunday. Being bored in church as a young kid I am sure I was a pain for my parents. When I got to be the age that I could start school I also could start going to Sunday School (CCD). I didn't have any bad experinaces, but they were not great.
Around the time I was in fourth grade the "father" over the church was caught in an affair that broke up a family and he was removed. From what I gathered that was just common behavior in the church. Get drunk then go to confession, get in a fight then go to confession, commit any sin you want then go to confession. Just the common state of business.
As you can guess I was not impressed at any level. When my mom and dad had to pick up more hours at work and we stopped going I was not concerned. I had seen what church was like and had decided that I could do fine without it.
Around the time I was in fourth grade the "father" over the church was caught in an affair that broke up a family and he was removed. From what I gathered that was just common behavior in the church. Get drunk then go to confession, get in a fight then go to confession, commit any sin you want then go to confession. Just the common state of business.
As you can guess I was not impressed at any level. When my mom and dad had to pick up more hours at work and we stopped going I was not concerned. I had seen what church was like and had decided that I could do fine without it.
First Encounter with God
I was in the twelfth grade (1997) and I was going on a trip with my friend to Yellowstone National Park. It was a long drive, so we grabbed some things to do along the way. Games, paper, comic books and a book that he had picked up at a garage sale. He had not read it but he said it sounded cool. The title was something like "Pulled Straight Out of Hell". On the way back home I read the book. It was a story about what God had done to pull me out of hell. For the first time I learned that by Jesus dieing on the cross God had removed all of my sin and placed it on Jesus. This removed all aggression God had towards me as a sinner. I said "all", which means all my past, presant and future sin has been covered and removed from me. God sees me as sinnless, as long as I trust in His Son's sacrifice and power for new life.
As this begain to settle with me, a feeling I had never experinaced before came over me. The only thing I can discribe it as is excitment and joy. I felt like jumping and telling everyone.
As this begain to settle with me, a feeling I had never experinaced before came over me. The only thing I can discribe it as is excitment and joy. I felt like jumping and telling everyone.
Often you will hear someone tell you, if you just except Christ as your savoir everything will get better. I will not tell you that, once Jesus is your Lord your faith will come under attack. Your life may seem to fall apart. There are two reasons for this. The first one is simple. When you realize that the way you have been living your life is not pleasing to your savoir, it will also not be pleasing to you. So, you will start to change by your own choice. Others will wonder why and when you tell them they will think you are a fool. On top of that some of the changes are going to cause you to break old habits you did not even know you had. This in itself is going to be difficult. On top of this we have an enemy force that wants to undermine your faith in God. They will do anything to convince you that your faith is misplaced. They will use other people and even give you thoughts that go against your faith. It is a battle, it starts in your mind and heart and it is carried out into the world. This is spiritual warfare and you are a soldier.
My first experience with this steps into the supernatural. I know some people, even christians, don't believe in the supernatural. I am not here to argue this point. I will just share my experience, after all as a christian I am commanded to be a witness not a defense attorney.
After I got back from my trip to Yellowstone, and my experience with God's salvation message, my life did not change right away. I did not have anyone to talk to about my faith but God had prepared me for what was about to happen. My sister had started to learn about Spiritualism, Witchcraft and Wicca faith. They had been using one of those boards to communicate with the spirits, along with a lot of other things that I will not go into. One night her friend was over and they were using the board again. They had been talking for awhile, when a feeling of dread came into the room. It seemed as if the room got darker and I could feel a fear welling up inside of me. I prayed, I asked God to protect me from whatever it was that I was feeling. In that moment, the fear and darkness left. On top of that the board stopped working for my sister and her friend. They asked what had happen and I told them. They thought it was a great thing. Now if things ever got out of hand they knew I could shut it down. I thought it was cool too, but I did not know how dangerous this game could be. As time went on I saw some other stuff and the enemy feed me some lies through a spiritualist my sister knew. All just as a distraction from the truth. I fell into pride, but God has a plan for me. I am His and He will not abandon His people.
My first experience with this steps into the supernatural. I know some people, even christians, don't believe in the supernatural. I am not here to argue this point. I will just share my experience, after all as a christian I am commanded to be a witness not a defense attorney.
After I got back from my trip to Yellowstone, and my experience with God's salvation message, my life did not change right away. I did not have anyone to talk to about my faith but God had prepared me for what was about to happen. My sister had started to learn about Spiritualism, Witchcraft and Wicca faith. They had been using one of those boards to communicate with the spirits, along with a lot of other things that I will not go into. One night her friend was over and they were using the board again. They had been talking for awhile, when a feeling of dread came into the room. It seemed as if the room got darker and I could feel a fear welling up inside of me. I prayed, I asked God to protect me from whatever it was that I was feeling. In that moment, the fear and darkness left. On top of that the board stopped working for my sister and her friend. They asked what had happen and I told them. They thought it was a great thing. Now if things ever got out of hand they knew I could shut it down. I thought it was cool too, but I did not know how dangerous this game could be. As time went on I saw some other stuff and the enemy feed me some lies through a spiritualist my sister knew. All just as a distraction from the truth. I fell into pride, but God has a plan for me. I am His and He will not abandon His people.
A New Chapter in Life
After my experiences with the supernatural you would think that I would be passionate about my God and my faith. That was not the case. I spent a few years just moving from one form of entertainment to the next. I did not have nor did I look for someone to mentor me in my faith. I had seen what the church was like and I did not want to get messed up in that. In that time I got married to a wonderful woman, got a house and we were expecting our first child.
This is when the page turned. The first pregnancy was hard. She had a lot of problems carrying the baby and had to be put on bed rest. Because of the risk to the baby's health my wife had to be induced and our daughter was born two weeks early at 5.6 lb. Because the delivery went so fast the placenta did not separate correctly and my wife was losing a lot of blood. I stood there in the room holding my new born baby daughter while they wheeled my wife out of the room for emergency surgery. Her blood pressure had dropped to 80 over 20. The nurse took my daughter from me and the doctor promised to take care of my wife. I was sent to a waiting room to be consumed by worry about what would happen next.
There in the darkness of the waiting room I asked God to save my wife and I promised to devote my life to Him. My wife made it through the surgery and we got to go home with our daughter, which we named Grace. I went back to life as though nothing changed, but God held up His part of the deal and He led me to hold up mine.
This is when the page turned. The first pregnancy was hard. She had a lot of problems carrying the baby and had to be put on bed rest. Because of the risk to the baby's health my wife had to be induced and our daughter was born two weeks early at 5.6 lb. Because the delivery went so fast the placenta did not separate correctly and my wife was losing a lot of blood. I stood there in the room holding my new born baby daughter while they wheeled my wife out of the room for emergency surgery. Her blood pressure had dropped to 80 over 20. The nurse took my daughter from me and the doctor promised to take care of my wife. I was sent to a waiting room to be consumed by worry about what would happen next.
There in the darkness of the waiting room I asked God to save my wife and I promised to devote my life to Him. My wife made it through the surgery and we got to go home with our daughter, which we named Grace. I went back to life as though nothing changed, but God held up His part of the deal and He led me to hold up mine.
A Second Look at the Church
I started at a new job shortly after my daughter was born. I was teamed up with a guy that had been a youth leader in a church and a member of a scream metal Christian band. We started talking about life and God. After awhile I was tired of talking about something I did not know much about. So he agreed to my plan. We would read the bible and talk about what I had read. I was consumed; I have never read the bible as fast as I did the first time. Every day was thrilling as I discovered who God was and what His plans are for all of us. I read the bible in three months and I understood more than my partner had expected. He told me that listening to me strengthened his faith. I was on fire for the Lord.
My friend told me I should look for a church, and I shared my concern about churches with him. He told me that all churches have problems but the bible tells us that we are to strengthen and support each other. I could not benefit from the church if I was not plugged into a church. I needed to find where God wanted me to go to church.
So I started looking with my wife for a church. We tried a few different churches one we went to for six strait months and after that time we had not made a single friend and no one had even tried to get to know us. At that time another friend of mine was looking for a church they could go to and invited us to try a church with them. We had heard of the church before, but both my wife and I had decided not to go to it. They sang loud songs, and were known for weird stuff “movements of the Spirit”. While I was uncomfortable with worship it was the best experience. On the first day we had met more friendly people than we had in six months at the other church. By the second week they had found out that my wife and I were expecting another child and we were signed up for the churches program “The Moses Basket”. They assign someone to pray for the baby and the mother through the pregnancy and when the baby comes they bring meals to your house for two weeks.
The pregnancy had started out just like the first one had. My wife was well on her way to getting placed on bed rest. When they started praying for my wife all the problems started to drop off one by one. My first son was born with none of the problems we had experienced in the first pregnancy. The power of God through prayer is amazing.
My friend told me I should look for a church, and I shared my concern about churches with him. He told me that all churches have problems but the bible tells us that we are to strengthen and support each other. I could not benefit from the church if I was not plugged into a church. I needed to find where God wanted me to go to church.
So I started looking with my wife for a church. We tried a few different churches one we went to for six strait months and after that time we had not made a single friend and no one had even tried to get to know us. At that time another friend of mine was looking for a church they could go to and invited us to try a church with them. We had heard of the church before, but both my wife and I had decided not to go to it. They sang loud songs, and were known for weird stuff “movements of the Spirit”. While I was uncomfortable with worship it was the best experience. On the first day we had met more friendly people than we had in six months at the other church. By the second week they had found out that my wife and I were expecting another child and we were signed up for the churches program “The Moses Basket”. They assign someone to pray for the baby and the mother through the pregnancy and when the baby comes they bring meals to your house for two weeks.
The pregnancy had started out just like the first one had. My wife was well on her way to getting placed on bed rest. When they started praying for my wife all the problems started to drop off one by one. My first son was born with none of the problems we had experienced in the first pregnancy. The power of God through prayer is amazing.
He Speaks to Me
While preparing a room for the new baby God spoke to me in prayer. He told me that my home would be a safe place for christians to grow. This statement from God has been a promise I have stood on several times over the years. God keeps reminding me that it is limited only by my faith in Him to carry it out. It blesses me and it covers all that are in my home; my family, my home group, my home church, my home town, ...
First Personal Healing
While I was reading the bible for the first time I was healed of acid reflux. I had struggled with acid reflux from a young age. When it got bad, the acid would burn my throut for 20 to 30 minutes. I had finished reading the Gospels, Jesus says that we would see people healed when we pray. So, I asked to be healed when the acid reflux hit me while I was working. In two minutes, all the pain was gone. I told my friend and he said, did I expect anything less from God. I have not had a problem with acid reflux scince that day.
A Lesson in Obedience
There is a saying in many pastor's circles that the place in a christian's life that takes Christ the longest to penetrate is the wallet.
My wife and I had been going to church for awhile at the time and we gave to the church. As my wife puts it “While I knew I was not perfect, I was doing better than most Christians.” We where giving a little each week, no where near 10% of our income. In our minds only people who are well off give 10%. But as I read the bible I realized that 10% was asked of everyone, not just those that could spare it. I don’t know if being disobedient in tithes will bring misfortune on people, but I believe if you know you are suppose to tithe and you don’t, you will miss blessings that God wants to give you. So I wanted to start giving the whole tithe (10%). But I knew my wife would not be willing to do that. I asked God about it and He told me to wait on Him. He would bring her around so that she would come to me wanting to give the 10%.
Three months passed, in that time He brought to her attention that the tithe was something He asked us to give. I don’t know everything that He talked to her about but in the end she came to me wanting to start giving 10% to the church. I never had to say anything. God did just what He said He would. We started giving, knowing we could not make it on a cut budget with two kids. We cut back on expenses, but we could see that it would only last a few months before we would come up short and not be able to make our bills. This is a moment of faith. We trusted God that we could give what He asked us to give. We trusted God that we could make all our bills, because God does not want His people in debt. Looking at the way things were going, it looked like we had heard Him wrong.
We started to wonder what we would do. The Church helps those that can not make their bills. God could have had us ask for help from the church, after all that is one of the things that the tithe is suppose to be used for. But God had other plans. All of a sudden there was a shift at my job. A manager was promoted into a new role and I was given her old position. I received an increase in pay that was enough for my wife to quit her job and become a stay at home mom. Something she had asked to be able to do since before we had gotten married.
My wife and I had been going to church for awhile at the time and we gave to the church. As my wife puts it “While I knew I was not perfect, I was doing better than most Christians.” We where giving a little each week, no where near 10% of our income. In our minds only people who are well off give 10%. But as I read the bible I realized that 10% was asked of everyone, not just those that could spare it. I don’t know if being disobedient in tithes will bring misfortune on people, but I believe if you know you are suppose to tithe and you don’t, you will miss blessings that God wants to give you. So I wanted to start giving the whole tithe (10%). But I knew my wife would not be willing to do that. I asked God about it and He told me to wait on Him. He would bring her around so that she would come to me wanting to give the 10%.
Three months passed, in that time He brought to her attention that the tithe was something He asked us to give. I don’t know everything that He talked to her about but in the end she came to me wanting to start giving 10% to the church. I never had to say anything. God did just what He said He would. We started giving, knowing we could not make it on a cut budget with two kids. We cut back on expenses, but we could see that it would only last a few months before we would come up short and not be able to make our bills. This is a moment of faith. We trusted God that we could give what He asked us to give. We trusted God that we could make all our bills, because God does not want His people in debt. Looking at the way things were going, it looked like we had heard Him wrong.
We started to wonder what we would do. The Church helps those that can not make their bills. God could have had us ask for help from the church, after all that is one of the things that the tithe is suppose to be used for. But God had other plans. All of a sudden there was a shift at my job. A manager was promoted into a new role and I was given her old position. I received an increase in pay that was enough for my wife to quit her job and become a stay at home mom. Something she had asked to be able to do since before we had gotten married.
Healing Hands
My son was about one and a half when we had an experience that changed our walk with Christ. This was before my wife quit working, she was working on a Saturday. I was at home playing with the kids. It was winter time and our house was chilly, so I started our old gas fireplace. I knew it was dangerous for little kids to be around it but I thought I would just hold onto my son and it would be okay. My daughter asked if she could play with her dolls, which we kept on a high shelf at the time, I told her I would get them. As I reached for the dolls my son bolted for the fireplace. I saw him fall and catch himself on the metal covering on the fireplace. The metal covering is where all the heat of the fire rises to, so the metal is extremely hot. He started to cry but he did not pull his hands away from the hot metal. I dropped the dolls and rushed over and grabbed him away from the fireplace. Looking at his hands it looked like the flesh was deformed or warped from the heat of the metal. I witted some hand towels with cool water and covered his hands. As I rapped them I prayed. I rushed him and my daughter to the emergency room. I called my wife at work and she came as quickly as she could.
The doctor told us that my son had gotten second and third degree burns on his hands. He would need skin graphs, and it was possible that he would not be able to open his hands fully. They treated the burns and covered them. They set up an appointment at a hospital that had a burn center on Monday. We took him home and began to pray for him. The pastor came over and prayed with us for healing. Sunday morning we went to church and a group prayed over my son's hands. Monday came and we went to the burn center. They opened his bandages and found that he had the burns but they were not as bad as the first report had said they were. He would still need four months of physical therapy or his hands would heal so that he could not open them. We continued to pray and make the trip to the burn center for three weeks and at that point the doctors said he was completely healed. We did not need any physical therapy God had healed his hands.
As my son has grown we have told him this story so that he would know that God can heal. Though he is young, he has prayed for people laying his hands on them and they have had headaches disappear. We are trusting that he will see greater things than this by God's healing hands.
The doctor told us that my son had gotten second and third degree burns on his hands. He would need skin graphs, and it was possible that he would not be able to open his hands fully. They treated the burns and covered them. They set up an appointment at a hospital that had a burn center on Monday. We took him home and began to pray for him. The pastor came over and prayed with us for healing. Sunday morning we went to church and a group prayed over my son's hands. Monday came and we went to the burn center. They opened his bandages and found that he had the burns but they were not as bad as the first report had said they were. He would still need four months of physical therapy or his hands would heal so that he could not open them. We continued to pray and make the trip to the burn center for three weeks and at that point the doctors said he was completely healed. We did not need any physical therapy God had healed his hands.
As my son has grown we have told him this story so that he would know that God can heal. Though he is young, he has prayed for people laying his hands on them and they have had headaches disappear. We are trusting that he will see greater things than this by God's healing hands.
He Strengthens Me
As time goes on I go through times that it feels like I am not growing in my faith. It feels like a slow time for my faith. We are still busy, but we get use to life as a christian. In times of peace we tend to not notice the hand of God as much as during the difficult times in life. In the years that followed my son's healing, God walked me through a time of starting to help others and building my leadership skills. In that time I led a home group, taught a bible study, joined different home groups, changed roles at work several times, became a children's director with my wife at our church, and many other things. All of this was a time of growing for me and my family. I saw a couple people come to the faith, others got a new energy about their faith, and a few marriages were strengthened. I have also seen times of struggle in the body of believers of which I am a part of. At this time, we are still walking through some of this, but God has promised good will come from it. My family has grown stronger, both in my house and the people that I go to church with. God is getting us ready for something great.