David’s Testimony

My adolescent life was full of sin, jail, and self-reliance.  I had convinced myself that I was in control of my life.  I was going down a road with an abrupt end and didn’t know it or care about it.  I have been through treatment centers for addiction which corrected addiction.  What I needed was not a cure for a disease.  My problems (sins) were never addressed in this kind of treatment. Coming up to Nebraska from Colorado was what I needed.  Michelle (my fiancée) and I were coming out to her parents for Thanksgiving.  We never made it to her parents house.  We were pulled over in Central City, Nebraska.  We were detained there for breaking the law.  In that small jail I surrendered my life to Christ with out fully understanding the just of what I was doing.  I started praying for all the people I had hurt in my past and for family I had wronged. After my release from jail I came to the Mission in Columbus to get on my feet again.  Not understanding the change it had for me.  The staff here was “nice”.  Something I am not used to.  Chaplain Chris is the man who checked me in.  My fiancée suggested the New Life Program and I remember Chris saying, “Don’t worry Michelle, we will stuff the gospel down his throat.”  Being that’s what I wanted, it suited me perfectly. After a week and one visit to church in 20 years, my second time to church the next week was easier.  On my third trip to Victory Church with Jim Bates, I heard the words of God and Pastor Jim asked if anyone here would like to be saved in Christ Jesus, to stand up.  Immediately I stood up.  This is what I was looking for.  God put me in the exact spot I needed to be.  My life was becoming clear to me.  “The heart is deceitful, above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?”  Jeremiah 17:9.  “But God demonstrated his love for us that while we are yet still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Romans 5:8 These things became so clear.  Not once in my life had things been so clear, this is right. Romans 10:17 says “yet faith comes from listening to this good news” The good news about Christ.  The Gospel was this good news I needed to hear. As a new creature I’ve been given a chance to glorify God daily.  Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” Matthew 16:24.  This has been what has saved me.  Only through God having control over me and my belief in Jesus Christ has my life become manageable. It’s a joy to wake up in the morning with out the bondage of sin from the old creation.   I just want to thank God for his Son.  All the glory of my life I give to God.  I love Him and praise Him.  I pray this in Jesus Holy name.  Amen David, a Disciple at the Columbus Rescue Mission