My Testimony

Hey, thanks for visiting my testimony site. I am a relatively new christian (in a real sense), so I am still learning and currently thirst for the knowledge of the Lord and the bible. 

Well, first let me give you a brief history.

I was raised as a Catholic. My mother was a catholic and my father was anon-practing lutheran.  However, I would not say that our family was not overly religious.  My mother took me to Sunday School during my formative years and I was Baptized, and Confirmed as a Catholic.  However, during all this time, we were never taught the Bible.   All we saw and heard was the catechism.  Yes, I believed Jesus existed.  But I was not steered towards believing in Christ with all of my heart and soul. I was overly concerned about works, not grace.  I thought that if I asked for forgivess from the priest and tried to live a clean life full of good works that I would be OK.  My friends from my confirmation class and older peers seemed to feel the same way.  However, I was not being led about how I was to live my life.  This should have been a sign to me, but I ignored it.

Later, I moved on to college in Austin.  However, by this time, I had moved away completely from organized religion.  I don’t think I attended a single church service save for those who were getting married or for funerals during this time.  I had no direction in life and was led wayward by the sins of the flesh and mind.  I did have many friends who tried to guide me down the path to Christ, but I also ignored them. (Thank you to Mack, Roel, Judd, Ken, Louis, and the others I haven’t named for never giving up on me).  I still lived what I would consider a relatively clean life - I avoided alcohol, stayed away from drugs, and kept away from sexual immoralities as much as a guy could.   However, I was still a sinner. I lied, cheated, and stole.  I was jealous of others.  I denied the influences of Christ in my life. I thought I knew better. I was wrong.

I was blessed by god with many gifts, including intelligence, health, wisdom, and judgement. However, I was going down a path of self-destruction.  I was stubborn.  I thought I knew better. I used my gifts for purposes in which they were not intended.  As a result, I descended into what I consider to be my personal hell.  I was depressed (not that I knew it at the time).  I was denying my friends and people who cared for me.  Why?  I thought I knew better.

Forward ahead a few years.  I graduated from college.  I found employment out in the real world.  I should have been rejoicing on the gifts given to me.   However, I still thought I knew better.  I descended even further in my personal hell.  I extracted myself from society and became a virtual hermit.  I was depressed.  I had anger.  Soon the emotional walls came crashing down around me.  I was in a world of my own creation.  I rejected the people who cared for me. Why? I thought I knew better.

Finally, in the spring of 2002, my virtual world collapsed and I was thrust back into the cruel (to me, at least) reality. My mother was hospitalized with a severe respiratory illness.  I thought I had learned my lesson and attempted to seek God.  I prayed daily.  However, I still did not allow the Lord to enter my heart.  I thought to myself - let this incident pass and I will be a better Christian (I say Christian even though I was not one at the time by faith or deeds).  My mother improved and recovered. However, I didn’t follow through on my end of the deal.  I resumed my previous behavior and started to retract into my virtual world with all of the same results as before.The one positive aspect from this experience was that I was re-exposed to religion and I started to seek help with my social anxiety problems. However, I did not rectify the fallacies in my belief system. It took two full years to finally rectify this situation.

In October 2004, I started reading the Bible in earnest. I never had done this. I found the stories fascinating. I then started to listen to some of the local Christian radio stations and some of the services/sermons of other local churches. I never heard the word of God in this light. Was I so wrong for so many years? I started to question many of my former views. I ran through the issues in my head. I talked and corresponded with a coworker about biblical issues that I was confused with. Jesus was starting to get my attention. I then started to thirst for the word of God. I discovered the Romans Road site on the internet and discovered what I actually need to do to gain salvation. Finally, in December 2004, I finally broke down my self-imposed barriers and accepted the Lord into my life. I have recently re-confirmed my commitment in Jesus Christ and strive to let him guide me down the path that he wants me to follow. Now, I hunger for the knowledge. I want to make sure that others hear the word of the Lord and come to know Jesus in his/her heart.

If you would like to discuss how to have Jesus become a part of your life, or you would like to be added to my prayer list, please contact me via the links above. Also, please include me in your prayers so that I can continue following the paths and byways that Jesus guides me along. Thank you for taking the time to read this testimony and may God bless your life.