I would like to start off with thanking all the veterans that read this testimony and those that don’t. I thank you for your willingness to fight on any battlefield you were called to fight on. You were willing to give your lives for your country. And because of your sacrifice our country is still free. I know that when many of you came back you weren’t treated very nice. And some of you paid a dear price and are still paying that price. I just want to say that I am sorry and I personally congratulate you. Thank you all once again for your dedication, commitment and sacrifice to keep our country free. The Bible says greater love hath no man than that he would lay down his life for a friend and all of you were willing to do that, thanks again.
Now I would like to talk to you about a man that left His Father’s side in heaven to come to earth, His name is Jesus Christ.
He also came here to fight a battle, but his battle was not against people and it wasn’t for land. His battle was against the forces of darkness in the spiritual realm. His battle was for the hearts and souls of man. He came to preach the gospel, heal the broken hearted, to set the captive free, to give sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Check it out in Luke 4:18, 19. He came to break the devil’s grip on mankind.
Here was a man that never hurt anyone intentionally because his purpose was to seek and to save mankind.
In John chapter 3: verses 16,17 it says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him."
Jesus fought the battle and won. And just like those who fought in the different wars and suffered so that we could live in freedom Jesus suffered also that we could be set free of our sins totally forgiven and live in Heaven with him Praise his Name!
Now I would like to share a little about how my life was and how God
miraculously changed it.
To start out I grew up with many fears and was sick often. I never remember being hugged by my parents and never remember being told that they loved me until after I became a Christian. I was over fifty when my Dad told me he loved me I can’t remember if my Mom ever told me she loved me. There were fourteen in my family counting my parents and money was kind of scarce. Because of our circumstances when I finally went to school I didn’t have nice clothes to wear and I wasn’t too popular. I remember at one point of my school experience the soles on my shoes would flop up and down when I walked. I had a very hard time in school and over time I hated to go. I dropped out when I was 16. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to get an education, looking forward to getting a good job and making something out of themselves. I went to work for the Endicott Johnson shoe factory because I had to help my Mom and Dad because we were very poor some times eating one or two meals a day and I hated every day I worked there. You might say I hated life! All I seemed to want to do was drink and party and I did it quite often. I started smoking at 15 or sixteen I guess I just wanted to escape reality.And as time went on I ended up getting married at a young age and it was like a nightmare. It seemed like all we did was fight and argue. That lasted about five years and ended with her getting a divorce. I never gave up my drinking and smoking and I was a terrible husband. Thinking back I can’t remember many happy times in that marriage.
One of the good things I do remember happened on a night I was going to go out drinking. I was just about to leave when I heard someone knocking on my door. I opened the door and there were three guys standing there. They were out witnessing--going around telling people about Jesus. I let them in and they told my wife and I about Jesus and I asked Jesus to come into my heart. At that moment it felt like someone had run their hand across my chest and I felt so light and so different it seemed like I could have jumped as high as a building. I would like to say that is when all the terrible things I was doing ended but I can’t. The result was that my wife at the time just laughed, acting like it was a joke and I went out drinking like usual. No one ever came back and I didn’t know what to do. The next day I remember telling some people at work about what had happened but none of them understood either, so I was right back where I was.
My problems just seemed to escalate and I was getting into a little marijuana.
After my marriage ended I went to Texas thinking I could run away from my
problems. I got a job at Sea Arama Marineworld in Galveston where I started in their landscaping department. Then I went into their animal training department and found myself riding their killer whale and even got a chance to wrestle an alligator twice.
I started attending a church there and things seemed to be going better. I had stopped drinking and smoking but I still had emotional problems and a terrible temper. It wasn’t long until I was back to my old lifestyle because one of my main purposes for being there was to find girls.
My life was steadily going down hill and I was right back doing all the same things I was doing before
As time went on I returned to NY and I got married again but that lasted less than 2 years and she left and got an annulment.
I was a terrible, miserable person and no one could put up with me very long.
It seemed like I was always losing everything and I was getting hard. I felt like a part of my heart was missing and I couldn’t love. To be honest I never knew what love was, I don’t think I ever experienced it and I don’t think I ever gave it. To me love was nothing but lust.
I was still drinking and doing what I always did but now I was popping pills and
had gotten into the chopper motorcycle scene. I was becoming a real freak. Partying had gotten to be a regular thing.
As time went on I met another girl and we were both into the partying and the drinking scene. Two and a half years later we got married and when I married her I didn’t even love her.
We started raising a family but I started running into problems because my heart had become so hard that I couldn’t go to my kids, they had to come to me.
I still had a very bad temper and was a very miserable person, what I considered a total freak. I don’t know how my wife put up with me. She had quit smoking because she said she couldn’t afford to smoke and she didn’t drink much either. She faithfully stayed home and took care of the kids while I would be out drinking and partying.
As time went on something seemed to be happening to me, I started thinking
about spiritual things.
Jesus said no one can come to me unless the Father draws him in John 6:44.
I didn’t know this scripture at the time but it seems to me now that is what God was doing with me.
So about 30 years ago I committed my heart to Jesus and He started transforming my life. I remember pouring liquor down the sink, the cigarettes were gone, the drugs were gone and I know now that God had done something
miraculous in my life which He continued to do.
It wasn’t long after that when my wife received the Lord and she began to change which was another miracle, Praise God!
Satan tried to destroy our lives but Jesus had a different idea, he healed the years that the locus’ had devoured. He did in us what He came to do, He set us free. Then I felt like there was a purpose for my life
I can’t thank and praise God enough for what He has done over the last 30 or more years:
**He has taught me what love is about and has helped me to love people.
**He has given me a wife that is far beyond what I could ever hope for and has shown me His love for me through her.
**He has also given us 5 great kids that I love and that love me.
**He has taken all desire for alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and other things from me.
**He is helping me to overcome my temper and helping me to overcome my psychological and emotional problems and I can’t thank Him enough.
**He has put a peace and joy in my heart.
**He continues to bless us beyond our understanding.
I am not trying to say that we have not had any struggles or problems over the
last 33 years. We have experienced some very tough times. I am not trying to say that Christianity is a rose garden, it is a very tough life at times, but it is also exciting and rewarding to see how the Lord always gets us through our tough times and it is the greatest life you will ever live.
Sometimes you may hear that if you give your life to the Lord your life will be sort of like a bowl of cherries but the truth is sometimes it may seem like the pits. Sometimes you may feel like you are on a mountaintop and everything is going great and you find it so easy to Praise the Lord, then, other times you may feel like you are in a valley and everything is going wrong and you don’t know what is going on and you are devastated and you find it very hard to praise the Lord. I want to encourage you to try to praise the Lord as much in the hard times as you do in the easier times. If you do, then you will have a different perspective and the hard times won’t seem near as hard. Remember the Lord said He would never leave us or forsake us and He never lets us down.
August 13th we celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary and our love just seems to get stronger and stronger for the Lord and each other every year. I can’t believe what a great marriage we have and I know it is because my wife and I have always tried to put the Lord first in our marriage. We know unless the Lord build the house you labor in vain that build it. It takes three to make a great marriage The Lord first then you and your spouse. Without the Lord being in charge of your lives I think it is almost impossible to have a great marriage. I am totally convinced that if any married couple would put the Lord in the center of their marriage, and honor him with their lives that the Lord will help them and it won’t just be a marriage but it will be a good marriage.
If you are reading my testimony and would like to experience some of these things in your life and you are not a Christian, all you need to do is to pray and ask Jesus to come into your heart and life.
Tell Him that you are sorry for your sins because the Bible says that we all have
sinned and fell short of the glory of God which means that we need to be forgiven, then repent of your sins and ask Him to forgive you, and if you really mean it, it will happen. Praise God. Then find a good Bible believing church and start growing in the Lord. And don’t be afraid to share your testimony with someone. I sure would love to hear it, thanks Praise God!
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