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When did you first experience the reality of Jesus Christ in your lives?

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Posted by: Sulten

I thought it would be nice to have a thread where we could share our conversion experiences, anyone who desires to do so. How we came about finding Jesus in our lives. What led to this? Did you always believe? Or what events in your life led to your conversion? We get a lot of posts I think from people who are yearning and want to have the Lord more fully in their lives, yet are not alway sure how to make that a reality. I remember feeling that way when I was 19 years old. I will share more of that later... it's very late over here in Norway.



They Know the minute Jesus came alive in them.
They know when they died to their old sin life.
"I am crucified with Christ never the less I live yet not I
but Christ Lives in Me."
"You must die daily,
you must pick up your cross daily and
you must follow Jesus daily."
Jerry Gaffney


Posted by: Sulten

I don’t know how many of you have read the account of the conversion process of Jerry Gaffney, our founder and administrator of this website. It is unique and inspiring to say the least. I say “conversion process,” because even though in the scriptures we can read of some dramatic accounts of transformation and conversion, it generally comes in stages and increments, until a person becomes "born again" and at heart a new person. I loved this response that Pastor Jerry once gave to someone who was questioning “whether or not they had been truly saved.” He said:


“Please don't get upset over this answer.
If you are saved you have been raised from the dead.
When people come to me and ask me if they are saved I always say NO.
The shock is very interesting to watch.
You see if they are saved my answer will not anger or upset them, because they have the faith to know.
They do not doubt their salvation.
and nothing I say could change their mind.
As a matter of fact if they are ‘good saved’ they laugh because it sounds funny to them. They love Jesus so much they are pleased to share how they got saved.
You see a person who is ‘good saved’ has had the experience of a new SOUL being born again in them.
They know the minute Jesus came alive in them.
They know when they died to their old sin life.”
Pastor Jerry

I'm of the same mind and heart with that; I believe we must “die daily, we must pick up our cross daily, and we must follow Jesus daily” in order to be saved as Pastor Jerry has said. It is my faith that if I die today, I can be saved if my life is in order. If I should decide to turn from my faith today and turn my back on Jesus and sin willfully against the light and knowledge I have, then I do not believe if I die in that state I will be saved. It is not something that can ever be taken for granted. Satan tries to lull us away into a false sense of security and then catch us off guard when we are lax.

This account of Pastor Jerry’s conversion is wonderful to read. Each one of us has our own story of the events leading up to that first moment of conviction that is equally special. One of the Savior’s admonitions to Peter was “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” If is often through such a witness of another that others are brought to Christ.

The follow are some excerpts from Pastor Jerry’s experience in coming to know the Lord. This was taken from an interview for a publication called Rise magazine. You can read it in full on JG's home page.


[Q:] When did you first experience the reality of Jesus Christ in your life? [A:] I was shot in the knee while I was on duty as a Marine in Vietnam. They sent me back to Oakland, California, where I spent the next seven months in the hospital. My wife and I had been married the year before, and the pastor of her church, Bob Willis, came to visit one day. When he walked into the hospital room, he told me that he had a dream about me and asked if he could pray. At that point, I was not doing too well as far as the doctors were concerned. I had a massive infection throughout my whole leg and body. I was in the amputee ward, and they were getting ready to cut my leg off. So, when he asked if he could pray for me, I told him to go ahead and take his best shot. He came over, laid his hands on me, and said, 'Jesus, please do to this young man what you showed me in the dream.' That was the whole prayer, but immediately I started getting better and they didn't have to amputate my leg. I realized right then that whoever this guy knew; it had to be serious because He did something no one else could do.

[Q:] Up until that point, what had been your thoughts about God? [A:] Oh, I had nothing to do with Him. This was the sixties. I drank a lot and did drugs. In fact, I called God Ralph.

[Q:] What did you do after this experience in the hospital? [A:] I started investigating. I went to Willis' church, but it was a Pentecostal church. The only thing I had ever been to was a Catholic church, so the experience was far beyond what I was used to. I told my wife that I would never go back again, but she just prayed. Despite my initial reaction, I kept going back, mainly because the food was good. I was a Marine who made $20 a week, so we were hungry and broke. After a while, my wife realized that I wasn't understanding the gospel message, so she took me to an evangelist that she had personally traveled with before. As soon as he opened his mouth, I understood every word that he was saying. That was on April 18, 1968. I couldn't walk at the time and was still in a wheelchair, but I stood up and got saved—for what I call the first time.

[Q:] What was your Christian life like following this? [A:] I would love to say that I went onward and upward, but I didn't. I would get my eyes on people’s problems instead of God, and that disappoints you a lot in life. Eventually, I walked away from the Lord in 1975.

[Q:] What did you get involved with then? [A:] I finished my college education and went into business in California. I did very well in real estate, but I was miserable. I was drinking every day and doing drugs just to quiet the demons that were in me—all that hurt and pain that I felt inside. We moved to Hawaii later on where we lived in a two and a half million dollar house. I worked for the airline industry. My son worked for the T.V. program, Magnum P.I. We had everything we could ever want, and I hated it. I realized there has to be more. I was wealthy, but very unfulfilled. Then in 1987, God gave me a dream. You must understand that by this time I was drinking about a pint of booze a night and would chase it with a narcotic. I would have my chauffeur drive me home, and he would cry in the front seat and say, 'Mr. Gaffney, you have a beautiful family, a beautiful house, a wonderful job—what everybody wants—why do you keep doing this to yourself?' In the dream I saw millions of people coming into the state of Washington, and God told me that He wanted me to be a part of that. I had never been to Washington before, except for flight connections. Basically, He said to me that it was either this, or I was going to die.

[Q:] How did you respond to the dream? [A:] I got up and said to my wife that I was flying to Washington the next day. I told her that I was going to get saved again, and she was really excited. She had been walking with the Lord every day. I would have been a dead man if it wasn't for her. She is the one who deserves all the honor and glory in this family, not me. We came to Washington right away, bought a house, and found a church; but my pride would not let me get saved right away. I went to a church for five Sundays in a row in Edmonds, Washington, where they had just fired their pastor. The interim pastor was a Swedish man in his sixties and he preached the same sermon five weeks in a row. By the fifth Sunday, I was betting that no one would have the courage to do this again, yet I was excited to see the reaction of the people if he did. It was a very large church that seated twelve hundred people. During the message, which was once again the same one he had done the previous weeks, the thought came to me that God couldn't make him preach it a sixth time. Each week as he preached, the pastor would look straight at me. I knew I needed to respond. So I got up and walked down to the front, but I was very angry. I thought at least God could have gotten someone else saved as well so I didn't have to do it by myself. When I first stood up from my seat, I was angry, not repenting, although I knew I had to do this. Yet as I walked forward, the question occurred to me, 'If I were my own son, would I forgive him with this type of attitude?' Then it hit me that God was telling me that He might not take me back. By this time, I was a mess. When I got to the front, I said to the pastor that I wanted to come home. He looked down at me and said, 'Took you long enough.' Then he gave be a big hug in front of everybody and said, 'Welcome home, son.'

[Q:] How did God deal with you from this point on? [A:] The day I got saved, in August of 1987, He took a lot of stuff away—things like smoking, cursing, drinking, and drugs— But He still had to work on a lot of stuff in my life as well. He started by asking me the question, 'Jerry, do you trust me?' I thought about it for a moment and told him, 'No.' It's stupid to lie to God; He already knew. He directed me to read all the verses in the Bible on trust for six months. So, I typed out all the ones I could find and read them every night before I went to bed. After six months, He asked me the question again, "Jerry, do you trust Me?' After all this time feeding on the Word, I said, 'Of course, I trust You.' Then He hit me with another question, "Jerry, can I trust you?' I told Him, 'No,' and we've been working on that one ever since. God also said that He wanted me to pray two hours a day, which was quite a step to take. I assumed that He wanted me to do it at the church, so I asked if I could hold a men's prayer meeting there in the mornings. When I was told that I couldn't, it was a test for me. I had to learn not to be rebellious. But God didn't say I had to pray in the church, that was my idea. However, I still wanted to do it at the church somehow, so I obtained permission to do it in the parking lot. I went out and found some other fellows like me, guys who were hurting, and told them we were going to have a men's prayer group at 6:30 each morning. When we began, I drove to their houses and beeped the horn for five minutes to wake them up. They would come out screaming at me, asking me what I was doing, and I would just tell them to get in the car. By the third day, all of the men were up and waiting for me by the time I got there. Their wives were petrified of me. After six months, we were allowed to meet inside the church and eventually it grew to where we would have as many as two hundred people there. For seven years, I prayed for two hours a day...


Posted by: Sulten

What does your faith in Jesus Christ mean to you? Would you be willing to risk your very life for it if called upon to do so? I was reading today some accounts of these North Korean Christians, (now fled to China) what being Christian meant while living in their homeland of North Korea. It is incredibly touching to hear. Of course they have had terrible famine and starvation there. All religious practices are strictly prohibited. Christians are considered political criminals. They may simply “disappear,” being executed or interned in labor camps. If sent to a labor camp, they are forced to make goods for export under brutal conditions. And yet there is hope living and breathing in these Christians still. There are accounts of 300,000 to 400,000 Christians living there, with their numbers continually growing. They meet in small groups of 4 or 5 people, with no singing, because that is far too dangerous. These “house churches” organize themselves in networks which meet in remote caves and their numbers are continually growing. This is so incredibly amazing. They have formulated five principles, which they recite together with the Lord’s Prayer in their secret meetings. 1. Our persecution and suffering are our joy and honor. 2. We accept ridicule, scorn and disadvantages with joy in Jesus' name. 3. As Christians, we want to wipe others' tears away and comfort the suffering. 4. We want to be ready to risk our lives because of our love for our neighbor, so that they also become Christians! 5. We want to live our lives according to the standards set in God's Word.

These Christians are living in the center of demonic persecution! What an incredible testimony of the power of Jesus Christ’s love to sustain those committed to Him.

I also read about many of their creative ways to reach unbelievers and to strengthen believers who are constrained to practice a very private faith. They launch balloons printed with Scripture texts. They also cast plastic baggies filled with Scripture booklets into a bay near the border. And they transport Bibles over the Chinese Korean border in the dark of night. “Bible League” partners carry out their work with great discretion. One said; "We have an unspoken arrangement. I get the Bibles in, and a few key people pass them to Christians who need them. But we can't even utter a word about it to one another." The so called leadership of this nation has no room for God. They even proclaim: "Man is the master of everything and decides everything."

Paying the ultimate price

This story appeared in Newsweek last month.

"During the first part of his life in North Korea, Son Jong Nam had it good. As the son of a high-ranking officer in the all-powerful military, Son never had to worry about getting enough food, and after he joined the Army himself, his background helped him land a spot in an elite unit that guarded North Korea's leaders.

But then things began to change. In the mid-1990s, plagued by natural catastrophes and stripped of support from its erstwhile Soviet sponsor, the North saw its economy plunge into a tailspin. One day Son's pregnant wife made a carelessly critical remark about the country's mismanagement. The next thing they knew, she'd been taken in for questioning. One of her interrogators kicked her in the stomach, triggering a miscarriage. Disillusioned, the Sons decided to defect to the South. In 1998 they took their young daughter and slipped over the border into China. But Son's wife died after the crossing, and Son, bereft, soon met a South Korean missionary who was there to help North Korean refugees find their way to freedom. Through him, Son discovered Christianity and decided to convert, joining the growing legions of desperate North Koreans who are turning toward God. This led to Son's next step, which may yet prove fatal: he resolved to head back to the North in 2004 in order to bring the Gospel to others.


Today Son finds himself on death row in Pyongyang, awaiting execution for the crime of spreading his faith.”

I don’t know if Son has been executed. “Voice of the Martyrs, an American Christian organization and their allies in the U.S. and South Korea are reportedly trying to save his life and bringing international pressure to bear on Pyongyang.


I have a last thought about this. These things seem so tragic and unjust, as they truly are. Yet even if many of these faithful Christians lose their lives, we know this life is just a tiny fraction of eternity and the final state of their souls will be blessed and happy with their Redeemer. I was reading how one of pop music's biggest stars, Madonna was recently on her worldwide "Confessions" tour. In one of her performances on stage, she is actually singing while hanging on a huge mirrored cross in a mock crucifixion complete with a crown of thorns. There are many individuals who have their moment of seeming prosperity, fame and fortune. They are even idolized by masses of people. Yet they are the ones who are in a true tragic and fallen state. We Christians may lament for a season over our individual trials and sufferings and problems in this mortal probation, but we know that if we're true and faithful, our joy and final state will be beyond any comprehension we can imagine. Keep the faith, no matter what you have to go through or are going through. God will have the final word in your life. If you don’t really know Him yet and your conviction is weak, it starts with getting down on your knees in humble prayer and asking. Don’t stop asking until you get an answer!

When you pass through the waters, I will beith you;
and when you pass through the
rivers, they will Not sweep over you. When
you walk through the fire, you will not be
burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the LORD, your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior-
Isaiah 43:2-3





Posted by: Christian Commando

Ok, I've been requested to share my testimony of how I recieved Salvation. So... here goes-

As a kid of 9 years old, my folks bought a resort here in Minnesota. So, we left the farm, where us kids went to an old 1 room Country School and left the German reformed Church we went to.

My life went down hill after that move, as we changed over to going to a town School and I was not accepted at all. From the first year in town school, I was set back a year. I started getting picked on. It turned out, by the end of the seond year, I realized I was destined to suffer.

I did too. For every year after that, the beatings, teasing, being sent to the Principle etc only got worse. The strange thing is, my mother was so against fighting, I never did fight them.

Finally, by age 16, after all the prayers to God for help never helped, I decided God was not real, nor His Word true. Thus, I decided to end my life. After 3 attempts that failed, I came back to our resort that Smmer night very angry and bwildered.

As I sat on our old "T" dock that night wondering what to do, the father of my closest friend, who's family were staying there, walked down and started talking to me. Now, in that last year, several others who knew me well, tried to help, but I'd convinced them God was not real nor Word true.

But... that night on that dock, that father I could not convince of that. Instead, he turned around and got me at least to be insterested enough in God and His Word to seriously check them out.

From age 16 until 20 years old, I intensely read and studied God's Word. I researched It for anything ad everything I could find, for proof one way or the other. Little did I know, God was training me for His future call of me.

By age 20, I was convinced God was real and His Word true. I'd run across too much documented proofs of miracles of all kinds, just from studying US archives.

Well, at age 20, when people would ask me questions about things going on around us or daily situations, I would share God's Word about it. I worked for a couple different Christian bosses on Construction who owned and operated small buisnesses.

First, they asked me why they should keep me on, for usaully a short time after starting a job with them, I'd be sitting with the owners of the job site, neighbors of them or on lookers passing by, talking with them.

Then my Bosses started asking them what we talked about, as they could not believe I'd told them the bible and God. When my bosses were asked what a Minister of God was doing working Construction for them, they never said another word about it to me.

After so long of being asked questions, people asked me for Bible Studies on thier subjects. After so long of others told about it, God lead us into Bible Classes about them.

Then, a close friend of ours called my folks thier parent was in the Nursing Home. My earthly Dad called and told me I should go see them. I did. Over the course of several weeks of visits, sharing God's Word with them, other residents of the Nursing Home came to listen. So, was asked to do Bible Studies there for the whole place. I did. It turned out to be preaching after a time.

Someone visiting a friend at the Nursing Home told me of thier relative in a "in home care Center", who was close to moving to a Nuring Home, and that no Ministers or Churches would do services in them. I talked to a couple of them and God opened the door for that to work.

From age 20-25, this was all happening. At age 25, God called me to be a Minister for Him. From that age on, the service for God grew, in numbers of places, people, Studies, Classes, and subjects to cover.

Also when growing up as a kid, after we moved to our old resort, my oldest full brother and I were close and he asked me to have some fun with him with seances, using his ouija board plus one or two other abominations.

Thru these "fun" methods, us kids- (my bro, kids from resort and I), experienced some pretty wild supernatural events. I started have a re-occuring dream, that in my late teens in school, saw this happen, exactly as the dream went.

Secondly, when went thru puberty, little did I know, I suffered from a phys. deformity. This caused me to have seizures. When felt a seizure about to start, a vision appeared in my mind of a huge dragon standing in front of me. As I slowly lost control over my mind, this dragon grew larger, while I stayed the same. Also, a ring of fire always started from the Dragon, circling out around me.

Finally, when could not hold back the loss of control, the Dragon was so big, I could only see its abdomen, plus the fire had closed in on me and was about to consume me. When came out of the seizure, I was blind, deaf, dumb and no equalibrium, nor did I know where I was at, plus a super migraine headache.

By age 23, God had shown me thru His Word what was happening to me with this. So, I prayed intensely for forgiveness of what I'd done in the past, denounced all I'd done, prayed for God's deliverance of me from Satan and then commanded Satan to be gone from afflicting me ever again. Since then, I've suffered several seizures in past years, but I come out of them able to speak, hear, see, know where I'm at and no more migraines. And the Dragon has never appeared either.

Then, God turned around and had me come across some people who had demonic activity going on, but not knowing thats what it was. Talking with them, they asked me what could be done. I searched Scriptures, checked out the places, prayed and then attempted cleansings.

Being unsaved as yet, I was stupid. Satan nor his demons fear unsaved people. They can touch them, beat them up, pass thru thier bodies etc.

Just before turning 27, I'd met a temp. Pastor in a neighboring town, who invited me constantly to events thru his Church. He asked me "the question", I answered the "works"- (service for God) got me in Heaven. I was wrong. He asked if wanted to be sure. I said yes and got saved and reborn shortly after turning 27 in July 1984.

After recieving Salvation, every aspect of Ministry God had me in, changed incredibly better than ever could've expected.

A few years later in 1989, my mother was found to have cancer. She had at most, a year to live. Doing Ministry at a Nursing Home, the head Nurse there, was an old resort neighbor of ours, Harriet. She asked me, for the love of people I had, if would join thier staff as a Certified Nursing Assitant. I agreed.

I started and trained for a couple weeks, then was sent for certification. In the month I was there working, all the residents I worked with, were starting to do most of thier stuff themselves. But, Dad called me and said he ould no longer take care of Mom alone and needed help. My brothers would not help him.

I quit my job and moved in with them to help take care of her. Take note, my mother and I had fought each other all our lives. So much alike, we could not get along no matter what.

Yet, while I traded 12 hour shifts taking care of Mom, with Dad, Mom finally had to ask, what happened to me? I'd changed and she wanted to know what that was. What made me come and want to help take care of her. I told her, it was the one thing she rejected most, Christ becoming my Lord and Savior and God changing me life into Ministry.

And told her of the Minister who helped me understand the Truth of Salvaion. She wanted to meet him. I called him out, he sat and spoke with her. Before he left, she had now gotten saved and reborn. A close female friend of mine was very irritated after I got saved and reborn. but, after seeing what happened to Mom, my friend talked to the Minister and she got saved and reborn.

In the last 2 months Mom was alive, we needed the equipment to move her around. The Nursing Home job, God used not only to train me,but to train Dad how to care for disabled people, but supplied us with the connection for all equip. needed for this.

She was home till the last week she lived. During that last week in the hospital, the last day she lived, Dad was sitting next to her bed, she was a vegetable from all the drugs to keep down pain, sedation and more.

Yet, while sitting there, Dad almost fell over... Mom was so sickly looking, so thin laying there, but out of the blue, she sits up in bed and turns to look at Dad, and Dad said she looked as if had never been sick.

Then she told Dad- "Dad, I love you so very much and tell the boys I love them so very much too, but now its time for me to go and be with God". Dad said after that, she laid back down and all the monitors hooked up to her started to slow down gradually until they stopped.

Alarms went off all over. The Nurses came in and Dad was crying, not being sad, but so incredibly happy. He told them to leave them, it was over now. Dad then dropped to his knees and cried and prayed to God to forgive him too and that he wanted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He got saved and reborn.

Thru the nearly 30 years of Ministry God has done thru me, I have never been more Blessed than dealing with all the trials God has put me thru to gain such love, such faith and so much patience and compassion for the Trinity and people.

And yet, God has done so much more in m life and thru me, than what I have shared here. Having witnessed so many diverse miracles of God.

I can only pray, God will instill in the hearts of those troubled by trials, if we have the faith and belief in God to be patient enough to wait on His timing and purpose for all things, God will answer prayers for our needs and bring us from darkness into the Light, from death, as where I was headed, to life, where God is leading me now.

God Bless!!

Christian Commando-


Posted by: Sulten

That was so inspiring to read ChristianCommando. Thanks so much for sharing that.


Posted by: Sulten

As ChristianCommando said, I’ll endeavor my best to write “a shorter version” of my conversion process. I’ll start by relating some of the events that led up to my being “good saved.”


I was born into a home of goodly Christian parent’s that always tried to teach me that Jesus Christ was the “only way” whereby I could relieve salvation and true happiness, in this life and the next. I remember I often times thought going to church on Sunday was tedious, but children listen and learn when adults don’t always know their paying attention. I used to think deeply at times about the things my parent’s would tell me. I remember this one time I must have been about 5 years old, I had gotten really sick. I remember lifting my hand up in the air, believing that Jesus would hold it. I got a lot of comfort from that thought and I really believed that He was holding my hand. I used to talk to Heavenly Father and Jesus too about my life from the time I could remember. I believed the things my parent’s told me and I felt a safe and comfortable feeling whenever we went to church and they would talk to me about spiritual things.


Then when I hit my teens, I got in with a bad crowd. I started to be rebellious. It didn’t happen overnight, but I got steadily more and more difficult for my parent’s to handle. I know I caused them a lot of heartache and I sometimes felt like I was being pulled apart. Deep down I knew the things I was getting into were wrong and I would feel terribly guilty at times, then the rebellious spirit would take over. My parent’s tried to rein me in and I thought at the time they were being too strict.

In the summer of my 15th year I had been invited to a party at some friend’s house and I couldn’t go because my curfew was at 9 o’clock on a summer night. I just remember feeling so angry at them that they were going to ruin my social life. I would sneak out the window at night and get into trouble at school for sloughing and drinking. My grades were failing in my junior year of high school. Finally I decided that I was living in too confined an environment. I had a job working at a factory. This lady told me all about her daughter that was serving in the Air Force and enjoying traveling and seeing the world. I decided that is what I wanted to do. That would be my ticket to happiness! I got my GED and joined the military. I was on top of the world, heading to Germany! Everything seemed like fun and excitement at first. I felt so free! No parent’s looking over my shoulder and now making it on my own. I was exhilarated. I started sinning more seriously than I had ever done while I was living at home. I was using drugs and going to rock concerts meeting people from all over the world. I got a boy friend and fell really hard thinking I was in love for the first time. He conned me into thinking he was in love with me too. He pressured me to sleep with him and after he had enough, he dropped me for someone else and it spiraled me down into a dark depression. In my young, foolish and immature mind, I felt like I didn’t give my heart lightly and I could ever love someone else like that again. It would never be the same. So I gave into a spirit of feeling worthless and not worth loving, because I got rejected by this one boy. (I tell you folks out there; when I write this it is as if I am writing about someone else. When the Lord changes you, you are not the same person.)

One evening I walked across the street to the little park by our Kaserene. I had no idea what was happening at that point. It was as if I was surrounded by demons who were whispering for me to take my life. Only I thought it was my own thoughts. They tried to convince me of my worthlessness. They told me that my parent’s and family would be better off without me. I was only causing them pain. This would put an end to my sinning anyway. I was worthless and not worth loving and no one was ever going to love me. So I went back to my Kaserene and got a razor blade. I went back to the little park and crawled into the bushes and cut my wrists and waited to die.


Then I heard a loud voice whisper in my mind, “Get up and go back to the Kaserene and have the MP’s take you to the hospital.” For some reason I obeyed. When I got to the hospital, I remember I had the kindest medic treat me. He looked into my eyes with the greatest love and compassion. I thought he seemed like an angel. He talked to me for some time and it made me feel better. They put me in the psyche ward for a time and I was with all kinds of mixed up lost souls. I made friends with this one kid named Allen. He told me every time I felt worthless to just tell myself “I was pretty.” I know he meant well, but I thought how is that going to help me survive?


When I was finally discharged, I went back to my duties. Then it was as if everything conspired against me there. I started having trouble with a black roommate who was room commander over me. She started to harass me and make my life miserable. Then a couple of the guys I had to pull duty with in our computer van started harassing me too. They would concoct ways to torment me everyday. None of this had ever happened before. Then one day, my black female room commander tried to pick a fight with me in front of a gang of black girls in the latrine. She wanted to fight me physically. The spirit talked me through that one and delivered me. Still I was shaken. Then one day, I was lying on my bunk after pulling a 24 hour shift. It was day time and no one was around. I just cried out to the Lord to help me. That was all I could think of to say. Then I cried out loud with a feeling of hopelessness and desperation knowing no one could hear me. I had no will to live and life felt meaningless.


Then I began getting persistent headaches. What next? I went on sick call one day and the doctor looked in my eyes and said I had a swelling of the optic nerve of my left eye. He immediately wrote orders for my hospitalization in the Air Force Hospital in Wiesbaden. I was stunned. He told me that could be indicative of a brain tumor. I was there for a month having every conceivable test. I was terrified that there was something wrong with my brain. I then became terrified that I was going to die and get my wish, yet I was not ready and would go to hell. I had the torment of a damned spirit. I was in hell already and didn’t know how to get out. My parent’s back home were marshalling prayers in my behalf in our church. Dad said people were fasting for me. They did not find a brain tumor or any cause of why there was a swelling in my optic nerve. I was suddenly discharged from the hospital. They gave me 10 days before I had to return to active duty. I went to stay in a temporary billet for convalescence. It was this time out that allowed me time to think and really humbled me.

It was there one night in that little room; I began to pour out my heart and soul to God. I felt like I was carrying an elephant on my back. I began to pray for deliverance. I told Him I wanted to accept Him into my life. I asked for forgiveness for all my sins and wept over them. I began to feel a great release as I was calling upon Him and something was starting to lift. I prayed all that night and could not sleep a wink. Then my heart began to be swelled with a joy I had never imagined or felt in my entire life to that magnitude. I had been crying for my sins and then I was crying for my joy. I knew that the Lord was cleansing me in His blood. It was as real to me as anything I have ever seen or felt with my mortal eyes. I knew that I was being healed and not alone anymore. When I finally fell to sleep, I felt a blanket of peace I had never known either. It was still there when I woke up in the morning. I marveled. I was almost afraid it would be like a drug and vanish and wasn’t real. But it was!


Then the next day, I had a presentment from the adversary. I was sitting in the little room trying to read my Bible. I felt a terrible invisible presence fill the room. My dad later said, I had stirred up the adversary and they were angry that they were losing a soul they had so craftily tried to break. They did not want to let me go! I began to pray with all my might and it seemed to get worse. I tried to run and leave the room, but it pursued me. So I went back and began to sing any hymns I could remember. I raised my right arm to the square, as my mother had taught me and commanded in the name of Jesus that they leave. The darkness gradually began to subside. It had lasted the better part of that day. I had cried out in fear to the Lord for deliverance again. Then a voice whispered “the Lord had allowed me to feel the power of the adversary so that I would know where I had been and that I had actually given Satan that power over me.” I felt a warning; never, never to go in his territory again. To me it felt as if my very life was threatened. A hatred like nothing I could imagine of how they wanted to destroy me. Then I realized it was God who had delivered me. I couldn’t do that myself.

Those were my early beginnings and how I came to receive Jesus Christ into my heart and soul. I know that He lives. I have felt His strength sustaining me in my weakness so many times throughout my life. No matter what life has thrown at me since those days, there is a difference between having Him on your side to fight your battles and being out there trying to do things your own way. I’ve seen miracles and know he can make more out of our lives than we can in our own puny strength.


If you just try as if it were an experiment, any of you who want to know Him to exercise faith like a tiny grain of mustard seed. Let it take root in your heart and don’t cast it out before it has a chance to take root. It starts with prayer. He will change your heart and replace a life of carrying the burden of sin and carnal desires with a new heart. He will give you the strength to withstand Lucifer and all temptation if you call on Him. He will also guide your life. Everybody has a mission to fulfill. It’s of course up to you if you decide you want to try to find what that is. So many people in the world are walking after false Gods or after the desires of their own hearts. It’s my testimony that he will open to those who “knock” and earnestly seek Him.


Posted by: Ruah_Flames

Ok, been requested to share my testimony, hope I can make this as short and to the point as possible

I was very lucky to be born in a Christian family. I can only remember one Sunday where I never attended a Sunday service in my childhood, and it was because I was very sick. I thank God for my late mom and all she did for me as a kid.



But that does not mean I was really confronted to make a decision to follow Christ in church. Mom did, but you always know how to get away from mom’s pressure. I became fairly knowledgeable in bible stuff and used that to get away with most things. Please understand that I grew up in Kenya and the school system over there is a revival train and they will preach to anything that moves. I however "survived" high school and joined the University of Nairobi as a non believer.



Being on my own away from home, I stopped attending church and thought that now I can manage my live without being bombarded with the gospel. During my first year recess, some students from my campus came over to my village to do some crusades. I organized a few boys and we decided to check out the born again "girls" - this was logical because over there almost every young girl was a Christian.



The meeting was normal Pentecostal stuff. They made allot of noise and we joined in. we started talking to one another and just making fun of them. Then the preacher started teaching on prayer and fasting. To be honest, I did not hear a word of what he said. My heart started playing jokes with my brains because every word that I had dismissed through out my life would be revealed in my mind and my heart believed it! I found myself accepting the gospel as a logical and authentic preposation. This was very strange because I always considered myself to be analytical and intelligent. As the preacher continued, the voices in my head and the feelings in my heart united and totally wrecked my defense lines. I walked out for fresh air and was pulled back by this strong desire to just sit there and let my senses riot. But this time I stayed way from the mob I had organized to check out for girls.



Anyway finally I responded to the alter call and Peterson Rukenya [the preacher and now my spiritual father and friend] lend me to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

I was helped by a few lovely Christians to keep the faith during my first week of salvation and I am forever great full for these dear ones. Mom made sure that I read the bible every day and that helped. I was however not really strong. My only motivation at that point was that I had done this in public and I had to keep going irrespective. Over there you are either saved or not. You just can’t fit in the two camps so my decision was very costly as I lost all my friends and I had to walk and be seen with the same people I had dismissed all my life.



After a week or so I made trip back to the city [Nairobi] and started attending a Pentecostal church with my cousins. The first Thursday in this church I attended a house group prayer meeting. The preacher started praying for people for all sorts of things. A very strange thing happened as I quietly prayed in a Conner. I was attracted by a very small light in the emptiness of closed eyes. The light kept growing stronger, very attractive and I felt like I was moving towards it. This continued for a few minutes until I lost control over all my senses. I wanted to tell my cousins what I was seeing and feeling [or not feeling] but I could not talk at all. Then the preacher requested people to drag me to alter and told them things I was seeing. He prayed for me and I was totally senseless [lost control over my senses – like crying while you fell joyful from inside] for a number of hours. I could not move any part of my body. All I remember is that I felt the best I have ever felt, the place had a scent that I have never sensed. It felt good and I wanted to remain there.



After this experience I found myself speaking in tongues and operating under other gifts. And it was explained to me that I was now full of the Holy Spirit and anointed for service. The bible became alive and it was as though I had been trained in bible for some time because I understood the word so easily. I found favor before men of God and they started inviting me to preach and I have been doing that since then.



I have been a Christian now since August 1991 and through service I have come to understand that the lord is real, not only for what he has continued to do in my life but also what I have witnessed Him do in the lives of those who believe. Having turned fully Pentecostal, I can also say that to experience the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in your heart is the best thing that can happen to a Christian.



We later immigrated to Australia in 2002 and it’s been a challenge to serve the Lord here, but the Lord is now opening doors and we trust in him for greater things and for the fulfillment of His calling in this Land.



Now I am involved in local church leadership and establishing a radio evangelism ministry as response to Gods calling in this area.



Thanks


Posted by: Sulten

Caxton thank you so much for taking the time to write those things. I too was raised in a Christian home and yet had to come to a point where I was awakened and had my own understanding and annointing with the Holy Spirit. That was a marvelous account of how this came about in your life. I can well imagine the Lord has some special plans for you. I think that testimony will bless alot of lives.


Posted by: Christian Commando

Sulten- Your welcome.

Rush_Flames-

Very good testimony, very uplifting and encouraging.

I was raised in what my folks considered was a "Christian Home". But it wasn't till my late 20's I realized none of my family were saved and reborn. After I accepted Salvation, I started praying my family would too and still do for brothers I have still alive.

God Bless!!


Posted by: walkin2e

Psalm 40. 1,2 "I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings."

Christmas 1972 was my first Christmas away from home. I was in the Army stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. I received a package from Mama. As I opened it, I uncovered some fresh Georgia pecans, some homemade fruitcake, a bottle of fresh cane syrup, and a few other items. At the bottom of the box was a Bible. During that period of my life, I really didn't have much to do with God and his ways.

During the following years, I would sometimes pick up that Bible and try to read...I sure didn't understand much of what I was reading. All the begats got to me.

The years 1985 and 1986 were trying times for me. I was still in the Army and was having a great career when my family life fell apart. My wife walked out and left me with three small children. At first, I tried to put the blame on others when deep inside I knew I was to blame. I needed something but didn't know what would ease my pain.

Well, I was brought up in church (Proverbs 22.6: "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.") I figured I'd go to the local church for help. As I counseled with the pastor, he gave me a sheaf of papers I had to read and fill out, and then he would talk to me about becoming a member..I didn't need that! I needed Jesus, but no one pointed me to Him.

On January 3, 1987, about 9:30 PM, I looked up on the bookshelf. There was that Bible my Mama had given me years ago. I pulled it down, dusted off the cover, and opened it up. The words of the Psalmist (Psalm 40. 1,2,) jumped off the pages and spoke to my heart. As tears poured down my cheeks, I said "God, if You are real, save me!" Immediately Jesus came, and I was born again and I knew it! I felt like I was being washed whiter than snow.

You see, I had been under conviction of the Holy Ghost for a long time. God rearranged the circumstances of my life to get my attention. Thank God for a Mama who thought enough of me to give me a Bible.

Matthew 11.28 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Since that day over 17 years ago, the Lord has used me greatly..in all kinds of ways...Parents, don't give up on your children..Continue to pray for them

Irvin L. Rozier, Captain (Retired) US Army, still serving as a soldier in God's Army


Posted by: Sulten

What a beautiful, poignant testament of how Jesus Christ can work in our lives. Thank you so much Rev. Rozier for sharing your testimony. I remember my parent's stuck my little white Bible somewhere in my belongings when I left for the military too. Years later, when I was going through my Dad's belongings after he died, I found the New Testament that Dad had carried all during World War II. I opened it and found passages underlined and marked with Dad's comments all thru. That to me was like a priceless gem of what Jesus meant to my Dad.


Posted by: Beverlyjoy

Growing up as a kid we went to church and attended Sunday school. I only remember those days as dull, not really undesrstanding the Suday school lessons. I do remember how everyone attended church on Easter Sunday and we had to say our Easter speeches. I asked my mother at one time could I join another church in the area which was lively. Naturally she said no. I vowed at that time that I would leave that denomination when I became grown. My parents actually gave me no reason as to why I should have been in church. I see now, that it was a ritual. When I left home I stayed out of church a long time. There were two sisiters who would invite me to their services. I began to dodge one of them because she wearied me with her invite. One day I took her sister into consideration and went. My life at that time was filled with turmoil. I had a void that needed to be filled with REAL love. I was searching for something, so I joined the church. I became actively involved in the choir as a lead singer. I taught Sunday School and was faithful in my attendance,however my life of sin was so overwhelming, that every Sunday I went to the altar for prayer. It became a joke to some. Behind my back they would say "what has she done now? One day in the year of 1974 there came a preached word during service. I remeber the preacher quoting these words from Revelation 3:15-16. I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. SO then BECAUSE thou art lukewarm and neither coldnr hot, I WILL SPEW thee out of my mouth. The fear of the Lord came upon me so fervently, that in the snowstrm of 1967 I left my surroundings and moved (with my children) in with a pastor his wife and thirteen children. They became my spiritual family. My pastor became aware of real holiness and began to preach about sanctification. His wife and a seasoned evangelist formed a group called "The Jr. Mission". Our theme was acts 2:38. During one of our services I received the baptism Of the Holy Ghost and the gift of speaking in tongues. My life has never been the same and seven years later with the permission of my husband I was one of three women in our church who were ordained and licensed as ministers. One of the gifts that I have is that of teaching Sunday School. As I look back in the past I see that God was preparing me for ministry. My mother became truly saved as a result of my life in Christ. My older son before he past wanted to be like his mother. He realized that the Lord had not called him to preach as he thought, but was truly an anointed deacon and servant. There have been some serious and difficult times, but the Lord has brought e thrugh it all. I love Him so much and I love people. After all, That is what real lve is. Loving God and his children. Thank you Bonnie for starting this post. It is intersting and a blessing I have enjoyed everyone.


Posted by: Sulten

Thanks so much Beverly for your special story. I love to read these testimonies, it is so strengthening to see how the Lord works in different lives through all our unique circumstances. It is so much like Pastor Jerry said, a process leading up to conversion.


Posted by: diamondcreates

My first experience in the reality of Jesus Christ, was when I was in the 8th grade. I was attending Catholic school, and my mother wasn't paying my tuition at the school. And the principal told my grandfather if someone didn't pay nearly 600 by the next day I wasn't going to be able to graduate with my class mates and I wasn't going to be able to return back to school until payment was paid in full!!! I didn't know what to do. My grandfather was of course very upset, and was yelling saying he wasn't going to pay for it. And I went to my grandmother's room and started crying. And she said 'Say in the Blood of JESUS this bill shall be paid. In the blood of JESUS, papa will pay for my schooling, in the blood of JESUS, I will be able to return to school and graduate on time with my classmates.' I continued to say that and each and every time I said 'In the Blood of JESUS' a weight was lifted off my shoulders. That night before bed he called me into his room and gave me the check in full for the rest of the school year!!!!! I was beyond happy with that. And right then and there was when the power of JESUS wasn't just in songs, or in sunday school but really real.

Even though I was in 8th grade and this situation was about my tuition at school that wasn't paid from September until March/April, my grandfather is a no nonsense person and when he says NO - that is usually how it stays. But this particular day I just kept on saying in the Blood of JESUS, in the Blood of JESUS, and that night he gave me the money. It was the happiest day for me and it gave me a sense that Jesus wasn't just a word, but HE was indeed real that I can call on HIM and HE will come through for me in the time of trouble. PRAISE GOD!!!

Be bless.


Posted by: Sulten

Michelle I love this story! Thank you for telling that first real implant that made you know Christ is real.


Posted by: Sulten

I wanted to add this account as told by walkin2e of how the Lord used him to prevent a suicide and then was instrumental in leading another to salvation. We never know how or who we may be instrumental in saving. Our very words are powerful when we share our testimonies as the Holy Spirit convicts our hearer of the truthfulness of our testimonies.


Matthew 8.9 "For I am a man under authority; having soldiers under me: and I say to this man Go and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it."

One Saturday night, I was asleep on the couch when the Lord woke me and directed me to go over to a friend's house. The command was urgent. I hastily dressed and drove over to Waycross where my friend lived. I knocked on her door but could get no answer. She was a single parent and had been experiencing many problems. Her main problem was that she had never been born again. I had often talked to her about the critical importance of accepting Jesus as her personal savior. I hadn't talked to her or seen her in a few months.

After about 10 minutes of knocking, I finally got her to come to the door. She asked, "What are you doing here?" I replied, "The Lord told me to come. Are you okay?" She looked at me in that way when I talked about Jesus. She thought I was a little off my rocker. Let me tell you, you will be called strange by the unsaved when you follow after the Lord. Well, she started talking nonsense and acting fidgety. I recognized that the devil didn't want me to be around her,

After about 10 minutes she suddenly said, "I'm so silly." I replied, "What are you talking about?" She said, "I ain't gonna tell you." After a few minutes, she finally said, "I just took 40 pills right before you came. My life is useless so I'm going to put an end to it." The Holy Spirit came on me and I said, "Devil, you are not getting this woman. I've been praying for her." I convinced her to get in my car and I drove to the hospital. They immediately went to work on her, pumping her stomach. After this procedure was over, the doctor told me if I hadn't brought her she would have died or would have kidney failure.

I called her sister and told her what had happened. My "friend" got mad at me and wouldn't talk to me for a long time. Despite this, I continued to pray for her. Her daughter had been born again in my car and the Lord was working on her son. About two years later, my friend that tried to commit suicide called me and told me that Jesus had come into her heart. Immediately, my spirit bore witness with hers that indeed she had been born again. The Lord used me to snatch her from the pit of hell. Later, her son, too, was born again.

Jude 23 "And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh."

Irvin L. Rozier (walkin2e)