This is where I'd like people to come and post up their stories/testimonies...

...whether they are new to being a Christian or have been a Christian for some time.

I will start with my own.....try not to fall asleep. Some of you already know this one!

I wrote this testimony back in 2006. I had been a Christian for about 3 years.





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I don't know why I'm embarassed by the fact that I don't have some BIG story with heartbreak, addiction, etc to tell of why I came to Christ. Sure, I've made a LOT of mistakes in my life. Silly little ones. A couple pretty big ones. But nothing really to make any testimony of mine worth reading. But I figure I'd write anyway, because this thread is TOO DARN SMALL in a forum full of Christians.

I grew up Catholic and had NO relationship whatsoever with Christ. I went to Our Lady of Mt Carmel...Italian style. It was Mary and the Saints, 24/7. We heard about Jesus at Christmas and Easter. I can't even say that it was because I wasn't paying attention...I was a lecter and did the readings every sunday. I was part of the Youth group. I, along with my entire family sang in the choir. But something was missing. I did those readings for 4 years. They go in a 3 year cycle, so in my 4th year, I was reading year one all over again. I thought, "HOLY COW, how long has THIS been going on? Same stuff every 3 years???" My parents always told me I was free to make my own choices about church AFTER my confirmation. So, I did. I made the choice to bail.

I was "nothing" for a while. Then I found Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism. WOW...these people really know what they're talking about. I, too, want to be my own personal God. (yah, it's pretty bad, isn't it??? But that's what they tell you) Then, whoo-ho, WICCA. Oh yah....sucked me right in (I was 20). I LOVE the earth, I LOVE the moon. Animals, trees, streams.....you name it, this religion worshipped it. I was hooked. I never again threw my cigarette out my car window, I picked up other people's trash from the ground. I hugged trees. (all of which are good things to do anyway.....oh, and by the way, I quit smoking!!!

I walked around feeling all peaceful and 'at one' with nature. I didn't believe in Satan anymore. I remember one Christian man I lived near, who saw me as lost BIG TIME (which, now, looking back, I know he was right) said to me, "You are the walking dead". I told him "You Christians made Satan up to mind control everyone". At least that's what I thought. Until I got deep into the darker places of this so-called-religion. They call themselves White Witches......I now have a book about it, called "Satans' Little White Lie". And that's exactly what it is. Now that I'm out of it, I believe theres nothing DARKER.

I won't get into the details. But it was bad. Thoughts that weren't mine, memories that CERTAINLY weren't mine. Weird stuff....
...here's where I believe that the Holy Spirit had decided it was time to reveal itself and start the process to bring me back home. I wasn't happy. It scared the hoooie out of me and I soon wanted nothing to do with this "religion" that claimed to be so wonderful and peaceful....for I'd seen MANY not-so-peaceful things happening around me and TO me. It all came to a head and I had to leave it.

So, being stubborn, I went back to Buddhism and Hinduism because they were "sweet". hehehe (I'm a weenie)

Then I landed my butt in Alaska, where after a couple months of craziness, I met the two guys that would save my life. Dave and Justin. Two very good Christian boys, about 22 years old. We met on a saturday evening at my friend Sean's house. Sean was lost too. The 4 of us went out to dinner (where the waitress promptly asked what my secret was, to be out with 3 gorgeous young guys...hehehe...as Frank Sinatra put it, "It's Witchcraft" HAHAHA) and Justin and Dave told me, "You HAVE to come to church with us tomorrow". Of course I said yes, these guys were totally gorgeous. (my way of thinking before "the save")

So, I met them and we went in. It was a non-denom Christian church. I was amazed at the happiness. I kept thinking, "WOW, nothing like church when I was younger". The music. Holy COW!!! These guys were PRAISING every other minute. My face hurt from smiling. The message......why Jesus died for you. I cried. I felt wicked mad at first. All the thoughts like, "He doesn't even know me", etc that had been shoved into my head by the "elder" witches, came flooding back. Then I looked over at Justin, hands raised in the air.....I looked to the other side of me, at Dave, who seemed to be reading my thoughts, smiling at me the most unbelieveable smile. I looked up at the humongous cross hanging over the Chrsitian rock band and my heart melted. I cried like crazy. But I still refused to apologize. But this was an awesome step, and I could totally feel the Holy Spirit standing there not unlike the time I decided I was scared of the witchy stuff I'd been doing for 10 years.

Anyway. I took a year of learning, going with Dave and Justin to church, many bible studies and a LOT of praying before I officially asked Christ into my life. I was scared to mess it up this time. I knew it was a big deal....and I didn't want to make any mistakes. My hesitation wasn't in Christ, I knew what He did for me and how I felt about it. It was in ME. Knowing I could never turn back, and to do so would be bad...I wanted to be sure I didn't screw this one up.

I accepted Christ, on my knees, in my living room.......head in arms on the seat of my couch........after watching "The Jesus Film" on December 15th, 2003. I was laughing and crying (anyone who knows me knows this is normal) praying and praising....and when I came back to reality, I heard Jesus say "I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (it was on the DVD after a long period of silence, the voice of the actor that played Christ came on and said the verse.....I've had several people ask if I really HEARD Jesus. Yah, I wish! That's been my favorite verse since that day.

I don't want a day to go by that He doesn't know I'm with Him too.....but, unfortunately, I do, cuz I'm soooo not perfect. But I love Him so much that when I actually try to think about it, it makes me want to burst. I will never turn my back on Him again. I always say that He's always been my best friend, but I haven't always been His.

I'm working on it.

Well, if you made it this far, KUDOS to you. Thanks for listening. I love you. God Bless.

I'm going to say something...it may come out wrong, but I do not mean it that way...but it is disheartening that every day there are 12-17 registered members that stop by the forum and then disappear without a post....while opportunities like this thread are here.

I asked that you all share your testimony in here so that people coming in can see them and be helped by them. (Yes, more 'visitors' show up in here on a daily basis than registered users) I really hope you will consider sharing....as we are more than just an offroad club.

Thanks for your time.

..............7 months later..............trying again.

This is going to be a short nitty gritty post. My fingers are fairly raw from 2 hours of rock climbing...



Grew up in a church, Methodist. Been a member of this church since, well, my parents met there when they were 12 or 13. Gives you and idea about it, my family makes up a large chunk of the small congregation. I did that and I did a Catholic school for a few years, and a baptist school for 5 years. I was going through life happy as Larry until the freshman hear of high school. That is the point when I realized that something was not right. I was fairly young when I actually said the words in my heart "Jesus come into me and take over". The first 4 years were pretty good. I was surrounded by nothing but people who were believers. My core group of friends in school were very devout. In fact they still are. I see some of the still. But when I got into college I saw a different world and it led me down a different path. For the last 6 or 7 years things have not been well with me and my Lord. I have always known that Jesus is the one true way. But It has been my belief that the way the church has been run by those in this country has not been right. About 4 or 5 months ago, I had some life changing events take place that opened my eyes. I have since changed a large number of my habits. I have given up the circles in which I was running, I have given up a lot of the music I was listening too. I no longer watch the Simpsons and Family Guy and shows of that nature. There were alot of little things that I was letting ride, because I thought that they were harmless. I am not 100% back to where I need to be. I am slowly working some things out. I have a raging temper for minor things. I still use a vocabulary that would get me thrown out of any church or young school in the country. I still find humor where I should not. I am working things out. I have come a long long long way since the middle of the summer. My wife has noticed a big change. She is happy about that. There are alot of things in the world that can drag you down. And the big stuff is the easiest to avoid. It is the little habits that we all have that we need to avoid. I am human, and with the help of my Lord above, I will make it.

Oh WOW!!! Awesome story!!! OMG I am so happy you shared it.

Don't know how I missed this. Will get mine up soon.