God is Merciful

Growing up in the Appalachian foothills of southeastern Kentucky, the church has always been a massive part of my life. My earliest memories are of the church; my first friends were church friends. In my family there was no question to what we would be doing on a Sunday morning or night and Wednesday night, we were at church. I had been taught all the Bible stories. I had learned that there were a heaven and a hell, and to go to heaven we had to be saved, and if we died lost, we would go to hell. Furthermore, Jesus had died on the cross to pay for our sin and only through him could we receive forgiveness.

When I became a young adult, I began to rebel, and the temptations of the world began to draw me away from the church. Although I had been taught what was right, I had never given my heart to Christ. So I moved out of my parents home and began playing in a rock band.  While living this party lifestyle and playing in the group, I started drinking and experimenting with drugs.

One night while in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, I was at a bar to see the band of a friend of mine perform. We had been partying all day. It wasn't long before closing, and I was very intoxicated when something life-changing happened to me. All of a sudden, I was sober, and everything became crystal clear. A voice spoke inside of me saying, "You're in church." I thought to myself, "What?" As I looked up to the stage where the band was performing the voice said, "There are the praise and worship." I looked at the people in front of the stage. "There are the worshippers." I looked to the bar and seen all of the liquor stacked behind it, and the voice said, "There is the spirit." Just as quickly as it came, the voice left, and the intoxication came back with it. Later that night I almost overdosed if not for the mercy of God.

The next day I remembered my experience in the bar and a Scripture came to my mind that I remembered hearing growing up in church, Psalm 139:8, "If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there." What I believe God was telling me in that experience are:
1. I am the servant of one of two masters, if I'm not serving God, then by default I am a servant of Satan (Romans 6:16)  
2. I believe God was telling me that even thou I had rebelled against everything I had been taught and had turned away from everything I knew to be right, God still loved me and He always wanted me. He was willing to come to me in the midst of all my sin and remind me of that in a very startling way.

The experience I had that night in the bar never left me and almost one year later on July 7th, 2004 I gave my heart to Jesus and confessed Him as my Savior. Over the last fourteen years, I have had the opportunity to present this testimony in jails, homeless shelters, troubled teen programs, Juvenile delinquent facilities, at churches and on the street. I am so very thankful to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for dealing with me and showing me mercy when I did not deserve it and letting me be a witness for Him by sharing what He has done for me.