Men’s House Director

I was raised in a church going home and grew up learning scripture. I did not however truly understand the gospel or my need for a savior even though I understood quite easily that going to hell didn’t sound very fun. I figured golden streets and a big fat mansion would fit my desires a lot better. Looking back now… I had a superficial, flannelgraph understanding of God’s character and the reason for my being created. At a young age I struggled with major identity issues. My biological father left before I was born and was not interested in being a part of my life. This caused feelings of insecurity and abandonment. I became very resentful and angry. At age fourteen I ran away from home and the next 12 years were filled with immorality, drugs, and rage.  By God’s grace at age 26 the Lord opened my eyes to His rescuing hand and my need for being saved. All my life I had developed a victim state of mind but through God’s word and hearing the gospel I became aware that my worst enemy resided within myself. It wasn’t my dad, my mother, or even my high school principal who expelled me in my junior year. I needed saving from me. My flesh needed to die and I had to be reborn as a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). By God’s grace and the opening of the eyes of my heart I learned that Jesus came to save that which was lost (which I was). Jesus came to pay the penalty through His death which was the penalty required for my sin (which was too costly for me to ever pay). Jesus raised from the dead proving that sin and death had no dominion over Him and He has full authority over them (of which I was only a slave to). Jesus gave me His spirit to seal me as His own, to give me fruits reflecting His character, and He will return to gather those He’s sealed as His own and to judge the world according to their own deeds which will measure according to His standards of whom all will fall short who don’t have the blood of the lamb on their mantle.