It also really illustrates that God does indeed mean it when He says “come as you are”. If we had to be perfect to come to God, we wouldn’t need God because we would be perfect. But since we are not perfect, it is through His boundless grace that He takes us in, regardless of what we’ve done in the past or what we’re doing now. The first step is simply to acknowledge the fact that we need God and to make that first step… to come to Him with all our problems and baggage and pain intact. He will work with us and in us after we take that first step; we don’t have to do any more than simply admit that we need Him more than anything.

Please pray for the work the Dream Centre and other similar ministries are doing. It is of vital importance to the people that go through those doors every day.

“For He will deliver the needy when He cries,
The poor also, and him who has no helper.
He will spare the poor and needy,
And will save the souls of the needy.
He will redeem their life from oppression and violence;
And precious shall be their blood in His sight.” (Ps 72:12-14, NKJV)

The above was part of my Bible reading guide this morning and it spoke volumes due to what we had done yesterday. Yesterday, we had put on a BBQ in probably the roughest neighbourhood in our inner city, a free BBQ to feed the homeless, helpless, and the less fortunate. Why did we do this? Because we love God, and we know He loves these people and street people are of value as well (which the above verse definitely indicates!), and they deserve to be shown the same dignity and respect that we are all accustomed to.

This is the third year this event has been put on, and preparation for it began months ago. There were preparations in the natural, of course, soliciting donations for the event, but there were also preparations in the spiritual realm. Twice we had done prayer walks around the field, just praying that God would do what He does best: meet with people, transform people, that His Spirit would be there in a very real way. As organizers, we had prayed together and individually for this thing for weeks beforehand.

Yesterday morning I was up at six in the morning, preparing to be down at the site for eight in the morning to begin setup. That morning I was reading from the book of Acts, and the works of the early church inspired me for the day. What powerful things the early church had done! What beautiful adoration to God, to His Word, to His divine purpose! What a humbling thing to try and recreate by the work we were doing!

The BBQ was an absolute success. Despite little technical setbacks early on that, in the grand scheme of things, really amounted to nothing, we had an opportunity to feed at least 500-700 people. Local media was out, so we got a few seconds of exposure on the local TV stations (keep reading to see the clips) and there should be an article in the local newspaper regarding it as well. It was a hot day, up to 24C and many of us got sun burnt. We gave away so much, a thousand hot dogs and a thousand hamburgers, brand-new clothes that were donated, pillows, donuts, fruit, chips, pop, bottles of water. Thank you to the many companies that supported us and gave freely to the event, and thank you to the many volunteers that helped. God bless you all!

Now that the natural results have been described, I need to describe the spiritual. And this is what made this day so exciting, so powerful, and so exhausting. As I said, we were praying for weeks before the event and even driving down, the music in the car was off, and I was praying for the BBQ, for the volunteers, for the food, for the people that were coming to the event. And God moved in an absolutely powerful way! Thank You God that You listen to the heart-felt prayers of Your people who are striving to be obedient and do Your will! There is so much to describe, so it may be a bit disjointed — please bear with me.

First and foremost, there was such a sense of joy among the volunteers. There were no arguments, no one complained about having to do more than others, or do something they didn’t like. We were united in one purpose. There were smiles everywhere, people were so welcoming to those coming through the line to be fed, there was a genuine servanthood evident. There was such complete _peace_ in that place. You need to understand that these are people who are accustomed to a life of strife and fighting, that literally fight over scraps of food. Yet it was so peaceful in the field. There was no striving for places in line. They were patient, despite the heat, and they were grateful for the food. They were polite, thankful. To put this in perspective, I drove off-site around 2:30 in order to get some coffee. Not even a block away I saw two men yelling at each other and fighting. When we were loading the left over supplies into the church at 6:00 there were young men and women, right before the doors of the church (which is also right in the middle of downtown) fighting and swearing and arguing. But in that place, at that time, there was complete and utter peace. No fighting, no arguing, no dissension.

I believe with all of my heart that God put His angels around that field as a hedge of protection. As we walked around and prayed for that field in the weeks leading up to the BBQ, and on the day of the event as we prayed, I believe God anointed that piece of land for His purpose while we were there. We prayed for protection and we got it. We prayed for peace, we prayed that the ground would be saturated with the blood of Jesus, that the Holy Spirit would overshadow that field and we received all of these things.

I remember a half dozen of us were behind the stage when the first pastor was preaching and we were crying out to God for repentance and open ears and open hearts and open minds. We cried out to God on behalf of the people, that the Holy Spirit would use the pastor’s mouth to speak life to these people. And we were rewarded with about a dozen people coming forward to the altar to be prayed for and receive Bibles.

Later in the afternoon a few us were getting ready to go off-site to clean up garbage. We had put it off to wait for someone who was supposed to come with us, and so we waited about an extra 20-30 minutes. Right when we were about to go (despite the person we were waiting for not coming back), preaching began and there was such an anointing that fell that we knew cleaning up the garbage of the streets around us was secondary to cleaning up the people before us, so we went into the crowd of people instead and just talked to people, showing them they were of value, speaking life into their lives, and just providing an ear to listen to them. Many people were prayed for, many seeds were planted.

After that, we had another pastor preaching and at the end of his message, he asked people who wanted to receive prayer to just put up their hands. I was at the front watching the sound board, having sat down for the first time in probably six hours, and I looked out and one man caught my eye. His hand was up and I felt led to go over to him and as the pastor was praying, I just stood behind him, put my hand on his shoulders and prayed. After the prayer was done I was able to sit with him and talk to him about how much Jesus loved him, how much value He had before God, and just really inspire him and lift him up. I told him about the inner city church, and he said he had a friend that went there and had asked him to go. I encouraged him to go, and I pray that he did go this morning, or will go this evening.

It was a long day of praying and interceding for people, and then there was the cleanup. Tearing everything down and hauling it back to the church was a job and a half, and we had less people to help with the tear-down than we did for the setup. Thank you so much to those who stuck around to help bring all this stuff back to the church! We were all tired and exhausted but we did it with a cheerfulness I don’t know if you would find anywhere else. And when that was said and done, we had another divine appointment waiting when we got back to the field. At this point, the field was empty, and all that was left were dirty BBQs waiting to be loaded up and taken away.

But with the five of us there, we had a man come over trying to sell us some shoes. He was obviously a street person, and not one of us really had a need for shoes (despite them being really nice shoes!). But my friend, God bless him, offered to buy the shoes if he could talk to the man for a few minutes about Jesus. You could see his back get rigid and he got defensive, but he was willing, so the two of them went off for at least 20 minutes. Then they came back, we chatted a bit, and then someone asked if we could pray for him. At this point, he had his $30 for the shoes and could have declined, but I know he was there by divine appointment and he was willing. I don’t know if he expected something short and sweet, but there were five of us and we all prayed over him… we covered him for at least 15 minutes and the Holy Spirit was definitely there. We poured God’s love over him, our love over him, the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and guidance and discernment. We covered him the blood of Jesus and prayed that his heart would be changed and that he too, would find his way the next day to church, and that the enemies lies would be exposed for what they were. He was told in no uncertain terms that the shoes meant absolutely nothing to us, but that we had a deep and sincere desire to minister to his spirit, that the money meant nothing to us. He left with his money, and thanked us for the prayers. I sincerely hope he made his way to the church this morning as well; I pray that the Holy Spirit ordered his steps because I know that he was there by divine appointment. God had His hand in the whole day, and this meeting was no exception, no coincidence.

I got home at 8:30 last night, over 12.5hrs after leaving that morning. It was an exhausting day: physically and spiritually. But it was also one of the most beautiful days I’ve experienced, and despite what God did for the people that we served, I know that He was pouring His love into me — not necessarily love for _me_, but sharing His love for His children, for the people that live on the streets, the people that most would discount as non-people, people of no value. He was giving me His love for them so that it would become _my_ love for them! I know that a gratefulness for God Himself and a love for people was birthed in me yesterday, and it spilled over this morning.

Despite a good 9hrs of sleep and still being exhausted this morning, and feeling that I couldn’t give God what He deserved at church this morning, I was completely and utterly abandoned in worship to my almighty Lord and Saviour Jesus. The Holy Spirit visited me so powerfully that if I could have I would have knelt in the aisle and wept with joy before my God. As it was, I stood with arms raised and wept before Him, declaring my love for Him and the awesome privilege that He gave me to be able to do His work yesterday. Jesus, I love you so much, and thank You for the most awesome privilege of being able to serve a people so dear to Your heart! Thank You!

And the message this morning really struck me, as it was about the fruit of repentance, or the true signs of a Christian believer. And the first of the three fruit was being generous and compassionate. How amazing that this message came a day after the service we had done! (Have you ever noticed that God affirms His work in your life through the ministry of the Word? I sure have!) A true Christian will display the fruits of generosity and compassion to people, as John the Baptist said:

“So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?” He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none, and he who has food, let him do likewise.”” (Luke 3:10-11, NKJV)

I count myself privileged that God saw fit to use me yesterday, and I may myself available for continued. He blessed my heart yesterday, truly, and my reward this morning was to feel Him so powerfully to the point where I felt like I couldn’t contain it anymore. Thank You Jesus so much that You love me and care for me, and that You are continuing to shape me into a vessel of honour that can be poured out to bless Your people!

The following video clips are from the news yesterday. We got a little bit of coverage, but sadly they didn’t keep any of the parts talking about God. Truly this was done in His service, for His honour and His glory. And while the media might not acknowledge that, every person who was there yesterday, from those giving their testimonies and those putting ketchup on a bun, to those who received food for their bellies and their spirits, _they_ know that this was done all for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you again, to all the volunteers that helped out. I had a lot of family out to help, and I’m so proud of them for being willing to give of themselves to this cause. I’m grateful to my little girl who handed out water and pop with such enthusiasm and generosity; you make me so proud. And to my lovely wife who gave of herself the whole day, serving people and talking and listening, bless you for doing what God has called you to do. I feel such a pride for my family, yet I am humble before my God who counted me trustworthy enough yesterday to minister to people. What a privilege!

This is a powerful message, and it is one that many will find offensive or “dated”, and the only reason you would think that is if you have bought into the “contemporary Christian” or “carnal Christian” mentality that is so prevalent in western churches today.

I don’t want to reiterate what Paul Washer said — if you know you are a Christian, you need to watch this. If you think you are a Christian, you really need to watch this. If you are not a Christian, you should watch this as well. The guts it took for this man to stand before an audience of 5,000 people (most of them youth), and preach this message, is astounding.

What I would like to do is focus on one thing he says because it really resonates with other things that I have really been feeling in the last few weeks, particularly in the areas of righteousness and holiness.

“‘Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way the leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.’” (Matt 7:13-14, NKJV)

Many Christians today think that righteousness and holiness is a lifestyle choice, like choosing to eat Subway over McDonalds, or drinking water over soda pop. Unfortunately, the Bible never taught that (as Bible-believing Christians) we had any choice on how we live as Christians. We were called to be holy and righteous — not as a lifestyle choice, but as a mandate. We were called to examine ourselves, line ourselves up to the Word, to be like Jesus as much as we can in this fallen earthly flesh. When did we get the idea that we ever had a choice?

Sadly, society and the idea of being un-offensive to people have told us the lie that we do have a choice, and when we read that verse we think of only the narrow gate, and think only that when we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour, then that’s it. Done deal. I’m going to heaven now. And we never change how we live our lives. Nothing changes! We continue to be of the world, rather than in the world. Two very different things!

Yes, the narrow gate is the first step and I believe that gate is coming into a personal relationship with Jesus. Nothing else counts. His Name is the only Name by which men are saved. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one comes to the Father but by Him. Period.

But we’ve glossed over verse 14 where it says that the way is difficult. That means the gate isn’t the final destination. There is a path after the gate, and it too is narrow. It is difficult. It is a life of discipline, of surrender, of change. It is a life of being led by, and changed by, the Holy Spirit. It is a life of transformation and regeneration, becoming a “new creation” or a “new man”.

The gate is not the end of the road. It’s the beginning!

In western civilization, there is so much sensitivity, compromise, and tolerance. None of these things were taught in the Bible. Look at how “harsh” the church in Acts was:

“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immortality as is not even named among the Gentiles — that a man has his father’s wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you [...] deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (1 Cor 5:1-5, NKJV)

Would we even think of doing something like that today? But this is where Paul preached a “no tolerance” message. Why then, do we look the other way? Are we taking “turn the other cheek” too far, turning it into “turn a blind eye”?

It is no wonder that power is lost in the church when the messages delivered from the pulpit are all “feel good” messages or talks about current events. I thank God that He put me into a church that preaches the Holy Word of God, regardless of whether it is comfortable or not. That teaches Christian life through the Bible and not through someone’s handbook or some fanciful ideals.

Too many people today consider themselves Christians, or saved, and refuse to allow God to transform their lives. They are full of pride, go to the bars, get drunk, show off their bodies with sensual dress, do drugs, chase after money, watch pornography, live with their girlfriend or boyfriend without making a commitment to marriage, get divorced without taking their marriage before God and making an effort to fix things, tell crude jokes, lie, steal, cheat, show unkindness to people — the laundry list of sin goes on. And then these people have the audacity to consider themselves Christian? Many of them go to church on Sunday, raise their hands, worship God, and then are at the bar getting drunk on Monday, or going home with their common-law “significant other” to persist in a life of sin! God forgive me, but I have been guilty of some of these myself and bought into the lie that it was ok, I’m a Christian, I can ask for forgiveness and I’ll be forgiven. But until I repented and turned away from what I was doing, I was no different from anyone else who calls themselves Christian. Jesus forgive me for making a mockery of Your Most Holy Name!

People, the term “Christian” embraces proverbially all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like!

How then can we call ourselves Christian if the things we do are not noble, not good, and not Christ-like?

I’m not saying that overnight we have an encounter with God and turn around to become perfect. This is a life of repentance, discipline, and serving Jesus with our every last breath. This is a life of going to God with our struggles and concerns and worries and having hope, faith, and trust that He will guide us through His Holy Spirit. And there will be evidence! To have an encounter with God that lasts a week, or a month, and then go back to the same old thing that you were doing exactly before having that encounter with God is not proof that you are saved. Having your mind transformed and continually improving, changing, and leading a life that is pleasing to God is proof! Not everyone will become evangelists or preachers after an encounter with God but you will start displaying the fruits of the Spirit!

If you have never read Galations, below is a verse that is the litmus test for anyone who professes to be a Christian. Which are you? Flesh or Spirit? This is where we have been called to examine ourselves. Examine your fruit and if the fruit you find is not the fruit of the Spirit, then perhaps you need to rethink the life you are leading. I know that listening to Paul Washer’s sermon has made me look at my life again. I am so far from perfect that it isn’t even funny, but by the Grace of Almighty God I know I am a new creation and I know that He is doing a good work in me because I see changes in me that were not there years or even months ago. Thank you Lord for continuing to change me into a vessel that would honor and glorify You!

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in times past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Gal 5:19-26, NKJV)

I pray that you really take this to heart, and that you have the courage to listen to Paul Washer’s sermon in its entirety. God bless him for the courage it took to preach a message that is not dated, not irrelevant, and not “old school” but is so desperately pertinent to today’s declining church!

This is the testimony of how God moved in my life. I was raised in a Christian home. My family and I lived in a trailer park just outside of a big city. We were very poor, but we all loved God and attended church regularly. I was never really liked as a child. Friends were hard to come by, but I didn’t mind too much. We moved into the city into a nice house when I was 13. I attended a new school, where again no one liked me very much. My sister, who was almost 20, left for a program called the Masters Commision in British Columbia. She decided to stay and live there because she felt there was nothing for her where we lived. As I continued to go to youth groups at my church, I found friends there. We were a bit of the “black sheep” type of people, having strange clothing and funny color harido’s, but we liked each other.

When I was a bit into my 14th year, my grandfather died and then my life-long friend who was only 15 overdosed on drugs. It impacted my church friends and I greatly. We stopped hanging out, and went our seperate ways. I slowly stopped going to church and found myself friendless again. I wanted people to like me so bad. So in grade 9 I finally figured out how. I started to say yes to things, and I started to become what others wanted. I’d go to the parties and smoke some weed and drink with them. At school I’d make fun of people, and I began to smoke cigerettes. My life went down hill after this.

I entered high school ready to party. When I was in grade 11, I was introduced to cocaine and crystal meth. I had never done anything like it before. Because cocaine was so expensive and people dont like meth heads, I decided to do ecstasy instead, which is a combination of all drugs in one. Within a year and a bit I had swallowed over 500 pills and had done other numerous amounts of drugs along with it. Life was a blur, and questions were begining to present themselves. Questions like whats next? Why am I here? Is there more? I still belived in God but didn’t want to walk in His ways. At the end of grade 12, I “fell in love” with a woman 5 years older than me. She was smart, sucessful and drug free. I thought this was the answer. So We moved in together and stayed together for two years. I continued smoking pot and drinking alcohol. I realized a year in that life was still not fufilling and I was not happy. I began to drink a lot and my girlfriend and I began to fight more and more, and the fights all the while becoming more and more violent. I needed a change, so I did. I left her and broke her heart, for I had promised to marry her. The next year and a half consisted of numerous women, drugs binges and forgotten nights at the bar.

I was up late one night smoking a joint in the midst of all this, and I started talking to God asking what I was to do, why I felt that destiny was on my shoulders but It wasn’t presenting itself. He answered with the word “patience”. This did not make me happy. I moved from my dad’s house and lived with some friends. Party animal was my title, and I lived up to it. My life consisted of either being completely stoned, or getting drunk and chasing people down the street with machetes. I finally met up with a girl from high school that I had been infatuated with then, and she still held my heart (although she had no clue). I had finally found my answer — until three dates later when she decided to be with another guy. My cries to the Lord became great, and I confessed that it was in His Hands, and that I didn’t know how to fix everything. I rememeber waking up and lighting up a cigarette and looking around my dull ghetto room. The Lord spoke the words I was patiently awaiting for two years: “Its time to go.”

I immediately smiled and picked up the phone to call my sister. “I’m coming to BC, to go to the Master’s Commision” I said. She began to cry. Her prayers had been answered. I left nine months ago, and am still enrolled in the Master’s Commision. Life has never been more satisfying. I can be myself and still be loved. I have not felt this happy since I was a small child. I can truly say Christ is the answer. The love, fufillment, and acceptance I feel is greater than any drug I’ve ever taken. I don’t worry about the future anymore because I’m living it. The freedom I feel can only be described as “real”.

Society lied to me for years about who I was and what I needed, and now I have found my identity. I would like to end with a word of encouragement: If you know someone like me who is doing drastically wrong and seems impossible, we serve a God who is extremely great and can do anything. So don’t stop praying for them, never stop. I dread to think of what would have happened had my sister stopped praying. If you are like me and are looking for answers and you’re stuck in the oblivion of lies that the world has engulfed us in: There is hope, you are not alone and the love and freedom you seek is with Christ who is King. The rules look scary from a distance, and the people seem stuck up and phoney. But society has twisted our perspective on true Christianity, Ned Flanders is a fraud (ha). The rules are there for good reason and make your life infinitely better, and the people are just like you and I, sinners looking for help, love, identity and freedom. It is truly an amazing life. I love you all and pray that God blesses you.

I was raised up in a Christian home with two loving parents and a younger sister. We lived in a large city for seven years and then moved to a small town just outside it. In the first few years I had a hard time trying to fit in. The kids that I went to school with treated me harshly. They would beat me up and make fun of me every day. Growing up, I lived in a constant fear of people. My self esteem was very low. I thought that I was different and no good. All the things my classmates said were becoming true in MY MIND. At age ten I remember being in my bedroom and crying franticly, pulling on my hair and holding a knife to my neck screaming that I wanted to die. My mother came in, and seeing me like this told me that she loved me and that all would be alright. The words and actions done to me affected me physically and emotionally and, later in life I found out, spiritually. Thankfully these kids that were so mean to me before had started to treat me with some kind of respect.

Now my life seemed to be going in a direction I liked. I had friends and I played in sports teams, all was well. I even started to have girls liking me, something that was fairly new to me. I was really enjoying these times until the unimaginable happened. My father had come home late one night and as I was trying to sleep, he came and gave me a kiss. I knew something was wrong so I pretended to sleep. When he went upstairs I heard him telling my mom that it was over and he was leaving her. I remember my mother screaming in utter terror as her whole life was being taken from her. She pleaded for my dad to not leave. But he left. I didn’t know how to take this so I built up a wall to protect myself AGAIN! My family and I now had to move back to the big city so that my mother could find work and make a life for us. My mom went first to welfare and got some help from them. Then she found a job during the day and went to school at night. As I write and remember what my mom did I can only thank God for giving my mom the strength to endure this while still trying to cope with the loss of her love. THANKS MOM!!!

As a kid I didn’t see things like this as I do now. I felt really abandoned and all alone. I thought that I was a man now because I had to fend for myself, since both parents were not able to be there for me when I wanted. As I started to look for friends, I found some not in school, but outside school. The outsiders, the hurt, and broken, just like me. This started my years of crime and drug abuse. With such a low self esteem and no real guidance, I was easily influenced into many of the things I chose to do. By fifteen years old I was already in prison. The first time in jail, I spent thirteen months in custody. Because it was such a long time when I got out I was worse than before. I didn’t know what to do except go back to ”MY BROS”. They welcomed me with opened arms. It was nice to be wanted. Positive or negative, I just wanted to be accepted and these friends did that in their own way. As my drug abuse escalated so did my issues around me.

I was getting kicked out of school, arrested and depressed. My first real encounter with suicide was when I was fifteen. I tried to hang myself and never succeeded. The only good thing about that day was that my father acknowledged me in a way that made me feel like I mattered. My father told me that I couldn’t die because I had to keep the family name going. I was so happy that I had a purpose, BUT like every other time in my life things just got worse. My drug abuse was at an all time high. I was using all kinds of drugs. No longer was it just weed and alcohol. I was using crack, acid and many others. During this whole time I had little or no contact with my father. With the high cost of drugs I had to start dealing. I met some people that sold crack and started to provide that to others.

The first day I was supposed to work as a dealer, I heard a voice inside of me say not to go. I knew that I shouldn’t, but I did anyways. Low and behold, the first customer was a cop. I got arrested and charged with trafficking crack. I also had an early charge of aggravated assault for a stabbing when I was drunk and got jumped. Now I was looking at a lot of time in jail. This was my first time in adult prison. It was crazy there. Guys were taking about killing each other, and I was trapped in this place. This is where I cried out to God for help. God did answer, but I didn’t respond back. I ended up getting two and a half years in a federal institution. In jail I really sought after God, but for selfish reasons. I wanted Him to protect me and get me out of there. I made plans when I got out that I was going to build my relationship with my father.

One day after I got out, I decided to go see my father. We had an awesome talk and he even asked if I wanted to help him build a shed. I was so excited. I finally was on a path of reconciling my relationship back with my father. I woke up the next day to find out that my father had killed himself. Now my whole life was thrown in a downward spiral. I wanted to give up on everything. All I ever wanted, all I ever needed was my father and now he was gone forever. So I attempted suicide many times, but by the grace of God I never died. On the night after my father’s funeral, my girlfriend, at the time, said that she was pregnant. I did not know if I was even going to be here much longer. My sister told me that God had given me a life for the one that was taken.

Those words launched me into an uphill battle but I didn’t know where to start. I ended up starting to smoke crack all the more once my daughter was born. I smoked crack to the point of living on the streets. I lost almost everything. During that time I had a new girlfriend and we had a son together. This all did not change my life. I just got worse. Here I was with two beautiful children and an incredible woman backing me up, and I was still living with the mindset of a thirteen year old boy who just lost his father. I tried many drug programs but never succeeded. Then my girl and my Pastor told me about Teen Challenge. I decided to go. From 2006 to 2009 I had attended Teen Challenge twice, and another Christ-centered program in another province. God has shown me so much about who I truly am, and has brought me from a little insecure child to a secure, powerful man of God.

He has healed me completely from my resentments and unforgiveness towards my father and has set me free from my addictions. Today I am married to my soul mate and we have three amazing children, and now the chains that bound my father and his family have been broken. The family name is going to keep on going, and the generations to come will serve the Lord wholeheartedly. My life is no longer filled with so much pain, but is now filled with testimonies of the great power of Jesus in me. I look back at all that I went through, and realized that what I went through was all for a reason, and that was to be a witness of the awesome power of Jesus in this world today, and also a comfort to those that are going through the same thing I did. When I was going through the death of my father I wrote a country song. The chorus went like this: all I ever needed, all I ever wanted, all ever needed was a father indeed. My Father in Heaven spoke to me one day as I sang that song and He said I AM YOUR FATHER AND ALL I EVER WANTED, ALL I EVER NEEDED WAS A SON LIKE YOU!!! The Father that I was searching for was always there for me, through all the things I went through, and I say this to all those that sense that longing for their Father: He is there and He will never leave you nor forsake you. You can count on Him because He is faithful, and as much as you desire Him, He desires you all the more. Thank you God for all you’ve done and all you’re going to do in my life and those around me. I love you Jesus, and give you ALL MY LIFE… not for anything in return, because I already have all that I want or need, and that is You!!! Love your son.

God bless you all, and my prayer for you is that Jesus’ sacrifice and LOVE would become more and more real too you!!!

Scriptures that God has spoken into my life are: 1 Corinthians 1: 26–31, 2 Corinthians 1: 3–7, 2 Corinthians 5: 11–21, and Galatians 2:20.

]]> http://jesusnotme.com/2010/03/all-i-ever-wanted-all-i-ever-needed-was-a-father-indeed/feed/ 1