[dogfood]

ok here we go.

as far as i know my parents, grandparents, great grand parents have all been christian.
my father was a pastor, is now retired.
i got baptised when i was about 8 months old. i cant actually remember it.
i asked Jesus into my heart when i was about 5.
before that i was a bad person who used to eat sand at pre-school and lust after my brother's toys.
i loved going to church camps, and just hanging out at church.
as a teenager going to youth was great but it wasnt until i was about 13 at an easter camp that God touched me differently and i came back with a huge passion and a desire to get to know Him on a more personal level. it was after a worship/teaching session, some guys were being prayed for and one had fallen over and was lying in a most unpractical position for getting out the door. one of our older youth asked to pray for me, which i accepted and from then it was just different.

when i was 17 i left home to go study in another city and it was there for the first time that i knew i had to rely on something more than my parents. i knew God and i knew the promises in the bible for me, but it wasnt that i got pushed out the nest that i realised i better actually do it myself.
i am totally blessed for growing up in the environment i did and for years did not realise how cool and powerful that was.
i finished studying and went to live in a small town. i went to the local church there and about 3 months later my pastor asked if i wanted to get baptised. i said i already had been when i was a little kid. but i came to realise that baptism is a total public commitment of my faith.
i got baptised in winter, in the ocean, near the rocks at our local beach. the rest of my church gathered round on the rocks to sing and pray for me. i remember they sang "Oh Lord Youre beautiful" by Keith Green. which was pretty awesome. after that i went home and had a hot shower because it was freakin cold.

i realise that most people's testimonies are based on what they were like before they came a christian and how they changed and are now living differently. for me having known God all my life, most of my story is of what i have done with my life to glorify God.

one of my biggest gifts is servanthood
ive been a musician at church for 25 years, having played trumpet, sax's, guitar, bass and harmonica.
im a youth leader and the biggest joy has just been seeing people grow in God and at times been asked to pray for them or just to share about how much God loves them.
im a childrens teacher/leader and the same thing applies to them. God dosent care how young you are He loves you all the same.
im a missionary, i go over seas, ive been to about 7 different countries on outreach and im also a missionary on the local scene where we hang out down town or go to prison to share about God. ive got a second home over seas in a church in the phillipines and i love being there.

i love the church, i love the people in it.
without Christ in my life i am nothing, with Him in it, all things are possible.

im also not yet content with where i am in God. my desire is always to get to know more about Him, to be filled more by the Holy Spirit, to do more stuff, not because i have to do works to get into heaven but by the fact that im here, i was created to be here and by being in God, until i die and go to be with Him, my purpose is to worship Him and share about Him.
which at times is freakin scary.

hopefully this encourages you
Ian

[Ben Colder]

My wife and I were vacationing at our lot by a northern lake. We have a trailer there. I had been recently diagnosed with depression, and all my work related problems were taking their toll on my spirit. It was in the wee hours of the morning and I was tossing and turning because my problems were rotating through my head and giving me no peace of mind. I still hadn't been able to doze off.

Finally I drifted into a troubled sleep and I found myself seated on a pew in an unfamiliar church. I recognized our pastor at the front, but I suddenly became convulsed with laughter. This dream was so vivid I remember it like it was last night. I was totally out of control falling over laughing and trying desperately to stop. I felt like everyone else in the church was starring at me. My pastor walked over to me and led me to the front of the church where a tall man in a suit with reddish hair was standing the pulpit. He smiled at me and I felt an immediate infusion of warm absolute love. It made my whole body radiate with a rich warm glow.

He looked at me with a calm loving smile and said "All the problems you are dealing with mean absolutely nothing. Disregard them. You're main duty is to be a good father to your children and put aside any troubles from your work. They are absolutely meaningless"

I then woke up. Needless to say I stayed awake for the rest of the night!

Another interesting event unfolded two years later. Our church was involved in a building program and our new church later bore a striking resemblance to the church in my dream!

[Cygnus-X1]

Aight, so here's the deal: I'm about 8 or 9 going to a small Baptist church with my parents (I don't have a car at the time)...the pastor or someone shows us young 'uns a poster with John 3:16 at the top...the theme of the poster was people walking off a cliff and falling into hell. Now one would think that would scare any little kid to salvation, but with me it wasn't so much a feeling of being scared as it was a feeling of having important knowledge and information. The verse at the top is what did it for me, the God loved me so much, that he sent Jesus to die for me so that I wouldn't hafta perish like the peeps going over the cliff.

...so yeah, I got my "fire insurance"...but it was many years later that I also realized that Jesus rose again so that I could have newness in life. I've been a Christian most all of my life but have fallen away many times...and for years at a time. I thank God that His mercies are new every morning and each day is like a brand new start.

[roscoestring]

I was saved at a very young age. I was maybe 4 or 5. I didn't go before the church and be baptized until I was 13. I felt that being baptized was just a formality. I have grown up in church and believeing in God. My father is a minister too (Baptist). His grandfather was a Baptist minister. My grandfather was a deacon. I have served as a deacon.

When I really began to travel the road though was when I had children. I took them to church from the day they were born. I wanted them to understand just as I did and be given the chance to learn for themselves. My daughter walked the walk moreso than her two brothers. She walked the walk more than I did too. She was always so kind and giving. She was honest and she showed me a path that I should travel.

I now travel that road every day. I follow her example of how a good Christian should act. I want for her to be as proud of me as I am of her. I also look forward to the day that I can wrap my arms around her one more time.

I know God is ready for me. I pray that I'm ready for Him.

[K45T]

Hallelujah! Man, it makes me glad to read these. Well, I hope you guys aren't busy. Mines kind of long.
Well, here goes.
I'm 14 years old. I have a twin brother, a twenty year old sister, an eleven year old half brother(mom's side), a five year old half sister, and one on the way who will probably not be very old when she is born LOL (Both younger sisters on my dad's side).
For the past thirteen years, my custodial parent was mom (folks are divorced if you haven't figured that out). My grandma drug us out to church, and my mom would mention it sometime, but she wasn't "into that". So, we hung around, the four of us kids living with mom, and we grew up under an abusive mother and stepfather. I turned thirteen and turned into a jerk: Porn addict, always starting fights with whoever, sex crazed, always asleep. God gave me two things: my dad, and my guitar. One night, mom was being...well, mom. She came into my room and demanded the laptop. I brought it to her, and went to bed. She woke me up screaming something about the webcam not working. I got up, and asked for the laptop so I could fix it. She yelled something else about me telling her how to fix it (remember I'm 13 at this time). I told her I didn't know how to fix it, and I sure couldn't walk her through it by voice, She told me I was grounded indefinitely, and for all I knew that meant three days or three years. I kicked a hole through her bed room door, and was then called some unpleasant names, and told that the next day I would no longer be a member of her household. Next morning, I hop on my bike and am about to head to school, and she is still cussing me out. I tell her to stop blaming all of her ->very not nice wording<- problems on me. By the next day, I was moved in with my dad, thirty miles south of mom's house, in the little town of Atlanta, Texas (yes, there is an Atlanta, Texas, and mom lived in Texarkana). One day, on the bus to school, I met Glen. I didn't know it, but me and Glen were distant cousins. Glen was also a guitarist, like myself. Me and Glen got to talking and he invited me to church. I came once to the little church called Center HIll Baptist, and from then on, I was hooked. I got saved slowly and periodically, and became a member of the church. I was baptized November 29th, 2009. SInce then, God has been merciful to me and forgiven me. I am trying my hardest to serve him in his ministry and to bring the word to others. It's not easy, but that's why that call it the [I]work[I] of the Lord. It really is the greatest joy to know your best friends with the creator of existence. I now play guitar regularly in church. Thanks for hearing my testimony.

[lordspoet]

New here . And as well as my faith, I've got a long way ahead of me. My lifes been interesting. I've been on both sides of belief. I've had foundation building experiences, and foundation trembling experiences. I've had moments of great love and warmth, and then I've had moments of great travesty and cold. I've been on the streets, on a hiatus from reality, and on several drugs that left me for dead. But the dark ages and years of brainwashing could NEVER fully cure me of the love I have for JESUS! I can't tell you all that happened. All that i can tell you is that one day he gave me the strength to get up and leave. With a few changes of clothes, my guitar, and a little bit of money, I got on my broke down bike and rode. With out a clear image of what was ahead of me, I sought after a future I never saw myself having. For six days i rode an undisclosed distance; journeyed over hills, and inclines, and hills with inclines that led to more of the same. It rained half of the time, ushering in tornado warnings, and moments of sheer fright on my behalf. And it just got worse with the inclusion of a haunted house. Yes! a haunted house. It was off Highway 90 near Lake Aucilla. A seemingly oblique residence, held no real quarrel with me or Todd. Todd was a guy I ran into on day one. He was going to pensicola, so i figured i'd join him until i got tired. So after a quick survey of it's inner dwellings, i quickly discerned that this palce was the site of rotting cold case file, or a future cold case file. The place was scary, I feel wierd even talking about it. But we stayed, or he stayed, there for the night. I couldn't subject myself to what was going on for too long. It was insane. There was loud footsteps echoing down the hallway, doors slamming. I couldn't take it, so I told him I'd wait for him at the lake. So i got on my bike and rode about 1/2 a mile when i noticed a church. I made a quick turn and slept on the walled off porch of the church. It was one of the most uncomfrtable rest i ever had, but i felt ten times more safe there than anywhere else on that entire journey. That morning was the first time in seven years of playing the guitar that i learned how to play while singing. Since then I've written over ten songs. After that, I waited for another hour or so, then I packed up and rode to the lake. I waited for him for over another hour and a half, not only at the lake; but the store that was 2 miles up the road. I never saw him ever again. My journey on the road continued another 26 miles on day five, and 18 miles on day six. On day six, there was a street festival going on. So I felt like I was on my way. Still. I felt like I had done something amazing, but still, I was still not finished. So after the festivities were done, i continued down the road until i ran into a mission, and from there my life changed to such a degree, the PEACE, it's overwhelming. Romans 12 Has supplanted many of the misconceptions, while plotting in me a major cornerstone to stand upon. It took two days. Two nights. A single conversation. And a moment in which this sinner attained actual forgiveness through being in a stiuation that enabled you to be humble. Favor through faith. That holy promise, quieting my spirit, which i can tell you is no easy accomplishment.

[AkselJ]

Okay, I have not really been active here, and I'm not very likely to be either, but I really feel the need to share my testimony.

I'm 16 years old. I've been a Christian my whole life. Raised as a Lutheran, I was baptized as an infant and went through a ceremony of confirmation at the age of fourteen. I have always considered myself a Christian. But about a year and a half ago, something happened.

Many of my friends are members of various Pentecostal churches, so obviously I had been attending meetings with them for a while. But at a major youth meeting in the area where I lived, something new happened. I decided to raise my hands during the worship, and I felt God's Spirit coming down on me. I started weeping. This was an all new experience to me. Over the next several months, this happened quite a few times. I felt like I was born again.

But there was more to come. At a camp last summer, I was having the most amazing spiritual experiences. I cried at every single meeting. At the second last meeting, I think, of the camp, came the event that has changed me ever since.

God gave me a sudden, burning passion for music. I had never cared for music before. I never developed a taste nor did I care for any of it. Although I had played the piano for a couple of years, I wasn't interested in it. The main reason I enjoyed it was because (not meaning to brag) I was quite skilled at it and people were impressed.

And to add even more to it, when I was four years old, I was diagnosed with treble loss (or whatever it's called) and I had to use hearing aids. My situation got worse, and I have reduced hearing and very poor balance, which is a big restriction to me. So why would God give me this sudden desire to devote my life to saving people through music, the medium to which I was the least receptive?

But anyways, I started caring for music. It has been an amazing journey for me. I started getting into progressive rock (which is a very weird, complex and usually obscure genre of music) and also a bit classical (which I enjoyed as a child, but never listened to) and jazz. Now, I am attending music in high school, I sing, play piano, synthesizer and guitar, and I write music for at least an hour or two any day I'm free to do so. That is a very rapid development for someone who did not care for music a year and a half ago!

Quite recently now, I also had a revelation. I realized the reason God reduced my hearing. My pitch is even really good. My reduced hearing has enabled me to enjoy music on a whole other plane than most people; as I can not perceive lyrics, I enjoy merely the music itself, which has led me into progressive rock, which, unlike pop music, is not lyrically, but musically based.

Now, I realize that what I thought was a curse laid on me by the Devil, is really a blessing from the Lord. I used to pray for this handicap to go away, now I pray for it not to. Perhaps, one day, when I am ready, I will be healed. But for now, it is truly necessary and a blessing.

I know now my purpose in life is to be a musician. It will be tough, and I am absolutely blank on how to make it, but as a wise man once said: "God does not give you a floodlight to your future, he just gives you enough light to see your next step."

(Side note: I apologize if I sound like I am bragging at some points, this is not my intention.)

Thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it very much.

--AkselJ