How I Got Here

Back in 1996 I was in the Marine Corps. One weekend when I was home in Colorado on leave I visited New Life Church for the first time. A man by the name of Terry Law was the guest speaker. He spoke on Missions and said that God was calling young people to serve him. That statement blew me away. I thought ministry was for old men. I didn't sleep most of the night. I laid there wide eyed wide awake in bed that cold night in December. Something happened that night that started the ball rolling in this direction for me. I later got out of the Marines and went to Fairhaven Baptist Bible College. I got a great education that year but became a serious religious Pharisee sorta say. That summer I went to see some friends who had a church in Hurricane West Virgia. I only planned on staying 2 weeks but stayed 2 years. Being there helped chill me out and bring me somewhat back down to earth. I started a course of study there that took me verse by verse through the whole Bible in 2 years. Towards the end of the two years God started to reveal to me in a very real way some very contentious subjects in Baptist circles. Going through the Psalms I saw what real praise and worship should sound like, look like, and be like. It wasn't what we had. In John I saw what could be done with Faith. Jesus said nothing would be impossible to them that can believe. I saw that the sick could be healed on a regular basis not once in a blue moon or if God feels like it. In other books I saw that we could cast out devils and how the Holy Ghost would come upon believers to empower believers to do the miraculous. At the time I was living in a homeless shelter as the assistant chaplain and one night a man came up to me and said he had devils. Upon hearing his story and how they drove him to the streets for the past 15 years I was convinced he really did have two devils tormenting him. That night we cast them out in the name of Jesus and for the first time in 15 years he had peace of mind with no harassing voices. That was cool and that was the first time I'd experienced anything like that. Now Ive got this Pentacostal grandma named Grandma Junebug. I used to think she was totaly wrong on most of her theology but this started to change. I knew that every preacher in the county would send their hard cases to Grandma Junebug and she could usually help them out. She wasn't affraid of anything or devil. Unfortunatly, I couldn't say that about most preachers I knew. Soon after all this happened, I was kicked out of the Bible College I was in. I packed my truck and left for Oklahoma to a school that I knew believed like I did. I finished my education there and headed out for the mission field where I currently am now.