I have often heard it said that a picture is
worth a thousand words. If that is true, then The second photo was taken more recently at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, TX, where I am presently a student. As is evidenced by the pictures, I am now quite obviously a changed man. I can remember a time in my life that I was so strung out that I once pulled my car over to draw water up out of a puddle so that I could shoot up. I can also remember being so messed-up that the only way I knew what day it was would be by looking at the newspaper on the way out of the pharmacy where I got my points (syringes). This is the hell from which the Lord has brought me. It has not been easy building a new, clean life. But by God’s grace and with the help of good Christian people, I have discovered the freedom of a life that I never thought was possible, a good life. I began using drugs at the age of twelve, starting out the same way everybody does, with alcohol and pot. Having met hundreds of drug addicts all across this country, I have yet to meet one who started off shooting up a hundred dollars worth of heroin per day. It just doesn’t happen that way. We all start the same way, by taking that first drink, or by smoking that first joint. I continued to drink and drug and eventually became a junkie. I was lost and
dying, literally. But in the summer of 1997, a Dallas Police Officer was
dispatched to my house on the east side of the city to intercede in a conflict
between a neighbor and myself. When he arrived, he didn't interrogate me, and
he didn’t beat me up. Instead, he shared with me about God's love and how God
loved me so much that He sent His only Son to earth to become a sacrifice to
pay for all of the horrible things that I have done. Officer Smith went on to
explain that God did this so that I can go to heaven when I die, instead of Well, I was already in hell. I sure didn’t want to have to endure another one that Officer Smith told me that Jesus came to heal the sick. And I sure was sick. He told me that Jesus came to seek and to save those who were lost, and I was sure lost. I used to think that heaven was for people like those who attended church on Sunday and that hell was for people like me. But I began to understand that it is for lost, sick, and wretched souls such as mine that Christ has come. That is good news! I have often heard it said, “God helps those who help themselves.” But I am telling you that God helps those who are incapable of helping themselves! The salvation that God has offered us is a lifejacket, not a dinner-vest. God sought me when I was shredded at the foot of my mistakes, awash in a sea of my own filth, soiled by my moral incontinence. If it were to be said a thousand times in a thousand tongues it would still be understated, the degree to which I have experienced God’s grace. I have been pursued and captured by an active love. God is real and Jesus is still healing people. I am living proof of that fact! I once was dead, but am alive again! I am no longer a drug addict. I used to be a drug addict. And you know what else? I am no longer a recovering individual; I am recovered forever by the grace of God! God loved me and accepted me just as I was, a filthy sinner, but He loved me too much to let me stay that way. Are you looking for a way out? Has your life become unbearable? You think this world's rough? Can you bear to spend a half- hour in flames now? Then how do you think you can stand to spend forever in such a state? He has made the way clear. He has made the way
accessible. God is a good God! He loves you and
desires that you come to know Him and have a
pleasant life. Man was created to abide in God's
presence. Outside of His presence there is no life,
because He is the life-giver. This is the reason for
pain and evil, people choose to exist outside of the |