A Little Story about me

I want to tell you a little story about myself. I was raised in the Lords church, and I was baptised in my late teens, but that did not mean I lived my life as a Christian. I drank, and I partied. I even went to jail a few times. I thought, as a youth that these things were expected of me. And, As many did, and do, I thought I was bulletproof, and nothing would hurt me. I was wrong.

On December 31 1987 I went to a New Years Party with my sister and Brother-in-law, at his bosses house in town. My sister was pregnant, so she didn't drink. But my brother-in-law, and I did. We got "falling down drunk" and while we were doing this, it sleeted. Not much, but enough. And, my sister at the time could not drive a standard. So, when we climbed into the car to drive the 10 miles out to the house, on icey roads, while drunk with a pregnant woman and an infant in the car (could we have been any more stupid?) we decided that Billy was "less drunk" so he should drive. It turns out that he was in fact, slightly less intoxicated than I was, but of course still had no business driving.

My nephew, who was normally a very quiet child, threw a fit when i tried to put him in his car seat, and I absolutely could not get him fastened in. So we decided that I should just hold him in my lap. We left, and before the car was even on the road I passed out.

When we came to our turn, onto the farm to market road that would take us home, Billy took the turn too fast and the car went into a skid we slid off into the ditch on the left. Billy corrected, but he over-corrected, and we went into the other ditch, still traveling too fast. Somewhere in the midst of this, my sister sees headlights coming and screams "Billy!" But before that car got to us, we came back up on the road sideways, slammed into an unknown object, and spun over a narrow little bridge, and past the oncoming car. I felt and heard all this happening, but i didn't wake up until it was all over. I woke to see my screaming nephew sitting in the floor. and hear my sister frantically asking "Where's John?".

My sister and Billy were standing outside of the car. My nephew was sitting between my feet screaming as loud as he could. Scared, but unhurt. My sisters leg and Billy's chest were hurting, and my head was bleeding from the glass that got trapped between my head and the back of the seat in front of me. But we were alive.

The oncoming car, seemingly gone, was forgotten, and having no phone available at the time (no houses anywhere near, and no cell phones of course, as it was 1988) we decided to drive the rest of the way home, and have my grandmother take us to the hospital. So they climbed back in and we limped what was left of the car to the house.

It turned out that (as best we can tell) The oncoming car was Billy's best friend going in to work, and what we hit was a car that had broken down, and was left on the road. It also seems that Billy and Mike hit the parked car almost simultaniously. When we looked at the broken car that we had driven Ten miles to the house, we found that it was a good thing that I was the only one buckled in. My nephews car seat was only about 4 inches wide, and my sisters seat was only about 8. So, them not wearing theirs kept them from being cut in two, and me wearing mine, kept me from crushing my nephew. I also want to note that as we were driving that car home, the right rear quarter panel was eating away at the tire, and we had a ruptured gas tank (on the right side). If the tire had blown while we were driving, the impact from the rim hitting the pavement would have caused sparks, and for those that don't know what happens when gasoline fumes meet sparks, we would have very likely been a fireball.

I tell you this true story because the most terrifying thing about that incident to me now is the thought; "What if I had died then?" Not from fear of death, but from knowing that I was in a condemned state. I knew what was right, but didn't act on it. I knew what was right, but I didn't know why. I knew that if it weren't for the will of God Almighty, none of us would have lived through that night. But it wasn't for many years that I decided to devote my life more fully to the Lord.

Never take tomorrow for granted. And never take what you are being tought for granted. Do as the Bereans in Acts chapter 17, who "searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so", "study to shew thyself approved" (II Timothy 2:15). Make sure that you are following the Lords will, and not the commandments of men. "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Mathew 15:9) and similarly stated, "Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Mark 7:7) I was told all my life that what I was being taught was the truth, and that 'this' was right and 'that' was wrong. But, it wasn't until I started reading the Bible for myself, that I found why 'this' was right and 'that' was wrong. I learned that many things I held for truth were not true. These things were not taught to me from the Lords church, just misconceptions I had picked up throughout my life, and personal beliefs I had based on what I thought I knew.

I am very thankful that the Lord saw fit to allow me to live long enough to come to these realizations. And, to start to live my life the way he wants me to live. If you aren't ready for the Lord, If you don't know how to be saved, or if you are still thinking "tomorrow I will seek out the lords will." You cannot count on having a tomorrow, or even another breath. If you don't know what you need to do, I will give you a quick list.

1) Hear the Gospel - Romans 10:17
2) Believe - Hebrews 11:6
3) Repent - Luke 13:3,5
4) Confess Christ - Romans 10:9,10
5) Be Baptised unto the remission of sins - Acts 2:38
6) Be faithful - Revelations 2:10

I would be more than happy to assist anyone to the best of my ability in finding a scripturally sound congregation in their area. And who judges, what is scriptural? The scriptures.