It only takes two people to win a soul over to the Lord. The person with the lost soul and Jesus Christ. And when that soul is saved the Angels rejoice just as much when it belongs to a thief or a drunk as they would for a rich man or an innocent child. So my soul means just as much as anyone else to God. And the event I’m about to tell you pales in comparison to most testimonies you hear, but it was the major turning point in my life.
My wife has always said I do everything the hard way and when I started writing this I had to agree with her. It took my wife a Preacher and his loving family a church that cares about its members and six different people from five different countries to bring me to the alter. God put each of these people in the right place at the right time over a course of six years and it all came together "In his time" May 17th 1998.
It was early Sunday morning around 2:00a.m. I was trying to give my wife, Amy a break from staying up with Casey, our son which has sleep apnea. There is a Christian chat line I get on to help me stay awake. I talk to a lot of good people that really have words of encouragement for me. Four of them I have become good friends with and they are always praying for me and my family.
On this particular morning I saw someone talking about forgiveness and I said there was someone in my life I could not forgive. A man named Mark started talking to me about how this would eat away at my soul. The more he wrote the more I started to realize how much anger I had in my heart and how I blamed this person for all that was wrong in my life. I used to call this person a friend, I think that made it even more devastating . In the chat room everyone uses nicknames, I called myself JOB. Mark ask me if I thought I had troubled times like Job my reply was. "Close enough".
This conversation tormented me the rest of the night , The next morning when we got to Church an unnamed prayer request for someone with a drinking problem was given to the church by a person outside the church. And as soon as I heard who gave the request I knew it was the person I had all this anger toward. No one in Church could have known who this was, but it was plain as day to me and I know that was the way God intended it to be.
In Sunday school class Brother Sweet mentioned two things that had nothing to do with the lesson, one was forgiveness and the other was how much Job had suffered. Right then I knew that was God letting me know I was feeling sorry for myself and not to hang on to this anger. When the singing started at the beginning of the Church service I could literally feel the anger and hatred flowing out of my body. I could feel it run down my legs and swirl around my feet and it was gone. Then such a feeling of peace came over me I was weak at the knees. At that moment I knew what God wanted me to do but I didn’t think I was strong enough .
Then came Mike’s service about faith and that’s when the conviction hit me. It couldn’t have been more clear if it was wrote down on paper. The hair was standing on the back of my neck, my stomach was in knots. I asked Mike to anoint me and pray for me because God wanted me to do something and I needed strength. The whole church prayed for me and their love and compassion eased my fears.
I left the Church knowing what I had to do. I went to this man who I had all this anger for but all I could feel was love for him and sorrow for his problem. I told him I was sorry for the way I had felt and told him I wanted to pray for him. When he looked me in the eyes I saw the friend of many years ago. And we both wept. I got back in my car and started home and I knew people driving by me had to think I was up to something because the smile on my face was so big it almost hurt.
When I got back to Church that afternoon and people started giving testimony I set there for as long as I could but the Lord wouldn’t let me sit any longer, I don’t think chains could have held me down. After telling this story I went to the alter and the whole Church gathered around me and prayed. The energy I felt when I gave my life to the Lord was like nothing I ever felt before there was such a sweet spirit move over me I don’t know how I ever lived without it
I would like
to thank my wife, Amy the Denney family, Mark Burgess and my friends
in the Christian chat room, and the congregation of the Shiloh Church of
God, But most of all I want to thank GOD! For all the patience He had in
me.
Eddie Wolfe
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