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Shall anything be too difficult for God?There is no better way to be encouraged than to see God's work in real lives! This is my story. The story of Larry Hendrickson regarding the power of God. In this document you will read about a man who fell about as far as a man can go. The things I did were and very---VERY dangerous. No one need go to this extreme, and I caution you in the strongest terms I know: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TEST THE LORD IN THIS MANNER! I am writing this testimony while sitting in the bleacher section of high school gymnasium. My son, who is a senior is wrestling on the mat right now. He is completing a dream that started in the eighth grade. His dream is to go to the state finals as a contender for the championship. Today he is very near to realizing that dream. Right now his ranking is number one in our district, he will go to try for a state title next week. I've already seen my daughter graduate high school and is employed full time. She has decided to serve her country by joining the Navy. My son will follow her in a couple of weeks and then go off to be a air-crew water rescue diver in the navy. God has even blessed me with a wife and more children to watch grow. Why would a man begin a testimony with a little family history? This is a fair question. You see, I have raised my two children for almost 17 years as a single parent. I can see no better way to give testimony to a wonderful and powerful God than to show a success story. By the grace and power of God we have defied all the predictions of failure that society has placed on single parent households. Predictions of doom came from every corner and even, tragically, from the church. In our case these forecasts never came true. I am convinced that the reason for this is that I placed my whole being and that of my children into the loving hands of Jesus and He has never let me down! There are many things I missed while my children were growing up. Things like midnight trips to the emergency room for a child who had over-dosed on drugs, or one who has been in an auto accident due to drinking. I never got to go to the police station to bring home a delinquent child. Yes I missed so many things and how I praise God that I did. God is asking us to obey Him. He promises us that if we would live according to the principles He has given us in His word, He would honor us with His power. God has many child rearing principles plainly laid out in the Bible. If we take His advice, we will be able to defy all the doom sayers and succeed in raising our children to become successful Godly adults. My greatest praise is that He is always faithful and He never ceases to care for His children. This fact is very apparent in my life. Praise the Lord!. Some of you who read this know that there is nothing like a child, graduating High School, to bring out the reflective nature in a person. My life wasn't always successful nor filled with such hope. No, as a matter of fact in August of 1980 things were very, very different. August tenth 1980 marked the end of many years of drunkenness and moral deprivation. I started my career in dissipation at age eleven, with home made blackberry wine. Of course it took some years to reach the full potential of evil, but by the time I reached sixteen I was well on my way. In high school I was the one who the mothers wouldn't let their daughters date. I found that out, to my shame, some years after I became a Christian. By the time I graduated high school I was an accomplished drunk with all that went with it. Then, to escape the police, I joined the Army and went away to Viet-Nam. This experience removed any vestige of decency I might have had. The chapter of my life called "Viet-Nam" is filled to overflowing with testimony of the protective power of God. My job while in the war zone was in aircraft over enemy territory. I managed many hours of flight time over enemy territory. This gave God plenty of opportunity to protect me, and I never realized His presence nor give Him Glory. The only time I recognized Him at all was when I was in a bad situation. I suppose, if God is to be praised, and His goodness fully understood, I should tell you a deep dark secret. One I had to deal with most of my life and one with which I subconsciously used to excuse my failures. I was physically and sexually abused as a boy by my real father. I need not go into detail but if that was your lot in childhood you know what a life-long debilitation that can be. Let me tell you two things concerning this. One, I used this experience to excuse away my own sin. When I finally realized that, as bad as my experience had been, I, and I alone was responsible for my failures. And two, the act of forgiving my dad was, beyond a doubt, the most traumatic thing I have ever had to do. The disaster, that was my life, had to become fully my own responsibility and I could not blame my dad or Viet-Nam or anything else. With that terrible conclusion reached, then and only then could healing begin. And it did begin. As with any grievous wound, the healing process is at first very painful and only after obedience to the physician will the pain begin to decrease. So it is with spiritual healing. Wholeness in life begins with confession of the problem and then repentance, and this process is very painful indeed. The month of August in the year 1980 was filled with hopeless desperation, as the last of a long series of failed relationships rapidly dissolved. A sense of worthlessness was growing day by day year by year. Finally, with the determination fueled by demonic powers, I decided to end it all. Not by quiet means as the other times, but with a roar. The roar of a Shotgun. This was not the first time I came to the conclusion that death was preferable to life. I had made that decision twice before. Once I tried to drive my truck off a cliff and the other time I tried to shoot myself. Both attempts, obviously, failed. The third, and last time, I had decided to kill myself after I had killed my wife and her boyfriend. At this point, I think it would give glory to God to recount the two previous attempts in a little more detail. The truck and the cliff incident happened in 1974. I had been drinking for about 2 months straight and there was no end in sight. I was rebounding from a failed relationship (another alcohol fatality). One morning I woke from a drunken stupor and made the decision to do away with myself. I realized that I was out of control of my life and there was no way that I could see to regain it. When I made the decision, I had no idea just how one went about doing such a thing, but I knew that it was necessary. I was on my way to a little town in Northern California called Fall River Mills, north and east of Redding. To get there by the route I traveled I had to pass over he rim of the "Grand Canyon of Northern California". Just before I started up the grade, I made the decision that this was the time and the place. I would do on purpose what so many had done by accident, I would go over the edge. I had hiked to the bottom of this canyon to fish on several occasions so I knew the terrain. I knew that I would hit ground only once before hitting the bottom about a 1000 feet below. There would be no surviving this plunge. As I gained speed toward the top I came to a sharp corner that, if I went straight, would sail me far out into space and down to my death. I would have a few seconds for reflection then ----peace. I didn't realize it then but there were more than a few demons helping that vehicle gain speed, and they happily fed my sense of hopelessness as I sped toward the edge. Soon they would have me forever with no chance of escape. This made the forces of hell dance with glee, of this I am sure. Well, as you have already guessed, something went wrong with their diabolical plan. I hit the guard rail straight on but instead of going over I glanced off and ended up in the ditch across the road. Shaken and dazed from the impact, I walked across the road and by the bright moonlight I could see, far below me, the reflection of many vehicles who had succeeded where I had just failed. Even then I never realized that I had been visited by the spiritual realm. On the one side were those forces determined to end my earthly life that I might begin my eternal life in hell. On the other, the angels of glory, and they were even more determined that I would live to make a decision for Jesus Christ, that would be still some years away. Angels working overtime! The second attempt, a few years later, was more methodical and by that time in my life I was far more determined. Another failed relationship was lurking just over the horizon. I knew of it's presence, but was powerless to stop it's approach. This attempt was about six months before the night I received Christ. Once again I took stock of our lives and came up empty. I decided that we were wasting natural resources even by breathing the air that decent folks might use. Again I decided to escape. I took my .22 cal. pistol, loaded with magnums and a case of beer back as far into a manzanita thicket as I could get. I was so far away that no one would ever find me. The only witness to my rotting corpse would be the rattlesnakes and coyotes. I considered it a fitting end to my worthless life. When I was satisfied that there was no chance of being found, I drank the beer, put the pistol in my mouth and tried with all my might to pull the trigger, it would not fire. I remember being very confused because I had never had a weapon fail to fire if there was a cartridge in the chamber and the hammer was cocked. In confusion, I pulled the gun out of my mouth and aimed it at a nearby tree, I pulled the trigger and it fired, and the blast shook me to the core of my being. With knees that trembled I crawled out of the thicket and went back home. I never told anyone about the episode but it made a lasting impression on me. Still I never gave glory to God and I never realized that it was by His power I was being given yet another chance. Soon things were back to normal, drinking and fighting. My life was falling down around my ears and I, could only stand by helplessly and watch it die. I really didn't want to die but it was the only way I knew to end the misery. Then came an active demon presence too strange to relate. My wife and I were very near to demon possession. Too this day I cannot talk about the experience so I will pass it by. Someday, perhaps, God will allow me to adequately describe the terror of demonic activity in a human life. On August tenth 1980 at 11:00 pm I was closing a long day of drinking. I was sitting at a friend's house drinking whiskey, chasing it with beer and snorting coke. Then ----- it was time ---. My hour had come. As drunk as I was there was a part of my brain that was clear, and it held a deadly intent. Why I stopped at that house I didn't know. Why a man was there who was not suppose to be, I never knew. Or how he knew my name I still don't know. He called me by name saying, "Larry, you don t have any more chances do you?"? He went on to say, "It does not have to be this way, Jesus loves you and He has a better plan for your life!". When I heard the name "Jesus" I became completely clear headed, it was as if I had never taken a drink in my life. I'll never forget the clarity at that moment. It was a shocking sensation after so many years of living in a drunken fog. This man, sent from God, told me about Jesus and what He had done for me, and I sat transfixed by his words. These were the most beautiful words I had ever heard. He gave me an opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior and I grabbed the only hope I had. The clarity that came that night has remained to this day. I went home and found things just as I knew they would be. Instead of the roar of a shotgun and the carnage of pellets ripping bodies apart, there was the sweet, sweet sound of sanity. The shotgun I had so carefully prepared remained in it's place. My children and I left that night to begin a most wonderful new life. It was a journey that had many fearful miles to be sure, but also one of the security of knowing that for the first time in my life I was a peace with God. I felt in my soul that He now had no charge against me. My sin was completely paid for and buried where even God couldn't recall it. Peace with myself, however, was to follow at a much slower pace, But I believe I have arrived at that destination as well. My friends, Jesus Christ is there for you in the same way He was there for me. The same power is available to you and any one who will call upon His name. There is a love and acceptance waiting for you just a prayer away. Love so powerful that you will never come to understand it fully, but you will treasure basking in it's light. I cannot say enough about the wonderful person of My God and His grace so abundant and freely given. His Love is has no price tag and is abundant. His Word is timely and more than adequate for all of life's needs, there is nothing else like it in the world. Come to Jesus right now and begin a life that will lead you in paths that are righteous and good. Leave your old life of pain and misery far behind you. Jesus died to assume the payment for your sins. The debt you have owed to God is completely paid because of what Jesus Christ did on the Cross. Freedom from sin, fear, and guilt is gained by just a simple prayer. Pray this way. "Jesus, You died to take pay for my sin debt, I now accept you as my Savior. I will live for you from now on. Lord Jesus teach me to do your will. Heal me and my relationships for your glory. In Jesus, name, amen." If you have prayed this prayer please let me know. Click on the highlighted text below and write me of your decision. We can start a friendship that will last eternally. Perhaps I can help you begin your walk with Jesus. The Lord be with you and give you peace. Larry Hendrickson
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