Our Lives Have Never Been The Same
Where do I begin? In less than six years of marriage, I was a mother of three, married to an alcoholic, and heading for the divorce court. What was I going to do? The answer came when my friend invited me to church. Why not try God? I had already tried everything else, and I was desperate. God knew my heart and began a life altering change in me. I didn’t care what anyone thought. I needed a lifeline, and I was determined to hold to it no matter what. Everything I had worried about losing, Jesus allowed me to
The Broken Heart Mender
I would like to share with you how I came into a relationship with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. My background is very similar to that of a lot of women in the world today. I came from a broken home, step-families, abuse of every kind, and a longing to be loved. My parents tried to provide for me the best way that they knew how. They both worked very hard at financially supporting us, and actually, they did a very good job at that. Unfortunately, I always felt that they thought that money could buy you love and
The Church Gave Me God’s Unconditional Love
I was about 7 years old when I was first introduced to New Life Assembly. This was a few years after my parents had divorced. At this time, and in the years following, as I was growing up, I fought with hurt and feelings of guilt and confusion. The members of the church gave to me God’s unconditional, unselfish love and acceptance. After a short while I received the Holy Ghost and was baptized in Jesus name. I had always had low self-esteem and sometimes hated who I was. I struggled with this even after being a part of the
From Alcoholic to Apostolic
My testimony is like many of this day and age. I was brought up with a way of life, that today, I know was contrary to the way that God wants me to live. At an early age I was taught that drinking was a “socially accepted” thing, so I learned how to drink. You see, since I was a small child, I was taught how to live. I was truly a product of my surroundings. My memory of my childhood was not one of love, but rather, one of a lot of pain and SOITOW. I know today that
Living for God is Awesome!
Look what the Lord has done. I want to give God praise for my salvation. Living for God is an awesome life. Jesus found me when I was the young age of 5 1/2. My first introduction to him was through the Sunday School Department. Sunday School was an exciting and fun place where there was plenty of the love of Jesus to go around. That love was foreign to me but I knew it was real. I attended Sunday School several times and knew that I would never leave that love. It can keep you. Shortly after that I
I Came Up Out of the Water Feeling Clean and Free
I count it a privilege to be included in this book and a pleasure to write about where God has brought me from. I grew up feeling like I didn’t belong anywhere. My mother died when I was very young; my father remarried several years later. Though all who had to do with my upbringing did their best to care for me, I always felt like a fifth wheel, and lonely. I was quiet and a “nobody” in school. I married at a young age, seeking the love I so desperately needed. That marriage failed and I was divorced after
A Beautiful Gift
Lord, there are not enough words that I can express to you for always being there for me. When I was yet a sinner and knew you not, you still loved me. Since I have been baptized in your precious name, Jesus, my life has never been the same. The smoking and drinking, that I had been addicted to, no longer appealed to me. I used foul language often, but now I have the beautiful Gift of the Holy Ghost and my tongue utters the pure praises of Your Name! Lord, you have given me the strength to praise you
I Experienced Unconditional Love
Pain, confusion, loneliness; alone, separate, apart, isolated -- physically, emotionally and mentally. Life, even as a child, was a battle to be fought everyday. Broken hearts, promises, people. “Why?” “Why?”, I would ask over and over. Never finding an answer. Relationships with others were fragmented, fleeting, painful... so painful, "God, help me", I cried again and again. I began to build walls of protection. I tried several. Hard, tough, brittle, unfeeling, non-loving, non-giving. I didn’t want people too close. People brought pain and disappointment. I couldn’t live up to their expectations. At 16, suicide sounded like release from the prison
The Church is a Powerful Church
It is an honor to be able to give you all of my testimony of what God has done for me throughout the years. If it was not for Jesus in my life, and the love of the church (New Life Assembly) in my life, I would be lost. You, my brothers and sisters, mean a lot to me. More than life itself. You were there for me and kept praying for me, and I just want to thank you. I love you all in Christ Jesus. There’s just not enough words to say or express my love for you
Saved by Truth
At age 8, I finished 12th grade. I was fascinated with physics, and passed examinations without having ever been taught anything. As I walked home one day, I realized something in me had changed in what must have been overnight. I picked up a sheet of my own handwritten paper, and to my dismay, discovered I couldn’t read; neither could I write. My teachers suspected it was an emotional problem. Twelve years later, the doctors diagnosed the problem as a “loss of total recall.” They were truly stumped, because even though my brain worked perfectly, with no physical or chemical
He Heard My Cry
New life Assembly has been a place where I can grow and receive the direction I need in this journey through life. Growing up I did not have boundaries. I grew up in a home filled with drugs, alcohol and immoral living. You did what you had to do to survive. At the age of 19, I was living an empty life. I remember crying out to God in the middle of the night and asking Him if this is all that life had to offer and if so, then I had no reason to live. If there is a
My Hope is in Him
I came to the Lord in 1982 because my wife, Pam, had gone to a revival meeting. We were having problems in our marriage. I was stopping after work with the guys I work with (for a couple of beers). Instead of a couple, it would be ten to twelve and I wasn’t coming home until nine or ten o’clock at night. I had three young sons at the time, they would be in bed by the time I got home. It wasn’t that I didn’t love them (because I sure did). I was a good provider for them. I
He Turned My Hate Into Love
I was a hopeless alcoholic. Then I met a man from Tennessee named Frank Butz who was a truck driver for the company that I worked for. Every time he delivered to Rochester he was after me to go to church with him but I kept putting me off. Finally one day he said, “You have been putting me off long enough and you’re going to church with me." When I walked through the door of that church I knew I had come home. The people treated me like they had known me all their lives. In my heart I
I Will Be With God in Eternity
I was involved in a relationship outside of marriage for at least 15 years. Most of that relationship was lonely and confusing. I lived with guilt and no clear future. I tried for years to make it right and make it work. Of course, that was not possible. My daughter found New Life Assembly and a new life. I wanted what she had. I started to attend and to hear the word of God. If someone were to ask me how my life began to change I truly could not tell them. I just started saying “no” to a lot
A Real Awakening
Have you ever looked into a mirror and didn’t like what you saw? That happened to me one day and I’m glad it did. I had known about God and His love since I was a young boy attending Sunday School, singing those children’s songs and hearing all those Bible stories. It was fun and good, but in my teenage years I started associating with the wrong crowd. I wanted to fit in and eventually I did, not for a moment considering the consequences. I started smoking, then drinking, thinking it was the “in thing.” All this time I lied