Michael's Encounter With the Lord.

Hello. It seems strange to just jump in here with my story, so why don't you get yourself a drink and a snack, and come back.

Are you back and ready for a little read? Good. For those uninitiated, this is a testimony. Everyone has some story about something or someone who has come into their lives and has changed it. This is a story about my encounter with

My story begins March 15th, 1964, the day I was born. I have 2 sisters and 5 brothers, and am the youngest of them all. My mother was not a rich woman and managed to raise this bunch all by herself. She died in 1996.

My first encounter with "religion" came when I was 10 years old. My father, who was gone when I was 4 years old, used to take the family to several church services on Sunday, and after he left, my mother took me to a local church called Centre Street Church. I do not remember what I did while I was there. I suppose I attended Sunday school classes, and such. I do remember when I left.

I was taking part in an Easter event in Sunday school. We were in the back yard of the church, playing a game. We had to find hidden pieces of paper, read and answer the simple Bible question printed on the paper, then collect our chocolate prize. I had found a paper, and was reading the question when a bigger kid knocked me down and took my paper. I went to the people supervising us and complained. Being 10 years old, I wanted immediate retribution, instead, they acted unconcerned. I angrily stomped off and never went back.

Yet, that did not stop the longing in my heart for meaning. As the years progressed, I got into witchcraft, Ouija board, tarot cards, palmistry, reincarnation, U.F.O"s . . . you name it. My world view was what is characterized as "New Age". Yet it was not fulfilling. In this worldview, God was fragmented and trying to get himself together, and we all went through life after life to learn lessons. The most important lesson we were to learn was that life is an illusion, and at the end of it all we would meld back into the fragmented God. Like a drop of water in the ocean. It was nice to have a pat answer as to why evils happened in the world, but I could never accept losing the "I"ness of myself when it came time to die, but there seemed to be no other options out there. I had to face the fact that the universe was cruel, heartless, and meaningless.

I had brief encounters with other, fringe beliefs, like Scientology. My second encounter with "religion" came one morning when I was 17. Two Jehovah's Witnesses came knocking on my door. I was ripe for the picking. I was dissatisfied with the world views that I had encountered and was ready to listen. Unfortunately for them (or fortunately for me), they had no answers. They believed that there was no hell, or enternal torment (as I thought Christianity believed), but it was not hard to detect that they were afraid of Armageddon. All they did was to replace one fear with another. I was a half-believing reincarnationist, and my fears did not seem as terrifying as theirs. We talked for hours. So long that they finally admitted that they had to go.

Years passed, life went on, and I attended University. Through out all the hussle and bussel of obtaining a B.F.A., I still managed to ponder what my life was all about. Around 1987 I signed up for a service which delivered me the names of 10 women willing to be a pen pal. At the time, it did not seem like much, but the whole pen pal thing would play a significant factor in my future.

Around the last year of University, 1992, I got a new pen pal. I recieved a letter from a friend in California, but included with the letter was a book made of pages stapled together. On the front was a name that I did not know, her address, interests, and the instructions "Please sign my pen book, and pass it onto someone else. When it is full, send it back to me, then I will have the addresses of pen pals I do not know". I looked through the pages and saw that my friend had signed it, so I signed it in like manner and sent it off to another friend in Germany. Unknown to me, Ingrid sent the book to a friend that she knew in France, who sent it to a friend in California. This California girl's name was Kathy Smith

I opened my mailbox one day to be greeted by a letter by someone I did not know. She explained the she had received a pen book, from a pen pal of her's and after signing the book, she flipped through the pages and came upon my name. She further stated that the Lord had promted her to write to me. I did not think another pen pal would hurt, since I had about 20 women that I was writing to at the time. After a few letters I realized that she was a Christian, and she always talked about Jesus. I would have dropped her, but I figured she was doing it because it was so close to Christmas.

After Christmas, her kindness did not diminish. She sent me tapes of songs and sermons, and books. So I decided to really lay into her. I wanted to see if she had anything behind all the talk that she gave me. I tried to tempt her, but she remained streadfast in her devotion to Christ. I asked her questions about life's woes, and challenged her to give better answers than I did. She sent me books on the subjects, and as far as I could see, her answers were a little better than mine, and her belief was more solid. Finally I decided to challenge her on the Bible.

I had been talking with her long enough to know that although she knew what the Bible said, she was a little fuzzy about where in the Bible it was. So I decided to help her by trying to find out where, in the Bible, my problems were, and then challenge her to answer them. Then a miraculous thing happened. While I was looking for the questions, I found the answers. The more I looked, the more I found that the answers were there in plain language. I was convinced that I had misjudged the Bible.

Finally, Kathy reached my heart. My head had been satisfied, but the one thing I could never understand (perhaps I did not want to understand it), was what this silly book had to do with me. Kathy's kids had drawn me a picture, and her husband had sent me a few words of greeting. I wondered why they would care about me. I was just some guy that Kathy was writing to. Also Kathy sent me something called, "A Love Letter from Christ". It went something like this:

A Love Letter From Jesus

How are you? I just had to send you this letter to tell you how much I love you and care about you. I saw you yesterday as you were walking with your friends. I waited all day, hoping you would walk and talk with me also. As evening drew near, I gave you a sunset to close your day, and a cool breeze to rest you. Then I waited, but you never came. O yes, it hurt me, but I still love you because I am your friend.

I saw you fall asleep last night, and I longed to touch your brow, so I spilled moonlight upon your pillow and your face....Again I waited, wanting to rush down so we could talk. I have so many gifts to give you.

You awakened late this morning and rushed off for the day. My tears were in the rain. Today you lookd so sad, so alone. It makes my heart ache because I understand. My friends let me down and hurt me many times, but I love you. I try to tell you in the quiet green grass. I whisper it in the leaves and trees, and breathe it in the color of the flowers. I shout it to you in the mountain streams, and give the birds love songs to sing. I clothe you with warm sunshine and perfume the air. My love for you is deeper than the oceans and bigger than the biggest want or need you could ever have.

We will spend eternity together in heaven.I know how hard it is on earth. I really know, because I was there, and I want to help you. My Father wants to help you too. He's just like that, you know. Just call me, ask, talk to me, It is you decision......I have choosen you, and because of this I will wait.........Because I love you.

Your Friend,

Jesus

Well, that just broke my heart. I realized that I had no real rational objections to the Bible, Kathy's kindness showed me that there were people out there willing to reach out, and with this letter I realized that

I found out that the Bible was not just a collection of books that had been bound together, but it was, in fact, 66 letters to relay the simple fact that there was a God, and that God knew and cared about me.

I did the only thing I could. I had always though that I had to become good, or at least better before I could come to God, but I could not do that. I took my messed up life, and reluctantly put it in his hands. "Kathy says," I told God, "that you can run my life better than I can, so here it is." Since then my life has not been the same. The changes have been remarkable. the best of which is the woman he lead me to marry.

I wanted to be sure that I had given my life over to something trustworthy, so I got some tapes from an organization called Fire Fighters for Christ, and books from the bookstores, and studied the basic tenants of the world's religions, and of the Christian cults. The more I found out what these other groups believed, the more I became convinced that the Bible was true. Not only that, I was impressed with the Bible's clarity on these subjects. It was almost as if it anticipated all of the arguments.

After six months of figuring out all of this Christian stuff, I finally ventured out to attend a church for the first time in 20 years. The first place I attended was a nice Luthern church called Trinity Luthern Church. It met in the morning, and it was not too far from my home. It was a very nice church and they did not say anything that would make think that they were not following the Bible. The reason I went there for only a short while is because I did not feel comfortable with the way that they worshipped. I was looking for something a little less structured.

While I was still attending Trinity Luthern, I visited the the Christian Research Institute in Calgary, and one of the people who worked there directed me to Centre Street Church, the same church that I had left many years before. The irony was not lost on me. I found out later that it was not the same church. It was the same building, but the pastors who took over were different in mind and heart. It had become a very fine church. I attended there for 3 or 4 years, then I moved onto a different type of church called Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel.

I have not bought everything everyone has told me. I have attended everything that has come my way. From a native Pentecostal church to a Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall. I am a Christian because I am convinced by the evidence that it is the most viable and reasonable explanation for the world and it's woes. I have been changed by Jesus.

Now you know my history. Now it is up to you. Do you just go on and forget everything you read, or will you actually look into what the Bible says, and decide if it is true or not. Start by reading the book of John found in the New Testament. You can write to me, and ask anything you want. I love to answer questions since I put so much work into finding the answers for myself.

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