I was raised in the church so I've always known the Bible stories about God and His Son, Jesus. Looking back I guess I knew there was something more but could never put my finger on it.

I started drinking beer and wine when I was about thirteen and started using drugs when I was fifteen. It was an easy way to be accepted by others. No one in our church ever told me that God loved me for who I was, who He created me to be - at least not so I understood what it meant.

My friends formed a heavy metal rock band in 1982 and we got to be pretty well known in the Milwaukee area so in 1987 we all moved to California to become rock stars. My decadent living continued but even through those difficult years I could feel God's presence in my life pulling me towards Him.

My curiosity about what God wanted led me to enroll in a Bible correspondence course and I studied Scripture for a little more than a year.

One night I went to a Slayer concert with some friends from Hollywood. Prior to the concert we had all taken acid and were drinking heavily. That concert was the most evil thing I've ever witnessed in my life. I knew then beyond any doubt the devil was real and was laughing at the six thousand or so people who had been deceived by him at that concert. The events of the night were a little frightening, but more so the reality of it all deeply troubled me.

When I got home from the concert at about 3:30 in the morning I started going through the Bible lessons I had collected searching for answers to the questions raised by the events of the past few hours. Finally at about 5:30am on August 13, 1988 God's truth broke through and I broke down under the weight of my sins.

I understood the way I had been living my life was leading me straight to hell. I fell to my knees and confessed every sin, as the Spirit of God would bring them from my memory, sobbing and begging for God's forgiveness. Then after confessing my sins I asked Christ to come into my heart and make me a new person. The crushing weight of sin I had confessed for the past hour and a half was lifted away and I felt free and clean. My salvation was complete at that moment.

Although I had accepted Christ as my Savior, and God had accepted me where I was, there was still a lot of work to be done.

I wasn't allowing God to be the Lord of my life. I continued to live a sinful lifestyle, polluting my body with alcohol, drugs and elicit sex until 1996. Heck, I was enjoying myself! I didn't want to give up "my fun" to be a Christian.

Then, at a prompting from a friend, I attended a Christian men's conference at the MECCA in downtown Milwaukee. I was made to realize that my sinful lifestyle was not part of God's plan.

Oh I attended church every Sunday, and was active in various ministries but parts of me were still in bondage to my "former" lifestyle. I finally understood that God could not use me to glorify Him in that state. People were looking at me and my life and using that as an excuse by saying things like "Dan calls himself a Christian and he smokes and drinks and curses". I realized that my unsaved friends were judging other Christians and indeed Christ Himself by my example.

So over the summer of 1996 I quit using all drugs and then in April of 1997 I quit drinking. One week later I met the woman who would be my wife. It wasn't until I was obedient to God and His teachings in the Bible, until I allowed Him Lordship over my life, that I was blessed with the family I'd always wanted. The fun I gave up was nothing compared to the joy I now have in living for Christ.

Today, I'm still married to Christina, the woman I met in a Christian chat room on the Internet and we have four beautiful children - Isaiah, Tabitha, Abigail and Sarah.

=============================================================
If you enjoy these commentaries and have not already subscribed to the list, click here to be added and you will receive an email notice when a new post is available.

If you have subscribed in the past and no longer wish to receive these commentaries then click here to be removed from the list. You will receive one final message confirming your desire to be removed.

If you aren't sure how you came to receive this then perhaps someone you know forwarded it to you. Please feel free to forward this message with the SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE info in tact. Always use Bcc: and clean up a message before you forward it. No one likes scrolling through forwards or reading between all the >>> junk. Thank you for your support!