The greatest experience of my life was January 21, 2004; the time when I asked God to come into my life and free me from 5 years of drug addiction and the street life. Previous to my years of drug addiction, I had spent about 20+ years in the career of sales and was very successful at it. I owned a business in Phoenix, Arizona and that success became a life of celebrations and parties. I grew up in a Pentecostal home, where my sibling and I were sheltered as children and spent most of our time in church; therefore, this lifestyle was new to me. While I make no excuse for my fall, I found the accolades from success and the party life enjoyable and I wanted more of it. Not realizing that ahead of me were storms that I was not prepared for. I
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Eventually, I found myself wandering on the streets of Phoenix, Arizona because I had run out of resources. During that process of street survival I did things people did in order to survive the day and get a fix, and certainly things I would have never imagined I would be doing at this stage of my life. I recall the time which I was arrested and was placed on probation; I thought for sure this was the wake-up call I needed to turn my life around and get back on track. However, as soon as I was released from jail, I met up with others that also had been released and we decided to celebrate our freedom by getting high, and again I thought to myself, so much for hitting bottom. Nevertheless, I realized that I was fading fast and sliding at a rapid pace down a dangerous slide and I was really in need of my Savior that I once called on as a child. Proverbs 22:6 tells us to “train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it” and I began to recall Romans 10: 13 which says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” and I began to ask God to come into my life and allow me to feel Him again; He did just …show more content…
I served my time and from there went into Rehab and on to a transitional living facility. I begin to attend church and surround myself with the body of Christ. Later I began to deal with emotions and ramifications of my past decisions, then I found that I needed professional help; or, at least, the assistance or support of someone who had been there. I began to combine my spiritual food with a combination of church and Alcoholics Anonymous because I needed a little more than just “go pray and ask the Lord for His help.” Some years later I answered the call to ministry and was ordained in the Pastorate, and from my experiences I have a strong passion for those that are bound by sin through drugs and alcohol; and, through my own life, I have witnessed counsel that wasn’t solid. I vowed to God that I would not only walk in this grace He has given me to under-shepherd His children, but I would seek Him for wisdom and I will seek out knowledge to speak proper counsel into their lives and help walk them through their process of
Eventually, I found myself wandering on the streets of Phoenix, Arizona because I had run out of resources. During that process of street survival I did things people did in order to survive the day and get a fix, and certainly things I would have never imagined I would be doing at this stage of my life. I recall the time which I was arrested and was placed on probation; I thought for sure this was the wake-up call I needed to turn my life around and get back on track. However, as soon as I was released from jail, I met up with others that also had been released and we decided to celebrate our freedom by getting high, and again I thought to myself, so much for hitting bottom. Nevertheless, I realized that I was fading fast and sliding at a rapid pace down a dangerous slide and I was really in need of my Savior that I once called on as a child. Proverbs 22:6 tells us to “train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it” and I began to recall Romans 10: 13 which says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” and I began to ask God to come into my life and allow me to feel Him again; He did just …show more content…
I served my time and from there went into Rehab and on to a transitional living facility. I begin to attend church and surround myself with the body of Christ. Later I began to deal with emotions and ramifications of my past decisions, then I found that I needed professional help; or, at least, the assistance or support of someone who had been there. I began to combine my spiritual food with a combination of church and Alcoholics Anonymous because I needed a little more than just “go pray and ask the Lord for His help.” Some years later I answered the call to ministry and was ordained in the Pastorate, and from my experiences I have a strong passion for those that are bound by sin through drugs and alcohol; and, through my own life, I have witnessed counsel that wasn’t solid. I vowed to God that I would not only walk in this grace He has given me to under-shepherd His children, but I would seek Him for wisdom and I will seek out knowledge to speak proper counsel into their lives and help walk them through their process of