"But you, be sober in all things,
Endure hardship,
Do the work of an evangelist,
Fulfill your ministry."
—2 Timothy 4:5
This special Salvation Story isn't about my brother John but my daughter-in-law's brother. In an upcoming story, I hope to share one of The Most Amazing Salvation TESTIMONIES I have ever witnessed—their father, who was saved at the Final Hour just weeks before he died from pancreatic cancer. Good News: "He led me" to add his testimony to this book's last chapter, Chapter 16, Salvation Shorts, "Final Hour Salvation."
Let me begin by sharing when I first met John at my son's wedding. John was asked to walk the bride, his sister, and my daughter-in-law halfway down the aisle. There, they met their father (who could only make it) halfway down the aisle. From there, their father finished the walk slowly and put his daughter's hand into my son's hand because he was so painfully ill.
At the reception, I instinctively felt very close to this young man, John, like a unique love He'd given me for all four children who would soon (basically) be orphaned. Their mother wasn't at the wedding since she'd been far too ill for years and was being cared for in a nursing home.
Needless to say, as a young man without parents, John succumbed to every sort of evil. There wasn't much anyone could do, though many tried to help him cope with his father's death and mother's terminal illness and navigate his young adult years. In the end, like so many, he needed to hit rock bottom.
But isn't that where we all have to be before we cry out and are ready for Him to do a makeover on our lives? Isn't that how far Jacob, in Heroin Addict, needed to get before he was ready?
Suddenly, at the appointed time, everything changed in John's life. As radically as John had lived in sin and for sin, he wholly and suddenly began to live radically for the Lord! John soon got involved with a men's group of former drug addicts and even began sharing his testimony in local churches!
John said later that he'd gone to the altar many times before, but nothing ever stuck. So remember, getting your loved one to church, dragging them to the altar, or any effort on our part means you won't see any change because they don't meet Him the way a genuine encounter happens and a real relationship begins.
By the time their father passed away, I believe all of John's sisters were Christians, including some of his sisters' husbands—some were even in full-time ministry. As far as I know, none of their direct help or influence ever played a deciding factor in John's decision to seek the Lord personally. He simply came to the place in his life at the appointed time to turn his life around.
Like the Modern Day John the Baptist's Salvation Story, when someone goes down a wicked road for a time, God can use these special individuals as evangelists! One of the most powerful evangelists I knew who changed more lives was when we were church members after a worldwide revival broke out. This man, a former drug addict and a dealer, was so relatable, so on fire for the Lord, that was changed after he was "court-ordered" to go to Teen Challenge, which I mentioned in Heroin Addict.
So, if you have a loved one who is someone you could never imagine becoming on fire for the Lord, then these precious individuals and their testimony can become a catalyst for the lost and desperate souls who need His love. Each time their lives deteriorate, believe what God says, not what you think you see.
“Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.”
“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!” (Ephesians 3:20).
True, there are pastors whom God uses, men who are stable individuals, who are the solid rock, who live a (basically) good life, and then they are called to ministry to shepherd a flock of believers. But to ignite and attract the truly lost, God uses those men and women who have strayed far off the path, "evangelists," those who have been forgiven MUCH. These individuals are the most outspoken and, in many ways, bring more souls to know the Lord due to their passion for the Lord—especially by their testimony of a life transformed due to His love!
"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death" (Revelation 12:11). Many actually do face death due to their reckless lifestyles and come through these dark experiences—with a testimony beyond what any of us could ever have imagined.
UPDATE on John: I did not know all the details of his transformation, but after hearing a few particulars from my son and daughter-in-law, I decided to ask the Lord to allow me to see John and listen to him personally share what the Lord had done.
Not surprisingly (yet I'm forever in awe), an opportunity came up. He led me to offer John and my son, his brother-in-law, the beach house I was renting. The morning John flew in, I packed up, left the beach house, and stayed with my daughter. Near the end of his stay, I treated him to a steak dinner and was treated to hearing his first-hand testimony— incredible and wondrous exploits of a life completely and totally transformed!
Thankfully, the "details" God had always intended to use, the "details" that have helped other young men stuck in this same pitiful pit of sin and give HOPE to the families, John left out when telling his testimony to me. May I say that very often, details open innocent minds to things that should be left unsaid? That's why when sharing your testimony, let Him speak through you so can remain discreet, and for those who are familiar with the particulars who share the same sin, He will lead you to share the details. "...do not worry about how to speak or what to say, for what you should say will be given to you at that time" (Matthew 10:19). "Like a gold ring in a pig's snout, so is a beautiful woman who is without discretion [her lack of character mocks her beauty]" (Proverbs 11:22).
What I was most astonished by was John's overall physical transformation. It was so drastic that if John had not been sitting with my son, I would never have known him! He looked healthy and strong, but it was his face and his smile that glowed!! I asked for a hug right away, and after our embrace, he just began thanking me for my generosity, which, of course, we immediately turned to thank Him!
John and my son began by sharing how John woke up early at daybreak to meet with the Lord each morning (where I'd been meeting with Him) while watching God's glorious creation awaken. As I listened, I could only smile tearfully, watching John's face light up.
Yet, as soon as I could, not wanting to miss this unique opportunity, I asked John to please share his testimony. That's when his face really lit up, and his passion began to permeate and ignite the air around us. If there is one thing I absolutely love and seek out are believers, who, like Mary Magdalene, are forgiven so much and now sit at His feet, washing them with their tears. I love it because it reignites my passion for Him anew and recharges my energy to help me in my lifelong quest—that everyone experiences His LOVE and knows Him personally and intimately.
Probably the most surprising part of what John shared was the influence my son had on him. I knew my son had often met with him, befriending him. Then John said, referring to my son, "He never condemned or challenged or preached, but when I had a question, he answered it with what it said in the Bible. Simply as fact, not to challenge the way I was living." Witnessing this steadfastness in my son is something John said helped him when he was ready to change his life.
Due to the wisdom that the Lord has instilled in John, though I know much of his story dealt with his promiscuity and meeting his need for love by being with many women, he only referenced this slightly. I believe when he shares his testimony with men living as he did, he shares more because they can relate. What he did share more of was the deep drug use that led to him dealing drugs. He and his drug friends actually rented a duplex, and on one side was where they sold the drugs, and on the other was where they slept—which was on the floor, on mattresses, and in horrible filth.
Another part I didn't know was that, at one point, John was doing quite well. Please be sure to notice what he told us: John was "blessed" with a brand new car and a respectable, very well-paying job, yet he was still involved with the drug scene and was with many women.
I'm sure his family saw this and wondered at this change in his life as puzzling. If your loved one has an upswing, just keep your eyes on the Lord to finish His plan and complete what He started. Don't get in His way; don't try to steer a loved one one way or the other. Just look for opportunities to love them with HIS Love. Remember, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him" (John 3:17).
Soon after God had blessed him, which ultimately led him to repentance, he lost a big account he needed, and that's when John asked God to help him.... to be continued....by John.
John's Story
Growing up, I don’t remember much exposure to God. There was a time when we went to church every Sunday, and I remember a couple of services, but after some issues with the church, our family left and never went back.
My parents were too busy chasing the dream. To most, it would have seemed that we found it. We had a beautiful house in a perfect neighborhood. We were a family of a successful father, a caring mother, three beautiful girls, and one boy. Mother was very active in our lives, and we just looked like we had it all together, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Our home lives were chaotic at best. Our parents would consistently fight, and one day, it came to a point where it was too much. I was 9 when my parents decided to get a divorce, and from that point on, my life would be spent living for short periods of time in random houses, each belonging to my mother’s new boyfriends.
My sisters were old enough to choose who to live with, but I was so young that I was forced to live with my mother. As I understand it, that is why one of my sisters stayed with me, so that I wouldn’t have to go through that experience alone. My mother put us through a lot in those next years, though we later found out it wasn’t exactly her fault. My mom was suffering from a horrible disease, which had severely affected her mental state, and she was on a downward spiral from there. She would make up stories of my dad trying to kill her and completely believed them to be true. She would drag my sister and me into her room and tell us these stories for hours upon hours. It was a daily routine we had become accustomed too.
So, after years of struggle, it finally came to an end when my father won custody of me. For the first time in years, my sister and I had some stability. As we reunited with my older sisters, I noticed something interesting happening in their lives. One of my sisters was getting heavily involved in her church, and it started to change the dynamic of our house. She quickly became the “spiritual one” of the family.
The years went by, and I started playing guitar, got into a band, and naturally before I knew it, I was drinking and smoking weed, not regularly, but when I could. All the “rock legends” I looked up to did drugs, and I wanted to find out why it was so appealing. I remember a few times going to church with my sister and every time I went I was confronted with the truth that I knew I needed to make some changes in my life. I just really didn’t want to give up my life. There was a time that I can say I truly was sorry for the way I was living my life. It happened on one Sunday morning during service when they had called me out, and I went forward and made a profession of faith. But, it wasn’t Godly sorrow because there was no repentance. I left and went right back out, and that’s when it slowly got worse.
The year was 2009 or so. I’m in my room, my dad opens my door and waits for me to pause my video game. The words hit me hard, “I have pancreatic cancer, and the doctor told me I have about a year to live.” “ok...” is all I could say. I was in shock. The next 6 months were devastating. Day by day I watched as my father, the pillar upon which my family stood, was deteriorating in front of my eyes. The one who I would run to in tears I was now holding while he was in tears as we discussed all the things he was hoping to teach me over to help us through rest of our lives.
Then it all changed one day when I walked out of my room, and there was the pastor of a local church in the living room talking to my dad. Obviously confused, I told my dad I was going to a friend’s, and he just looked at me with a big smile and said “ok.” Obviously, what he said wasn’t weird, it was the way he said it—my dad was different. It weirded me out, so I left. For the last six months as my dad approached the day he’d die, I watched something peculiar happened. He became almost happier as time went on! The peace that my dad now had confused me but I was too angry at the time to consider why.
When my dad died, my life really started to turn for the worse. With a mixture of depression and a lack of an authority figure in my life, I moved out into a duplex with some bandmates of mine. The partying started off with alcohol, but after finding out that the neighbors in our duplex were drug dealers, it quickly went from bad to worse soon after I lost my job, my band dissolved and depression was setting in. Unable to pay the bills, the power was cut off in the middle of winter. Yet all that mattered to me was getting high. I would sleep curled up under my father’s old coat in a room with busted windows where the icy breeze would blow on my face as I tried to sleep. When I woke up, all that mattered to me was going over to the neighbor’s house hoping they would be waking up as well so that I could catch a hit as they prepared to go through their day high. I had become a vulture. Scraping change to buy a pack of ramen a day if I was lucky.
One of the guy’s grandma heard about this and would buy trash bags of Hostess snacks. Grocery stores would take their expired snacks and cut the bags so that no one could resell them. You could get a bag for $5 to feed your pigs as a farmer. For that period of my life, that is what I lived off of. You might ask, “How can you get to that point?” “Wouldn’t that get to you?” The truth is, yes, it does. But, when I did drugs, the world stopped at that front door. Nothing seemed to matter other than the person in front of me or the video game in front of me. I was free from guilt, free from shame. I didn’t have responsibilities nor cares. As long as I stayed high, I could handle my life and where I had ended up. As I look back at my life, it seems so unreal. I never intended to get to that point.
My family did care and wanted to help, like when we went to Florida to spread my dad’s ashes, and while we were there, my “spiritual” sister confronted me. Unfortunately, when you live in the drug world, you get good at manipulating. That is your primary source of survival. Manipulate to get what you want, so if people like me, they would get me high. If they didn’t, I would make them pity me, and they would feed me. It was a win-win. There was no shame nor pride. It was survival pure and simple. That was how I viewed that encounter with my sister. I made her feel ashamed for accusing me when I said, “How dare you accuse me of being on drugs.” “How could you say that!?” I can’t imagine what I put my family through in those years.
I still remember coming home after that Florida trip. I had been sober for a week because I was with my family— I hadn’t been sober for more than an hour within many months. I walk into the duplex. Nothing had changed. Ten or so guys were passing around a pipe. Another friend had died. The air wreaked of body odor and weed with a failing attempt to cover it with incense. It finally hit me. How had I gotten here?
Sure enough, you would expect this to be where I get saved right? Well, I’m stubborn, and it’s not. My thoughts at the time being if I just do better and get out of this situation, I might finally be happy. I moved in with my step-mother and got a good job. Things went well for a year or so and with minor incidence; I’m holding an apartment and doing ok. But I notice that no matter how much I get or how well I do, there is always this aching for more. No matter how nice the car, I need a nicer one. No matter how beautiful the girl I date is, I need a better-looking one. Bigger parties, bigger better everything. Nothing would satisfy. So, I started smoking again, and in no time, I’m in and out of jail, again. Then I went to get a sales job that promised six-figure paychecks, and it didn’t work out. When everything started to fall apart, I turned yet again to drugs.
Then my life began to change...
I had made a new friend at the place I was working selling timeshare. We would smoke and party together, but after a while and my situation got worse when he started to give me rides to work. We quickly became friends and every day we would leave work, go to his house and smoke weed. Never once did we consider what the coming months had in store or what was in motion.
The time comes, and I’m out of money. My BMW gets repossessed, my apartment is unpaid, and even my furniture was due to be taken. For the second time, I was standing in a room I couldn’t pay for, a failure. I finally accepted the fact that I couldn’t do this on my own.
At this point, I was telling everyone I was an atheist, but I was out of options and didn’t know what to do. So, I dropped to my knees and said, “God if You’re real, get me a sale at work. If you do, I’ll stop partying and doing these wrong things.” (I was more specific in the prayer, but it was a list.)
God didn’t have to, but just to prove to me who He was, I walked into work the very next day and got my first sale in the three months I had been working for the company. I even remember telling an old man at work, and his response was “John you can’t bargain with God, He wants all or nothing.” I ignored him. I dismissed it as coincidence and went home to celebrate and broke every promise I made to God. But God is not mocked, the very next day when I went back to work, they told me, “John your sale backed out. You better start looking for a new job.” I couldn’t believe it.
Riding home with my friend, I opened up about everything: Crying out to God, getting the deal, and then them backing out. After explaining everything I looked over and his jaw is on the floor. He couldn’t believe what I was saying for some reason. So, a little shocked by how he reacted I asked him, “Do you want to go to church with me?” “YES!” That was not the reply I expected. He then told me how he and our dealer had stayed up for hours the night before talking about God and how he had felt like he wanted to go to church, he just had no one to go with him. So, we decided there and then that we would find out who God was and what He wanted with our lives.
A month later, however, I’m back to smoking weed again, but Matt is over at our old dealer’s house reading his Bible still trying to figure out who God was. They call me to get over there, and at this point, I’m right down the street living at my stepmom's again. They showed me a testimony on YouTube from a local outreach ministry called Freeway. I was shocked because the guy that was sharing his testimony was my weed dealer’s old dope dealer. After hearing stories about his former drug dealer, our dealer played the video. After ten minutes. I realized that if God could change that guy, He could change me. Convicted I tossed the weed I had aside and opened up a Bible—from that day on life was different. Not easy, but different.
We started a Bible study at the dealer’s house where we would play a sermon from that outreach ministry Freeway. We invited all our drug friends, and before we knew it, we had around 25 people coming faithfully to a former drug house to listen to sermons on a TV and to pray together. We even built an altar in front of the TV so that at the end of the message, when they did an altar call, our friends had somewhere to go (it was a foldout plastic bench from Walmart, lol). We were on fire. I would read the Bible and then go home.
During this time, my stepmother had become my drinking and smoking buddy. But things got heated when my life changed and hers didn’t. I would come home and just say Hi. Every time I walked in the door my newly found conviction came with me. Though I never said a word against her, she would scream at me for judging her. My nights were spent pretending to be asleep while reading my Bible as she would beat on the door trying to get me to come out for her to confront me about who I thought I was and the terrible things I did.
Eventually, I moved back out, and slowly, God has built a life for me. I moved into what’s called a men’s discipleship house. It’s a place where men can go who are serious about learning how to walk with the Lord. It’s very strict, and every day, you are doing some sort of Bible study or serving in some way. You learn how to cook, clean, hold a job, and work hard. But, most importantly, you wake up and read your Bible. You learn to pray and trust God. You learn what it looks like to be a man of God. I've been saved coming up on three years ago.
Since then, things have changed, but not for the worse. I have led worship for the same outreach ministry where I was saved. I am disciplining men who are former addicts and helping them pursue a Godly responsible lifestyle. After helping teach for a year in a single young adult class at my local church, I am now on a preaching rotation with the youth pastor as he is mentoring me, as well as having the incredible opportunity to pour into a small group of middle schoolers weekly by teaching Sunday School.
A little over a year ago God gave me an incredibly vivid call into ministry, and my passion is youth. I teach a Bible study every week for men who come straight out of prison and into the discipleship house as well as some men from our church.
I don’t like to glorify my past life or talk up the bad I’ve done. Please don’t get that impression. What I hope is taken from this is that not only can anyone get saved who God gets ahold of, but God is worthy of our trust. All I’ve ever done is break one dream after the next. I shouldn’t be a success. But, when I got saved I took one verse very seriously. Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all ways and He shall make straight your paths.”
After breaking every dream I’ve ever had, I would hope that my past is proof I can’t do this on my own. So, that fact that I am doing it I hope is a beacon to the world that this God is a worker of miracles. If He wasn’t, how do you explain what I just told you?
EPILOG
GOD has done remarkable things in this young man’s life since this Salvation Story and John's Testimony were written.
John married his pastor’s daughter and became a youth pastor. They had a beautiful daughter, followed by another daughter, who they named Selah.
When I commented on his post, “John and Rachel, Selah is simply gorgeous, and her name is spectacular. CONGRATULATIONS!! Years ago, I discovered that the word "Selah" was defined throughout the AMPLIFIED Bible, which I wanted to share with you. Selah means "pause and calmly think about that."
John replied, “That’s exactly why we picked it! We thought this was a good time to pause and consider all that God has done for our family. We are truly blessed!!”
I’m also blessed to witness through this GOD’S ability to transform any life, John’s testimony that I draw upon very, very, very often, and I hope you will share it often, too!
★★★★★ ~ Seeking the Salvation of a Loved One ~ Sara in Turkey
★★★★★ ~ Atarah in South Africa
I learned so many wonderful things from this Salvation Story and it has totally increased my faith in the Lord to save my brother at HIS APPOINTED TIME. I also learned that like Mary Magdalene that those who have been forgiven much are the ones that sit at His feet and are on fire for the Lord for how much and how far He went to save them.
I also loved the tip about if there is an upswing in my brother's life if things suddenly go well for him to keep my eyes on the Lord to finish what He started.
I love the title of this Salvation Story, it's called "My Brother John". My journal today is all about my brother too... There is so much in this Salvation Story about John which is similar to what my younger brother experienced in His life.
Recently my sister and I tried to set up a meeting with a man who overcame his own drug addiction and has started up his own ministry to help others. Unfortunately, before it could happen, my brother disappeared again. So HH has been showing us there is absolutely nothing we can do in our strength to save our brother. We have to "Let Go and Let God".
I learned that like John my brother also needs to hit rock bottom where my HH can pick him up! And also where he needs to get in order to be ready for HH makeover on His life. I have to believe that as radically as my HH changed Brother John he will do the same for my brother Heini.
I was so happy to read that there was nothing John's family (who were in ministry) could do to help him and that like John my brother needs to come to the APPOINTED TIME, the time my HH has set aside to turn his life around.
When I read this testimony I was firstly amazed at how similar John's situation was to my brother's life. I also love the testimony of the former drug addict who became a powerful evangelist after going down the wicked road for a time. My brother is no longer a teenager or a young man but actually a fully grown adult. So I am very encouraged by this testimony knowing that my HH is never too late but right on time!!
I will be living out these principles by sharing them with my sister and meditating on the scriptures and also speaking to my Love about it whenever I think of my brother or become worried or anxious for him as I have heard that he spent a night in jail and also that he has been seen standing on shop corners and it looks as if he is selling drugs, it has been hard on my sister as she drives past seeing him all the time and knowing there is nothing she can do. So I am encouraging her as well and will be sharing these scriptures with her. I am also fasting.
My dear wonderful and precious love. Forgive me for my unbelief. I have been trusting You for so many years for my brother to save him and transform him. Thank you that you have an appointed time for my brother and that your word says that you don't want anyone to perish but to have life and not just any life but an abundant life!
Dear Friend, like you I cannot WAIT for the day when I get to sit down and listen to the Salvation Story of a loved one, listen and hear how our wonderful Lord went about saving and transforming them :))
Then the Lord answered me and said,
“Record the vision
And inscribe it on tablets,
That [a]the one who reads it may run.
“For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
For it will certainly come, it will not delay.
God's appointed time to turn things around in my brother's life and to radically change him will come. I also love this version:
Habakkuk 2:2-3 New English Translation (NET Bible)
The Lord Assures Habakkuk
The Lord responded: Write down this message.
Record it legibly on tablets
so the one who announces it may read it easily.
For the message is a witness to what is decreed;
it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out.
Even if the message is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently; for it will certainly come to pass—it will not arrive late.
"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”