Jesus Makes The Difference - Personal Testimonies

Heather’s Story – No Jesus, No Life
I can recall a startling remark that someone once said to me when I was not a Christian. At this point in my life, Jesus was little more to me than a mere story, and I did not think that the Bible was a book that people actually read anymore. Read More

Tim’s Story – Overcoming Personal Struggle
Though I felt like a ham at a bar mitzvah, I shared with the twenty-five to thirty homosexuals how, from an early age, I felt "different"; how, upon reaching puberty, I was attracted to other men; and how, after eleven years of homosexual activity, I told God, "It's over! Homosexuality is an illusion, a dead end! Homosexuality promises a lot, but delivers little!" I told them homosexuality was a sin, immoral, and that God punishes sin. Read More

Omar’s Story – From Religion To Relationship
I come from a strong Muslim family. When we were young my father forced us to go to the mosque and obey all the rituals. Yet I wouldn't just pray because I had to; I would cry out with tears, "God, I want to know you. Talk to me." Read More

Mary’s Story – Broken Family Back Together
She was having a quiet night at home when the phone rang and heard my daughter's voice say, "Mom! Can we talk for a moment?" What was unusual about this call was that the mom had not heard from her daughter since Christmas Eve following her daughter's selfish outrage at the family Christmas gathering. Her outburst put such a damper on the gathering that the family very quietly began to leave the home, going their separate ways. Read More

Ted’s Story – Overcoming Personal Struggle
"I have a story to tell you, " he begins. "Much of it is ugly. I share this true story with you because I don't want what happened to me to ever happen to you or to anyone whom you love." Read More

Amy’s Story - Search for Identity
For as long as I can remember, athletics have played a major role in my life. Cross country gave me something to shoot for. To be perfectly honest, however, it wasn’t the competition I was after. Rather, I needed something, or someone, to fill the emptiness I felt in my heart. Read More

For more personal testimonies on how Jesus makes the difference, click here.

Heather’s Story – No Jesus, No Life

I can recall a startling remark that someone once said to me when I was not a Christian. At this point in my life, Jesus was little more to me than a mere story, and I did not think that the Bible was a book that people actually read anymore.

Nearly two years ago, I was at a birthday party and as one of the guests was leaving he turned to me and said, "Heather, keep your eyes focused on Jesus."

I was stunned and somewhat irritated by his bold statement, so I laughed it off and reached for another glass of wine. However, I could not stop thinking about the advice that had been given to me.

Shortly afterward, I was invited to attend an Easter play at church where I encountered another person who surprisingly actually shared the Good News about Jesus with me.

Due to the truthful manner in which the gospel was presented, I desperately wanted to surrender my life to Jesus, but instead I burst into tears again and refused, citing my many reservations.

However, my objections were no match for this person… He knew exactly why I had them and how to overcome them! At 23, I finally realized the greatness of knowing and following Jesus Christ. I am forever grateful to those who made the effort to bring God's word to me, and then lead me, to the Lord.

From then on, if something in my life was not in line with Gods will, it began to change.

For example: going to certain parties quickly lost its appeal, as did engaging in gossiping with girlfriends. The wedding that my boyfriend and I were putting off due to a financial dilemma was solved one day when I attended a bridal show and won the Grand Prize of over $3,000.00! I was in an erroneous living situation with my now, husband, so God enabled me to move in with my sister until we were married.

Whenever my friends ridiculed and told me I would be back to my old ways in no time, I would grow closer to the Lord and meet new Christian friends. And when we began to tithe, my bonus checks just got bigger and bigger. God has also remedied my lack of understanding through prayer, Sunday School, and a strong desire to read the Bible.

It is disturbing to think about what my life and my husband's life may have been like without Jesus…

Jesus made the difference for Heather. Today, Heather and her husband know that finding forgiveness and significance in Jesus is not the end of the journey but only the beginning. Now they actively live their faith, share their hope, and show their love for Jesus. To take the next steps in your own spiritual journey, click here.

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Tim’s Story – Overcoming Personal Struggle

Though I felt like a ham at a bar mitzvah, I shared with the twenty-five to thirty homosexuals how, from an early age, I felt "different"; how, upon reaching puberty, I was attracted to other men; and how, after eleven years of homosexual activity, I told God, "It's over! Homosexuality is an illusion, a dead end! Homosexuality promises a lot, but delivers little!" I told them homosexuality was a sin, immoral, and that God punishes sin.

For ninety minutes I shared my story and answered many questions — some of which were mildly discourteous and others overtly rude.

No sooner had the meeting ended, several homosexual men and women, most with puzzled expressions on their faces, approached me. In semi-private conversations the recurring statement was, "You didn't say what I expected to hear." I asked, "What did you expect to hear?"

The recurring answers were predicable. "I expected you to be preachy, loud, and self-righteous." "I expected you to quote Scripture the entire meeting, to say you hate us."

But I did none of those things. I politely expressed my appreciation for the opportunity to speak with them, befriend them, and tell what Christ had done in my life.

I arrived the following week to a crowd almost twice the size of the previous week's. Why? Word had spread that "the ex-gay guy was respectful, polite, and friendly."

Rick Warren says, "There are two basic reasons people don't know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. One, they have never met a Christian. Second, they have met a Christian."

A genuine, conspicuous display of Christian love quickly and decisively eclipses the counterfeit love found in homosexuality, opening the door for the gospel.

Do I hate homosexuals? Absolutely not! The truth is I love homosexuals more now than when I was one!

Jesus made the difference for Tim. A former homosexual, he is now the director of Cross Ministry in Wake Forest, North Carolina. More information can be found at www.crossministry.org. To take the next steps in your own spiritual journey, click here.

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Omar’s Story – From Religion To Relationship

I come from a strong Muslim family. When we were young my father forced us to go to the mosque and obey all the rituals. Yet I wouldn't just pray because I had to; I would cry out with tears, "God, I want to know you. Talk to me."

Once I was on a train, and I saw a foreigner sitting quietly. I said, "Hello, my name is Omar." He smiled and said, "Hi, my name is Bill." We talked until we reached his destination. He gave me his address and said, "Come visit and we'll talk more."

My heart was restless; I couldn't forget about that man. The following week I visited him, and we soon became good friends.

One day I found him sitting in his living room with a dark face instead of his usual smile. He was reading the newspaper, and he said, "Omar, I think we can never be friends." He showed me a newspaper article that said Muslims can never have friendships with Christians.

I replied, "Bill, you don't understand. We can be friends, but your faith is different." I had been thinking that I should share Islam with him and bring him to the mosque. Now was the moment! So I said, "Bill, what you believe is wrong."

He said, "Remember that today you have asked to talk about religion, not me." (Restrictions in Omar's country bar Christians from actively proselytizing.) I agreed. We went to his office and closed the door.

Bill showed me a Koran (Islam's holy book) in my language, not Arabic. "Being a Christian, I have a Koran," he said. "Being a Muslim, do you have a New Testament?" I said, "No, why should I? It is rejected." He asked, "Where does your Koran say that? Can you show me a single verse?" I responded, "Well, I have heard it from the imam (Muslim worship leader)."

I had never read the Koran in my own language. Bill showed me some verses where it said we should read the previous books, not just the New Testament but the books of Moses and the prophets. I was so surprised that I grabbed the book from his hands. Why had I never heard this before?

Then he asked, "Why do you think what I believe is wrong?" I said, "Bill, you believe in Jesus. We do too, but as a prophet, not as God. How can God have a son? You shouldn't say that; it is a grave sin. You will be burned in hell forever. Friend, I want to save you."

Bill said, "Open your eyes. Open your heart. God is not limited, my friend. He made you and will show himself to you. Ask him."

I went home with a storm in my heart. I was so accustomed to following a culture, a ritual. But I kept praying. Bill helped me know more from the Koran, from the Bible, from different books. Then he gave me the names of some other Muslims who had accepted Christ. They said, "Brother, we were in darkness. Now we are God's children."

I couldn't eat; I couldn't sleep. Bill saw the restlessness in my heart and said, "Omar, I think you've read enough books. This is the time to challenge God. Find a quiet place, close the door and kneel before him. Ask Him to come to you in the name of Buddha, in the Hindu gods' names, in Muhammad's name, and in Jesus' name. See which name He answers."

Late one night I thought, "This is the time." I washed my face, came to my room and closed the door and windows. I knelt before God and put a chair in front of me, like He would come and sit there. I said, "God, all these years I have prayed to You. You know my heart. I want to know You. I need to challenge You. Talk to me. If You are the God who created me I ask You to come to me in Buddha's name."

I waited. No answer. Then I said, "I ask You to come to me in the name of all those Hindu gods. If this is the way You want me to worship You, I will worship those idols." I waited five minutes, ten minutes. No answer.

Then I started praying in the name of Muhammad. My heart was heavy, because I always had such respect toward Muhammad, the holy, beloved prophet of god. I told God, "All these years I have been praying to You through Muhammad. The time has come now to ask You if Muhammad is the anointed one." There were tears in my eyes. I waited, ten, twenty, thirty minutes. No answer.

Then, unwillingly, I said, "If You want me to pray in Jesus' name, if He is Your real anointed one, I ask You to come and talk to me." Let me tell you, I didn't have to wait thirty minutes! Right at that moment, I felt like someone walked into my room. The hair on my body stood up. I felt from my feet to my head that somebody was touching me.

I heard a voice saying, "Omar, I am Jesus, your Lord. I love you. Do you want to know anything more?" I cried, "No, my Lord. I trust You! You are my Lord from today. All these years I have been worshiping god, and he never answered. Today, You answered."

I didn't sleep that night. Such joy filled my heart that I had never felt before.

The next day I went to see Bill. Before I said anything, he understood. He hugged me and said, "Son, are you ready?" I said "Yes, I'm ready." In his living room I made my profession of faith. I wanted to be baptized, but he asked me to wait and learn more. Later that year I was baptized.

From that day on, God has had such mercy and grace to this sinner. To this day I am serving Jesus…

Jesus made the difference for "Omar," a young Muslim man who became a follower through the patient guidance of "Bill," a Southern Baptist missionary (their names have been changed to protect "Omar" from persecution). Today, "Omar” actively shares the Good News about Jesus with other Muslims. To take the next steps in your own spiritual journey, click here.

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Mary’s Story – Broken Family Back Together

She was having a quiet night at home when the phone rang and heard my daughter's voice say, "Mom! Can we talk for a moment?" What was unusual about this call was that the mom had not heard from her daughter since Christmas Eve following her daughter's selfish outrage at the family Christmas gathering. Her outburst put such a damper on the gathering that the family very quietly began to leave the home, going their separate ways.

Let's go back to the phone call! The mom said to her daughter, "Sarah, yes, we can talk, but I want to tell you what you really need." Sarah, apparently desperate for help, said to her mom, "What is it that I need?" Mary replied, "You need Jesus in your life!" Sarah replied, "How do I get this Jesus into my life?" Mary responded, "I can tell you with one word and that one word is FAITH."

Mary then explained to her daughter how to have a relationship with God and at the end Sarah said, "Mom, that's exactly what I want in my life." Mary continued by leading Sarah in a prayer of commitment.

Later, a group of caring people from Mary's church went to see Sarah and her husband. When they arrived, they found that it was as if Sarah and her husband had been waiting all day for their visit. Their leader began asking Sarah about her decision to follow Jesus. She told them that she had prayed over the phone with her mother and how important it was to her life. The leader then asked Sarah's husband about his own relationship with Jesus. The husband shared how he came to know Jesus as his Savior and Lord but had not been living the Christian life. Tears were flowing from the husband as well as his wife as he said, "I want to live the Christian life because I don't like what I have become or have led my family to become."

After additional conversation, the group leader led the husband in a prayer of recommitment. The group enrolled the couple and their young son in Sunday School and encouraged the family to make their decisions public.

The following Sunday, Sarah and her husband were in church. As the invitation was given in the worship service, Sarah's husband led them down the aisle to make their decisions public. She has been baptized and now the whole family is in Sunday School and church each week.

Mary said she could not have been happier than to see her daughter, son-in-law, and their child in church.

Jesus made the difference for Sarah and her family. He even healed the broken relationship she had with her mom. To take the next steps in your own spiritual journey, click here.

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Ted’s Story – Overcoming Personal Struggle

"I have a story to tell you, " he begins. "Much of it is ugly. I share this true story with you because I don't want what happened to me to ever happen to you or to anyone whom you love."

Ted Stone grew up in a good, respectable North Carolina family. He made a public profession of faith in Jesus at age 10, accepted God's call to the ministry when a teenager, and attended Wake Forest University and Southeastern Seminary while pastoring a rural congregation.

But his overwhelming dream about becoming "somebody special" often conflicted with the "good little preacher boy" image envisioned by family and friends. He soon abandoned the ministry for the excitement of business and politics. Ted's rebellion led him to alcohol, but the unpleasantries outweighed the good feelings, and he soon chucked the bottle.

He reclaimed his church ties, serving as a deacon and Sunday school teacher. But this brief turnaround was soon derailed when a friend offered him amphetamines. The traveling salesman assured Ted that the stimulants would not hurt him. "They will give you a bushel of energy," he promised. "It's what you need to make a million bucks."

Ted's ambitious personality had always led him to do everything to the "max." Within fourteen months the young businessman was consuming fifteen capsules a day, and his personality had completely changed. There were numerous warning signals, even an overdose. But the "speed freak" assured himself, "I can quit anytime I get good and ready." But he never became "good and ready."

A newly acquired gun became the increasingly violent druggie's constant companion, and he found a new thrill in robbing stores. The "criminal monster" soon shot a storekeeper, who miraculously survived.

The former pastor was arrested. When he was released on bond into a still disbelieving community, he not only continued his "uppers" habit, but branched out to marijuana, barbiturates, LSD, and countless other alluring substances. In and out of psychiatric wards, his Duke University doctor described the addict as "psychotic, and dangerous to self and others."

He was finally sentenced to seven concurrent 15-25 year sentences. Ted came down off drugs "cold turkey" at Central Prison. After suffering through double pneumonia, he gradually accepted the responsibility for his misdeeds and began the long road back.

At Caledonia Prison Farm, the still shell-shocked convict faced two momentous decisions. The drug temptation was still present. Goodies were smuggled into the unit daily by enterprising convicts and state employees who were rotten apples. Ted finally decided to abandon forever the self-destructive habit. He so often reminds his listeners, "I used to be a drug addict, but no longer. I went through a period of recovery, but I am no longer recovering. I am recovered forever by the grace of God, and that same hope can belong to anyone with the problem."

But it was his reconciliation with God that truly righted the course of his life. While at the farm, Ted allowed the Lord to take charge of his life, and everything began to miraculously change. He became an active member of the prison church, and was asked to preach by the Episcopal chaplain.

When his inmate friend Eddie White accepted Jesus as Savior, he asked the chaplain to allow his buddy Ted to baptize him by immersion. With the chaplain's permission, Ted baptized the new convert in a wooden, coffin-like box, as nearly forty fellow convicts sang Amazing Grace.

Ted's family and friends remained loyal and supportive through the dark days, and he was released after four-and-one-half years behind the bars. That day he rushed to the downtown church where he once served as an associate minister and knelt alone, engulfed in his tears, and promised God, "I'll live for You, or, if You ask, I'll die for You. I turned my back on You, yet You never once turned Your back on this sinner. I owe You everything."

Jesus made the difference for Ted. For over twenty years he has addressed millions of listeners with straight talk about his former involvement in the drug scene. In 1996, and again in 1997, he walked across America to enlist others to join his mission. To take the next steps in your own spiritual journey, click here.

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Amy’s Story - Search for Identity

For as long as I can remember, athletics have played a major role in my life. Cross country gave me something to shoot for. To be perfectly honest, however, it wasn’t the competition I was after. Rather, I needed something, or someone, to fill the emptiness I felt in my heart.

As I developed as an athlete, my coaches and my dad paid more attention to me. The more I excelled, the more love I received. As time went on, I worked harder at being the best athlete I could be. I wanted to win—not so much for the sake of winning, but because I needed to win for that love and acceptance I felt from my coaches and my dad when I crossed the finish line ahead of the pack.

It was an identity: Amy, Successful Runner.

Well, it didn’t take long to hit that inevitable slump in my racing career. With each increased second on my racing time came feelings of defeat and rejection from my dad. By the time I headed to college, my days of competition were over. And guess what? My identity was gone as well.

So there I was—on my way to college. I’d managed to survive high school and was now headed for a new chapter in my life. I felt alone and, at times, very hopeless. Honestly, I didn’t know who I was anymore. Since my cross country days were over, I couldn’t hang out with the athletes.

Still, I needed friends. And eventually I found them. I guess you could describe them as the “partiers.” They were a wild group of girls! We drank a lot. Drugs even entered the scene from time to time. But, that’s not what drew me towards them. Instead, it was a place where I could hide and remain numb to the pain I’d experienced throughout high school.

To make a long story short, my first stab at college didn’t pan out for several reasons. So I dropped out.

Eventually, I decided to return to school. I majored in physical fitness management—a natural fit with my athletic background. Well, it didn’t take long to notice that the majority of my professors were lesbians. It really didn’t bother me.

In fact, over time I developed a great deal of respect for these women. They were athletic, confident and seemed very self-assured. The more time I spent in this program, the more I began to question my own sexual identity. While I was physically attracted to these women professors, the emotional and spiritual draw was much greater. Their strong personalities were enticing, especially considering my own desire to regain a personal identity that exuded confidence.

Although I did not have any spiritual convictions that told me these attractions were “wrong,” I did feel very confused. But I also felt embraced and accepted for the first time in a long time. During this period, my friendships began to shift in the direction of gay women. There I felt as if I found community. Still, I was scared.

As time went on, I became immersed in this culture. Ironically, the deeper I got into the homosexual lifestyle, the more emptiness I experienced. I became seriously involved in a relationship with a couple of women.

Yet when I was alone, with a moment to think, I found no real peace, no true satisfaction—just a void that continued to expand. I was confused by these emotions.

Why wasn’t this lifestyle meeting the needs it seemed to initially offer? Why did my heart still feel so hollow?

I know now that God had begun a radical work in my life. Quite honestly, it was a very painful and slow process. Complicating this whole thing was the fact that my initial encounters with Christians left much to be desired. They seemed pushy, arrogant and extremely judgmental. Who were they, after all, to tell me how I should and should not live my life?

Thankfully, God continued to tug at my heart. I longed to find answers. I literally wandered the streets in search of someone who could tell me where to find it. Finally, out of desperation I went through the yellow pages in search of a church. And it was there, at a service, that Christ revealed to me His true character—that of love, grace and mercy. When I accepted His free gift of salvation, I was empowered to take a critical, yet incredibly difficult step. I broke off my long-term relationship with my partner. Truly, I lost a very close friend that day. Nevertheless, I knew it was necessary in order to be freed from this web that entangled me.

From there, my story has its ups and downs. The gay community that had embraced me for so long, now turned their heads in disgust and disbelief. Becoming a Christian was considered the ultimate betrayal! Many pondered how “they lost me.” Some even encouraged me to seek counseling—feeling as if I had surely lost my mind!

While the road has been difficult, I am happy to tell you that for the first time in my entire life I am experiencing incredible FREEDOM! I now have an identity in Jesus Christ. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t been hard. It doesn’t even mean that I still don’t hurt or experience loneliness from time to time. Nevertheless, there is great peace in knowing that I now have both HOPE and PURITY through Jesus. And this is something that no one can ever take away!

Jesus made the difference for Amy. She now has a new identity as a follower of Jesus. To take the next steps in your own spiritual journey, click here.

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