Dave's Story

I am convinced that Jesus died and rose again not just to save prostitutes and criminals. He also died to save church people and religious types. I was a church guy. I was religious as all get out. But I needed to meet Jesus, and begin a new relationship with him in order to get off the ground.

Before I met Jesus, my life had no real reason to me. I grew up in the Church. As a child and early teenager, I did not experience God in my life. In grade nine, I had no motivation for continuing to go to church, so I quit. One Sunday in grade eleven, I was impressed that I should go to church. I went back. I discovered that church hadn’t changed, but I had. This began a new phase of my life where I became a religious nut, a holy joe. I held church services in my bedroom, and sometimes went to church as many as five times on a Sunday. Several years later I went to a theological college. I had hoped that studying what I was interested in would lead to success. It didn’t. I still lacked purpose and motivation. I visited new churches on Sunday evenings to see what I could learn.

One night I flipped a quarter to decide which church to attend. I heard a sermon that changed my life. I thought I was already a Christian, but God prompted me to go through the motions of committing my life to Christ. What attracted me at that time was the new discovery Jesus had the power to change my life. I knew very well that church and religion could not change me. Three years later I went to another college. I experienced strong motivation and great success in my courses, symbolic of the power of Christ to change my life.

Getting to know Jesus made my life into an adventure. The adventure continues. Jesus is still changing me. I am not as churchy or as religious as I once was. I am convinced that I need Jesus every day. As a sinner, I appreciate that today I have a right standing with God because Jesus died and lives, not because of anything I have done or could possibly do. Definitely not because of church or religion. I love Jesus, the one who loved me and gave himself for me. I fail in many ways to be all that God wants me to be. My self-centeredness still fights against God’s influence in my life. I don’t always feel like a Christian. Yet regardless of how I feel, God is always there for me.

The daily experience of Christianity as a relationship reassures me that I am forgiven, accepted, and being changed. Two differences Jesus makes in 2009 is I have stopped teasing my wife, and I apologize for the wrong things I say much sooner than in the past. Jesus is my reason for living, my hope for the future. There is good news—Jesus wins!