Untitled Sermon

Testimony

January 11, 1999, I was leaving Louisville KY in my Freightliner for Marten Transport and had a terrible accident. I was sick and had called off, but I was unable to take time off because the driver I was replacing had injured himself and nobody else could be found. On my way out of town I passed out at the wheel and when I opened my eyes I was still on the highway and in the left lane. I didn't know where I was and panicked and turned the wheel to the left going up a ramp that curved sharply to the left. I was going so fast I couldn't slow down in time to make the curve and slowly heard the creaking of the trailer as it started to tip over. The last words out of my mouth were "Here we go".

When I came to I was outside laying on water and snow. The weather was quite cold and I remember looking down at my legs and seeing that I was naked from the waste down to my feet. The lower part of my left leg was mangled so bad that I thought it was gone. I reached to the top of my head to scratch my scalp and think, but there was no hair, and I was touching the inside of my scalp. I looked above me and thought I should try to move the exhaust but ended up with third degree burns on my hand instead. I looked behind me and saw the load I was carrying. I remember the reefer unit had broken away and slid over my body on the way down the hill. I was a mess, and knew I was in serious trouble.

They got me to the hospital and on a table. A young nurse climbed on top of me and went to work placing tubes and other things to try and save my life. I died on the table. I remember my Spirit floating to the ceiling and turning around to watch the commotion. I knew in my Spirit that I was in trouble, and then a terrible smell came to my nostrils which smelled like burning sulfur. A friend told me I was going to Hell, but I brushed it off thinking he had to be wrong. I mean, after all, I was a Christian. Since then I have learned there are two different types of Christians. There are the hearers of the Word only, and then there are those who, once they hear the Word they go out and do it. I had been a doer of the Word until 1996, when I decided to go against my mother's wishes and drive a truck. I then became strictly a hearer of the Word and never applied it to my life.

I took for granted the grace and mercy of God, because I wanted to do things my own way. But it was God's mercy that pulled me back from the gates of hell and it is His mercy every day that wakes me up and gives me breath. I believe now that God has a purpose for me and the purpose is to share my testimony with whoever will hear it and lead as many souls to Christ as He sees fit.

I have had a spirit of heaviness for such a long time now, and it is time to trade that garment for something new. Please hear these words from .

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me;

Because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek;

He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives,

And the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

2  To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,

And the day of vengeance of our God;

To comfort all that mourn;

3  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,

To give unto them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

That they might be called trees of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, rthat he might be glorified.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Is 61:1–3). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Allow me to share the four simple laws with you.

Four Simple Laws

God is holy and just:

“For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil” ().

The wages of sin is death:

“Sin is the transgression of the Law” ().

God is rich in mercy:

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith He loved us …” ().

“Eternal life is in Jesus Christ:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” ().

[God] now commands all men every where to repent: because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness” ().

And now, if my story has touched you, and if you are convicted in your heart that you need a savior, please pray this prayer with me for repentance.

A Model Prayer of Repentance

God, please forgive me for sinning against You. I understand that, according to Your Law, I deserve to go to hell. However, You are not willing that I perish. Thank You that Jesus suffered and died for me and rose again on the third day. I now repent and yield myself to Him to be my Lord and Savior. I will read Your Word daily and obey what I read. In Jesus. Name I pray. Amen.

Comfort, R. (2003). The Evidence Bible: Irrefutable Evidence for the Thinking Mind, Notes. (K. Cameron, Ed.) (p. 706). Orlando, FL: Bridge-Logos.