| Brandon Kohlwes Iowa, USA |
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| I grew up in a house in which my family went to church for about the first 7 or 8 years of my life. From that point on, I considered myself a Christian, although I really did not know what constituted being or becoming a Christian. It was as if I became a Christian by osmosis... little did I know the path that I was really on was the wrong path. I went on to lead the typical "unsaved" High Schoolers life. I got involved with many life consuming sins including partying and everything that goes on with that that you can imagine. My life was on a wrong path, although you might not have noticed it on the outside. In High School I was a member of the National Honor Society, I was Student Body President, a member of Student Council, and a volunteer bugler for the local American Legion Posts. I dated a girl in High School for a little over two years. When we broke up my life was devastated. I hated my life and I really wanted to die. In fact, there was a time when I got up late at night, went to the gun cabinet, pulled out a pistol, and was going to shoot myself... but, I didn't know how to load the weapon. The Lord saved my physical life that night, but still, instead of turning to God, I fell deeper into sin. I joined a heavy metal band, and those life consuming sins overwhelmed me even further and new sins developed as well. I started dating another girl, Jennifer, who became a positive influence on me, but I still wouldn't let go of the sin in my life. Finally, in early April, my neighbor Donna Kimberley called and said that her husband Tom was going to be performing in an Easter cantata at the Saylorville Baptist Church. It was called "Save in the Cross." She wanted to know if we wanted to go. So Jen and I reluctantly decided to attend. When we got to the church I felt really awkward. I was feeling ashamed because of the life I was leading. I watched the show with open ears and eyes. It was the story of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection told through the eyes of the Apostle Paul. During the show I "witnessed" Jesus being beaten and nailed to the cross. My heart went out when Paul kept on saying, "Christ did this for us, He did it for ME!" My heart was realing by the end of the cantata. Paul went on to tell us that although Jesus died on that cross, God raised him from the dead, and He now lives in heaven at the right hand of the Father. Knowing that Jesus had been beaten and crucified for me, a pitiful sinner, had broken me. I was not deserving of this precious gift. I was completely destroyed emotionally by the end of the show. It was at this point that I really realized how horrible I was in the sight of God and that everything wrong I had ever done offended my Creator. I realized I needed out. I needed to abandon these sins and be forgiven for everything I had ever done. I just didn�t know how. Then, up to the microphone stepped Pastor Nemmers. He invited anybody that did not know Jesus as his or her personal Lord and Savior, or anyone that recognized that they needed to be saved to pray this prayer with him... "Lord, I know that I am a sinner and deserve to be punished for the things I have done. But, Lord, I also believe that Jesus is Your Son, and that He lived a perfect life to become my sin and to die for me personally. But God, I also know that He is now alive because you raised Him from the dead to give to all that call upon His name eternal life in paradise. God, I am calling upon Him today. I pray now that you will come into my heart. Save me from my sins. I need your help right now. In Jesus' name, Amen." During the middle of this prayer, I felt something very physical. I felt God literally reach into my chest and grab my heart. It felt like two hands just shaking my heart... I thought I was having a heart attack. Next, I felt the Lord wrap his arms around me from behind in a gigantic bear hug. Finally, I felt like I was being raised into the air. There was no one in the room besides me, the Lord, and my prayer. And all of a sudden an amazing peace regenerated my body. Shortly after these events took place, I grabbed Jennifer's hand and placed it on my chest. She said, "Oh, my goodness are you ok?!" I answered, "I need help." What I didn�t realize is that at that moment I received the help that I was searching for. The Lord Jesus did exactly what I prayed. He had entered my heart and had taken away my sins. The day was April 13, 2001. If you were to look back at your calendars, you would see that it was "Friday the 13th", and also Good Friday. Let me just say that there is nothing in the Bible that says that you will have a physical feeling like I felt, or see �a flash of light� etc. I don�t stand on the physical feeling that I felt, what I stand on is Romans 10:9 �For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead YOU WILL BE SAVED.� I believe that the physical feeling had to happen in my life to reverse the radical life I was living. Ever since this amazing gift of salvation that God has given me, my life has done a total reverse. II Corinthians 5:17 says �Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!� I can now describe myself as having a burning heart and a thirst for knowledge of God and the Bible. I woke up in the morning and quit my atheistic metal band. I also prayed that God might put an end to those life consuming sins that had controlled my life. He did what I asked. I am not saying that I am �sinless,� what I am saying is I �sin less.� Within about a week, I stopped cussing. I got rid of all of my heavy metal CD's, hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth, and bought contemporary Christian, and Christian Rock CD's to listen to. I have made a vow to God to read his Word and to pray every single day, in good times and in bad times. In recent months, I have felt a call to full-time ministry (Ephesians 4:11). That means that within 5 or 6 years I will be a full-time preacher of the Good News! What the Lord Jesus Christ did for me, He can do for you as well. If you recognize that you are a sinner and you realize that you have never accepted Christ, you need to accept Him. I don�t care if you go to church or not; been baptized or not; been confirmed or not; or are the nicest person in the world, you need Jesus. Romans 3:23 tells us that �all have sinned and all have fallen short of the glory of God.� Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that salvation is a free gift to be accepted that is from God, not by good works, that way no one can boast about there salvation. Once again, the verse that gave me the promise of eternal life is Romans 10:9: �For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead YOU WILL BE SAVED.� This is an awesome promise. It can be yours too. Just pray to God from your heart and ask Him to save you. Admit your sinful nature, and praise Him and give Him thanks. You could even pray from the same prayer I listed earlier in this testimony. If you make a decision to do this, dedicate your life to Jesus. You will find the satisfaction that you are looking for, just as I and millions of others like me have. Christ died for the world�s sins. That is a gift, but what good is a gift if you never accept it. It is an unaccepted gift and is useless to you. But, if you accept the gift, all of the promises that are in the Bible can come true for you. I praise God, knowing that someday very soon, Jesus will come back and all Christians will be with Him forever and ever. Non-believers will not be apart of this gift, they will instead go to Hell and eternal, conscious torment, instead of living in paradise. You can live in paradise too if you place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the only way to get to heaven. Salvation is not about the good works you might do, it is completely about trust. 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 reads: "As God's partners, we beg you not to reject this marvelous message of God's great kindness. For God says 'At just the right time I heard you. On the day of salvation I helped you.' Indeed, God is ready to help you right now. TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION." Brandon J. Kohlwes [email protected] |