| I want you all to know what an honor it is to have my sister in Christ, Michelle, share her story of Salvation with me here. Michelle is one of those people that you spend about 2 seconds around and you know that something is different about her. She is in love with Christ and on fire with the Spirit. Her passion, in my humble opinion, is Evangelism and bringing people to the knowledge of Christ's love and sacrifice for all men and women. I hope you all enjoy this and if you don't meet her here, believe me when we all meet on the streets of gold you will be introduced to her there. |
| Testimony I grew up attending Catholic school, it taught me a lot of prayers to say, and rituals to perform, but never a true fellowship with Christ.But it did teach me about the Gospel and why I needed a Savoir. I can't remember a time that I never believed in Christ, I just never knew how to walk with him. The summer of 1999 found me: shacked up in a dead end relationship, addicted to alcohol, bouncing from job to job (it�s hard to keep a job when you're too hungover to go in), dabbling in recreational drugs, & struggling to raise a young girl who didn't understand why Daddy wasn�t around. The funny thing was, I thought I was ok, it's amazing the rose colored glasses we put on when our lives are totally out of control. The Holy Spirit worked on me through a Jewish talk show host named Dr. Laura, whose show I listened to quite often.She spoke about the evils of cohabitation without marriage (among other issues), and it made a lot of sense. I realized there was no commitment in the relationship I was in, so I asked my live in of 9 yrs to please vacate the premises, permanently this time. It was during this period, my older brother had stopped drinking, and challenged me to do the same. I wanted to prove to him and myself that I could do it. In this time of newfound sobriety, I began to pray on my 45-minute commute to work. I had an increased awareness of God moving in my life, which is very difficult to express in words. One day, while working as a cashier in a jiffy mart, I saw a man that looked extremely familiar, But I figured it couldn�t be the person I was thinking of, because the last time I saw him was 13 years earlier in the state of Texas (I was in Fl 2000 miles away). I wasn't going to say anything to him, but as he approached the counter, my mouth opened before I could stop it. I said: " Are you Mike So-&-So?" He looked at me like he'd seen a ghost and said, " yes, who the heck are you?" I explained to him that we had been roommates on a military base some 13 years earlier. (He was my baby's father's best friend & I was good friends with his girl friend & we all lived together but went our separate ways in '87. He went to N.Y, and had been vacationing in Orlando and stopped at the 7-11 where I was employed. Out of all the quickie marts in Orlando ...What were the chances!) But I digress, we exchanged phone numbers and kept in touch through phone conversations,e mails�etc. He told me about his spiritual journey and sent me some literature from "Power for Living".God spoke to me through those words with enough intensity to demolish all of the walls and facades I had put up around myself to keep him out . I can only compare it to when the Israelites stormed Jericho. I said the Sinner�s Prayer in the fall of �99 and was Baptized by immersion the following Spring with my Daughter. The New Year of �04 has found me freed from alcoholism, recreational drugs, nicotine addiction, and most of all happily single with an outstanding relationship with my daughter, who is now turning 16 and is a happy, well adjusted teen. To GOD be all the Power, Glory and Honor! My life is not perfect or without struggle since I�ve excepted Christ as my Lord & Savior. Satan hates it when one is plucked from his side, he�s doing his best to drag me down . But we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus! We know how the story ends ( if you don�t , it�s in the book of Revelation. Rick Barber has a great study on that!) we need to keep pressing on even in the face of all adversity, even when your family and friends are telling you you�re crazy. In this world you serve either Christ or Satan, and as for me and my house we will serve the Lord! Epilogue: I never did see Mike again outside of a trip my daughter and I took to N.Y.I think he got transferred to New Hampshire, and I�ve done my share of moving around. But I�m glad he was there at that right time , when God used him as His vessel. God willing, I�ll see him in the next Life. Ironically, the brother who inspired me to quit drinking has since "Fallen off of the wagon" and has gotten himself into quite a state of unrest. May God use this to draw him nearer to the Cross. All Prayers for the Vogel Family would be greatly appreciated. |
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