My Life Before Christ

     I was born and raised in Chicago IL. My dad moved away when I was about 5 years old, but visited from time to time, while my mom and grandma raised me. I grew up in a Baptist household where I went to church many times as a child. As I grew older, my attendance at the church decreased to the point where I would just go only on holidays. Even though I was raised in a Baptist home, I knew very little about Jesus. All I knew was to tell people I was Christian, even though I wasn't, and to say that Jesus Christ was my Savior, but I didn't know what that meant. I didn't really care what it meant for that matter. God was not an important factor in my life. The only thing I knew about the Bible was what my mother and grandmother told me, which was incorrect. 

     All my life I was known as the "good child". I never got in trouble at school. I was getting descent grades and I wanted to become a criminal defense attorney and one day own my own law firm. My mind was set on money and women, but that was alright to those around me. Around my junior year of High School, I began to think more about God. For some reason I knew I was not at a right standing with God. I would even go as far as to say that there was a sense of urgency and danger I felt as well. 

     I was in this group in High School called "Brother Brother" and within it I had a "mentor" who told us to write down what our short term goals were and I wrote down that I wanted to read more of the Bible. My mentor happened to be a Christian and saw what I wrote and addressed me about it. One night we were on the phone and he asked me to repeat a prayer after him. After I did it, he told me I was saved. When I looked back on it, I thought it was strange then and now I know why. What he did, was a common error among the evangelical community today. I don't want to get into now but let's just say that I was night saved. Even so, my desire to read the Bible and attend church grew until I decided to take action about it.

     I started to attend church more and started to read the Bible alone in my room. I wanted to read the Bible so much that I received a kid's study bible from my mom's friend who didn't need it anymore. As I read the Bible, I began to see how much of a sinner I really was in God's eyes, even though to the world I was what they dreamed of in a child. It fascinated me that the things that I was reading in the Bible, I never heard about before, even when I was going to church. The more I read, the more I began to cry out to God. There were times when I was doubtful about the Bible and didn't understand the things in it, but when that would happen, I would continue to pray for wisdom and understanding. God, giving wisdom generously to those who ask, eventually gave it to me. As time passed, many started to see changes in me before I could see them in myself. I began to have a great desire to tell others about the things of God and ever since then I have been serving my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.