Freed from a double life.

Before eternal life … I lived a double-life.

I was raised in the Catholic church and participated in the sacraments. During high school, I even led worship on the guitar for one of our parish masses as well as for regular marriage retreats. But God wasn’t relevant to me; my life lacked integrity. I lived one life of appearances to my family, teachers, and church, but also a separate life that was hidden and selfish – all about pleasing myself.

In my junior year of college, I became serious about one girl and wanted to ask her to marry me. I realized that if I didn’t change I would completely mess up a wonderful thing. A few months later in August, 1990, I was confronted by a reality that was printed a church bulletin ... “Either Jesus is the Messiah, or the Messiah has not yet come … He either makes no difference at all or all the difference in the world.” I recognized this as the the secret to the change I needed and received eternal life that night. I was at peace, and a few weeks later asked the girl I love for her commitment to marry me.

Now I live with purpose and without the inner conflict that comes from living two lives.

A couple months after I received eternal life, I was approached one Saturday evening with an opportunity to fall back into my former ways – because I knew how much God loves me, I was able to turn away and not look back.

I can’t imagine who I would be now without God. I know that I have eternal life and I look forward to going to heaven when I die.