This is the testimony of a once proud and hell bound fool. I am presently serving a natural life sentence for the ungodly act of murder. Below you will see for yourself how God will forgive, bless, and use each and every person who calls upon Him and use them to do His will.

My parents really did at one time try to raise us in church, but somehow or another they gave into some temptation and they let the devil tear our family apart. First, they separated and eventually divorced. One day after their separation, Dad came to where we (Mom, my sisters and I) were staying. He used the pretence that he wanted to take his children to church. Mom let him take us. In all reality, he kidnapped us. He kept us away from our mother for three and one-half years. During the time that our dad had us, he became a drunkard. Every time my mother would find out where we lived, he would move us to another part of the state of Ohio.

One day I found my parent�s divorce papers. I decided to make life a little easier on myself and my sisters. I called my mom's lawyer. It wasn't anytime before Mom came from West Virginia to Zanesville, Ohio to retrieve her wayward children.  Boy, were we wild. We settled in West Virginia, but there was still something missing. We tried to go to church, tried to stay in school, but it seemed useless. My heart was hardened. I didn't want love from my parents. I didn't want God's love. All I wanted was to escape from the reality of my past.

After living with Mom for a couple of months, I still wasn't satisfied. I wanted to get married and move back to Columbus, Ohio. I was having a relationship with a nice Catholic girl in Circleville. We were engaged and determined to get married, but Mom wouldn't let us. I was only 16. So I threatened her saying if she didn't let me get married, I would kill myself. She gave in. Four days after my 17^th birthday, I was married. Needless to say, my new wife was just a temporary escape. We spent more time fighting and separated than we did together. I dropped out of school at the age of 17 and our marriage lasted two years. Of the two years, we were together for about nine months. We finally got divorced when I was 19. Within the same year, I got married again. At this point in my life I wound up in Illinois. We were married for about nine months when our son was born. He was the only good thing that came out of that marriage. I was 22 when my second divorce was final. Meanwhile, when my wife and I were still separated, I settled in with a woman that was 17 years older than I was. She was 39. Boy, looking back now, I really do deserve to go to hell. Although I was already smoking pot, this woman introduced me to a whole new world of drugs and wickedness. I went and got 32 hours worth of tattoos on my body. I hated God for all the pain He let me experience. Again, I'll state that my heart was hardened. The devil had total control. Finally, this woman and I moved to Texas. I got a job on a shrimp boat and was very successful. After a few short months we broke up and I began to life on the shrimp boat. I quit using drugs. I started reading the Bible, started praying, trying to clean up my life. I tried to contact my second wife to find out how my son was. At this point in my life, I was 23. I started to really get worried about my ex-wife and son. After about a month of worrying, praying and living what I called a righteous life, I had all I could take. I thought I had Jesus in my heart. I thought He told me to go home. I quit my job, sold my bike, headed back to Illinois, only to find a vacant lot where my trailer once was. I asked the neighbors what happened to my family and my trailer. They said that my ex-wife sold the trailer and all the possessions and vanished. There I was, heartbroken, disappointed, confused and very angry. I tried to find them, but I couldn't. I quickly gave up, got a job at a nursing home and met another woman. We began sharing rides to and from work. Eventually, we became intimately involved with each other even though she was married. After months of seeing one another, I fell in love with this woman (I now know she was the devil's disciple). She manipulated me and my roommate into the act of murder. One thing led to another and we all got arrested. She made statements, he made statements and the courts tried to charge each of us with six counts of first-degree murder. Eventually, my roommate made a deal to turn state's evidence; whereupon the state's attorney tried to seek the death penalty for me. Emotionally, I was a wreck. I had never been in jail before. One day, while in the county jail, it hit me, They are going to kill me.  I prepared to die. I called a preacher, started speaking with him every other day. He told me bluntly what I was missing in my life. He told me the Plan of Salvation, but these were just words to me at the time.

Then one night, God started working on me. I was in pain, not physical pain, but spiritual pain. It finally sank in to this stubborn headed sinner what had just happened. God wasn't and isn't done with me yet. I still had that Godly sorrow, I mourned for days over my sins. I couldn't find peace within myself. I contacted this preacher again and asked him to get me a Bible, which he did, thank God. He told me to read and pray the 51^st Psalm. He told me to study what the Apostle Paul wrote. He explained to me how Paul was in agreement with the people that stoned Stephen. He told me that Paul was in prisons. He killed Christians and yet God forgave him and used him to spread the Gospel. So I began to do as he instructed. I sincerely wanted forgiveness. I acknowledged I was lost and dead in my sins. I immediately felt relief. I knew I had Jesus in my heart. He dried my tears. I prayed and Jesus was working with me. I plead guilty and continued praying the 51^st Psalm. (Notice that the 51^st Psalm is the Psalm of confession and the prayer for God's pardon). It states in this Psalm many times the loving kindness of God, tender mercies of God, the need to acknowledge one's sins and evil ways. When I prayed this Psalm, I was making promises to Him. Again, I will state that the prosecution was seeking my death, but they were defenseless against God. They had, what they thought to be an overwhelming case. They tried hard to get the death penalty, but they couldn't because God was playing a role in my fate. He touched the heart of the judge and by law; he had to give me natural life with no parole. Since I have been here in prison, I have let God's glorious light shine through me. I have Godly peace, I'm growing in scriptural knowledge, sinners are being converted, and the Bible study classes are growing. We (Christians) have become closer to God and we have a strong desire to reach out and touch the hearts of God's children and deliver the witness of God's only son coming to die for the sinners of the world.

In conclusion, for the believers, this is to strengthen you and as stated in Matthew 5:16.  Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.  So you see friends, even though these walls separate us, we are one in the Body of Christ. For the lost, please come to rest in the Lord. It's so easy to become a believer and be saved; all it takes is your faith. Listed below is the ABC's of Salvation. Please look them up in the Holy Word of God. After all, when you pass on, you're either going to spend eternity with your maker or your baker. Now, if you have read this and reject it, I'm released from my end of my promise with God and when Judgment Day comes, your blood will be on your hands, not mine.

God bless you and I pray that you will be joining me in the Kingdom of God.

A. Acknowledge Self As Sinner:
Romans 3:23; Isaiah 53:6; James 2:10; Romans 3:10-12; John 3:3; Acts 4:12

B. Believe in Christ:
Romans 2:4; John 3:16; John 20:31; Hebrews 11:6; Romans 10:17; Acts 10:43

C. Confess Christ as Savior:
Romans 10:9-10; 1 John 4:15; Acts 19:18; 1 John 1:9; Acts 16:31; Luke 5:32; Luke 13:3