Northwestresident
Rookie
- Dec 17, 2021
- 18
- 11
- 1
I am a Christian. I have a testimony. I would like to have others hear it.
In the first part of 1982, I was a practicing alcoholic. Sometimes I drove a car drunk.
On March 28th, 1982, I was in Tacoma, WA. My father, mother, and brother were in Bellevue, WA. To celebrate my mom's birthday, the three of them went to have dinner at a chinese restaurant in Seattle. On the way home, they had a head-on collision with a drunk driver. The three of them were taken to Harborview Hospital.
The following day, someone at Harborview called me and told me what had happened. I went to see my family immediately. My mom was in the ICU. My dad and brother were in better condition, so they were elsewhere in the hospital.
I stood in the ICU beside my mother's bed. She had been hit on the head very hard. She was unconscious. She was on a ventilator. Her head was shaved. I thought to myself that the person responsible for this should be killed. Then it occurred to me that the person responsible might be at Harborview. I thought to myself that if that person was also on life-support, it would probably be easy to disconnect it.
I went to the desk at the ICU and asked the woman there if the person who had hit my family was at Harborview. She said yes, and she said he was at Harborview Hall. That was across the street. I left the ICU and went across the street to Harborview Hall. I tried the front door. It was locked. This was in the middle of the daytime. Then it occurred to me that there might be a tunnel underground between the main Harborview building and Harborview Hall. I went back to the main building and went downstairs. There was a tunnel, but the door to that was locked. I gave up. On the basis of what I have learned since then, that guy was probably not at Harborview. Nonetheless, I wonder if I would have killed him if I had actually found him.
I had been a drunk driver, but I had been thinking that another drunk driver should die because he hit my family. That was pure hypocrisy. I believe that that incident showed me that I was a sinner. I did not undergo a religious conversion at that time, but I think a seed was planted in my mind.
Several days later, mom died. My father and brother eventually left the hospital without any permanent injury.
Several weeks later, I went to Alcoholics Anonymous. I got sober. Eventually, I met some people in AA who were Christians. I heard their testimony. I believe their testimony combined in my mind with what I had experienced that day at the hospital. Eventually, I accepted Christ as Lord and Savior.
It's been a long time since the 1980s. A lot has happened. I am still following Christ. I have attempted many times to witness to unbelievers. I am glad I do not live in a country where Christianity is illegal.
I said I was a sinner. In the Bible, in Romans 3:23, it says "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,...". That means everyone has sinned and failed to meet God's moral standards. That applies to everyone reading these words. Later in the Bible, in Romans 6:23, it says "For the wages of sin is death...". That means the payment that is due for sin is eternal separation from God in Hell. In other words, everyone deserves to go to Hell because of their sins. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, it says "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,...". Jesus made it possible for you to be saved from the penalty for your sins.
Here is how you can be saved: You need to be convinced that you are a sinner. You need to be convinced that your sins condemn you to Hell. You need to be convinced that you can't solve the problem by doing good works. Be genuinely sorry for your sins. Turn in your heart from sin to God. Become willing to obey God unconditionally. Believe with all your heart that Jesus is God, that he never sinned, that he died for your sins, and that he rose from the dead. If you believe that, God will make an exchange. He will count your sins as Christ's sins, so he pays for them on the cross. He will count Christ's perfect righteousness as yours. On the basis of those two things, God will declare you to be righteous. That means you will go to heaven when you die.
In the first part of 1982, I was a practicing alcoholic. Sometimes I drove a car drunk.
On March 28th, 1982, I was in Tacoma, WA. My father, mother, and brother were in Bellevue, WA. To celebrate my mom's birthday, the three of them went to have dinner at a chinese restaurant in Seattle. On the way home, they had a head-on collision with a drunk driver. The three of them were taken to Harborview Hospital.
The following day, someone at Harborview called me and told me what had happened. I went to see my family immediately. My mom was in the ICU. My dad and brother were in better condition, so they were elsewhere in the hospital.
I stood in the ICU beside my mother's bed. She had been hit on the head very hard. She was unconscious. She was on a ventilator. Her head was shaved. I thought to myself that the person responsible for this should be killed. Then it occurred to me that the person responsible might be at Harborview. I thought to myself that if that person was also on life-support, it would probably be easy to disconnect it.
I went to the desk at the ICU and asked the woman there if the person who had hit my family was at Harborview. She said yes, and she said he was at Harborview Hall. That was across the street. I left the ICU and went across the street to Harborview Hall. I tried the front door. It was locked. This was in the middle of the daytime. Then it occurred to me that there might be a tunnel underground between the main Harborview building and Harborview Hall. I went back to the main building and went downstairs. There was a tunnel, but the door to that was locked. I gave up. On the basis of what I have learned since then, that guy was probably not at Harborview. Nonetheless, I wonder if I would have killed him if I had actually found him.
I had been a drunk driver, but I had been thinking that another drunk driver should die because he hit my family. That was pure hypocrisy. I believe that that incident showed me that I was a sinner. I did not undergo a religious conversion at that time, but I think a seed was planted in my mind.
Several days later, mom died. My father and brother eventually left the hospital without any permanent injury.
Several weeks later, I went to Alcoholics Anonymous. I got sober. Eventually, I met some people in AA who were Christians. I heard their testimony. I believe their testimony combined in my mind with what I had experienced that day at the hospital. Eventually, I accepted Christ as Lord and Savior.
It's been a long time since the 1980s. A lot has happened. I am still following Christ. I have attempted many times to witness to unbelievers. I am glad I do not live in a country where Christianity is illegal.
I said I was a sinner. In the Bible, in Romans 3:23, it says "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,...". That means everyone has sinned and failed to meet God's moral standards. That applies to everyone reading these words. Later in the Bible, in Romans 6:23, it says "For the wages of sin is death...". That means the payment that is due for sin is eternal separation from God in Hell. In other words, everyone deserves to go to Hell because of their sins. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, it says "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,...". Jesus made it possible for you to be saved from the penalty for your sins.
Here is how you can be saved: You need to be convinced that you are a sinner. You need to be convinced that your sins condemn you to Hell. You need to be convinced that you can't solve the problem by doing good works. Be genuinely sorry for your sins. Turn in your heart from sin to God. Become willing to obey God unconditionally. Believe with all your heart that Jesus is God, that he never sinned, that he died for your sins, and that he rose from the dead. If you believe that, God will make an exchange. He will count your sins as Christ's sins, so he pays for them on the cross. He will count Christ's perfect righteousness as yours. On the basis of those two things, God will declare you to be righteous. That means you will go to heaven when you die.
