MyTestimony

MY SALVATION STORY :)

Hi. My name is Eric Holt, and the following story will explain how I met Jesus. Before I accepted Christ, I was very confused. I had no clue why there was anything called "life." Between my peers, my parents, and my family, I didn't know who really knew what was best for me. This resulted in me being a different person in order to try to please everybody that I came in contact with. This also resulted in me not having much of a personality when I was alone, so therefore I tried to keep busy so that I wouldn't have time to feel empty. I relied on my friends for fun, advice, comfort...practically everything! I really didn't have any point to anything that I did, besides pleasing others. I went to church, but deep down inside I thought that Christianity was something that the government made up to keep everybody in line....you know, the whole "It's a conspiracy!" thing.

When I look back, it is amazing how God's plan for me to come to know him unfolded. My parents divorced when I was 7, and I decided to live with my Mom. Well, when I was 14, I realized that missing a father in my life was really having an impact. Ok, you drug it out of me....I was a mama's boy. That's when I moved away from Mitchell and from my church, Tulip Street, to go live with my Dad.

My Dad taught me a lot, and I believe that he altogether made me a much stronger person. However, me and Dad never did really "click" like me and Mom did. The summer that I turned 16, I decided to move back with my Mom, partly because me and my Dad weren't that close, and partly because Mitchell has a much more challenging school than does my old school, Shoals. Then God's plan unfolded before my very eyes.

I still remember the first time I went back to Tulip Street. I went to see some of the people that I had looked up to in my childhood, and also because some of my friends went there. I expected to have the old sunday school setting with a bunch of stuff in it that really didn't relate to your life....you know, society's view of church. Except for when I walked in, there wasn't anybody reading scripture in a hypnotizing, one-tone voice. Instead, there was a disco ball, a sweet sound system, a big music video screen, and a bunch of people dancing......closely related to what some call a party. I was shocked. I was also sucked in.

Then I ended up joining a discipleship group....not having any clue what I was getting into. Well, I have always been a person with very good morals, and most people thought I was a Christian, even though inside I still figured that the church thing was in the same file cabinet as the aliens from out west. My gracious d-group leader, Danny Curry, took me to McDonald's one day and we, well, HE started talking about the sermon that he was going to do next Sunday. The weird thing was that he seemed really excited about it, and he just couldn't wait to tell somebody what God had taught him. My first thought was "Man, the government's got him bad!" Then he ended up finding out that I was really nowhere near being a Christian. I felt pretty proud of myself to had shocked a preacher! Anyway, a few days later I opened up that big thick book that had always scared me in the past (the Bible), and I finally just said to myself "Eric, quit fooling yourself. This stuff is true." That's also when I told God that I would live my life for him from now on.

Everything changed. The next day, Everybody seemed like totally different people to me. When I look back on this story, I'm in pure awe of God's greatness, because he planned this all along.

Ever since that night that I told God I would live for him, my life has sky-rocketed. I'm happy practically all the time. I enjoy reading the Bible now, and I think I actually understand a little bit of it too! Another cool thing is that I haven't been sick since I was baptized, which was on November 14, 1999. God has also lifted so much stress off of my shoulders since my baptism, which was November 14,1999. I rarely get mad anymore, and I am much more optimistic.

I'm a lot more excited about the future since I met Christ, too. I still have no clue what is in store for me, but I know it'll be good if I just listen to God. I no longer see the church as a government project. In fact, the government sort of gets annoying because they tend to want me to go different directions than God wants me to go. I still haven't stopped being confused though....except now it's usually the Bible that confuses me. Some of the things in the Bible are really hard to get a grasp on....heck, they might even take a lifetime to figure out!!!

Another thing that has changed since I accepted Jesus is that I don't rely on my friends near as much. I have made God my best friend, and as far as I'm concerned, the one that knew me before I was born will probably know whether or not I'm REALLY supposed to eat my vegetables. God is always there if you want to talk to him, and he will always give you honest, solid advice that ends up working. If you're busy trying to get ahead of everybody in the race of life, I suggest changing your path towards heaven instead of trying to beat people to the earthly finish line. I guarantee you won't be sorry.