I just pondered on the experience,  it was so interesting because not only was my flight delayed, I sat in the airport for six hours, just realizing that it wasn’t my time to go yet God had greater and more amazing things that he needed me to do. And that, to me was the only other reason that I was still here. Moving forward, another way that I felt like the Lord has blessed me. I always had this desire to speak in tongues. It was something that I was super interested in. And it’s interesting. I had a friend that I’ve known for five years now we met online and we got acquainted with one another. I remember her, me telling her like, hey, you know, you got to read your Bible, you got to get in the Word. And I asked her, if she was interested in getting baptized, she said, yes, I’m interested in getting baptized. 

I understood the importance of where you get baptized, I think that matters. Where you fellowship matters and where you do relationships. She trusted me, and at this point, we had done Bible study, but for some strange reason, it didn’t seem like to me, any of those things were interesting to this person. I did know that supernatural experiences are what can change a person’s life. Just as the study of the Scriptures changed mine. And I felt like this individual needed something. 

So I asked God to reveal himself in some capacity to this person so that they know that he is real. And that thus far what we have done, I don’t think moved the needle, in terms of having belief in you. I remember going through the process with her. I got rebaptized in support of her and she got baptized. And I’ll never forget, when we went to go tarry for the Holy Spirit, she came up speaking in tongues, she came up being different. And I think it was much more fascinating for me. It showed me that I asked God for something and not only did the prayer work but that this individual had a personal relationship with God.

 I played a part, leading her to get to God who ultimately does the saving, right. There is a pastor, as in Corinthians that says, one person waters, another person plants, but God causes the increase. And I don’t know what has happened to her up until this point. But I just think it was a pleasure for me to see God reward a commitment to him in a way that is personal and separately different from me. So I appreciated God’s ability to connect with her. That wasn’t my connection, which is amazing. 

I think when you fellowship with enough Christians, you start to see that God’s ability to communicate and to connect with that person is maybe not the same as yours. But we see how amazing God can be at connecting to people differently. It’s the same God. You learn more about who God is by hearing somebody else’s testimony, that’s not the same as yours. So, you know, just thinking about that testimony in itself, allowed me to see that not only is God real, but he can connect with us in a way where he works through us. He uses us as instruments of righteousness. 

The last testimony I want to share that I think, changed my life, for the better, was just the encounter that I had with an individual who was an atheist. What it allows me to see is that in these conversations that I have with people, the Spirit of God continues to use me because a lot of the things I don’t always remember, but I know God is moving because he brings them back to my remembrance. It’s sort of like, what Jesus told his disciples, that when you get called into the courts the Holy Spirit will give you what you ought to say to that person. Which means even if that they don’t accept it, it allows God to leave something there. And we know whenever God’s Word gets sent out, it will not return void. So there’s hope there and that’s the aspect of it that I appreciate. 

We have these deep conversations about God. And what’s fascinating to me in these conversations, is that when I go into these conversations, there’s no preparation. Now am I reading God’s word daily? I am, but I’m fascinated by the things that I say, it almost feels as though I’m on the outside, watching and paying attention to what’s happening in the moment. And I get to appreciate what’s being said and articulated. And a lot of it is not me. And I always loved that moment, because it reminds me that it’s not about the strength of my ability. It’s about God’s ability to work through me. And every single time I look back at what was discussed, and I look back at what was said, I’m amazed at what God is doing. 

I’m amazed that I am a witness to what God is doing. To me. I just look back. And I say, man, there’s no way at this point in my life, would I’ve ever imagined, from the time that I thought I would have been dead in a ditch, going to an airport to now have a podcast that’s flourishing. And I’m proud of it because I know that I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for God. 

I start with that story. And end with that story, because now it is making a difference. And now people are being blessed, who decide to press play. And to me, I would have never imagined that I would have done a podcast for three and a year and a half years and counting, I would have never imagined that I shifted from wanting to be an athlete to wanting to be a lawyer. But more importantly, I would have never imagined that my relationship with God. It’s not only just growing now. But I’m fascinated by how much it has grown since that time. And this is probably one of my proudest accomplishments. I am even more proud of this than my college education. Even more proud of than my athletic ability, even more proud of the car that I’m driving. 

Being able to have conversations about Jesus, and speak confidently with assurance of my relationship with Jesus. I’m not a person that’s just talking. And it doesn’t make sense to me, no, I’m able to talk with confidence, and with the ability to know that the things that I speak are true, because they’ve happened to me, and I’m an example of it. I think it’s what’s life-changing for me, and what’s been fulfilling and satisfying. 

I’ll never forget it, I think one of the other things that stirred my desire to learn the scriptures was the passage where Jesus is talking to Peter. And he said The Devil seeks to have you, but I pray that your faith doesn’t fail you. In that moment. Jesus allowed the devil’s, you know, infiltration into his life. But he prayed that his faith when it failed him, and not only has it not failed him, but the experiences that he’s learned from an individual standpoint, he’s now using it to strengthen the people around them. I feel that’s what has happened to me. In that moment in which I thought I didn’t know if I’d be alive when life flashed before me, I would have never known that that story was used by God to show me that he was real enough to keep me alive. And he had bigger and better plans for me. And now he’s using me as an ambassador to share the gospel message. That’s one of the most amazing things that I could have ever asked for or dreamed of. And hopefully, there’s still more to come.