My friend Glenn's story.

I was raised by two very loving parents who taught me about God when I was young. As we all do, I grew into my teens and starting trying to figure out who I was as a person and looking for meaning in life. When I was 16 years old what I wanted most in life was to be accepted and looked up to.

I didn't give God much thought, and did everything I could to be popular among my friends. I starting smoking marijuana which led to the use of other drugs in which it took me 10 years to stop. Because of this I never did well in school which wasn't a priority for me.

My parents expected me to go to college so I did for that reason alone. In college my drug use and drinking alcohol became worse. All I was concerned about was having a good time and being excepted by my peers. I picked my area of study in business because I figured that is where I could make the most money in a job. I did not take the time to think about my skills or what kind of job I would like doing. Somehow I did graduate and ended up in a job in which I was miserable.

Since neither my education or my job had fulfilled me, I figured that if I could find a wife, that would give me what I was looking for. I started living with a girl and we got engaged. It went downhill from there. Things got so bad I physically got ill and lost weight. I came home one day and everything in our apartment was gone. Even the phone had been disconnected.

I remember this time so well because it was a turning point in my life. I cried out to God. God, how could you let this happen to me? I was looking for fulfillment and all I found was emptiness. I was at the lowest point in my life, I needed to blame someone so I blamed God.

Looking back, that was my breaking point. God had me right where He wanted me. I had no one else to turn to but Him. Even though I hated God at that moment, it was as though he picked me up in his arms and never let go.

At this point God put my cousin in my life who was a Christian. He showed me this verse which is in all four Gospels; Mathew, Mark, Luke and John. Mark quotes Jesus: "For whoever wants to save his life will loose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." I had done everything in this world to find life but had lost it.

I prayed, "Jesus, If you are God and these words are true, I ask you to take away my sins and give me life. God gave me life." He gave me peace. I was still hurting but I knew God would bring me through the hardship.

After I prayed this, I still had doubts about things in the Bible and needed to investigate God more. I wanted to seek the truth on my own and not just believe what someone told me. I read the Bible as well as other religion's texts. I sought contradictions and inconsistencies regarding things I did not want to believe in but never did find anything wrong in the bible, only truth. I came to a point where I just had to believe.

After that point where God saved my from myself, I continued to grow in His knowledge and grace. This does not mean that I didn't continue to struggle but that I would never be lost again.

I tried to find fulfillment in sports, drugs, education, women, friends and work. They all fall sort. Only when I decided to give in to Jesus Christ, the living God, and allow him to fill that void in my life was I set free and found that peace that I had so long searched for.

As I continue to grow as a Christian, I now have a different perspective on the world. I can see the consequence of my own sins. The only thing that keeps me from falling away is focusing on God.

Why as Christians are we always telling the world about Christ? It is not just because God commands us to. He has so radically changed each of our lives, we have to tell the world, because life is so much better with Him than without him. He gives us a choice, and you are either with him or without him.

We are not here to make you Christians. We can only share the good news with you. Only God change a man's heart. I encourage you to seek out the truth and ask God to reveal himself to you.