God's free grace awoke me. Living, but not for myself anymore!

    There are little voices in my head which say, "Why are you doing this." At times I even ask myself the same question. Why a web site from me, to you the reader about me and Christianity. If you are reading this, it's possible you received one of my ministry booklets "It's Black and White." I chose the name because the black and white pages of a Bible can be life changing. I know first hand. 
    I am a pretty normal guy I suppose. Besides almost killing myself in a motorcycle crash and being diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome at age 14, I've had a great life, more than I could every ask for. I've done and seen things that most people never will. I spent eight years in the Air Force as a Security Forces Peacekeeper. I got to tour the world, lived in South Korea for two years, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War and several places in the states. I take great pride in serving my country for eight years.
    My joy from serving led me to a career in Law Enforcement for five years. I worked in patrol, street drugs, and later a Vice/Narcotics position. I saw things while in these two careers that would change how I viewed life. Seeing poverty, death, hate, different cultures, different languages, and even the power of government made me look at life from a different perspective.
    God had other plans for me and I took a job with Hendrick Motorsports on the #5 NASCAR race team in 1999. I've toured the race circuit from race to race in pit support all over America, I've been a part of 25 wins and have been fortunate enough to receive five Championship rings. I've been able to work on the cars of great drivers such as Terry Labonte, Brian Vickers, Casey Mears, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and most recently Jeff Gordon. I'm currently working on the #5 and #24 race team with Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon, a job most would consider a hobby. 
    I suppose one would think that I've got life figured out. Not really. I'm a Christian and that's not just a word for me. I don't present myself as someone who's lived a perfect life. I grew up in a Christian home, I'm a churched kid. My dad is a preachers kid, so believing in God and Jesus has never been a problem for me. I've never doubted God is real. I received Christ in my life at a young age. I believed there's a Heaven and a Hell and I knew I did not want to go to Hell. Throughout my younger years, I tried to do the right things most of the time. I made many bad choices along the way, many bad choices that a good Christian kid should not have made. I've viewed pornography in many forms, been a drunk on many occasions, had sex before marriage, been very materialistic, been hateful, a jerk, and the list could go on and on. Many of these choices brought guilt and shame because at the time, I knew they were wrong.
    As I sit in my home I realize I've had a great life. I have a great wife, wonderful kids, nice home, make great money, have alot of cool toys, and a great family that surrounds me. One may ask, "Why do you need Jesus, Christianity, God, and the life that goes with it?" I've even asked myself that many times. Why don't I just live life and forget all that church stuff. This is when I reflect back to my younger days and why I became a Christian in the first place. The Bible says without Christ we die and we end up in a place called Hell forever. We are eternally separated from God forever. I understand my depravity before God and how that seperates me from eternal life.
    Now, really, think about that. Either that is true or it's not. There's no in-between. Millions and millions of people believe this. Are we to say that they're all wrong, all the people who study and get degrees in Bible and Theology and study The End Times are wrong. Of course there are those who think maybe we should not speak of Hell, you know it's a little offensive and all. I know, Jesus was all loving and He would never send me to Hell. This Jesus exist to prosper me, answer all my prayers, to help me whenever I need him. He fixes my life for me when I follow him. Although there is some truth to that last statement, it does not represent all of the Jesus of the Bible. 
    After all of my life living and learning, one thing that I had to do was read the Bible and really learn what it was saying. I was not concerned with what my friends were doing, but how it applied to me. After reading it, I felt this great fear of God and at the same time this great sense of gratitude. As I read, I learned more and more about how I am this sinful person and God hates sin. The entire Old Testament talks of how the people of Israel disobeyed God, but yet he continued to love them. One thing I did notice was although they disobeyed, He never said to them, "Its ok, you are a sinner." He called for repentance from all of them and those that did not repent he destroyed. Those that repented and understood their sin, He saved. 
    Later in the New Testament, God chose to come to the earth as a man named Jesus. This Jesus chose to die for our sins. This is what we have to understand the most. We are sinners and without a relationship with Christ we do not live a life the way God expect's us to live. God wanted his people to be perfect and Adam and Eve disobeyed God and brought sin into the world. The more I understood my sinfulness, the more I realized how much I needed Jesus. What you have to understand is, you are in the same position. You are a sinner and you need a savior.
    We hear about this Jesus as a Jesus of love. Well, He is. That is what's so great about the Bible. God became Jesus and died on a cross to take away our sins. He took our sin upon Himself. Think about it... would you die for someone? Maybe. But would you die for everyone? It seems easy, right? Part of knowing we are sinful people is knowing that God hates sin and He wants us to turn away from it. He is not saying we won't have temptations. He does not want perfect people; He wants faithful people. Jesus ask's us to come as we are and He will forgive us and sanctify us. We have to want to be forgiven and changed. No where in the Bible does it say, believe in me and live how you would like. Once we believe, God sends His Holy Spirit to help guide and direct us out of sinfulness. We then begin to live a life devoted to Him which leads to a life of love, holiness, gratitude, kindness, humility and service. Although we are tempted at times, God wants us to die to self, pick up our own cross and follow Him.
     Jesus doesn't help and guide you in your life until you summit to Him. I have not read about a Jesus that is about self help and prosperity and answering prayer, that first did not say come to Him in repentance. I think back to my younger days and why I chose to believe in the first place. That Hell word came back to my mind along with being eternally separated from God. I also thought, would my life be complete and fullfilled here on earth without Him. Without me summiting my life to Him would I live the life He would want me too? Think about it, Jesus came to save you from your sins. Why do we need to be saved from our sins? There has got to be a reason. The Bible tell us our sin brings death and a complete seperation from God. I do know this, this Jesus will save you, He loves you that much. Today can be your day to seek and surrender to the only one who offers salvation. Let today be your day. Once saved He will guide you through the Holy Spirit to help you live a life that serves Him. 
    You may ask "Why the pictures?" I just wanted to show you that we Christians look alot like everybody else. We struggle, make bad choices, we have hobbies, we have families. But most of all, we are covered by God's pure grace.