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"I went to America - New York, New York in fact ..."
"To me, at the time, these born-again Christians were a fairly weird bunch to put it mildly....
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I used to think I was OK, that I was an OK type of a guy. Not too good, not too bad. The good out-weighed the bad - just about. I was OK, I’d make it, I’d get to heaven…look at all the killings, stealing, raping, kidnapping etc. that goes on! That’s not me! I didn’t harm anyone. I lived my life, and it was “my life”, I didn’t bother anyone, no-one bothered me.
I left home at 18, went to England at 20, then to America at 21...searching. I went to America - New York, New York in fact - in 1989 in search of the “great American dream.” I didn’t even know what it was really. I thought it had something to do with freedom, happiness and money, lots of it. I wasn’t there too long before I realised no matter how much money I made, I could spend it. The freedom thing was not that great either, I wasn't an illegal immigrant and couldn’t come and go as I would’ve liked to. And the happiness part of the dream? Well some days we’re happy, some days we’re sad. I wasn’t unhappy but wasn’t bursting with joy either!
Little did I know what I was really searching for, and I sure didn’t think I’d find it where I did! I found what I was looking for, or rather WHO I was looking for, it was the Lord Jesus Christ. Wow! And I mean WOW!
In 1992 I took a job as a manager of a restaurant in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, one of the richest parts of the city. In that restaurant worked a bunch of lands from Guatemala, Central America, a fairly common sight in most New York restaurants. These lads weren’t just any lads, they were “born again Christians.” To me, at the time, these born-again Christians were a fairly weird bunch to put it mildly. For starters they didn’t drink, smoke or do anything that I would’ve termed exciting at the time. Plus, they spent hours in church! Or Mass as I used to think!
Over the course of a few years I got to know these guys and slowly began to realise that they didn’t need drink to make them happy, they didn’t need what I thought was excitement. They had all the excitement they needed in serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
Around the end of 1995/early 1996, Oswaldo, one of the guys said to me on a dark, dreary winter’s morning, “You should accept Jesus into your heart.” I was half asleep as I usually would be at 7.45 am or thereabouts, but that question penetrated! I mulled it over in my mind for what seemed like a couple of weeks.
One evening on the way home from work on the Subway, I asked him to explain the question. It seemed so weird to me; me get a chance? Me accept Jesus? I always thought God accepted me, He was there, He existed, what did I have to do with it? Oswaldo explained to me, I don’t remember his exact words, but it became clear to me that if I wanted Jesus in my heart, if I wanted the gift of eternal life, if I wanted forgiveness for my sins I had to ask Him into my life. Romans 10:13 says “Call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.” The Bible says in I John 1:9 that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
That’s what I did, I called/asked Jesus into my life. I asked Jesus and He came. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into Him…” And did He come in! What peace, what joy, what a new life.! The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old is passed away, the new is come.” I really felt like a new person. In Isaiah 26:3 we read, “You will keep him in perfect peace he whose mind is stayed on You.” In Philippians 4:7 it says “and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding shall guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.” That’s the only way to explain the peace I felt and still feel, that its beyond understanding.
Psalm 16:11 says, “You will show me the path of life, in Your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasure forevermore.” I don’t have to search anymore, all I need to do is ask. Luke 11:9 says, “ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and you shall find.” When I ask God, he shows me the path of life. Its not always happy but I’ve got joy. John 16:33 says, “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
So you see my so-called “American dream” has come true. I’ve got my freedom in Christ. Money, I don’t have much but I am rich in Christ. Happiness, I’m not always happy but I’ve got the joy of the Lord deep down in my soul. So when the sad times come, and they do come, the “Joy of the Lord is my strength,” Nehemiah 8:10. And the good news is if God did it for me, He can do it for you. Ask him, He won’t let you down!
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