Clara's Story.

I was taken to church by my mother when I was small and went to Vacation Bible School in the summers. When I was 7 or 8, I was baptized. I didn't know what it meant to be baptized. From the time I was 9 or 10, I didn't go to church much, and as I grew older, I turned away from church until I was in my mid-twenties. I started attending a Pentecostal church and was ridiculed for what I wore to church. That was the end of my church-going for a long time. Instead, I got really deep into sexual habits that only tethered me to Satan more tightly. All that time that I was pulling away from Jesus he was protecting me and watching over me. I wouldn't be here today if he hadn't been doing so.
Between 2001 and now God has been pulling me back both by talking to me through my children and by what is happening in the world. The end times are near, and I knew I needed to reconnect with God. Still I hesitated till the latter part of 2007 when I began looking for a church that actually taught the Bible to its members. When I first walked into Roanoke Baptist Church, I knew I had come home.
I now have peace as I know God sent his son Jesus Christ to die for my sins on the cross, and he was resurrected; so, that we may all believe on him and be saved. I know that He brought me back to him at this time because He knew David (my husband) was going to have cancer. He knew that I would need Him as I have never needed Him in order to get through this and also, I believe, to bring David to him. I now put everything, David's cancer treatment, our monetary needs, and even my sadness in God's hands where it belongs. Every day I thank God for guiding me in his ways.

John's Story

I grew up in a Christian home, and accepted Christ at a very early age. The years that followed were full of conflict between my identity in Christ and wanting to live my life the way I wanted. Sin in my life quickly took over, and I became a slave to my sin. At an early age I started hanging out with the wrong crowd, and it wasn't long before I started using drugs to help escape the inner turmoil I had from the guilt of sin in my life. It was an easy way out for me.
By my early twenties I had started my own lawn service and worked a night job. I always was a hard worker and made good money, but most of my money went to drugs or alcohol. Eventually, my lawn service went downhill due to drug use; so, I worked fulltime at my other job. I was starting to use harder drugs over the next few years until I became a regular junkie by anyone's standards. This pattern continued most of my adult life—sometimes working two or three jobs to support my drug lifestyle, but the relief the drugs provided was only temporary. I tried quitting many times and with some success, but I always went back to my old ways. My life was full of guilt and despair.
Many times I made promises to my family, myself, and to God that I would change, but change was always short-lived. I knew I was a liar, a cheat, a thief, and an immoral, angry, bitter person. The problem was that I was unwilling to surrender control of my life to God. I wanted to hold on to this sin or that one. I was the epitome of someone who Jesus said would not enter into the kingdom of God.
I spend most of my life running from God, but He didn’t give up on me. He was always there with an extended hand. All I had to do was grab hold of it. But I had fallen for Satan's lie. The lie that God would not forgive me because of the terrible person I had become. It was true I was not worthy of God's forgiveness. No one is. Romans 3:23 says, ”For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.“ But Romans 6:23 goes on to say, ”For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.“ You see, forgiveness lies in our acceptance of Jesus Christ whom God has freely given to us. If we accept God’s forgiveness through Jesus we can be and are truly forgiven.
A few years back, at the lowest point in my life, I got down on my knees and surrendered my life to Christ. All the turmoil and guilt I had been experiencing immediately lifted and was replaced with joy!
Since then I have been clean from drugs and alcohol, and I have a peace I never had before. Now, instead of turning to drugs, I give my fear or anxiety to Christ. Even though my life is far from perfect, and I struggle each day to give control of all areas of my life to God, He is changing me each day in a wonderful way as I surrender more of my life to Him.

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