I received this email yesterday and I want to share it with you.
“Pastor Daniel, I have so much to say so this may not be very organized, but it will be candid and honest. I have a great marriage, a great wife, and son. When we met, we both attended church regularly and God was a big part of both of our lives. Since moving from home that has not been the case, and we both have said there is something missing compared to how it once was…Recently, (his wife) rededicated herself and has urged me to do the same. I didn’t want to do it just do to it, so I didn’t rush it. I suppose I should tell you where I am coming from. I did not grow up in church, as a matter of fact my family is known around our hometown as being the anti-church. All of the men in the generation before me, my uncles, are alcoholics. Not only that, they will, and have, used every drugs imaginable. Two have spent time in prison, the other is the town drunk. He has been drunk, literally, everyday of his life since he was 12 years old. He hid a bottle of whiskey and took it to school. I have seen violence my entire life. Only two of my aunts and uncles have graduated high school…Growing up I had no money, my mother and I were dirt poor. I had salvation army Christmas’s until I was about 12. I, however, used my family as an example of what not to do with your life. They have been my sole inspiration for as long as I can remember…I was saved on November 1, 2001. It did not take me long to screw that up. I have examined my heart, I know who sits at the center, and for that longest time it was not God. I have sinned, and I am ashamed, but I did not care. However, every Sunday that we have come to church I have felt like you are speaking directly to me. I have faught so hard not to let myself believe again because I didn’t want to put myself out there, to be judged by everyone. Looking back, though, I don’t know that November 1, 2001 was really me being saved because I never turned my life over to God. But I can tell you with 100% conviction that January 3, 2010 my heart was changed…I cannot thank you enough for your honest, openness, and challenges you lay before us on Sunday mornings…Pastor thank you for restoring my faith in God and the Church…”
Now that’s the way to start the New Year off. This is the reason why we planted Crosspoint Church. Looking forward to see many more lives changed this year!