TEENAGE THUG SAVED BY THE LORD

I grew up in a good household. I can never recall my father coming home late or not coming home at all. He was a hard worker and my mother was also. They did their very best to raise us the "right" way to make us "succeed". I remember they took us to church every Sunday and on every major holiday. I remember as a little boy attending catechism every Tuesday right along with my big brother and big sister. So why do I say all this? Well - because I want to strongly emphasize on the importance of the one thing that was missing. That "one thing" was a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I understand why we all at one time somehow just fell apart as a family. We were surviving off of "religion" and that surely wasn't enough. (A marriage will not survive on wedding vows made on the wedding day any more than will a confession to God without working at maintaining the relationship. Quality relationships don't just happen, I've discovered. They have to constantly be nurtured to remain vibrant and meaningful).

I was a spoiled brat as a little child and really didn't get into much trouble. Well actually, since I was so spoiled, it wasn't really convenient for me to get into any trouble. My mother gave me the attention I needed. Never did I feel neglected or anything like that as a child. So I guess I'll skip till I was around 12 years of age. My big brother began high school, began doing drugs, and joined a local street gang. All the attention I got from my mom and dad had shifted over to him. I think they assumed I would be ok since I was going to a good school.

For the first time in my life I felt like I was left aside. I didn't really know I felt this way at the time but today I do. I began to build up major resentment and hate against my brother. I felt like he got special attention just because he was a druggie. My sister felt the same way and slowly began to slip away from what we thought was the right path in life. My sister and I both had changed greatly. Our grades had both greatly dropped. We also began to find new friends and dropped our old ones because they were "nerds". Anyway, one day she got into some problem with somebody and I, thinking I was tough now, ended out fighting with him and eventually getting kicked out of this school. My parents were so upset. Not so much as to my problem at school, but more as to the final result of it. The next school year I had to begin in the worst school of the area. This was my parents worst nightmare. Although this school was only less than a mile away, they would drive me to the other school over 15 miles away to keep me out of trouble. They were so upset but I didn't really care. I thought I had shown them!

The next year in my new school was not so good. This school was filled with drugs, gangs, racism, and all other sick stuff. And this was only a Middle School!! Many times on my first day people would push me around and ask me what gang I was from. This was something new to me and I can now admit I was scared. The only thing really saving me from taking a big beating by one of the gangs was that they knew my older brother and he had much respect in the neighborhood. Besides the fact that there were many gangs, there was also a division between the Hispanics, Blacks, Asian, and Whites. I didn't know where or who to hang out with. In class I met this guy who later became my good buddy. He was a white guy originally from Boston. We hung out all the time. And of course this made things worse for me at school. Now that I was only hanging out with him, this gave room for more bullies since I had nobody to protect me. One day I just lost it. I told one of those bullies that I would fight with him after school the next day. I was so mad that even tears came down from my eyes. Now this guy was way too big to be in school. He had been held back for two years and weighed over 80 pounds more than me and was a good 3-4 inches taller. I didn't think I would live.

Finally, the day had come. We met at the park down the street. I'm not lying or exaggerating when I say that over half of the entire school was there! I charged towards him but turned and walked away with his friends! He looked scared! Minutes later, over 10 sheriff cars arrived and I heard the helicopter over my head. I thought I was the coolest guy in school. After this, the people respected me. I thought I had found my purpose in life. Many crowds wanted me to hang out with them. I was invited to parties and eventually even started my own crowd. I hung on to my friend from Boston and he found more acceptance and began to get in trouble right along with me. Little by little I began to dress more like a thug and even my speech changed. My parents were very mad at my change but also had to worry about my brother. I became such a sick person. I began to drink, fight, skip school, and also became a racist towards other races. I failed my classes and got suspended many times. It didn't matter to me, I thought I found the answer I was looking for.

High School time came. My parents did not want me in the local high school. They would now drive me over 15 miles away to a "better" high school. My sister was attending at the same time. That was cool because I met many people through her. But also we had a sharp eye watching us because of my brother. He had gotten kicked out previously for carrying a gun on campus. I thought this would be a new start. I joined the football team and was too busy to do anything bad. That all came to an end eventually. I found a bad crowd in school and eventually got kicked out. So I went to join my brother in his new school (over 30 miles away). I immediately found the wrong crowd there (my brother and his friends) and got into immediate trouble. I did the same bad stuff there. I made enemies and eventually my mother took me out of that school before I could get kicked out.

Now I ended up in the school my mom and dad didn't want me in the first place. I played football and did ok when I started. But the same old people from Middle school were there. I ended up in a fight that got me stabbed several times and I ended up in the hospital. This just made me think I was greater than even before! I would lead fights between different races for no reason. The people had a lot of respect for me. Now I began going to other neighborhoods to party and to hang out. I can recall a few times while cruising, I could see ex-gangsters preaching the gospel in the street corners. They would say, "God can change your life". Well, you know what? I didn't want God to change my life. I thought I was happy the way I was. We would just laugh when the preachers would get kicked out of places by the police. I thought they were losers.

Once again, in school, I got in a fight. This time I thought I was doing right because some guy was bugging the most beautiful girl (who later became my wife) on campus. That bothered me so much. After the fight, Security came and took out all their hatred toward me and began to choke me. I was turning different colors and thought I was going to pass out. The people were yelling for them to leave me alone. My sister, who came to school with me, got very scared and began to punch the security guard. Needless to say, we both got kicked out of school and my poor sister got arrested and then released. Now, I was in school in a different neighborhood and where our rival gang was from. Immediately, I got beat up and my mother had to take me out and was able to place me where I was before I came to this one.

There was an incident in which one night my friends picked me up to go help them fight. We did. They ran and we chased after them in our car. We crashed for driving like crazy people and we all ended up in the hospital. I was injured the most and almost lost my life in this accident. The thought crossed my mind that maybe God kept me alive to give me a second chance. As soon as I was out of the hospital, the thought was gone. Later, at a party, one of my friends got shot and killed right in front of my face. The thought about God sparing my life crossed my mind once more. After a few days, it was still there. I mean, God protected me when I got stabbed, when I got in that terrible car wreck, and now this when my friend got killed. It stayed on my mind. Now my brother ended up in rehab to sober up. My sister, she was now receiving Bible studies from some friend at school. What was God trying to tell me?

My girlfriend and I were now expecting a baby. We decided to get married. We wanted to eventually get married but just didn't plan on it being so soon. My friend from school had a dad who was a believer. I requested to talk to him and my friend took me to his house. He gave me the gospel. He preached to me how Jesus Christ died for the sins of all mankind. He said that all I had to do is say yes to His forgiveness. I didn't accept His forgiveness that day. I thought about it often though. I sat in on a few of my sister's Bible studies but I was always high or drunk. I couldn't really understand the message then. But I understood that I would go to hell if I died. That really impacted me. He gave me a Bible and I felt even cooler than ever before. Yet still, I was hanging out doing bad things. And my brother got out of rehab and we both went to Narcotics Anonymous meetings and did chaos behind the scenes. All the while I had the thought of being saved on my mind.

The end of my old life came at this point. One day, while hanging at my friend's house, we got news that another friend was shot and killed. This was awful! He was a good friend and someone we all looked up to as our leader. At his funeral some preachers came and began to talk to us about Jesus and His forgiveness of sins. They knew we were planning a revenge of some kind. So they invited us to a play that they often do. The plays are about gangs, drugs, and finding salvation. I cried like a baby through the whole thing. I thought to myself, "I don't want to die without Jesus." Death had been knocking at my door for a long time and the Lord had not let him do his work. I didn't know if the Lord would permit me to live through any future incidents. This was it! At the altar call, in front of hundreds of people, gangsters, girls, and my own friends, I got up and went to the front to pray. I had accepted this forgiveness that Jesus Christ had always wanted to give me and even gave his very life to make this possible. I was immediately changed. I still pretty much kept this to myself.

A year later, I asked my sister to call her friend that gave her studies because I wanted to talk to him. We went to his house and he was so excited that I was a born again Christian. This was an encouragement for me. I was ready to begin going to Church and serving the Lord. My wife saw the change in me. She eventually accepted the Lord as her Savior as well. We were baptized on the same day. My first prayer to God was that my whole family could be saved. My mom and dad got saved around a year later, my brother (after endless prayer from the whole assembly), and finally my sister after years of Bible studies, and even my little son who was now three years old. My work in the assembly is now as a preacher. My brother focuses on the gangs in San Diego. I have now been witness to over 10 gangsters close to me come to Christ.

I know that my family's circumstances were different than many. Many may think that they are not that bad because they never got into much trouble as I did. Or maybe someone can read this and say that they are worse and God could never forgive them. The truth is in the Bible. Romans 3:23 states, "For all have sinned". Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death" and Revelation 20:15 says, "And whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." And John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life."

It's not so much a matter of changing or being a good person. Religion also isn't enough. We cannot make ourselves better. If we could, we wouldn't really need God to save us. Everyone needs to be forgiven. After you receive this forgiveness, you can enjoy a relationship with the Lord. Problems still exist, but now I have the Lord with me always. This is what was missing in my home. We had everything except for the Lord. And without Him, all that "everything" is really "nothing". I am now a child of God and enjoy my relationship with Him. I have brothers and sisters from all races now. I can see an old rival now and have love toward that person. And best of all, I no longer fear death. Death my servant that someday will take me home when the Lord calls me.

Perhaps you're just surfing and after reading this, have realized that you are in need of a Savior. God loves you so very much and sent His very Best to take our sin burden.

Christ has paid the debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay.

Dear Reader - are you at peace with God? If not, you can be. Do you know what awaits you when you die? You can have the assurance from the Holy Spirit that heaven will be your home, if you would like to be certain. Either Jesus Christ died for yours sins, or He didn't (He did!). Are you prepared to stand before God on the Judgment Day and tell Him that you didn't need the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross to cover your sins? We plead with you ... please don't make such a tragic mistake.

To be at peace with God; to make certain heaven will be your home for eternity; to make certain that you are in right-standing with God right now ... please click here to help understand the importance of being reconciled to God. What you do about being reconciled to God will determine where you will spend eternity, precious one. Your decision to be reconciled to God is the most important decision you'll ever make in this life.