C U A T R O A M I G O S - Proclaiming the Truth about Death

Mike's Testimony - Page 1

I grew up what you would affectionately call a "Half-baked Catholic". What this means is that in my family, we believed that we were Catholic, as we were baptized in the church. We only went to church on certain days, i.e. Easter or Christmas. Whenever I had the chance, I would question the priests or chaplains about issues that I had with the church. Of course, I was always told to have more faith and that the leadership, which was appointed by God, knew what they were doing.

I remember being around 5 or 6 years old when we had this curious family move onto our block. I would always see the dad outside praying over his car or over other things. I remember my own father making fun of the "Jesus Freak" across the street. One Sunday, our neighbor invited my sister and me to go with them to church. We accepted and seemed to really enjoy church. I remember being in Sunday school and hearing about Jesus and His love. Then I remember being in church and hearing that we were all sinners and that we were going to go to Hell if we didn't accept Jesus as our savior. So, I did what any 5 or 6 year old would do at that point. I hurriedly walked down the aisles and accepted Christ into my heart so that I wouldn't go to Hell. We moved from San Jose a short while after that and I continued on with growing up and doing all the things kids and teenagers do. The problem was, I had left Jesus behind in San Jose and not included him in my life. I became a man who was only interested in what the world offered: alcohol, women and sex. I found myself even dating other married women when I was in college and thinking how cool I was for doing it.

Mike's Testimony >