Testimony
For quite some time, I thought I was the only one affected like this...
Life was good !!
I was 48 years old. My business was doing great. The morning would start by getting the construction crew started, then playing golf in the afternoon. About two nights a week, I'd play music at a club. I always kept myself busy, but life, as I knew it, was about to change and I was the last one to know.
It was April 20, 1999 and I'd just finished playing golf. I came home to pack up my guitar because I was going to do a solo that night at a local club. I grabbed a bite to eat and to catch up on world events, thought I'd flip on the news. What I saw and heard next would change my life completely.
As I turned on the TV, I heard them talking about a shooting at a high school. The broadcaster said that the shooter had asked one of his classmates whether she she believed in God. She replied, "Yes." and he shot her.
I tried to listen more but became sick when he said the girl was seventeen. That was about the same age as my daughter Natalie. I began to think, "What would life be like if I lost her?"
I began to think about the life I was living...
At this stage in my life, I was very much against religion and from time to time would express that feeling. What I did know, though, was what was evil and what was good. I knew that what had happened was evil and that good had been taken away. I played the gig that night but didn't have my heart in it.
I could not get my mind off this little girl. Her name was Rachel Scott and as I began to find out more information about her, I understood that she was the first person killed at Columbine. The young lady who'd said that she believed in God with a gun pointed at her was Val Schnurr.
As the days went by, I realized that some special people had been lost to this world but that some had survived. (Please check the story of the victims and survivors. You will see what I mean.)
For the first time in a long time, I began to think about the life I was living. What was I doing with my business, my music, and my talent? Was I helping anyone with my life or was I taking it all in for me?
I wrestled with myself for the next four nights. Saturday night my band played at Gatsby's in Gahanna, Ohio. I'd always enjoyed playing there, but now my heart was not in the music we were playing. After we were finished, I packed up and sat at a restaurant most of the night, just thinking. I decided it was time to make a change in my life. The only question was "Where should I start?"
I really didn't want religion again but then I remembered that a man I played golf with, Ron Burton, three weeks earlier had invited me to his church. He'd talked to me about the love of Christ, not the do's and dont's of religion.
I knew the church because it was near my old Columbus high school, Brookhaven.
I drove over and sat in the parking lot until people started to walk in. I was scared but knew I needed to hear something from the word of God. When the preacher began to speak, it sounded like he was talking to me personally.
He spoke of a loving and a forgiving God, a God that wanted to have a relationship with me. A God who would guide me and direct me through life's ups and downs. That day I accepted Jesus in my life.
The last eleven years has been some kind of ride, but through all the ups and downs I've learned to rely on Him. I've learned to let go of myself and hang on to Him (which, by the way, is hard to do for an entertainer). For quite some time, I thought I was the only one affected like this by what had happened at Columbine. I've since learned of many people who have accepted the Lord because of this tragedy. If you're one of those folks, I'd love to hear your story.)
During the past eleven years, I've played in hundreds of churches, some prisons and six county fairs. I have offered my testimony to thousands of people.
I've spoken in several churches and group studies about healing, prayer and the love of Christ. When I play the first note on my guitar to lead worship, I always think of a seventeen-year-old girl named Rachel Joy Scott who wanted her life to make a difference and of Val Schnurr whose answer did make a difference in me on that Sunday morning on April 25th 1999. I've felt the same way ever since.
