Hi, my name is Denny and this is my testimony of how I came to faith in Jesus Christ...

I was raised as a Catholic, went to Catholic elementary and high schools, went to church with my family on Sundays, was confirmed, etc. I became really good at doing what was expected of me as a Catholic. But something didn't feel quite right. I questioned a lot of the Catholic traditions, rituals, and symbols... but usually just got a "that's just the way it's done" type of answer, which didn't satisfy me. At college I kind of rebelled and stopped going to church almost all together... I didn't feel Catholicism was for me, but I wasn't quite sure why. After graduating, I moved back home... I had my college degree and a nice job... but I still felt a void in my life so I started attending my Catholic church on Sundays. I wasn't sure what it was, but going to church always seemed to make me happier, despite the problems I had with the religion.

After being at work for about a year, my project team moved to a slightly larger area and another guy on our team moved in near my desk... he'd been sitting in another building ever since I was hired in. I thought he was a bit too "religious" at first... some people said he went to church more than once a week, he'd quote verses from Scripture to correct people in philosophical discussions, and things like that.

At any rate, I became friends with him and we'd play tennis or racquetball after work sometimes. He'd occasionally talk to me about Christianity and the Bible and I'd usually fluff him off saying I knew all about that stuff, after all I went to Catholic schools and church for over 12 years! In retrospect, I had formed my own set of beliefs because I couldn't wholeheartedly accept Catholicism. For example... I believed that God existed, but that the Bible was just a collection of well-written fictitious stories that tried to explain to less intelligent people what God is like, how the world was created, how people should live, etc... I didn't believe a place like hell could exist, because God loves everyone unconditionally and wouldn't condemn anyone to an eternity of suffering... and I didn't believe the devil existed either because why would a loving God who is all knowing, all powerful, and the creator of everything, create such an evil and destructive being in the first place... sure evil existed, but that was entirely a product of peoples' own free will... and I even had doubts about the authenticity of Jesus Christ.

At times I'd get upset with my friend for trying to undermine what I believed. One week in March of 2000, I became furious with him for trying to contradict my beliefs with Biblical teaching. It was the first time I ever felt like my blood was boiling... and it was partly because he knew so much more about the Bible than me. :) So that weekend I decided that I'd read the Bible too, and build up some ammunition so whenever he tried to discredit my beliefs, I'd fire some Biblical error back at him to prove that it wasn't completely true. I read a lot, but skipped around mostly... Leviticus, Acts, Ezekiel, Exodus... some of the stuff I read was completely outrageous to me, especially Leviticus. I thought, "Could this really be what God is like?" It couldn't be. After I finished reading I was in a weird, yet peaceful, state of disbelief or something for the rest of the day. I talked to my friend about what I read. He listened and tried to help me understand. For the next several weeks I read the Bible sporadically, searching for answers because I felt something was there... at least I wanted to experience that weird peaceful feeling again. :)

Well, one day my friend gave me these cassette tapes he'd recorded several years ago. They were his testimony about his conversion to Jesus Christ. I initially refused, saying "thanks but no thanks, my faith is strong enough without your help"... but he insisted that I just listen to them, so I took them, and tossed them on table at home where they collected dust for a while. One evening in May I really had an urge to talk to someone else about religion and philosophy and whatnot so I gave another friend a call, but he was busy at the time. That bummed me out, and having no where else to turn I decided I might as well take a nap and listen to those tapes while I waited to call my other friend back.

So I listened and heard an account of his journey to Christ, of how he was before accepting Jesus into his life, about the emptiness he felt. It was so much like my own experience that I was moved to tears. And as I was listening I was asking myself... Do I really believe in Jesus Christ? If I say I do, then why don't I follow His teachings? Why don't I read the Bible if I say I'm a Christian? Shouldn't it be one of the most important things in my life if I really am what I say I am? Why am I resisting Jesus Christ so much when deep down in my heart I know He loves me so much that he died for me before I even existed? Somewhere near the end of the first cassette tape, it suddenly struck me... Jesus IS real! He IS God! He DOES care about me! He DID die for my sins! He DID conquer death! He WANTS me to know he is with me always! And He loves me... He loves me. After the first tape ended, I just knelt down and prayed, accepting Jesus Christ into my life.

And even though there have been struggles at times, I'm so happy to have finally accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior! I've realized how important daily personal study of the Bible is and I want to serve the Lord by helping Him reach other people too. It was a painfully humbling experience coming to the realization that I was so blind before, but it was well worth it. :)