My Story: Broken to Monster to Redeemed

People naturally put their trust in things of this world for comfort or purpose. Might be people close to you, status, school, job, money, government, your church. I learned the hard way that you don't want those as your foundation. I'll show you how our sinful nature mixed with the world's philosophies causes most of our problems. I'll show you some things that made recent generations so depressed and anxious. How Satan's, or the world's, systems lead us to misery in this life and eternal damnation in the next.

Then, I'll show you how putting your faith in Jesus Christ changes all of that. You'll see that Jesus Christ has real power. If He saved and delivered me, you know there's nobody beyond His reach. You also know He'll deal with the rest in time. Until that time, you'll know He'll help us endure this hard life. Let's start from the beginning.

Start with an Uphill Battle

Although living in many places, I spent much of my childhood in rural areas. Like a good-ole country boy, I enjoyed BBQ, guns, and campfires. I liked movies, games, science, and exploring the cities, too. Many of us found country life peaceful, but boring and isolating, too. We wanted the rest of what the world offers. We dreamed of living better lives in other places.

I was considered mentally gifted. I was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge and full of great ideas. I was socially and physically weaker. That's not a good combo in rural areas. People excluded and mocked "nerds" like us. Even if it could get me ahead, I had no focus and procrastinated too much. People were clear I was different and didn't belong but I didn't know why for the longest time.

Autism

Un-diagnosed autism was the main reason. We're really smart but socially clueless. I'll give you two examples:

Have you really needed to say something to someone, your mind went totally blank, and you were just staring or bumbling your words? And that prevented or hurt the relationship? Our brains often give us nothing to say in social situations. Then, they might stay blank.

Have you ever heard someone say something extremely important, you couldn't understand what they meant, and getting the answer wrong could cost you? That's how we experience many social situations, esp "small talk." People told me I was insensitive, a jerk, a creep... you name it.

Negative side: Many of us have to make scripts handling specific situations. We fake small talk. We feel like aliens but we're at least good actors. We have few friends.

Positive side: We do like talking about specific things and people. That energizes us. The deeper it goes, the better. We're repetitive about those things. They might be hobbies we become experts in. Otherwise, we talk way too much about it to others and it causes problems.

How I chose to live: highly-imaginative overacting, out-smarting them, constant jokes, avoiding them, and showmanship (lying) in that order. Three helped me hide. Three made me shine.

Home

On my parents: one parent was intellectual and shy, the other highly empathetic and outgoing. People usually get one or the other. I inherited both traits. I often experience them both at the same time. I struggle to handle that. One effect is that I really wanted to connect to and please people more than most others.

My family situation wasn't stable. My parents really cared about me. That was good. There still were divorces, much moving around, some people at my homes that were helpful, some were evil, and some were both. Lots of trauma. I also spent more time around women than men since I lived with my mother. It was hard to hang out with men from then on.

I'm just briefly mentioning these things since they affected everything else.

Rough School

Instead of empathy, the black school I went to made me hate being white. Group identity, like skin color, determined how people saw you. Whites were seen as oppressors who never did anything good, deserve no credit due to their advantages, stole their inventions from everyone else, and must always be resisted. Blacks were disadvantaged, victims, could never be or do wrong, should never trust anything from white people (even educational programs), and would never succeed in a society that was 100% racist.


This worldview didn't just make unity impossible: it encouraged mocking, excluding, and beating white people. The attacks were often many on one. They did black people the same when they said they acted "too white" or "not black enough." Today, critical, race theory and Marxism promote the same ideas with the same, horrible results.

In our school, people responded in different ways. Most had defeatist attitudes that made them coast by. Those trying to be like gang leaders and thug rappers were about slinging hard drugs, dumping women after using them for sex, robbing people in their neighborhoods, murdering the opposition, and rebelling against authority and legitimate work. Far from victims, they *loved* what they did, stayed bragging about it, recruited others, and would beat them if they tried to leave.


More rarely, people said they'd succeed at their dreams with hard work. Racism was an obstacle they'd overcome. Some were also about people being good to each other. One or two of them were my best friends.

I stayed so confused. If the environment defined us, why did they have wildly different views?

Later, I realized what drove it was mainly their parents, peers, and role models (esp black celebrities). What was ruining those black communities were people focusing on personal fun over stable families, seeing racism everywhere, and living like thugs. Whereas, those doing better were learning about God, love, justice, hard work, perseverance, and other virtues.


Some teachers instilled those virtues in us. They really cared. They did what they could for us bad kids in a bad environment. I thank God for those people because they're the only reason I didn't turn into a racist. If you want to improve those places, now you know where to start.

What were the lasting effects? My time in that black school taught me to dodge problems or verbally take on whole crowds. Trying to be black and show out to fit in got more hate. I got stuck with being a half-white, half-black nerd. People in two worlds walk a tight rope with no group to belong to. I got paranoid thinking through everything I did, worrying what people thought, and being ready for any problem. Even in Christ, those old habits can sneak back in.

I went to white, suburban schools later. That was much easier. I mostly had the normal struggles teenagers have. So, I'll skip those.

High School’s Hardest Lessons

In high school, many things happened. Mainly, I learned about programming, hacking, anarchy, and Jesus. Programming let me make my imagination a reality. Hacking let outcasts control others. We studied for a bright future guaranteed by our capitalist, Christian democracy.

Then, we started to see the lies. The businesses were laying people off in mass, abusing them in the workplace, and many worked two to three jobs with no benefits. Our government wasn't helping them but did give billions to rich companies. They did it because they took bribes which prior generations rewarded with re-election instead of prison. Everything up to that point put us $5 trillion in debt. We were supposed to pay that without good jobs. Many students turned to socialism since Nordic and European countries appeared to be solving those problems.


Then, we watched thousands get murdered on 9/11. Students wanted to fight the Saudi terrorists. Instead, our President's lies sent many to Iraq which killed more Americans than 9/11. Over 100,000 innocent people died over there. The media, esp Fox, would lie that our strikes were successful while overseas outlets, like the UK's, would show actual videos of bombs missing and kids dying instead. Our system was pervasively corrupt. Some people turned to anarchy, military training, and prepared for the worst.


While doing that, I also tried Jesus in case He could help. Like today, most people in churches talked a focus on Christ until it cost them time, money, or worldly attachments. Instead of abhorring sin, it was in all their entertainment. Racial segregation existed across churches, cliques inside of them, and they’d ignore or mock outsiders. Instead of outreach and the poor, most money went to big buildings, bureaucracies, and events to make well off people feel more comfortable. The homeless and orphans couldn’t stay in their many, empty rooms. Pastors' comments on science showed they never actually read it. They put politics before the Bible, too.


I lost trust in them all. Maybe religion was just lies we told ourselves to feel better about life or justify our actions. I might have been a Pharisee myself and not even had the Spirit. Who knows. I walked out on church and God. I'd later throw a pamphlet with God's Word in a toilet, show Him what I really thought, and flush it afterward. Many denominations said such apostasy is like re-crucifying Jesus: I'd never be forgiven. That was fine with me.

Be Badder, Better, and Best

New philosophy: "I'd Rather Die on My Feet Than Live On My Knees!"

I'd solve the hardest problems myself. I put all my time into inventing or improving things. I'd study the best humanity had to offer, esp their lessons learned or experiences. After exceeding pros, I'd get bored and move onto a new project. I handed off developed ideas for others to build. Finishing what I started wouldn't be as fun. Chasing those dreams kept me unemployed or in dead end jobs for long periods of time.

My focus was on knowledge, power, humanitarianism, and fun. I scored respect from people on top, in the underground, and everywhere in between. I wasted years of my life on such wicked elitism. I've forgotten a lot of it but here’s some “highlights" if you want to call them that:

I overcame autistic anxiety working high-volume retail. I became world-class at tech for computer security and boosting human potential. As a survivalist, I was an expert on crime, combat, and war. Offense or defense, my specialty was countering high-strength opponents (esp nation-states). My other hobbies included researcher, educator, reformer (civil rights / anti-corruption), conspiracy theorist, business strategist, video games (strategy/shooters/RPG's), parties, being a martial artist, and I made a few people pick-up artists.

What did it all teach me? Our institutions, systems, and philosophies were all corrupted by human selfishness on every level. Every political movement about bettering the world was self-righteous people doing us vs them, often virtue signaling. The rich, famous, and powerful were all liars. Underneath, they were just like us with similar worries or never satisfied no matter what pleasures they had. They only stayed on top if they convinced us they were worth paying or watching. Others used free services to sucker people into letting them spy on and manipulate them.

Facing death, EMT's told me the well off wished they thought more about God, family, and things that really mattered. Then, they perished. I saw an evil, meaningless world too broken to fix. If you doubt that, read a history book. People consistently pour lots of energy into things that other people ruin over time. Nothing lasts. Why meaningless, though?

The Roots of Modern Evil

The secular world teaches that there is no god, no purpose, morality is what each individual wants it to be, and do what feels good for you. Our universe will eventually disappear into the nothingness from whence it came. So, nothing you do good or bad really matters. This worldview made it easy to see people as objects to exploit or abuse. It's one of the worst philosophies human societies can promote.

With power, people start seeing themselves as gods. Others exist for our benefit, the sheep to feed the hungry wolves. Get what you want out of them: their money, bodies, and abilities. They’ll usually give them willingly after we use lies or deals to trick them into thinking that’s good for them. Maybe the wolves just bite chunks out of them and take what we want. If we do our PR right, the masses we look down on will make us CEO’s or the President while defending the evil things we do. "What a deal!," the wolves say. What an invitation. I slowly started thinking more like them.

Playing with the Other Side

Getting into the occult didn't help. Trying to hear from spirits, do dream control, astral projection to other realms, and manipulate others' lives. Most involved are scammers trying to get attention, money, or sex. Encountering real power started out fun but always goes really bad in the long run. No surprise since Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

I'll tell you his game with the occult. If it seems good, like dreams or meditations, it always focuses you on pleasure and distractions while evil continues to consume our world. Like watching TV all week, it takes you out of the game while rotting your brain. Evil people would rather good folks stay on the sidelines.

Much worse usually happens. We were attacked by those things. We'd be paralyzed but fully awake. If dreaming, awake in lucid nightmares they controlled. Some get possessed to be their puppets before ending up on the news for the horrible things they did which nobody can understand. More often, demons make people think they're getting what they want while they're actually tricking, corrupting, and using them.

Stay out of the occult! If you get trapped in it, many of us noticed calling the name Jesus stops attacks that nothing else would. We still didn't believe in or follow Him. His name was just another tool or word of power to us.

What Effect Does All of That Have?

Worldly philosophy, occult practices, and choosing to always do more got me to fantasizing about most forms of evil. I vented my emotions listening to rebellious rock and demon rappers. Having like-minded people around me made it worse. On the Internet, we all watched sick stuff on places like Rotten.com and the dark web. Having sin in front of me at work, in movies, and online all the time desensitized me to evil where it was either fun or I just felt nothing. At times, I barely felt human in those moments.

That almost led me to commit some horrible crimes. Jesus says people like me who plot such evil in our hearts are just as wicked as those who actually commit the acts. The only difference is that, each time, God would stop me with either a heavy conscience or random events that came out of nowhere.

I was an expert on spotting patterns. These highly-unlikely, random events would line up to totally block my crimes before they started. Others' sins were unhindered. I sensed an intelligence, maybe a god, was behind it which payed attention to our actions on an individual level. I also hated God for rigging the game against me with more bad luck than others had. I knew I'd be destroyed if I stayed on course and backed off the worst evils.

(Looking back, I realize I took it for granted that God stopped me from becoming a real monster. It never dawned on me then that He was protecting me from myself. Protecting others, too.)

If Not Forward, Then Sideways

I started pursuing more ego and pleasure. That included lots of pirated movies, music, and porn. People loved the quality of mine so much they bought it from me. But what entertained me the most was stirring people up by roasting and debating them. For roasts, I had sharp wit. I always had comebacks to anything and I would make them give up first. In debates, I liked devils advocating on the worst topics to trigger others hardest. I'd say it was to show hard truths to cause positive change. That was partly true.

Actually, I just enjoyed making others look like fools and humiliating them. I justified it to myself saying their ignorance and apathy caused most of society's problems. I destroyed people's faith in their politics and religions, esp Jesus. Whereas, I gave away "real" knowledge for free to anyone it would help. Boosted many underdogs, helped people with their projects, and some patented what they learned from me. Fans of my humor, debates, advice, and charity all gave me regular doses of my favorite, legal drug.

At one point, God attempted to humble me with brain damage: my knowledge, skills, and even memory of most of my life went... poof! All I'll say about that. I refused to bow. I rebuilt my life piece by piece. I'd initially hide my disability to avoid discrimination.


For each venture, I’d become a top performer, reveal the truth, and tell them a cripple beat them just to add insult to injury. My survivor instincts kicked in between bouts of amnesia. I joked I was the real Jason Bourne. Most years from then to now are just a blur to me. If I ever got married or had kids, I wondered if I'd even remember their names. I decided I'd not have kids for their sake.


All that time, I was mainly motivated by ego and empathy. I self-righteously picked which people were worth my time to be good to and to build up. I'd ignore, mock, or step on the rest. With many threats and past trauma, I overcompensated by appearing outwardly invincible as I tried to outdo everyone.

Inwardly, I felt others' pain like it was my own, saw a world full of decent people hurting, and I could not help them. This gave me insomnia and vivid nightmares. I drowned both problems out with the strongest alcohol every night for years. It probably caused even more brain damage.

The clock was ticking toward me being in prison, dead from liver failure, or killing off whoever was standing in the way of progress. Although bad at multitasking, I was making progress toward all three at once.

God Breaks Me and Quickly Responds to My Call

The breaking point eventually came. My soul was already calling out to God since His sheep hear His voice. His absence left a hole nothing else filled. He let Satan dump more on me: around $100,000 of college and hospital debt (appendicitis); knees, liver, and car start failing; someone close to me had a $350,000 bail we had to help with; staff cuts at an abusive employer had me sprinting 13 hours a day, once 18.5 hours, serving angry customers; some other catastrophes I'll leave off. Practically crawling under the weight, I called to an "unknown God." I offered to do better and pull others up with me if He would help me. Still arrogant even as I begged for help.

God Responds (Satan Does, Too)

High-potential people showed up out of nowhere with piles of interesting coincidences happening. More patterns. Those who helped me were Christian. One, new buddy of mine was a predator who set me up at work on false charges to get a transfer to a higher-paying job. The setup was easier because I talked and acted rudely and inappropriately to everyone, including her. God's discipline for my sins.

About this time, I was reflecting on all my life choices in near depression. I was thinking: "I'm sorry for everything I said and did to all of you." I wanted to tell as many as possible to their faces, too. Right what wrongs I could. If I could. It was weighing heavily on me.

Back to the situation. My prayers and plans about that kept failing in unbelievable ways. This time, I realized God wanted me to do things His way, not mine. I'd have to submit to Him. I prayed that intention, she suddenly left, I was still employed, and even the atheists involved were stunned by how unlikely that was. What next?

Coronavirus Panic

Coronavirus Panic hit my very, next shift. People started acting like they do in movies when the world is ending. Selfish, evil, and chaotic. The people just trying to take care of their families felt helpless. I canceled starting a business to focus on helping them even though we thought COVID might kill me (immune disorder).

Praying, reading the Bible, and good works were all I knew to do. I prayed to God worrying I'd still lose faith and abandon Him. I wondered if the Bible was spiritual truth mixed in with the opinions of men. Maybe I could pick and choose what suits me. Maybe He's real, the Bible is literally true, and I need to obey it all. Until He answered, I'd keep reading, praying, and obeying.

God answered. I was tired at work when I saw a flash of bright light, felt like a bolt of lightening went through me, became wide awake, and heard a coworker in trouble ask for my help over the radio. The voice was distorted in a mix of heavenly (angelic?) and underwater sound. I've had many experiences, including lucid dreams. This was different. If you experienced this, you'd immediately know it was supernatural event or you just developed mental illness. I couldn't rule out mental illness. I just started walking toward her. Minutes later, she came on the radio saying the same words, same tone, and same pacing. Everything. I heard the future and then it happened in precise detail. Experiencing an Old Testament-style revelation sent me running toward God.

Jesus Catches Me

I asked God how to serve Him right. I wore a shirt with the Word of God on it every day so He could easily create opportunities. God used a combo of that shirt, obeying specific commands, and narrow coincidences (signs) to point me at a woman who overflowed with love for Jesus Christ. I had forgotten what that even looked like. Another showed up with genuine compassion for me but false teaching, signs, and wonders. Both paths looked good at first.

I visited both on the same day. One side described Bible passages in their historical contexts. Then, how they tied into the overall message of Scripture. The other used quoted individual verses that seemed to match their thinking but with no context. One church focused on who Jesus Christ is, what He did, and followed out of gratitude. The other focused on what we're doing, how God will help us do it, and promised blessings of money and power. The Spirit's conviction plus a brother's rebuke helped me dodge the "Prosperity Gospel."

The Real Gospel

I kept visiting the group preaching Christ crucified. They taught me the Gospel. I put more about Christ, our identity, and the proof on GetHisWord.com. Here's the simplest version.

God is a perfect being. He's holy, loving, and just. He made us to worship Him and love each other. We didn't.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

Our sins are many. Everyone who does evil will face God's judgement. His enemies go to Hell: a lake of fire where they never get rest and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. But, there's good news:

"But God gives proof of his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23)
"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
"[Jesus said:] This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:40)
"Therefore, repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out." (Acts 3:19)

Jesus was God in human flesh. He lived the perfect life we didn't, died for our sins, and was raised again. If you commit your life to Him (believe), He saves you by what He did for you, not your own works. To return to God, just say this to Him (i.e. pray) right where you are:


"Dear God, I know that I am an unworthy sinner and there is nothing that I can do to earn your salvation. I believe Jesus is man and God. I believe you sent Him to live the life I didn't, that He died on the cross for my sins, and was raised from the dead three days later. I repent (or turn away from sin) and accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. God I ask in Jesus' name that you please forgive and save me. Thank you. Amen (the end)."


If you meant it, then you now have peace with God. The Spirit of God now dwells in you. The washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit will change you into a new person from the inside out. Now, get baptized, start living like a believer, and get in the Word and a Biblical church to grow in Christ. It will be hard. Endure it to the end since Jesus Christ is worth it. He also promises that nobody can snatch His sheep from His hand.


Back to my story. That's the Gospel I heard. In my case, God had just used impossible events and a prophecy to drag me to a Bible study... on the Book of Jonah. If you've ever read Jonah, you'll know why that got my attention. I surrendered to Christ around June 2020.

Living for Christ

Then, things started happening that never happened before. My PTSD and insomnia symptoms disappeared first. Then, He changed me to love others more, even strangers and enemies. He gave me feelings back that trauma had taken away. Infants started staring at me with wide-eyed fascination, often happy. It's like they saw something else. One animal nobody could touch let me pet it. They used to hate me. During lockdown, I had consistent, inner peace during a time when many, including almost everyone I used to know, were consumed with fear and anxiety.

Heart-hardened people opened up. God would make words flow out of me that were just what they needed to hear. They wouldn't match my thinking style. Random events at work shifted to benefit more than hurt me while others had the same problems we had before. When trying to help others, random events sometimes made that easier or cheaper. Outside work, one person covered a massive debt for me. (Twice now.)

Prayer had power science didn't begin to explain. That revelation I experienced started me off with strong faith. Then, people whose luck was down told me everything started lining up out of nowhere after a prayer. Some who tried to attack or unjustly fire us had sudden problems that blocked that. After group prayers, struggling and dying folks had rapid turn-arounds that baffled professionals. One healing was confirmed by two, medical institutions.

God kept doing more. I'd sense a spiritual need in someone, pray (or fast) for them, they'd randomly start focusing on that area, and improve. Some I prayed and fasted for not only reported those outcomes: they used either the exact words in my prayers or really close to them! Inside and out, Jesus Christ, His Gospel, and His Spirit all had proven power!

Conclusion

Paul says to Timothy:

"The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might display all his patience for an example of those who were going to believe in him for eternal life." (1 Tim. 1:15-16)
After turning to Jesus Christ, who I am, my life, and others lives around me have changed for the better in ways we'd all have said were impossible just a year before that. Psalm 116 comes to mind.

God saved other peoples' lives, too. I'd have killed them. Multitudes of them. God changed the entire course of history for many of us. That started when He made me feel compelled to read His Word, the Bible. While He gave more grace to me, many people believe in Christ by His Word alone. That's proof that a single person being obedient to God and sharing Christ can not only save souls but keep people alive. If you listen to and obey it, God's Word has so much power. The Book of Hebrews says:

"For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account." (Heb. 4:12-13)
I was an undeserving sinner. He brought me back, cleansed me of all that pain and filth inside, put His love and peace in me, and set me on fire with His Spirit to serve Him and others. My life now and till death will testify to the steadfast love of our God given through our Lord Jesus Christ.

What about you? Having witnesses His power in me and others, what will you choose? It's a rhetorical question. Your next minute isn't guaranteed. Choose to commit to Christ right now. If you believe, but don't live like it, then repent and start living for Christ right now.

Thanks for your time. I hope it spoke to some of you.

(Read the Gospel with proof its true. Some predictions He made to motivate us. If you're a believer, this site will equip you.)