Whom Do I Think I Am?

Well now, I guess the best way to answer that question is to share with you a little about myself, my personal testimony if you will...

My Testimony
By Gerald Andre

I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for this moment to share with you my own personal testimony of how I came to have a personal relationship with Christ Jesus our Lord. I continue to ask God the Father to bless you & your families always. May His love & grace be poured out upon you in unmeasured portions. I pray for our nation, our leaders and all of the peoples of the whole earth, that the faith of the church will remain true to their first love. I share with you prayers and blessings from our church to all of my brothers and sisters in Christ of all the nations of earth and pray that 'peace and love' be with all of you.

I personally was never raised as a Christian in a Christian family enviroment. I came from a home that did not practice the Christian faith (my mother was of the Episcopalian background and I was sprinkled with water in an act of infant baptism when I was born). We had a bible on our bookshelf at home and I was sent off to the occasional Sunday school with family friends when I was younger, but that was the full extent of my religious or faith-based experiences.

My dad was a sailor in the US Navy and would be constantly away for up to 6-9 months at a time. My mother had to raise me and my siblings (brother & sister) without the continuous wisdom and discipline of a father. I did many bad things in my youth that today I truly regret. I stole better than a professional thief, I lied like the slickest con-artist, I drank till I would simply black out & I cursed and spit out vulgarities that would make the toughest sailor blush.

The Lord Jesus Christ began disciplining me at an early age. On three seperate occassions alone, I can remember that I should have died. Once by electric shock, once by drowning, and lastly a major fall on my head. But God was always present and each time He helped me to survive. He wasn't quite finished with me and He had many more plans for me that I never even knew or even considered yet.

In 1982, I joined the US Marine Corps. I eventually found myself stationed in the Middle East {Kuwait}. My parents had just presented to me a new leather bound bible to read during April 1990 and I also found out that my dad had recently accepted Christ as his personal Lord & Savior. On August 1990, I was involved in the Persian Gulf War. Because of the sin in my life, God allowed for me to become a prisoner of war / hostage / human shield of Saddam Hussein for 130 days. It was then, while in captivity that I began to read the bible which my parents had given to me earlier in the year and it was then, that Jesus began to prepare my heart for a place for the Holy Spirit.

After I was released from Iraq. I soon got married and had a daughter about one year later. Her name is Tara and she was born with medical complications ('gastroschesis'; this is when the intestines are exposed on the outside of the stomach, due to a rupture or pin-hole in the stomach cells/lining during development while in the womb) at the time of her birth. I broke down and wept and sought God's face and His direction in my life. I finally accepted Jesus Christ as my own personal Lord and Savior on October 1993. I have given Him my heart as His own personal throne.

Today, Jesus has blessed me with a beautiful wife. Four daughters, a home to live in, plenty of food to eat, enough clothes to wear, no earthly worries or cares, a changed heart and a great hunger to serve Him in all things.

Now that you know who I am, do you know who Jesus is?

It is written in Mark 8:27-29 (NASB); when Jesus asks Peter, "Who do the people say that I am?"....

Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, "Who do people say that I am?"

They told Him, saying, "John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets."
And He continued, by questioning them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ (Messiah)."

It is written in James 1:12

'Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the Crown of Life which the Lord (Jesus) has promised to those who love Him.'

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.