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TEXT VERSION
A Double Brush With Death
Two times, I had a brush with death—the death of others.
I was born in Greenville, Michigan, the second of three sons, to a carpenter and his wife. Both of my parents were ambitious, hard workers.
We lived across the field from my grandparents, who owned an 100 acre farm. I loved the outdoors. I loved to roam through the fields and woods, and to go hunting. I loved to drive off-road vehicles through the valleys and over the hills.
My first brush with death,
came in an hunting incident.
My older brother and I were hunting that day with another man from our church. We were hunting in the swamps, which were surrounded by thick brush. Good hunters always keep track of where their fellow hunters are. I thought that I knew where my brother was—but I was wrong.
A game bird went up in the air, and I quickly raised my 20 gauge shotgun—“BOOM!”
Instantly, my brother cried out, “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!”
He had been hit.
Thoughts raced through my mind, in those split-seconds following that shot. “Why did I shoot!!!?” “How could I have not known that my brother was in that direction!!!?” “Did I kill my brother!!!?”
“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (Holy Bible, James 4:14, KJV).
Two pellets from that shotgun shell had hit my brother—one in the leg, and the other in the collarbone. He ended up being okay, and did not require any surgery, but it was a very emotional brush with death for me—but it would not be the last one. I still hunted after that, but it ceased to be an idol in my life.
As I grew older, something else began to consume my thoughts and my time—cars. One night as I pulled into the church parking lot with my beloved Camaro, there was a crowd of people near the door.
As I approached the crowd, I glanced to my left. In that split second, I heard a “THUD!”
against my right front fender.
I instantly slammed on my brakes—but I could not see anyone.
I quickly shut off the car, and made sure that it did not move an inch. As I jumped out, ladies began screaming, “Back up! You’re right on top of her!”
Once again, in those split seconds, thoughts were racing through my mind: “Did I just kill someone!!!?” “Who did I hit!!!?
It was a little 3 year old girl who had darted away from her parents and out of the crowd—running right into my path. My right front tire had not run over her, but had her little leg pinned so tightly to the tar, that it left a mark on it like a floor burn, the width of my tire.
It took me a little while to realize why God was allowing these things to come into my life. As a little 6 year old boy, I had heard a series of messages.
I learned that JESUS
is COMING, and that I was
NOT READY.
If Jesus came, I would have been left behind, and eventually cast into hell. As I lay in my bed one Sunday night, I repented of my sin, and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to save me. “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked TURN from his WAY and LIVE” (Holy Bible, Ezekiel 33:11a, KJV). TURN to the LORD JESUS CHRIST right now, and ask Him to FORGIVE you, and to CLEANSE you, and to SAVE you.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God; Creator of heaven and earth. He is God Almighty in the flesh: Master, Savior, and Messiah. He died on the cross for you, and gave His pure, sinless blood to pay your sin debt. The Lord Jesus Christ arose from the grave the third day, proving that His blood fully paid for your sins. To be saved, you must CALL upon Him from your HEART. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the LORD JESUS, and shalt BELIEVE in thine HEART that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be SAVED.” “For whosoever shall CALL upon the NAME of the LORD shall be SAVED” (Holy Bible, Romans 10:9,13, KJV).
After we ask the Lord Jesus Christ to save us, then God instructs us to openly confess Him by getting baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we go under the water, it pictures death to the old life of sin, and when we come up out of the water, it pictures a new life serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, I just asked the Lord Jesus Christ to save me, and I desire to now live for Him.
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If you will write to us, we have some free Bible Study Courses to help you learn more. If you need help finding a good Bible-teaching church where you can get baptized, let us know.
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