Richard Surguine My Road To Damascus Experience I was blind but now I see! The Bible, in the book of Acts, Chapter 9, gives the account of a man named Saul who became a believer of Jesus Christ while traveling on the road to Damascus. I believe every believer of Jesus has a road to Damascus type of testimony that they can share with others. This is my story about how I found the Grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. My name is Richard but many call me Rick. I was born Aug. 24, 1962 in Little Rock Arkansas. My Dad and Mother were good parents who both believed in Jesus Christ as being the Son of God who died and rose from the dead. They believe the way to saving grace of God is through faith in Jesus and that is what I was raised to believe. My parents had two children. My brother is two years older than I. I have spent most of my adult life doing mechanical type of work. The mechanical ability is something that has been in me my whole life. As a child, I would take many of my toys apart to see what made them work. It seemed like a natural thing for me, when I saw something, to wonder what made it do what it does. One day, as a young boy, I was by myself on the playground of my elementary grade school that I went to. The school was closed so nobody was there but me. Before I continue this story you should know that at this time in my life I was known by most of my peers in school as being a bully. The reason I was a bully is because I was overweight as a boy and some of the other kids made fun of me. Kids are often hard on other kids, some are too skinny, some are too fat, some are four eyes and you get the picture. Anyway, my answer to the kids who poked fun at me was that I hated them for it and I bullied them. They could call me names but they had to be on the run when they did it. Back to the story, I was by myself on the playground and I started thinking about myself and it was that same ole natural thought I always had about what makes things work? Thank God that I couldn’t take myself apart because no doubt I would have! So, I did the next best thing. I started taking myself apart in an imaginary way. I thought about my heart pumping blood while my lungs pull in oxygen. I thought about my brain sending electrical signals to tell my heart when to beat again. I thought about the ability I have to love or hate. I thought about the ability I had to think up new ideas and I realized that I was a miracle! Then I thought about where we live, on this big ball of earth, located in the middle of space, with just the right amount of everything we need to exist. I wondered how all of this came about? I asked myself, what are the chances of this happening all by its self? I knew right then and there that GOD IS REAL! And, I knew that He was Awesome! I also figured that since there is a God and He is Awesome enough to create all of this, then it would make sense to me that He would have made a way for us to find Him. I knew that the Bible spoke about God and Jesus being His Son. I knew that the Bible said that Jesus is the way to eternal life. I spoke to God on that special day. I told God that I knew He is real and I believed Jesus is His Son. I received the Lord in my heart that day and I knew that He was pure Love. I was happy! I had Joy! I was a new creature and the difference was the Love of God was now living inside of me. It was right then that I heard voices and I turned around to discover that two of the boys I had always bullied were right there next to the school building. They were leaning on their bikes and talking to each other. I walked up to them and I was right next to them before they knew I was even there. When they turned and saw me, I saw fear come on their expressions. I could tell that they wanted to run but it was too late. I had them cornered and what I told them was not the old me. I told them that I didn’t want to fight anymore. I said that I wanted to be friends! It was not long after that day when my older brother gave his life to God as he made the trip down the isle to the Pastor of our Church on a Sunday morning. I wanted to make that walk too so I did it on the next service we went to. I did the same thing I saw my brother do. I told the Pastor that I wanted to be saved and they baptized me in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. It was not long after that when our family quit attending Church for some reason. I was a young boy, growing up in the world without any Biblical instructions. As I became a teenager, my role model was Evil Knievel and I thought the outlaw bikers were cool. As I look back on them days, I believe I was covered by the Grace of God but I had some major problems. My problem was that I did not behave in the way that God saw me as being in Christ. My walk was not even close to being up to par for the young man God saw me as. I became addicted to hard drugs and a lifestyle that could only lead to destruction. I began to reap what I sowed in the flesh. I came to prison with a life sentence in July of 1988 for a crime that I could never pay for. The good news is that Jesus Christ paid the price for me when He wore that crown of thorns to Calvary’s Cross. He gave His Life so that all who believe in Him may be forgiven for their sin and the Bible says that we have all sinned. While in prison, I learned to study Gods instructions for living “The Holy Bible” and to apply what I learn to my daily walk. I have been delivered from the addictions of drugs and I have learned to behave in a way that is more inline with the way God sees me to be in Jesus Christ. My better behavior has caused me to reap good things in life. I do not get into trouble like I used to and I have even been able to help others avoid some of the mistakes that I made. I have a lot of remorse over my earlier years of living. The mistakes I made in the past were very destructive at times. The Bible instructs me to put my hands to the plow and move forward. That is what I am doing. The Bible is true! There were even believers in the early Church who were willing to die for what they witnessed of Jesus Christ. It must have been true because otherwise I do not believe they would have been willing to die for it. I believe that the part of us that makes choices consists of more than flesh and blood. I believe that part of us is called “the soul” and can exist forever in the same wonderful place that the Creator of all life lives. I believe the only way we can get there is through faith in Jesus Christ. My life has changed, not from the outside-in, but from the inside-out. I don’t do what I do so I can be saved. I am already saved because of what Jesus already did for me. I do what I do because I learned that my blessings come from behaving like the man God already sees me as. God sees me washed clean of all unrighteousness because His Son paid the sin price for me. He did it for you too! Brotherly Love, Richard Surguine