Like most Acadians raised in South Eastern New Brunswick, Canada, I was brought up Catholic. Parents were relatively devout. My grandparents were very devout. Never missed a Sunday, prayed the rosary every night and followed the dietary laws (fish only on Fridays, for example).
Growing up, we went to church with mom and dad for the typical, church mass. Dad would give us each a quarter so we could throw in the offering basket as it came through. We felt obligated to do our part and dad didn't take this privilege away from us. I may have been a pre-teen at this point and my siblings were younger than I was (as a matter of fact, they still are younger).
Then came the point of getting my license to drive. My parents weren't as devout or practicing at this point, since the kids weren't as interested, dad was drinking a fair bit so church, while still an influence, it was not the priority.
Between 16 - 18 yrs old, mom and dad would sometimes wake up on Sunday morning, and only greet me coming back in the house. I had gone to church myself. They were, for a lack of better terms, shocked. A teenager, going to Catholic Church, on his own?
Years went by, graduation went by and Catholicism was no longer a priority. Dad found lots of contradictions and inconsistencies in the church, and the folks going to church. He knew some of them personally, and their weekly character was not even close to what they pretended to be on Sundays. He couldn't take their hypocrisy anymore.
He knew about a church about 25km away, and they lived during the week, what they preached on Sundays. And to the best of their abilities, they lived it. So he started going there and the message was simple. You're a sinner before God, and there are going to be some consequences, you need Christ. He's the bridge between you and God.
So dad got saved in 1995, mom shortly after. During this time, I was involved with gangs (not a great crowd), then I got involved with a young lady that soon became my fiancee. But when I saw her true colors after 3 yrs, I broke it off. One of the hardest things I did, but it was for the best.
Then they started having nightly gospel meetings at church, to which my dad invited me. My car was in dad's shop for bodywork, so I couldn't go anywhere. I was sanding, putting putty, sanding, priming and working on my car every night. Besides, my soul was starting to be troubled due to the activities I had partaken in over the last few years.
So I started going to dad's church (I knew them well enough, dad had been going for 5 yrs, and I had made a false profession in 1996). This was now June 2000.
On the evening of June 13th, 2000, at the end of the message, the preacher simply said "God, in all his power and glory, was fully satisfied with Christ on the cross, what is going to take for you?"
At this point, I looked at the clock, it was 8:20pm, June 13th. I had absolutely nothing else to add for my own salvation. If God was satisfied with Christ on the cross, I'm done.
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