RICK JEPSEN
When I was a kid, I didn't have much in the way of religious influence.  My parents didn't go to church and as I got older, I didn't see much use for it either.

Without a lot of guidance, I made my way through the teen years.  I filled my life with what the popular media said would make me complete.  I drank a lot, used drugs, and surrounded myself with people who did likewise.  But no matter how hard I partied, how good I tried to make myself feel, it was never enough.  I was always looking for more, never satisfied.

In high school there was a group of Christian kids who carried Bibles around with them to class.  When I asked them what the deal was, they told me that Jesus is their Lord, that He offers eternal life to everyone, and that we need to turn away from sin and follow Him.  Mostly I just made fun of them, but it was due to my insecurity.  I didn't want to acknowledge the truth of what they said.  What they called sin, I called my life.  But they insisted that God was very real, and that He loved me, and that He would change my life for the better.

I didn't change my lifestyle.  In fact, I got more and more into the party scene and I delved deeply into witchcraft and other occult things.  I made a bad reputation for myself, but still the Christians kept coming around.

One night, a youth minister named Bill paid an unannounced visit to my house.  He asked if he could come in and talk about Jesus with me.  I didn't want to l et him in, but I was so impressed by his boldness that I did.  He asked if I believed in the occult things that I was involved with and I told him what I believed.  That subject brought up the Christian kids at school and what they believed.  I asked Bill why they cared so much about me.  Bill told me that Hell was real - not a joke - and that the kids don't want me to go there.  They want me to see that Jesus came to earth for me, to save me from Hell.

A few years later I got married.  We bought a house and I got a job doing what I like to do.  But even then there was something missing inside me.  I was always anxious and quick tempered and still longed for something to make my life complete.

The turning point in my life came when my Uncle Thurlow was diagnosed with cancer.  It was all throughout his body and he knew he was going to die.  When my wife asked him if he was going chemotherapy, he said no.  He said he'd lived a full life, made peace with his family, has peace with God and that he knew where he was going when he died.  Cathy and I were shocked that he wasn't going to fight the cancer.  How can he have peace with the end of his life?!

When Thurlow died, on the day of his funeral, I asked my Uncle Gary what he thought about Thurlow being OK with death.  Gary said he knew exactly why Thurlow was OK with it.  He said Thurlow had given his life to Jesus.  He had faith in the promise of life with Him after death.  That was it for me!  After all those years of hearing about Jesus if finally hit me.  I'm a sinner!  I'm going to die and go to Hell if I don't have faith like Thurlow did!  I told Gary "I want what Thurlow has!  I want life with Jesus!"  Gary told me to pray to Jesus - ask Him into my heart - make Him the Lord of my life.  He said I needed to get baptized and join a church fellowship.

I went to a quiet place and prayed.  The most wonderful peace I have ever felt entered me.  I knew that Jesus had entered my life in a real way.  The Bible says that after you receive Jesus, you get baptized.  So I asked Gary if he'd baptize my wife and I in the river - that's where they do it on TV, right?  It was early April and it was cold out.  He said I could jump into a river if I wanted to but he wasn't going to.  Then he told me about church baptisteries.  Thank goodness!  My wife and I were baptized and joined a church.  We've been growing closer to God ever since.

I now have real peace and contentment in my life thanks to my faith in Jesus Christ.  No matter what comes my way, I can turn to Him and He helps me through.  Now I can say to someone that I am OK with the prospect of death.  It has no lasting power over me thanks to what Jesus did on my behalf.

That empty feeling is gone!  I now have genuine purpose in my life.  I owe it all to Jesus!