Born Again And Taking Baby Steps

Well it's been seven months since God spoke to me to fight for my marriage and I thought this was a good time as any to update readers.
After finding the BEST church in the south (Concord First Assembly, Concord North Carolina), I have immersed myself in as many groups as possible, reading the Bible and speaking to God. The one group that has stood out for me has been Alpha. I have even been asked to help lead a small Alpha group! I highly encourage anyone who is seeking a relationship with God to attend an Alpha course, I am sure there is one near you no matter where you are. Check out the site http://www.alpha.org/ for all the information.
My relationship with God has been an amazing one to date, I am still learning how to speak to Him on a daily basis and the big one.....learning how to LISTEN to Him.
For the skeptical men reading this I encourage you to fully commit to a church for thirty days, seek out council from a Pastor and do what he or she recommends...if after thirty days nothing in your life has changed, so be it...you can go back to your comfortable old ways. If you are truly open to the idea of God though, be ready for a life change.
I am telling you anything can and will happen. I was a lost angry, bitter man filled with hate for my fellow man but I now find joy in relationships with my brothers and sisters which are the body of the church.
I am humbled by the fact that God would send his only son to earth to die for me and my sins....nobody at a bar ever did that for me, no co-worker ever did that for me and no family member ever did that for me. This relationship is my first priority and because of that I have become a more desirable man to my wife and our marriage has blossomed thanks to God and Jesus.
This Fathers Day, our two sons will be dedicated to our church which will put this family on a righteous path that I could never have imagined only 7 short months ago.
If you are a new believer or thinking of asking God for his forgiveness and committing your life to Him reach out to your local church or you can even respond here, I would love to get into detail of just how different my life has become because of God... I give him all the praise!

Only God Will Mend Your Marriage

Yes my wife Aida and I are standing in front of a peacefull backdrop, Lake Junaluska North Carolina, but for eight turmultuos years our marriage was anything but that.

My wife, always a believer, and I constantly argued as I challenged her or criticized her belief in God, something I hope I will be forgiven for when I stand in front of Him one day.

I have been angry, hostile, hateful, spiteful or almost any other immoral behavior short of murderous towards my loving wife. That changed not too long ago.

Towards the beginning of November, 2008 the Lord called to me and told me to repent, to come back to Him and believe in Him as I had when I was a child.

Immediately I told my wife and asked that we work on our marriage. I was stunned when she first said no, that it was too late. Why, I questioned, I discovered she had been talking to a long lost childhood sweetheart with hopes of meeting up with him. I researched the man online and called him to tell him I was working on my troubled marriage and to please leave us alone, Satan was working to tear us apart but God told me to "fight for my marriage". She asked that I leave the house but God kept telling me to fight.

A week before Thanksgiving of 2008 I attended service at my church Concord First Assembly located in Concord, North Carolina and was touched by God when the church choir performed "God Is Here" followed by the Lead Pastor asking that people looking to come to God go to the front of the Church so he could pray for them (me). I was immersed in the Holy Spirit and sprinted down the stairs, leaving my 6 year old son who had attended with me, making my way to Pastor Rick Ross. It wasn't until he was done praying over me that I realized I had left my son alone in the balcony! When I looked up I noticed that my wife's friend was watching him. Praise God.

That was only three months ago but I feel years removed from my bad behavior. I am a new man, my wife sees it and my two boys see it and now I hope someone sees it here and fights for their marriage using God's words found in The Bible and other Christians and their experiences. Far too many give in, but remember Matthew 19:6 "...what God has joined together, let not man seperate" (NKJV).