Dear Friends In Christ,

I grew up in house where my parents wanted me to do the right thing and go to church. The religion of my parents, handed down from tradition, was the Roman Catholic religion. I suppose that is really where it all started. All of my life, even as a child, I knew this fell short of a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior!

I am not saying I disrespect any person or persons for their religious beliefs. But I had a lot of questions concerning what was taught in the Catholic Church. For example, when you go into a Catholic church, how come you don’t have Holy Bibles to read from? True, they have selected passages that they have incorporated into the service, but why not read from the Bible itself.  Gal 1:7; “Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would PERVERT the gospel.” Where does it say in the Bible that you have to go to someone else to find out what God wants from you? Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to fellowship with other people, to seek counsel from the elders, and to find out what God might be saying about something that you might not understand. But, nowhere in my Bible does it say go to a priest to find out how many “Hail Mary’s” I must do to repent, or that I have to talk to a priest and not God himself.

1 Tim 2:5 says; “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man CHRIST JESUS.” I love the end of that verse; THE MAN CHRIST JESUS; not just any man – “THE MAN”, the one who shed His precious blood for our sins. Thank you Jesus.

And, what about purgatory? The only place I could find anything on this was in a dictionary. And it said; in Roman Catholic theology, a state or place where the souls of those who have died penitent are made fit for paradise…  Now if I was to believe something, shouldn’t it be the truth confirmed in God’s word. Amen.

Well, I could go on and on, but this is not why I’m writing this. What I am here to do brothers and sisters is to testify to everyone about God’s grace and mercy, and how the Lord saved me from a wretch like myself.

When I was younger, around the age of 10, I was sexually assaulted by someone I trusted. He had a lot more weight than me, and he used this advantage, but God in His mercy, enabled me to escape before I was harmed.

A couple years later, I used this event in my life to justify sleeping with my first girlfriend. Even though I didn’t tell anyone about the incident, I was proving to myself and others I wasn’t gay. It wasn’t until I was going to be confirmed, that I really began to hear some spiritual truth. Not from the source one might expect, like a priest or in my classes. But in my walk I’ve discovered that the Lord can often use a worldly experience to reveal the true nature of our hearts to us. And because the truth about ourselves is something that we all dislike and can find painful to confront, it can lead us into true deliverance from the flesh.

Well anyhow, I was being confirmed in the Catholic Church and they told us we had to pick a confirmation name. Often this is done to encourage one to seek a spiritual mentor. I picked my older brother’s name because of his devotion to God and I knew Luke was in the Bible. At the time, I didn’t understand how his beliefs aligned with the teaching in preparation for confirmation. But when I told him that I had picked his name as a confirmation name and asked him if he would come, to my surprise he said NO!  If I can remember right, my mom was present, and I think she and my brother ended up exchanging words about the whole thing. To get back to what I was saying, I had picked his name, because at that time to my recollection, everybody in my family was impressed by his devotion to God and sought his approval on spiritual matters. When he said no, it really hurt me. I now know he had to say no, because he didn’t believe in what the Catholic Church taught and practiced in the confirmation sacrament. At that time, I was really in the dark about what the difference was, or that there even was one. Upon questioning him about it later, I began to understand a little bit. But my understanding was still limited without the Holy Ghost.

It wasn’t until about eight years and a few girlfriends later, that I began questioning what my purpose was in life, and if God had a plan. There had to be something more to life than a girlfriend and a brand new car. During those eight years, I had tried a lot of things in my search; dope, beer, smoking, and was in way over my head in fornication.

During the last two years of those eight I started to go to clubs and parties after I would drop off my girlfriend. By then we were engaged, but she was very insecure and very jealous. I used that as an excuse to justify what I was doing. It only served to confirm her suspicions. In September of 1991, at the age of 22, everything started to go sour in my life. The good paying job I had was about to end. The company was bought out and the new company closed the plant because of the high wages there. Then my fiancé found out about me and my friend going out to bars after I would drop her off. We fought about it for three days until I got fed up and kicked her out of my car. I told her we were all through.

Thanksgiving came and I didn’t call her. I ended up eating Thanksgiving dinner at a friend’s house. Before I knew it, Christmas had come. I still lived at home with my parents then and they had gone to Canada because my aunt was very sick. They called and told me they didn’t know if they would be able to come back in time for Christmas day. After this phone call, I felt like I had nothing, but to my surprise, I gained everything that day, my life. Praise God!

I was so lonely after that call from my parents, that I called my sister (who, like my brother, is born-again) and told her what was going on. She came over, and had me say the sinner’s prayer with her. From there things began to change. Not that second but slowly things began to take a turn. I was still bound by spirits of lust, but slowly God began the work of deliverance in my life.

Thank you, Lord, for your mercy! He worked it out for me to get a new job, when I was not even trying to find one. Then, He gave me a condo that I could afford, and in the same town as my brother and sister so that I could easily find fellowship. Through my brother and sister my fellowship was increased to the next town where I now go to worship and praise the Lord. Jesus is always there to lift me up and out. No question about it, I have a lot to thank and praise God for.

God Bless, Norman Bedard

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