TESTIMONY BY GERRY AND BEATRICE EPPINGA.
Gerry was saved and borne again in January 1975 in Prince Rupert through the ministry of evangelist Max Solbrekken from Edmonton, Alberta.
JAMES 1:13-16 SIN BRINGETH FORTH DEATH.
ROM.6:23: FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.
HEBREWS 9:27:AND IT IS APPOINTED UNTO MEN ONCE TO DIE, AFTER THAT THE JUDGEMENT.
WE DISCOVERED THIS THE HARD WAY:
Life was alright for us, we thought: drinking, dancing, partying, and a little dope now and then did not hurt either. We started out once a week, soon it became twice a week and before we knew it we occupied the bar every day. We realized that we could not stay away from these anymore. The love we supposed to have for one and another seemed to fade away occasionally through an argument or fight and then leaving each others company for a few days.
We were living in common law trying to make a living but nothing worked out right. Sometimes we hung up some curtains in the apartment and put a flower on the table to try to live together and make it all worthwhile. In the end it always fell apart, it never worked. Bars, booze, drugs and nightclubs were our lifestyle. We thought we had fun but we also knew that we walked into a wrong road and that this road became too big.
I tried to come out of this mess but I had no power to do so. Going to another city to escape my friends and try to live a different life did not work either. I felt miserable no matter where I was and had no desire and strength to stay on a job for even one day while I used to work so hard when I first came into Canada, my dreams and goals for my life were vanished. Deep inside I was hurt and miserable even if the outside did not show that.
My girlfriend could not get out of this mess either, she ended up in a psychiatric institution with a nervous breakdown.
To make a long story short we lost life’s battle.
We did not realize why this happened to us until we looked to GOD for help.
My girlfriend, Beatrice, born in Masset [Haida Native] walked in the Rivervieuw Essondale hospital in Vancouver with a Bible cleft to her body for two months, that same Bible took her out of that psychiatric hospital.
When she came back in Prince Rupert she knew that the BIBLE had power and that GOD was real and gave her heart to GOD in a little Native church.
The booze disappeared out the fridge and I wondered what happened when she even stopped smoking.
A week after that, she brought me to an evangelistic meeting where about three hundred Native people were present in the Islander hall in Prince Rupert. I was sitting in the back off the hall in all my pride.
The preacher, Max Solbrekken from Edmonton, spoke out loud: “Did you walk away from GOD in your life?”.
I suddenly felt tears coming from my eyes and could not hold them back in my pride, I realized at that moment how my life was destroyed and how my dreams and hopes were vanished.
On the call of the preacher I went forward and asked GOD to forgive me of my sinful life and suddenly the power of GOD swept trough my body and I led out a loud scream and at that moment I felt a great release and KNEW THAT I WAS SET FREE.
GOD SHOWED ME WHY MY LIFE ENDED IN DESTRUCTION, I JUST knew IT:
I SERVED SIN AND SIN DESTROYED ME.
I DID NOT KNOW THAT THE devil IS REAL AND THAT he INDEED CAME TO STEAL KILL AND DESTROY PEOPLE’S LIVES, NEITHER DID I HAVE THE STRENGTH TO STAY AWAY FROM SIN, UNTILL I CAME TO GOD.
GOD IS GOOD, I SERVED HIM NOW FOR SEVERAL YEARS. HE BUILDS MY LIFE AND GIVES MY LIFE A PURPOSE, HE GIVES ME STRENGTH TO STAY AWAY FROM SIN AND PUTS A NEW SONG IN MY HEART, HE BLESSES MY MARRIAGE WITH BEATRICE MY WIFE, HE PICKS ME UP WHEN I FALL AND GIVES ME STRENGHT TO OVERCOME. I CAN NOW PUT A FLOWER ON THE TABLE AND HANG UP A CURTAIN IN THE HOUSE AND LOOK AT LIFE WITH A SMILE, BECAUSE HE DESTROYED THE POWER OF SIN ON THE CROSS WHEN HIS BLOOD WAS SHED FOR MY SINS SO THAT I MAY BE FREE FROM GUILT AND LIVE A MORE ABUNDANT LIFE.
THE DEVIL IS A LIAR AND A THIEF AND IS GOOD FOR NOTHING: SERVING HIM WILL CAUSE YOUR LIFE TO END IN HELL EVEN WHILE YOU ARE ALIVE IN THIS WORLD.
HIS KINGDOM IS DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF AND CANNOT STAND.
THAT IS WHY WE DID FALL, WE SERVED THE WRONG MASTER. THE DEVIL CAME TO KILL, STEAL AND DESTROY US. GETTING OUR SOULS READY FOR HELL, HE WILL DESTROY YOUR LIFE TOO BY MAKING YOU SIN AGAINST GOD.
YOU NEED A NEW MASTER WHO WILL FIGHT SIN IN YOUR LIFE AND GIVE YOU PEACE AND ETERNAL LIFE.
GOD GAVE HIS SON, WHOSE BLOOD WAS SHED ON THE CROSS FOR OUR SINS. HE DESTROYED THE POWER OF SIN AND OF DEATH WHEN HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD SO THAT WE MAY LIVE. HIS SPIRIT WILL COME TO DWELL IN YOUR HEART WHEN YOU CALL UPON HIM. YOU WILL FEEL HIS PRESENCE THROUGH HIS SPIRIT IN YOUR HEART. THAT SAME SPIRIT DEEP IN YOUR HEART WILL GIVE YOU STRENGTH TO CONQUER LIFE AND BECOME A WINNER, TO LOVE YOURSELF AND HAVE LOVE FOR OTHERS, IT WILL GIVE YOU A BETTER LIFE ON EARTH AND ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN.
IT IS GOD’S GRACE AND IT IS FOR FREE.
WE ARE ALL THE SAME IN HIS SIGHT: YOU COME TO HIM AS YOU ARE AND WHERE YOU ARE. I DID THAT TOO, FULL OF GARBAGE AND SIN AND HE CAME TO DWELL IN MY HEART WHEN I CALLED UPON HIM; I AM SO THANKFULL THAT WE DID NOT DIE IN OUR SINS AND ENDED UP IN HELL FOR ETERNITY. THIS IS WHY I WANT EVERYBODY TO KOW ABOUT THIS LORD AND MASTER: HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST.
I CHOOSE WITH MY OWN WILL TO ACCEPT JESUS IN MY HEART AND SERVE THE LIVING GOD: WHY DON’T YOU?
I INVITE YOU TO SAY THIS PRAYER WITH ME FROM YOUR HEART:
JESUS, I BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD AND THAT YOUR BLOOD WAS SHED FOR ME ON THE CROSS.I ASK YOU TO FORGIVE ME MY SINS, I BELIEVE THAT YOU ROSE FROM THE DEAD SO THAT I MAY LIVE.COME IN MY HEART JESUS AND FORGIVE ME MY SINS, HELP ME IN MY LIFE, DESTOY THE PAINS OF THE PAST , FILL ME WITH YOUR SPIRIT AND BECOME MY LORD AND MASTER.AMEN.
NOW THAT HE IS IN YOUR HEART BY HIS SPIRIT, YIELD WITH YOUR HEART TO HIM AND HE WILL DIRECT YOUR PATH AND GIVE YOU PEACE.
EPHESIANS 2:14: FOR HE IS OUR PEACE.
ROMANS 8:16:THE SPIRIT ITSELF BEARETH WITNESS WITH OUR SPIRIT,THAT WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD.
THANK GOD FOR HIS MERCY AND GRACE.