Also:MORE of John's incredible Christian testimony of freedom from 40 years of drugs:
" The Insane SIZE THIRTEEN Shoes Adventure"
(Or, "Be SURE Your Sin Will FIND YOU OUT")
By Pamela Schuffert presenting investigative journalism from a Biblical Christian perspective-
" The Insane SIZE THIRTEEN Shoes Adventure"
(Or, "Be SURE Your Sin Will FIND YOU OUT")
By Pamela Schuffert presenting investigative journalism from a Biblical Christian perspective-
I will never forget one particular Christmas past, when John was living with my mother and I in a Christian retreat. My loving and well-meaning Christian mother was trying SO hard to get rehabilitation and help for my brother. But as it is so often, tender mothers trying to save their children from sin and drug bondage can often become enablers instead. Often, they just cannot bear to be hard or firm ("tough love")on their children. And so, taking their children in and trying to be helpful and kind to them, actually backfires on the parents..and that child on drugs will eventually use the goodness of the well-meaning parents to his/her own advantage and never come clean from drugs at all.
"Uh, good morning officer...how can I help you?"
(By then I was fuming internally. Little brother, you IDIOT! How could you forget that snow had just fallen last night and SNOW leaves FOOTPRINTS..and YOURS are a massive SIZE 13!)
Sure officer, no problem, I thought as I led him to the back of our condominium.
Crash! There were so many stolen goods pilfered by my brother from our neighbors, now piled high in our unit, that they almost collapsed on the head of the hapless policeman!
"Uh, ma'am, these items look like the stolen goods described to us at the police station...." said the officer as he looked at the stolen stash before us.
"Does anyone else live here at this address?" Looking at my shoes, he quickly realized that the thief with the tell-tale shoes was not me.
Oh, how I hated to have to tell the police officer that indeed some else did, and that it was my brother who wore the guilty size thirteen shoes.
"Yes, officer, my brother John....he wears size thirteen shoes...."
Oh, how pain filled my heart as I was compelled to tell the officer the obvious truth that morning. I loved my brother. I and my mother had prayed for years for God to set him from from the cruel world of drugs and it's terrible bondage.
That morning I was forced to watch as my brother was arrested for theft and led away in handcuffs. And I, his dear sister, was the one who had been compelled to become the snitch.
That foolish act of theft the night before cost my brother dearly: 2 1/2 years in prison!
As we sat in the nursing home Christmas time this year discussing this event, I asked my brother, "HOW could you have been so insane as to not know your footprints would lead the police right back to OUR home and to YOU, John?"
Smiling sheepishly, John looked at me and admitted, "I had been stoned out of my mind with cocaine that night I stole those things....I later cursed my own stupidity after I was arrested and came down off of it to find myself back in jail...again." The purpose of the thefts was to be able to later pawn the stolen goods the next day and get more money for...what else... MORE drugs!
John then said to me, "You know, I don't even like to remember these things I used to do before I found Jesus..."
I understood and agreed. We both acknowledged that his sins were fully forgiven by Jesus Christ, and he did not have to live in the guilt of the past, ever. Through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, the ghosts of sins committed Christmas past (and all other times) can be banished as painful memories forever.
But I then reminded John how priceless his Christian testimony is, as a former drug user/dealer, to the young people of today who do NOT know Jesus as their Savior and think that the world of "drugs, sex, rock n' roll" is SO cool.
And this is why John has given me his permission to share his past with my readers. How many of the parents reading my blog suffer emotionally from their children's involvement in the world of "party on, dudes" and drugs and sin? Or spouses?
John wants his true testimony of deliverance from the sordid world of drugs and crime to become an inspiration to families going through what our family once endured because of John.
John knows now that living for the devil in this world of sin and corruption ONLY leads to death and destruction. How many of his friends are now dead or in prison, who once ran with him and thought this lifestyle was so popular and cool? John also knows that the ONLY One who was able to set him free from this lifestyle, was the Living God through Jesus Christ, now his Lord and Savior.
Please, if you have someone in your family who is on the same path of destruction as my brother John was, don't hesitate to print this article off the Internet, and give a copy of John's powerful testimony and words of warning to your loved one involved in drugs.
Such a powerful testimony as John's, coupled with prayer ad the witness of the Holy Spirit, has the power to convict many also involved in the same path to hell.
John does not want to see anyone travel down the same path to destruction as he did for 40 long years. Neither do I. Nor does God!
Always remember: there IS hope through Jesus Christ for YOUR loved ones!
NEVER stop praying, fasting and witnessing to that family member or friend involved in the darkness. It WILL bear fruit someday. God's Word has promised that His Word will not return empty and unfulfilled, but accomplish the reason for which it was sent forth.
God's blessings upon you and your loved ones this New Year, in Jesus' wonderful Name!
-Pamela Rae Schuffert
"Uh, ma'am, these items look like the stolen goods described to us at the police station...." said the officer as he looked at the stolen stash before us.
"Does anyone else live here at this address?" Looking at my shoes, he quickly realized that the thief with the tell-tale shoes was not me.
Oh, how I hated to have to tell the police officer that indeed some else did, and that it was my brother who wore the guilty size thirteen shoes.
"Yes, officer, my brother John....he wears size thirteen shoes...."
Oh, how pain filled my heart as I was compelled to tell the officer the obvious truth that morning. I loved my brother. I and my mother had prayed for years for God to set him from from the cruel world of drugs and it's terrible bondage.
That morning I was forced to watch as my brother was arrested for theft and led away in handcuffs. And I, his dear sister, was the one who had been compelled to become the snitch.
That foolish act of theft the night before cost my brother dearly: 2 1/2 years in prison!
As we sat in the nursing home Christmas time this year discussing this event, I asked my brother, "HOW could you have been so insane as to not know your footprints would lead the police right back to OUR home and to YOU, John?"
Smiling sheepishly, John looked at me and admitted, "I had been stoned out of my mind with cocaine that night I stole those things....I later cursed my own stupidity after I was arrested and came down off of it to find myself back in jail...again." The purpose of the thefts was to be able to later pawn the stolen goods the next day and get more money for...what else... MORE drugs!
John then said to me, "You know, I don't even like to remember these things I used to do before I found Jesus..."
I understood and agreed. We both acknowledged that his sins were fully forgiven by Jesus Christ, and he did not have to live in the guilt of the past, ever. Through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, the ghosts of sins committed Christmas past (and all other times) can be banished as painful memories forever.
But I then reminded John how priceless his Christian testimony is, as a former drug user/dealer, to the young people of today who do NOT know Jesus as their Savior and think that the world of "drugs, sex, rock n' roll" is SO cool.
And this is why John has given me his permission to share his past with my readers. How many of the parents reading my blog suffer emotionally from their children's involvement in the world of "party on, dudes" and drugs and sin? Or spouses?
John wants his true testimony of deliverance from the sordid world of drugs and crime to become an inspiration to families going through what our family once endured because of John.
John knows now that living for the devil in this world of sin and corruption ONLY leads to death and destruction. How many of his friends are now dead or in prison, who once ran with him and thought this lifestyle was so popular and cool? John also knows that the ONLY One who was able to set him free from this lifestyle, was the Living God through Jesus Christ, now his Lord and Savior.
Please, if you have someone in your family who is on the same path of destruction as my brother John was, don't hesitate to print this article off the Internet, and give a copy of John's powerful testimony and words of warning to your loved one involved in drugs.
Such a powerful testimony as John's, coupled with prayer ad the witness of the Holy Spirit, has the power to convict many also involved in the same path to hell.
John does not want to see anyone travel down the same path to destruction as he did for 40 long years. Neither do I. Nor does God!
Always remember: there IS hope through Jesus Christ for YOUR loved ones!
NEVER stop praying, fasting and witnessing to that family member or friend involved in the darkness. It WILL bear fruit someday. God's Word has promised that His Word will not return empty and unfulfilled, but accomplish the reason for which it was sent forth.
God's blessings upon you and your loved ones this New Year, in Jesus' wonderful Name!
-Pamela Rae Schuffert
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