COWBOY TESTIMONIES
WILLIE KNOERNSCHILD
I
may not have been head of the heathen squad, but I sure was on my way. I
now look back on my life, and I’m humbled by where I am at today. To think
God, the Creator of the universe, would ever want to use someone like me. But
I'm so thankful that He does... just last Sunday morning, I did a cowboy church
service at a California high school rodeo and two people came to Christ!
I
now look back and realize all the times that God reached out to me because He loved me so much. My
grandparents planted the Word in me when I was a little boy and told me it was
my job to tell other people about Jesus. They would give me a Bible every year
for Christmas, and my aunt and uncle even picked up the tradition after my
grandparents had passed away.
The Lord reached out to me big time when I went into the military. While on base, I came down with a kidney infection and pneumonia. My temperature hit 104.6 and I became delirious, combative and suicidal, and had to be put in restraints.
When I woke up, I was crying, but with a kind of joy and peace I had never had before... because I had seen my mother, my grandparents, and a friend of mine that all had died. Whether it was a dream, vision, or near death experience... I don’t know and don’t care. (Now, I know that I had been in the presence of God, because years later, I had the very same feeling the moment I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior).
I soon came home and went right back to the worldly life style I was accustomed to, but God kept reaching out me. On my job I worked with a Christian who kept witnessing to me and even had me reading the Bible. Nevertheless, I still wasn’t ready to give up my lifestyle... I was having too much “fun”.
Things
began to change when I went
on a trip to Oklahoma. While I was on Interstate 40, driving across the Texas
panhandle, all the sudden I came upon a giant Cross right beside the highway. I
was so amazed and drawn toward that Cross, that I pulled over and took a picture
of it! God was showing me that even when I was out in the middle of nowhere, He was there
watching over me and reaching for me to come to Him.
God
had finally gotten my attention again. When I got back home, I ran into one of my
brother's friends at a local bull riding practice. We visited for a while, and
he told me how God had changed his
life for the
better. As I said "good-bye", I also said "God bless". I hadn’t said those words in
years and wondered how it ever came out of my mouth! Well, two weeks later
at a
bull riding clinic the same friend had put on... I accepted Jesus as MY Lord and
Savior!
God kept reaching out to me even though I kept running. I wasn’t running to Him, I was running away! You see, I thought God just had a whole bunch of rules to keep and He sure didn't want me to have any fun.
But that's not the case!
God wants to be your closest friend and He wants to fellowship with you like Adam and Eve did before they sinned. In fact, He loves YOU so much that He sent His only Son to die on the Cross and shed His blood for YOU!
There is freedom, peace, joy, and love, and eternal life in making Jesus your Lord and Savior... not fear!
Not only that... now I'm having the most FUN I ever had in my life by being a REAL Christian!
So why don't YOU quit running from God and run to Him!
