It doesn’t matter if you turn on your televisions, pick up a newspaper or magazine or just simply walk down the street, you will be faced with perversion. The politics of personal values, as they relate to one’s beliefs, have been hijacked by a small but extremely vocal and relentless group of folks, bent on changing the dynamic of issues like traditional marriage, education, and faith. And while some try to remain neutral, in the hopes that we might not be “labeled” as intolerant or bigoted, it is becoming increasingly obvious that those misguided among us simply will not be satisfied with our collective desire to be non-judgmental, but rather demand total acceptance of their personal belief systems in spite of our own. Now as Christians, we understand that this is not possible in the eyes of GOD and as it is defined in Scripture. Moreover, we find ourselves defending the beliefs we hold dear, not in the sense that they are somehow wrong or intolerant, but as they are clearly the opposite of those held by this vocal minority seeking validation.
Please pardon me if I seem overly political, nothing could be further from the truth. I’m simply frustrated Nevertheless, I do believe there are clear and obvious consequences to a life lived in sin, and I cannot nor will I deny that for the sake of political correctness or some societal “trend”. Moreover, as someone who was deceived by this very movement, and as someone who has walked through his share of fire with more surely to come, I cannot emphasize enough that I see it as my responsibility as the man of GOD Created me to be, to pray that HIS Saving Grace might visit on anyone who needs it, and to try to bring them into The Light by introducing them to JESUS through Word, Deed and Action. Because Love is an Action, ya know!
In short, condoning that which we understand to be Biblically wrong must be the greatest hypocrisy. So as I struggle for the correct analogy and/or group of words which adequately reflect my deep sadness at watching the dismantling of our values & morals in favor of that which is without accountability or reason of family, let me instead tell you of a man whose entire life speaks to that very battle, as well as the will of JESUS CHRIST and the power of HIS Healing Love in our lives. This man, is me, David Arthur, and my story is a poignant record of turmoil to triumph, and from sin to a sense of purpose and worth. You are about to read an all too real story of Freedom, snatched from the jaws of defeat, a story of JESUS CHRIST over the devil, and of the power of a Living GOD, complete with all the riveting pain and Joy, as well as the Truth that “The Devil Is A Liar”!
I never knew my dad, he committed suicide just before I was born. As a young child, seeking male affirmation and confirmation, I was molested by more than one individual, but please understand that while these facts of life certainly affected me, and may have contributed to my fall, they were not excuses for my life’s choices. My childhood was a blur of drugs, alcohol, and the homosexual deathstyle, driving me to run away from home numerous times, to the point where the state finally stepped in and placed me in an all-boys school. Not unlike many young folks lost in the battles of depression and family strife, I actually excelled to an above average
standard in terms of my school work and intelligence level.
Sadly, this would not be the trigger I needed to break the bonds of sin, already engulfing me with the fiery speed of a demon in hot pursuit of my soul. By the age of 14, my growing love of the streets had taken over my entire life. I’d finally run away from home and was prostituting myself on a regular basis. I was dressing as a woman, taking female hormones, and was fully engaged in a world that included an endless cycle of parties, sex, drugs and alcohol. Worse yet, completely taken in by the evil one, I was now HIV positive as a result, at the age of 14, but I continued to dive deeper into the dark world of homosexual and transgender prostitution, a world of confusion and lies that would nearly kill me.
As if things could not get any worse, my nefarious activities had drawn the attention of law enforcement and I found myself in county lock-up at the age of 15, which became a “normal” routine for me. I would eventually, many years later, serve the better part of two sentences in state prison. In prison, the inmate population saw me as somewhat of a “commodity”, yes, and a piece of property. And I was okay with that.
Comporting myself like a female, I felt a misguided sense of belonging, and even enjoyed my time of incarceration, at least to a degree. So with that misplaced sense of belonging, I set about doing my time and “living” my life. As illnesses continued to worsen in prison, however, and I eventually began to find myself longing for something I could not quite understand or identify. Time, especially time spent in jail, can do this to you. It was during this period that I began to wonder why whenever a certain Correctional Officer (CO) would work in my unit I actually wanted to talk with this Christian man, while the other inmates would scramble and say, “Let’s go… Here comes Bishop”. (To this day I do not know the CO’s (“Bishop’s) real name).
My first encounter with “Bishop” was not a good one. The first words this man of GOD spoke to me were, “Well, David. Do you know that GOD didn’t Create you to be this way?” referring to my homosexual/transgender appearance and ways. I was offended, hurt, and angry and I could not believe he had the nerve to say that to me. He told me this often, because he could.
I began to speak with ‘Bishop’ on a regular basis. I began to read bits and pieces (The Book of Psalms and never going beyond that) of The Bible my mother had sent to me and to listen as “Bishop” explained to me that “this was not who GOD had Created me to be.” For the first time in my life, I had come across a person who I just knew truly and purely Loved me, without a shadow of a doubt, but wanted absolutely nothing from him, but rather only wanted to give me something. This was strange and almost alien to me, but I simply desired to know more of this saving GOD that ‘Bishop’ spoke of. Our conversations continued and my interest continued as well.
I was eventually released from prison, and sadly I did not continue on seeking The LORD, but instead I returned to my old life not long after being released. Like a dog to its vomit I returned with a vengeance. As my life continued to spin out of control, one sin seemed only to lead to another as I was now gambling and selling drugs on a regular basis. My sexual partners were many, some paid, others not. My health had become an issue and was now rapidly deteriorating. Doctors explained that I now had Osteoporosis and was suffering from diabetes as well as a host of other “illnesses”.
Returning to my old ways had me laying on my death-bed within 3 years of being released from prison. Suffering from infections in my brain & blood while experiencing mini-strokes brought on by the infections as well as a devastated immune system (non-existent) ravaged by the virus raging inside of me, I was now walking with a cane, (and eventually a walker), and was nearly confined to a hospital bed placed in my home. Hospice set into place. Boils popping out all over my body added to the immense pain I was in.
In 2009, doctors had told me, at one point, they could do no more for me and that I would likely die at home. The devil had apparently done his job well with this chain smoking addict, and stood proudly poised to claim his prize in short order.
Oh wait, But GOD….. Yes, but GOD was not prepared to accept defeat in my life. I hadn’t forgotten my friend in prison, and remembering
his words of encouragement, I began crying out for GOD to “take it all away”. Take away the pain of addiction and sin. Take away the misery of depression, loneliness and sickness. Take away the anguish of living without the knowledge of HIS Love and Mercy. I knew that I deserved hell and was on my way there! I knew that I was afraid to die because I didn’t want to go to hell!
There were no pastors or brethren surrounding me to pray for me, with me or over me. There was nobody having Bible studies with me. There was only The One, True Living GOD and me. I picked up The Bible and opened it to one single passage that wrecked the entire foundation I had ever stood upon, Romans 1:27. That passage told me that men burning in lust for one another, giving up the “Natural” use of the woman…. Wow! I was taken aback. I was convicted! That condemnation brought my sinning heart to repentance. Hallelujah!
I had reached the lowest point in my life and was surrendering to GOD no matter the consequences. I was begging for CHRIST JESUS to intervene in my life and take me Home. I knew that my life was in the hands of my Maker, and strangely I wasn’t troubled by that. I prayed with the power of a man struggling to throw off the enemy in favor of my One, True, Living SAVIOR, and I pledged everything I was about, everything I could, or would, become, and everything in my life. I knew at that very moment, that if it was HIS Will, that I would not be going to hell. That is all I wanted and prayed for, to not go to hell. I did not spend hours praying for healing, just asked HIM to not honor my choice to go to hell. The choice that I made my entire life while living for the enemy.
It was 2009 and it was suddenly very quiet. For the first time in my life, I was truly unafraid……. I awoke with a Peace and Joy in my heart that I had never known. I awoke with the Comfort of knowing that I was not going to hell. I begged GOD to take me Home, but that through my death HE would be glorified.
Within three months of Believing, Praying and begging for Forgiveness, I was out of bed and walking unassisted. My T-Cells were normal and my “viral load” was undetectable. A nurse practitioner who I visited regularly confirmed what the doctors just would not admit outside of the diplomas hanging on their walls, “it was a miracle”, my GOD it really had to be a miracle!! Subsequent visits to the doctor’s office were no less dramatic, with the medical team explaining that “it must have been a radical diet change” or some other anomaly which was causing my “miraculous” recovery, while not wanting to use the word, “healing”.
I knew better however. How then would they explain that my bone density was now off the charts and the effects of osteoporosis had seemingly been reversed. The same Osteoporosis which had left me nearly bed ridden just months earlier? How was it that the burning brain infections that had threatened to kill me were now eradicated? I had even signed off of the psych medications I was taking for treatment of PTSD, chronic depression, bipolar, anxiety and an array of other diagnoses, telling my therapist: “I just don’t need these anymore”. “I don’t need you anymore”. “I have GOD”! I was “on fire for The LORD” and there was no stopping me.
One thing I understood from at my “Moment of Grace” was that all of those psych diagnosis’ were not “diseases”, but they were “symptoms” or “results” of being of the world, and I was no longer of this world. Amen!
There are simply no limitations to the power of JESUS CHRIST’S intervention so long as you accept HIS Love and Forgiveness of sin. I have even dropped from a massive 415+ lbs. to 200 all while simply praying for the guidance and life discipline only HE can provide. I may have found 50 of those pounds this last year, but HIS Presence continues to be ever-present all around me.
GOD has allowed me to attain a powerful tool. Needless to say, the power of this “tool” that GOD has granted me, this testimony, has left me in awe and slightly shaken. Don’t tell me of your conflicts. Don’t tell me of your need for acceptance or validation. Don’t tell me of your anguish over your station in this life. And while we all have our “crosses” to bear, none is greater than HIS or its power to overcome yours.
Now there will be those who dismiss this story as the extreme, and still others who try and paint me as misrepresenting my sexual
orientation or previous deathstyle for the purposes of promoting my Faith. And indeed there have been those from my past who’ve sought to derail my journey. Well my friends, denial has become far too prevalent in our society today, and many of those same nay-sayers now seek me out, but for different reasons, begging me to help them find what I have found. Begging to understand how the death in my eyes has now become a sparkling Light of Life. And I say to them, as I say to you, “It’s free for all those who truly seek it”!
My story is indeed one of Hope and rebirth, of a sheep gone astray of its shepherd, manipulated by the evil one, and then saved by the Grace of a Loving and Forgiving GOD. And so looking at it through that lens, what’s next? Well, I now regularly network and travel to tell GOD’S Testimony of my life to any who will listen, I hope to eventually initiate a “safe house” project for those trapped by the lgbt movement. While there are intervention houses for all of the related issues of drugs and alcohol, anger and other issues, there aren’t any to provide the assistance and spiritual guidance to folks confused by the myriad of misinformation being spewed by the modern media and public schools today.
I believe that this type of support network is essential in providing everything from day to day living quarters for those on the street who’ve been shunned and cast out, to spiritual and scriptural guidance away from the darkness of sin. Our commission is two-fold, to evangelize and disciple! There is hope, and I am motivated as only GOD can motivate, and by the power of The HOLY SPIRIT that saved me and indwells me, to help rescue those lost souls trapped by a lie of monumental proportions.
To that end, I am available to speak on request, as is the team that GOD has Blessed this ministry with, and we will travel around the country in support of GOD’S Truth, in Love, because we Love, which is only possible because we were 1st Loved, and under the banner of this ministry that GOD has Blessed us with, “I Belong, Amen Ministries”.
I truly hope that you are moved by this short and wholly inadequate representation of a life changed, and that you might consider supporting IBA Ministries’ efforts as we go out to set the record straight.
