My Testimonial
Praise the Lord; My name is Bro. James D. Marbury, Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But before I became a Christian my whole life was in shambles.
This is my Testimony
Back in 1987, I had just graduated Childersburg High School. I thought I had my life under control. Working at Avondale Mills, going out with my High School Sweet Heart, whom I met in 1985. Really I thought my life was Okay, you know as a teenager living the dream of having something in this world, not knowing that my life was about to take a drastic change.
Well, while out of High School I worked, taking care of my baby at that time (my first child) doing everything I thought I could do, as a dad. Still not knowing that Jesus had a plan for my life. I started hanging out with friends and really, I wanted to be the center of attention. I had their attention when I started to live in this, so called Fantasy World, and that is what I mean. The Devil had my eye’s so blinded, that I couldn’t see that brick wall, that is called life. My mother told me about this wall, when she started telling me, “son, slow down, your going to fast”. However, you know, being the person that I was, of course I didn’t listen. The fact of the matter is I didn’t listen to no-one. That would turn-out to be my down-fall.
My life was so messed up, I started losing every friend I had and I knew that they were really friends. I knew something was wrong with me, when I started hearing voices and every time I would listen, I would find myself in some kind of confusion or in Jail, which I’ve been in over 17 times, yes that’s right over 17 times.
My sisters and brothers, from 1987-1991, I’ve been shot, cut, hit by a car, I was evaluated at a mental health center, sold drugs, did drugs, lived in that Fantasy World I was telling you about earlier, had the spirit of Pride upon me, that wouldn’t let me ask for help. For truly, I needed Him (Jesus) right then and there. I started losing every thing I had. I lost my job, girlfriend, children, apartment and my will to eat and even to live. I couldn’t sleep, lost my desire to take baths and to keep myself clean. My life was like a giant snowball, going downhill fast and it affected me in such a way that I lost all hope. However, one day, thank you Jesus! I was down to my best friend’s house with him and his girlfriend. Needless to say, I was going threw some things in my mind, as usual. A voice spoke to me and said, “Go outside and walk up the road”. So I got up, out of the chair and walked up the road. When I started walking. I started crying, crying bitterly. The kind of crying, when your son or daughter knew that they had did something wrong. As I walked, these are the words I began to say, “God I need a different life”. Now I wasn’t talking about being saved, I just wanted to stop getting into all the trouble I was getting into. So I said again, “God I need a different life”. This time when I said it, a voice spoke to me and said, ”You’ve got to come closer to me”. I didn’t know what that was at first. I thought that my mind was just talking to me, but that voice spoke again and said,” you’ve got to come closer to me”. When it spoke this time I knew something was talking to me but yet I was walking alone. This voice started telling me the way I was supposed to live, to walk and everything. My God!! It was peace in that voice. So much peace. This peace I felt came from the top of my head to the soul of my feet and the last thing this voice told me was, “Go find the voice that just spoke to you”. The word of God says, “before you get to the Father, you have to go through the Son.” I didn’t know anything about Jesus, except what my mother taught me.
I ran back to my friend’s house and asked him would he take me home, so he did. I got on the phone at my mother’s house and called my girlfriend and told her that I needed some help. I tried everything and it didn’t work. I told her that we need to find a church somewhere. Not knowing she had already been witnessed to by Bro. Parker and Sis. Parker. Anyway we started visiting churches because we needed help. We found a church and received prayer, but I remembered that voice, when it spoke to me, and said, “Go find the voice that spoke to you”. I’m not saying that God was not in that church. It’s just that the Bible says, “A sheep know their master’s voice”. Not saying that I didn’t get helped there. They were the ones that probably planted this seed in me. Nevertheless, we left and came back home. I called her the next day. When I called her, we were discussing finding another church. While we were talking, Bro. Parker and Sis. Parker walked into my girlfriend’s house and Sis. Parker overheard us talking about finding another church to attend. So she said, out loud and asked, “why want you-all come to my church”. My girlfriend said, “ why don’t you ask him,” so she did and needless to say, I said, ”Yes, I will go.”
Thinking back, before I came to this place of recognizing that I needed help, this same girlfriend was in church one day. I asked her would she ride down the road with me. You see my life was so down and out I really didn’t know what my intentions was that day. I remembered pulling up to this park, getting out of the car with her, getting a gun out of the trunk, and shot it in the air first, then I put the gun to her head and pulled the trigger. You see the spirit of the Devil is real. The Devil had took my mind and manipulated it. After I pulled the trigger, I thought that my girlfriend was shot or either dead and if she was I knew then I would have to pull the gun on myself. Well it didn’t happen the way the Devil wanted it to, thank you Jesus! As you can remember I told you that I’ve been shot, no one shot me, I shot myself in the arm. The Devil is a master of illusion, he will make you do things and you want realize that it’s happening. I laughed, when I shot myself, can you see how the Devil had me, the Devil is real, but his powers are limited. However God who is rich in mercy spared my life and the life of my girlfriend that day. “Hallelujah”
About a day later, after we had spoken to the Parkers, we went to church. As I walked through the door the preacher, in the middle of his sermon, looked at me and said,” Oh my God!” He told me later why he said that, he said, “God had showed him, that I had a suicidal spirit on me,” and I did. I sat on the third row on the left side of the church. The preacher started preaching and it sounded good. I mean the word that came out his mouth, was meant for me. While ending up his sermon he asked me to come to him. So I did, and he prayed for me. He started telling everything I had ever done in my life. Of course the Devil was telling me, “you know he can tell you that, because your already known, and your already popular,” but when this Man of God (Bro. Lane) spoke into my ear and started telling me everything I knew, didn’t no-one know, but me. The same voice that spoke to me and said, “Go find the voice that spoke to you.” That’s the same voice I heard coming out of this Man of God’s mouth. So from that night, June 24, 1991 until now I’ve been saved, HolyGhost filled every since. Thank you Jesus for saving a wretched sinner like me.
So whatever the situation is, whatever the problem may be, I know that Jesus, “Hallelujah” can fix it. How do I know this, he fixed it for me. He is not a God of respect of persons. So right where your at, whatever stage of sin your in, repent, confess your sins out of your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and receive the HolyGhost Baptism and you shall be saved. You will become a new creature in Christ, behold the old man has passed away with his deeds and thank Jesus for all things becoming new.
Love You,
Bro. James D. Marbury (JPF)
Special Thanks To:
Bro. Lane “The Apostle” &
The Woman of God Sis. Lane
Bro. Parker & Sis. Parker
Bro. Garrett & Sis. Garrett
I love You All