Today's my birthday. My body's 40, my spirit's 4.

On January 30, 2002, I had an experience that many will dismiss as either hallucination or delusion. Some might even say I needed medication. But here is exactly what happened on that night about 8:45 pm.

I already knew I wanted Christ in my life, but I kinda thought He was there. If you don't know what you're missing, how do you know you're missing it? Still, no matter how hard I tried to be like Him, I wasn't able to make the jump. Then it happened.

I was listening to "Through the Bible" on the radio. At the beginning of the program, they read letters from listeners. They had just read a letter from some guy in the Middle East who was afraid to tell anyone he was a Christian. In his country, they kill people for that.

I thought, "It's a shame he has to be so afraid." and continued on my way home.

A voice - not audible but still heard - said, "Why are you afraid?"

It startled me. After I recovered, I replied, "I have a reputation to keep up. People like me for who I am. I make them laugh with my stories."

The voice said, "Are they more important than Me?"

I didn't even stop to think. I pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot and asked Christ to forgive me. I sincerely prayed the prayer I'd faked at so many altar calls. At that very moment, I felt a change come over me. I felt that something was happening. I asked Him to turn me into the person He wants me to be. Then I went home and called everyone I knew and told them of my experience.

Starting that day, my musical tastes changed. Yeah, I still like guitars and drums, but now it's Third Day and Skillet instead of Metallica and Rush. My daily life has changed as well. Rather than steeping myself in bawdy jokes and Tales from the Cathouse, I focus more on stories about people finding Christ.

I can say with complete confidence that I died on January 30, 2002, and became a new man in Christ. Today is a day for reflection. Ideally, today would be a day spent meditating on a picnic table in a State Park with nobody around to interrupt me. But, God wants it to be a day in which I can spread His story.

Thank You, God, for granting me another day - another year - to do Your work. Thank You for tearing me down and re-building me into the person You want me to be. Thank You for getting me out of the pits and putting me on the pinnacles!

Amen!