You might not know my name, but you probably have heard my story.

About how I used to blame all my personal problems upon God and not taking into account that I might have been the one who was bringing them upon myself (which, in reality, I was).  I didn't want anything to do with God: to me, He was a thorn in my side.  

I was mad at him because I didn't see a way out.  I closed my mind and worst of all, my heart.

Then one night I finally realized that maybe I needed to give God a chance.  For years, my wife would go to church while I stayed home.  I didn't feel comfortable being around "her kind": the so-called Christians who were nothing but a big bunch of hypocrites in my eyes.  They may have "talked the talk", but they certainly did not "walk the walk".  It incensed me.

Well, one Wednesday night last year, my wife begged me to come to church with her, "just one time", she told me.  She then said that if I didn't like it, I could stay home, but she would continue to pray for me.  I went, and as I sat there, listening to the pastor preach, I felt guilty.  Dirty.  Uncomfortable.  Extremely uncomfortable.  

I knew that I was wrong.  I needed God in my life.  I was feeling this way because I was being convicted of my sins and I didn't like how I felt.  I knew I had to make things  right with God.  I had to acknowledge my sins and repent from them (turn away), and ask God to forgive me for my selfish ways.  

I went to the altar when the pastor gave the invitation.  While there, the pastor led us in a simple little prayer and a peace unlike I had ever known settled upon my shoulders.  I could actually feel as if an invisible weight was being lifted off.  I immediately felt the love of God.  I started crying, as did my wife, and even the pastor.  It was beyond awesome!

I knew, I KNEW in my heart of hearts, that God had forgiven me.  Because I had made the decision to accept Christ, I am no longer the same person.  I belong to God now.  I am HIS Child.  I no longer belong to the things of fhtis world.  My sins, every single last one of them, were now forgiven and covered by the blood of Jesus.  I was now sinless in God's eyes.  My sins had been washed away and I now had my name in the Lamb's Book of Life.  I was to go to Heaven when I died.

Ever since, I have been reading the Bible, praying every day, and yes, going to church, not only on Wednesday nights, but Sunday mornings (sometimes evenings if my work schedule allows it).  I have been hanging around with fellow believers, who have prayed over me and encouraged my spirit.  I feel God living in me and I know that if I screw up, He is always there, to take me into His arms, and forgive me if I only ask.  I know I am not perfect: I'm only a mere human compared to His Almighty Self.

I have now been a Christian for a little over a year.  While I may still have problems, I now know that I can trust in Him to get me through them and have Him help me.  I still have this inner sense of peace in my spirit and have since been baptized (both at church, which is a public confession of my Christian faith, and by the Holy Spirit).  God is working mightily in my life and in the lives of my wife and kids.  He is bringing us closer together as a family.

My name?  Scott Aaron Hamlin.  No longer a God-hater, but a God-LOVER.  And that is my testimony.  Praise God; thank You, Jesus!!