We received a great testimony this week from a podcast listener, Josh in Colorado. Here is his story:

The Carpenter — Changed by Jesus #12

God has used Mars Hill Church to help completely transform my life!
I was the stereotypical rockstar. I was drinking heavily, using drugs, and fornicating by the age of fifteen (late development where I come from--Ithaca, NY). After graduating college and now with opinions, I moved to Ridgway, CO. I had a child with my girlfriend, and a few years later we got married. God was never mentioned in the "ceremony." We split up three months after the "wedding," and a year and a half later we had another baby together. By the time this second baby was born, I was already living with another woman. I bet you can guess how the relationship ended: badly. I found myself at the rock bottom, cold and depressed, living in a yurt down by the river. I asked God, "Is there a relationship out there that lasts?" My first thought was of the little white church on the corner.

I walked into that church the next Sunday morning and cried like a baby. It seemed like every song at worship that day was designed to break me. I spent the next couple of months reading the gospels by candle light, freezing...and submitting. Around this time I was offered a carpentry job with one of the pastors. He and his wife were spending their time and money building a 1,200-square-foot apartment for missionaries. I was told about a family in India, Nepal, Thailand, etc. who spends their sacrificing the comforts they could have in order to spread the word of Jesus. This building would give them a place to stay when they came to the states. I took the job. With the job came sermons--Mars Hill Church sermons--which the boss would play on his stereo while we worked.

Over the course of a year, I listened to all the sermons available online (thanks, tech team, for the new media library--the studies continue!). One by one, I was convicted of my sins. Through prayer and Bible study, my sins stopped being habit. I don't claim to now be without sin, but it's no longer my character. For the first time, I learned who God is. His name is Jesus. I started a beautiful journey of listening to God and learning what He has in store for me. Thanks to the Lord, through online sermons, I not only redeem my commute, but I redeem my entire workday! And Arjuna's Colorado bedroom is looking good.

During that process (a little over a year ago) I went to my first Christian wedding. It was actually a marriage between two Mars Hill members with family here in Ridgway. Again, I cried! Every wedding I had been to before, I would look at the bride and I could point out a bunch of guys she had slept with in attendance. All of my friends who ever got married had already been living together for years. This wedding was different. I could feel God's presence in the room. I wanted a blessing like this, but felt I really had no chance because of my former life.

During the following months, I studied the Redeeming Ruth series and Christians Gone Wild. Two hours before going on a date, I found myself listening to a sermon about courting. I was convicted, and I knew my "dating" life would never be the same. From that time on, my dates became purposeful and intentional, aligning with the will of God. Within a few months, God introduced me to my bride, Marcia.

I am so thankful to God for changing my life. He has now entrusted me with a beautiful wife who loves the Lord Jesus. We are now pregnant (if it's a boy, we are naming him Boaz!). My other two children also love the Word. I am so thankful they are getting the head start of growing up with a Christian family and community. I am thankful that my "dad" role has so much more meaning now. Most of all, I am grateful for my relationship with Jesus, one which lasts forever!