The “Changed by Jesus” series features stories about how Jesus is working through the ministry of Mars Hill Church to change lives. If God has used Mars Hill to transform your life, email your story to testimony[at]marshillchurch.org.

by Anonymous

I was five years old the first time I said the sinner’s prayer. I said it dozens, if not hundreds of times after that. I grew up in the church and in my sin. I got good enough at faking my Christianity that I eventually joined a church planting team. Even through all my pretending, Jesus had mercy on me.

In 2009, after a friend recommended I check out The City for a possible job opportunity, I loaded up Pastor Mark on my iPod. I could barely stomach the rebukes he leveled at me. Yes, I was taking it personally. Because he was giving me things no one else ever had. He was telling me that my faith wasn’t all about this act. It wasn’t all about my opportunity to prove my own value and worth to Jesus – I had none.

One day, on the road to Biloxi, I had Pastor Mark teaching me from 1 Corinthians on resisting idols like Jesus. He proposed that, perhaps, if I was serving all these other gods in my life, maybe I wasn’t a Christian.

A light dawned on me then, and I realized that for 23 years I had been pretending. I had been playing the church game better than anyone I had ever known. And Jesus used Pastor Mark to cut me off.

I cried out to Jesus and said a simple prayer, “Jesus please save me.” From that time on, I feel as though I’ve been mentored by Pastor Mark and guided into an understanding I never realized I was missing. Mars Hill Church helped me be broken of my religion. I owe a debt to Jesus I can never pay and I owe a kind of debt to Pastor Mark that I can’t fully explain.