The night before I graduated from college I nearly drank myself to death. It was December of 1994 and I was full of self-pride with 5 job offers in hand from "The Big 6" CPA firms. I was pretty much like Michael J. Fox's character "Alex P. Keaton" from the 1980s TV show Family Ties who was sure he'd make a million dollars by age 30. (I didn’t) Well, that cold night in Boulder my buddy and I both ended up blacked out with alcohol poisoning from imbibing in way too many celebratory drinks. He fortunately passed out on "The Hill" outside a bar and was rushed to Boulder Community Hospital where they pumped his stomach with charcoal to save his life. I apparently evaded the helpful paramedics and spent the next 12 hours on the brink of death alone in my apartment. The good news that came out of this "dark night of the soul?" I realized that my actions were going to lead me to death. I was literally on the road to death. I realized that something had to change inside of me. I realized that I needed God. And 6 years later in June of 2000 I found God.
I believe my 6-year journey toward God after this near-death experience will encourage you wherever you are in your spiritual journey. Please read on as I share how I went from Unbelieving Altar Boy to All American Binge Drinker to New Age & Catholic Seeker to Salvation to Working at a Church to Launching a Bible Blog to Invited to be a Catholic Priest to Enrolling and Dropping out of Seminary (due to falling in love...) to Biblical Christianity dispelled my nightmares to The Continuing Adventure now and in the future. The TLDR (too long, didn't read) synopsis of it all? I am now 21 years beyond when I found God in June of 2000 and I can testify without a doubt: "God is good. All the time." But please read on!
Unbelieving Altar Boy "Shaking Hands with God"
I was fortunate to be raised by good parents who paid for Catholic schools for me from preschool through high school. During those years I was educated by many wonderful nuns and priest. (Sr. Sheila in 8th grade at Blessed Sacrament School was my favorite!) I took theology classes all those years, was confirmed and served as an altar boy, but do you know what? I never really believed in Jesus or God or the Holy Spirit during all those years. I somehow missed the relationship with God all that time. However, I do recall one really interesting moment when I was serving as an altar boy at Good Shepherd Church when I was 12 years old. I was kneeling at the altar during the priest's preparation of Communion and I put my hand into folded corner of the ornate table cloth covering the altar. I remember thinking to myself in that moment, "I'm shaking hands with God." And it was a very cool moment! As I look back on it, I realize that while perhaps I didn't fully believe in what I was learning in theology classes, God believed in me. God was pursuing me, even at a young age. And I do believe that I had a brief moment of shaking hands with God while kneeling at that altar. I think maybe God and I made a deal with that handshake that I'd eventually turn my life over to God. Though it would be a rocky road ahead...
All American Binge Drinker
This is the part of my spiritual journey that I wish I could just skip over. But it is important. When I got to high school and certainly when I was in college, I became a binge drinker. It's what everyone around me did, but that's just an excuse. I went along with it. It ultimately led me to the near-death experience I described earlier. What's interesting in this binge drinking phase of my life is that I was simultaneously an "All American Boy." I heard that term many times growing up. I guess it meant that I was athletic, friendly, and seemed to have it all together. Well, you know what? I definitely did not have it all together. While I might have looked good on the outside, I was a mess on the inside. And I'm sure I was "self-medicating" with alcohol. There are many things I could write about high school and college that I will simply say I am not proud of. Bottom line is that I broke most of the Ten Commandments. I was a sinner for sure. And I've since learned that the Bible teaches that "the wages of sin is death." Indeed, my sin of binge drinking was leading me toward death....
New Age & Catholic Seeker
After my college graduation near-death experience, I started seeking after God. I hit rock bottom and I wanted to get out of the pit. Since I went to college in Boulder, Colorado, I guess it makes sense that I initially started seeking God through what you might call "New Age" practices and practitioners. I started reading books by people like Deepak Chopra and Marianne Williamson. I went to seminars at Naropa University and Mile High Church. And I tried my hand at Buddhist meditation. But you know what? All this stuff ended up leaving me feeling empty inside. It was interesting at times. And often tickled my ears. But it wasn't changing me at all. I was still empty inside. There was still a darkness inside of me, and I was looking for the Light. In fact, there were a few times where some of these new age speakers or attendees at their events creeped me out. (I once heard a South American Shaman speak and after the event one of the attendees came up to me and started laughing and yelling at me in a completely crazy way - it was so weird!) So, I did the next logical thing in my mind and returned to the Catholic Church and started attending masses regularly. This was a great season in many ways. I became a Lector at Holy Ghost Church in downtown Denver, where I would read the 1st and 2nd Scripture readings during mass. I found meaning in the masses. I was doing good works. But something was still missing for me. I was still empty inside. I hadn't yet entered into relationship with Jesus for my salvation or repented of my sins which leads me to...
Salvation
This is the key part of my testimony, and this is where things get interesting... In the year 2000 when I was 28 years old, my college buddy Chad got married. What was interesting about this wedding is that Chad was the Executive Pastor at TNL Church and their Lead Pastor, Trevor, officiated the wedding. I was intrigued by the relevant message of God’s love that Trevor shared that evening. So, I ended up attending TNL when Chad got back from his honeymoon. It was a nondenominational church that played loud rock worship music and met on Tuesday nights with thousands of young adults in attendance. It was so different to me than the rituals and generally older congregations of previous churches I'd attended. I remember thinking to myself the first time I attended, “is this even church?” Well, it was, and I found Jesus there. Trevor periodically would lead the congregation in the prayer of salvation which goes something like this: “God, I love you. I have sinned against you. Jesus, I believe that you came to this earth to save me from my sins, by dying on the cross and then rising from the dead. I confess my sins and I repent of my sins, and I will follow Jesus the rest of my life and into life eternal.” Honestly, after praying this prayer, nothing dramatic happened right away. Yet I know in that moment everything changed. And over time I began to change. Chad ended up discipling me in the essentials of the Christian faith. He taught me that Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to Scripture alone, for God's glory alone. Chad baptized me (full immersion) and 8 years later he officiated my wife and my wedding. I was blessed to have a godly man and a church to help me grow in my early days of my faith. I pray that you too can find a godly man or woman to disciple you and that you plug into a great church.
Working at a Church
After a few years of attending TNL, I ended up migrating to Pathways Church. It was closer to where I lived in central Denver with a great artistic Christian community. I ended up redesigning Pathway’s website and based on that work their Pastor Ron invited me to come on staff as Director of Community Life. I was Director of Development at Habitat for Humanity, but I decided to make the “leap of faith” career move and take a nearly 50% pay cut to move from a nonprofit to a church. Working in full time ministry at a church was great, but it also burned me out. I only lasted a year before I retreated back to nonprofit work. However, in that year at Pathways something special happened, which I’ll describe below. I’ll close this section by saying please pray for and encourage anyone you know who is in full time ministry. It is great work that they do, but it is hard work. They need your support.
Launching the One Year Bible Blog
During my year on staff at Pathways Church I invited the congregation to join me reading the Bible in a Year. Somewhat surprisingly to all of us on staff, 70 people signed up! I originally thought I was going to do a small group that met regularly, but with this size of group I ended up doing weekly emails and monthly gatherings. However, about halfway through the calendar year of readings I left church staff and I wondered what I would do with the weekly emails that I was sending to the 70 congregants. Would I continue doing them? As I was doing my regular jog along 7th Avenue Parkway in Denver, I got the sense from God that I should not only continue emailing the 70 congregants, but that I should launch a daily Bible Blog to allow anyone in the world to participate. Well, I did launch that blog in 2004 and I’m humbled to share that over the past 17 years more than 15,000 people in 75 countries have participated in reading the One Year Bible with me. I keep the blog going daily, and I invite you to join me in reading the One Year Bible with me in 2022, with details on how to sign up at this link
Invited to be a Catholic Priest
After burning out on full time ministry working at Pathways Church, I decide to circle back to the Catholic Church. I had several friends that attended a Sunday evening mass at the gorgeous Cathedral on Colfax and Logan Street in Denver, with Archbishop Charles Chaput presiding over that mass. One evening after mass I shook the Archbishop’s hand and wanted to introduce him to a friend of mine who was visiting for the first time. Interestingly the Archbishop was not really interested in meeting my friend, but he grasped my hand and stared at me and said: “I want to meet with you. At my office. Contact my secretary and set up a time.” I was not sure what to make of it, but I thought I’d better follow his orders! So, I went to meet with him and wasn’t expecting what happened. Archbishop Chaput’s office was very nice, so it almost felt to me like I was meeting with the Pope! I was nervous. He welcomed me and was very gracious. Quickly in the conversation he asked me: “Mike, have you ever thought about becoming a priest?” I was a bit surprised by the question, but by God’s grace I had this answer that I shared with him: “Archbishop, wow, what an honor to even be asked this question by you. Yes. I have thought about becoming a priest. However, I understand that priests are primarily called to shepherd and lead the parishioners that come to the church. And then I understand that the parishioners are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the world – to go out into the world and serve, whereas the priests are called to primarily serve the church internally. Well, Archbishop, as you’ve heard about my work with nonprofits and the Bible Blog, I feel called to go out into the world and serve. And not just to serve within a church.” Archbishop Chaput very graciously replied: “Mike, that is a good answer. You are not called to be a priest.” And with that I confess that I breathed a sigh of relief… 😊 But what an honor and what a cool experience this was! What about you? Where are you called to love and serve the world? And are you doing it?
Enrolling and Dropping out of Seminary (due to falling in love...)
I think it might have been the priesthood talk with Archbishop Chaput along with the fact that I was leading thousands of people through the Bible in a year without formal training, that led me to enroll in a Master of Divinity Program in Biblical Studies at Denver Seminary in the fall of 2007. I was excited and ready to do 3 years of Biblical studies, including learning Hebrew and Greek! But then I met a woman… 😊 And, well, she was moving back to her hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, when we met in Colorado. So, you know what? I dropped out of seminary after just 2 months of attending and I moved to Michigan. Yep, the woman was worth pursuing and is now my wife! (Thank you, God!) It is funny how things like this work sometimes. You feel like God is sending you down a great new path and then suddenly the path takes an unexpected turn. And then you must discern which way to go, which is not always easy. Is there a path in your life now that you think God is calling you to move forward on? Will you follow God’s call for your life down that path? Even it seems a bit risky? Will you take the leap of faith?
Biblical Christianity dispelled my nightmares
Okay, I realize this testimony is getting long, so I’ll try to land the plane here. (Thanks if you’ve read along this far!) After all my twists and turns of churches and seminaries and blogs, you might be wondering: “Mike, what type of Christian are you? Are you part of a denomination?” The short answer is this: “I’m a Biblical Christian that loves Jesus.” I realize that might sound simple, but the Bible is indeed simple enough that any one of us can read it and understand it plainly. And yet at the same time the Bible’s 66 books are filled with vast treasures of wisdom that can be mined daily for the rest of our lives. And this is my game plan: to read the Bible daily the rest of my life and by God’s grace to grow in wisdom. This might be a good point to share this: I used to have nightmares regularly. However, once I started reading the Bible regularly, the nightmares went away. I do truly believe God's Light and Grace was pouring through the pages of the Bible as I read them and dispelled the darkness of the nightmares. This Christmas season and in the new year ahead, will you join me in seeking and finding the Light of God in the pages of Scripture?
The Continuing Adventure
I’ll close with this simple but profound learning: life in relationship with Jesus is the most amazing adventure you can imagine! Every day is filled with blessings – even the hard days of life. I am so blessed to now be married 13 years and am raising 2 incredible daughters with my wife. The world will sell you many fake and temporary adventures: money, fame, beauty, or power. These will pass. But life in relationship with Jesus will last. Now and forevermore. I don’t know where you are with Jesus right now, but I hope my Christian testimony will encourage you to follow Jesus. He is so good. All the time.
How about about you?
How are you doing these days? Are you empty inside? Are you struggling with sin? Do you even believe sin is real? Have you trusted Jesus? Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Do you know the peace of God that surpasses all understanding? If not, I encourage you to learn more about the Gospel and following Jesus in these two short videos below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o04cOmtH8Vs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CP0vxnnQLE
Thank you for reading my testimony! If you ever want to talk to me about it, please do reach out to me at [email protected]. I’d be honored to answer any questions you might have or just talk about Jesus with you. Jesus brought me from death to life by God’s Amazing Grace. I have no doubt He can do the same for you. Also, if by chance you've written your Christian testimony, I'd love to read it if you're up for sharing it. Lastly, if you are a Christian and you haven't written your testimony, can I encourage you to do so? It is a powerful experience to write it out.
God Bless!
Mike
p.s. The purpose of this blog is to encourage you to live a more disciplined life by God's Grace. I'd be honored if you'd subscribe to my blog's emails to alert you of new blog posts at: www.mikepritchard.com/subscribe.html
