Eighteen years ago, I was an avowed atheist and drug addict who lived to get high. I took 27 hits of acid over the course of 3 weeks and tried to drown myself in the ocean. In the process, I met Jesus who completely turned my life around, and I have been sober for 18 years since without a single relapse (click here to watch my story on YouTube). I have an amazing wife and the four most beautiful children in the world, and I live every day to serve and help those in need.
Nine years ago, I held a tent revival in the historically-black Eastside neighborhood of downtown Charleston. My simple goal was to preach the gospel and to see people come to Christ. I even had a baptismal set up (which the city fire department kindly filled for us)! What I didn’t know is that the Lord had much more in store for me. I ended up baptizing eight elementary-aged girls and started a Bible study in their project neighborhood. I thought that I was there to change them, but the Lord used them to change me. My eyes were opened to the systemic racism and oppression which had existed right underneath my nose that I had never been able to see before. It was like being born again…again.
Through that experience, I became an advocate for racial and economic justice, calling all God-fearing people in our nation 1) to repent of our historic and present sins of racism and 2) to partner with the black community for real change. I believe that our Lord Jesus is calling us to a place of true repentance from the heart so that we can turn from our wicked ways of systemic racism and allow Him to heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
