I was saved when I was 4. I was raised in church, but the churches that I attended were what I would consider legalistic. When I turned 18 I stopped going due to the legalism. As I remained out of God's will, I became more and more miserable. I tried to return to the Lord, but circumstances were as though the Lord wasn't going to allow that yet. He wanted to teach me something. The Lord never left me, but I felt like He was a million miles away at times. I went to college, but everything and I mean everything, Job, school, ect. all went against me. Nothing would work out for me. Way too many details to tell, but basically I felt like I had a curse on my life. I actually came to the point of suicide. I became so very hardened by just a ton of abuse that had happened to me. I told the Lord that if things didn't change, I was going to end it all. I could feel Him standing over me and lift His mighty hand away, just little. I met my wife and got married, had kids. On 9-9-2001 I turned 30. Two days later was 9-11, when the Twin Towers were attacked. I realized that the Lord was coming soon and did not want to remain where I was. He had already been dealing with me for a few years prior, but now it was time to go back. I searched for a church and visited one that was very legalistic. I filled out the visitor's card and they came out to visit on a wed. They asked me to come back. I said "How do I know that this is the church that God want's me to go to"? The man said "have you asked Him" I said "no" He said "Why don't you pray and ask Him and we'll get going". I prayed half heartedly for the Lord to let me know if that was where He wanted me.
That night, about midnight, I laid in my bed, my wife facing the opposite way. I was thinking about whether I wanted to go back there or not and decided, No, I was not going to go back there. The very Moment that I made my decision, I felt God's Holy Spirit begin to slowly move through my wall and hover over my chest. He was in the form of a cloud. I felt His eyes look directly into mine and say "I want you to go back to that church" in a very mild, meek, soft voice, yet without any sound. It was crystal clear. I said "Ok, Lord, if that's where you want me to go I'll go back there. If that's what you want me to do I'll go back to that church". Then I broke down and told Him that I was sorry for my sins and that I would serve Him from now on. I had big issue with the pastor of that church. He was a very strict, breathe down your neck type of a person, yet God used him in my life. He discipled me and taught me how to do the music. The Lord kept opening doors there to serve in a huge way. They had a tract ministry there where they printed up millions of gospel tracts and a booklet called "The Baptist Bread". It's similar to "The Daily Bread".