TESTIMONY
A Hardened Thug Comes to the Cross: The Mike Mize Story
By Audra Smith
The 700 Club
CBN.com
– In his own words:
I got my first felony when I was 14 years old. I started smoking cigarettes during that time, started smoking pot. I just wanted to fit in. I went to juvenile [dentention] when I caught my first felony, and I stayed on probation pretty much through my whole teen years.
I turned 16 year old, started snorting cocaine, just started dipping into bigger drugs. [I] started doing ecstasy, acid, and ‘shrooms.
I had a great mom. She was awesome the whole time I grew up. My stepdad was also great. They both would pull me aside and try to correct me -- both the hard way and the easy way. They found that neither way really worked. I just didn’t take to their authority. I was rebellious in every sense of the word. My stepdad used to tell me all the time that if I didn’t quit what I was doing then I would wind up in prison.
I was 18 years old. I started kicking in people’s door and robbing people at gunpoint, anyway I could get money to supply my need for drugs. By the time I was 18 going on 19, I was in the county jail charged with 20 different felonies in five different counties; I pled guilty to 10 of them and was convicted for 10 felonies.
I spent two years in a West Tennessee prison. After I got out of prison, I continued back into the lifestyle I was living, partying and drinking. I probably got into more drugs than than before I went in.
I met a girl, started dating, and we were having sex outside of marriage which led to her getting pregnant after about three months. I wanted to do the right thing, and I married her. During the course of our marriage we had another child, a little boy.
After a year and a half, we separated. We were getting a divorce, and I really found myself wanting something. I felt a void that I didn’t know how to fill.
I was unloading a truck one day at work, and one of the truck drivers invited me to church. I was like, “Sure, I’ll go,” just to try and hush him up. The next time he came, he got on me again. He really could see that there was something in my spirit that wasn’t right.
I was depressed. I was taking care of two kids. The mother was out of the picture, and it was hard. So, the second time he asked me, I told him that I would go and I did.
I remember when I walked in that church. I experienced a feeling on the outside of me as well as the inside that I have never felt, ever in my life. When I walked in, the hairs on my arms and neck stood up. I lost my breath. I know now that it was the spirit of God.
I was really caught up in the moment, so I don’t really know what the pastor said or who was around me at the time or how many people went to the altar. I just know that I went up there, got on my knees, and I told God that I couldn’t do it and I was ready for His help.
After I dedicated my life that day, I was a changed person inside and out.
The old Mike faded away, and there was a new Mike born that day.
God delivered me from every single one of my addictions without any kind of withdrawals -- cocaine, pills, pot, ecstasy.
After I got saved, I really wanted to be a better person, be a better dad, and be productive. I was on fire. I want people to see Jesus in me. I want my children to see Jesus in me. My children want to be just like me, so I want to be just like Jesus.
The cross to me means eternal life. It means a second chance. It means forgiveness. If you think you are at your rock bottom and you don’t have anywhere else to go, if you accept Jesus into your heart and you invite Him into your life, He will never let you down.
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