Know hope & spiritual awakening, 20th anniversary . . . . new creation in Christ, 17th anniversary

This October and November marks the 20th anniversary of my spiritual awakening to the truth/reality of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It was during the fall of 1989 in West Hartford, Connecticut, that I first experienced the hope--in this life and in the life to come (eternity)--that exists solely in the resurrected Lord Jesus. Prior to that, I was "without hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12).

The source of the hope that directed me to the Lord Jesus was The Holy Bible (Old and New Testaments). The Bible (New International Version [NIV]) was given to me as a gift by a friend. Some specific Bible verses that the Lord used to bring hope to my then-spiritually dark, sin-plagued and meaningless life included the following:

[15] Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [16] For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. [17] The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 2:15-17

The LORD is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid.
Psalm 27:1

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Matthew 28:20b (words of the Lord Jesus)

[14] We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. [15] I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. [16] And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. [17] As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. [18] I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. [19] For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. [20] Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
Romans 7:14-20

It was a long 3 years (October 1989 to October 1992, ages 18-21) until I surrendered/gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ (= was "born again," John 3:3, 7) in a Lake Crescent Lodge employee dorm room near Port Angeles, Washington, in Olympic National Park. I had indeed became a "new creation" in Christ:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

For a full spiritual biography via Uncommon Christian Ministries' website, click here.

For an explanation of the Christian Gospel (literally "good news"), click here.