Where Will You Spend Eternity?

 As a child, I was taught about God, but for a long time the Gospel just did not appeal to me. When I was about thirteen I went to the altar to pray, and the Lord showed me some marbles I had stolen. He asked me to make restitution, and I refused. I went out of there and did not pray again to get saved until I was over forty-three years old.

  I went through high school as an amateur boxer and a football player. I should have been happy because I was young and healthy. I had all the things that young people want, but there was something inside me that was never satisfied.

  When I got out of school, I went to work in the logging camps. There I lived just like the rest of the loggers. I came to town and drank, fought, and got into all kinds of trouble. I never thought about serving the Lord. Nobody could convince me that a Christian could enjoy living. When I visited my mother I would go to church with her, but as soon as the service was over I would walk out the door. She asked me about going to church more often, and I said, "Mom, why should I go when it makes me so miserable?" I didn't realize that God was convicting me when I went to church.

  One day, though, God got hold of my heart in a definite way. I was sitting in a bar one Saturday afternoon, watching a football game on television, when I heard a Voice say, "Where will you spend eternity?" I turned toward the stool next to me, but nobody was there. I turned back to watch the game, and I heard that Voice again. This time it said, "What difference is it going to make in eternity who wins that ball game?" Right then I knew Who was talking to me. I got up and went out of that place.

  Although I was never one to be afraid, that afternoon I was terrified. I was afraid I was going to die before I could get to church. The next Sunday morning I went to church and started to pray, and I didn't quit praying until God came down and saved my soul. He made a wonderful change in my life! The habits and appetites of a lifetime were gone in a moment, and I had a brand new outlook on life. Until then I could never understand why people went to church. But from that day to this, they just can't have church services often enough to suit me.

  After I had been saved a few weeks, I heard that I needed to be sanctified. I knew nothing about sanctification, but one night sitting in my apartment, I realized something was lacking in my life. I told God, "You know what I need. You know I want it, so please give it to me." Right there the Lord sanctified me. The glory of God filled that apartment. I couldn't stay inside. I went out and walked up and down the streets. I laughed and shouted and cried. Finally I told the Lord,"You'll have to stop now. I just can't hold any more."

  I went on that way, happy in the Gospel. Then one night in a meeting, I heard a testimony that touched my heart. The Lord told me, "There's a testimony I can use because this man has his baptism." Suddenly I realized I needed that experience. I didn't understand what the baptism of the Holy Ghost was and had never seen anyone receive it, but a hunger sprang up in my heart.

  A few days later, the pastor of our church asked me, "Would you like to go to the Midwest Camp Meeting?" I said, "Yes, I would." He said, "The Lord told me to take you." I went to the Midwest camp with one purpose in mind I wanted to receive my baptism. Camp meeting started on Saturday night, and I prayed every meeting. By Wednesday I was getting discouraged, but when I went into church that night, I told the Lord,"If any power falls around here tonight, some of it is going to fall on me, because I'm going to be here."

  I had some ideas of my own about receiving the baptism. I wasn't interested in a lot of demonstration-all I wanted was the experience. But the Lord showed me that He was going to baptize me in His way. That night He said, "Now will you let Me baptize you?" I said, "Amen," and that's the last I remember. Afterward, I asked those praying with me, "Did I leave this tabernacle? I felt as though the roof just lifted. Well, I had the baptism, and it has been a wonderful experience

  I went back to work felling timber, and one day a tree fell on me I knew I was seriously injured, because I couldn't get up When we got to the hospital, our pastor in Roseburg was there to pray for me. I said, "It's all right. Where I'm going it won't hurt anymore." I felt the presence of the Lord, and it really didn't make any difference to me if I lived or not. I knew where I was going if I died, and 1 tell you, that's a wonderful feeling. The nurse on duty that night said that two different times she went to get the doctor to come and cover me and take me out of the room because I had died. But the Lord spared my life. The nurse said,"There was a Presence around your bed last night, a peace I have never felt before in all my nursing experience." I could tell her,"Yes, the Prince of Peace was here."

  I had been torn up so badly that nobody expected me to live. My back was broken in three places. Most of my ribs were broken or torn loose from the backbone, my shoulder was smashed, and my spleen was ruptured. But the Lord came down and healed me. Two months after that accident, I was back at work.

  Through the years, I have proved God in all kinds of situations. The Gospel is the only thing I've ever found that gets better with the using. It makes life worth living, and I intend to hold on to it for the rest of my life. -Pete Friesen