kishna | Lead Vocals, Keyboard, Bass Hey, everyone. Well, here’s a bit about myself from my perspective. First off, I’m a sinner saved by the Blood of JESUS, by His grace! Hallelujah. :o) I have been a Christian all my life, but I still had an ache in my soul and an emptiness I couldn’t understand. If Christ JESUS was in my heart, how come I still felt hollow at times? At eighteen, I really began to search for GOD. I even tried to find HIM in different religions. But, I knew JESUS was the only way to The Father, so I never left the Faith. At one point, I was going to several different churches in the same week! I was very hungry for The Truth. One day, I was given a cassette tape of a teaching from a pastor. One thing led to another and I ended up attending a Bible Study he was teaching. Eventually, I began attending Pastor Larry Wilkinson’s church…Resurrection Life Fellowship. What a blessing! I learned I had “bruises” in my soul that needed healing. JESUS healed those bruises and delivered me from my pain and emptiness. I still have bad days. I still have very hard times. I still get lonely. But, I’ve learned and I’m still learning how to take all that I am to the Heavenly Father. I talk to Him; He is real and very personal. His Holy Spirit (the wonderful and great comforter [John 14:16,17]), because of what JESUS did on the cross, helps me through my tough times. The Heavenly Father uses those times to strengthen me as a Christian and to teach me new things about Him, myself and others. I’ve learned that being a disciple of JESUS means loving God and loving others (Matthew 21:37:40). This life isn’t about “me”. It’s about His glory, His Kingdom work, His desire to save a lost world, His Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). I’ve learned to take the gifts and abilities, dreams and goals He has given me and give them back to Him. Like Abraham put his son Isaac on the altar (Genesis 22:2). That way, He purifies my motives and refines the abilities and dreams, so He can use them to touch a hurting world. Ok, so I’m far from perfect in this! ;o) I have lots of room to grow, but praise GOD for what HE had already done and for what He plans to do! michael | Guitars, Bass, Engineering & Production I was raised in a “Christian home” and even went to a “Christian school” for a couple of my elementary years. Yet, somehow, I never really found HIM. I heard people talking about HIM. I heard people praising HIM and I joined in, too. Yet, I never really seemed to find HIM. As a young teen, I jumped into rebellion with both feet. The wounds of my soul and total disillusionment with everything, and the piercing, empty void of pointlessness were the fertile ground for rebellion. Somehow, however, I wasn’t necessarily angry with GOD and I didn’t want to hurt HIM, although I did. My intent was to revenge myself by destroying myself. At the mature age of seventeen, I had succeeded in destroying everything. All of my relationships were ruined. Although I had a good job, making good money, I was broke and in debt. People hated me, but all of their hatred combined was far less than the hatred I had for myself. It was over. I’ll never forget sleeplessly staring at my ceiling throughout those August nights, smoking and thinking. I was thinking about how to commit the ultimate act of self-hatred: suicide. I was too much of a chicken to pick a method that would involve pain. However, while seriously pondering what I believed to be my method of choice, I suddenly felt something that I had not felt for many, many years. Suddenly, the PRESENCE OF GOD was in my room. I could feel HIS Peace, HIS Love. HIM. HE didn’t say anything; HE was simply making HIMSELF available to me should I choose HIM. I didn’t. I was too stubborn and too proud. I was going to do the “smart” thing of killing myself. The next night, I was actively planning my departure when HIS PRESENCE came again. This time, HE gave me one golden nugget of wisdom that changed everything. Why kill myself if there really is a GOD? Perhaps HE can take my life and do something with it? I decided to try. I got out of bed, got down on my knees in reverence as an abysmal sinner and simply said: “JESUS, if you can salvage this life, YOU can have it!” There was a sudden peace that was beyond understanding! There was a 3,000-pound weight that lifted off of my shoulders! It was like I was completely revived! HIS PRESENCE that was in the room was now on the inside of me! I carried my new carton of cigarettes to the empty flowerpot on the deck of my apartment and set them on fire. I gave them to GOD as an offering that HE accepted. This first act symbolized my new life: offering it all up to HIM. Within two weeks, every facet of my life was either completely revived or it was rapidly being recovered! HE fixed this life. And now, HE owns it. Thank you, JESUS!! "buck" rogers | Drums / Percussion Like many “normal” kids in America I grew up in a “church going family”. I spent Sunday mornings, Wednesday nights, and youth retreats hearing the “good news” about GOD and HIS SON JESUS. Unfortunately, I never understood the difference between learning about religion and getting to know HIM in a one on one, intimate relationship. I survived high school, graduated, and moved out without any major problems. (At least in hind sight, a few of those problems in school seemed pretty major at the time.) All of which reinforced my belief that I was doing o.k. in life. Little did I know, I believed one of the enemy’s biggest lies; Once saved = always saved. I had asked JESUS to be my lord and savior when I was 5 years old, I was baptized in junior high, and I even played the drums at a brand new church when I was in high school. I must be a good Christian, right? I can’t go to hell if I accepted JESUS into my life, can I? Wrong on both counts . . . dead wrong! I spent the next several years being the nice guy. You know, not making people uncomfortable by talking about JESUS or standing up for what I believed. A little compromise here and a little compromise there. Just trying to fit in and be liked. That led to a life full of drinking, drugs, hanging out in bars and at parties. Little by little I was sinking farther and farther away from JESUS and closer to death. Literally, close to death. After one particular binge of uppers, downers, hallucinogens, and alcohol, I even tried to “do the church thing” again. Unfortunately, I was relying on religion instead of relationship. I didn’t grasp the concept that when you give your life to GOD, it isn’t yours anymore! When the drugs and the alcohol came back into my life and I saw my adult life turning into a really bad sequel to my teens and twenties, I felt like I was trapped. I felt like dieing. I felt like I was already dead. I finally got to the place that I realized this is as good a life as I can make for myself, and it repulses me! By the grace of GOD, I finally decided that since I can’t do anything with my life, I’ll give it to HIM. I’m not anything special as me, I’m just a sinner saved by grace, but I now know that JESUS in me is spectacular! I now understand the difference between religion and relationship, and what a difference it is! I also understand now what a huge lie “once saved = always saved” is and how easy it is to believe. Living for JESUS is a choice, so is not living for HIM. HIS WORD says that if you’re not with HIM, then you’re against HIM. So, if you’re not actively living for HIM, you are, by default, living against HIM. Not making a choice is making a choice in itself.