Part 1 Tommy Richards Testimony
Praise the LORD!
I sought the Lord from a very early age after I claimed to have a vision of Christ when I was three. I used to draw pictures of Christ on the cross and talk about Him from that point on til one day my Aunt suggested to my mother that I go to the Catholic church down the street. I with zeal there did everything I thought was right in the eyes of the Lord, at least one time getting a certificate for perfect attendance, etc until I was confirmed a Roman Catholic at the age of about 13 yrs old.
I remember at around that time feeling very proud, and I stood in my room and said out loud, "There's no such thing as the devil, there's only God!"
Well I was proven wrong shortly after in a very supernatural way. I went on a bicycle tour that summer in massachusettes. In getting to know every one on the way there (there were about 13 of us), this young girl said to someone as I was standing right there, "Me and all my friends are devil worshippers, we give each other the sign of the devil and...." I boldly interupted, "The devils nothing, God is all powerful and created all things, and He's great." From that moment on I was repulsed by her, but she began to have a crush on me. Her name was Marcy. One night we were all on the shore of Martha's Vineyard and one of the boys said to me, "Hey Tom, why don't you go talk to Marcy?" I said, "No way!", he asked why, I told him what she had said about worshipping the devil and how I loved God, He tried persuading me and the more he did the more vehemenant I became. I was standing with my back to the water looking right at the boy when all of a sudden chills starting at my feet began to climb up my legs until every hair on my body stood on end and I fell into a trance, with my eyes wide open I saw the water behind me even though I was faced in the opposite direction and I saw a man standing in a gondola, he was dressed in a long robe with his hood over hi head and he had a long stick in his hand and he was using it to push his way through the shallow water.
What snapped me out of this vision was a very loud, high pitched scream coming from down the beach. I turned toward the scream bewildered, every one around me dashed toward the scream, as I walked seemingly in slow motion toward where the scream had come from wondering in myself what had just happened to me.
When I got to where everybody was gathered together I looked down, in a fetal position and shaking like a leaf, wimpering and sobbing was Marcy, the devil worshipping girl. Every body was asking excitedly, "What happened, what happened?!?" She pointed towards the water and exclaimed, "Satan came to me!" Every body laughed her to scorn, and said she was crazy. But I didn't, I began to cry. Someone looked at me and asked why I was crying, I said what she said scared me, almost not beliveing myself what had happened to me, and fearing ridicule. But as I went to sleep that night I knew Satan was real, I knew without any shadow of doubt there was a devil.
It wasn't long after that I fell into drugs after several dissappointiments, and injustices, and much persuasion from people I knew. I got into heavy metal, classic rock and early rap which wasn't so out and out demonic then. For about three years I was seriously into heavy drugs, until some situations in my life made me take a good look at myself, and I asked myself, "Where am I going and what am I going to do with my life?" I knew I needed to do something, I felt it deep inside, stirring me up, talking to me seemingly without words telling me I have to do something, but what?
I though maybe it was the military, "Yeah!, that's it!" But when I got there I realized, "No, that wasn't it!" After being a rebel, metal head, rapper, druggy, loser who would cuss out my teachers in front of the class, here I was getting yelled at in my face with the threat of my life being ruined if I don't get through this lawfully. I actually began to pray at night with my heart. Not knowing how to pray or what to pray, the only thing that came out of my heart was, "God, give me a dream of Jesus." Not knowing really who Jesus was,or who God was, but I did know He was. The first night nothing happened but I didn't give up. The second night it was more fervent, "God, Give me a dream of Jesus." Both times I prayed silently, in my heart. That night nothing happened either. The third night I prayed even more fervently. The same prayer. That night I went to sleep and I began to dream.
My dream started with me opening the door of a big building and I walked in, the door closed behind me. Way up in the front was Jesus, He was shining whiter than any light, and He was facing the left side of the building which I thought was a church at the time. The way He was standing caused me to be on His left side ("And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left.") Then He slowly turned His head toward me and looked right at me. At that moment I knew He knew everything about me. Every thing I ever did, I knew that He knew specific sins that I was very ashamed of. It was too much for me. He was all the way in the front of the church and I'm right next to the door, all I have to do is turn and walk out, I was thinking this in the dream and what was so amazing is that this was my logic and thinking, it was really me there. I instantly turned quickly to leave and in that same instant I was blinded by a light flashing in my face, and in the next instant I opened my eyes again and I was flat on my face worshipping at the feet of Jesus Christ. My eyes were wide in awe and I slowly looked up astonished beyond measure, slowly I looked up inch by inch until I could see God Himself looking down at me in the face of Jesus Christ. He looked at me with His head tilted slightly seemingly saying "I died for you!" in a display of extreme sympathy. Suddenly with a sound like a rocket my dream ended.
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