Once Least Likely to Succeed (Ruben)

Scripture:
Date: 12/20/2012 
We grew up in a neighborhood up in the Midwest that was a pretty bad neighborhood. When I became a teenager, I started using drugs. I started using meth when I was 16, 15, something like that.
When you post, you agree to the terms and conditions of our comments policy.
If you have a Bible question for Pastor Doug Batchelor or the Amazing Facts Bible answer team, please submit it by clicking here. Due to staff size, we are unable to answer Bible questions posted in the comments.
To help maintain a Christian environment, we closely moderate all comments.

  1. Please be patient. We strive to approve comments the day they are made, but please allow at least 24 hours for your comment to appear. Comments made on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday may not be approved until the following Monday.

  2. Comments that include name-calling, profanity, harassment, ridicule, etc. will be automatically deleted and the invitation to participate revoked.

  3. Comments containing URLs outside the family of Amazing Facts websites will not be approved.

  4. Comments containing telephone numbers or email addresses will not be approved.

  5. Comments off topic may be deleted.

  6. Please do not comment in languages other than English.

Please note: Approved comments do not constitute an endorsement by the ministry of Amazing Facts or by Pastor Doug Batchelor. This website allows dissenting comments and beliefs, but our comment sections are not a forum for ongoing debate.

Reuben: We grew up in a neighborhood up in the Midwest that was a pretty bad neighborhood. When I became a teenager, I started using drugs. I started using meth when I was 16, 15, something like that. I was having some problems in my life I really didn't know how to deal with. The only thing I really knew was violence. This night here I was going to inflict violence on myself. I was really high and really depressed so I took-- I had this .40 caliber. I remember I put one in the chamber and I stuck it to the side of my head, like this.

The gun had a hair trigger. I remember I was tapping it. A part of me said, "No I don't want to do this," but there was something very evil present there saying, "Do it." I just said to myself, "God, if you're real show yourself to me." My mother took me to church when I was a little kid and we used to sing Jesus Loves Me. I remembered that song. It started playing in my mind. I almost had a vision of me as a little kid.

In Sabbath school, we used to bang those sticks together and sing Jesus Loves Me, and I heard that in my mind. I said, "Wow." I put the gun down and I kind of fell on my bed side there and I said, "Lord," -- I just basically just prayed this crazy prayer. I told him everything that was wrong with me. I remember one day I was driving around, I kind of felt lost and I drove by this church. I'd seen Tom out there. Tom was just out there watering the flowers.

Tom: I caught a vision out of the side of my eye. This big husky guy with tattoos, walking up. He said, "Hello." I asked him if I could help him and he told me he drives by the church on occasion. Every time he goes by, he's thinking that he should stop in.

Reuben: After he showed me around the church, I was like, "Okay, man. It's nice meeting you," and this and that. I jumped in my car and I started heading down the driveway. The next thing you know, in my peripheral vision, I see him coming around the corner like Jerry Rice running a football. No, not that fast, but he was taking off after me and he says, "Hey, hey, hey! Hold on! Hold on!"

Tom: I asked him if he would like to have some Bible studies and he said, "Yes."

Reuben: He would come by the house-- We'd all start hiding the beer cans and trying to air out the weed smell. There was a presence that came with Tom that was comforting. Do you know what I mean? Even though I wasn't taking the Bible studies as serious as I should've, looking back, there was just a presence of him being there in the house that was comforting. I told Tom, I said, "Tom, you know you can't win everybody."

Tom: I looked at him and I knew. I said to him, "Reuben, I never get anybody." I said, "The Holy Spirit will do that." I kind of, in my heart, knew that the Holy Spirit was going to work on Reuben.

Reuben: Tom left the picture for a while. I think one day in my mother's house, they were watching the final events of Bible Prophecy. I watched that and I remember the scene they had the Hell fire. They were outside the city and it showed the Hell fire coming down, burning people. I remember saying to myself, "That's where I would be. Right there." After the Hell fire scene, I saw the Saints in the city and the new Jerusalem; Jesus recreating the earth. I said, "I want that to be me and my family."

There was something about the way Doug preached and things, I felt, that touched me because he's kind of like myself. He didn't grow up like that. He'd done drugs and things so I found these common grounds that I had with him. I like how he kept it real with his preaching. Pastor Rodley came to the church and I got to know him very well. We started doing some finishing studies. He wanted to make sure I understand what I was doing. He baptized me, my wife, my brother. No matter what you've done, where you come from, where you've been, no matter how bad of a sinner you think you are, the Lord Jesus loves you no matter what you've done.

Narrator: Friends, it's because of God's blessing and your support, thousands of others just like Reuben, have found Jesus and eternal life.

Share a Prayer Request
 | 
Ask a Bible Question

Name:

Email:

Prayer Request:


Share a Prayer Request
Name:

Email:

Bible Question:


Ask a Bible Question