
| Pastor Lupe Sanchez My testimony I grew up in a catholic home With 2 hard working parents which I hardly ever saw My grandmother pretty much raised me When I became a teen My Grandmother use to say to me in Spanish (you need the blood of Jesus) I thought grandma has been smoking some of my herbs Catholics didn't talk like this But she was praying for me to come to know the Lord Only I didn't know it at the time My wife and I were born In the same year 1959 Both born in the same hospital Baptized in the same Catholic Church Both our parents moved to the north side of Houston I call it destiny My wife just laughs I had gone thru the rock and roll scene, the drug scene And all it involved And I was sick of that lifestyle by the time I was 19 years old My best friend was dating my wife to be (Connie) When I was in the ninth grade I left that school moved on We later got back together in the 12th grade And we became high school sweethearts A year later we got married by the Catholic Church We had to go to a special catholic class to be eligible to get married by the Catholic Church The old priest that married us He made me blush He said things You can't even speak about I said to myself this isn't right 2 years later a friend invited us to Shady Areas Baptist Church I got saved Started living for God Started going to, prayer meetings, visitation, the bible institute I would invite everybody to church But my wife she went down the altar with me But she didn't get saved I was happy as could be Saved Peace in my heart Joy in my soul Let me say this there are three different kinds of people in the world Publican's drunkards whore mongers Religious Pharisees True believers saints And let me tell you we had all kinds at Shady Acres Baptist Church There was one guy use to love to lie He rather say a lie than tell the truth I remember he told this huge lie But it didn't bother me I had Peace Joy There was this other guy who loved to tell dirty stories But it didn't bother me I had Peace Joy One day I had car problems I took the car to a mechanic that went to our church Said I need 800 dollars of worth work I didn't have money at the time I took the car to my dad He fixed it for 12 dollars My dad said who told you needed 800 dollars worth of work done to your car I told him a Brother at church My dad told me you better watch out for brothers like that But none of that bother me I had peace and joy Everything was going great till The same friend that brought me to church Told me I was doing wrong Told me I was selling beer at the grocery store my dad owned and that wasn't right Listen I wanted to do right So I quit my job I didn't ask the pastor I didn't pray about it I just wanted to do right Got another job Less money Now I have less money No peace No Joy Wife and kids are mad at me for spending too much time away from home I'm miserable I cant understand it Why the lord isn't blessing me It was like God had slapped my hand Nobody told you to quit your job Why didn't you wait on me? It seemed like God slapped my hand for doing right Man I needed help I drove to see Brother Jack Wood And the devil went with me in the car All those things that didn't bother me Started to bother me The Liar, the whore monger and the cheat And as I pulled into Brother Jack Woods new house The devil whispered in my ear You want to know were your tithes and mission money goes to There it is Brother Jack talked to me It went in one ear out the other I walked out on the only church family that loved me Walked out on the only preacher that would pray for me And walked out the doors for 13 years I went back to drinking From beer now to hard liquor From weed to heroin Everything in my life got worse and worse No peace No joy I took my family thru the mud Thru the fire I started believing my wife didn't care for me My kids didn't care for me To much booze To much drugs And the further I got away from God the worse I felt 13 years later My wife is now desperate She wants me in church We tried a few charismatic churches I told her if we're going to do this Lets do it right Lets go back to Shady Acres Baptist Church I don't know who said that Because it sure wasn't me July 4 1994 I walked back into Shady Acres Baptist Church Brother Jack Wood was standing tall as day I went up to the altar He looked at me Said in a husky voice I have been keeping an eye on you boy He put his arms around me And that weight I was carrying around me Finally came off I was home The next few years Were the best of times and the worst of times The Lord put me thru the fire To make sure I wasn't going to run again And I was glad to be home The Lord had called me to preach way back when And I had the privilege Of getting to preach with Brother Jack In England, Pennsylvania, and Mississippi (thou in ms I think he wasn't in the morning service) I remember when Brother Jack was dying he told me I know the Lord is going to use you I just don't know how And he told me he had been praying for me Here he is going to die any day And he is praying for me What a pastor The Lord has allowed me to pastor Bible Baptist Church in Conroe Texas It sure is good being in church It sure is good being in God will Pastor Lupe Sanchez |