Post by Admin_Dan on Nov 21, 2006 16:24:54 GMT -5
My name is Dan Lirette…
From the ages of 12 until 18, I was in jail; my entire youth was behind bars, and if I could describe evil, I would say I was its friend.
When I was 8 or 9, I remember going to bed at my old place and as I walked up the stairs alone, I stopped the moment I reached the middle of the staircase, sensing something "dark". I had NO religious background. The powers of hell came rushing over me and I was totally engulfed in a presence that I can only describe as demonic. That was my first encounter with the enemy.
Not long after that strange experience, actually a few months later, I had another one!
It was Fall and I was playing in the leaves and all around me I heard an Audible Voice coming from every direction possible...."Danny".... "Danny". It was gone, but only for another two or three months, and then He spoke again, simply calling my name. I remember looking up into the blue sky and asking, "Is that You, God?" No answer, but I knew He had spoken my name twice within months of each other.
Satan had a plan, yet God also had a plan, and HIS plan never fails! Amen!
Well... fast-forward a few years.
My mom and dad were great parents; not saved but they loved me and I grew up in a middle class and hard working family. Mom worked as a janitor at the School District while dad took jobs here and there as a "jack of all trades". They were good to us (I have one brother).
For whatever reason, and I suspect it's because of man's sinful nature (suspect? It IS our sinful nature!), I just started doing things I should never have done. I would take Bibles and burn them. I would speak with the dead would talk to the devil and seek him for power. I was only 10 or 11, and I did this on my own apart from any influences but the enemy himself.
One day the Police found my Bibles and candles etc in an abandoned building I would worship in. They came to moms and dad's and questioned me in front of my own family! I was humiliated and shocked! The scary part was when they had asked me if I belonged to a satanic group in Riverview (just across the bridge from my city here in Moncton). They had suspected me of being an initiate into a local cult, when in all reality I had no clue any existed at 10 or 11 years old! I was practising in some of the same ways that organised Satanists were; thus, the reason I know he is real... (But Jesus beat him on Calvary 2000 years ago! Praise God!)
My entire young life was filled with satanic worship and crime. I lost my virginity at 12 years of age, as the enemy persuaded me to do that which is ungodly. I partook of drugs and alcohol, as my own heart would long for sin. I ended up, for my first time, in jail at the age of 12! I spent the next 6 years there, never being released for more than four months at a time before I’d commit another crime and go back.
I was abused (not sexually) in jail, and called name after name by the "Counsellors" who were in charge of seeing to it that we were taken care of and looked after. They made me stand in a corner many times, for hours, while others went to bed. I was forced to lean my forehead into the corner of a desk while everyone watched and laughed at me. I was beaten up many many times by inmates and guards alike.
Then I hardened and became not the victim, but the offender. I began beating others and doing that which I had always hated having done to me. I stole THOUSANDS of dollars from my family. Money, televisions, clothing, rent, mortgage, etc. I stole whatever I could for drugs and sex and partying. I broke into stores and did a few armed robberies.
NOTHING was "too evil" for me.
Some wish they could escape sin; I wished I could have more, and that is truth, Beloved.
I LONGED to hurt people and lie about people. I once told authorities my parents would drink all the time and then beat me. Not a word of that was truth; I simply needed an "excuse" for why I was out late all the time and skipping school. My life was about "me".
In 1992 at the age of 15 going on 16, I was sent to a maximum security prison for 2 years, because of taking a cook hostage at ANOTHER jail; I had escaped one jail and when I was caught they sent me to one I DEFINATELY couldn't get out of!
Needless to say, there was a guard who worked at this jail who was Born Again, and he'd witness the Love of God to me as no one else could have.This man, Gilles, was the type of man who loved me no matter what. I'd laugh at him and he'd love me. I'd slander him and he'd love me. I'd mock God in his face and he'd love me. I'd tell him I wanted to be the antichrist and he'd love me. I'd curse Christianity and he'd love me.
No matter WHAT I did or said, Gilles loved me unconditionally and I KNEW he was real.
This man wasn't a fake who said one thing and lived another; he loved Jesus Christ and everyone in that jail knew it. The man wasn't ashamed of the Gospel, for he knew that it was the power of God unto Salvation to everyone that believed, to the Jew first and then to the Gentile! Amen!
I remember the day I asked him to "prove" God.He told me that the Bible said that God gives others a "new" language, and that he had this "new" language. He opened the Word, showed me and then claimed to have this "God Language".
Now, I don't care what anyone says; Tongues are real. It makes no difference to me what the modernists and cessationists claim. Tongues are real. It doesn't concern me what the Liberals or the devils say; Tongues are real. It doesn't matter to me if some of the BRETHREN even claim that Tongues aren't for today; Tongues are real.
Listen, Beloved:
I asked this man to SHOW me that this Gift was real, which I myself had JUST READ in the Bible. Can we speak in Tongues without an interpreter? Yes and No.
In my case, YES!
1 Corinthians 14 tells us that Tongues are for a SIGN...NOT to them that BELIEVE, but to them that believe NOT.That was me, the "Believe Not" guy!
Thus, Gilles, in that maximum security jail (now for adults!), bowed his head, closed his eyes, and began to speak in a Tongue that to this day I KNOW was of God.
I was a juvenile in jail, evil as could be and always looking to sin.
When this man prayed and looked up at me as he spoke, I sensed the Spirit of God come on me, as I had never known Him! I KNEW that I KNEW that I KNEW that this man had PROVEN God to my spirit; for I heard him speak in a Tongue which was not earthly nor human, but Divine.
Immediately I asked him to stop because it was so holy it scared me to know that I had just had an encounter with God.He laughed out loud, surprised at my reaction, and asked "why?"I answered, "Because I'm scared."
Not long after that, he and another inmate asked me to join them in a separate room for prayer; I agreed to join them and IMMEDIATELY the Presence of God again fell on me; this time, however, I KNEW I was going to be saved.
I went into that room a sinner on his way to a devil's hell and I walked out a Saint Filled with God.Simply put, Gilled told me Jesus was present with the three of us.
Gilles told me he was going to say a prayer and that I was to pray along with him, but to speak it truthfully to the Lord.I obliged. I don't care what anyone says about the "Sinner's Prayer"; I prayed it as Romans 10:9-10 says to pray it, and God saved me.
Remember the man who prayed in the temple, "God be merciful to me a sinner!"?
The bible tells us that God JUSTIFIED that man. The man's HEART CRY to God had caused God to rouse His Power to save this man! Jesus Christ did the same for me.
I asked, "How do I know if I am saved?" Gilles answered, "You'll know".
At that we all walked out, and as I went to my cell, I had to go past 18 other inmates in the Television room. One of those inmates asked me, "What were you doing in there with those Christians?" I replied immediately, "I'm a Christian now."
THAT MOMEMT the Spirit of the Lord came upon me in great Anointing and Power and confirmed my sonship before all who were present as I began to well with tears and also joy as the Lord spoke His Eternal Witness into my heart!
Why did Jesus only allow me to KNOW I was saved a few minutes after I actually was? He gave me the answer to that question years later:
"He who confesses ME before men, I shall confess HIM before My Father and His Holy Angels."God was waiting on the words of my confession before a hardened jail filled with sin! The MOMENT I confessed Christ as my Lord and Saviour, He confessed ME to His Father!
I went to my cell, jumped up and down and laughed a bit (yes, as Wilkerson!) and then cried and just got all weird for Jesus...Me and Jesus spent alot of time in that jail.... He and I would fellowship for hours and hours and hours and hours. No TV. No movies. No sin. Just Jesus.
People would laugh at me because of the change. Little by little however, inmates would come to me and confide their deepest thoughts into my ears and ask me to pray for them.
Let me say this:
God showed up, sent revival and GUARDS were being affected and one went to the Pentecostal Church, because, as he told the Church, who later told me, "when I saw Dan at night all alone on his knees praying, I knew this was real."
One guard made fun of me ALL the time and I debated with him that Jesus Christ was real and that without Him he was destined for hell; he soon afterwards committed suicide by way of a shotgun in his home.
There were good times and bad times, but all in all, we saw God MORE than flesh, Satan or sin! Though many would fight the Cross and it's Message, God always prevailed!
In closing, Gilles was fired as a result of my conversion...Another guard (now a friend of mine) soon came to Christ.The warden got cancer and left. The new warden Rehired Gilles.God always has a plan!
Since that time I have gone on to Bible College, earned several secular and Biblical Degrees, saw revival twice, been maligned and misunderstood, loved and hated....
But all in all....
I simply want to keep Christ as my very own lifeblood and source of all strength.
Dan
From the ages of 12 until 18, I was in jail; my entire youth was behind bars, and if I could describe evil, I would say I was its friend.
When I was 8 or 9, I remember going to bed at my old place and as I walked up the stairs alone, I stopped the moment I reached the middle of the staircase, sensing something "dark". I had NO religious background. The powers of hell came rushing over me and I was totally engulfed in a presence that I can only describe as demonic. That was my first encounter with the enemy.
Not long after that strange experience, actually a few months later, I had another one!
It was Fall and I was playing in the leaves and all around me I heard an Audible Voice coming from every direction possible...."Danny".... "Danny". It was gone, but only for another two or three months, and then He spoke again, simply calling my name. I remember looking up into the blue sky and asking, "Is that You, God?" No answer, but I knew He had spoken my name twice within months of each other.
Satan had a plan, yet God also had a plan, and HIS plan never fails! Amen!
Well... fast-forward a few years.
My mom and dad were great parents; not saved but they loved me and I grew up in a middle class and hard working family. Mom worked as a janitor at the School District while dad took jobs here and there as a "jack of all trades". They were good to us (I have one brother).
For whatever reason, and I suspect it's because of man's sinful nature (suspect? It IS our sinful nature!), I just started doing things I should never have done. I would take Bibles and burn them. I would speak with the dead would talk to the devil and seek him for power. I was only 10 or 11, and I did this on my own apart from any influences but the enemy himself.
One day the Police found my Bibles and candles etc in an abandoned building I would worship in. They came to moms and dad's and questioned me in front of my own family! I was humiliated and shocked! The scary part was when they had asked me if I belonged to a satanic group in Riverview (just across the bridge from my city here in Moncton). They had suspected me of being an initiate into a local cult, when in all reality I had no clue any existed at 10 or 11 years old! I was practising in some of the same ways that organised Satanists were; thus, the reason I know he is real... (But Jesus beat him on Calvary 2000 years ago! Praise God!)
My entire young life was filled with satanic worship and crime. I lost my virginity at 12 years of age, as the enemy persuaded me to do that which is ungodly. I partook of drugs and alcohol, as my own heart would long for sin. I ended up, for my first time, in jail at the age of 12! I spent the next 6 years there, never being released for more than four months at a time before I’d commit another crime and go back.
I was abused (not sexually) in jail, and called name after name by the "Counsellors" who were in charge of seeing to it that we were taken care of and looked after. They made me stand in a corner many times, for hours, while others went to bed. I was forced to lean my forehead into the corner of a desk while everyone watched and laughed at me. I was beaten up many many times by inmates and guards alike.
Then I hardened and became not the victim, but the offender. I began beating others and doing that which I had always hated having done to me. I stole THOUSANDS of dollars from my family. Money, televisions, clothing, rent, mortgage, etc. I stole whatever I could for drugs and sex and partying. I broke into stores and did a few armed robberies.
NOTHING was "too evil" for me.
Some wish they could escape sin; I wished I could have more, and that is truth, Beloved.
I LONGED to hurt people and lie about people. I once told authorities my parents would drink all the time and then beat me. Not a word of that was truth; I simply needed an "excuse" for why I was out late all the time and skipping school. My life was about "me".
In 1992 at the age of 15 going on 16, I was sent to a maximum security prison for 2 years, because of taking a cook hostage at ANOTHER jail; I had escaped one jail and when I was caught they sent me to one I DEFINATELY couldn't get out of!
Needless to say, there was a guard who worked at this jail who was Born Again, and he'd witness the Love of God to me as no one else could have.This man, Gilles, was the type of man who loved me no matter what. I'd laugh at him and he'd love me. I'd slander him and he'd love me. I'd mock God in his face and he'd love me. I'd tell him I wanted to be the antichrist and he'd love me. I'd curse Christianity and he'd love me.
No matter WHAT I did or said, Gilles loved me unconditionally and I KNEW he was real.
This man wasn't a fake who said one thing and lived another; he loved Jesus Christ and everyone in that jail knew it. The man wasn't ashamed of the Gospel, for he knew that it was the power of God unto Salvation to everyone that believed, to the Jew first and then to the Gentile! Amen!
I remember the day I asked him to "prove" God.He told me that the Bible said that God gives others a "new" language, and that he had this "new" language. He opened the Word, showed me and then claimed to have this "God Language".
Now, I don't care what anyone says; Tongues are real. It makes no difference to me what the modernists and cessationists claim. Tongues are real. It doesn't concern me what the Liberals or the devils say; Tongues are real. It doesn't matter to me if some of the BRETHREN even claim that Tongues aren't for today; Tongues are real.
Listen, Beloved:
I asked this man to SHOW me that this Gift was real, which I myself had JUST READ in the Bible. Can we speak in Tongues without an interpreter? Yes and No.
In my case, YES!
1 Corinthians 14 tells us that Tongues are for a SIGN...NOT to them that BELIEVE, but to them that believe NOT.That was me, the "Believe Not" guy!
Thus, Gilles, in that maximum security jail (now for adults!), bowed his head, closed his eyes, and began to speak in a Tongue that to this day I KNOW was of God.
I was a juvenile in jail, evil as could be and always looking to sin.
When this man prayed and looked up at me as he spoke, I sensed the Spirit of God come on me, as I had never known Him! I KNEW that I KNEW that I KNEW that this man had PROVEN God to my spirit; for I heard him speak in a Tongue which was not earthly nor human, but Divine.
Immediately I asked him to stop because it was so holy it scared me to know that I had just had an encounter with God.He laughed out loud, surprised at my reaction, and asked "why?"I answered, "Because I'm scared."
Not long after that, he and another inmate asked me to join them in a separate room for prayer; I agreed to join them and IMMEDIATELY the Presence of God again fell on me; this time, however, I KNEW I was going to be saved.
I went into that room a sinner on his way to a devil's hell and I walked out a Saint Filled with God.Simply put, Gilled told me Jesus was present with the three of us.
Gilles told me he was going to say a prayer and that I was to pray along with him, but to speak it truthfully to the Lord.I obliged. I don't care what anyone says about the "Sinner's Prayer"; I prayed it as Romans 10:9-10 says to pray it, and God saved me.
Remember the man who prayed in the temple, "God be merciful to me a sinner!"?
The bible tells us that God JUSTIFIED that man. The man's HEART CRY to God had caused God to rouse His Power to save this man! Jesus Christ did the same for me.
I asked, "How do I know if I am saved?" Gilles answered, "You'll know".
At that we all walked out, and as I went to my cell, I had to go past 18 other inmates in the Television room. One of those inmates asked me, "What were you doing in there with those Christians?" I replied immediately, "I'm a Christian now."
THAT MOMEMT the Spirit of the Lord came upon me in great Anointing and Power and confirmed my sonship before all who were present as I began to well with tears and also joy as the Lord spoke His Eternal Witness into my heart!
Why did Jesus only allow me to KNOW I was saved a few minutes after I actually was? He gave me the answer to that question years later:
"He who confesses ME before men, I shall confess HIM before My Father and His Holy Angels."God was waiting on the words of my confession before a hardened jail filled with sin! The MOMENT I confessed Christ as my Lord and Saviour, He confessed ME to His Father!
I went to my cell, jumped up and down and laughed a bit (yes, as Wilkerson!) and then cried and just got all weird for Jesus...Me and Jesus spent alot of time in that jail.... He and I would fellowship for hours and hours and hours and hours. No TV. No movies. No sin. Just Jesus.
People would laugh at me because of the change. Little by little however, inmates would come to me and confide their deepest thoughts into my ears and ask me to pray for them.
Let me say this:
God showed up, sent revival and GUARDS were being affected and one went to the Pentecostal Church, because, as he told the Church, who later told me, "when I saw Dan at night all alone on his knees praying, I knew this was real."
One guard made fun of me ALL the time and I debated with him that Jesus Christ was real and that without Him he was destined for hell; he soon afterwards committed suicide by way of a shotgun in his home.
There were good times and bad times, but all in all, we saw God MORE than flesh, Satan or sin! Though many would fight the Cross and it's Message, God always prevailed!
In closing, Gilles was fired as a result of my conversion...Another guard (now a friend of mine) soon came to Christ.The warden got cancer and left. The new warden Rehired Gilles.God always has a plan!
Since that time I have gone on to Bible College, earned several secular and Biblical Degrees, saw revival twice, been maligned and misunderstood, loved and hated....
But all in all....
I simply want to keep Christ as my very own lifeblood and source of all strength.
Dan