Personal Testimony

Why would the Lord use a pastor from northern Idaho to write about cults / religions or travel internationally teaching on the subject? For one thing - nothing is impossible for God! Plus, He also knows my history.

Praise God for his healing power! Some claim physical healing; I can proclaim miraculous mental healing. I was clinically diagnosed bottom level paranoia schizophrenia in the early '70's. Yet, the psychiatrist didn't know the half of it: A deep search for the truth led me into philosophy, eastern religions, drugs, the occult, sun staring, astral projection, wandering through the primitive wilderness as a madman, and jail time, etc. I approached mind enlightenment with the same zeal that I used in my teen age years to achieve eagle scout, karate, debate, ROTC, and flying, as well as an expertise in practical jokes and hippie carnality.

Similar in extremes to the time that I jumped across the chasm near Flagstaff at age fourteen - almost loosing my life - was my jump into mind expansion. The tragic death of a best friend in high school also prepared me with sober consideration of life's meaning. I held nothing back and checked out of reality for several years thinking I was everything from the Anti-Christ to Jesus Christ.

Do you know that people can get totally mesmerized to reality? That's where I went: sights, sounds, conversations, radio, television, rainbows - everything! It was all about me. Egotistical? Quite! But I believed everyone else had died and gone to heaven. I was trapped in sensory unbelief. Every dream and waking moment, my objective was to break out and go to heaven. I knew just enough about Christianity to be dangerous. But a man named Tad witnessed to me and yelled across a warehouse one day, "I'm telling you, Stan, Jesus is the Light of the World." The Lord also showed me a vision of Jesus one night while I was astral projecting. It was unexpected. Was there a God that could rescue me? I began weeping and said, "If there is a God in heaven, please come and save this man because I am going over the edge." He answered and gave me a guiding light, leading me out of that darkest pit. Over time, my mind was transformed.

Today, I know why people start cults and religions and how they think. In my search, I walked through the many fallacious thoughts, and I was involved in a cult and the occult. That's probably why - years later as a Christian - the Spirit of the Lord urged me to write Gate Breakers for my doctoral dissertation project. It is an equipping tool for Christians to help them understand and answer cults and world religions since ungrounded Christians are a primary target of such groups.

By God's grace, I am now happily married with great kids, and I pastor a dynamite church in northern Idaho. Perhaps a bit of God's majestic humor is found in this: Transformed from a mind that could not think straight for seven seconds, I to earned a B.S. in Education; an M.A. in Teaching; and a Doctorate in Practical Ministry. He took an introvert and turned him into a teacher. God is faithful! He longs to see all captives set free!