JOSH'S TESTIMONY

Being the son of a Hollywood producer, my love of the film industry began early in life. Movies were the great escape for me. When things went wrong, I could escape into the fantasy world I watched my father create. I spent every summer (and any other chance I could get) on movie sets and locations. I was fascinated by the costumes, sets and props.

I spent my high school and college years helping out on movie sets. Nothing more than a gopher really, I dreamed of the day when I would be the one in the director's chair. My thoughts were always on new techniques and which film genre I would master first. I knew that seeing my name on the screen under "Directed By ..." would make me the happiest man in the world!

Then it happened for me! I was hired to work for and train under one of the most well-known names in the film industry. I was given the opportunity to soak in first-hand knowledge I could never have learned in a classroom. And so, I became an associate director.

But despite my amazing success, happiness eluded me. Something was missing from my life, but I didn't know what it was. I ran with a hard-living group of people which caught up with me when I got my third DUI in 2000. I lived a life of drinkng and partying. I didn't see this as a problem -- after all, I wasn't like the drunks you see down on Vine! I lived in Malibu and I had money, success and possessions. But I didn't have peace or happiness. I really did not want to drink, but the temptation was unrelenting. When I drank, I seemed to fit in with the crowd better. My father drank, and all my friends and associates partied hard. I was just "one of them". But it was all on the surface.

The breaking piont came on New Year's Eve 2000. I knew I was going to drink that night. I went to a party in Bel Air, a most exclusive section of Los Angeles. I got a beer, which I seemed to literally inhale. Then another, then another. I remember moving on to whiskey before a dark cloud rolled down on my consciousness. It was a lights out. The next thing I knew, I was lying in my bed with crumpled, dirty clothes spread around the floor. My head was spinning, and my wallet was empty, although I remembered having $1,500 in it the night before. Even worse, I couldn't remember how I got back home.

I hobbled down to the kitchen and asked my Mom to let me know when Dad was ready to watch the Rose Bowl. She said he had watched it yesterday! Somewhere along the line, I had lost an entire day and a half!

I went out to see if I'd left my money in my car, only to find the whole front end completely smashed in. To this day, I don't know what I hit or what happened. Later I heard that I had made a complete idiot of myself at my friend's party. At that moment, I made my mind up -- no more drinkng for me ... EVER!

I kept that promise to myself, but was still unable to find happiness. Then one day, my cousin came to stay with us for awhile. Stephen was waiting for a heart transplant, and he wasn't sure how long that wait would be. He's about fifteen years older than me, so I really didn't know him growing up. All I knew was that Stephen was one of my Aunt Joan's "rowdy sons", and had gotten pretty involved in the drug culture. But was I in for a surprise!

The Stephen I met was clean, sober and straight. Not only that, but he was totally on fire for the Lord now! That was something new and foreign to me. I had grown up Catholic, and I respected "religion". I just didn't know much about it or care to participate in it. But one night, Stephen talked with me in a way I'd never heard before. He spoke of Jesus as one would speak of their closest friend. It seemed like such a personal relationship he had there. He told of healing, restoration and a peace in his life.

It hit me like a ton of bricks. I was a lost and damaged soul. Although I had always believed there was a God, nothing in my life reflected it. And I was out of excuses about turning the corner on a better tomorrow. As Stephen talked about forgivenss, a new life and becoming a new creature, I realized that unless God had an alternate plan for MY life, I was at the end of my line. I wasn't sure what all of this meant that he spoke of, but I instinctively knew that this was what I desperately needed.

Later that night, after we'd all gone to bed, I got back up and went to Stephen's room. No, I almost RAN to his room! I wasn't quite sure what to do, but I told him that I wanted to join him in this new life. Stephen just smiled at me. Like he had known all along what I needed. Then he prayed for me and with me, and then I prayed for myself. My heart melted right there on the spot. I confessed my many sins, asked God to forgive me and invited Jesus Christ into my life as Lord and Savior.

It will probably be months, or even years, before I fully understand what God did for me at that moment. But the most obvious and immediate change was complete freedom. With His gentle grace, the Lord scooped me up into His loving arms and gave me eternal life. Think about it -- FOREVER!!!

Looking back on my life, the biggest snag to my finding true happiness came from a total misunderstanding of God's love and grace. Salvation is a gift of God that comes to us by faith. We can never earn or merit it. We simply need to believe the truth that Jesus Christ gave His life and blood to forgive us our sins. It is that easy!

I understood the first part of Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death", but had a hard time comprehending the second part, "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus the Lord". God let me do it my way over and over again until I finally understood that I must do it His way to find peace, serenity and joy. Perhaps you have run out of tomorrows, too. If you want to find peace with God, the Bible states that, "If you confess with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9). If you want to receive Jesus Christ into your life today, He will come in and change you in ways you never imagined. And just like in a movie, you'll receive "the happy ending" you've searched for all your life!