Testimony

Life was going great! I had recently received the Merlin Award for Mentalist of the Year which, as the International Magicians Society website states, is the Emmy of our industry. I was on the stage of the world’s largest casino for over 10 years performing to audiences of 3000. Life was fantastic.

In the spring of 2017, little did I know that my whole world was about to change. I was on the ladder pruning bushes, the ladder went one way, I went the other causing me to fall 6 feet onto a three inch PVC pipe cut at an angle like a spear. The pipe was concreted into a five gallon bucket and hit my back right at the base of my
spine and pelvis. I knew immediately that something was very wrong. I cried out for my wife and slowly, half crawling, made my way into the house where she covered my bleeding wound with a towel and immediately began praying healing over me. As she prayed, the pain subsided and I began to walk upright. The wound on my back went from sunken in, black and purple, to healthier pink skin and minor bruising. The bleeding had subsided and was coming from a small laceration and a surface wound similar to a carpet burn. We both knew I was healed but we took a trip to the ER just to make sure everything was okay. The ER doctor took one look at my back and the wound, ordered a CAT Scan, said he wasn’t sure what we would find, and left the room. Two hours later, he walked back into the room, stating that the PVC pipe should have impaled me and at the very least I should have major back and neck injuries, even paralysis but Man, you are one lucky guy. My wife and I looked at each other and said, no sir, We Are Blessed.  

The next month proved to be challenging in other ways. The fall had shaken my head so hard it detached my retina in my left eye. After two years and 5 surgeries later, I still have an oil bubble behind my left eye holding the retina in place. The doctor has done all he can and though I have 20/20 vision in my left eye, I am considered legally blind, only able to see light and some motion through the oil bubble which, for now, will stay in my eye to keep me from losing it all together.

Several years before my accident I had a feeling God was calling me to develop THE DECEIVER program. I ignored the call. I shared my convictions with several friends but never acted on the calling. You see, I had grown up in church with Godly parents, but I made one big mistake, I put my eyes on men. By seeing the disappointing actions of those men and women I trusted all my life, deception crept in causing me to turn away from the Church and the Lord. Funny, as someone who makes their living by deceiving others, I am amazed at how I could be so easily deceived myself.  

I was broken and experiencing some of the lowest moments of my life. The fear and anxiety was overwhelming.  Panic attacks, which I had never had before, along with the multiple nights of insomnia brought me to my knees crying out to God asking WHY?   But of course, I knew why.  Through the chaos, God drew me into himself.  He replaced my fear with his love, and gave me new vision and understanding of his dream for me.   

I never blamed God for what happened and I don’t believe God caused this to happen to me. It was my choice to get on that old rickety ladder. I do believe that God used this accident for his good; to get my attention and bring me back to him. He squelched my ego and surely humbled me.

Friends have asked, don’t you wish you had never gotten on that ladder? I tell them you know, one of my physical eyes has been lost for the time being, but my spiritual eyes have been opened. If I had to do it over again, I would still choose the physical loss for the spiritual gain.

To God Be The Glory.