I was adopted at a very young age and raised in the Catholic religion. So I had a concept of a Creator from the beginning.

As teenager I became very disillusioned with anything to do with God, after all there was no way to live up to His harsh standards in my own human effort. I could never measure up, so I gave up and embraced what the world had to offer, which is basically nothing!

Unfortunately I started using drugs and alcohol to escape reality. I became more and more depressed. To the point of being suicidal; feeling like there was no reason to live. 

Fortunately, there were people who cared. A peer in High School, Brent Nelson, invited me to a Young Life meeting at his house. Young Life is a Christian ministry to high school students. I went one night, and that same night I signed up to go to Malibu. This is a Christian camp up in Canada, just north of Vancouver, B.C. It's setting is beautiful, with majestic mountains on all sides. A place that really displays the Creator's beauty.

There, I heard the gospel for the first time in my life. Gospel, mean good news. I seriously needed some good news. That Jesus Christ died in my place, once for all. I no longer needed to strive for God's love and acceptance, it was a free gift. Sin had separated me from my Creator. I needed to repent of my sinful life, and accept the free gift found in Christ alone. I didn't accept this truth until several months later, through the love and commitment of a dear friend and Young Life director named, Joe Kempston. He displayed the love of Christ in his lifestyle. 

I gave my heart to Jesus the fall of 1977. 

Things were not all rosy as a result. Jesus didn't promise us an easy life with Him. Rather, that He would be my Good Shepherd, to guide and protect me through the trials of life. Jesus said, "In this life you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer for  I have overcome the world."

It's the best decision I ever made, just knowing the Creator of the Universe who made me and everyone of us for His pleasure. Now I enjoy fellowship with Him directly. I desire to love and serve him all the days of my life. I look forward to living with Him and worshiping Him in eternity.

I urge you, if you haven't already, read the gospels in the Bible. You decide. Is Jesus who He said He was? I believe so! Then you must make a decision, to either accept Him and what He did for you on the cross, or reject Him, and pay the price yourself. The fact is, that no one in there human effort, religious or otherwise, are able to pay the price in order to receive the gift of eternal life.

Jesus did pay the price in full, once for all, and He wants us all to respond to His love, by accepting Him as our Lord and Savior.

The Creator of the Universe is the center of my universe!

Doug Bunge