It is not because I am so determined or so smart.
Some people come up to me, pat me on the back,
and tell me how proud they are of me and of what I have accomplished and so on.
But of course it isn't me, it is the Holy Spirit
who has taken hold of me. Without Him I would have been helpless.
So I am very thankful for the Holy Spirit.
Raymond Tøgard A changed life
I grew up having a divorced mother and two brothers.
And in that environment we developed into a gang of boys
who started to steal.
I'm sure I realized it was wrong, but it was sort of a thrill
and the excitement of getting the goods was greater then the fear of being caught.
After a while my conscience stopped bothering me so much about things like that.
My father and grandfather were Christians,
so I had heard a bit about God and about being good and righteous.
After a while I sensed a longing within me.
I have actually always had a longing for God;
I have always been a believer in spite of how I lived.
The environment of boys Raymond was with continued to deteriorate in a negative direction.
The break-ins became more serious, and the amounts increased.
After a while, drugs started to play a role.
We mostly used marijuana, which was very popular at that time.
Several of my friends, and I also tried methamphetamine and cocaine
I was 18 or 19 at the time; it was right before I was converted when we tried that.
Several of my friends went even further getting into heroin.
Here is where it happened. Here is where the drug dealing occurred. We had stairs over there
and there were escape routes there and here, right? We had both.
We could get away round here, too,
so this was sort of the center; here we had three escape routes.
There was an emptiness, I actually felt quite out of place;
I felt like I actually didn't belong in that environment.
I always felt a little out of place
even though I was in the middle of it. And that probably came from the longing in my heart
I would cry and pray; I felt like a very lost soul.
I was far away and had an incredible need
which I was not able to satisfy with the way I was living.
One day I was down at the Palace Park where the drug dealing occurred
when I saw a friend coming. I didn't want him to see that I was there
so I went over to the other side of the Palace Park, It is called the Abel-monument.
When I was there I experienced - I received grace.
No, now I am finished.
Now I want to start something new.
It just hit me: "Now I am finished."
What happens after a person is converted and has made a decision,
I didn't get any special feeling; I just knew I had made a decision.
And I was put to the test very soon - the very next day.
My old friends were there, and I was put to the test right away
But then I remembered the decision I had made the night before, "no" - I would stand on that decision.
And even though I wanted to go along and smoke
I wanted to go along with what the others were doing, I said, "No.
I have thought about that afterwards, it's written that God gives his Spirit to those who obey him.
So by being obedient there - without any special feelings,
but I was obedient.
Then, God sent his Holy Spirit to me.
I became incredibly happy. I was in the clouds,
and really sensed God's presence for a long, long time.
I was fortunate to have a father who was a Christian, so I contacted him.
The first night after I was converted I looked him up.
After Raymond was converted, he settled all his affairs from his youth.
When he wrote everything down, he had two, full sheets of paper, single spaced.
After a while, Raymond got in touch with Brunstad Christian Church.
Come here, my boy! Are we going to put this on? Is this your new jacket?
OK, let's see. Shall we take the fishing pole with us?
Daddy, I want to go fishing!
After a person has been converted and becomes happy and liberated - freed,
it doesn't take very long before the nature we are born with,
that had had such a strong hold on me,
starts to show itself even though I have become a Christian.
Then we have to work, and there is an inner battle
because now we confront our nature. To become freed from our nature - that is a battle.
Oh, that's pretty scary! You're not afraid of falling?
This is really fun!
Inner transformation is very strong evidence that God lives
and can do something with our inner being.
I have to say, I personally think life is incredibly interesting.
I live a very ordinary everyday life; I go to work and I am at home.
There is not anything special about my life, but the inner life - it is new each day.
I am just unbelievably grateful for the possibility and opportunity I have received
and which each person can have.
Each person has possibilities as long as we live in such a way that we can partake of the gospel.
Regardless of how low we have been, or how pathetic we are, God can raise us up
and do an entirely new work within us.