What a powerful testimony. I hope both she and her mother were able to 
accept Christ and become friends.


--RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTS A NATION, BUT SIN IS A DISGRACE TO ANY PEOPLE.

Proverbs 14:34

Donna Miller

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, July 15, 2006 10:55 PM
Subject: Fw: My Testimony


> sent: Saturday, July 15, 2006 9:07 PM
> Subject: My Testimony
> I am often asked by those who read my Christian novel, Coil of the Snake, 
> Do
> those things really happen today?  I mean, do such things occur in real 
> life
> or did you make it all up?  Here is a personal testimony a lady wants me 
> to
> put on my website.  she is currently a reader of my Christian online 
> novel.
> You decide.
>
> Phil.
>
>
>
>>
>> Rescued
>> My Testimony
>>
>>
>> The form of  "Christianity" I was taught when younger really was not 
>> truly
>> what the Bible  teaches.  I was raised as a Catholic  although I hardly
> ever
>> went to church.  We were taught that the way a  person is saved was by
> taking
>> communion.  Jesus to me was some distant figure in the stained glass
> window who
>> held a  lamb over his shoulder.  I never really knew who he was and what
> it was
>> all about.  All I knew is that he was represented as a person nailed to a
>> crucifix.
>>
>>
>> I never knew God.  All I knew were some meaningless church rituals.  My
>> mother never  knew God either.  She was later drawn to  occultism in a
> search for
>> something in the spirit world that was personal.  God seemed like a
> million
>> miles  away to her.  She began by getting into using an Ouija board to
> contact
>> the  spirit world.  The board swore  constantly.  It's predictions came
> true
>> quite often however.  But my  mother was afraid because it predicted bad
> things.
>> It said that I would grow up to be a hellion.  My mother and my aunt 
>> used
> to
>> sit there blindfolded using the  board and had a third person jot down
>> everything that was spelled out.  It  went so fast the person barely had
> time to
>> jot it all down.  One day my mother and aunt decided to ask it what  it
> was and
>> it told them it was a female  whore.  They finally decided to break the
> board
>> up and get rid of it.  They knew this thing must have been  evil.
>>
>>
>> Then some years later  my mother got involved in drawing up horoscopes to
>> predict people's future and  reading Tarot cards for them.  She also read
> several
>> books by mediums such  as Edgar Cayce and Seth.  My mother and uncle went
> to
>> psychic fairs where they had their palms read.  They dabbled in just 
>> about
>> every magic art that was popular at the time.
>>
>>
>> My mother read Tarot  cards for a friend of hers one time and the
> prediction
>> was that this person's  next-door neighbor would die within a week.  My
> mother
>> laughed and thought  that it was ludicrous and wouldn't happen.  Well,
> that
>> person's  neighbor was mugged and thrown over a bridge in town and died 
>> by
> the
>> end of the  week.  My mother then thought it was just some kind of
>> coincidence.
>>
>>
>> Then she read cards  again for another friend.  This time she predicted
> death
>> and the number  two.  She laughed again thinking it was  silly.  She
> returned
>> to that friend's house two months later however and  was approached by 
>> her
>> friend's  daughter screaming at her that she was a witch.  The girl said
> to my
>> mother  crying, "Go away you witch!!!  My  best friend died on her 22nd
>> birthday which was Feb. 2nd!!!  I hate you,  leave you witch!!"  My 
>> mother
> then
>> finally  realized that it wasn't a game and quit reading cards.
>>
>>
>> When I was younger,  about 12, during the time she was still involved 
>> with
>> such things one day I went  over to look at the cards on the counter.  I
> touched
>> them and looked at each  one.  One had a Satan symbol on it, another a
>> pentagram,  another was a wealth card, another was a death card.  I put
> them down
>> and  went and sat on our couch.
>>
>>
>> Suddenly something  came and paralyzed me.  I just could not move a
> muscle.
>> I tried to  move my arm or leg and it wouldn't  budge.  I tried to open 
>> my
>> eyes, I tried to scream.  No matter how  hard I tried I just could not
> move.  And
>> each  time I tried to move I had a really horrible pain in the back of my
>> head.  I couldn't even move my finger!  It  was horrible.  It was like my
> body
>> was asleep but I was wide awake in it  and trapped!  There was nothing I
> could
>> do  but be stuck there.  Then suddenly I could see the whole room 
>> although
> my
>> eyes we shut.  Then instantly the  whole room turned silver and all of a
>> sudden all I heard was hideous laughter  coming from every corner of the
> room.  I
>> didn't see any figures.  I just  heard the laughter.  It was hideous,
> horrible
>> laughter and I was in the  middle of all of it.  And one laugh was louder
> than
>> the rest.  Then  suddenly it stopped and I was able to move  again.
>>
>>
>> I didn't know why  this event had happened to me.  I was unable to really
>> process the whole  thing.  There was no one to talk to about  it and if I
> told
>> anyone they would just think I was crazy.  So what I did  was try and put
> the
>> whole thing out of my  mind.  I watched tv and tried not to think about
> it.
>>
>>
>> This caused me to be  an insomniac as a child.  I would fear that this
> would
>> happen to me again.  And other things did happen to me.  Although the
> events
>> were few and far  between they were so awful that I dreaded the next time
> it
>> would  happen.  Things calmed down after my mother got scared out of 
>> Tarot
> card
>> reading.
>>
>>
>> Then soon someone  came along in my life who introduced me to something I
>> hadn't really known  before.  I was only 15 but for the  first time in my
> life
>> had a male person love me.  My father had left my  mother when I was just
> four
>> years old.  So I had never known a father.  It was a big gap in my life.
> This
>> boy's name was Peter.  He was the same age.  We met in highschool English
>> class while studying Romeo and Juliet.  And boy I tell ya, for 15 year
> olds we
>> were  pretty "intense".  I loved him more than anything I had ever 
>> known.
>>
>>
>> Then after being  together for only 9 months he suddenly broke up with me
> one
>> day.  I was  devastated.  I was hoping he was just  confused and we would
> get
>> back together.  But he totally ignored me.  If I even said hi to him in
> the
>> hallway,  although I knew he heard me, he wouldn't even look my way.  I
> was
>> crushed.  It as if some truck came and ran me  over.  I did not know how 
>> I
> could
>> go on.
>>
>>
>> The whole summer  break from school went by and I didn't bother him.  But
> I
>> still held out  hope.  Then when school started in  September I was 
>> hoping
> he
>> would have a change of heart.  I picked up the  phone and called him in
> the
>> evening.  It took all my courage to do it.  And he answered.  I talked 
>> but
> he
>> acted like he didn't want to talk to me.  He gave short answers like,
> "yeah" and
>> acted bored.  I suddenly  cried, "You don't really want to talk to me!"
>> And slammed the phone down.  Then I ran out the door determined to run in
> front
>> of a huge mac truck on the highway  near where we lived.  We lived off of
> a
>> major highway that had huge trucks  going by at the maximum speed limit.
>>
>>
>> It was a really rainy  stormy night all of a sudden.  It was pouring 
>> rain.
>> It was so bad  that on the road the traffic was barely moving.  I would
> step
>> out in front of a car and they would stop immediately because  they would
> see me
>> in their headlights.  I finally gave up and walked over to my old  nearby
>> elementary school and sat on the swings.
>>
>>
>> As I sat there I  thought about how unfair my life had been.  How I had
> been
>> jipped out of  having a father.  How I had a minor  disability 
>> (dyslexia),
> how
>> I was poor, how I was being raised by a mother who  was cruel to me.  And
> how
>> I had been  molested by some stranger at the age of four.  I was most of
> all
>> angry at  God because I had lost this boyfriend I  had dearly loved.  I
> told
>> God that he must have known what my life would  turn out like and asked
> him why
>> he  didn't want me to be loved.  I accused Him of not loving me.  I truly
>> felt at that moment that no one loved me.  I was brokenhearted, 
>> devastated
> and
>> empty.  There was nothing to live  for.
>>
>>
>> I then went back to  the road hoping some stranger would just attack me
> and
>> my life could be done  away with.  I didn't care what  happened to me.
> Then my
>> mother's car drove up beside me with my neighbor  in it.  They told me to
> get
>> in the car  but I just ignored them.  Then finally when they saw that I
> was
>> not  responding and just kept on walking my  neighbor got out of the car
> and
>> physically forced me into the car.  I  fought her but I was no match for
> her as
>> she  was huge.
>>
>>
>> I sat there between  my mother and neighbor looking blankly ahead.  I
> didn't
>> talk to anyone.  My mother put her arm around me and  told me she loved
> me.  I
>> just threw her arm off and said nothing.  Then when we were home I was
>> questioned  by the both of them.  But all I did was sit there looking
> hollow and not
>>  responding at all.  My neighbor was so  frustrated that she finally gave
> up
>> and left.  I finally went to bed around  11pm.
>>
>>
>> As I laid in bed  everything was quiet, then I suddenly overheard my
> mother
>> weeping to herself.  She must have been crying over me I  figured.  I
> quietly
>> laughed to myself glad that I had hurt her because she  had been so
> miserable
>> to me all my life.  Then when she was finally done I  started to talk to
> God in
>> my head again.
>>
>>
>> This time I told God  how much I hated myself.  I told him I hated being
> me.
>> That I wanted  to be anyone else but me, that I  hated my own company.  I
>> loathed myself so much that I told God that I  wanted to go to hell.  I
> told God
>> to send me to  hell.  Then I told him that I was angry with him for what
> he
>> allowed to  happen to me in my life.  I told  him I had a lousy life and
> it was
>> all his fault.  And that if he loved me  he would have made sure I didn't
> wind
>> up in a life  like this.  I told him I hated him and called him every
> swear
>> word I could  think of.  Then I told him that I would  just live the rest
> of my
>> life to hurt him back and I would do that by hurting  everyone around me.
>>
>> Then after I  did all of that amazingly I felt really relaxed.  Like some
> big
>>  weight had been lifted off my shoulders.  It was as if something got  up
> and
>> left!  It was like the struggle to be good in life had finally  ended. I
>> usually felt very "tense" all the time, but I felt  really relaxed and
> went right
>> to sleep.
>>
>>
>> But then a few  hours later I woke right up feeling fear and a sense of
> some
>> very powerful  presence outside of my window.  I could not see  it but
> could
>> sense it somehow.  It was tremendously powerful.  And I could hear a
> distant
>> swirling noise.  I was terrified.  This sound came closer and closer and 
>> I
> found
>> that I was unable to  move.  It happened just as it had in the past.  My
> body
>> was  paralyzed.  I couldn't move and every attempt met with a terrible
> pain.
>>  I was just stuck there as this thing came closer and  closer.
>>
>>
>> Then this thing  was in my room.  Finally it was hovering over me.  I
> still
>> could  not see anything.  Then it came into me and as it did my  thoughts
> were
>> shut up like water would be behind a dam.  It was as if  I had amnesia. 
>> I
>> suddenly had no recollection of who I was,  where I was, my past, 
>> nothing.
> All I
>> had was a feeling of  "existence" and able to process what was happening
> at
>> that  moment.  Suddenly I was transported to this place of outer 
>> darkness.
>> Imagine stepping off of a space ship into the void of utter  darkness and
>> aloneness.  I was alone in that place.  There was  no life, no earth, no
> people, no
>> sunshine, no God, no nothing.  It was the most horrible thing you can
> imagine.
>> And actually  you couldn't even imagine this.  It is beyond that.  It 
>> was
> so
>> horrible that if it was hell adding fire wouldn't have made  it any 
>> worse.
>> It was a feeling of being lost.  Nothing can be  more horrible than that.
> Then
>> suddenly I was back into my  body.  And I heard this voice speak to me. 
>> I
>> still to this day  don't know what spoke to me.  But this is what it 
>> said,
> and I
>> still  haven't made sense of it either.  It said this, "YOU DON'T NEED
> ME".
>> It was this creepy, make your hair stand on end whispery  voice.  And I
> heard
>> it not just with my ears but with every cell  of  my body.  Then it left
> and
>> I was able to move again and my thoughts  came rushing back into my mind
> like
>> the dam had been  broken.
>>
>>
>> The first thing  I thought to say was, "God, God, God, God..." over and
> over.
>>  I was  so shaken that I could not even form a sentence in my  mind right
>> away.  I was just hoping that God could still hear me.  Then I begged him
> to
>> forgive me for what I had said to him  earlier.  I told him I was sorry
> and that I
>> would not live the rest  of my life to hurt others or take revenge on 
>> him.
> I
>> asked  him to protect me from this place and told him that I would serve
> him
>> the  rest of my life.  I told God I would give him my whole life  and do
>> whatever he wanted me to do with my life.  I told God that I  would start
> seeking
>> for Him first thing in the morning.  And I would continue to seek Him all
> my
>> days.
>>
>>
>> Well, the next  day the first place I went was to the public library.  I
>> really  didn't know where else to start.  So I went to the library and
> checked
>> out a bunch of religious books.  I took about a dozen or so  books home
> and read
>> them one after another.  I would get to  the middle of each book and
> realize
>> that whatever I was searching for just  wasn't there and threw it in the
> pile
>> of half read  books.
>>
>>
>> Then I came  across this book called, HOW TO BECOME BORN AGAIN by Billy
>> Graham.  I  had picked that book out of the library since I  thought to
> myself, "I
>> really do need to be born over again since I really  screwed up this life
> so
>> far."  As I read that book I  realized I had found some kind of key that 
>> I
> was
>> looking for to the whole  thing.  I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that 
>> I
> had
>>  found it!!
>>
>>
>> The book said  that the Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of 
>> the
>> glory of God.  That no one is righteous, no not one."  And that we all
> deserve
>> death and hell for the sins we have committed.  I was already  going to
> hell
>> long before I had ever blasphemed God  as I did.  Then the book said that
> Jesus
>> did not come for the  righteous but sinners and gave a verse that said,
> "The
>> healthy do not need a physician".
>>
>>
>> I was told that  I could not earn my way to heaven by good works and that
> the
>> Bible says  our righteousness is as filthy rags.  I was taught in  the
>> Catholic church that you had to earn your way to heaven by being good
> enough.
>>
>>
>> It then said  that Jesus was the only one who led a holy and sinless on
> life
>> on earth.  And that he laid his life down in our place to receive the
>> punishment for our sins that we rightly deserved.  A righteous God 
>> cannot
> have sin
>> in his presence and Jesus atoned for our  sins and his blood paid the due
>> penalty for our sins.  And that if we  gave our lives to Jesus and
> accepted him as
>> Lord of  our life that our sins would be buried in his death.  And that 
>> we
>> would have a new life.  The old life would die and we would be given  a
> new one.
>>  The Bible says we become a "New Creature".  And that  we would be "Born
>> Again".  That this is what being  "born again" meant.  In this new life
> however I
>> would die to myself  and live only for Christ and he would lead me all my
>> days.  That his spirit would live inside me and guide me and teach me.
> So, I gave
>> my life to Jesus on September 3rd, 1980.  And  that is how I became a
>> Christian.
>>
>>
>> I was so  confused back then about all the strange things that had
> happened
>> to me  and read this verse, "God is not the author of confusion".  I told
> God
>> to please make sense of everything so I can someday  understand.  And 
>> from
> that
>> day forward I began to  understand more and more.  I understood that God
>> really did love me  after all even though I accused him of not loving me.
> The
>> Bible says that we love him because He first loved us.  He loved us  so
> much
>> that he gave his only begotton Son.  No greater  love has any man than
> this the
>> Bible says, that he lay down his life for  his friends.  Jesus never 
>> lived
> any
>> of his life on this earth for  himself but gave up everything for our
> sakes
>> and even died a most  humiliating death.  But he conquered death when he
> rose
>> again from the dead.  The Bible says he now holds the KEYS TO DEATH  AND
> HELL
>> because he conquered the grave.  That he spoiled the principalities and
> powers
>> and overcame the enemy  (Satan).  He promises all those who follow him
> that
>> they will  all be raised from the dead as He when death is swallowed up 
>> in
>> victory  and we will sing, "Death where is your sting?"
>>
>>
>> Revelation  1:18  I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive
> for
>> ever  and ever! And I hold the keys of death and  Hades.
>>
>>
>> Send questions or comments to me at this e-mail  address~
>> [log in to unmask] (mailto:[log in to unmask])
>>
>>
>> Please note~  My testimony mentions  a book by Billy Graham.  I  have not
>> gone on to be a follower  of Graham.  I have not read any  of his other
> books nor
>> have I  ever been involved with his ministry  in any way.  Instead, I
> became
>> a  follower of Jesus Christ.  It was  the Bible Scriptures that led me 
>> to
> the
>> truth not the mere writings  of man.  His book only served as  an
>> introduction to the Bible.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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