For the first 11 years of my life I was just your average kid.
But all of that would change forever on a cold, rainy day in February 2003 in Ephrata Washington. I was 12 years old, and I found myself in a park with my best friend Evan.
We did not go to that park that day to murder Craig Sorger. It was just another day in my average life, until Evan pulled a knife out of his pocket and told me he “wanted to go on a killing spree.” At first I thought he was just making a sick joke. Surely he wasn’t serious.
But I soon found myself following him to a nearby travel trailer, where 13 year old Craig Sorger lived. Evan knocked on the door, and asked Craig’s mom if he could play.
We roamed the park, playing near a canal before stopping to build a fort in a wooded area in the back of the park.
This was when my average life changed forever.
Evan asked Craig to touch the ground for 10 seconds; Craig got on the ground and began counting. At 9, Evan dropped a rock on the back of Craig’s neck, knocking him to the ground.
I got up and tried to stop Evan. I said, “Stop!” Evan got off Craig and pushed me to the ground. I stayed there and watched Evan began hitting Craig — more than 30 times. Several times Craig tried to get away but Evan repeatedly pulled him back to the ground and continued to strike him. I did not see anything in Evan’s hand, but he was stabbing Craig to death.
I look back and I wish that I would have done something to rescue Craig. It’s one reason I now do everything in my power to rescue the preborn from the slaughter.
The attack lasted minutes, after which Craig remained motionless on the ground. I then picked up a stick and was going to hit Evan, but he had a terrifying look in his eyes. I was afraid that I was the next in his killing spree. So I braced the stick, walked past Evan, and struck Craig in the head and legs before throwing the stick to the ground.
Evan said nothing. He walked to me and he shook my hand.
3 days later we were arrested for 1st degree murder and held on $1 million dollar bail.
We spent months proclaiming our innocence, first saying that we had seen Craig walking towards home from the park. We later said Craig had fallen from a tree.
We were tried as adults, becoming the youngest defendants tried as adults in Washington state history.
A year would pass before I broke down and finally told the truth about what happened. I would plead guilty of 2nd degree murder by complicity and sentenced to 14 years.
After my sentencing, a journalist asked me if I was angry I received a 14 years sentence. I said, “No. I deserved worse.”
The next day I was transferred to prison.
My time in prison started badly. I spent the majority of my time in solitary confinement for fighting.
I was locked into a 8- by- 10 foot cell for 23 hours per day, where the lights were on all the time. There were no windows in my cell to let in light. My only view was the window in the cell door that looked out onto a sterile cellblock.
When I was allowed out for one hour of recreation per day, I would first be strip-searched. Then I would be shackled hand and feet and taken by two guards to a small brick cage that was my exercise yard. I was not allowed to talk to the guards, or to the other prisoners. I would then be shackled again, and led back to my cell. All meals were served to me through a slot in my cell door.
I lived like this year after year after year.
The only positive that came from all those years in solitary confinement was that I taught myself how to read and write. I spent all of my time reading book after book. I must have read thousands of books.
Those years in solitary confinement must have also taught me a lesson because I stayed out of trouble for the rest of my sentence.
For the 14 years I spent in prison there was only one thing I looked forward to: visits from my best friend Marissa. We had been friends since we were 9 years old, our fathers worked together, and she had served as my character witness at my trial. She attended my sentencing hearing. We exchanged hundreds of letters over last decade I spent in prison, and 5 years before I was released we fell in love.
In 2016, three months before my sentence was up, I escaped. I fled my work release program in Yakima, WA and hitchhiked 300 miles to Idaho. From there I jumped on a bus to South Dakota, where U.S. Marshals captured my at gun point at a Rapid City bus stop.
Looking back now I was simply overwhelmed by the responsibilities of work release after living my entire life behind bars.
I served out the rest of my sentence in state prison before being transferred to county jail to be charged with 1st degree escape. I faced 5 more years in prison.
I found myself on the top floor of one of the worst county jails in the country. The first day I witnessed a man murdered by 2 other prisoners.
It was in this environment that God began to work on me.
In my jail cell I found 3 books: the Bible, the journals of Jim Elliot, and Eric Metaxas biography on Detrich Bonhoeffer. This last book sparked my interest in reading the Bible. I was impressed by Bonhoeffer’s bold stand against the Nazi Holocaust.
In my cell, I began to read the Bible. Every hour that I was awake, I was reading it. I would spend five, six hours reading, then fall asleep, wake up, and begin reading from where I left off.
On January 7th, 2017 I remember falling on my knees and calling out to God to save me. I know that we are saved by repentance and faith, but at the point of conversion all I knew was that God loved me and I was saved. I remember getting up from the floor of my jail cell and it was like the old Jake Eakin stayed there dead, and a new Jake Eakin rose from the dead, and I knew that nothing would ever be the same again. The grace of God found me on the floor of a jail cell. He met me there and and changed me forever.
I was born again.
I realize that I was not worthy of the grace that I had been given, I was a murderer; and I deserved nothing but death and hell. But by the grace of God I was alive and I wanted to spend the rest of my life obeying the call of my King with every breath of grace I had in my lungs.
I hope my testimony sheds light on the truth of the Gospel and it’s power to save the worst sinners. No sin is too deep that God’s amazing grace cannot reach. We serve a mighty God who can take murderers and transform them into instruments to advance His Kingdom.
Paul was a zealous murderer out for Christian blood before God used him to save thousands. We serve a God who can save repentant murderers.
When I was released in February 2017, I briefly moved in with my family. Within months I married Marissa. But I remember feeling adrift, not sure what God wanted me to do with my life.
A few weeks before my wedding, while sitting on a coach with Marissa, I saw a YouTube video that stopped me in my tracks. It was of Rusty Thomas, the National Director of Operation Save America, staging a rescue outside an abortion clinic in Louisville, Kentucky. At one point in the video, Rusty Thomas was sitting on the sidewalk in handcuffs and he turned to his son, Jeremiah Thomas, and told him, “Son, this is your heritage.”
Something about the look on Jeremiah’s face broke my heart for the preborn children being murdered through abortion. I had never even thought about abortion before that moment. But I felt the Lord move on me and break my heart for the preborn. It changed my life forever.
All glory to God for what He has done in my life. I have nothing good in myself. I am a redeemed murderer., deserving of death and hellfire. But God chose to radically change me.
If God can save me then no one is beyond His power to save.
The Blessing of Being Born of God, Born Again [podcast]
QUESTION:
“What does it mean to be ‘born again’?”
REPLY:
Great question. I am praying for you now. Born again is the same as regeneration we see in Titus 3:5-7. When the sinner (ALL of us) comes to God humbly, in repentance, turning his life to the LORD, and putting all of his faith now in Jesus Christ alone, God does a miracle in the person’s life – a change on the inside that is unmistakable and transforms that persons nature and life forever. From that moment onward, Christ reigns in that person’s life, filling him with love, joy, peace, etc. (Galatians 5:22-23). The LORD works from the inside out. First He saves, washes our sins away, and then dwells in that newly saved, born again temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
To be born again you have to go to God directly…. admitting you have sinned against Him, and receive Jesus into your life. It has to be personal. Religions are designed to keep you from God while claiming to be the way to God. Beware.
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3
“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again(2nd birth).” John 3:7
“The birth for which Christ contends is from above – by the agency of the Holy Spirit. Every man must have two births, one from heaven, the other from earth – one of his body, the other of his soul: without the first he cannot see nor enjoy this world, without the last he can not see nor enjoy the kingdom of God. As there is an absolute necessity that a child should be born into the world, that he may see its light, contemplate its glories, and enjoy its good, so there is an absolute necessity that the soul should be brought out of its state of darkness and sin, through the light and power of the grace of Christ, that it may be able to see, or, to discern, the glories and excellencies of the kingdom of Christ here, and be prepared for the enjoyment of the kingdom of glory hereafter. The Jews had some general notion of the new birth; but, like many among Christians, they put the acts of proselytism, baptism, etc., in the place of the Holy Spirit and his influence: they acknowledged that a man must be born again; but they made that new birth to consist in profession, confession, and external washing.
The new birth which is here spoken of comprehends, not only what is termed justification or pardon, but also sanctification or holiness. Sin must be pardoned, and the impurity of the heart washed away, before any soul can possibly enter into the kingdom of God. As this new birth implies the renewing of the whole soul in righteousness and true holiness, it is not a matter that may be dispensed with: heaven is a place of holiness, and nothing but what is like itself can ever enter into it.” Adam Clarke
“I can remember after getting saved my friends and my family immediately saying ‘what happened to her?’ There was an immediate and complete change in me. God cleaned me from the inside out. I was made brand new! And people noticed. My family asked ‘What has happened to her?’ Does anyone know? Yes! Jesus happened to me!! Alleluia!” Karen Cochran
YOUR PRAYER TO GOD TO BE SAVED, TO BE FORGIVEN Are You Ready to be Saved? Okay here’s a prayer to be God’s child. You have to admit the obvious, that you have sinned against God and turn to Him fully, turn your life over to Him who made you. And confess Jesus Christ as the new LORD and Savior of your life. Pray this …
Your Prayer to God … You must honestly admit your sins and receive Christ… Apply His holy blood to your life so that you may be saved, forgiven, and live eternally with Him. You must completely turn your life over to Him in repentance and faith. Now, pray the following prayer to God with all that is within you, from your heart and out loud:….
Dear heavenly Father, right now, if never before, I come to You as a broken and sinful person. Thank You for sending Your only begotten Son to die in my place for my sins. Thank You Jesus for coming to this earth to die and rise again to rescue me from sin and eternal hell and to save me for Your eternal glory. Right this moment, if never before, I receive You LORD Jesus. Come in and take over my whole life. I am all Yours and You are all mine. I love You Jesus and I will follow You from this moment forward till I am with You in Heaven forever! Please use me to help others know You dear LORD. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
How do we know someone is “born of God”?
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; … Now then we are ambassadors for Christ…” 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, 20
First off, if you are born again, you are changed from the inside out … you desire to do God’s will now…. and are learning the need for the cross, the daily crucified life (Luke 9:23-25).
Let us remember that the biblical words “born again” (John 3:3, 7), “born of God” (1 John 4:7), “regeneration,” and being a “new creature” in Christ go hand in hand or we can say, are synonymous.
“Born of God” appears 6 times in God’s Word and are all found in the book of 1 John:
1 John 3:9 Whosoever is BORN OF GOD doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is BORN OF GOD.
Those who are “born of God” do not live in sin. They repent or return (turn back) to the LORD, confessing all sin. If not they will “fall away” and be outside of Christ (Luke 8:13). See Can a Born Again Man be Un-Born Again? [podcast]
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is BORN OF GOD, and knoweth God.
Those who are “born of God” walk in His love toward others.
1 John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is BORN OF GOD: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
Those who repent and believe upon Christ are “born of God” and they love all other of Christ’s saints.
1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is BORN OF GOD overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Those who are “born of God” overcome this fallen world. By present and perpetual faith, they “overcometh the world.”
1 John 5:18 We know that whosoever is BORN OF GOD sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
Those “born of God” do not live in sin. Rather, they “keepeth” themselves from sin and therefore Satan. This is accomplished by what we read in 1 John 1 and 2 – which spells out the walk of the true disciple of Jesus.
MAY GOD bless each disciple of Jesus today to abide in Christ by walking crucified and raised up by Him today (2 Corinthians 4:10-12). May “the fruit of the Spirit”, the “Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance” be abundantly produced in the life of every saint of Jesus! May it be 100 fold LORD! (John 15) If you have been drawn in by Christ (John 6:44; 12:32), have repented (Luke 13:3), have received Christ (John 1:12), and are born again (John 3:3), you are bought by the precious blood of the LORD Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:17-18).
YOUR PRAYER: Heavenly Father, You found and saved me into Your eternal kingdom by way of the precious blood of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. I stop this life here and now, and I give You praise. I love You LORD Jesus. I am no longer my own but Yours. I am crucified with Christ. Please work in me both to will and to do of Your good pleasure. I am all Yours LORD and I know You are all mine! Please fill this vessel with Your Holy Ghost afresh, and please use me. In Jesus’ name, amen Master Jesus!
The “More Blessed” Life “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35 The “more blessed” life is the cross life our LORD calls us to. “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” Luke 9:23-24 These are the words of the Messiah – who gave His life to purchase His church. And dare we say […]
Born Again: What Does That Mean?
Understanding and Communicating the Born Again Experience No man merits, works, or earns his way into the salvation, the family of God, the body of Christ. The only entrance is to be born into Christ’s kingdom, to be “born again,” to be “born of God,” a work done by God Himself as the sinner is drawn in by Him and bows in repentance and faith (John 3:3, 7; Acts 20:21; Titus 3:5-6; 1 John 5:4, etc.). ATTN: Religion and being good enough are a farce. If you are not born again, you are not in God’s family. But you can […]
Born Again Podcast
Send us a text Order the BORN AGAIN book here or on amazon: https://safeguardyoursoul.com/store/ Support | STORE | Podcasts | H.O.T. Bible Study [podcast] | Divine Blessings | Exhort One Another Daily | The Return of Christ | The Joy of Fulfilling the Great Commission | The Love of Many Shall Wax Cold | Lie of the Ages (book) | Soul Damning Sins (small book) | Why We Need not Fear Death | Revelation Bombshell! HOMEPAGE: https://safeguardyoursoul.com/ MAKE PEACE WITH GOD NOW: https://safeguardyoursoul.com/peace-with-god/ SUPPORT: https://safeguardyoursoul.com/support/ STORE: https://safeguardyoursoul.com/store/ ABOUT: https://safeguardyoursoul.com/about/ email Todd: info@safeguardyoursoul.com Background Music by: Thad Fiscella https://www.thadfiscella.com/ […]
Water Baptism: Understanding It [study guide]
“Repent and be baptized.” Acts 2:38 Water Baptism (PDF) (Duplication encouraged. An open King James Bible should accompany your study of this topic. Carefully, prayerfully study each verse given in order to answer each question correctly. Print this document out and pencil in the answers in the blanks provided. It may be best to cut and paste it to your word processing software and then print it out. Your life in Christ will be enriched forever as you embrace and put into practice His Word.) Water baptism is important. Every believer should understand and be water baptized. Yet water baptism […]
"Buried with Him by Baptism into Death" [podcast]
“For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3 Every person “hid with Christ in God” is saved and under divine grace, saved by Christ. Everyone not “hid with Christ in God” is going away in judgment (Colossians 3:3; Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:19-21, 24). When we are “hid with Christ in God,” we are safe, secure, and under the blessings of His divine grace instead of His condemnation. “Of the doctrine of baptisms” Hebrews 6:2 Baptized into Jesus Christ and Baptized into His Death “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were […]
Ministry Today at the Local Market in Mexico [podcast]
From brother Juan:
“Glory to God, brother! We know that the Word of God is not imprisoned. Jeremiah was in the prison courtyard, and God said, ‘Call to me, and I will answer you and tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.’ And we know that the word of God never returns empty; it always fulfills its purpose, brother. So we fully trust that God will do the work to expand His kingdom for His honor and glory. To Him be all the honor, brother. Blessings.” Juan
More Good News! Mission Mexico Part 42
IF YOU SAINTS WEREN’T SO FAITHFUL TO JESUS, NONE OF THIS WOULD BE HAPPENING….. So while going to bring a good supply of food and household essentials to Clara and her boys, by divine ordination I tracked and spoke God’s Word to a Holy Spirit filled sister in Christ. Her name is Maria La Luz. She eagerly took about 100 or more JESUS tracts with her to distribute! That’s how Mexican people are. If they have something good to give, they give it! Boom. Oh, and Maria LaLuz and I are in touch by phone so she will be letting […]
“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10
Jesus Calling Devotional Exposed: 10 Things You Might Not Know
“I know so many who are so deceived by this book!! The author is a woman and she makes Jesus sound like your boyfriend who is so in love with you he can’t bare a minute without you! It is sickening! Plus she says the Bible was not enough for her. She needed more. This author died and if she did repent of her blasphemy against a holy God she is burning in hell as we speak. There are not two Jesus’s! This book presents a weak, tolerant of all your sin, pathetic, spineless ‘Jesus.’ This false ‘Jesus’ just sits in heaven google-eyed over you and how much He can’t live one minute without you in His presence! This is opposite of the fierce Christ who calls out sin and hypocrisy, who took a whip to the money changers and flipped over tables in righteous anger! Mathew 23 shows us some of the most severe rebukes in all the New Testament. This is the Jesus true disciples chose to follow! May this new documentary open the eyes of many so-called Christians to how demonic and evil this book is.” Karen Cochran
BEWARE of the Jesus Calling devotional book which is written by a full blown heretic, Sarah Young. This book continually assures things to lost souls (catholics, etc.) reserved only for the true Christian. It promises salvation, assurance, grace, mercy, the glory of God, etc to lost hell bound idolatrous sinners. Like antichrist Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life book, Jesus Calling never calls sinners to repent which is a Gospel essential and without which God will never save any soul from sin and hell (Luke 13:3, 5). You will never hear Jesus’ born again commanded or command to repent in this heretical devotional book title Jesus Calling. This monstrosity simply confirms sinners in their sin, sealing their doom in the lake of fire (Jeremiah 23:17; Lamentations 2:14, etc.).
Sarah Young is just another self-willed false prophet who does “ministry” her way, not God’s, in order to sell books and to mislead eternal souls into eternal damnation.
The blessings of God in Christ’s salvation are reserved only for those born again “in Christ,” and never for hell bound religious idolaters (John 15:7; 2 Corinthians 1:20; 2 Peter 1:1-4, etc.).
Stacy Strother writes:
“Her subtly, deceptive, doctrinally corrupt fairy tale version of what she calls bible studies for all the different ages of people, including children’s bible studies, teen and other, are found in the book stores—shelves filled full.
She is deceived, a false witness, False bible teacher, and has not heard from our Jesus—the Christ, Son of the living God, of which, is the very Word of God.
She hears from demons. Period! She needs to REPENT, and be born again! Please Lord Jesus, help her see her own demise!”
About That Jesus Calling – 10 Things You Might Not Know
ARE you seeking to experience God OR to KNOW HIM? (John 17:3)
“People want a word from God instead of the Word OF God.” Warren Smith
by Lighthouse Trails Editors
1. Did you know that Sarah Young says she had been inspired by the “Jesus” of a book called God Calling?
2. Did you know that Christian publisher Harvest House’s book TheEncyclopedia of New Age Beliefs says that God Calling is an example of a channeled New Age book “replete with denials of biblical teaching”?1
3. Did you know that the “Jesus” of God Calling teaches that God is “in” everyone?
4. Did you know that the “Jesus” of Jesus Calling contradicts the Jesus of the Bible?
5. Did you know that the “Jesus” of Jesus Calling rejects the Jesus of the Bible’s warnings about the future and tells us to “laugh” at the future?
6. Did you know that the “Jesus” of Jesus Calling frequently flatters his followers, which contrasts the way Jesus Christ spoke to people?
7. Did you know that Sarah Young’s “Jesus” revises the night that Jesus Christ was born and calls it a “dark night” in a “filthy stable” in “appalling conditions” even though the Bible says the shepherds rejoiced in all that they had seen that night? 2
8. Did you know that the “Jesus” of Jesus Calling revises the accounts of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph of the Bible?
9. Did you know that the “Jesus” of Jesus Calling encourages his followers to practice contemplative “listening” prayer and to have a “buffer zone of silence” with no warning about seducing spirits?3
10. Did you know that the “Jesus” of Jesus Calling emphasizes New Age terms and concepts throughout the book?
The 10 points above have been taken from Warren B. Smith’s new book, “Another Jesus” Calling. This book provides valuable information that can help you warn your family and friends how the “Jesus” of Jesus Calling contradicts the biblical Jesus.
Notes:
1. John Ankerberg & John Weldon, Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1996), p. 103.
2. Sarah Young, Jesus Calling, p. 376.
3. Jesus Calling, June 15th entry
FEEDBACK:
“Solid Biblical refutation of the “New Age ” nonsense passing itself off as the latest thing God is doing. In our area a number of Churches have embraced this and other similar material with no discernment to the un-biblical nature of this drivel. Thank God for Warren B. Smith and others who provide an inestimable service to the Body of Christ as “watchmen on the wall.” Pastor Tom, West Harrison NY”
“And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:” Romans 1:4 Chapter 1-16 Chapter 1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, 2 (which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) 3 concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: 5 by whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience […]
How We Know the Bible is the only Holy Book on Planet Earth [podcast]
Only God knows the future. Law of probability and the fulfillment of Bible prophecies: Odds of the 332 prophecies of the prophets concerning the coming Messiah, given hundreds of years prior to His arrival coming true are: 8,749,002,899,132,046,697,490,008,908,470,485,461,412,622,723,572,849,745,… 703,082,425,425,639,811,996,797,503,692,894,052,708,092,215,296 to 1 Fact: Only the Almighty could know the future and forthtell it in specific detail, long before it ever happened. THIS is how we know that the Bible is truly the Word of the one true God and that all other so-called “holy books” are frauds. “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” Mark […]
Jesus vs The Pope, Muhammad, Joseph Smith, and Ellen White [podcast]
*CORRECTION: Ellen White was the false prophet of the SDA (Seventh Day Adventists) and not the JW (Jehovah’s Witness) cult. Both the Seventh-day Adventists and the Jehovah’s Witnesses grew out of the Adventist movement of the 19th century, the Seventh-day Adventists specifically through the Millerites. Both still cults. Jesus Christ founded the Christian faith. The kingdom of Christ is revealed in the Bible which is the only divinely inspired holy Book on the planet and we know that because only God could know “the end from the beginning” which is something He declares and demonstrates in His Word (Isaiah 46:9-10). […]
by Lighthouse Trails Editors
The 10 points above have been taken from Warren B. Smith’s new book, “Another Jesus” Calling. This book provides valuable information that can help you warn your family and friends how the “Jesus” of Jesus Calling contradicts the biblical Jesus.
