The  animation on this page was inspired by my own experiences with the LORD.  

For years, I had people telling me that I needed to "Come to CHRIST."  I didn't care about what anyone told me.  I told people, "I have my own religion, I don't need yours!"  I also said things like; "Christians are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites wanting to control your life." and "Why do I need to go to church?  I can talk to God without a building!"

It wasn't until I was severely depressed to the point of having suicidal thoughts, that I came to realize that I needed Christians to show me the way to the cross.  I was caught up in a world of lust and sexual sins.  I knew what I was doing was  wrong. I also knew I could not possibly take back anything that I had done.  I felt I had nothing to lose.  My poor self-esteem and my sins were feeding each other in a vicious cycle of depression from self-hatred, and the quest for momentary pleasure to "forget" the pain for a while.  The enjoyment  of the act  would wear off, only to make me hate myself even more, thus increasing the need to find another diversion from my suffering.  I had sunken so low that the only thing that made sense to my carnal mind was to do myself and the world the favor of leaving forever.  My ways were obviously not working, and at that point, there was no way to go, but UP! 

"Doc," my roommate at that time, realized that I really had no idea who God was, although I professed to have knowledge of the Bible and Jesus.  He read me the story of the "Prodigal Son ."   

I was very "taken back" by the story.  I asked, "Will God really accept me after all the very sinful things I have done?"  Doc insisted that the angels in heaven would "party down" at the sight of  me returning to my "father's" home.  "How could Doc be telling me this?" I thought, " He knows  the things I have done!"  This went against everything that I thought was true of Christians!  I thought Christians were these "perfect people" that never did anything wrong or sinful, and got their enjoyment out of rubbing your sins in your face!  I was surprised when he didn't throw my alleged " Bible knowledge" in my face when I told him I had never heard it before.  Then he invited me to the Sunday morning service that he attended. This whole concept bothered me endlessly for about two weeks, before I finally decided to take my roommate up on his invitation. 

When I got to the small, non-denominational church chapel, they were singing what I called "boring religious songs."  I was thinking about leaving just when the music stopped and the preacher began to speak.  He opened  the large Bible on the pulpit and began reading.  After about twenty seconds, I realized that he was reading that same story...The Prodigal Son!  Doc leaned over and said, "If God wants you to know that it is really Him speaking, he'll tell you twice!"

The preacher stated that he had planned another sermon. He said he simply opened the Bible, and when he looked at the scripture, he "just knew" that someone in the room needed to hear about the "Prodigal Son ."  At that point, I had no choice but to believe that this was God reaching out to me and inviting me home!  With tears pouring down my face, (For the first time in decades.)  I went forward for the altar call.  I knelt down before the make-shift cross that was constructed  from a couple of old 2X4 studs, and asked Jesus into my heart.  

 All of my life, I had had thousands of people... family members, school teachers, clergy, countless anonymous Christians, friends, and even business associates, that were shining the light of the Gospel Of Christ right in my face!  I comprehended it not. (Thus, the animated graphic below)

It made absolutely no sense to me at all. Not until the day that I left my sins at the foot of the rickety old cross, that stood so proudly proclaiming Jesus, up on that platform! 

It was then, that I realized that I had been wallowing in my own "mire" of darkness, blinded to the light that shone all around me. 

 My life has never been the same since that day.  Yes, I have had troubles and tribulations.  Yes, I have gotten into some depressed moods.  What I have now, is the peace of knowing that no matter how bad it gets, I will never again sink as low as I was the day that Doc first read me that story.  If I fall into the pit, I will have an ARMY of Church Family, led by JESUS CHRIST, the KING OF KINGS, the LORD OF LORDS, the CREATOR OF ALL, to help me get out.

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  (Romans 8:38-39)

Words cannot express the feeling that I get when I think of all that Christ has done for me.  He gave his life to get me out of that sinking ship I was in.  His body was beaten and his flesh was ripped to pieces.  His blood was splattered over half of a city,  so that I, the king of all scumbags, could have fellowship with his father in eternal life!   It is wonderful to belong to a Church Family that knows that I was a dirty, rotten, stinking sinner, but they accept, love, and care for me anyway!

- David Trotter

Are you living in your own world of darkness?  Are you convinced that you and your past behaviors could not possibly be accepted by anyone?  Are you caught up in a pattern of self-indulgence that makes you "feel good" for the moment, but afterwards makes you hate yourself?

You are NOT ALONE!  There IS a way out!  He did it for me, and he did it for YOU too! 

Ask Jesus to come into your heart TODAY!

Not sure if you should?  Need help?  Need prayer? CLICK HERE

This large, animated GIF  took several hours to make; though it is made from only two original images (both of which I created from scratch) and four text blocks that were "flattened" into one text block.  The original images are the swirled background with the stars and lighting effects added, and the cross.

The original background was zoomed, rotated, then cropped to create each of eight layers.  Then the cross was created, and added to six of the layers,  resized to fit, then flattened into the original layers.

The "flattened" text layer was then added as the final layer, for a total of nine individual layers.

A few minutes were spent messing with the timing of the layers.  I wanted to give people the opportunity to "see" the first layer before it took off, so I slowed it down.  I then wanted to give ample time to read the text, so I stopped the eighth layer for two seconds and programmed the text layer to appear for five seconds while the eighth layer appeared for a second time under it.

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