~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~ NICOLA STRIPPOLI ~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~

My Pic

"Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood..."


...be the glory and the honor, for MY TESTIMONY:

-When I was little, I used to go to a Catholic Church, together with my parents, and there I got baptised and had my "First Communion". I also wanted to become a priest, and I used to fill my room with all sorts of small statues of saints, pictures of Mary, candles etc, but I didn't have joy, and after a while I started to feel unconfortable in a catholic church, and all this religion thing was getting boring. I decided to start living a youth life, having fun, travelling the world, having girls, smoking whatever could be lit up, disco-dancing, sorrounding me with bad companies, and trying to fill that big big empty hole in my heart. I remember I really had lots of experiences, I was also keen on magic, poor thing! Thank God, it just crossed my mind, but I never really got into it. I was starting to wonder why on earth I was on earth. In that period, my mother started to go to a Pentecostal Evangelical Christian Church, and there she accepted Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior. I didn't want her to go there, but she was determined. I decided to give it a try, and I felt different in that Church, I used to feel the presence of God, that is crystal clear in my memory, but when God calls you, you can either accept His call, or run away, there's nothing in between. I chose the second option. A lot of Christians, including my mom, used to testify to my life, and God Himself used to speak to me in various ways, but I kept on refusing Him, I was blind, so needy, yet totally blind. But God never gave up on me, and step by step I started to read the Bible, pray some, and at times go to Church. But that was not enough, walking a bit with the world and a bit with Jesus wouldn't have saved me, Jesus wants everything of us. I read a story about two guys that wanted to enter a museum, but it was expensive, 50 euros to get in. One of them had 10 euros, the other had 30 euros... so which one had the better chance to get in? None of them! Well, it's the same with heaven, many are pretty good people, many are excellent people, but that means nothing, no one can enter without paying the whole price, and since there's no human being that can pay such a huge price, our perfect and sinless Lord Jesus, God's Holy Son, paid it for us, by dying on a cross, getting the punishment we all deserve for our sins, only because He loves us, and we only have to accept it!! This story touched me to tears, how could my Creator, so pure and powerful, die for my sins, my transgressions, my insults toward His name, and my lies? How could He say that He would have done it, even if I had been the only person on earth? "This must be the greatest love on earth, and I wanna experience it all, maybe I found the reason I should live for", thought I. In August 1998, I went to a Christian camp, just to "party on down", but God's plans were different. His presence there was stronger than ever, but shame was blocking me, I was too proud, I didn't wanna lose my dignity. Yet one day, during a service there, God talked to me again, this time He was so specific, it was a prophecy. I gave up, my eyes full of tears, I ran forward, to the pulpit, and let the pastor pray with me. I said: "Dear Lord Jesus, forgive me, I'm just a sinner, have mercy on me, come into my heart, I want You to be my Lord and Savior. Thank You God, Amen." My life changed. It really did. If it wasn't for Jesus, I'd probably be dead now, both psychologically, and probably phisically. He saved my life, in all senses. He gave me a reason to live for, a hope for eternity, a new joy that doesn't depend on earthly things, He's my best friend now, I'll never let Him go. If you know Him, stick by Him always more, there's more to discover, and if you don't yet know Him, you're missing the best, but it's not too late, He can come into your heart, even right now, don't you hear Him calling you?-

This is to contact me:
Cell-phone number: 0039 339 1750384 (cell-phone email: ns@tim.it);
Fax: 0039 339 01750384;
Email address: nicola_strippoli@hotmail.com.