Recently, I received an e-mail, which gave me a vivid reminder that this passage of scripture is a concise description of my godless life before my conversion. But more importantly, it was an glorious reminder of the testimony of the amazing grace of God, which effectively called me out of darkness and into His marvelous light. This particular email was sent to me from a man that I have not seen in over 35 years. This person is now a university professor in Mississippi. However, 35 years ago, he was one of the guys who was following the “rock group”, in which I was the drummer! There was several young men at that time that followed this rock group to different venues in which we performed; he and his brother were among that group. Many of these young men were on the top of the local narcotics agents’ list of those who were suspected of dealing in illegal drugs! A few years later, I joined a rock group from New Orleans and began touring the eastern half of the U.S. For this reason, I moved away from the Mississippi gulf coast. From that time on, I had not seen or heard from this man, until this correspondence. But suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, he wrote informing me of the death of his older brother. Then in the midst of his e-mail he shared, “I have heard, through a friend, that you are a born again Christian; and that you are a preacher who travels all over the world! I was absolutely astounded! I could not believe that this could be true. (This man is not a disciple of Jesus). So I logged on to your website and I have been listening to one of the messages. Ed, I remember vividly an incident that took place, when I was riding with you in the back of a car, many years ago. We were following behind a vehicle with a ‘bumper sticker’ which said, ‘JESUS SAVES’. And you arrogantly remarked, ‘What does Jesus save, green stamps?’ I remembered that you were blatantly agnostic and proud of it. You were a verbal persecutor of Christianity. So when I heard what had taken place in your life, I could not imagine that this could be a reality!”

 

Well friends, needless to say, I had an opportunity to further witness to him, by e-mail, and point him to other gospel messages on our website. But brothers and sisters, as I read his initial e-mail, I was graced with a powerful and personal reminder of what a vile blasphemer, a verbal persecutor and an arrogant agnostic that I was, the first 29 years of my life. But, praise the name of our Lord and Savior, I was also vividly reminded of the ‘AMAZING GRACE OF GOD‘ that was poured out on my wicked life, which has transformed this rebel sinner into a worshipping saint!  His Word is true friends, “The grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.” My Lord and My God gave me a precious time of rejoicing in the living reality that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am first and foremost”!

 

Almost everyone who is reading this brief letter, did not know the former Ed Lacy, the ‘rock and jazz drummer’; the young man who was an arrogant agnostic, living a life of drunkenness, drug abuse, and immorality. In fact, many times when Dianne shares the testimony of her own conversion, (which was two years previous to mine), she will include the story of how we first met. She usually makes this remark, “I was at the bottom of the barrel in my life; and I looked down, and THERE WAS ED!” Even though she is placing a little humor in her story of conversion, it is precisely true. I had to be “looking up to see the bottom”! If someone would have said to me in those days, “God is going to transform your life from being an arrogant agnostic, into a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ; then He will call you to an itinerant ministry; and you will travel all over the world, preaching the Gospel; training church planters and pastors, I may have cussed at them and blasphemed God, ignorantly in unbelief! If you would have then told me that I was going to travel to communist Cuba on 25 different occasions, to preach the Gospel and to train church planters; I would have mocked and reviled that statement! Friends, I am the most unlikely person that God would put into the ministry. There is absolutely no other explanation for my conversion, except for the sovereign grace of a loving and merciful God! There is absolutely no other explanation for the “hundreds and hundreds of open doors of ministry” for this former blasphemer, except for the “call of God and the enablement of God” in my life! Throughout December I have had the wonderful privilege of preaching on numerous occasions, at the Mission of Hope and the Waterfront Rescue Mission. Each one of these opportunities has also been a vivid reminder that I was ‘well on the way‘ to this type of facility or to a Christ-less death, had not the grace of God apprehended me. Oh to Grace how great a debtor!

 

I was not seeking God! No man seeks God; no not one! Oh but praise His Holy name, my King and my Redeemer was seeking me. It pleased Jesus to radically save and transform my precious wife. It pleased Jesus to begin to prod my rebellious heart toward the narrow gate. Then one night, as I was listening to a gospel message on “tape-delay” television;

All I can say is, “Bless the Lord, o my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits!” For friends, He has forgiven my iniquities. He has redeemed me from destruction. He has healed the deadly disease of the dominion of sin in my soul; and He has crowned me with His loving kindness and tender mercies. WHY DID I OBTAIN MERCY WHEN I DESERVED ONLY JUSTICE? So that my life and ministry might be a living testimony for His glory. “If the grace of God can reach a wicked sinner such as I; then the amazing grace of God is able to reach and transform the desperately wicked heart of any sinner!