A Radical Change

By Conrad Poe

FROM THE ARCHIVES PART 11: WINTER 2007

My mom was a devout Catholic who made sure I went to church and Catholic School.  Even though her faith meant a lot to her, I only went to church because it was important to her that I go.  I was sincere to a point, but I didn’t know what it meant to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  As a result, I lived my life however I wanted.

When I was in college I got my girlfriend pregnant, so she moved in with me and my family.  As my family grew I began to realize that the way I was living my life wasn’t right and I began to make changes. 

I had an opportunity to follow in dad’s footsteps as a U.S. Custom’s officer and was accepted and graduated from the federal law enforcement training center.  As I began my career there I became a part of an elite team of customs agents trained to use different resources to interrupt drug shipments into the U.S. This sort of work and the things we did put me at the top of my profession.  Yet, even though this was an important, prestigious job, internally I was a mess.

I had separated from my live-in girlfriend of ten years.  At that time we had three children together.  It looked like we were going to end our relationship.  In both of our minds, there was no hope.

At this time a friend of mine invited me to a church service and from the moment I walked in I experienced something I never had before.  Now I realize that this was the presence of the Holy Spirit.  God began to work on my heart until one evening in my house I fell on my knees and asked Jesus to come into my life and forgive me of my sins.  Immediately, I felt free and at peace.  I instinctively realized that whatever just happened to me would change my life forever.  From that point, things began to radically change in my life, so much so that my former girlfriend noticed.

We began to talk about the decision I had made and after we had finished a telephone conversation she got on her knees and told the Lord that she wanted what I had.  She asked the Lord Jesus Christ to come into her life and she too began to change radically. After that, we started going to church together and then we spoke with the pastor and decided we wanted to get married.  One morning after a church service we spontaneously decided to get married.  We called both sets of parents and were married the next day with our three children present. 

Since that time, God has brought me from roaming the streets of Los Angeles, to helping with evangelistic crusades of some of the most influential evangelists in the world.  He’s restored my family.  I now have three boys who all know and serve the Lord.  Together my wife Jody and I and our three boys operate Conrad’s Coffee in Boone.  

Because I know God revolutionized my life, I put the following statement on the side of all my coffee bags:

Through my journey in life I sought all the pleasures this world has to offer.  2 Timothy 3:1-4

One day I realized how empty those pleasures are. I got on my knees and asked Jesus Christ to come into my life and to forgive me of my sins against Him.  

Luke 5:32

In my case, God restored and made new my relationship with my wife and children.  

2 Corinthians 5:17

Since the day I asked the Lord Jesus Christ into my life, God has given me purpose, hope and joy.  

Jeremiah 29:11

Ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have  everlasting life.”

John 3:16 NKJ