Breath of Life Ministries: Spring, a time for renewal and hope!

Rics Awesome Testimony

My name is Ric Rodriquez. I am a Christian and this is my story. I was born and raised in southern Texas, the son of a poor farm worker. I spoke no English and was punished in school for speaking Spanish. I lived out in the country and had neighbors that lived about 2 miles away so we didn’t associate with anyone. But I swore I’d master the language and I would never be humiliated again for my choice of words. I was always interested in music. I played and sang in many small bands during my high school years. My love for music drove me to devoting my life to singing and performing Tejano music. Unfortunately, that kind of lifestyle also leads to many negative pathways like drugs and alcohol. By the time I was 17 years old I was an addict smoking pot, doing cocaine and drinking myself into oblivion. The F word was used every other word in my vocabulary. I was a womanizer even my family was uncomfortable around me. If I came to visit my mother and she had company, most of them would leave. I was on the road a lot opening for big bands even getting to play at Texas Stadium in Arlington. In between gigs my time was spent getting high. Drugs cost me a lot of things in my life. I lost my first wife because of my drug habit. She was a smart woman to not stick around. I'm sure her decision to leave me saved her a lot of pain and heartache. I would continue with my drug use and my wild lifestyle even stealing to support my habit. I was in and out of jail numerous times even doing time in the Texas Department of Corrections for armed robbery. I even carried a bible to my parole interviews 2 times and each time they set me off for another year. We even had drugs in prison. After I got out I tried programs to kick my habit and you would think I would learn a lesson along the way but Satan is sly. He'll tell you anything to keep you sliding down his "highway to hell.” Having children didn't even stop my habit. My common-law wife and I had two children of our own and took in her sister's baby girl to keep her from becoming a ward of the state. I was such a good guy - on the outside. I even started dealing drugs because I knew that I would always have what I needed to quench that never-ending hunger for that "ultimate high." I knew what the outward signs were that people looked for in a "junkie" and I knew how to cover them up. My habit had become so desperate that one-day, I could stand it no longer I needed my fix. When the man who was supposed to come through for me didn't, I went after him with a gun. I was going to kill him for the stash I knew he had. Determined to get what I needed, I walked to what I knew to be his place of employment in the downtown sector. I pushed open the door, ready to brandish my weapon and get what I needed. Only, in my haste I had pushed open the wrong door. I had entered a Spanish mission church and before I realized the mistake I had made, God had me in His clutches at the hands of an on-fire minister named Kenny Garcia who wasn't about to let me go back to the world. I fought with angels that evening. My feet would tangle up each time I tried to leave. I thought I was going crazy because this doesn’t happen in real life, only in the movies. I couldn't even pull myself along the walls of the church to get to the door. I kept telling the preacher that I wasn’t looking for no God or Jesus. I knew there was a God because my mother told me there was and that’s all I needed to know. I wasn’t looking for salvation and he kept telling me I needed Jesus til I lost my temper. I wanted to strike out at the pastor who was praying for me but I couldn't lift my arms to hit him. I finally asked the man of God, "What do I have to do to get out of here?" He told me the only way out was to ask Jesus into my heart and he would guarantee that I would be able to leave. It sounded too simple but I wanted out. So I repeated the sinner’s prayer after the preacher. Then something wonderful started to happen. I felt such a wonderful warmth and peace come over me. I couldn't explain it but the life I knew no longer existed. I felt like I was in a 55 gallon barrel full of trash, crud, smelly crap, stinky fish guts and anything smelly that you could imagine. I felt like the Lord stuck his hand all the way down to the bottom of the barrel and pulled me out and washed me with his blood and said now you’re free and I’ve got work for you to do. I was truly born again. I walked to the door to leave and I suddenly didn't want to leave. When I looked out at the city I had lived in for almost 18 years I almost didn't recognize it. I saw buildings I'd never seen before. Suddenly my eyesight was clear; I could see in 3-D, the colors, sounds and smells were so new, so wonderful. The Lord changed the way I think, the way I see and the way I act. It was automatic, I didn’t have to do anything or try to change, and He did it all. My family had a hard time believing that I had been saved and was a new man. It took them about two weeks of careful observation before they were convinced and then they gave their lives to the Lord. My habits of cigarettes, pot, cocaine, alcohol and cursing were gone in an instant. I used to wake up every morning coughing so hard, my lungs crying for oxygen. When I had coughed until I could cough no more I would light up a joint, do a couple lines of cocaine and smoke a cigarette all before leaving my bed. That was all gone! The desire and craving for the chemicals that controlled me were gone. No cold turkey, no withdrawal symptoms, nothing but sweet relief. God knew that it had to happen that way. I would not have made it if I would have had to suffer through those things. My music even changed. I wanted to sing praises to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who saved me from my hell. I sold almost all of my music equipment keeping only what I thought necessary. The pastor of the church I was saved in took me under his wing and taught me what I needed to know about salvation, Jesus and living a Christian life. I was so hungry for the Word; I soaked it up like a sponge. I stayed at that church for two years learning and praising before I was able to go out and tell others about my miraculous salvation experience. I will always be grateful for what God did for me that glorious night. I was looking for what I thought I needed and I found what God had for me and I'll never go back to the way I was before God took me in and cleaned me up and set my feet back on solid ground. Now I share my ministry with my wife Robin. Our ministry is called Breath of Life for the way He breathed new life into me. We write a lot of our own material and we use familiar tunes and rewrite the words turning them into gospel songs. We like to say that we "save" these songs from the world. We perform anywhere we are given the opportunity. We've performed at regular church services, revivals, honor dances, fundraisers, Veteran Centers, prisons, wedding receptions and we also set up performances at our local outdoor amphitheater. We are a non-profit ministry, so the only money we make is from the sales of our CD's and love-offerings that help to defray the cost of travel and materials. We currently have 10 English CD's and 8 Spanish CD's. We truly would love to come to your church or gathering to tell of God’s wonderful love.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Spring, a time for renewal and hope!

In the book, "The Shack" by Wm Young, a man is given a new way of looking at God. He has to go through some pretty tough lessons first but in the end he has "new eyes" to see God's love and Jesus' selflessness. We should all strive to have the "heart of God". Sometimes people hurt us, our own brothers and sisters even! And I mean siblings as well as our brothers and sisters in Christ! When that happens our first reaction is to lash out at them, to get our "revenge". But God wants us to hold to a higher standard. If you love Jesus, if you love God. If you truly believe that God sent His Son to die for our sins. To die one of the most cruel, painful and humiliating deaths possible at that time. If we truly believe this then we, being Christ-like, are bound to the duty of forgiving those who hurt us. We don't have to agree with what was done to us but we do have to forgive the person who caused us pain. Just as God forgives us so must we forgive others.
When others hurt you, when they say things about you that aren't true, remember that our Savior Jesus Christ was ridiculed, mocked and talked about. He never lashed out in revenge. He was accused of falsehoods and of blasphemy but He loved his accusers. To the point of death, He loved them. Be a forgiving person. That's what He wants us to do!!