Testimony of Salvation

Reverend Travis "Trey" Precht

In the early 1980s a child was born to a lower-middle class almost shattered family.  Various family problems had been going on for a few years including a divorce and annulment. Problems continued after the birth of this child; there were medical problems immediately, as the child was born prematurely.  The child had to be in the incubator and on machines for days because of underdeveloped lungs.  Eventually the child began to grow and develop normally.  But the money started to get tight in the family so both parents had to work, to pay the bills and this included long overtime shifts and even third shift second jobs. With all this time spent at work the young four year old child had to be taken care of by a baby sitter, so the family had to find a family friend to take care of the child as baby sitter. 

This situation worked out fine for a while, as the child had been in daycare and with baby sitters almost his entire life.  But this family that was baby sitting the child had a poor choice in activities, and would tend to drink a lot, so their children would have to look after the young boy the majority of the time. This family had a preteen son that would spend a lot of time with the young child, infact he became the child’s hero.  But as we all know a hero will let you down eventually.  The preteen was not morally altogether, and would abuse the young boy as tell him it was ok because it was just a game.  Eventually the situation was found out and the child was no longer sent to be babysat with that family.

A couple of years later the young boy’s parents wanted to go out bowling with the mother’s boss and the two families became quite close and they spent a lot of time together, the young boy became friend’s with his mother’s boss’ daughter.  They were about the same age so they were told they would be great playmates, unfortunately they became too close. And the girl would tell him she was in charge because she was older, and the boy being a naive and passive person, so ok. And this young boy was told to play “special games” and he did.  Again the boy was being formed into what in his mind would be his role for life, the victim. Even after his mother changed jobs and he lost contact with this girl, he kept in this role as his next babysitter also had children with corrupted morals.  Three daughters would take time forcing the young boy to do things that even he thought were wrong. About a year later things were discovered and the young 8-9 year old boy was again separated from his abusers.  These dark situations began to form the young boy’s fragile psyche and form him into the person he would be for life.   Children emulate their surroundings, they do as they see. That’s why the Bible says to train up a child in the way he SHOULD go, so they will not go the wrong way.  But unfortunately this boy had been consistently surrounded by alcoholics, and fornicators and perverse people of all types, and thus he thought maybe this was the way he should go.

Years later the boy got involved with pornography of almost every type and media, a deep and powerful addiction, some researchers even say that it is more powerful of an addiction than crack cocaine, because certain visual images stay with you for ever and stick in your mind and can appear again if you don’t get prayed up. He also began to smoke to impress others.  He strove to have friends and would do anyone or anything to make friends and or be loved. At thirteen, the boy was addicted to not only cigarettes and cigars but also pornography. Then there was also the heavy metal music, punk rock, gansta rap and eventually the death metal music. Once you give into sin it keeps taking you farther.  This was just the beginning of this you man’s life, and if he continues on this road it could also be near the end of it. He tried drugs and alcohol trying to find something to satisfy him, but nothing would work, he kept going further and further with his emotionally abusive girlfriend, to try to be loved and fill that void inside him.  He was dead inside, not just spiritually but emotionally, at times he wished he was physically; he tried to commit suicide multiple times but was never successful. He constantly sought more to satisfy himself but nothing would fill that void.

The boy grew up believing that being evil was being cool, a popular theory among young people during the 90’s. He was ending up with the wrong crowd, the outcasts, which would bind together to do anything to that would get them some form of glory. The young man’s life up to this point had been rough and it could only go further on the slow downward spiral, kind of like the top of one of those slides that spin around and round, and the closer to the bottom you get the faster it you are going. He was simply dazed and confused most of the time.  Though he was very intelligent, higher then average in fact, he never put his smarts to use to benefit himself because after all, he would never amount to anything. He did however use them to con his way into fitting in with the "outcasts" those that were considered cool because they didn't follow the rules.  And again, he would try to do anything to fit in,  first it was the cigarettes, smoking as often as he could even though many in his family were dying from cancer from a lifetime of smoke, something he once boldly said he would never do.  Then came the drugs, mostly just pot but once in a great while it was laced, luckily this didn't last, as it wasn't an effective high for him. Then came the earrings and finally the girls. You name it, he tried to either please or tease them; while it was fun, for a season it left him empty. Empty and emotionally scarred. He enjoyed the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.  When eighth grade came, things started to change.  Most of the things he used to do he gave up, just because he couldn't find a source to obtain what was needed for the activities, except smoking.  That was the easiest to keep up with, because all it seemed he had to do is let someone copy his homework on look off his paper on a big test, and they would give him at least a full pack, sometimes even more. But it was during this year that things began to change. One of his smoking buddies invited him to a club one day and he accepted the offer, after all, his buddy said it would be a blast.

It turns out this "kewl club" was the school’s Bible Club. They thought he was a great kid. Afterwards he had laughed at how they seemed to fall for his nice quiet shy guy front, his only defense to keep people from getting close.  Which might not have been such a front, because of his eagerness to please people to fit in, he thought ‘come on, you have to be nice to these huge losers.’  But the young man somehow knew that one day he would end up some place the he didn't want to be, HELL. He had never told anyone, but he was terrified of the four little words that could shake any man's cold heart, "after death, then what?" The friend that got him going to the Bible club started going back to church again during the summer between eighth and ninth grades. He was refilled with the Holy Ghost, what ever that meant. Everyone was shocked at how he had changed.

Eventually boy boys had quit smoking, of all types. Later that year the Apostolic friend to the young man invited him to his church, or maybe it was the young man that invited himself after the born-again teenager said he was going to be preaching. It was a youth night, a special service where the young people would be in involved with every aspect of the service. The Apostolic friend gave the most powerful sermon the young man had ever heard, he also thoroughly enjoyed the skit they had just before the sermon. The young man thought maybe there is something here in this little church on a one-way side street. He started going with his friend now and again, and eventually became a member of his church, although still held on to some worldly passions such as hacking, cussing, fornication, secular music, and his ear ring.

Early the next year, near the end of 9th grade he made the best choice he could ever make. On February 26, 1997, he felt God pulling at his heart and through godly sorrow he repented of all his sins and was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission or removal of those sins. That night he spoke in tongues as the Spirit gave the utterance, showing the he had the Holy Ghost. At last he was saved from Hell. 

Normally this is where you would end the story and say that he lived happily every after in the Grace of God, but sadly this is not the case. After several years of faithfully serving God, he slowly turned his affections after the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye and the pride of life once more, something he could have prevented by maintaining a better prayer and fasting life.  There were other factors such as family and school troubles, but ultimately his heart gave way and became bitter and angry at God for things that happened in his life, ignoring the scripture that says that it rains on the just and unjust.

In fact he eventually began to curse his God.  He wanted to just curse God and die like Job's wife told him to do. He was well able to curse at God, but he was definitely unable to die that day.  He tried slicing his wrist and neck, but it would barely bleed. He tried to suffocate himself, which also was a failure.  Then he felt maybe his gun could be his ticket out, it wouldn't fire. All he knew is somewhere in the distance he could hear a voice calmly saying “No.”

At this point he finally admitted to himself that yes he was backslidden, he tried to hide it from many friends. But he decided in his mind that his church family didn't care anymore, and he was tired of trying to be Holy on Sundays and Wednesday nights yet being hateful and rebellious every other day, so he left the house of God, and choked out His spirit.

Then next two months he dove into the darkness and lived it up going back to the sins that once bound him, back to porn, smoking and fornicating.  He ran from the light to sit in darkness. Sure he was having ~fun~ but he was still miserable. His life was meaningless, for the pleasure only endured for a season. He had gone from being an aspiring preacher to a backslider in under a year’s time. He lied to everyone; his pastor, his friends, his parents, and even himself.  He hated what he had become. Finally he opened up his Bible and read a little bit of it. He cried remembering what he used to be, how he used to feel God. He longed for that relationship once again. You might think that two months is a short time to be backslidden, but truth be told he knew he was backslidden long before he stopped entering into the building.  There is a huge difference between attending church and being “in church,” that’s a lesson we all need to observe. At any rate to him this was the worst Hell he could imagine, for here he was mutilating his body and sinning with no conviction, but only wanting a relationship. He was getting desperate.

Just over two months later he finally came back to church, which happened to be a few weeks before camp. He wanted to go to camp so bad, because he knew he could get the change he needed. He came to the church expecting to receive judgment and ridicule and attitude, but received a totally different response. They were happy to see him.  They showed him love and kindness.  They offered hope and friendship once more.  They came over to him and prayed with him. He felt a minor release, but didn’t pray completely through to being refilled with the Holy Ghost.

Monday July 8, 2002, Summersville, Kentucky, Kentucky District Senior/Teen Camp, He fell in love with Jesus all over again, he prayed through to the Holy Ghost again. He spoke with cloven tongues like as a fire. Nearly one year after he began to backslid he came back to the God of his Salvation. On that night, Bro. Harold Linder preached, "Its Your Desire that Determines Your Destiny."  The young man’s desire for God outweighed any desire of the world and even more than His previous desire for the Kingdom’s work.

Micah 7:8 says "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me."

The devil said he could never get back up, he said that the fight was over and that the young man had lost.  But he took a stand and in his heart he shouted “Devil, yes, the battle is over. Jesus won it for me at Calvary and you need to get your coat, get your hat, grab your luggage and get out. This is My house and the Bible says in Joshua 24:15 ‘And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.’”

In the years since this encounter with God, the young man has grown in the wisdom and knowledge of God. He has picked up the towel and followed the call into the ministry and is now doing what ever it takes to serve the church he attends, by any means his pastor asks. He has learned the value of prayer and fasting, the value of a pastor (which by the way is priceless), the value of personal devotional time with God, the value of a soul, and most importantly he has learned that it truly is your desire that determines your destiny.

I say all of this, not as a spectator, observing someone’s life from afar, but I say this as the young man who lived it.  My name is Travis “Trey” Precht, and this was my testimony.

A licensed minister from Kentucky. His home is located in Newport where he spends his time when not in revival services or traveling with family.

For short biography of Rev. Travis “Trey” Precht please click here.