The Survival Guide

By Ben Garcia

Do you know what the trickiest part of misconception is? It makes you feel found when-more often than not-you are lost and unaware. Do you know where YOU are?

This survival guide offers biblical insight and wisdom as well as experiences from a multitude of different perspectives to help you answer this question for yourse

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Dec 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781647738082

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The Survival Guide

Ben Garcia

The Survival Guide

Trilogy Christian Publishers A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2020 by Ben Garcia

Scripture quotations marked

cev

are taken from the Contemporary English Version®. Copyright © 1995 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked

ceb

are taken from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible. Public Domain. Scripture quotations marked

csb

are taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible, and CSB®, are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. Scripture quotations marked

esv

are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked

hcsb

are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked

nasb

are taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org. Scripture quotations marked

niv

are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ Scriptures quotations marked

nkjv

are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked

nlt, second edition

are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Second Edition copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked

kjv

are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Public domain.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

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Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 978-1-64773-807-5

E-ISBN: 978-1-64773-808-2

Dedication

To my mother, for your bottomless well of patience and gentleness. Father, for your kindness and generosity even in the most uncertain of times. Janay, for being an amazing listener and allowing me to ramble even when it was most likely inconvenient. Jon and Alyssa, for cheering me on every step of the way and being the biggest fans a father could ask for.

A Spark for the Kindling

He asked to pray for me. I looked up into his face; his heartfelt, gentle smile and sincere eyes were staring back. I had never seen my brother look so happy—especially when it came to God. I happily obliged. After he prayed, he began to explain to me all about the amazing trip he had taken and what had occurred at the event. I sat there and listened, holding back tears as he went into detail about what happened, and how he was so happy to have experienced God on such a personal level. After about two hours, he gave me a hug, and then, with a big smile on his face, he got into his Miata and drove off.

As I think back on that day, I can remember it so vividly—but it fills my heart with great sadness. Three weeks later, my brother attempted suicide. I’m so grateful to God he was unsuccessful, but he had tried nonetheless. I admit I was not only shocked, but completely confused.

When I visited him shortly after his attempt, I found someone who was void of emotion. Darkness and depression sat on him like a thick black cotton robe that enveloped him completely. As I sat there and spoke to him about what had happened, he kept saying the same thing over and over: What’s the point? I reminded him how, just three weeks ago, he had prayed for me. He had been so on fire for God he had almost brought me to tears from just hearing his testimony.

I’ll always remember the way he looked at me in that moment, with a deep rigid frown and sullen, sunken sockets for eyes that stared deep into mine. "There is no God, bro. It’s all feelings, and I just don’t feel it anymore."

I stared at him for a few seconds that felt