Dying to Tell the Truth

By Jared Bradley

This book is a story about my life as a Christian and my struggle in loving my neighbor as myself. It is based on a true story about friends, family, and the people who made a difference in my life. It explains how hard it was for me growing up as a Christian and how challenging it was for a young person like me to share my faith with unbelievers. Even as a Christian, I didnt understand how to fight temptation or depend on Gods grace to survive.

Rather, I was very distant from God and became very depressed because I was not willing to surrender everything in order to follow him. Through prayer, I learned that my friends were the ones God used to pull me out of my depression. My closest friend was always there for me even when life was hard for both of us. The important lesson to be learned behind this story is to forgive your neighbor and God will forgive you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514400821

Jared Bradley

In my walk with God, I learned that a friend always has a win-win solution. My friend accepted me for who I was, and I did not judge him. God taught me through my family to love my neighbor no matter what happens. He taught me to share my faith with my friends and used them to teach me that a friend will support you no matter how hard life may be. Finally, God taught me to be a peacemaker when my neighbor would rather pick a fight.

Book preview

1

It was Summer time and I was four years old. The backyard tree had no wooden foundation surrounding it but I could still climb it. The grass was green just like my eyes and I felt blue like the sky. I was sad because I had no friends in a simple world where honey suckles grow. The sweet smell of them kept me walking toward the fence. It was then that I realized that my boundaries were limited. I put my hands on the fence and called out to Kendra who would soon become my friend. She had blue-green eyes and hair like mine. She had a brother named, Corey of whom she took care of everyday.

She was my only friend but it didn’t matter what other people thought about us because we were just friends. One day, she came over to my house and gave me a template with a light house painted on it. She told me that Jesus represented the light house. She then encouraged me to pray for a girl who would someday be my wife. This was a difficult task for my age because I did not even know how to pray. In the midst of my unstoppable demise, I would meet a person who would benefit me without surprise. I would not know her name but I would meet her someday. Adrenaline flowed to my brain as I imagined what it might be like to meet her. Would I meet her through people in the Church? Could I find her in a Doctor Sues Book? How hard could it be and how long would it take to meet her? I wondered. Then I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

2

One morning, I remembered all I had thought about previously. How confused I had been about my future at such a young age. Such thoughts did not terrify me anymore but rather they came and were gone. I preferred not to remember my past because it wasn’t too exciting. I was not a simple man anymore because I found God. At age five I accepted Christ as my Savior and started my journey toward a new and better life. I had made a new friend named Steven. I remember when we played Mario Brothers at his house and he played a song for me from the Showdown. I don’t know if Steven was a Christian but I prayed for him every day. I liked his style of music and my favorite thing to do with him was climb trees.

Man, we would climb the tallest tree in my yard and talk for hours. We would joke and laugh while climbing into what was now a tree house. Its wooden structure stood strong and less than a story high. I remember sharing my faith with Him and told him that we might be two of the very few survivors in the end times. I told him that I believed that one day we would really have to battle the forces of evil and that we should take our stand against them. After a while, we took turns riding my tricycle until his Mom came to take him home.

It was then, that God gave me a new vision as to who my focus was going to be on in this generation. Although, I didn’t have all the answers, God always gave me the ability to answer Satan and to overcome his evil plan. In Ephesians 6:12 it reads, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. This passage reminds me of a creator who never fails, His ways are just and His faithfulness reaches to the sky.

3

One day I met a friend who would change my life forever. His name was Shaun. Every day after school he would draw me something and give it to me. In return, I would draw him something about my life. One summer day, Shaun was pulling me in a red wagon to Kendra’s House. When we arrived, Shaun stopped to talk to a new neighbor named, Darius. He taught me not to be afraid to meet new people and to accept others for who they are.

I would later learn that Shaun would hold me accountable when others would try to take advantage of me. I learned that it was up to me to make good decisions and Shaun could not help me with that. I was later convinced that other people were out there to trick me and lead me astray from God. A couple of my friends did cheat on me but God taught me to forgive them.

One time I read a book called, Willy’s Raiders. It was about a raccoon that played baseball. He didn’t just play baseball, he played by the rules. Man, he played baseball so fair and square that one day the weasels became jealous of him. They then plotted to beat him up and lock him in a trash can. One day, while he was sleeping, a group of weasels threw a trash can over him and locked him inside. The raccoon then cried Why did they do this to me? I can’t miss my homecoming game, my team needs me!

He sobbed and despaired until he got an idea. He bumped the trash can over the edge of the