"Reviving the American tradition of liberty"

About the Author - American Revival

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    Hello! My name is Micha Petty.  I am a 31 year old entrepreneur in Shreveport, Louisiana.  I own a small remodeling company, and am starting a firearm dealership.  I manage several web sites in addition to this one.  I am a Southern Christian who believes in liberty for all.  I am the type that- rather than complain about all the evils in the world- I work wherever I can to effect change- starting with myself! 

Here is a picture of me in March, 2007 in front of our city's courthouse.  We have a Confederate monument on the lawn, with a Blood Stained Banner (third national flag of the Confederacy) flying in the same spot it flew when Shreveport was the capitol of a free State.  I noticed the flag was getting a little worn, so I had just purchased a new one and raised it up the pole with the Commander of my local chapter of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans.  Click on the picture to see a slightly larger version, or click here to see the full size version (2 MB- not dial-up friendly).

 

            

My "Tacticool" Gear
On the lighter side, here is a review of my daily carry items.

Here are a few of the other web sites I own and manage:

A Time to Build     Repair | Improvement | Organization

Jesus is on the .Net!  God loves you (and we're trying!)

LouisianaCarry.org - Fighting for our rights- right here at home!

 

I would also like to take this opportunity to share with you my testimony.  I have been born-again by the grace and love of God- and I am honored to have the chance to share my experience with you.  I have been through alot in my life, and God has certainly been very gracious about many bad decisions I have made.  Here is my story.

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 I grew up in Louisiana, the son of the town flower lady. When I was twelve, my family and I moved to Minnesota. I left home at fourteen, due to an unbearable amount of hate in my household, and began living on the streets. I tried going back to stay with my mom and her husband a time or two, but it never worked out. I slept in abandoned buildings sometimes, but mostly I just lived outside. Panhandling was the only way I ate for that first year. It was certainly by God’s grace that I did not freeze to death, or have a host of other things happen to me. I lived on the streets of Minneapolis those first two years, selling drugs and living in sin- quite contentedly, I thought at the time.

By the age of sixteen, I felt I had learned just about everything there was to be learned from being a street kid, so I set out to see the rest of the country. I hitch-hiked around for the next several years, eventually getting an old school bus, and traveling to all but five of the states in the U.S. I made my living partially as a roadee; building Superbowls and concerts for everyone from Glen Campbell to the Rolling Stones. I made the rest of my money by accepting donations from schools and daycares for telling stories. There are still a few thousand people that remember me as the long-haired, tie-dyed “Micha the Storyteller.”

I learned and told hundreds of old stories from around the world, each that I felt conveyed lessons of morality and justice. It seemed I was really making an impact on the world. It got to the point where almost right away in every new city I came to someone would recognize me from a hippy gathering or some such event and know my name. People would come up to me years after I had last seen them, relaying again how much a story I had told them had meant to them. After awhile, I got to seeing myself as many others saw me: a young man- born maybe a little too late for his time- who was wise beyond his years. Someone who had captured an indescribable “something more” from life; always ready with some “age-old story” to shine “light” on the human plight. This went on until I was twenty-one- until three o’clock in the morning, June 3rd, 1999, to be exact.

You see, during that time my mother had gotten saved, and she had a whole church praying for me. Looking back, I didn’t stand a chance really. The next time I came to visit her, all I heard was “Jesus this… Jesus that…” and all I wanted to do was run, let me tell you. I had heard all that stuff before from the Bible thumpers on the streets of more than one city by then, and I certainly didn’t want to hear it from my mom. I mean, I used to tell Bible stories and parables, and I had even felt Jesus touch me during a near-death experience in the wilderness once, but this “Jesus” all the time stuff seemed way overboard. Besides, I didn’t need to be saved- I was living a life of freedom, going places every day other people only daydreamed about.

Somehow, though, my mom talked me into coming to church with her. Speaking that day was a missionary from Nigeria. After service, He asked those that would like prayer to come up front. My mom kind of pulled me up there with her, and he cast out the sprit of wayward living from my life, in Jesus’ Name. Well, that must have started something, because the next day I was willing to read a book describing the spiritual battle to take place in the last days. It has already begun. Somewhere in the course of reading that book, by the work of the Holy Spirit, it dawned on me that Jesus was real, and He was knocking on the door of my life. I looked around at the school bus I lived in, then went outside and started a fire. I burned all kinds of things. I burned hundreds of dollars worth of “spiritual” books, music, various worldly collector’s items, old clothes, even porn magazines and smoking paraphernalia. The flames were blue and green and went several feet high. I even went around and tore off all my new age bumper stickers. All I knew is that a huge portion of the “cool” things I had surrounded myself with for so long were contrary to the truth of God.

But I still didn’t have Jesus- or, more accurately, He still didn’t have me. As a matter of fact, I didn’t yet realize there was more to Him than just knowing that He was there. Well, the following night, I stayed up very late watching a several hour long video from a church in Kansas. They had a man on who had been a literal witch before he was saved. His family had been in the occult for seven generations, and he personally was in charge of over a thousand people by age seventeen. At some point during the video, as he was describing all the demonic forces actively at work in the world, something happened. I realized that- even if I was not on one side or the other personally- two opposing forces were certainly at work in the world. I realized, through the work of the God’s Holy Spirit, that day was the appointed day of salvation. I needed to “get right or get left."

Well, at the end of the video, the pastor came on and asked anyone who was watching to repeat the prayer of salvation with him. I did. Then, I turned off the TV and went into the kitchen. I laid on my face and prayed and cried for I don’t know how long. I asked Jesus to wash every part of me. I was so sorry. All I wanted to do was be forgiven for living so selfishly all my life. For the first time, I truly knew God had created me and loved me. And I knew I had been ignoring Him all this time. I cried and poured my soul out to him, and I really did feel myself die that night. Every cell in my body went numb, and then something equally extraordinary happened.

As if of it’s own violation, my body reared up onto my hands and knees and tensed up. All of my tendons and muscles from my loins up were as tight as steel. My mouth opened as if I were throwing up, but never have I convulsed with such force. Out of my belly I could feel what I can only describe as a snake made out of shadow crawl up through my mouth and then down into the ground.

The next day, I had no desire to smoke or do anything but worship God. I went to church that night and decided to walk home, just to be walking with Jesus. Life was sweeter than I had ever imagined. As a matter of fact, someone else around me said the prayer of salvation within days, without me even saying much. It was just so obvious that whatever had happened to me was wonderful and real.

God had finally showed me that the freedom I had thought I had was a lie. I was a slave to sin. I thought I was a good man. I thought I had it together. I thought I was perfectly happy, and that it would take me winning the lottery to make my life more complete. What God showed me is that all our righteousness is as filthy rags before Him. His ways are as far above our ways as the heavens are above the Earth. I realized that all of our talking about truth and light and love- even talking about Jesus and God- accomplishes nothing without Him. God is so gracious and holy. Darkness and Hell are very real. God really didn’t create Hell for us to end up in, but we choose to go there if by no other means than by not having the decency to thank Him for our lives. Your salvation experience may not be as, well... drastic as mine- He works with each of us differently, but they don’t call it being born-again for nothing. Like a phone that is plugged into a wall but doesn’t have a dial tone- I was dead. I lived and talked and breathed as if I were alive, but I can tell you now that life has no meaning without Jesus. If it seems to you that you are running in circles without Him, you are right. When we finally look to Him- with the faith that HE gives us- is when life begins. I praise Him right now for not giving up on me, though I never even knew I needed Him.

If you have a son or family member who seems as if they will never be saved, for God’s sake- do not give up. Remember that it is the Holy Spirit’s job to show them the way, He just uses you as a street sign, as the case warrants. Keep praying, with all hope and sincerity, because I can assure you He wants them saved, too, and you never know when they will happen upon that gate without even knowing it.

Please, if you don’t know Jesus today- I urge you to talk to Him. He has been watching you your whole life, just waiting to be a part of it with you. All he needs is an invitation.

 

    THIS IS WHAT I PRAYED THAT NIGHT. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW JESUS CHRIST TODAY, PLEASE SAY THIS PRAYER OUT LOUD, BELIEVING IN YOUR HEART THAT HE IS LISTENING AND THAT HE WILL FORGIVE YOU:

    God, be merciful to me a sinner. Please forgive me for all my sins. I know Jesus Christ, Your Son, died on the cross for my sins and rose again. I ask you Jesus to become the Lord of MY life. Please cleanse me and wash me clean so that I may spend eternity with you. I renounce all allegiance to the Devil. By faith, I claim you as my Saviour. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit, and save me in the Day of trouble. In Jesus' Name, Amen.


    If you have just said that prayer- in faith- you are a new Creation!! If you would like to talk about your experience, please feel free to contact me to answer any questions you may have. First, find a bible and start reading it– it is the Word of God, and reading it is the best way to begin growing in understanding (I recommend starting with the New Testament first). Also, seek out and become a part of a bible-believing church– you need other Christians to fellowship with and turn to. You may also want to take a course for new believers that is posted on my web site called "New Life 101." You can find it at: www.jesusisonthe.net/bible/newlife. God Bless you, and thank you for letting me share this with you.