Another Special Life in Christ:
These testimony lives are not stories of "role
models". Jesus is the role model! These are lives wonderfully touched &
changed by Jesus!
Kurtis "Kurt" Kolstad:
His Life Before Jesus Came In:
I'd been working on The Good News
during 2004. I met Kurt when he somehow got my e-mail & contacted
me about the great "good news" of Jesus in December 2004, noting that
"there is no bad news in the good news". We dialogued
for a week or two, and I asked to know who he was better...I pressed for his
testimony. And I opened this awesome testimony on New Year's day 2005. Kurt has
allowed me to post it on my website; I encourage you to read this closely, be
encouraged by his life story, and check out his website.
Kurt was born in 1951 and lives in the state of Washington. Here is the testimony he sent me
12/31/04 (and it is on his website):
*****************************
"While playing trumpet in the Jr.
High stage band, I sat next to the drummers section. I asked one of the drummers
if I could try his drum sticks. I picked them up and something came over me. I
had come face to face with my destiny. I felt like I had held those sticks all
of my life. I can't really explain it but GOD knew that those sticks were going
to lead me on a journey that would take me all over the world and eventually
lead me to an encounter with our LORD JESUS CHRIST.
"I went that night and bought a set of sticks (Gene Krupa 7a's) and started
playing along with my favorite records. I didn't have any drums so at first I
practiced on anything that made noise (mostly the furniture in my room) and
eventually built a drum set out of household items. For a snare drum I laid a
screen from my window over a newspaper. For a base drum I laid a 5-gallon ice
cream carton on its side and built a pedal out of wood. For tom toms I used
different sized coffee cans. For cymbals I hung a 45rpm record holder from the
overhead lamp in my room. Looking back now it amazes me how I was driven to play
drums. It came to me so easy that I thought anybody could play. (When GOD gives
you a gift it's hard to realize that not everybody else has been given that same
gift) I practiced before school, after school, all weekend, and in all my spare
time. My parents realized that I was very serious about drums so they helped me
get a real drum set. Wow, I was in heaven!!
"This all took place in the sixties and little did I know that there was
about to be a musical and political revolution in the USA. The Beatles came on
to the music scene like a storm and swept me away. Every album got more
creative, more experimental. Then came Jimmy Hendrix. Whoa!! We had never heard
anything like it. But along with the new music came a very sneaky and sinister
plan of old Lucifer; Drugs!!! Jimmy sang songs like "Purple Haze (LSD) run
through my brain" and "Have you ever been experienced." Well I
thought if that's how Jimmy got that creative that I'd better get experienced
myself. By now I had a band together (The Skookumchuck Overpass) and we all
found some marijuana and gave it a try. In those days it wasn't very strong and
didn't do anything for us. So a friend of mine found us some acid (LSD) and that
definitely worked. We had what we thought was a total enlightenment experience.
That was a move that would eventually lead me into the dark pits of Drug
Addiction.
"My first band broke up, and I formed another band that was on a much
higher level of talent. We got good fast and started making an impact on my
small little town and so we took it to the big city, to see what was out there.
We were now writing our own music and for those days it was pretty good. The
next thing we knew we were getting approached by major labels trying to sign us.
We didn't like the deal they were offering (50%) so we passed. We thought we
could do better. Looking back now I realize it was a great offer. We went on a
small tour with a national act called "Quicksilver Messenger Service"
which led us to San Francisco. That was The Mecca of the music industry in the
late sixties and early seventies. We started opening for bands at the now
legendary Filmore West. I thought I had arrived at the big time. We put out a
record and tried to get it on the radio. That's when we discovered the politics
of the industry. They wouldn't play it without a major label behind it and it
fizzled. All of this time we were using more drugs. We always got high before we
went on stage. The drugs now had progressed to hard drugs. I remember starting
to bury good friends who had overdosed. The devil's plan was starting to work.
Two of the members of that band got hopelessly addicted to heroin. It was the
beginning of the end for that band. I somehow avoided getting strung out, but I
was playing a deadly game with my life. The band broke up.
"By now I was getting pretty well known in the Northwest as a top drummer.
I started being a drummer for hire in the studio and for many bands. Drugs were
now rampant in the industry. Everybody I played with used. I started traveling
around the U.S. with a new band I had formed. We spent four years on the road.
The years were going by faster now and the drugs were starting to affect my
playing, my home life, and my self-esteem. The devil loves to make you feel like
you're not worth GOD'S love.
"In 1979 the band I was in ended up living in Florida. One day I was taking
my 5-year-old son Jesse to the park to play. It was very hot; and I was driving
our band truck, which had no windows. I had the door open to keep us cool (it
was a step van and had a door like a bus door). While going around a corner, I
looked down to where my son had been sitting next to me; and he wasn't there. He
had fallen out the door at 40 miles an hour. I pulled over and ran back to where
he was laying on the road (he hit the ground so hard that it knocked his high
topped shoes right off his feet. When I got to him he was having a seizure from
the impact on his head. He was dying right before my eyes! There is no worse
feeling on this earth than when your children are near death. (Even the pits of
drug addiction pain is nothing compared to this pain). There are no words to
tell you the terror, pain, and fear that was in store for me. I picked him up
off the road and said to him 'Hang on Jesse, Daddy’s going to get you help.' I
drove frantically, trying to find the nearest hospital. I was new to Ft.
Lauderdale and didn't know my way around, but some how (GOD) I did find a
hospital. The people at the hospital were so slow and my son was dying. I said
to the orderly, 'You've got to help my son NOW!' They seemed to not even care;
so, I told one of them to help me get my son in the car...that I was taking my
son to another hospital where they would get to him. He started to argue with me;
and I told him, 'If you don't pick up the other end of this stretcher right now,
you're going to need a hospital!' I must have terrified him, because he picked
up that stretcher with my son in it and helped me get it to our truck. Somehow I
found another hospital, and they saw how injured my son was; and they got right
to work on him. He was now convulsing, and it was out of my hands (and into the
LORDS). He had hit his head so hard that his brain had swollen. If it swelled
much more, it could kill him. They told me to prepare myself for the worst.
Jesse slipped into a coma on the edge of death and stayed there for days (I
can't remember how many...it's just another blur to me now). I can't tell you
how low into the depths of depression I sunk. I think, if he'd have died, I may
have offed myself (the devil was saying to me, 'Well, you've killed your son.
You're a worm of a person!').
"All of this time I still had to go to work and play music at night. I
don't know how I did it. Working with me at that time was a man we called Pepper
[Bill Bagins]. He was an incredible entertainer and musician. He was also a born again,
spirit filled Christian. I remember my Mom telling me that, when more then one
person got together and prayed, all the angels in Heaven listened. I asked
Pepper, if that was true then why don't we lead the whole audience (around 400
people) in prayer at the show that night [in Florida]. He said he would love to
do that and that he would lead the prayer. This is not something you want to do
in clubs and keep on working there, but GOD is bigger than those club owners.
"So the show started, and we played a few songs; and then Pepper stopped
the show and told the people my story and asked them if they would be willing to
give a moment of silent prayer for Jesse. To my amazement they were totally for
it. So the room got dead silent for one reverent moment, except for the constant
ringing of the telephone over at the bar. I got so angry at that ringing because
I thought it might interrupt the power of this prayer. I was desperate and
didn't want anything to stand in the way of this prayer maybe working. I had no
where else to turn but to GOD! The prayer ended, and we finished the set and
took a break. I was sitting over at the bar (drinking water) when the cocktail
waitress came up to me with a huge smile and said, 'Have you heard? Do you know
who that phone call was for? That was the hospital calling to say that Jesse
woke up suddenly and said, 'I'm hungry'.' I’ll never forget how wonderful
those words sounded. He was healed during that prayer, and that phone call to me
was GOD calling to say, "I'm real." WOW!! That night I went back stage
and accepted JESUS as my SAVIOR. Jesse left the hospital the following day to
the amazement of all the doctors and the staff.
His Life Since Jesus Came In:
"Now I wish I could say that I got off drugs and everything was wonderful
from then on. But I can't. I ended up back on drugs and my life just went on the
way it had been going. I still didn't know any other way. But I now had a
renewed faith in JESUS.
"In 1980 I decided to get off the road and try to start a somewhat normal
life but no matter where I turned there always seemed to be drugs around. I
didn't hang around any body who didn't use. By now there was a lot of cocaine
around and that seemed to be the drug of choice with all my musician brothers.
The use of cocaine gets you too wired to play music so to balance out the high,
enter alcohol. I knew deep inside of me there was something missing in my life.
There was a hole in me that could not be filled by drugs or alcohol. I knew that
something had to change, but I just couldn't find my way out. I had been in that
life style so long that I didn't know any other way. I couldn't imagine going on
stage and trying to play creatively without at least smoking a little pot. All
through the 80's I struggled with this. Word got out that my playing was really
hurting because of my abuse, and it was true. I knew it.
"In the 90's, the devil sent a new old weapon at me and a lot of my fellow
musicians; Heroin was back on the scene. And this time I finally got strung out.
Life became a living hell trying to keep up with that addiction. There was never
enough. My life became consumed by trying to find more ways to support my habit
.The circle that I had to travel in to get cheeva (means to horned beast, HELLO)
was pure evil on the earth .I saw people beg borrow and steal to get there next
fix. Everybody was carrying weapons (if they didn't pawn them.) Nobody trusted
anybody. It was a nightmare, but I was living it. But what the devil didn't know
was this was what was going to drive me to my knees and turn me to the one true
SAVIOR: JESUS CHRIST!!
"As for as my religious background, I grew up in a Christian home. My
mother and father had great faith. The rule at their house was "you don’t
have to go to church every SUNDAY, but if you decide you don’t want to go,
MOVE.” So that settled that issue. I was in church almost every SUNDAY of my
life at my parent’s house. When I moved out at 18, that would be the last time
I went to church (except for weddings and funerals) for over 20 years. But the
seeds of CHRIST had been planted. The BIBLE says 'train up a child in the way he
should go, and when he is old he shall not depart from it.' The BIBLE doesn't
lie!
"In1994 I was out of control. Addiction had overcome me and the enemy
started putting bad thoughts in my head. I thought, 'It's all over for you,
Kurt. You’ve shot your best shot and you came up short. You're never going to
amount to anything more then a bar musician, slowly dying.' I thought I was a
bad husband, a bad father, and that my talent was slowly eroding away. Maybe
everybody would be better off if I just ended this whole thing now. GOD had me
where he wanted me. Humbled. With nowhere left to turn to but HIM. So in the
middle of my depression I started praying for the first time in a long time. I
only remembered one prayer and that was the LORDS PRAYER. So every night I would
say that prayer, and I meant it. I added to the prayer my cry for help. 'LORD
thank you for all the blessings in my life, and could please help me get out of
this mess.' I prayed that prayer faithfully for three months. Then one day out
of the blue sky an old friend of mine that I hadn't seen in years [Gary Lohr]
showed up at
my front door. He said he was driving down the freeway heading for Seattle when
his steering wheel turned itself off on to the exit that goes to my house, and
that he had this incredible urge to see me (Thank you LORD). He didn't know why.
"This is a person that was there when I first started getting high. He had
now been clean and sober for 8 years. So there he was on my doorstep. I said 'Wow,
what brings you here?' He said he felt compelled to come and see me and, 'Is
there something you'd like to talk to me about?' We took a ride in his car, and
I told him I was in bad shape. I was actually going through withdrawals when he
showed up. He asked me if I wanted to get off drugs for good. 'Forever,' I said.
'Well, then let's do it,' he said. He even drove me down to get my last fix and
said, 'You'll never have to do this again.' Turns out he was now a drug
counselor and had access to prescription meds that could help me kick.
"So I started my journey to recovery. Every day I would drive 50 miles down
to his house, and he'd give just enough meds to get me through the day. He knew
not to give me more, or I'd abuse them. Each day he gave me a little less, which
kept me in a state of minor withdrawal. He didn't give me enough to get high on,
but just enough to help ease the pain of withdrawal. Weeks went by, and now I
was down to just a few pills a day. Then one day he didn't answer the phone. He
knew it was time for me to go cold turkey. The next three days were some of the
worst...if
not the worst...days of my life. I couldn't sleep; I didn't know how to
shut my body down without putting something in it to get to sleep. For 3 days I
didn't sleep except for a few minuets at a time, purely out of exhaustion.
Finally on the fourth day I got maybe 4 hours of sleep. When I woke up something
in me was terribly wrong (the demons knew their time was up and they were going
to give it one more try). I was in a rage of anger for no apparent reason. My
mind was running a movie of all those wasted years. The anger that came to the
surface was incredible. I lost control of myself. At the same time, I had my
2-year-old boy with me; and I knew I couldn't take care of him with this rage
burning in me. I called my wife at work and said, 'I'm bringing Kasey down to
you because something is wrong with me, and I feel pure evil.' I brought him to
her and said, 'I don't know when I'll see you again, because I can't be around
anybody right now feeling as angry as I feel. I'll call you if I get better.' I
left her standing there holding Kasey; and, as I walked out the door of her
office, I literally exploded the door (that door is a solid glass door weighing
around 400 pounds). It flew clear out in the main street of down town Tacoma.
That didn't even slow me down. I had put a switch blade that I used to cut my
drugs with in my pocket, and I remember saying to myself, 'If anybody says one
word about that door, I'll slit their throat.' Nobody did. It was as if I was
invisible (thank you GOD for your angels). I got to my car, and the rest of that
day is just a blur in my mind. I remember hearing police sirens going off. I
don't have much memory about how I got home, but somehow I did. I destroyed all
the furniture in our house, and the battle inside of me raged on into the night.
I had to play at the Sheraton that night. I remember telling the band to stay
away from me, that I felt like pure evil. Even in that state of mind, I actually
played pretty well. Then about midnight, it all ended. I broke down crying
trying to figure out what had happened to me that day. Every muscle in my body
ached from being so tense for 16 hours, but I felt as if something had left me
(those demons ran for their lives). The following day the greatest miracle that
can ever happen on this side of Heaven happened to me.
That night I went home feeling exhausted and real glad to have that day behind
me. I apologized to my wife (Praise GOD for giving me an understanding wife. I
will forever be grateful for her standing beside me through that whole chapter
in my life.). I went to bed; and, for the first time since I had been a teenager,
I went immediately to sleep and slept all the way through the night. When I woke
up the next day, I was alone with myself. I felt very strange. I can't explain
it except to say I felt neutral; not great, not bad, but with sort of a feeling
of expectation. I turned on the TV, but all the shows that I used to watch
looked wrong. I liked watching talk shows; but on this day, I couldn't stand
them. Looking back, I realize I liked to watch them to make me feel better about
my problems. It seemed like somebody always had more of a horror story than me.
So I started clicking through the channels. Everything on TV sucked. So I
decided to flip over to the religious channel and laugh at some of those
televangelists. I no more than got on that channel when the pastor who was
preaching [Casey Treat] stunned me. I can only tell you that GOD was speaking to me. Every
word out of the mouth of this man went straight to my heart. I don't even
remember what he said, but I swear I thought he had read my book. It seemed as
if he was talking directly to me. Everything he said was about me and what I had
been through. Inside of me something started to happen. It felt like 10,000
pounds had been lifted off of me. I felt light as a feather. And then he started
to tell me about Jesus’ love for me. Joy started bubbling up from deep in the
pit of my spirit, and I knew that this was what had been missing all of my life.
"That show started at 10:30A.M. JANUARY 9th, 1995; and, by 11:00 A.M., I
was crying my eyes out with the most incredible joy that I had ever experienced
in my life. I was literally jumping for joy. JESUS was real. GOD was real. The
creator of the universe had just revealed himself to me, and he still loved me.
More love then I've ever felt. I would never be the same again. I called my wife
and said, 'I am not crazy but I'm going to find this man I saw on TV and tell
him what has happened to me. JESUS is real and I'm going back to church.' I knew
my next door neighbor was a Christian, so I ran over to his house to ask him if
he knew what had just happened to me. When I told him, big tears rolled down his
smiling face. I couldn't believe that somebody I had hardly ever spoken to would
be so happy for me that he would cry. He told me that it looked to him like I
had been baptized in the HOLY SPIRIT. I didn't even know what that meant. I
said, 'I was baptized when I was a child.' He said, 'This is different.' I said,
'No kidding.' I'll never forget that day to my last breath. It was the day of my
SALVATION.
"Well, it's been quite a walk since that day. The devil tried one more time
with drugs, and I slipped back for a minute. But shortly after that I was
completely delivered from drugs (THANK YOU LORD). I have only missed church
three or four times since that day. I now music minister at 2 churches. There's
nothing better then using the gift GOD gave me to praise him.
"I'm playing better then ever and growing again as a musician and a person.
LIFE IS GREAT!!
"I now sing with boldness:
"AMAZING GRACE, HOW SWEET THE
SOUND,
THAT SAVED A WRETCH LIKE ME.
I ONCE WAS LOST AND NOW I'M FOUND
WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE.
"Praise be to GOD the FATHER, SON, and HOLY GHOST.
"GOD bless you,
Kurtis Kolstad " [His
website here]
More of his story:
