Testimony Of M. George Lombardi

Hi, I’m Michael George Lombardi, But everyone calls me George. I grew up in Connecticut in a Catholic, Irish, Italian family. My father’s nickname was Elexahente, the Demanding One, and often had a brutal temper. Early on I became an Altar Boy and told my Mother, I’d become a priest, if they could get married. When I started seeing the behind the scenes things that went on, it turned me off to religion. Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll were my life from age 12 on. Whatever or whoever I wanted to do, I did, my parents lost all control and I was out of the house by age 15!One of my teachers talked me into going to college to become an Industrial Arts Teacher. College was a wild time in the 70's! The University handed out free birth control at the Infirmary, so inhibitions were nonexistent. I was a bartender then so anything went. God was not in my life and I had no need for Him or so I thought. A brief glimmer of an after life happened when I had a car accident and died. I saw the emergency room, the doctor and my badly trashed body, but it wasn’t my time to leave, so I went back in my body and sat up to their surprise. Sex , Drugs And Rock ‘n’ Roll still ruled my life. After college, I became a teacher in one of the roughest High Schools in New England, Waterbury Alternative School. It was an alternative to jail for them, but I thought I could make a difference. I married one of the college girls that I lived with, but it didn’t slow me down. Everything coasted along until my best friend, the English teacher, was stabbed to death by two of the students! The students laughed at the Judge when he sentenced the two juveniles to five years each, they could do that on their heads. I lasted only another year in teaching. My life started a downward spiral, and with no God as my anchor, it would only get worse. My second love was motorcycles, so I started a motorcycle shop, but nothing went right. I went from Man of the year to jail in 4 years. More than once I tried to kill myself, with no luck. Out of sheer boredom, I picked up the Bible, and found it had very little to do with the religion I was brought up in. I mean it had the same stories, but the Bible had a living Christ that was Love and forgiveness, yet brought judgment and damnation on the evil. In jail, I went to all of the religious events to get out of my cell. Mormon, Muslim, Christian, I didn’t care, they were all talking of a god. As I read the different books, I realized this was not the same god or he was totally irrational! A God that could build a universe couldn’t be irrational. This started making much more sense when I realized that Satan is the god of the earth, he was cast out of Heaven with the fallen angels to earth. After all this time studying, God was not with me because I didn’t accept him. But one night a nun was playing some songs and played "Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like Me," yes Me! I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and that night, kicked Satan out! After getting out of jail, I wanted to find a fellowship that just followed the Bible. My Aunt went to the Church of Christ, so I went with her. They worked hard on following the Bible to the T and for about 15 years it was my home. I had a very successful construction company in Rhode Island, but failed marriages and judgmental legalism in the church plagued me, I knew my walk was wrong. The third marriage fell apart, so I sold off my company, bought a motor home, and went on the road. While on the road, most "religious" people either had their own agenda or they were pew warmers. After about 2 years on the road, I was cruising in Vermont visiting some Patriot friends. I mentioned that my CB went haywire in my camper. They said that they knew a guy that fixes them about an hour north. So I was on my way, to Northfield Falls, VT. When I arrived, I guess I expected a CB Shop. What I found was a red covered bridge and an old farmhouse with people milling around. As I entered the house, Richard, a pot-bellied man with suspenders and Coke bottled glasses, sat at the end of a long kitchen table, and asked me to sit and have some coffee. I did. The day was beautiful, so Richard and I walked along the serene brook speaking of Jesus and the Word of God. All afternoon the smell of smoke filled the air emanating from this huge smoker on the front porch. Unfortunately, I was a Vegetarian with no digestive enzymes to break down fats. As we walked up towards the house, Richard asked if I would like to eat with them. I said, "No thanks, I’m a Vegetarian, I can’t eat meat!" He asked if it was medical or religious? I said medical and explained I didn’t have the enzymes and would get deathly ill if I partook. So he looked at me, took his hand, popped me in the belly, and said "In Jesus’ name your stomach is healed, now come and eat." I thought he was nuts. I said, "I came here to get my CB fixed!!" He said, "Have a leap of faith." That night I ate Chicken without a problem and ever since I eat meat every day without a burp! Now some people can say healings are not for today, others can say it was all in my head. But all I can say is, "Thank you Jesus, and thank you for a man of God that believes on you enough to do your Word!" I parked my camper beside the brook and stayed a while. No matter where I’ve traveled since that time, I’ve known God has been with me. The summer of ‘97, I had the pleasure of working with the men in Northfield Falls in their computer company. Even though Richard no longer lives in Vermont, his ministry thrives in the men blessed with the Spirit of God. Summer was winding to a close, but the men were determined to take out the Revival tent and clean it before the winter. All of a sudden, Richard was coming up from South Carolina to do a revival. By the end of that week of revival, we had seen the Spirit of God move mightily, and I knew why God had kept me alive these years: To be a man of God. And I have dedicated my life to doing HIS will! Michael George Lombardi.