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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 (1951-2017...here):
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):
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"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 Face Book here]
More of his
story:
I am so glad that you were blessed by my testimony
and my journey of life to come to know our savior and king Jesus Christ . By all means send
it.....use it.....use pieces of it.......do what ever you like with it as long as you don't
change my words (you can change the spelling if you see an error :-) .For my words are the
absolute truth of what happened to me and how Jesus ambushed me.
I am so glad I wrote my testimony down....for it
is hard after all these years to go back and relive that at churches (although I still do now
and then). I am light years away from who I was back in my drug abusing days. I consider
myself lucky to have had a Damascus experience.
I once gave my testimony at a Catholic church. An
old nun told me she was envious of me. This woman has walked with God since she was a child.
So I asked her "Why in the world would you be envious of me......?" She said, "I've known
Jesus for as far back as I can remember, but you........you know what it is like to go from
Darkness to Light. You can see the complete contrast. I have no idea what that feels like." I
told her, "Trust me........in the long run your way is much safer "
My son coming to life was a true miracle right
before my eyes....and right before the eyes of 400 people in the club in Florida that night.
None of them will ever forget it. To this very day my son (who will turn 31 next week)
remembers the very moment he came out of that coma and said, "I'm hungry". There was a burst
of light :-) Hallelujah !!!!!!!!!!!!!! You would not even believe how far that testimony has
traveled around this Earth. A testimony has a life of it's own and is eternal. Long after
I've gone home....it will still be here. And a Testimony has the same power as the word, for
it is the word of God . It can overcome even un-belief, or any wiles of the
devil."...........And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their
testimony;" Re 12:11
Many great
things have come from that encounter with God.
I wrote 3 CD's full of music about God , His love, and the
Walk....which has gone out to people all over the world and touched their heart with the love of
God. And I was changed in the twinkling of an eye........and I've never been the same since. I love
Jesus just as much today as I did the very moment he burst into my life and set my feet to
dancing.
And, yes,
down the road we can get into some friendly debates about how far the work of the cross goes. How
vast is the love of God....and some doctrinal differences we may share.
Our Bible tells us...."come let us reason together", and "Iron
sharpens Iron ". So it is good to discuss our core beliefs and our search for who God and Jesus
really are and who really got saved 2,000 years ago. It sharpens our Faith ! But please remember
---------We both love Jesus Christ ,even if we see the work at Calvary slightly different, it is
all about Jesus Christ to me.
From the Day that Jesus came
blazing into my life I went on a Search for truth....that took me on a whole new journey . It took
me to literally hundreds of pastors and Theologians around the world. It drove me deep into a 10
year Bible study as much as 8 and 10 hours a day . And also a massive study of Church history right
back to day one at Pentecost.
And because God is Faithful and true he honored my search with THE
TRUTH that set me completely free ! John 5:39 "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have
eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." But I respect and honor your's and all
brothers and sisters of the faith out there .Every denomination, and what their core beliefs are as
long as Jesus is the center of it all !There are currently nearly 30,000 divisions and
denominations in the Christian faith. But they all have Jesus Christ at the center of it. Each with
their own take on who is "REALLY" saved . But that's ok too! For we are all the body of Christ. I look forward to discussing
further my journey from Damascus to now my friend ! I pray all the best in '05 for you and
yours. And like me......I know you are praying for this horrible disaster
unfolding before our eyes abroad. Lord God...........help them make it though one more day, and
show them you love in the middle of this storm. Amen! Peace, Kurt
"What was
the name of the TV preacher?" Casey Treat ! Turns out he had a huge church of 10,000 30 miles from
my house. I went up and met him that very day! And you want to know something really ironic? We
had known each other, and done drugs together 20 some years ago ! KK
Kurt was in
golden gloves boxing many years ago.
***give me your comments about this
page***
(posted 2 January 2005; latest adjustment 3 April
2015)
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You have just read a very brief example of the
powerful, supernatural transformation of a person's life which is possible through the
acceptance of Jesus as your savior. Are you tired of life as it now is for you? He will
accept you just as you are right this second! Consider accepting Jesus now
[check it
out]!
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