Michael Nadraus
“Why I started going to church and why I still
go”
I was born in 1977 an only child into a Catholic family. I thought
to myself as a child, if church was so important, then why did most people only
go two times a year? Christmas and Easter mostly and sometimes if there was a
marriage or funeral.
As time passed, around 8th grade I quit going to the
Catholic Church Saturday morning class. I hated going there. The people were
cold and not friendly. After going there
for a few years I did soak in some stuff whether I wanted to or not. I learned
that if I did good things, I would go to heaven and if I did bad things I would
go to hell. I even heard I would go to purgatory to burn off my sins, but they
couldn’t quite show me anything from the Bible to back that up. I was never
quite sure what would happen if I died.
Throughout the next 4-5 years I got involved with the wrong crowd.
I wanted to do things that would purely make me happy: make money by stealing
anything I could and reselling it, staying out super late, selling weapons to
classmates while at school and to friends of friends, and shoplifting every
chance I had. I also spent a good part of my time with drug dealers and users.
I used to justify this easily by constantly reminding myself that ‘I’m not
doing or selling the drugs so therefore I am better then these guys, and if I
die I surely wouldn’t go to hell.’
I was now in the 12th grade. There was a kid who I was good friends with
for several years. He wasn’t the best influence on my life, but he told me
about God and the Bible every now and then. I had no real interest in it, and
sometimes mocked it, telling him to keep that Bible nonsense to himself.
January 21st 1995, he invited me to go ice skating with
his youth group. I loved ice hockey and skating and thought it would be a great
way to go for cheap. This was out of the
normal for me since I didn’t know any of these people. Something inside pushed me to go and so I
did.
I went and saw things that I never saw before. Happy kids! They
had this joy and happiness that I wanted for so long. Everything I tried to do
in my life from stealing to selling would make me happy for a little bit, but
it would never last. These kids had a real lasting joy! I was so intrigued by
this. They joked around, didn’t curse, didn’t fight, it was pretty awesome to
see this.
The next day I went to church to see what it was all about.
Something hooked my heart and I went for the next 2 weeks straight and kept
hearing the gospel preached.
Romans
3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”
I knew that I was a sinner already, but the Bible said all of us
are in the world. I was amazed but also brought low as I saw that every human
was now on level playing ground. We were all sinners.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
When I heard this it blew my mind! Now I knew I was a sinner and
the payment for my sins was my soul spending eternity in hell. That blew the
Catholic doctrine away. That purgatory they spoke of was not and is not found
anywhere in the Bible. No longer was it based on works or good deeds or being
baptized as a child. It was by faith in Jesus Christ and accepting His gift and
His payment for my sins.
The 2nd half of the verse told me it was a gift and I
needed to accept it for it to be mine. Just like a Christmas gift, it would
only become mine once I accept it and take it. I heard the truth: God loves me and cares for
each and every one of us so much that He sent His only son Jesus Christ to come
to the earth and die as a payment, a sinless sacrifice for our sins. He lived a
sinless life and His blood was shed as payment for all our sins. His death paid
for them, but we need to accept that payment on our behalf. We need to
recognize and ask Him to forgive us of all our sins, ask Him to save our soul,
and place all our faith in trust in Him that He will do that. I let the Bible
speak for itself. They were Biblical facts that couldn’t be changed whether I
believed them or not! I knew I needed it and when I heard:
Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved”
I knew that meant anyone and I wanted to get saved.
February 8th 1995, it was time to decide. I was
watching Unsolved Mysteries on TV after a Wednesday night at church. I thought
if I was to die tonight or if something went wrong with those troublemakers I
used to hang around with, I could die and go to hell forever. I knew I needed to
get saved and become a born-again Christian. That night I prayed and asked
Jesus to forgive me of my sins and save my soul. That night He did just that.
When I got on my knees to pray I was hell bound sinner, but when I was done and
got up, I knew for a fact I was on my way to heaven whenever that may be. I
have full confidence in the eternal security the Bible speaks of and I know
that I cannot lose my salvation ever. God will never break any of His promises.
January 1999 I went to Maranatha Baptist Bible College and it blew
my mind. I made some good godly friends and soon sank my teeth into the
ministry opportunities, everything from feeding the homeless, passing out
Bibles in Madison, WI every Friday night, preaching and befriending the old
folks at the nursing home and holding church services in local jails, juvenile
homes and prisons.
On September 9, 1999 I went to Cook County Jail for the first time
with my roommate Jeff Hawes and four others. That was the first step I took in
the direction of the prison ministry.
The Bible says "O taste and see that the Lord is
good." And that is just what I did with enthusiasm and zeal,
drenching what I did in prayer. I worked hard as if everything depended on that
and prayed just as hard as if everything depended on the prayers. I set my mind and heart into the prison
ministry and was amazed at how much fertile ground there was. Hardened
criminals wanting to do right and people with no direction wanting to follow
God. I cannot explain the feeling I got when I saw a man who gave his life to
God in prison, and then he had to make the decision to either lie and get 2
years in jail or tell the truth and get up to 19 years… and because he decided
to follow God and doesn’t want to sin any longer, he tells the truth. My pal
Jaime Z. from Cook County Jail in Chicago did just that and is now in the
middle of that sentence. He did what pleased God.
I saw this week after week for five years. Seeing some of the greatest
comeback stories lived out and hearing some of the best testimonials, I was
hooked. Dennis Rew, Luke Kinney, Mike Rudolph, Kevin Taylor and a bunch of my
other close friends went to the jails regularly and they got to share in this
amazing soul stirring experience too.
I finished out my time in Wisconsin and now am back in Long Island
New York working on my death row inmate letter writing ministry, hopefully
another book and still working with the youth at my church, all the while with
my amazing wife, Hannah, at my side. God is good!
“My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.”
Michael Nadraus
Bay Shore, NY 11706
920-220-3093
MNadraus@aol.com
www.GodOnDeathRow.com
For more amazing true stories of God changing lives, get a copy of
my book ‘God on Death Row’. See how the Bible can change even the worst
criminals into God fearing, church going, kind & loving Christians. All told through their own words & letters.
“But we had the sentence of
death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which
raiseth the dead”
2nd Corinthians
1:9
