Hello, My name is Matt and the story of my life begins in a town called Saugus in Massachusetts. There I was raised by my wonderful parents Joseph & Ruth Ann. I grew up with one sister & two brothers. We were raised Catholic and attended the Blessed Sacrament Church at the end of our street. Our family went through tough times over those years and my parents eventually divorced when I was twelve. My sister moved to a city 45 mins. North called Andover to live with my mother. My brothers & I stayed in Saugus to live with my father. When I was in 10^th grade I received confirmation at Blessed Sacrament Church. After that I spent 13 years away from the Church and completely turned my back on God and lived my life the way I wanted.

During my teenage years I worked for restaurants and when I was 18 began managing restaurants for a corporate Italian food chain in New England. When I was 22 I opened “Rumors Bar & Grill”. Rumors was a fun neighborhood place with great food and entertainment. Entertainment consisted of live bands, DJs, karaoke, comedians, dart/softball leagues and even Elvis impersonators. That grew very tiresome after 2 years and we sold Rumors and opened “What’s Cooking?” That was a rotisserie chicken and sub shop (like Boston Market). We sold that after 8 months and I moved to Cape Coral, Florida in November of 2001. There are many good and bad things I learned from my time in the restaurant business. I am very thankful I have a Dad that led me through the many obstacles I had and taught me how to be a self employed businessman. Most importantly I thank God for getting me out of it in one piece!

Upon moving to the Cape I began doing home renovations and building/repairing computers for a living. I also remodeled many houses with my father here in the Cape. On March 4, 2004 I went on a first date with a woman name Jen. We got engaged on March 4, 2005. Then married on February 4, 2006. Jen & I got married and honeymooned in the Bahamas at Sandals resort with our parents and four friends as guests.

Three months after getting married I began doing renovation work for my neighbors Don & Barbara. Within the first week of working for them I began seeing differences between them and the rest of the world I knew. I knew they were Christians and started asking questions about God, Faith & the Church. Up until that point Jen & I never really talked about faith. In May of 2006 we went to Church for the first time. We really enjoyed what we saw and heard that day. We went and bought our first Bibles right after service.

I first read two of the four Gospels, John & Matthew. While reading I quickly became aware that my relationship with God was not good. I began to understand who God was, His true character, His love and His grace. All my life all I knew was: there was “Father, Son, Holy Spirit” and “Jesus died for my sins”. I never knew that: God the Father was the creator of the Heavens and Earth and all of us. That he came to Earth as Jesus to sacrifice Himself at the Cross and take the penalty that we deserved for not obeying Him. That Jesus rose from the grave on the third day defeating death and proving to all that he was God and that we can have everlasting life in Him. That after 40 days he ascended into Heaven where he sits at the right hand of the Father. Not only that, but after Jesus returned to Heaven He sent us the Holy Spirit. That all who would believe and make Jesus Lord and Savior of their lives would have that Spirit come live inside of them and guide their lives. That one day they would be able to live with God for all of eternity.

For two months I continued to read the Bible and “date the Church”. During that time I continued to see how my sin has separated me from a relationship with God. I lived for two months fully knowing that if I died I would die without Christ and that my salvation was in no way secure. I spent two months searching for another way and believing I wasn’t good enough to receive Christ. I knew all along what I needed to do. I needed to recognize my sinful nature and separation before God and ask Him for His forgiveness and Spirit. On June 28, 2006 I did just that. After that my life was forever changed! I knew how much God loved me and the world and after accepting Christ I began to do the same. After whole heartingly giving myself to Him I was better at understanding & interpreting Scripture and immediately began removing sin from my life. I was later baptized at First Christian Church in Fort Myers. There have been many struggles along the way. I had lived 29 years of sinful pleasures and rejecting God. Even glorifying it at times. The past year has been about removing all that sin from my life and becoming a new creature in Christ. A battle I will continue to fight until the day I meet the God that created me.

As I look back on the past year I see so many amazing changes in my life and many changes I still need to make. I have watched God work and see how He designed my life in such a perfect way and to know my life is actually bringing glory to His name. Many of you who have gotten this far in reading this are probably thinking that “Matt has lost his mind.” I assure you I have not. I would just ask that you look inside your own heart, examine your relationship with God and check out some of the great resources I have on this site. If in your heart there is even a million-in-one chance that if you died and would die without Christ as your Lord and Savior you owe it to yourself, spouse, children, family and most importantly God to look into these very important things. Thank you for taking the time to read my testimony and if you do want to know more about a relationship with God feel free to contact us.

1 Corinthians 1:18- For the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.

Check out this 4 minute video of Jesus and why he came: