Thank you for taking the time to visit the most important part of my web site. In case you haven't figured it out by now, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. Some of you may be here for that very reason while others may be here to learn more about the Herbie fanatic that created this site. Rest assured, you are in the right place.
Let me first address those who are not Christians. This is not a site to force you into joining a church or a particular denomination. I was not a church goer, nor did I have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I have always believed there had to be a God but I never really gave it much thought. My goal here is to let everyone know how I found this relationship with Christ and how the Lord changed my life forever. This is a message about hope, understanding, forgiveness, joy and eternal salvation. It is something that can benefit anyone who reads it. What you are about to read is a very personal chapter in my life. And most of you know that by revealing personal facts anywhere (but especially online) opens you up to further persecution. Such is the life of a Christian. God asks us to witness to others. He changed my life. If you open your heart to Him, He will change yours.
When I was a teenager I felt all alone in the world and it made me very depressed. Nothing in the world could make me happy. One day I was in a severely depressed state of mind and I was laying in my room. With no hope for a future I really had no will to go on with life. Why should I? What did I have to offer the world? I thought about this over and over. Suddenly I was struck with a message that started to change my life. I honestly believe God spoke to me that night. No, I didn't hear voices in a literal sense, but God seemed to speak to my very soul. What came into my head was a message that all of us are here for a reason. God has plans for each and every one of us. We may never know when but one day God will use us for his purpose. Maybe it would be to inspire another human being or to save someone's life. Who knows? Who am I to mess with God's grand plan? I didn't think much about it at the time but it did change my life from that point. This was no great revelation back then but looking back now, I know just how great it truly was. During my teen years Satan was tearing me down with the negative thoughts. He was winning. The Lord inspired me to get back on track with my life. Fast forward to 1997 when I started the first Herbie page on the web. I met a lot of great people and made some new friends. The site was created with the idea of preserving the memory of my beloved childhood "hero" named Herbie. It proved quite successful and the site stayed #1 on the web search engines for many years. I was proud that I had created something from nothing. Was this website some huge life changing event? Not really, but it did inspire and touch many peoples' lives.
Life was going pretty well for me until 2000. There was trouble with my career path and it was causing a lot of unnecessary stress in my life. So, I finally made the decision to leave my current career path and start over in another industry. Unfortunately, my career change resulted in taking a pay cut of nearly $15,000 per year. The upside was that my new job definitely gave me a new sense of peace that I needed. I never understood why in the beginning but the real reason would soon reveal itself. My new job exposed me to a completely new group of people. What I didn't know was that these people were Christians. What really stood out was that the attitudes of the people I was working with were different than any people I had ever worked with before. What was going on? What kind of world had I been living in for the last 15 years? My new co-workers were sincere, supportive, and very generous. On my first day a new friend presented me with a photocopied piece of paper with a message that began, "Everything happens for a reason." Yes it does, I thought." I have always believed that. I also noticed something else about my co-workers, many of them had Bibles on their desks. I thought to myself, "oh brother, these people are those Jesus freaks." One thing I knew for sure was that I didn't want to hear about Jesus . What I was doing was rejecting Him. I had always thought that God didn't care what happened to me. Where was God when I prayed for help for so many years? Why did he let me experience so much heartache and pain? But my co-workers never once spoke to me about God or Jesus, instead they lived by his example. Maybe they weren't "freaks." In fact, they were really great people.
My new job had me speaking to customers on the phone. Through many conversations I was able to speak to people of all walks of life. Time after time people would proclaim to me their Christian beliefs and relay their stories. Some were truly amazing. My eyes were beginning to open. Then one day I received a call from a woman who was very distraught. She had been diagnosed with multiple serious illnesses and she had no hope left in life. She too felt that God had abandoned her in her time of need. I am a sensitive person by nature and I truly care about other's lives so I began to talk and encourage her. I felt for this poor woman. What happened next was truly amazing. For months I had soaked in all those stories about what God and Jesus had done for many of my customers. I never thought I believed any of it but something made me share what I had heard with this poor woman. I told her that God is with us in sickness and in health. The devil is the one who brings illness and pain into our lives. We all are set to die some day. If you have faith in God, no matter what happens to you he will save you. You will be victorious. We talked for probably 45 minutes and before I hung up the customer started crying and told me that she had to let me know that I had given her hope again and had changed her life forever. She thanked me. I was confused by her statement. She told me that my words had restored her faith in God! Then it hit me. I suddenly got a feeling and was covered in goosebumps. The message I had received so many years ago came rushing back in my head. "Everyone is here for a reason." It was a revelation! God's plan! The events were set into motion! The Lord allowed Satan to beat me down so that He could lift me back up. Everything I had been going through was shaping up to a new realization... but I wasn't quite ready yet..
I had another issue going on in my life in 2000. I had a falling out with a close friend. I later found out that this "friend" had been heading a slander campaign about me on the internet. This grew into a group of individuals who believed that my destruction was their main goal in life. It was indeed a time of great stress and the lies deeply troubled me. I was doing my best to deal with it. Unfortunately, the problem with most gossip is that if you say it often and early enough it becomes fact even if it is fabrication. I had little hope of stopping the vicious cycle of lies and half-truths. Even worse, people whom I had considered good friends refused to come to my aid because they didn't want to get involved in the conflict. They didn't want to choose sides. Unfortunately, If you know the truth and don't speak it then you are choosing a side, the side that is wrong. I cannot understand any person, especially a friend ,not wanting to do what is considered the right thing to do. This compounded my frustration and tested my limits. My stress was at an all time high. Something had to change. I was looking for answers. The sad part was they were right before my eyes and I didn't see them.
I was also in the middle of planning the first ever Herbie Days at Disney Herbie which was set to take place in November of 2000. To prepare, I was collecting items to give away at the show (AKA Herbie-Con 2000). A friend had tipped me that NEW MAN Magazine had done a feature on Disney actor Dean Jones. Dean was pictured on the cover of the magazine with Herbie. I thought this would be a GREAT item to give away to show attendees so I asked NEW MAN if they would be willing to donate some issues for me to give away to the participants of the event. NEW MAN really came through. They provided their entire stock of back issues FREE of charge! This was incredible! Everyone who attended the Herbie Days car show received a copy. Where Am I going with this? NEW MAN is a Christian magazine. The article talked about Dean Jones' life as a Christian. It was very fascinating. When I had met Dean in 1998 (for the interview on my web site) I had no idea of his Christian background. I began searching the web for more information and found that Dean had written a book called "Under Running Laughter." Unfortunately, the book was long out of print. I tried searching Amazon and other online retailers and found nothing. I was ready to give up and then I decided to call a local used book store. To my surprise, they had the book in stock and it was priced at only $3! I asked them to hold it for me and then I rushed over to get it that day! The book covers various aspects of Dean Jones' life and explained how his life turned around thanks to God. I began reading and became glued to the book. It was unbelievable! Both Dean and his wife experienced their own personal miracles that cemented their faith. I was inspired after reading the book but was still battling my own personal problems (including the internet slander). However, my life was on the verge of change in a big way. A good friend of my wife invited us to attend her church. I was reluctant at first but decided to go. When I got there the Pastor began preaching a sermon on Psalm 55. When he began to share this bible story my ears and eyes became fully opened. This spoke to my heart directly! PSALM 55 Deals with the very same subject that I was going through! David of the bible shared my struggles! I was amazed that the Bible had answers that dealt with my problems! Once I found this out I had a new quest for knowledge that I never had before. What else did the bible say about life? I had to know! So, I began to read the Bible and learned that every aspect of our lives is covered in the book. It took most of my life but the Lord finally got through to me. I eventually gave my life to Jesus in 2002 and began a new life living by God's will. Oh, how sweet that decision was. I cannot begin to tell you what feelings flowed into my soul. I was at peace and truly fulfilled for the first time in my life.
A good friend of my wife invited us to attend her church. I was reluctant at first but decided to go. When I got there the Pastor began teaching on Psalm 55. When he began to share this bible story my eyes became fully opened. This spoke to my heart directly! PSALM 55 Deals with the very same subject that I was going through! David of the bible shared my struggles! I was amazed that the Bible had answers that dealt with my problems! I had a new quest for knowledge that I never had before. What else did the bible say? I began to read the Bible and learned that every aspect of our lives is covered in that book. The Lord had finally been revealed to me. I eventually gave my life to Jesus and began a new life living by his will. Oh, how sweet that decision was. I cannot begin to tell you what feelings flowed into my soul. I was at peace and truly fulfilled for the first time in my life.
The skeptics out there will immediately ask if every dream has come true in my life? They will ask if I have enough money and will wonder if all the stress is gone from life. They will also want to know if the Lord has given me perfect health. The answer is no. God does not promise any of those things. My gift is of eternal peace and knowing that I am forgiven, saved by grace, and will live an eternal life in heaven. I am living my life the way God wants me to live. I am still not perfect and never will be. I may never be wealthy or famous, live in a fancy home or own a new car. None of this matters anyway. One of the most difficult things for people to realize is the fact that a person's drive for the material objects in life can never fill the void we all have inside. God designed us in such a way that only HE can fill the void. I once lived for the thrill of buying VW after VW. I was addicted to cars. I also was addicted to collecting. Back then, finding a new collectible or something hard to find (cars, toys, etc) gave me a temporary rush of happiness. But nothing can compare to the ongoing joy and happiness of knowing our Lord Jesus! I have been set free! However, although the old days of persecution with lies no longer bothers me, I have another persecution to deal with. I am a Christian. The Bible tells us that to become a Christian invites persecution. God knows this but is with us every step of the way. Looking back now, I realized that have always approached things from a Christian perspective without really knowing it. God has given every one of us a conscious and the ability to choose right over wrong. He's that voice in your head telling you the right thing to do. Since becoming Christian does that mean I now live a perfect life? No way. Being a Christian does not mean you are perfect. In fact, being a Christian is admitting that you are not perfect and you need God's grace. The bible is God's word. God tells us that all have fallen short of His glory. That means WE ALL have sinned. Every one of us. No one is good enough for God. We deserve hell because we have all broken God's laws (the Ten commandments). The bible states if you have broken just one you are guilty. We ALL are guilty. God is pure, holy and perfect. He cannot tolerate sin. Sounds like we are all done for, right? Nope. God loves us so much that he provided a way to pay for our sins. He sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross as payment for our sins. All we need do is to accept Jesus as savior, turn from sin and the bible says we are a new creature in Christ that will live in heaven once we die on earth. Why am I telling all of this to the entire world? Because I think that everyone deserves to know this inner peace that I know. Everyone deserves the chance for eternal salvation. Salvation is a FREE gift from God. You only need to ask. I can't explain how it will change your life. It must be experienced. But the choice is yours. Nobody can make you accept Christ as your savior. I've been there. I was prideful and wanted to be in control of my own life. I didn't think I needed God. I didn't want to hear anything about God or Jesus. or anything about Church. So I know how some of you feel. I've been in your shoes. But if my story is at all inspiring wouldn't it be worth taking your own chance? What do you have to lose? I know what you will gain. Open your heart and hear my words. Pick up a Bible and read it. You will be amazed. If my writings can inspire one person to walk with Jesus Christ then they will have been worth it. It is my duty to spread the good word. If you have questions about God please feel free to e-mail me. I don't claim to have all the answers but will do my best to help answer your questions. The bible says seek and you shall find. If you open your hear to God he will show you the answers. He did that for me. May God Bless you all. Dave
May God Bless you all.
Dave