John Eggen shares his incredible story and the paranormal struggles he went through, and how his grandfather values of love and faith in him, leading to a journey of spiritual warfare and eventual redemption through Jesus Christ. This powerful story reveals the unconditional love of God and the importance of personal relationships with Christ.
Watch it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVQid5Djp6Q&t=2s
If you'd like to support me: Buy me a coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/think100yearsbigger
My Hebrews 12 for Children book http://www.tinyurl.com/hebrews12forchildren
My rhymed book Bible Beat Hebrews: https://www.tinyurl.com/biblebeathebrews
I went through paranormal things straight out of a horror movie. was confronted by dark presences regularly. I was also physically attacked. I've been thrown across my room.
I even got levitated right out of bed while staring down a demon.
I'm Kelly Kohl and welcome to Think 100 Years Bigger. Today you'll hear the amazing story of my younger brother as he told his testimony at Grandpa's funeral. So it's two stories in one today as you'll also hear about how a grandpa can have a powerful influence on his grandchildren. To make the story more interesting, I'll give you a little background. With the age gap of seven years, we grew up living our separate lives and didn't have much connection.
So I had no idea why when in the rare family gatherings right before the funeral, he wasn't there. Here my sister and I were in town and there were 18 scattered great grandkids from the next generation all in one spot and he was missing it? Little did I know until I finally asked that he was preparing for the first public speech of his life. And when it was over,
I sat there in shock and awe and celebration to see what God had done. I'm so thankful to have him in my life now. We're finally making use of that sibling bond and he's become my biggest supporter to start this podcast. You'll be so blessed to hear his story. Don't forget to like and subscribe and check out my books in the links below. Here we go.
Where you gonna be in a hundred years? A hundred years from now. You wanna be where you are loved and the Bible tells you how. Read the book.
Good morning. My name is John Eggen and Chet Eggen was my grandfather. First off, on behalf of our family, I would like to thank each and every one of you for coming today and celebrating his life. When I first heard my grandpa's wishes for me to speak today, I was surprised. Not that I didn't think he would want me to speak, but more of I thought there were so many more better, more natural choices.
close friends, other family members that would represent him way better than I could ever do. But I soon realized to myself why he wanted me to speak to you today. And I'll get to that in a little bit. When I was looking through my grandpa's funeral wish notes, something immediately jumped out to me. And I quote, I've had my recognition party. Now let's talk Jesus.
My grandpa was many things, including a great man, a loving husband, an excellent father, great grandfather, grandfather, a true friend to so many. But you simply cannot talk about my grandpa without talking about Jesus. That's just who he was, a follower of Christ. So, per my grandpa's wishes, that's exactly what I'm going to do.
Growing up with Chet as my grandfather was a true gift, one that I am so thankful for. We grandchildren were told by him at any given opportunity that God loves us and has a plan for us. Whether it be written in a birthday card or just an everyday sharing of life when we got together, he would always make you feel so special.
Now at a very really young age, I used to wonder to is my grandpa God? That just goes to show you from the very beginning of our life, he was teaching us the word of Jesus Christ.
As his grandchildren got a little older and desired a need to maybe earn a little extra money, as any kid would, my grandpa was always there. You see, he saw an opportunity. He offered to pay us if we would memorize Bible verses. He would always look for a way to teach us about the Lord. As I got older, my interest in activities grew more expensive.
karate lessons, musical instruments and equipment, and even a motorcycle. My grandfather was always willing to borrow me the money, but he had one stipulation. He would charge me interest in the form of more Bible verses. Now I'd like to read you a Facebook post from the day my grandpa passed away written by my niece Fern Kohl that I just happened to come across.
Fern Kohl, February 14, 2014. Valentine's Day is about love. This man, Chester Eggen, my 102-year-old great-grandfather, is one who loved people very well.
When I told him I wanted to be a teacher, he cheered me on to teach, to pursue teaching, always telling me that God would use me to reach children. When I told him I wanted to be a social worker, he cheered me on telling me that God would use me to reach people.
When I told him I wanted to be a biblical counselor, he ordered me a special counselor's Bible and study book and cheered me on, saying God would use me to heal people. That's just the kind of guy my grandpa was. So full of encouragement and looked for every possible way to let you know you are loved by Jesus. So the motorcycle thing didn't quite work out according to plan. I got in all kinds of trouble.
It got impounded by the police and I was left facing a handful of charges Guess who was there the morning and time I was doing court in front of the judge my grandpa Guess where I was in bed sleeping I overslept Now we all know what a charmer my grandpa can be. Well, he certainly had his work cut off from that morning
After I received his phone call waking me up and wondering where I was, he was able to smooth things over until I got there. I walked out of there with a minimal court fee. He just had an extraordinary gift with people.
On a very recent visit with my grandpa, I had asked him, when did you first start feeling so strong about the Lord? Well, he thought about it a moment and simply said, I don't know. I guess I've always felt this way. And this reminded me of Abraham. You see, Abraham is considered in the Bible as being the father of faith.
Abraham fulfills this definition of faith in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. And in Romans 4:3 it states, Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Now here I just learned from my grandfather there was no life-changing event or occurrence that led him to the Lord.
My grandpa simply believed. Then I asked my grandpa, what was the first Bible verse you memorized? He told me it was Revelations 3:20 Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in with that person and eat with them. I will come in and eat with that person and they with me.
Now I know those are God's words, but can't you just picture my grandpa, Chet in that verse, reaching out to people and spread the word? In Matthew 4:19 Jesus says, come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people. And that's just what my grandpa did. My grandpa was a true modern-day disciple of Christ. I like to say, a warrior for God.
You see, not only is this God's word, this is the truth. This was Chet Eggen's handbook for life. Now to get back to which I have no doubt in my mind why my grandpa wanted me to speak to you today. You see, my grandpa knew I had been given a message from the Lord, and he wanted me to share it with you. But before I can, I'll have to backtrack a little bit.
When you're 18, 19, 20, 21 years old, it's supposed to be some of the best years of your life. But for me, it was my darkest. I was in a very dark place at that point in my life, through nobody's fault but my own. Things just simply weren't working out quite the way I hoped for. And I became angry and very upset about it, especially with the Lord.
I was in a state of total ugliness and darkness. Through whatever wrong path I took or bad decision I made, I always ended up on my face. I was making bad choices all on my own, and I was failing miserably. I would wonder to myself, why me, Lord? Why are you letting me go through this? I would get so mad, I would even curse him out.
I would think, kind of God would let me feel this way? Satan had me just where he wanted me. Feeling alone, depressed, and suicidal.
Now just told you I grew up with so much love. My grandfather as well as my parents and how my grandpa would teach me about God at every available opportunity. So what happened to me?
Well, as I got older, I put all my faith in worldly things that didn't mean anything. I never liked people telling me what to do, what to think. I simply got lost. If you ask me then what kind of personal relationship I had with Christ, I would said none. What are you talking about? I grew up learning there was a God, but that's about it as far as I was concerned.
I was not living. I was merely existing. From there I started to be attacked by Satan. I got caught up in a journey of spiritual warfare that lasted over three years. That's right, spiritual warfare. Now without getting into too much detail, can tell you this. I witnessed, I felt,
I went through paranormal things straight out of a horror movie. was confronted by dark presences regularly. I was also physically attacked. I've been thrown across my room.
I even got levitated right out of bed while staring down a demon.
They didn't start out that severe, but any of these things I went through would have sent me running in the direction of the Lord, don't you think? Nope, not me.
I didn't need anything. Satan would only come after me when I was alone and weak. That's how much of a coward he is. I was beginning to tell when these attacks would occur before they even happened. I could always sense this eerie, dark presence just before. I didn't know what to do, so I seeked the counseling of my sisters. I didn't tell them everything, but enough to get some opinions.
Of course they told me I needed the Lord, which was the advice I didn't want to hear. But they did tell me one thing I used. They told me when these attacks would occur, to cross my fingers and say, the name of Jesus Christ, leave me alone.
Just to clarify, while it's all good to express on the outside the faith that you have on your inside, the power is in the name of Jesus alone.
I'm going to tell you just how powerful the name Jesus Christ is.
So the next time I was attacked, I remembered what my sisters told me. I crossed my fingers and I said, in the name of Jesus Christ, leave me alone.
poof. And every time after that, instantaneously gone, Satan could not even hold a candle even to Jesus Christ's name.
So things slowly got a little better for me and I was being left alone by Satan. I started to realize I cannot do this on my own. And one night at home, all by myself, I stumbled upon one of Billy Graham's TV specials. That night at the end of the show, through the TV, I gave myself to Jesus Christ. So the next few years I spent trying to figure out my life.
I knew what I wanted, and deep down I knew what I had to do to get it. I had to get right with the Lord. I had to make myself stronger. I had to come to Him. I had to heal. I knew the only way I could do this was totally on my own. I mean as far as learning God's words. I knew I had to read them for myself and draw my own opinion as opposed to someone just telling me. So I did.
The more I read, the more I hungered. I was healing. I was getting strong. I was becoming myself again. A friend of mine at work told me about this church in St. Paul called Woodland Hills and thought I might like it. At the time, they didn't even have their own building. They would hold service in a middle school auditorium. I'll never forget the first time I went in there.
It was like attending a rock concert. The band was loud, just the way I liked it. I was amazed instantly at the feeling I felt there. Almost everybody was raising their hands in praise to the Lord. It just felt so right. I started to attend regularly when I wasn't working, and every time I went, it felt as though the message was custom built just for me.
So now I'm at a point in my life where I'm completely and utterly sold out on Jesus. I believe in Him. I love Him. I am healed. I am strong. And I am so totally happy with my life and who I am. For whatever reason I went through what I did, it didn't matter to me. I put my faith in God. That was simply my path. So what happens next? I will probably never truly understand why He let me see this.
It was just a typical service that day at Woodland Hills. Start out singing a few praise songs, and then another outstanding message delivered by Pastor Greg Boyd. And as it regularly did, it felt custom made for me. It was about forgiveness. I know these next two songs aren't in the program, but they were playing in the next few minutes of my life I'm going to share with you.
Now we all know Jesus died on the cross for us. We've heard it and read it our whole lives. Almost to the point of it becoming just knowledge. Yes, he did. You know, like a fact or learning history. But I sat there after that service when we were singing these next two praise songs. And I just...
really started to feel and think about the true meaning of that. And I look back on my life, all the bad decisions, all the selfish, greedy, lustful, unholy sins I ever committed, thought of, or ever will commit. And Jesus Christ on that cross bore my sins, felt it,
so I could have eternal life. And I just thought, how beautiful.
I just began to weep. The feeling just overcame me. And as sure as I'm standing in front of you today, right here, right now, the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, stood and appeared right in front of me. And he just looked at me. And he spoke to me, not with audible words, but more he put the thoughts in my head.
Says, I know. You are forgiven, John. I love you. I love EVERYBODY unconditionally. And I got the small hint of sadness because most the world does not know that.
And that was my vision of Jesus. I sat down in my chair for the next two and a half hours, paralyzed, basically crying, weeping, out of control. I simply could not handle the glory that just happened to me. People left, but people hung around and made sure I was okay. I couldn't even speak. So that is the message I know my grandfather wanted me to share with you today.
and it also put upon my heart.
that I would like to say a prayer together. I know many of you out there are familiar to me and you are believers. Many of you I don't know. I don't know what you're, where you're at. This is all personal. I'm not here to judge. I just want to give you the opportunity if your heart desires to come to the Lord right now. And I think my grandpa would like that. So I'm going to pray.
And if you'd like, can repeat after me. Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally.
Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.
I open the door of my life.
and receive you as my Savior and Lord.
Thank you for forgiving me of my sins.
and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life.
Make me the kind of person you want me to be.
In your name, Jesus, I pray.
Amen. For those of you who are already believers, I simply say, awesome. By chance, there's any new believers out there, I say welcome to eternal life. My grandpa thanks you, and I thank you.
While we were sinners, Christ died for us. You are that much loved unconditionally. Put your stories in the comments and thanks for listening.
