***This testimony was given to us by Redeeming Love Prison Ministry ran by Sharla Yoder.

by Eric Lynn Brockman

I have battled alcohol since 1995, after my honorable discharge from the military and two gulf wars, to try to camouflage PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Then after the loss of my mother in June 2001, I continued to drink even worse. In 2010, I split up with my wife and lost touch with my son. It caused me to walk on some very dark roads in the middle of the night, not caring if I got hit by a vehicle.

Later, because I could not remove the cork, I drank glass shards from a broken Chardonnay bottle I had to have. Eventually because of tremendous guilt, I tried to hang myself by a tree out on the ranch (where I lived at the time), but God would not let me do it! Finally, I found myself four-wheeling in my jeep, feeling invincible and totally in control, on one last beer run…and here I am.

I have numerous DUIs, causing me to pay this great price of time. God has spared my life many times. He wanted ME. I ran from Him for years. Now He’s got me, and thankfully, by His Word, He IS now my control! He tried to get my attention for years, but it took coming here to prison (JBCC, McAlester, OK) for me to finally realize that I had lost EVERYTHING-but HIM!

God has powerfully used Redeeming Love Prison Ministry in their chapel services. I responded to their invitations for restoration, the Lordship of Jesus, then the infilling of the Holy Spirit with the gift of speaking in tongues, and deliverance from alcohol; also their prayers and teaching of the Word. I thank God that I now have communication (letters, cards, and pictures) again for my wife and son. Redeeming Love prayed with me about that in 2017, and praise God, those prayers have been answered!

I totally feel God’s presence every time RLPM comes to minister. I am overwhelmed at how VERY effective their ambassadors all are spiritually to me and to these other prisoners. I have seen how these other men have been genuinely helped or changed too.

Ms. Sharla’s book God’s Grace Liberates has been most beneficial of all for me. It has dominated my reading and study, especially the promises of my identity in Christ! This book has brought a lot of light to my true and total redemption and helped me continue to grow in my walk with Christ. Many of the scriptures she shared I studied in depth and in the Greek. I now know that I am totally forgiven and redeemed from guilt and shame, adopted as a son, accepted in Christ, and made totally new and righteous!

One of my favorite scriptures to live by is 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8: “Let us watch and be sober. For….those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.”

I thank ALL of the RLPM team who come to JBCC for all you do for me/us here. You are amazing and I love every one of you. I hope to bring the influence and positivity you bring to us to help others any way I can here as well as hopefully work with you after my release.