Seventeen-year-old Casey Crease\u2019s life changed forever after a night of partying at his parents\u2019 house. Frustrated with his friends, he left the party around 1 a.m., despite their attempts to stop him from driving drunk. Ignoring their warnings, Casey sped away in his Camaro, only to lose control and crash near his home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Casey recalls waking up, \u201ccovered in glass, a deployed airbag lying in my lap.\u201d In shock, he repeatedly screamed, \u201cWho did I hit?!\u201d until a friend assured him he\u2019d only hit trees. But at the hospital, a state trooper delivered devastating news: \u201cThere\u2019s been a fatality.\u201d Casey\u2019s friend John, trying to stop the car, had been struck and killed. \u201cBefore the accident, I thought my life was falling apart. After the accident, I wanted to die,\u201d Casey writes. Yet, in his deepest despair, he sensed God\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raised in a Christian family, Casey had begun to doubt his faith before the crash. Afterward, desperate for hope, he returned to church and resolved to read the New Testament. Still, he wrestled with guilt and wondered, \u201cThe more I tried to be a Christian, the emptier I felt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everything changed during a revival service in his senior year. The preacher asked, \u201cDo you want to be well?\u201d-echoing Jesus\u2019 words to the paralyzed man in Jerusalem. Casey remembers, \u201cIf Jesus will heal me, I want to be well\u2026 It was a quiet moment between the Lord and me but that day he began to soften my heart. He made me his own.\u201d Over time, Casey realized his sins were forgiven, \u201cnot because of anything I had done but because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With newfound faith, Casey faced the consequences of his actions-including probation and community service-and began speaking to other teens about the dangers of drinking and driving. He concludes, \u201cI am confident that Jesus is the Son of God, that he is able to forgive sins, and that he is in the business of making broken people brand new.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3404,3477,3517,3558,3689,3766,3829,3831,3897,4010,4011,4089,4370,4482,4537,4541,4782,4877,5130,5139],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-65864","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-alcohol","tax_ctp_tags-behavior","tax_ctp_tags-born-again","tax_ctp_tags-changing-lives","tax_ctp_tags-conversion","tax_ctp_tags-despair","tax_ctp_tags-drinking","tax_ctp_tags-drunkenness","tax_ctp_tags-evangelism","tax_ctp_tags-forgiveness","tax_ctp_tags-forgiveness-of-christ","tax_ctp_tags-grace-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-life-death","tax_ctp_tags-mistakes","tax_ctp_tags-new-birth","tax_ctp_tags-new-life","tax_ctp_tags-redemption","tax_ctp_tags-salvation","tax_ctp_tags-teens","tax_ctp_tags-testimony"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\n