Zack had everything going for him, but that changed in the blink of an eye.
"My parents were good about developing me, enriching me and giving me lots of opportunities in different dimensions of my life. But after high school, a curiosity that wasn’t surrendered to God led me to experiment with drugs. I led a pretty sheltered life up to that point."
At 23, Zack had some wasted semesters at Texas Wesleyan University and four years of using drugs behind him. He decided to enlist in the United States Air Force, where using drugs was very much against the rules. Instead, Zack began using alcohol.
Zack was ultimately court martialed and discharged. He returned home ashamed and defeated.
"They (my parents) told me I couldn’t drink and live there. I understood, I agreed and promised and I really didn’t want to do it anymore. But I was utterly incapable of not drinking."
Zack thought about committing suicide. His parents kicked him out of the house and he entered treatment for the first time. It wasn’t long, however, before he was drinking again. When he returned to the rehabilitation center, God showed up during a chapel service.
"The pastor was doing his thing, speaking the word, and I felt this conviction. I suddenly understood the depth of how I’d violated the law of God. The cross, for the first time, wasn’t superfluous or meaningless. It became the most passionate expression of love I’d ever contemplated.
Zack completed the six month treatment program and relapsed again. He then completed the six month treatment program again and has now been sober for almost five years.
"God has completely freed me from the bondage of alcohol. There’s not a vestige. Not a trace. I’ve found that if my motives are pure and my heart is completely surrendered into His hands, God will protect me from that bondage."
