By Mark Ellis —
After a near-death experience in his freshman year at Florida State, he embarked on a quest for the “true light” and ultimately became a yoga instructor at four universities – until a hitchhiking encounter left him changed.
“I had been a rock musician in my latter high school years, but the alcohol, the drugs, the absence of moral boundaries took its toll,” says Mike Shreve, the founder of Deeper Revelation Books and Shreve Ministries.
Mike nearly died after ingesting a bad batch of LSD shortly after he entered college.
“I was not a heavy drug user, but I had a bad trip,” he explains. “I lost control of my body, was convulsing, couldn’t get up. I felt like my soul left my body and went into a dark void.”
The experience frightened him enough to quit drugs and he began to explore nearly every new philosophy or belief system that crossed his path. While raised a Roman Catholic, he thought the insistence on one way to God seemed narrow-minded.
He studied Ayn Rand, Herman Hess, Meher Baba and other books by gurus and out-of-the box thinkers. He joined an Edgar Cayce meditation group in Orlando, which used “The Lord’s Prayer” as a basis for meditation, but reinterpreted the prayer to promote metaphysical concepts.
Yogi Bhajan, a guru from India, who arrived in America to help the flower children find their way spiritually, became a big influence. “He taught us about yoga. The emphasis was not on obtaining a relationship with God, but rather, on attaining a realization of our inherent oneness with God (actually, an understanding that we are God), Mike notes.
In every free moment — between his college classes – Mike pursued the goal of reaching enlightenment.
But then he unexpectedly dropped out of Florida State, because he thought his conventional studies could lead him toward a mundane existence – where he might become “a stale crumb to be eaten by the tiger of time,” to quote one of his favorite Hindu poets.
After he left school, he helped start an ashram in Daytona Beach, a commune where yoga votaries live and practice their spiritual disciplines together. As he studied the Bhagavad-Gita and the Vedas – ancient Hindu Scriptures – he felt he was beginning to blend into oneness with the “oversoul,” as experience out-of-body excursions into the astral realm and vivid spiritual dreams.
Because he felt a zeal to help the dawning of the “Age of Aquarius,” he moved to Tampa, Florida, where four universities in the area opened their doors to him to teach Kundalini Yoga.
As a following developed around him and his classes, the Tampa Tribune newspaper published a story about Mike. He was thrilled by the free publicity as his classes continued to grow.
But little did he know the news story also alerted a Christian group in Tampa to clip the article, pin it to their prayer board, and assign people to fast and pray for him every hour of every day until his conversion!
Several weeks after the article appeared he received a letter from a college friend named Larry, who had also been devoted to yoga and meditation. But Larry happened to walk into a church one day and heard an audible voice say, “Jesus is the only way.” At that moment, the Holy Spirit opened his heart to believe and Larry was born again.
When Mike read Larry’s letter, he thought the term ‘born again’ must be synonymous with Nirvana, Samadhi or Christ consciousness, but Larry insisted it was different.
“Mike, you’ll never find ultimate peace through yoga and meditation,” Larry wrote. “You have to go through the cross. You have to be spiritually reborn. Jesus really is the way to eternal life.”
Mike wrote back a respectful letter, explaining he was happy his friend found a path that was right for him, but noted that he thought Christianity seemed illogical and the claims of Jesus too exclusive.
Unexpectedly however, a few weeks later, Mike’s heart began to soften. He thought he shouldn’t dismiss Jesus out-of-hand, but give him a chance. So one morning, instead of following his usual yoga routine, he decided to dedicate one day to Jesus.
“Lord Jesus,” he prayed. “I commit this day to you. I believe if you are real and if you’re the Savior of the world, you will show me today.”
Mike opened up a Bible and began to read through the Gospel of John and the book of Revelation until the afternoon, when he left for the University of South Florida.
That same afternoon, Kent Sullivan, a member of the student prayer group that had been praying for Mike (and a former follower of an Indian guru named Yogananda), was on the way to wash his dirty clothes. He got halfway through the door of a Laundromat when God impressed this on his heart:
Don’t go in there. I have something else for you to do. Get back in your van and drive where I lead you.
Kent made several distinct turns as directed by the Holy Spirit until he was on a road behind Busch gardens. He had no idea the yoga teacher he had been praying for in the last few weeks was hitchhiking, trying to get a ride to the University.
Suddenly Kent spied a young man with long curly brown hair, a long beard, and Indian-style clothing hitchhiking on the side of the road. Kent felt compelled to pull over and pick him up, but had no idea who it was.
As Mike stepped into the van he immediately noticed a picture of Jesus taped to the ceiling and his heart began to race.
“Can I ask you a question,” Kent asked.
“Yes.”
Kent was very direct. “Have you ever experienced Jesus coming into your heart?”
“No,” Mike replied, “but when can I? I’ve been praying about the experience all day long.”
Kent’s eyes widened with surprise. He didn’t expect such a quick response. “You can come to your prayer meeting tonight.”
“I don’t want to wait for a prayer meeting,” Mike said. “I want to experience Jesus right now.”
Excitedly, Kent pulled his van off the road into the first parking lot he could find. Within a few minutes he realized Mike was the one he had been praying about during the last four weeks.
As Kent went through the Scripture and explained the good news of the Gospel, Mike peppered him with a myriad of questions, but Kent kept replying: “Don’t concern yourself with those things. Just try Jesus.”
Finally, Mike’s heart was ready to receive the gift of salvation. With the motor idling, the two young men bowed their heads together in the back of the van and Mike prayed:
“Lord Jesus, come into my heart. I repent of all my sins. Forgive me. Wash me in Your blood. By faith, I receive Your gift of eternal life. I acknowledge that You died for the sins of the world and that You arose from the dead. I accept You now as Lord of my life.”
Mike felt a warm sensation wash through his heart that brought cleansing beyond any laundry soap. “The peace of God settled like fresh dew on my soul. I was changed and I knew it,” he recalls.
“God generated a brand new spirit in me and I had truly become a new person – a ‘new creation.’”
Mike and Elizabeth Shreve pastor The Sanctuary in Cleveland, Tennessee. Mike has made numerous appearances on Christian programs such as TBN, The 700 Club, and TCT Network. He has worked in evangelism globally since 1971, is the Founder/Director of Deeper Revelation Books publishing company and is the author of 13 books.
If you want to know more about a personal relationship with God, go here
The reality is life rarely goes the way we plan it. And some times the process of letting go of those plans is painful. Being in ministry was never a part of my own plan for my life. And even though I’m so grateful for the place God has brought me to in my ministry, the process of letting my old dreams and plans die was still a challenge.
Honestly, I didn’t find joy right away when joined ministry life. Especially in the early years when it was hard to have faith that I hadn’t left everything I worked for for nothing! I wrestled with feeling less practised as a math teacher than other educators, I missed being a physio. But by grace somehow, God changed my heart to see the vision he had for my life. I had always wanted to help people in physical pain, and God has plans for me to minister to those in spiritual pain too.
Through this testimony, I’ve learned to appreciate the unique position of my current role. I get to be a part of helping people across East Africa and in Africa as a continent and to the world!
Sometimes it’s hard to see the beauty of what God is working when you have your mind set on one outcome.
From the life history of Brother Mike, my best ever friend and the best model I currently have, I will never look backward instead forward ever.
This man is just amazing!!!!!
Jerald Malamba
This is an inspirational story. I know many people who are caught up in other belief systems. Hopefully they will be called to Jesus! Thank you for sharing it with us.
There is a Christian author that wrote a great book exposing the demonic influences of Yoga and Kundalini spirit on people. The book is called ” THE TRUTH ABOUT YOGA” check it out for yourself.
Many Blessings!
WHAT AN AMAZING TESTIMONY! JESUS CHANGED MY HEART TOO. ITS AN AMAZING FEELING AND YOU KNOW IT WHEN IT HAPPENS. I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH ALS (LOU GEHRIGS DISEASE IN AUGUST 2014. THIS DISEASE TESTS MY FAITH AND I STRUGGLE WITH NOT BEING ABLE TO TALK, SWALLOW AND SOON I WON’T BE ABLE TO WALK. I THANK GOD THAT I HAVE GODLY PEOPLE AS FRIENDS THAT WILL HELP ME WEATHER THIS STORM. I GAVE MY LIFE TO JESUS AUGUST 18, 2013 AND WAS BABTIZED JUNE 2014. I HAVE TOLD GOD THAT HIS WILL IS MY WILL AND THAT NO MATTER WHAT, I WILL NOT LOSE MY FAITH IN HIM. I LOVE JESUS WITH ALL THAT I AM AND I’M GRATEFUL FOR JESUS BEING IN MY LIFE AND GIVING ME THE STRENGTH TO WAKE UP EVERYDAY UNTIL JESUS COMES TO TAKE ME HOME.
As a Christian I have learned to focus my prayers on any health issue that comes my way and always pray in Jesus’s name for relief. I both command my body to function properly and ask God humbly for help–always in Jesus’s name because Jesus tells us to ask in his name. I have had very bad sprains go away instantly, but usually it takes concerted and repeated prayer. I just want to encourage you to ask daily for a miracle of healing. Keep in mind that fasting and praying is also VERY powerful and a 3 day fast on water and praying a few times per day is an amazing way of dealing with addictions and other issues.
I have come to believe there is a spiritual component to every dis-ease. Jesus forgives sins and people are healed. It seems possible that we inherit the sins of our ancestors and we ourselves have sometimes made bad choices. Lately, I also have taken a page from the exorcist play-book and ask for any supernatural being that might be hindering me to be bound and removed and cast into the bottomless pit. Cover the bases and go about your day–you might be shocked at what happens.
There are also mechanical means people like Dr. Terry Wahls, have used to heal M.S. via diet. The body is a temple and how we eat and treat it is very important and there are things we can do to heal ourselves of any issue.
Blessings!
Wow !Our God is an awesome God and what a testimony!. Thank you Mike and Kent for this encouraging testimony of how God works when we truly lay our hearts bare to Him. May this testimony bring many to a personal relationship with Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and just want to share that I have personally been challenged and helped to stay ‘stuck” on Christ. He IS LORD OF ALL. God Bless and watch over you Mike , Kent and all who are reading or have read this testimony. To God be the glory
Through Kundalini Yoga I found a very personal relationship with Christ. Kundalini Yoga is not a religion, it is a technique to relieve stress and toxins from our body so that our energy can flow correctly. I thought the title was going to talk about how you can strengthen your connection to Christ and God through Kundalini Yoga. Yogi Bhajan didn’t says that we are God – whoever put that in parentheses wildly twisted this. ““He taught us about yoga. The emphasis was not on obtaining a relationship with God, but rather, on attaining a realization of our inherent oneness with God (actually, an understanding that we are God), Mike notes.” This is mainstream Christianity propaganda. And what is the difference between obtaining a relationship with God and attaining a realization of our inherent oneness with God? The Kingdom of God is within. Luke 17:21. We can only connect with God when our vibrations and frequencies are in agreement.
Dear Patrice,
I found this Website because I have a friend who teaches yoga and I am really worried about her. As I understand, you see Kundalini Yoga as a tool to realize better our oneness with God that goes in alignment with what also the bible teaches. Thats may sound nice at the first impression but I have several reasons why I don’t believe this. The greatest one is, that it is a fact and there are tons of testimonies about it from kundalini teachers, yogis and students all over the world, that during Kundalini awakening you may go through very intense times of both high feelings of bliss and great fear and Bad feelings.
Yogis tell that you have to Pass through that in order to open up spiritually. People even tell that they walk through suicidal thoughts for a long period and could not handle what happened. This totally contradicts what the holy spirit looks like and the bible tells us: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out all fear” and also “God is love, and who abides in love remains in God and God in him”
Jesus carried all our sins to the cross. He suffered FOR us. He took all the fear and all the shame FOR US. A teacher telling you, to have to go through fear and suicidal thoughts AS well AS through orgasmic encounters to gain spiritual openness has nothing to do with the real Jesus. This is a step back to Religion that we have to strive for A higher spiritual level. We have been adopted into oneness and holiness by our great Father in heaven through the son that reconciled the whole Cosmos back to himself on the cross. We realize this when we look at the cross and by knowing the truth because the “truth will set you free”.
For all the spirits that don’t reveal the fruits of the holy spirit mentioned in the bible do not come from God.
I Hope you will prove for yourself, what I said here and prove the spirit. Cause we are all called to prove what we encounter by the words Jesus left to US.
I tell you this in love sister and Hope you will have A life full of love Peace, hope and truth. May the holy spirit reveal the love of the Father to you day by day!
Sebastian
What if this is the narrow way Jesus is talking about, and the Christianity we know now is rather the broad way of deception that is leading many to destruction????
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