My name's Patrick Barbour. I'm from Northern California, small town called Ripon.
It's about 15,000 people. In Fall of '08, I started attending as a
freshman at San Diego State, and basically just jumped on the party scene from the very
first night. Started hooking up with girls, started doing
everything that pretty much I wasn't ready to do.
Throughout my first semester of that fall, I was really realizing that really wasn't
fulfilling me. There was something about it that wasn't fulfilling.
My second semester, I decided that joining a fraternity would be the best bet. Jumping
more into the party scene would be better. The first party I was at, I was sitting there
completely wasted, and a guy was drinking out of a red cup. He had water all the way
up to the brim in it, and of course, the first thing I was thinking like, you're drinking
straight vodka. And the guy started slowly explaining that
it wasn't vodka, it was just water. And was telling me about how he had given his
life the year before to the Lord, and before the age of 21, he just wasn't going to drink,
he didn't really do that. And it kind of humbled me a little bit, and
then this guy was like I'd love to talk to you about it. And he invited me to something
that's called Greek Univarsity, so I went to Greek Univarsity with him.
So everybody else there that night, the first time I went on a Wednesday night, was all
in a fraternity or sorority. It wasn't necessarily all Christian. It was just people there asking
questions. And so for me, it was really comfortable to walk into that setting, and slowly but
surely, God started to mold my heart. Everything stopped in front of me, because
I had to start living for God. I had to start answering the call that He had on my life.
And so I went home a week early for Spring Break, and was sitting at home with a longing.
And when I got back, that's when God really started flipping stuff on me, and really started
showing me that He wanted full control of my life. And I was like, I want to give my life to the lord.
The first time I saw Nick was actually when
we went to the Rock and we heard him talk about sexual sin. People that are living in
it. And it was the first time that I allowed kind of my heart to actually start thinking
about that. What does it even mean to have that, what does it mean not to live with that
anymore and let Christ rule that part of me. So after that, I started with dealing with
me falling, and realizing that I need to deal with this. It was definitely a strong hold in my life.
I read your story, and I read your testimony,
and how God's changed your life. And I just want you to know it is an honor, really, from
the depth of my heart, to be able to be one part of just sharing what God sent to you
to the people who are watching. What happened to you that put that switch
on in your head, and like, wow, you know, seeing things differently.
I was actually, so, when you came and spoke in 2009 here at the Rock, I had been Christian
for about five, six months, and I think, at the beginning of my Christian walk I really
didn't realize...I gave up alcohol really easily, but I didn't realize that sex or
women would be something I would have to give up, and I was like, well, I really like somebody,
and it's OK, you know, I'm not just sleeping around, I'm not doing that. And I started
to realize very quickly after you had asked people to stand up, and I actually didn't
stand up that night, about people who are dealing with sexual sin in their life, and
I was like, well, I'm not dealing with that. But it was the first time I was like, maybe
I am. Maybe this is something I need to start thinking about.
How did God deal with that shame that you felt?
Well, when I started dealing with the fact that I actually did have an issue, I really
needed to struggle with the stronghold to actually tackle the stronghold with the Lord.
I started to see that this was something that was normal, in some eyes. Something that shouldn't
be shameful, that the Lord didn't want me to have shame, and that the Lord wasn't
of shame. I started to realize that, you know. And it's not like I don't struggle. There's
always, you know. You see a pretty girl it's like, OK Lord, purify my thoughts. You just
have to remind yourself and you have to train yourself to like, OK, I'm not gonna think
of those things. I'm not gonna look at women that way. I'm gonna look somewhere else.
The Lord calls us to purity, you know. It's very very apparent, the Bible is very clear
about it. It calls us to purity and pure thoughts as well. It's a struggle, it's a fight
as well. Whatever sin that you're going through, the Lord believes that you can get
through that temptation, because the Lord never puts us through things that we can't
overcome through Him. You know, it's very interesting, because
no one's immune to temptations like that. When any man or woman of God stands up to
share their testimony, it is powerful. So we'd like to pray for you. Put your hand
on my shoulder, that's OK. Father, we pray for Patrick. We pray, O God,
that You're anointing and Your holy spirit will be upon him. Father, we thank You for
just courage and meekness and humility, Lord God. We give You all the praise and all the
glory and all the honor for his testimony. It's Your story of how You saved this man,
of how You let his mind and heart be transformed from the inside out. Bless him, protect him,
bless his relationship and bless You in that relationship, and thank You God, that You
would continue to give him grace for one day at a time. Give him ears to hear Your voice
to keep on sowing the good news of Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
What does it mean to...for God's standard of sexual sin. What's God's standard of
living for Him first, and then what does it mean to actually date somebody. What is it...all
the things that you don't know about when you're living a life of partying, because
you don't understand that, all of a sudden you become Christian, it's a lot more.
Now I'm currently working full time at San Diego State, reaching back to the same community
I had been saved from. Trying to reach out to more fraternities and sorority students
and giving them the gospel and opportunity to respond to Jesus.