Changed by Jesus #39

By Thomas Hurst, Bellevue campus

My life and my testimony can be defined by a single word: hope. Prior to 2003, my life was a series of false hopes. And in 2003, everything that I had so tightly woven my identity and hope into was lost: my career as an internationally recognized photojournalist; myself as a good, moral, and spiritual person; and my marriage.

My career went from globe-trotting war photographer to sitting behind a desk three days a week cropping photos for other photographers. I had led my marriage straight into the grave, and my wife had all but walked out the door. And I had gained nothing through trying to be a really good, moral person, for as I sat in my darkest hour, when I needed someone the most, I hadn’t a single friend to reach out to.

My tightly woven identity and world hadn’t just unraveled, it had been set ablaze. From where I stood, I was nothing, and I had nothing. I had lost all hope, and I was asking a god I didn’t know to end my life.

As always, God had a plan much better than mine, and as usual, it was a plan I never saw coming. My employer gave me an assignment to photograph a young local pastor making waves in the Christian community. I spent the next two weeks shadowing Mark Driscoll. I followed him from the pulpit, to his home, to the store, in his truck, at his dinner table, on walks with the kids. And I asked questions. I asked every question I could imagine. I asked good questions, bad questions, trick questions, and by the end of the two weeks, I became a Christian.

I’ve always believed in the mission of helping others and making the world I live in somehow better. As a journalist I believed I could give people hope or be a catalyst for change, but my eyes were opened to see that real hope and lasting change only come by way of Jesus Christ. With a journalist’s heart and mind, I have come to fully believe that this is true.

I boldly proclaim this as truth because over the last six years I have asked the critical questions, sought out real answers, and have been an eyewitness to Christ’s power in my own life and in the lives of others. In the midst of addictions and adultery, God has taken a broken man and made him whole and a broken marriage and made it beautiful.

What’s Your Story?

Has Jesus worked through the ministry of Mars Hill Church to change you? Send us your story, in writing or on video. More stories.