AMAZING STORY
Multiple Arrests Lead Biker Gang Leader to Freedom
By Rod Thomas
The 700 Club
CBN.com-“I lived the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. I was 100 miles an hour. I had many people tell me I was going to die of a heart attack if I didn’t slow down.”
In reality, a number of things could have killed Michael Spivey. He was a leader of a biker gang, a drug dealer and an addict.
Michael grew up in a tough neighborhood with his single mom, where his life was marked by violence. “From being in an aggressive environment, I began to be aggressive,” he remembers. “I was going to get respect. It didn’t matter the cost. People are going to know who I am and what I’m capable of; so it was like, ‘You touch me, it’s on.’
It was Michael’s way of being in control. “That whole concept is what kept me, is what motivated me to do what I wanted, when I wanted and how I wanted.”
When he got older, he dove into the drug scene, as a user and a dealer. But that was small time compared to where he was headed. After serving time for cocaine and gun possession, he joined a motorcycle gang and expanded his drug network. “Money began to flow in. I didn’t have a problem. I could go out and buy anything I wanted.”
Then later, he married and they had children. Michael loved being a dad. His kids were the only part of his life that was good. “That was my whole thing, ‘I’m going to take care of my family. My children will never go without. I always will be there for my children.’”
Over time, as his drug addiction got worse, he also became sergeant-at-arms of the gang – it gave him the illusion of being in control. “I’m not answering to anyone but everybody’s answering to me,” he said. “I was doing an eight ball of methamphetamines a day, every day. I was getting on average in a week about maybe 3 or 4 hours of sleep in a week.”
Eventually, his wife had enough. She served him with divorce papers, demanding full custody of the kids. Michael was crushed. “I was going to lose my children, and that meant the most to me; it meant everything to me,” he remembers. “And at that point, that night, I had no control over my life anymore. That night is a night that I took that Jennings 9 mm and I stuck it in my head and I pulled the trigger, and it misfired. I couldn’t even die.”
He tried a second time. Again, the gun didn’t fire. “I walked outside, I looked up into the heavens and I said, ‘God, why won’t you let me die?’”
Later that night, Michael’s gun fired without a hitch. After he got into an argument with a man, he chased him and started shooting. The man escaped, but Michael was arrested and faced serious jail time. “I’m angry. I’m mad. I’m hating the world because now two things have happened that I swore would never happen. “I would never lose my freedom ever again, and I wouldn’t be away from my children.”
As Michael sat in jail, his ex-wife moved out of state with the children. It was then, a local pastor began visiting his cellmate. Michael listened as they talked about God’s grace and forgiveness, but felt he was too far gone. “He don’t know where I’ve been, man. I said, ‘you don’t know where I’ve been. And y’all talk about this Jesus and He can forgive. I can’t be forgiven. I’ve broken the law - man’s law and God’s law.’ And he kept telling me, “God is a forgiving God. He loves you.”
The more Michael listened to the pastor, his heart softened. “So, I began to participate with the Bible study and after the Bible studies, I started asking questions. And he looked right at me and he said, ‘Do you want to know Jesus?’ I wanted to know this Jesus. I wanted to know who He was and what He did to me. Because at that point I knew I’m not the same.”
Michael says he gave control of his life, to the Lord. “I began to read scripture, knowing who I was in Christ, and understanding that even though I’m simple, I mean a lot to God.”
Michael was released after only three months and never returned to his old lifestyle. Today, he’s married to Lori and is a pastor. He is also reconciled with his children.
“I led all of my children to Christ. They got saved. My youngest boy, he wants to be baptized and the only one he wants to do it is daddy.”
“He’s my Lord and my Savior, but much, much, much more than that. It helped me to understand who I was for once in my life. And that I was precious in the eyes of God”
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