Wasted Years
My Journey to Heaven
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My name is Duane Clarke. I would like to tell you the story of my life. I know everyone has a story, but all do not tell their story. This book is about “God, Sports, and Gambling.”
God first, because I give Him all the glory and all the praise. He is first in my life. Sports, because from the time I was a youngster I loved sports. I played baseball, basketball, football. Then, when I was eighteen years old, I became addicted to gambling. Soon I was betting on baseball, basketball, football, poker, horse and dog racing. I ended up having this problem for thirty years, until almost forty-eight years old. I will tell you about my parents, the kind of people they were, my childhood, my life as a gambler, my life as the father of four children, and about my first wife who died in 1978. At the age of thirty-one, shed died of an aneurysm. I will also tell you about Linda, my wife today. She has been a Christian since she was nineteen years old, and I will tell you how God is so good all the time, how my life has changed since I became a Christian for real. So, you see, my God is real now. He is real in my heart. I have truly become born again.
The reason why I would like to tell my story is perhaps someone that has an addiction would be inspired by my life enough to give up sin and gain victory over whatever problem they may have. They can live the good life, and become that person that God intended them to be. I know we are on this earth for one reason, and that is to serve God, live for God, and live without sin because of the amazing grace God gives us. It is a free gift. I have admitted that I was a sinner, believed that Jesus is the Son of God, and have confessed my sins to God.
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About the Book
Many people today are bound by the chains of addiction, whether they are addicted to gambling, alcohol, drugs, or other behaviors. But in a world focused on pleasure and instant gratification, where can we turn to find lasting and meaningful guidance and start on the road to true recovery and restoration of our entire person—mind, body, and soul?
In Wasted Years, author Duane Clarke shares his own powerful personal testimony of how God redeemed him from a thirty-year gambling addiction that nearly ruined his life, family, and finances. Duane invites those who may be struggling with addiction to be assured that they, too, can give up sin and gain victory over whatever problem they have; they can live the good life and become that person who God intended them to be.
We are on this earth for one reason, and that is to serve God, live for God, and live without sin—and we can accomplish all of this because of the amazing grace God gives us. It is a free gift, and if you are bound by the chains of addiction, the salvation of Christ can free you from your bonds. God delivered and restored Duane, and God will do the same for you.
About the Author
Duane Clarke was raised by loving, godly parents in a Christian home, and his father was a minister for the Church of God. Even though he was brought up in this environment, he became involved in gambling at the age of eighteen and was addicted to it for thirty years. At age forty-seven, shortly after the death of his father, Duane was truly saved and his life was transformed. Now, in Wasted Years, he shares his testimony of salvation and transformation.