Testimony of Pastor Billy Crone

Billy Crone is on my short list of favorite pastors. I’ve watched literally hundreds of hours of his videos, so I feel that I know him well, even though we’ve not met yet. I find his testimony fascinating and I think you will too.

Growing up Billy

Raised in an un-churched family, Billy's parents made the mistake of telling their kids that they should find their own path. Meaning that they were to figure out what they believe about God on their own. In Billy’s own words, this is the worst mistake parents can make. His sister was the first in the family to become a Christian which made him furious because he believed that people who believed in God were stupid.

After his mom had to go to work, Billy’s now unsupervised siblings got involved in sex and drugs. When Billy was in the 6th grade he asked God to show him a sign that he was real. When no sign came, he shook his fist at God and declared himself to be an atheist, although he didn’t really understand what that meant at the time.

Billy soon started to follow the example of his siblings and got involved in drugs and lost his virginity when he was only 15. Over time, he started doing what his head-banging music told him to do which was to worship Satan. Once at a party, he witnessed a girl summoning demons and actually saw aberrations walking down the stairs. At the age of 16 or 17, he offered his life to Satan in exchange for power and significance.

He tried to overdose on drugs twice and even shot himself in the chest with a rifle. He didn’t really want to die. It was a desperate cry for help.

Billy after high school

After high school, a friend died in a car crash. At the funeral, Billy cried like a baby for two to three hours when he saw his friends body in the casket and realized he didn’t know what would happen to him when he died one day. Billy's life was out of control and in a dangerous downward spiral. Thankfully, his brother literally saved his life by taking him to California.

Searching for happiness

Billy went to school and learned a trade, but education didn’t fill the emptiness in Billy’s heart so he decided to fill it with a relationship. He lived with a woman on-and-off for five years. Unfortunately, he was fornicating with her rather than living God’s way. Still, he was not fulfilled.

Next Billy tried to find happiness in money. For a twenty-something single man, the money he was making as a construction worker provided a lifestyle of plenty. But he found that even buying new toys and new cars still didn’t make him happy. So he turned his attention to drugs. He did pretty much every kind of drug except for heroin.

People share their faith with Billy

Even though Billy had grown up in a small town that had more churches per capita than almost anywhere else in the country, nobody had shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with Billy. Finally, people shared their faith with him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the gospel of Christ. One person shared their faith in the satanic bible and another shared their faith in the New Age religion. This resulted in Billy seeing aberrations that sometimes followed him and his friend around. Billy was involved in New Age for three years. He describes New Age as a buffet style religion where you can pick and choose the things you like from any religion. Essentially, you create your own custom-made religion.

Going deeper into the occult

Billy started taking Psychotropic drugs, which New Age recommends you take in order to help you interact with the spirit world. New Agers call it channeling, but it's actually demon possession. Two weeks before getting saved, Billy was on the edge of insanity. He felt like he was on the edge of falling into the abyss of his life being totally taken over by demonic spirits. He was going through a period of intense fear, which caused him to cut back on drugs and lean more heavily on drinking.

His friend reported that he had seen a demon pulling back the ceiling and sticking his head in the room.

Turning the corner

At the age of 25, Billy had become so frightened with all of the demonic activity that he ran to his bedroom, fell to his knees, and told Jesus “if you want this life you can have it”. He knew just enough about Christianity that he also asked Jesus to forgive him of all of his sins. Instantly the demons were gone and his mind was clear. Billy literally felt a weight being lifted off him.

Pursuing the Christian life

Billy started reading the Bible. He was so hungry to learn God's word that he decided to go to seminary. He currently serves as the Senior Pastor at Sunrise Baptist Church in Las Vegas and is the Officer/Director/Pastor of Get a life ministries through which he has produced and shared hundreds of hours of Christian teaching. The transformation of Billy's life brings to mind the story that Jesus told about the money lender who forgave the debts of two men (Luke 4:40-47). The man who was forgiven the biggest debt loved him more. And so it is with those who have the biggest sins forgiven them.

You can hear Billy’s testimony in his own words by playing this 4-minute video.

And here's the longer and more detailed version (30 minutes).

For other inspiring stories, see the Testimony category.