About David C Melvin, a brief autobiography

I have been a Christian for many years, putting my faith in Jesus Christ when I was in my twenties after searching the various philosophical systems of the world.  Like many, I started out quite zealous but after several years, influenced by religion, my career, education and life, I fell into the life of a carnal Christian. I started living for myself and many, if not most, of the time I was in the driver’s seat of my life putting many things such as work, education, and other things ahead of God.  My main career was in law enforcement that, for the most part, is pretty Godless and harsh.   Admittedly, on the outside I barely resembled a Christian. I hardened my heart and committed many sins I was shamed of. Yet despite all that, God never gave up on me and His Grace abounded.

God blessed my life, with a wonderful wife and six children, two with special needs (Down syndrome and cerebral palsy).  He blessed me with a wonderful career

that was able to support my family and my interests.  But my life was not trouble free.

In 2007 I was your normal 46 year old middle age man in excellent health. I exercised daily and ate healthy.  I worked in law enforcement which was high stress career that was dominated with a plethora of type “A” personalities.  However being a large built man with an above average intellect I excelled in my job. I was a avid bicyclist, often biking 10 miles a day or more. I was robust at 6’4″ tall, 240 lbs, and had a resting heart rate of 49 beats per minute and could bench press 300 lbs and, in a brouhaha, could hold my own with the best of them.

One day in July of 2007, I developed a case of epididymitis from bicycling. An infection was suspected by my urologist but never confirmed for which he prescribed a large dose of the antibiotic Levaquin (750mgs X 21 days). My doctor told me Levaquin was safe and well tolerated. Like most, I implicitly trusted my doctor and took the medication. It turned out that the Levaquin was not safe and in the long run, I did not tolerate it well.  The Levaquin affected negatively.  I developed what is called a delayed adverse event to the antibiotic  Levaquin, which belongs to the call of drugs called the fluoroquinolones.  After the fact, I researched these drugs and found out that this class of antibiotics have a very dark side.  A dark side side that is actually experienced by thousands of people, some figuring it out, while others remain clueless.  Anyway, often these types of drug reactions are considered statistically insignificant by drug companies and the FDA and people who experience them fall through the cracks.

I was forced to retire due to health problems and spent a long time trying to figure out the ‘why’, why did this happen to me?  I still relied on myself and basically left God in the backseat while I drove. In 2014 I had a STEMI heart attack with a blockage in the right coronary artery despite having no health conditions to predispose me.  I wasn’t overweight, did not smoke or drink and I was not a diabetic.   Fortunately for me I had no cardiac muscle damage.  In 2014 I had a second STEMI heart attack when the stent, installed in 2014, occluded.  Again, no cardiac damage.  In 2017 I developed a case of necrotizing pancreatitis from a bad gallbladder and spent 37 days in the hospital and lost 30 pounds.  For the fist week I hovered between life and death, but again I recovered. I could barely walk when I was released due to the loss of muscle mass.

During my health ordeals, I have had several doctors in disparate fields tell me the same exact phrase, “somebody is looking out for you” as if sending me a message from above.  A man might take one occurrence as coincidence, but not defying death three times with doctors echoing the same message.   Even I am not that unwise. So, coincidence?  Certainly not.

Despite the fact that I still suffer from health problems, I have devoted my remaining years to pursuing God’s will for my life and attempting to help others where I can. Since being harmed by the pharmaceutical medication in 2007, I have literally come across hundreds, if not thousands also harmed by medical examination or treatment.  Many people lived healthy lives before becoming disabled and housebound.  Iatrogenic damage has ruined lives by causing the loss of income, family, and even forcing some into homelessness. I seek to minister the love of Jesus Christ to those who have harmed by our current medical system.

I am personally an eclectic individual and although I have had a myriad higher education, by certain standards, I’m not even all that well-educated.  I retired from law enforcement (local police then state police) after 30 years total (early retirement). I  was a lifelong learner and attended college on and off over the course of my careers, pursuing post secondary education in Electronics, Computer Science, Psychology, and  finally completed a Th.D. and ordination in 2018.

For the most part, I abhor religion and find that Jesus Christ was about the most anti-religious figure who existed.  After searching and researching many philosophical systems early on, I discovered the Christianity was the only true philosophical system the addressed the problems of man and offered true hope.  When analyzing arguments against Christianity, I discovered that those who are critical of Christianity, intellectually or emotionally, usually have fault with religion or people.   I find they bring preconceived notions or biases to the table that have nothing to do with Jesus Christ.  Usually hurtful baggage or erroneous teachings from the past.

Today, I describe myself as just a Christian.  Although I lean a little bit Baptist in my beliefs, I tend to avoid the trappings of religiosity.  You can find my statement of faith here.

For those of you that have made it this far, I want you to know one thing, God does not abandon his children. For those struggling, he does not promise us a life free from pain and suffering.  Unfortunately, those things happen as a result of the fallen world in which we live.  Instead, God promises to help us through our struggles.  It may be hard to understand, especially when you are going through the dark night of the soul and invaded with despair.  I still have times that I struggle with and ask the difficult ‘why’ questions and only God is qualified to answer them, through his word, prayer, and through those he puts close to us.

I will close with a quote from one of my favorite authors, C.S. Lewis “God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons that we could learn in no other way.”