About Matthew R. Gabbard,

I never expected to encounter God. I never thought I’d go on a journey with Him—from the beaches of Mexico to a legal marijuana garden in southern Oregon, from an encounter with Satan to an attempted murder charge, from serving time in jail to, importantly, revelations of things to come. And, my story isn’t done.

Now I’m here to share my book, The Incident in the Garden: My Witness for Jesus, with the world.

Before the Journey

I lived most my life unsure if God was real. I didn’t really grow up in a Christian household, and I had never read the Bible. As I got older I would find myself as a young adult getting into drinking, partying, and sleeping around, but that lifestyle never fully satisfied. I began to sense an emptiness in my heart, and I desired to fill it.

In my early twenties I moved up to southern Oregon thinking that this emptiness in my heart needed to be filled by becoming an “adult”. I started going to community college, got a couple jobs, and I had even met a girl that I imagined could be my one and only. I thought that emptiness in my heart was on track to being filled, until I came to a moment of repentance that would change my life forever.

Repentance

Not long after I met the girl I believed might be my one and only, I decided to give up all of my drinking, partying, and sleeping around so that the love between us could last forever. During a passionate time of purging myself of all these “unhealthy ways” (drinking, partying, and sleeping around), what I have come to see as a time of repentance, God stepped out from behind the clouds and reveal Himself to me as Almighty, Father, and King.

Encounter

I. Was. Floored. God didn’t reveal Himself with a sudden blast, but gradually over my time of repentance. His love totally revamped my worldview. I could sense everything that I was trying to fill that emptiness in my heart with—work, career, even the love of the girl I was seeing—was never what I needed. God’s love was meant to fill this emptiness. God’s love. It was always God’s love.

But that wasn’t all I was sensing from God.

I could tell that He was, also, calling me.

Yes, He was calling me. Inviting me into His mystery. Asking me to follow Him into a world beyond belief—and absolutely real. Not made up. Not make believe. Not another world—it was this world with the veil pulled back. It was the true reality. For me, the choice was easy to make, I gave my heart to God, and chose to follow Him.

I quit my jobs, left school, sold or gave away everything I owned, paid off my debts, and, yea, the girl and I separated. I knew that I needed to be totally free to follow God, which meant that I needed to give up everything. It was sad, but I was free. Free to follow God and see where He was going to take me. But this is important. Though I was beyond grateful to be following God and the adventure—I didn’t know God.

The Vow

Not long after I began to follow God, He would perform a miracle through me when He let a candle wick on fire through me from what I have come to call an “invisible flaming breath.” This miracle would shatter my worldview and leave me dumbfounded. After the candle wick lit, I knew I had to go on a journey to learn the truth—the truth about who God is, who I am, and what’s going on in the world. But, and this is key, I didn’t want help from anyone.

I made a vow with God in my heart and told Him that I wanted to go on a journey to learn the truth—on my own. I didn’t want help from any religion, sacred text, priest, guru, shaman, or any kind of spiritual figure. For one, I didn’t trust any of those people or things. And two, I felt like it would defeat the greater purpose of my journey. I knew that if God took me on a journey to learn the truth, personally, then I could share the truth—no lie, no agenda, simply truth—with others.

I could be a witness.

So I made a vow with God. I asked Him to take me on a journey to learn the truth. God would answer my vow, and He would deliver.

Why the Book Exists

The seat was metal and cold that I sat down on in the super-max tank in Jackson County Jail when I began to write my witness down. I knew that I needed to write everything down not just for the sake of the man I attacked so he would know the deceived state of mind I was in that led me to do it, and not just for the sake of my family and friends so that they would have the full story and ability to forgive me, but, eventually, I’d come to realize that this story was meant to be heard by everyone.

Up to the moment I was in jail and began writing my story down, I had seen many eye opening things. I had encountered God. I had witnessed Him perform a miracle through me. I encountered Satan. I had, in my spirit, passed the threshold into heaven above. God communicated to me that I was reborn and brought into the heavenly family (born again). I had seen the Kingdom of God burst free from within me and within all things outside of me. And God had more things for me to see during my time in jail as well. Things about a dark place people will be sent, a fate that is on the horizon for those who do not confess, a “treasure on an island” that God is preparing for those who “obey” Him, and more.

There are truths within my story—things God has revealed to me—that I know need to be heard by everyone with breath in their lungs and a destiny.

My book, therefore, is a testimony of the things I have witnessed—and my message to the world.

Who This Book is For

I am a witness, and I am a servant, which is why I come to you speaking not as someone who deserves any credit. I did not produce the miracles I saw. I did not convince God to show me what He did. If anything, as you read my story, you’ll come to see that I am a stumbling, bumbling, bum. In light of God, I am nothing. However, I have a heart that greatly desires to fulfill the Father’s will, and I have a mind that can understand the weight of what God has revealed to me. I can imagine the impact of my witness, and what I am here to share. Which is why, humbly speaking, I say with my head bowed and outstretched hands that my witness is here for everyone.

God willing, my book will reach the world.

Follow the Journey

You’ve come this far—and there’s plenty more to come.

As I write today, many people would say I am in a pretty low place. I’m below the poverty line. I was diagnosed mentally ill after my crime, and plead out guilty except insane, which makes me certified criminally insane. According to the mental health field, and much of the world, I can’t really be trusted. But God does not live according to the world’s standards. He flips the script.

God takes the lowly things of this world and lift them up (1 Samuel 2:7-8). He takes the foolish and weak things of this world and use them to confound the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). I am nothing compared to God, and I am unfit in the world’s eyes. But I know Him. And He knows me. God, if you are willing, know that I am willing, and in your timing, know that I am ready to share my witness with the world.