Some Prodigal Sons come to the Father’s House. But first, some go to the people’s house. Long before he ever heard the call to run for office, one sitting member of the House of Representatives miraculously heard the voice of the Lord call him away from a life of addiction, immorality, and drug dealing to a become a child of the King and a servant of the people.

Although Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas) has earned a distinguished reputation as a six-term Republican congressman with a strong voting record on moral issues, Weber described a younger version of himself as “a child of the Sixties” whose milieu included “flower power,” loose morality, and deep drug abuse.

“I was into drugs — very deeply into drugs,” including marijuana abuse, “LSD, uppers, and downers,” Weber told Family Research Council President Chairman Tony Perkins. “I was actually selling drugs. I was a small-town drug dealer selling marijuana by the lid. We’d buy pounds at a time.”

“Today, you’d just be in business,” quipped Perkins referring to widespread legalization of recreational and “medicinal” marijuana and, sometimes, harder narcotics. Legalizing marijuana sales may have trapped Weber in his life as a Sixties stoner, instead of a member of Congress — but God used Christians in Weber’s life to put him on another path.

“I was living with a girl. We were selling drugs out of her apartment, and a friend of mine named Jeff Wilson used to come by and buy marijuana from us,” revealed Weber as part of the “Faith Profiles in Leadership” on the Family Research Council’s “Stand Firm” app. “He came by one night, and he knocked on the door, and he said, ‘Randy, I got something I want you to try.’ I thought it was some kind of new drug or something. He said, ‘I want you to go to church with me.’ And I said, ‘Jeff Wilson, you have lost your mind.’”

Church was not a regular part of his childhood. “I grew up in a family that went to church twice a year, whether we needed it or not,” said Weber. “But my girlfriend wanted to go to church, so we went there to a church that was on fire and taking people in off the street into their own homes, getting them off of drugs — prior homosexuals, prior drug addicts, prior alcoholics down on their luck, out of a job.”

Weber could tell from their personal faith and their actions that “they really loved Jesus. And it showed. It really showed.” But God only changed one of the pair that day.

“Long story short, my girlfriend got saved and kicked me out of her apartment,” Weber said. “I moved back in with my parents on July 2nd, 1973,” on his 20th birthday.

Weber said he felt a strong yearning to change his behavior, but he did not yet have the faith and indwelling presence of Christ that makes that life possible. Instead, “I started playing church. I quit smoking, drinking, cussing, telling bad jokes,” but doing so without a real relationship with Jesus Christ. Still, the change in his behavior outraged his co-workers.

“I was working as a welder’s helper in a construction facility,” said Weber. “The guys at the chemical plant when I quit smoking and drinking and cussing and all that — they were merciless on me, man.” In time, they enticed him to return to his old ways. “They convinced me to go out to the bar,” he said, “back to smoking, drinking, cussing, telling bad jokes — things I hadn’t done in four months.”

“I was playing church during those four months,” Weber admitted. “I didn’t even own a Bible.”

But his earthly mother, and his heavenly Father, made sure Weber began reading God’s word. His mother gave him a copy of The Living Bible. Then, Weber said a voice from Heaven gave him supernatural direction about how to use it.

“I’m walking down the hall from the kitchen to my bedroom, and the Lord says to me, ‘Read Ephesians five,’” said Weber. “Well, I didn’t know where Ephesians was, the Old Testament or New Testament. So what did I do? I go to the table of contents.”

The future congressman felt cut to the heart when he read its message: “Let there be no sex sin, impurity or greed among you. Let no one be able to accuse you of any such things. Dirty stories, foul talk, and coarse jokes — these are not for you.” Finally, he read a verse that seemed like a personal invitation: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise up from the dead; and Christ shall give you light” (Ephesians 5:3-4, 14).

“Man, I got down on my knees and I said, ‘Lord, You’re talking directly to me. Please, come into my life and be my personal Savior,’” Weber revealed. “I went down on my knees as on the way to Hell, a dyed-in-the-wool sinner and got up a child of the King.”

It seemed as though someone other than the Lord had been listening. He revealed that another friend at church named Jeff, who had acted as an encourager and mentor, suddenly called him. “The phone rings in the kitchen,” and Jeff “said, ‘Randy?’ I said, ‘Yeah, Jeff?’ ‘Just calling to tell you how glad I am you just got saved.’” To this day, he has no idea how Jeff knew that he privately invited Jesus Christ into his heart.

Weber believes God raised him up from addiction and immorality to serve a higher purpose. “God put a stamp on my life. You’ll never doubt; you’ll never forget” God’s action after such a complete deliverance, said Weber. “That’s how I came to be a child of the King — the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Weber’s life took a radically different, entirely unforeseen turn. Weber was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 to succeed the retiring Congressman Ron Paul, a three-time presidential candidate. Weber earned a 100 Percent status reflecting a 100% voting record from FRC Action in the first session of the 118th Congress. Weber also scored an A+ rating from SBA Pro-Life America, a 90% lifetime score from Heritage Action for America, and an 89% lifetime rating from the immigration reform group Numbers USA.

In the last two years alone, Weber has introduced the Ban Offshore Abortion Tourism Act, which would make it illegal to carry out an abortion in the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States; the Protect Our Children’s Schools Act, which would make unspent COVID relief funds available for schools to improve their safety; and the Protect Against School Shootings (PASS) Act, which would allow people who are allowed to carry a concealed weapon to use their weapon to stop a school shooting without fear of federal prosecution.

“Washington Watch” guest host Jody Hice — who served in the House with Weber — previewed Weber’s personal testimony, calling Weber “a dear friend of mine,” noting that “we were in a Bible study together during my time in Congress.”

You can hear Rep. Randy Weber’s full testimony by downloading the “Stand Firm” app from your device’s app store or by texting the word “app” to 67742.