Ex-Satanist Nearly Ended His Life Until He Fell Into the 'Arms of Jesus': 'I Found Myself Giving Myself to Satan'

"I found myself giving myself to Satan."

That's not an admission one would expect to hear from a preacher, but Ben Atkins wasn't always a believer. In fact, the U.K.-based pastor went through quite a harrowing journey — one that took him into the bowels of a Satanic worldview before he discovered hope in Christ.

"This is my story. These are my experiences," Atkins said on "The Playing With Fire" podcast, noting his story involves "supernatural things" and that he is careful not to go beyond what he experienced and what he sees in Scripture. "I'm quite hesitant to go beyond what the Bible says, what Jesus taught, and my experience. That's really all I can share with any sort of authority."

Atkins described growing up in a chaotic household that looked comfortable from the outside — a scenario he likened to the "English equivalent of the American Dream." But beneath the surface was a lot of trauma, with the situation leaving him "questioning everything" at an early age.

Then, he found Satanism.