My Testimony

I grew-up in a Christian home.  I had a great childhood with loving parents and siblings.  I remember being a young boy, about 8 or 9 years old.  My younger brother and I would read the Bible, pray, watch TBN with mom, and even preach to each other.  Our family never really settled down in a church.  So we never really got involved with any other believers.  As we entered our teen years, we were given the choice to go to church with mom if we wanted to or not.  Of course, most any teen that has not had any involvement, and therefore no positive experience, with church will opt-out of going when given the chance.  But I still believed I was a Christian.  When people asked what religion I was, I would tell them, “I’m a Christian.”  Then they would ask me what denomination I was.  I didn't know, so I asked my dad.  He said, “Tell them you’re the kind that believes in Jesus Christ.”  That sounded good to me!  Ha-ha!  And that is STILL my answer today by the way.  But I did not even know what it meant to be a Christian.  I said I was.  I thought I was.  But I knew nothing of what that meant.  I kept those same answers all through childhood, my teen years, and even as a young adult.  It was not until September 11, 2001 that I began to question what I really believed.

Until then, I thought I was OK with God.  After all, I was a “good guy.”  I tried to help whomever I could.  I didn’t try to hurt anyone.  The same basic criteria many people recite when asked about their eternal destiny.

Now I did not personally know anyone in the area of the twin towers, the pentagon, or in Pennsylvania where the plane went down.  I did not know anyone that could have or would have been on those planes either.  In short, there was no direct logical reason that that attack should have affected me the way it did, unless, it was a wake-up call from God.  And that it was!  I started asking myself, “Just what DO I believe?”  I have always thought I was Christian.  I even knew the term Salvation and what that meant.  Well, I remembered that my parents gave me a Bible when I moved out.  They gave each of my siblings one too.  And my dad had told me that if and when I ever have big life questions, I will find the answers in the Bible.  So I embarked on my journey.  With a beer in my hand and a cigarette in my lips, I was going to find some answers!  I started reading the Bible here and there.  I even tuned in to a local Christian station I had heard my mom listen to on occasion.  On the radio, I heard a program which came out of a church in the same town my parents lived.  After a month or so of listening, reading, and praying, I said to myself that, “… it wasn’t too far to drive and I knew the area, so why not? I’ll check it out.”  That Sunday was November 11, 2001.  I heard the message.  I enjoyed the service.  And I agreed with everything I had heard, yet I arrogantly was still unmoved.  Then after the service, I stuck around to meet and talk with anyone who would.  Ha-ha!  I had never done that before!  So I spoke with a couple members.  One of them asked me, “Are you saved?”  I said, “Yes, sir!  If the words in this book are true”, thumping on my Bible,” then I’m saved.”  He said, “Let me ask again.  Are you saved?”  And I again said, “Yes, sir!  If the words in this book are true then I’m saved.”  Then he said something that threw me.  He said, “Let me put it another way.  What do you mean ‘if’?”  I paused to think for a minute.  And said, “I’m not sure I follow you.”  Then he asked if I had a few minutes to chat.  I said “sure.”  And we found a place to sit.  He explained to me that I was building my life upon an “if”.  And there is no stability or security in an “if”.  He asked me, “Do you believe the words in that book?”  I said, “Yes.”  He asked, “Cover to cover?”  I said, “Yes.”  “Then” he said, “You need to accept that book, cover to cover, as truth.  If anyone or anything ever says anything that does not line-up with what is in that book, it is a lie.”  Now this was my Bible we were discussing.  It was not a book or tract that was given to me by someone at the church.  This was my Bible that my parents gave me when I was very young.  He then explained to me what it cost God to save me.  The price Jesus paid for me to have peace with God.  And what it means to follow Jesus.  I gave my life to Jesus Christ that day.  And I was baptized that evening!  My life has never been the same.  And that is a good thing my friends!

I have had plenty of struggles though!  Do not be fooled.  My life has not been perfect by any stretch of the imagination.  I kept going to church, reading my Bible, praying, and my faith kept growing.  But life doesn't all-of-the-sudden get easy when you are saved.  In fact, it gets harder in many ways, just easier to deal with.  And yes, there were times when I was so far from God that you probably would not know I was a Christian even if I told you I was.  But God still loved me through those times.  He let me make a few mistakes, but he kept me out of any major troubles.  God has brought me so very far in the time since that spiritual awakening in September.  But the journey is nowhere near over.  God has taught me so very much also!  But I still have so much to learn.  I have grown a whole lot.  But there is still plenty of room for growth.

It is only by God’s grace that I’m here to share my testimony with you.  It is only by His great mercy that we all are here, with the opportunity to make a choice, right now, that WILL affect our eternal destiny.  Every one of us will spend eternity somewhere.  And it will be in one of two places, Heaven or Hell.  An eternity enjoying God’s presence or an eternity isolated from God.  It is your choice.

Some have asked me why a loving god would send anyone to Hell.  Well, truthfully, He doesn't.  We send ourselves to Hell when we break His Law and try to pay for our transgressions with the imperfect sacrifices of our good works.

And as if that’s not explanation enough… if someone doesn't want anything to do with God here on earth, how fair would it be of God to make them spend the rest of eternity with Him?  Wouldn't that be considered “hell” by their standards?

With all that, “Are you saved?  Do you know where you will spend eternity?”  If you are not absolutely sure of your relationship with Jesus, I urge you to make sure.