My Testimony

I was asked to give my testimony so here it goes. I thought that I’d share it with everyone here on my blog as I’m so proud of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done in my life. One thing I’d love to have happen is that if you have your testimony written out somewhere (if you don’t I highly encourage you to do it!) please share it with me and others. I love hearing what the Lord has done in others lives as well!

In 1962 I was adopted as a newborn baby into a loving Christian home. I basically grew up in church. My parents made sure that I knew who Jesus was and did a wonderful job of teaching me the ways of the Lord. By the time I graduated from high school in 1981 I really knew who God & Jesus were. The problem was I didn’t have a close relationship with God.

While I did accept Jesus when I was 12 and was soon baptized thereafter I would have a hard time saying that I was really saved at that point. The one thing missing at that time was repentance. I was never taught that I had to repent and turn from my sins. As a result my sins continued to grow. When I was a junior in high school I started to drink and party. By the time I graduated I was drinking & partying pretty hard.

After high school I pretty much had nothing to do with God or Jesus for the next six or so years. Somewhere in 1987 God started bringing Christians into my life to witness to me. I really began to search and started having concerns about what would happen to me if I died at that point. I really began to question whether I was really saved or not. Eventually I decided I wasn’t.

In 1988 I was racing motorcycles every weekend. After the last race of the year that year one Sunday in October I was about half lit after polishing off the better part of a twelve pack after the races and I went by my buddy’s Tom place. I asked Tom what he was doing that evening and if he wanted to hang out. To my surprise Tom told me that he had been invited to church and that I should come with him. To my even greater surprise without thinking I agreed!

Tom got me all cleaned up and got the smell of beer off of me and of to church we went. We walked in and praise & worship had already started. The girl that had invited Tom was sitting towards the front and Tom grabbed my arm and to the front we went! I was blown away! This was way different from any church that I had ever attended before!

As the music was playing and the people were singing there were people raising their hands and dancing around, praising God and just generally having a great time! I’m not sure why but I thought that this was way kewl! When the praise & worship ended people from all over came up and shook my hand, welcomed me, and just in general made me feel right at home!

After the service we were invited to go out to a young adult get together. We were also warmly invited back next Wednesday evening & the following Sunday. We had a blast at the get together after church that Sunday and Tom & I decided we really needed to go back. Wednesday was really awesome and the pastor poured some really great stuff into us. The following Sunday at the end of service both Tom & I went forward at the alter call and repented of all of our sins and accepted Jesus. Now I knew I was REALLY saved!

The following evening that Sunday I went forward for prayer and the men of the church led by the pastor prayed over me and I was delivered right there on the spot from alcohol and I was set free in Jesus! Wow, was I ever on cloud nine! I couldn’t wait to tell the whole world what Jesus had just done for me!

Fortunately for me the church that I got saved in was really big on teaching and equipping people to take Jesus to the world. In fact they had a K-12 academy and were teaching Bible courses as an outreach through Logos College. For the next two years or so I studied hard and crammed in everything about God that I could get into me.

In 1991 I left for Wichita, Kansas where I’m at now to join up with Operation Rescue and to serve as a street evangelist. During the summer of 1991 I spent almost every day in front of an abortion clinic witnessing to anyone that I could.

After the summer of 1991 I went back to work driving truck. In late 1991 I met the love of my life Pam and in 1992 we were married. In 1993 we moved back to Dodge City, Kansas which is close to where I was born and raised. Things were not going well for us in Dodge City as we were constantly struggling to make ends meet. I failed miserably in being the Godly head of house that God had called me to be. In 1996 Pam couldn’t take any more and packed up and took our two kids back to Wichita leaving me in Dodge City with divorce papers.

In 1997 I packed up and left Dodge City and headed back to Wichita myself. We both wound up in the same church we had been in before we left for Dodge City. The Pastor there ordered that if we were both going to be in his church that we go through counseling so we could get along well enough so he wouldn’t have fighting in his church. It worked!

One thing led to another. We both stayed in counseling and I really started seeking God, hard, and through the leadership of our pastors and via my repentance and changing we were remarried in December of 1999! I’m happy to say that nine years later our marriage is stronger then ever!