Growing up in a Christian home I was fortunate to have parents that were both great examples of being “Christ-like”. A quick look at their lives showed that He was their priority, and that they truly loved Him and His church. It was obvious to me that there was something truly different about my parents, and I desired to have whatever it was that they had. I believe that God used their example to influence me, and made my heart more receptive to the Gospel when it was presented to me. I will forever be grateful to my parents for their example of faithfulness, and I still carry many of the lessons taught by them in my Christian walk today.

When I was eight years old my family’s church held a revival meeting. The guest speaker was from Australia, and his strange accent managed to keep my attention. The longer he spoke, the more it felt like he was speaking directly to me. I didn’t fully understand everything that he said, but I became convinced that I was a sinner in need of a savior, and that Jesus had come to forgive me and save me from my sin. I knew I needed to surrender my life to Him, so I asked my father to walk down front with me where my pastor led me in a prayer to invite Jesus Christ into my heart.

My adolescent/teen years were for the most part spiritually indifferent. I went to church and was a “good” kid, but had little relationship with God. When I was a junior in college my father left my mother after 25 years of marriage. My father had always been my hero and spiritual mentor, and his leaving caused me to question my faith and Christianity. I examined the Scripture and my life and realized that our faith is a personal decision, and that so much of what I had done to that point had been nothing more than following the lead of my family and upbringing. This experience brought me to a point where I truly began to seek and serve God personally, and ultimately led to my calling into full-time vocational ministry.

I was raised in a good home by a wonderful mom and dad who loved me and taught me right from wrong.  They were wonderful parents and made sure that I was well behaved and respectful, however they were not particularly faithful church goers.  I remember that we would go to church 3 or 4 Sundays in a row and then for whatever reason we would not go back for a few months.  Although I rarely got into trouble at school or anything I certainly did not know much about the bible or anything like that.

One Sunday morning, I was 12 years old at the time; my family went to church and for the first time that I can ever remember I heard the preacher say that no matter how good you are you can never be good enough to go to heaven.  He went on to explain that we are all sinners and that our sin separates us from God, who is too holy to just overlook our sin.  He said that the only way for us to be made right with God was to ask Jesus to come into our lives and to ask Jesus to forgive us for our sin.

I knew that God was speaking directly to me, compelling me to come to Him so that I could be forgiven and made right with Him.  Now, I was only 12 years old and certainly did not know much about God but I knew that I needed Him.  I knew that even though I was a good kid I was not perfect and I needed forgiveness.  That day I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sin and I asked Him to come into my life.

I was just a child then but I guess I could not explain it to you any better today than I could at 12 years old.  It was as though I had been carrying a heavy weight with me for so long that I did not even think about it any more and when I asked for forgiveness that weight was taken away from me.  My sin was forgiven and I was made right with God.

I grew up going to church on Sunday mornings. My mom would load us up while we left dad at home watching the Sunday morning news. Dad didn’t go to church and never was a spiritual influence in my life. But mom kept us in church on Sundays and Wednesdays. In fact, I pretty much equated my Christianity with church attendance. I was a Christian because my mom had raised me to be a Christian. And I did all the things that Christians did: I went to church, prayed, served, and shared my faith with my friends. But on a Sunday morning during my teenage years, while listening to my pastor preach from Matthew 7, I realized that I was all show and no go.

In Matthew 7, Jesus is telling a group of people that not everyone who claims to be a Christian will be able to get to heaven. As I read that passage, I realized that the people He was referring to believed with all certainty that they would spend eternity with Jesus. They even had “proof” of all the things they had done that displayed their belief. That was me! He went on to say that the problem was that He didn’t know them. In other words, they did not have a personal, day-by-day relationship with Jesus Christ. I realized that I was separated from God and wanted that kind of relationship. I went to the front of the church and told my pastor that I needed to give my life to Christ.

That day began a new journey for me. There was certainty in my life. You could almost say that my life had purpose. Having been so involved in church growing up, there weren’t any drastic changes, except that I now knew Jesus and sought to add to my personal relationship with Him each day. I still have struggles, but because my life is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, I can manage a little easier. He tells me in the bible that his plans for me are for my good and will only help me know him more. Wouldn’t you want to have a life of purpose and direction? Can I tell you how you can do that?