I was raised in church. As best as I can recall, my parents have been saved for my whole life and were in the church just about every time the doors were open. My mom did the bulletins and my father was the treasurer. My older brother got saved when I was about 5; it got him a lot of attention so I claimed to be saved too. I was baptized and lied to everyone, including myself, for so long that I actually thought I was saved. I was active in Sunday school, the children’s choir (where I stayed a bar behind everyone else) class outings, and, as I got older, the youth group.
Due to problems within the church, my family moved our membership to a second church when I was in high school and I was very active at the new church. I liked to go to Sunday school and church. I went to all the activities. I even acted as a substitute Sunday school teacher on a few occasions, helped in Vacation Bible School, and chaperoned trips. My pastor looked to me when he needed help in my age group and I was always there. But it was just an act.
I went away to college and kept pretending. I decided to attend Furman University in Greenville, SC. Basically I wanted to get away, be on my own, and do my own thing. After visiting a couple places, I found a church in Greenville and went to every service. Everything was going real well.
But then, at a FCA meeting on campus, a soccer player shared his testimony and it sounded like my life. Then he gave an altar call and I swear he was talking to me. But I ignored God's call. For a few hours anyway until the convicting power of God just overwhelmed me. In the middle of a storm, I went for a walk around Furman Lake to clear my head.
"God, why are you bugging me? I'm going to church. I'm involved in Christian activities on campus. I’m pretty good so what’s with this conviction stuff?"
"Yeah you may be pretty good but are you saved?"
And then my eyes opened and I saw the light. The wall of lies I had built came tumbling down and, on that night, I knelt under a big tree by the lake and asked God to come into my heart and save me. Then I ran back to the dorm so I could call my parents. That weekend I went to my home church in Atlanta and shared the news with everyone. Man I was on fire for God.
Unfortunately, a year or so passed and I fell into the wrong crowds and my fire began to fade. I kept going through the motions but I lost the joy. I still attended services but my heart and mind were never on the words being spoken. I only went to church to see friends. Then my family changed churches again and I really lost interest. Only being home one weekend a month or less, I found it difficult to make new friends at the new church and that was the only reason I had liked going. So I stopped going with my family to church when I was home and my visits to the church back at school grew further apart.
I graduated school in February 1993 and moved back home to work in Atlanta. I visited church with a friend in Conyers for awhile then just quit going altogether. I just hung out with friends at a Country bar called Mama’s. That’s where I met Dana in July of 1993. Luckily, she wasn’t a "regular" and as we dated more and more she mellowed me out. We fell in love and I proposed to her on my 22nd birthday later that year. We were married about six months later.
A year or so into the marriage we were laying in bed talking one night. Somehow the conversation turned to religion, Christianity, and salvation and I was given the opportunity to lead her to Christ. Even though I did some good, my backslidden condition quickly extinguished the spark she had as well so we never went to church. I kept saying that I'd start going when I got a house and could find one church so I didn't have to move around my membership anymore. Truth be told, I just didn’t want to go and that was the best excuse I could think of.
Flash forward a couple years to July of 97 and we were able to begin thinking about getting a house. We found one we liked and signed the paperwork. And my words came back to haunt me. I had to think of another excuse to avoid church. Well we ran across some last minute problems with financing and I prayed, "Lord, if you let us get this house I'll give up the excuses and go back to church." I don't believe we should bargain with God but at the time I did. Well in December of '97, we moved in to our house so that next Sunday I begrudgingly headed off to find a church. Then I ran across this little church known back then as New Ebeneezer Baptist Church. A joy came over me that was so awesome. Like the prodigal son, I had come home. A few weeks later Dana started attending but she took a little more time before she knew that church was right. (Plus she was shy about joining the church and being baptized.) Well we finally joined New Heights Baptist (the church changed names in the summer) on Halloween of 1999 at a special service to view a movie about the Second Coming.
After joining I was content for awhile just to serve as a bench warmer. Then the lady who was doing the bulletins lost her home. God placed a burden on my heart to fill in writing the bulletin until she was able again. I asked the pastor about it and he was willing to let me try. Well I did that for about a month when God placed a burden on my heart for the kids of the church so I began a bulletin just for kids with activities, a bible story, and the Scriptures containing the story. And then Preacher Moody got sick and asked me to take over his adult Sunday school class for a couple of weeks. He got better but I kept teaching. Wanting to get information about VBS for the bulletins I showed up for some of the meetings there and found myself volunteered to help with it as needed. Well then on the first night of VBS, the preacher asked me to teach the teens. I enlisted the help of another guy there and together we made it through the week and were volunteered again for a Wednesday night teen Bible study. That’s when I realized my calling for the youth. Eventually I traded the Adult Sunday school class for the teen class so now I get to work with them all the time. And the Lord continues to bless…
On September 25, 2000, I received another major blessing, my son, Jordan Anthony, was born that day. He brings so much joy and laughter into my heart and although he doesn’t talk yet, he can bring a smile to my face and make the largest of problems melt away.
Looking back over my life, there are a lot of lessons I hope others can learn from my story.
- As a child the devil didn’t bother me much. Why? Because he had me right where he wanted me, on a road to Hell believing it was going to Heaven. But when I actually got saved he tried his best to tempt me to do wrong. Funny how Satan will let you do all the good you want if he can keep your soul but once he loses your soul he’ll lose his contentment and tempt you as much as possible.
- God can turn the negatives in your life into positives if you’re willing to surrender to him. Had I not gone wild, I might still be shy. Had I not gone to bars, I wouldn’t have met Dana. If I hadn’t met Dana, I wouldn’t live down here. Had I not moved down here, I wouldn’t have found my church home and my calling. I don’t recommend that you hang out in bars and party all the time; for many that path leads to destruction but luckily God never lost sight of me even when I lost sight of him.
- When a bad thing happens to you don’t wonder why this event had to happen? Instead ask God to turn it into a blessing for you or someone else. Had a fellow church member not lost their home, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to work on the bulletin, which opened other doors for me. If Preacher moody didn’t get sick, I would have never taught my first class which again opened other doors.
Now to wrap things up I wanted to share some thoughts on one of my favorite verses, John 11:35. It is one of my favorites because as the shortest verse in the Bible with only two words it is easy to remember. But mostly I like it because despite its length it holds one of the greatest messages for man. It simply says, "Jesus wept." It shows how Christ being God made man felt about a fallen friend. Elsewhere in the Gospels, Christ says that we are all His friends who follow and serve him. So he has that compassion for me. When I have troubles, Jesus is there to cry with me and comfort me. And just as he did for Lazarus, he will lift us up out of our troubles and allow us to walk in newness of life. I have a new spirit and by God’s amazing grace, one day, I will have a new body as well.
If you haven’t experienced the joy of permanent salvation through personal faith in Jesus, I pray that you will seek Him today.
