I grew up in a Christian home. My parents became Christians in their 20’s. By the time I was born, my older sister had accepted Christ. We attended a church very close to our house. I thought everyone attended the school and church they lived closest to. When I was 5, I walked an isle and did what a 5 year old knew to do: I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins.
I was a pretty good kid growing up. I loved sports and music. Church was just part of my life. There was no real relationship with God. I just tried to be a good person. When I was a sophomore in High School, I went to our yearly church camp. I had never been before. I came to realize that I wasn’t a follower of Jesus because I went to church or was a good person, but being a Christian meant that I had surrendered my life to Jesus as Lord of my life and had a relationship with Him. I made that decision and was baptized the following Sunday.
Suddenly, all the things I knew in my head about God from going to church my entire life made it’s way into my heart and life. I became alive from the inside out. Although I had been moral person in the world’s eyes, I was a sinner, and when I experienced the forgiveness of Jesus, my entire life changed.
The rest of my high school years, I did everything I could to grow closer to Christ. I was far from perfect, still am. But I was on a different path. At the end of high school, I answered a call to the Christian ministry. I went to college, met my wife, and we moved to Texas to attend seminary.
I have served for 27 years in 4 different churches as a youth pastor and worship leader. I have 3 boys, 2 in college currently studying to go into the ministry, and one in high school. Our lives are spent trying our best to minister to others. It isn’t always easy, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Almost 5 years ago, my father passed away after a battle with cancer. Needless to say that was life changing. I still miss my father, but knowing the security of where he is as given even more validation to my faith. When you experience the peace of someone passing from this life knowing where they will spend eternity, it allows you to see the difference faith makes.
Jesus makes all the difference in life. You will never regret giving your life to Jesus. Becoming a Christian doesn’t mean that you will never experience difficulty, but it does mean you know that God is walking with you in life. His presence is life changing.