My testimony

When most believers here the word testimony, they think of a dramatic, oral, or written, autobiography that gives an account of the, “before and after” life experiences of a born again Christian. These stories can be powerful evidence of the regenerative power of God the Holy Spirit, and cause unbelievers to question their own unbelief. What effect though, does a “fall from Grace” have on the same unbeliever. My question is, what good is a testimony if the self proclaimed Christian later turns away from righteousness back to a life of sin? What value is there in telling a story that may prove to be false. I propose that the run of the mill Christian testimony is not sufficient to convict the unbeliever of his sin or to compel him to repent from sin and follow Jesus as Lord. It is only by hearing the word of God that an unbeliever will face true conviction and lasting repentance. For this reason I choose to preface my own testimony with a passionate request for any who read or hear it to search God's written word as the only sufficient source of God's truth. The Holy Spirit uses God's written word alone to reveal Christ. It is faith in Christ alone that produces conviction of sin towards lasting repentance and eternal life.

I was born a bouncing baby boy on June 15, 1972. My father was at that time in the
U.S. Army, stationed in Yuma Arizona, where he narrowly escaped over seas duty in Vietnam. Six months after my birth he fulfilled his duty and we moved to Mammoth Lakes, CA.
It was in Mammoth at about five years old that my profession of faith took place. My mother explained that if I wanted to be saved, I had to ask Jesus in to my heart, and being a shy toddler I hid under the dining room table and asked Jesus to come into my heart. I rarely disobeyed my parents and I experienced strong guilt when I disobeyed God. I had Christian parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Every member of my family was a Christian. I took for granted that everything I had been taught about God was true, but I didn't have my own understanding that Gods Word is our exclusive source of God's truth, I lived as I knew a Christian should. and loved my parents too much to rebel, We moved to Weaverville, CA in September 1982 at the age of ten and I began to have a deep curiosity about controversial theological issues. I praise God that my parents taught God's word because I turned to the Bible for answers to my questions. I wondered what other religions taught and why they were different, by the time I reached the age of twenty I was ready to believe in God's Word by it's own authority instead of the authority of my parents. I began to research other religions and compared them to my own. My knowledge of the scripture grew but tragically, so did my love of sin. As a twenty something young man I was less often under the watchful eye of my loving parents and I began to grow accustomed to getting away with secret sins. It was not until after God blessed me with a wife and children that I began to understand the depth of my own depravity. My wife and I married in 1999 and I took a sales job with Schwan's Frozen Foods. I used my drive time to reflect on my happiness and I began to understand that I was chasing the world, and I was not happy. One day While pondering my walk with God, my attention was drawn to a song on Christian radio. The words of the chorus still resonate in my heart, “go, go, go”. I am not sure if God is calling me to full time ministry, but in my Schwan's truck that day I promised to obey the call of God's great commission and during the years since that experience, God has expedited His process of sanctification in my life. It is indeed possible that my true conversion came on the side of the road in my truck that day as I wept over my own sin.
Baptism is a beautiful picture of how God accomplished the redemption of His chosen, and He commanded His chosen to be baptized. Baptism by immersion is the clearest model of our inclusion in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. I was sprinkled as an infant before I knew or understood what true obedience to Christ was. It is my desire to be fully immersed as a testament and a witness to my ongoing desire to be conformed to and identified with my Father in heaven through Jesus Christ and to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. The words of Jesus with regard to His own baptism by John, are a good summation of my own motive and desire to be immersed.
Matt 3:15
“But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us ato fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *permitted Him.”

Until next time

David