Testimony of Grace

I’ve had to share my “testimony” several times lately. Once as part of my application for seminary, another when we joined our church here in Louisville, and I will also be revising it in context of an evangelism class I am taking this semester.

The following is a brief summary of my spiritual journey over the years. Some of this may be old news to some of you and others might learn a few things about me. If you have a blog and are a believer, I encourage you to post your testimony as well.

My Testimony

Growing up in Memphis, TN and attending Bellevue Baptist Church, I was surrounded by godly parents, friends, mentors, and teaching under Adrian Rogers. Looking back now, I feel truly blessed. God has blessed me in more ways than I could say and more than I even know. At the young age of 5 or 6 I walked down the aisle of Bellevue and made a “profession of faith”. Although it’s hard to remember that many years ago, I now believe that decision was based upon a desire to fit in and to even mimic the same decisions my friends were making. Only God knows whether that decision was genuine, but nonetheless through God’s grace I became more and more involved in the church and youth group at Bellevue. God used this time to teach me much about Himself and the Christian life, even if that point it was only a head knowledge. During my sophomore year in high school at a Disciple Now church event, I believe that I truly received God’s gifts of repentance and faith and became a born again believer. God began to work in my life and teach me to love and obey His word. Additionally God put godly men in my life that encouraged and trained me in knowing God. I learned that in order to obey God, I must love him, and the only way I would love Him is by knowing Him and His love for me. And God’s love is made apparent through His word and the time spent daily with it and Him in prayer.

“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”.

– Colossians 3:3-4 (NIV)

My senior year in high school, God showed me these scriptures which confirmed a calling to full-time Christian service. The four simple words “who is your life” fell heavy on my heart and made it clear that my life was meant for service to God. Although I’ve never felt a firm calling to something specific like the missionary field or a pastorate, I’ve always felt a tug to be a part of a full-time ministry. I’m excited to find out what God has planned.

God is there and He is in control.

Through the writings of Francis Schaeffer, God began to put on my heart the desire for the post-modern culture and the need for community in the church—something that I felt was lacking in a lot of today’s churches. During my time in college, God led me to take off one semester and spend time at the L’Abri fellowship in Greatham, England. My experience there was not unique, but through doing simple acts such as making dinner, polishing the hardwood floors, and discussing life, the Bible and more, God showed me how a community can function. I distinctly remember on my last day at the mansion, one of the workers asked, “So, I hear you might be attending seminary?”, to which I replied, “Yes, possibly. Who knows?”. The worker’s response was simple and true: “God knows” he said, as he walked out the door and went on with his day. This response was a perfect summary of my time at L’Abri. God knows and is involved in every part of life. Whether I was polishing the floors or studying God’s Word, God is there and He is in control. My experience at L’Abri led me to begin a “Fellowship of Believers” during college that was made up of a small group of believers that met over God’s word, fellowship and prayer, much like the first church did in Acts 2:42. This time was by no means revolutionary, but was nonetheless meaningful to the people involved. One of these persons was a beautiful girl named Laurin who ended up becoming my wife. Married on June 8th, 2002, it’s been 6 wonderful years where God has blessed our marriage and our family with the arrival of Savannah Grace in March of 2007 and Aubrey Melanie in June of last year.

Since my time in college, God has continued to be gracious and patient with me even when I wasn’t as near to him as I should have been. I found myself being complacent in church and simply going through the motions. We stayed “connected” in our church, but the passion and desire to follow Christ wholeheartedly definitely faded. About a year and a half ago, my wife and I felt God leading us to leave Bellevue and search for another church in the Memphis area. Through this time, God taught us to seek him more and we began to study and cherish God’s word more in our lives. We joined a new church and learned more about God’s grace to us in salvation and gained a better understanding of a God-centered salvation. At the beginning of last year, God pressed upon our hearts to attend seminary and He led us to attend Southern Seminary. God has been truly gracious to me and my family, and I look forward to the future knowing that his graces will continue to abound in easy and hard times.

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