YOUR TESTIMONY MATTERS

Acts 21:39-40 “But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people. And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,”

Here in the book of Acts, we find Paul giving his testimony. As you read on in Chapter 22, you will find Paul passionately sharing what God has done in his life. The thing that struck me was that Paul wasn’t giving his testimony to people that really wanted to hear it. In fact when Paul was done, this is what they said:

Acts 22:22 “And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.”

If Paul was willing to passionately share his testimony to people that wanted him dead, there is no excuse for me not to share my testimony and plead with people to be saved. My testimony is below and you can click this link to share your testimony with me. I would love to hear it.

I know I have shared parts of my testimony before in another context but I wanted this one to be more comprehensive like Paul did in Acts 22. There are details in my testimony that are hard to relive but I’m doing this because I want to bring glory to God. He alone can turn tragedy into triumph.

My older brother started riding the church bus when I was very young to Victory Baptist Church in Paris, TX. Pastor Ray Joslin befriended my parents and shortly afterwards they were saved. We all started going to church and within a short amount of time, the church split, they ran off Pastor Ray (a great man of God) and my parents were left wondering what to do. Another church was started shortly thereafter, so my parents joined. One evening while my dad was driving the church bus, a drunk driver ran a red light, hit the gas tank on the bus and the whole bus was engulfed in flames. I was sitting at the back of the bus and all of the emergency exits were on fire. I was so scared. It was so hot. Praise the Lord, the full bus of kids made it out safely because my dad stood at the entrance pulling kids off the bus and giving instructions. I was 7 years old and I knew, I didn’t want to go to hell, a place of eternal fire after experiencing something like that. I made a profession of faith shortly afterwards but it wasn’t based on faith and belief in Jesus. I was still lost.

The new church my parents were a part of had problems shortly after it formed and my parents were once again left wondering what to do. We ended up visiting Lakewood Baptist Church in Powderly, TX. I’m so glad my parents didn’t give up! Pastor John Griswood and his wife Yvonne were EXACTLY what my family needed and I am pleased to say that to this very day, my parents are still there and Pastor Griswood and his wife are still there serving over 30 years later!

I pretended a long time that I was saved, but I knew in my heart that I wasn’t. I was rebellious. I was seeking after the things of the world all through my teen years. My older brother was very rebellious and I wanted to be just like him. However, when I was 16 years old, my older brother was arrested and put in jail for an altercation with his wife likely because he was drinking. While he was there he took the pay phone cord and hung himself. By the time they found him, his heart had already stopped. They were able to put him on life support and get his heart beating again. We rushed to the hospital and got there just in time to see my brother being wheeled to a helicopter. I believe to this day that my eyes seeing that moment was the grace of God. I had glamorized sin in my mind, but in that moment there was absolutely nothing glamorous. My brother didn’t make it. Over the next year my sin made me sick. A year later, Bro. Tom Lancaster was preaching a revival at our church and I remember sitting in the pew, knowing that I was lost and sensing deep conviction from God. At invitation I went forward and accepted Christ as my Savior! Shortly afterwards God called me to ministry, I went to Heartland Baptist Bible College, married my beautiful wife, graduated, had seven awesome kids and have served in ministry for the last 16 years.

God is so good and YOUR TESTIMONY MATTERS! Share it with someone this week.