The author of this site was converted to the Lord Jesus Christ over 30 years ago, saved out of the false religion of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons) as well as saved out of a lifestyle of sin (1 Cor. 6:9-11). My conversion came as a result of an older friend of the family's confronting me about my false religion and my eternal destiny. After exposing the error of Mormonism (he was somewhat of an expert on the cults), he proceeded to tell me that I was headed for hell. Instead of getting offended, the Lord began to work in my heart. I KNEW that this man's accusation about me being "headed for hell" was accurate as I KNEW my own sin and frankly, Mormonism offered no REAL hope concerning forgiveness of sins or eternal life. Granted I was just a young person only in the "Church" for a couple of years and had not been to the Temple ( an obvious sign of sincerity), but there were times while in the LDS religion that I was seeking for truth. As a result of this man's dealings with me AND his clear documentation that the Mormon church was contrary to the Bible and a false religion, I began attending a small Bible church where I proceeded to make a profession of Jesus Christ. My heart had never changed, the focus of my life was still sin, the only difference was that now I was in church every Sunday. However I was told that because I had "prayed that prayer, " I was now a Christian. About eight months later, while in my car, I surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ and this was a distinct difference from my earlier profession. This time I had more understanding but I also had a yielded, surrendered spirit to the Lord. It was at this point that I was saved, praise the LORD for His mercy, grace and redemption!
Shortly after being converted, I was very burdened by those that seemingly had no concern for the Lord. We lived in Fort Walton Beach, Florida at the time and it grieved me to see the large numbers of people that were consumed by the sun and fun on Sundays, forsaking any form of worship of God. I picked up a cheap cardboard sign at Wal-mart, wrote a few scripture verses on it and began to go out to a streetcorner, most of the time by myself. With in a few weeks I began lifting up my voice, preaching as best I could that hell was real, Christ died for sinners and calling out for passersby to repent and turn to Christ. Over the years our family began going out to the corners where we lived and we would proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, many times purchasing Bibles to give them away. At one point, many years after we had gained some experience, the Lord led our family of eight to purchase a trust Him for a travel trailer and we spent ten years.
Within a short time so much had changed! The lord immediately did two things. He took away my filthy language (I had a very bad vocabulary) and any desire I had for alcohol! Now I was not a "drunkard" by biblical standards but I was a typical lost young person at the time of my conversion and drank alcohol at parties and while with friends. As a result that I conclude could only have come from the Holy Ghost that now indwelt me (Eph 4:30), I no longer wanted to ever touch alcohol of any sort: beer, wine etc. Also within a few weeks the Lord started to deal with me about my music. I was an avid fan of Rock Music and had in on constantly, anything from Billy Joel to Boston to the Rolling Stones. I began listening, actually hearing the words and it is as if the Spirit of God said (though not audibly, but in that still small voice), "why are you listening to that music that so opposes God." That day the secular music went off and it was replaced by music that honored the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 5:11-19)!
I began to intensely read and study my Bible. What an amazing Book! And how much it spoke to me! the Word of God was ALIVE to me and I poured over it! On an average day off from work I would study and read hours, sometimes eight hours or more and on a workday, it was common for me to still spend two or more hours taking in all I could! Then came the memorization of scriptures! I utilized index cards, wrote subjects and categories on the top and then an appropriate scripture. No more wandering, no more heeding the words and opinions of the world and my secular education and my peers, I had a BIBLE! A Book for GOD, the creator of the heaven and the earth and it was real to me! And now I had an Authority! God's Word told me what was right, what was wrong, how to live, how to be a good employee, about proper relationships, about the deception of the world's influences and it was powerful and literally, life-changing! Praise God for his perfect, pure and preserved Word!
Soon after I asked the Lord to send me someone that I could have a real friendship with, a woman who would be honest with me, and different from the past relationships that were built on selfishness and worldly concepts. Shortly after, He answered that prayer in the form of a young lady, who at that time, did not know Christ. I certainly now do not endorse "dating" but at that time I did not know better, and we began to date. Soon after, she turned to the Lord and was saved and little did I know that that wonderful girl would be my wife within a year. The woman has remained by my side faithfully since that time and I do not deserve her/ It has been many years since that marriage and the Lord has blessed us with a number of children and years of serving Him, that I pray will continue until he comes or I go to be with Him. Despite the many times I have failed the Lord, he has been with me and my desire is to please Him, to serve Him and to honor Him!
Since shortly after my conversion I began telling others about Christ and at times, very passionately, by the grace of God. I was saved, washed in the blood of Christ, made a new creature, forgiven of my sin and I desired others some to Him as Lord and Saviour! I constantly witnessed to all I knew, many I did not know and distributed gospel tracts and Bible literature. After a couple of years I began holding up signs with bible verses on them and this soon led to raising my voice (preaching) as I held the hand-made signs. After all, how could I just let those around me slip into hell and live a life void of Christ and biblical salvation, with out doing all in my power to show them the right way!
The first few years we learned so much ( and we keep learning, believe me). The Lord put my wife and I in many different environments spiritually and we came across many various doctrines. We really desire to be right with God in all areas as much as we could and constantly studied the Word of God, comparing these doctrines with the scriptures. Thankfully, the Lord had taught us relatively early on, that the Bible was THE Authority! Not man, not other Christians, certainly not the media and the professors and Universities, religious or otherwise. Some might state, "How dare someone have a website called True Biblical Church? Are you claiming to have ALL truth and be the ONLY one with truth?" Certainly not my friend and there may be things over time that the Lord will show me through His Word or His people, that may be changed. But my past gives me one advantage over the vast majority and that is, as already mentioned, that I take the Word of God as THE Authority! Yes, many claim this, but most are bound by their peers, their religious education, their denomination, or their congregation! My intent, and I am not in any way, attempting to sound pious or self-righteous is to believe, teach and preach the Word of God with NO concern for the opinions or approval of men! So please pray for me and feel free to leave comments or suggestions and I welcome correction. If I am wrong and proven so by the Word of God, on ANY matter, doctrine or issue, I will change what is written on these pages. But I will warn the reader, the Bible is my Authority, not what you or any man says the Bible says. Part of Bible understanding is to study it, free from bias or predetermined opinions or views and I am not concerned with your tradition or denominational stance that is contrary or a perversion of the Word of God! And for the record, I am part of an assembly within the Independent Baptist Church movement, but it is far different from most within that group. Where the Baptists differ from the scriptures makes the Baptists, or that particular Baptist church or individual, wrong! And by God's grace, may I never hesitate to stand on the Word of God when even the group of believers that I identify with, is contrary to the Bible!
Praise the Lord!
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