By the grace and mercy of God, I became a Christian just before my twentieth birthday. Until then, most of the teaching about God and Jesus Christ that I had heard was from the Catholic churches I had attended near my home in Stamford, Connecticut. One very noteworthy event that occurred during the days when I went to Sunday School was that I received a New Testament as a gift from my teacher. This occurred one Sunday during my last year of Sunday School, when I was about age 13. My recollection is that everybody in the class received one, and that the teacher gave these gifts on his own initiative. The New Testaments were the Revised Standard Version. He told us to keep them in a place where we could see them, not hidden. He also said to open them once in a while and read on the page where you opened it.
In my later teen years, while in Atlanta for college, I attended a Catholic church often on Sundays. In the latter half of my sophomore year, I discontinued going to that church, and was not going to any church for many weeks or months. At that time I was planning to do some things that I now know are clearly wrong according to the Bible. I was also using inappropriate speech consistently and with lack of control when I was at the dormitory. When I looked into the mirror, I noticed that my eyes had a more evil appearance than before.
There were two people living in the dormitory room across from mine in the same suite; although they had usually acted like friends throughout the year, I heard them saying the word “Satan” occasionally in a loud voice, and I thought they were referring to me. This was usually accompanied by increased anger in me. I began to wonder some about the presence of evil spirit beings, but wondering was as far as it went at that time.
One clear night, I was walking on campus to my dormitory room. I thought about how God was not letting certain things happen that I had wrongly intended to do. In a moment of anger, the thought to speak against God came to my mind, even the exact words. I immediately looked up toward the stars to speak and found I was not able to say what I had intended to say against God, and no words at all came out. I was surprised at this, and knew what I had intended to say was wrong. My mind focused on the New Testament that had been given to me years earlier. I knew I should read it when I returned to Connecticut for the summer break.
Soon after I returned to Connecticut in June 1987, I was ready to sit down and read from the New Testament. Other than the fact that I knew I should read it, I also had a desire to learn wisdom and teaching on morality. I went to my room, where the New Testament was in a drawer. I closed and locked the door. At this time, I had no knowledge at all of concepts such as being “born again” or “saved.” I decided to start reading from the beginning, Matthew 1:1. It is significant that Jesus Christ is mentioned in the first verse. Even while reading the genealogy, the tears began to flow from my eyes.
I continued slowly reading, verse after verse after verse. The tears kept coming. I noticed that a struggle was going on in my presence. I knew I should keep reading, but there was discomfort inside of me. It seemed that this was not God indicating to me to stop reading, because that would be contradictory. As I kept reading, I realized clearly that there were evil spirits in the world, but that the Scriptures had power from God. Almost all of what I read was a revelation for me; I had never read many consecutive verses before that day. I read several chapters in one sitting. I read about the Lord Jesus Christ forgiving the sins of someone; and saw Him as the One who could forgive my sins. I trusted in Him as my Saviour as I cried at my desk in Connecticut.
I know this probably happened while I was reading Matthew 9. I praise the Lord for saving me! One of the first thoughts that came to my mind immediately after He saved me was simply the phrase “eternally grateful.” It is a phrase I had probably never heard, read, spoken, or thought before that day. On that day I knew that if I were to die, I would go to heaven. I also clearly discerned that God had given me a gift within; He had given me His Holy Spirit. The first thing I remember doing when I got up out of the chair was to look in the mirror. When I did, I noticed my eyes did not appear so evil as they had before I sat down to read. I also wanted to give thanks to God, which I did as I kneeled beside the bed.
In that summer of 1987, I continued reading the New Testament with great interest. I read all of it and the Psalms before returning to college for the fall quarter. Yet even becoming a Christian, it was not obvious to me that I should look for any particular type of church, so I continued going to Catholic churches from time to time.
In 1991, I moved to New Jersey where I worked my first job after finishing college. Around December 1992, I received an envelope in the mail containing two tracts. The envelope was not addressed to me by name, but to the resident or occupant of my apartment. One of these tracts invited me to attend meetings with an assembly of Christians who did not take a denominational name to themselves. The tract included their schedule of meetings, and provided their address in Long Branch.
The tract stated that they believed what the Bible teaches, and gave some specific doctrines believed and taught. I was pleased with what I read. About the time I received the invitation, I was learning some Christian teaching from two sources that helped me to have confidence that I should begin meeting with Christians who relied only on the Word of God. One of these sources was a Christian who spoke at a Sunday gathering associated with a business-related conference. The other source was a radio station in New Jersey. At this point I had not been going to the local Catholic church for many months; I had found that I was more comfortable not going to that church, although I did not understand the reason.
On a Sunday in early 1993, I decided to go to the evening gospel meeting to which I had been invited, through the tract sent to me. I was glad to meet the Christians there, and was pleased with the teaching. There were not many people there, and nobody was close to my age, but I did not view these things as problems. As I continued to gather with them, my confidence only grew that they were devoted to God and His Word. After having been saved for about five-and-a-half years, I had finally found some Christians I knew I should continue to meet with. They knew that I came there because I had received the tract. I’m so glad they sent it!
Later in 1993, I applied for a job in Georgia and received an offer. Before moving, I obtained the addresses for two assemblies in the Macon area from one of the Christian brothers I had met in New Jersey. I am glad to be gathering with the Christians at Three Oaks Bible Chapel in Macon, Georgia.